I was out of town for work the last several weeks. While I was gone I switched Lucy from THK supplemented with chicken, beef, etc to Orijen Kibble. This week she came down with a very bad case of diarhea. Yesterday my wife came home to find what she was sure was blood in the loose stools. She took her to the vet last night who did a swab, checked for parasites, etc and couldn't find anything.

Of course my wife mentioned what I feed when I am home and he wasn't too pleased and stated he would like to see her on a "dry" diet and recommended Eukanuba Intestional Formula. Kind of strange since she hadn't had any stool issues for the past 6 months while eating the THK>

He also put her on Tylan? I have never heard of it. Looked it up on the internet and it looks like it is primarily used for farm animals.

I am home now and this morning her stool was still on the loose side, but no blood and definetely wouldn't classify as watery. Hopefully she is past the worst.

So, based on that history I have a few questions.

1) Do you think the switching from THK to Kibble could have caused the stool issues?

2) Is there anything else we should have had the vet check for?

2) Does anyone know anything about Tylan, side effects, exactly what it does, etc?

For some dogs, any time you switch food you run the risk of upsetting their system. For those dogs with a sensitive stomach making the switch slowly over the course of a few days can often help prevent diarrhea.

Blood in the stool is not as uncommon as you'd think...but it is scary to see and your wife did the right thing to get it checked out, IMO.

I've never heard of Tylan so I can't offer any comment about it.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_tylosin.html

Above is a google page of Tylan.....sounds like he is treating for colitis.....

Did you gradually switch her or go cold turkey? (do not take the vets advice as far as Eukanuba....YUK!!!!)

I would say if there is no blood, give her some canned pumpkin (not pie filling) and skip a meal. Give her a chance for her system to calm down.

Any reason you switched back to kibble?

Did the vet check a stool sample, or just the swab? The swab won't give a good sample. Intestinal parasites can cause blood and loose stool (worms and coccidia). Stress (from you being gone and the food change) can also cause some blood to appear. If it were coccidia you would probably see continued loose stool and more blood.

Carol,
Switched cold turkey. If I am only gone for a day or two I prepare enough THK and RMB to last. This time I was gone for an extended period and though the wife is fine with me feeding raw, doesn't like to do it herself.
Once she seems back to normal I will wean her back onto her normal diet.
Tylan sound like an antibiotic to me. Probably should supplement with some probiotics after she finishes the medicine?

Debbie, I wasn't there but I think just the swab.


Her 2nd stool after breakfast today was almost normal. Mostly formed with a little soft serve ice cream consistency at the end.
No signs of any blood.

 Quote: Keith Jablonowski

Carol,
Switched cold turkey. If I am only gone for a day or two I prepare enough THK and RMB to last. This time I was gone for an extended period and though the wife is fine with me feeding raw, doesn't like to do it herself.
Once she seems back to normal I will wean her back onto her normal diet.

Ahhhh, I get it.....my hubby is the same way.

If it were me, I would skip her meal tonight and give raw in the morning.
But that is my preference.

 Quote: Carol Boche

Ahhhh, I get it.....my hubby is the same way.

If it were me, I would skip her meal tonight and give raw in the morning.
But that is my preference.

That would be my preference too. I would like to see one normal stool first, and I would skip the fat from the RMBs for a day or two, adding it back gradually.

In other words, I would coddle the upset system until it was back to normal.

For the future, even though I do not think this is the perfect way to use THK (which I think is wonderful as an emergency food or as a supplement to RMBs), you might consider having your wife feed THK with cooked meat (boneless) added to it when you are away.

You'll see that the the instructions tell you to use either, as long as you are adding meat only in the proportions they say.

(I know people who use THK as a gravy over mainly RMBs.... that would not be OK long-term over all cooked boneless meat. The THK's calcium wouldn't make up for a mainly-boneless-meat diet.)

A slightly off-topic mention about THK: I'm finding it to be a perfect transition to recommend to people who want to switch but are afraid..... they use THK as a gravy over their present food, gradually upping the THK and lowering the kibble. Then they gradually add the RMBs to the THK. Then they switch to RMBs with a THK gravy. It's a nice "insurance" for people who are not yet comfortable with raw feeding.

I always remind them to add their salmon oil and Vitamin E, of course.

LB lists the 5 types with little recaps of each one:
http://www.leerburg.com/honestkitchen.htm

So far, I have always recommended #2 or #3.

Sorry, Keith, for the short detour.

Back to Keith and Lucy. :>

 Quote: Carol Boche

If it were me, I would skip her meal tonight and give raw in the morning.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

That would be my preference too.

Me three!

Hey Keith, just wondering why you feed THK in addition to raw?

Hope Lucy gets better.

Richard,

It's mainly a confidence issue with with me knowing that I am feeding a diet that's balanced all around. She's also still a huge gulper and by feeding the THK there is less chopping for me to do.

I think she's well on her way to a speedy recovery.

Thanks for all the feedback everyone.