Hi guys,

here s my first post in the forum. it s a shame that this is how m starting my journey here with you.

My Karly is a 4.5 months old GSD, i got him from a kennel that breeds champion German GSDs a month ago now.
Ever since he s been here, he s had soft stools and mushy diarrhea (greenish all along). He is very skinny, i can feel all his ribs like a washboard. He was barely eating his royal canin dry food. I thought it was because he was getting used to his new location and waited 5 days. At some point, Karly lost weight 16.4 to 15kgs in a week and was very lethargic, vomited a bit and had water diarrhea. He did not have fever though.
Vet gave him a Giardia medication and flagyl and made me put him on a bland rice and chicken diet with pup vita-pet tabs. The thing is that although karly got better and is very energetic, his stools are still extremely soft and mushy, still greenish. After i read about your all natural diet, i decided to stop him the rice and give him boiled chicken breast (not raw, still need to convince the family that got all crazy on me) with some carrots and olive oil, hoping that Karly's diarrhea was because of the rice present in both the bland diet and royal canin.

Vet took a blood sample 1st time i took him there and suggested that he might have pancreatic enzyme deficiency. Test turned out inconclusive but vet supposes he doesnt have it because of the energy he has. I walk him around 45mins in the morning at 7am and another 45mins at 5pm, along with some 15mins walk so we can go to the bathroom. Yesterday i took him to the kennel for a visit and realised that his brother (who is supposedly is beeing fed on royal canin) is double his weight and looks soo healthy.
Breeder tells me that i should revert back to royal canin and "not worry because mushy diarrhea is normal, and not diarrhea", he s like they just have different body types but i just cant believe it.

Karly eats big portions (14oz of chicken twice a day) for 4 days now – after i stopped the rice, and doesnt seem to be filling in; stools are smaller and much darker but still mushy and pudding like. his energy is very good though.

I want to switch to raw but not informed well about it to make the move still.
I really dont know what to do. should i revert back to royal canin and see if things go well? or start him with raw food?( doesnt starting raw would mean it would be so hard on him to go back to raw?)
most importantly, should i wait and see if the chicken alone will help get the stools firmer? – cause i feel chicken alone with some veg is not a balanced diet...
should i mix dry and the chicken (not raw) together so he starts getting used to dry again by the time i do my research and start raw in a couple of months?

I know i m bombarding you with questions but things havent changed for a month and i m panicking bigtime.
I really need your advice because i feel that they re all buffoons here and dont seem to know anything about anything. Everyone is so calm about it, it s like they dont care at all. I just want what s best for my puppy, stop his diarrhea and get him to a healthy weight.

Impatiently awaiting your reply,
Thanks so much again,

All the best,
Michel


Update (wanted to post the latter around 4-5days ago) :

karly ate all his royal canin yesterday and had less mushy but still greenish color loose stools.
he didnt want to eat canin today so removed the bowl and waiting till 8pm.
i started giving him a deworming medicine called Dolthene on sunday (i need to give it to him for 3 days)

i had another opinion from a vet who wants me to finish dolthene, fast him for a day then give him flagyl and lomotil for a week. Isnt this going TOO FAR!?

karly s energetic, still very skinny though.

...

awaiting ur replies guys.

I read through your post twice and still have a hard time figuring out what all this pup is getting right now.

Is he eating chicken and rice or Royal Canin? And what medications is he taking right now?

I went through the same thing with my pup a few months ago. We narrowed it down to overfeeding. I fasted him for a day and then started with very small portions at a time- like 1/4 cup of food at a time. As long as his poop was good, I slowly increased the portions.

Even though Royal Canin isn't very good, its specifically formulated to create firm stools. So my gut feeling is to start with the small portions and see what happens. Whether it be chicken and rice sludge or the Royal Canin. If you are toying with the idea of raw, you should probably make that decision one way or the other now so that we can decide how to proceed.

I know your pup is skinny and you really want to see him gain weight, but food won't do him any good if its flying right through him. Small portions are hard to do when you want to see meat on their bones, but it could really help.

That's just my advice. There are many many people who are more informed that can help you out here.

 Quote:

Vet took a blood sample 1st time i took him there and suggested that he might have pancreatic enzyme deficiency. Test turned out inconclusive but vet supposes he doesnt have it because of the energy he has.

For something like this I'd want a conclusive test result to either pursue or rule out.

I'm having trouble following the post, too.

I have a question for the puppy people. Can't green, loose stool signify infection?

This doesn't sound as much of a food problem as it does a health problem.

Still, clarify what the dog is eating. Getting it right for puppies is pretty darn important.

I would find a food and feed it until you figure out the problem. Boiled chicken and rice is not a diet to keep a puppy on for any length of time.

Worry about switching food, raw or another kibble, after you figure out what is wrong with your dog.

Some of the grass mine will graze on will give a bit of a green tint. But Michael, you look to have a bit of "puppy" knowledge, previously undisclosed.

Michael, I'm so used to seeing pics of your baby on your sig, I almost fell out of my chair when I scrolled down and saw those boo- I mean BLUE eyes!

Thanks so much for all the replies sorry for being all over the place...

- i stopped chicken and rice. (did that for a week) = very loose green mushy stools
- switched to chicken and carrots (5 days) = loose VERY dark greenish stools
- switched back to royal canin (what was being fed in keenel when i got him) after 2 doctors and kennel told me to. ( since yesterday) = firmer (but still soft) and greenish stool

medication he s on now:
- Dolthene (dewormer): for 3 days (2nd day today)

one vet s like it s a intestinal flora pbm:
he said if stools dont get better he needs to be fast for one day then back to Royal canin with Flagyl (3x a day) and Lomotil. it s supposed to stop the stools and get his flora to normal.

steve i dont let him touch grass.. although he was tearing it up and acting all crazy around dirt wanting to eat it around a week ago (he was still on chicken and rice then)

Ill talk to the vet to try to hopefully rule out Pancreatic enz deficiency. the thing is he s very energetic. shouldnt that be enough to rule it out considering he s definitely getting energy from absorbed nutrients?

ps i might be overfeeding... is 800grms of chicken is a lot for a 16.5kg pup? as for what he s eating now, i m aiming for 2 cups a day, although he ate only 1.25cup today (half the portion suggested on the pack)

thanks guys

extra info dunno if it matters:
i was bearly adding any carrots (chopped) to the chicken but i could clearly find them again in the stools.

 Quote: michael_wise

I have a question for the puppy people. Can't green, loose stool signify infection?

stools have "farty" smell to them .. i cant really tell if it s infection or not . he doesnt have any fever and he s pretty energetic.

should i go with a stool sample and check it out?

When you say you are shooting for 2 cups a day- are you feeding that all in the same meal? How many times a day is he eating?

In regards to taking in a stool sample, you HAVE taken them a sample already, right? I'd hate to see them prescribing all of these meds without even looking at the stool.