Hey all, I have a 13 month old large breed puppy. He eats Taste fo the Wild, and takes a gluc/chond/hyaluronic acid supplement. He has had two sever bouts of diarhea in the last year, that the vet gave antibiotics for, he said he saw a little bacteria. This last time, I gave him two weeks of flori-form form the vet's office. He doens't seem to have belly issues, but his stools are often not as firm as they should be. He has very little gas, or audible stomash upset.

He does eat a lot of grasses that grow as decoration by the porch, and he loves to eat dirrt, etc.

I have gotten a couple recomendatiosn from my breeder group, Perfect Form and Prozyme. They sound like good products.

I have been looking around a bit and am trying to find a capsule that is good, without a bunch of yukky ingredients like you see in some capsules. he eats dry food, although I am not opposed to some wet every day if that is what I need to do to get a good supplement into him.

Just wondering what other products were being used successfully. Also wondering if I should be going for a combo enzyme, probiotic?

Thanks, Julie

The 2 bouts: How severe? Water or pudding?

Tested for Giardia? Worms? What else?

Is the grass he was eating far from car exhaust and no chemicals applied? What grass is it?

Is he kept from eating dirt?

How many meals per day?

Have you fasted him and re-started with smaller meals to see what happens? Has he had the bouts of diarrhea only on TOTW (a good food but not agreeable to every dog)?

Does he get unsweetened unflavored yogurt?

How many poops out of, say, ten, are perfect logs? Are the others unformed or semi-formed or what?

Previous bouts were pudding and water.

Grass is clean except for being near a deck, which I feel like all treated wood is toxic. But we are totally organic other than pressure treated woods. I have a lot of allergies.

he is kept from eating dirt as much as possible, but he still gets a bite here and there.

I am actually still feeding him threee times a day. I only work two days and I don't mind it, although I keep thinking I should get him to two.

I have not fasted him. Thought maybe I should. he has only eaten TOTW since I got him, all three flavors. Our vet suggested dropping him to one flavor and seeing if he is allergic to one ingredient, the main protein. But he also suggested I buy him Science Diet also, so ??? Not even going there.

I give him Vanilla SOy yogurt maybe twice a week. I gave him yogurt every day as a puppy and the breeder said too much for a young puppy.

Maybe half are perfect formed. other than that, they are semi-formed if they are not perfect, usually, occassionally no form. Not often. We have horses, and although he is not allowed in with them at all. One will chase dogs. He has gotten a hold of manure at different times, and that will give him the runs. But we are very picky about making sure it stays out of the way.

I also give him pumpkin every now and then if I think he needs it, but this time the vet said he had an irritated stomach so that made it worse.

Has he been tested for Giardia? Worms? What else?


How is his body condition? Is he trim but well-maintained?


PS

You found a vanilla soygurt with no sweetening? What brand is it?

I agree with your reaction to the vet's food suggestions.

I am a huge fan of B-Naturals (www.b-naturals.com) products and their Digestion Blend is no exception. I really stumbled onto their products when my GSD has surgery years ago and I started her on Immune Blend.

The same dog had a history of digestive upsets and through testing we discovered she had very mild EPI and was suffering from a Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) at the times her symptoms were at their worst. She was on antibiotics long term, given the supplements, and switched to a raw diet. I continue to supplement with the Immune and Digestion Blends at half the recommended dosage per Lew Olson who is affiliated with the company. Grace is in fantastic shape now at almost 9 years old and I couldn't be happier with the changes we made.

Good luck getting to the bottom of your pup's problems...

I unfortunately wasn't along to the vet on the day he did the stool sample(working), but he and I talked some yesterday when I took the other dog in for HW and yearly exam. He had done worms and bacteris for sure, and I was under the impression he had also done giardia, but on second thought, I ought to call and make sure exactly what was done. Only a little bacteria showed up.

he is in great shape, not too light or too heavy, growing like a weed, but maintaining a nice waistline since day one.

Still waiting on this mornings poop. :-)

I am going to look up the symptoms for giardia again, but wouldn't they be pretty severe? Not just a mild flare-up twice in a year?

And thanks Melissa, I will check out their website. I know I want some kind of digestive thing, just not sure which one yet. J

 Quote: julie sloan

.... I am going to look up the symptoms for giardia again, but wouldn't they be pretty severe? Not just a mild flare-up twice in a year?

There can be (and often this is the presentation) a long-term, low-grade giardia infection that when there is physical or any other stress flares up.

"I ought to call and make sure exactly what was done."

Please let us know. We can walk you through a protocol for determining whether the particular food or the size of the meals is a problem, but because it's so intermittent, I'd want all the fecal tests done.

Just to be clear, is he having any other symptoms?

I'm going b to pick up scripts for HW tomorrow. I'll ask. But back to the original question. ANy recomendations on supplements?, aside from Melissa's? I would like to get an order in for something, no matter whether he got two bacteria infections in a year, or has some other issues, and was hoping for some tried and trues.?

And no he doesn't have any other issues, other than that he has had two bactierial infections this year, and has slightly soft poop fairly commonly.