Quote: Anne Jones

... It is also possible that at this point the dogs gut is so inflaimed that no matter what you feed his is going to have a problem. Is is possible to fast him for a day or 2? I would be more worried about the constant loose stool, more than his dropping a couple of pounds in the process of finding a food that works. You can put the weight back on him in the future. Also too much food can cause loose stool. .... I would maybe take a step back, fast a couple of days ....

 Quote: Niomi Smith

When you went to the home-made diet you said that you waited a week before switching back to kibble - did you wait for firm poops or just switched after a week? ... I agree that maybe his gut may just be extremely inflamed from all of the food switching and treatments - if I were in this situation I would resort back to the rice and boiled chicken gruel until i saw SOLID poops, even if it were more than a week. Once the solid poops have been achieved, THEN I would pick a new kibble, and slowly introduce over a 10 day period and split into a minimum of 3 meals a day.

Couldn't have said it better. No matter what triggered/triggers the diarrhea, the gut is inflamed now.

I would do exactly that (the soothing anti-diarrhea diet), starting today, with nothing else added until a history of several days' worth of log poops had been achieved.

I'd start with a 24-hour fast, too (with plenty of water, of course).

One thing this course will do (and it can be happening concurrently with re-done fecals, etc.) is exactly what Niomi is saying: soothe that inflamed gut.

I'd cook up some plain white rice (not instant or converted or anything) to a very soft, soupy, gruel. I'd add nothing but a little skinless white chicken poached in for palatability, and a spoonful of plain (not pie filling) canned pumpkin, if available, per meal. I 'd give frequent small meals of this (after the fast day).

If I had to continue past several days to get to perfect poops, I would. Even beyond that can be done safely if improvement is seen but perfect poops not yet achieved, with calcium supplementation (which I can help with if that becomes necessary).


Edited by Connie Sutherland (09/09/2010 03:51 PM)
Edit reason: add "24-hour fast"

I have not seriously considered raw. I do know the benefits, and I believe I know HOW to feed Raw, I just don't have the guts to switch, along with the concerns with the cost. I know that feeding raw can improve, and harden stools. I may have to go that route.

A fast is a good idea Anne, thank you. I had not done that since his rounds of metronidazole. (More on that in a min, trying to answer questions in order so I don't skip any!)

Koenig was on small, (4x daily) home cooked meals of overcooked rice and boiled chicken for 10 days. A small improvement was seen, but I know now that he seems to have random better semi-normal stools every few days. (Can't find any pattern!)

When I first got Koenig we did an in-house giardia test. Came back positive for giardia. Treated with a 10 day course of metronidazole. Also gave him Drontol, just as a precaution since he had not been wormed since being at the rescue.
A month later, he still had diarrhea. The metronidazole seemed to help, but not fully resolve.
Went to another vet (whom I previously worked for, she neutered the dog in May, and did bloodwork at that time) Did another in house fecal, and oddly enough it came back negative, but we send the stool off to Antech anyhow for a full spectrum check. It came back positive for giardia cysts, and coccidia. We treated with Panacur, and another 10 day course of Met, with Albon for the coccidia.
(like $300 at the vet right there. Ugh)

Since these treatments, he has had 2 clear fecal floats, that were taken 2 weeks apart.

His poops are never pale, or greasy in appearance. Just soft stinky poop.

I do know about the reoccurrence of this kinda stuff... including how difficult coccidia can be to treat. We live in the chronically damp environment of Seattle, and giardia can be a HUGE problem up here. Koenig does not have any access to standing water as we live in an apartment. All outside time is supervised.

Koenig has been on several protein sources. He has had Chicken, Buffalo, Duck, and Chicken again. (All switched gradually over the course of 7-10 days. I'm pretty good about introducing food slowly.) When I switched from home cooked back to raw I started the switch after 7 days, because I was not seeing an improvement.

I have not ever fed Orijen It may be worth a shot!

Koenig? Relaxed? HA! He's a 1 yr old DS!!! He's ALWAYS turned ON. No off switch on this guy. I don't think he's stressed though. He does have mild separation anxiety, but this is a very rare problem, as I don't leave him often.


After reading the suggestions any questions so far, and thinking about the way that I've fed him over the last several months I think I may need to just stop for a second!
I think I may need to fast Koenig for 2 days, and then start a normal chicken and rice home cooked diet, until I see normal poop. (Which I have never seen more then 2 days of) Once I see normal poop, slowly start re-introducing a chicken based kibble (Orijen?) over a slow time period waiting for solid poop after each increase in kibble as Niomi suggested.


Did I get everyones questions? How does that plan sound? Thanks for all the ideas everyone!

Hahah- Connie, I was on the right idea! Didn't refresh the page before replying.

"After reading the suggestions any questions so far, and thinking about the way that I've fed him over the last several months I think I may need to just stop for a second! ... I think I may need to fast Koenig for 2 days, and then start a normal chicken and rice home cooked diet, until I see normal poop. (Which I have never seen more then 2 days of) Once I see normal poop, slowly start re-introducing a chicken based kibble (Orijen?) over a slow time period waiting for solid poop after each increase in kibble as Niomi suggested."

Soupy overcooked rice in small meals, after a fast, yes.

"Once I see normal poop, slowly start re-introducing a chicken based kibble (Orijen?)"

No .... not until you have a few days' worth of perfect log poops.


Just want to add that by far the most common failures with anti-diarrhea (soothing) diets are adding stuff too soon and increasing the meal size too soon.

Feel absolutely free to update us on this thread daily, because truly, I believe (I know) that folks often start adding stuff the minute they see any improvement, starting the cycle all over again. Totally understandable, which is why I welcome you to post and receive daily encouragement here.

I wish I could count the number of diarrhea-PM threads in which I have said (or wanted badly to say) "Stop! Step away from the fridge!"

I kinda ment that... didn't write it down well! After I have a few days of NORMAL, desirable poo on the chicken and rice diet, then SLOWLY introduce kibble.

Suggestions on how much rice/chicken to feed a 80lb high energy guy? He's on the thin side as it is. (I like him thin, ribs easily palpable... but he is prone to dropping weight quickly) I realize that he's libel to loose some weight on this happy gut change- I'd just like to minimize it!

So much for the fast... he just snagged my 2 yr old's PB&J sandwich! Argh. He never does that. He must have heard me mentioning a 24-48 hr fast to my hubby. LOL.

On that fast idea- 24 or 48 hours? Both were mentioned. I don't mind doing 2 days if thats best, but I'll have to keep a CLOSE eye on him while the kids are eating! Luckily our other dog scarfs her food, and won't leave him a crumb.

 Quote: Kelly Byrd

So much for the fast... he just snagged my 2 yr old's PB&J sandwich! Argh. He never does that. He must have heard me mentioning a 24-48 hr fast ....

Oh yeah -- any of mine would be holed up in the food cupboard at the first mention of a fast ....

Thanks Connie!!!!!

Do you think I should add boiled chicken the first day or too, or just go with overcooked rice?

I'm not looking forward to this. My old GSD was on homecooked food the last year (he had liver cancer) and feeding a large dog boiled chicken and rice is a JOB, and I hate the smell of boiled chicken. Sigh. I guess it's better then picking up ice-cream poop several times a day though!!!!!

Isn't fasting a regular part of a good, balanced, raw diet? (kinda random, sorry!)