ALWAYS something to consider, Bryan! Good catch and great post!

Too much food at once is probably the #1 diet cause for soft stool, rivaled only by adding in organ meat too fast.

Christy, ever tried three (smaller) meals instead of two?

These loose stool posts always sound just like Kasey when he was young. No matter what I tried, his stools were loose. Tried every single quality kibble and dehydrated food I could find, and still we had loose stools. We switched to raw in desperation when he was 1 1/2 yrs old, and 24 hours later he had his first solid poop! To this day, he's 6 now, if I don't feed lots of chicken backs, then here come the soft stools. I don't know if you've considered trying raw, but it sure worked for us.

 Quote: Bryan Simms

I don't know that this is your cause but it might be something to consider.

Bryan, this made a light bulb go off in my brain. I experimented yesterday by not mixing the dry kibble with the wet THK. I split them up: 2 cups of THK a.m. and 2 cups dry kibble p.m. I read somewhere the two foods may digest at different rates. However, it occurred to me as I prepared the THK food how much volume it was! I think we may be overfeeding her as if she's still a growing puppy. I'm going to try cutting her back to 1 1/2 C instead of 2 cups-and weighing it.

Connie--If that doesn't work I'll try the rice diet. Should we take another stool sample to the vet in case she still has giardia?


"THK isn't microwaved or cooked in any way in prep, by the way"
Connie, is it okay to just warm it up in the microwave for just a few seconds since it is coming out of the refrigerator?

 Quote: Lori Hall

I don't know if you've considered trying raw, but it sure worked for us.

Lori I have, on occasion, offered raw chicken or raw hamburger as a treat in the middle of the day-she looked at me as if I were crazy. She wouldn't touch it. She will only eat cooked meat. Does the dog need to develop a taste for raw meat?

 Quote: christy mascari

..... it occurred to me as I prepared the THK food how much volume it was! I think we may be overfeeding her as if she's still a growing puppy. I'm going to try cutting her back to 1 1/2 C instead of 2 cups-and weighing it.

Connie--If that doesn't work I'll try the rice diet. Should we take another stool sample to the vet in case she still has giardia?


"THK isn't microwaved or cooked in any way in prep, by the way"
Connie, is it okay to just warm it up in the microwave for just a few seconds since it is coming out of the refrigerator?

I would try the reduced meal size, see what happens. (I would do one thing at a time.)

Of course you can microwave it if you want, but you are paying for raw food that's carefully dehydrated at temps high enough to kill pathogens but low enough not to cook the food. Microwaving it completely undoes this.

Adding in some hot water (not boiling) and stirring it up would bring the food closer to room temp without microwaving it. *

Yes, if the smaller more frequent meals and the diarrhea diet fail to produce log poops, or if the poops get worse, regardless of whether I had had time to try the dietary experiments, I would talk with the vet about re-testing (or just treating) for giardia.




About raw: lots of dogs are suspicious of raw meat after a lifetime on commercial foods. There are many ways to introduce it to reduce the suspicion.

But I would not make the switch during a bout of diarrhea. A lot of the gauging of correct bone-to-meat relies on poop-watching, and poop is also the guide for whether you have added something (like a new red meat, or organ meat) too fast, and a lot of other things, too.

Ideally, I'd first want the dog to be producing the best poops he can, and I'd want a no-giardia report. JMO!

You mentioned not wanting to handle raw meat ..... well, that's not optional. I'm a long-time vegetarian too, so I get it, but I can tell you very truly that there is plenty of raw meat involved. And digestible bones, as Lori mentioned (she mentioned chicken backs, my favorite beginner RMB), are absolutely critical, so it can't be a matter of dumping stewing beef or ground turkey into a bowl. There's organ meat, too. IOW, there is no glossing over it: there is plenty of raw meat involved. (Of course, there are commercial raw diets, but they are even more spendy than THK, and also, with this dog, you wouldn't start with a full-on complete raw diet; you'd start with one item, like {again} chicken backs, so there's really no getting around it.)

I'm a long-time raw feeder, and I'm NOT trying to talk anyone out of what I think is the best diet for most dogs, but I'd hate for anyone to go into it thinking there might be a hands-off but still reasonably-priced way to do it.




*
BTW, I don't give hot water from the tap (or use it in people food or beverages, either) because water from the hot tap is far more likely to have leached heavy metal (like lead solder from old plumbing) from your plumbing pipes than cold water is. So I flush the standing pipe-water after it's been unused for many hours and, more importantly (IMO), I don't use hot tap water for consumption. It takes very little time to heat cold tap water to below-boiling (on the burner or in the microwave). In my house, in fact, it's usually faster than it would be to run the tap water long enough to get it hot.



All JMO!

Thanks Connie!

I may pick your brain down the road about feeding raw. Definitely not now.

My family teases me because I only allow the dog to drink Reverse Osmosis water. We are on a well, and have many farms near by, I have read our water analysis....I'm not even thrilled about bathing in that crap! Thanks for thinking of that though. I will quit microwaving THK, that makes sense.

I looked over the paperwork from the vet. Last Sept. when she took her last round of Panacure, he recommended a retest in 3 months...that would be now. So I will go ahead and do that to set my mind at ease even if she starts having solids.

One more gross question. Could the soft stool cause a build up in her anal glands?

I'm sure she got giardia from doggie daycare-which we discontinued permanently! (thanks to all of the wonderful advice from everyone on this site)

"Could the soft stool cause a build up in her anal glands? "

Yes, it can.

And conversely, if allowed to become infected, anal gland infection can also cause diarrhea. This dog in particular is one whose anal glands you want to keep a sharp eye on.


Is she scooting?

Has she had anal gland issues in the past?



"I looked over the paperwork from the vet. Last Sept. when she took her last round of Panacure, he recommended a retest in 3 months...that would be now. So I will go ahead and do that to set my mind at ease even if she starts having solids."

Excellent plan!



All JMO!




PS
Don't worry about getting step-by-step raw feeding help when the time comes .... this board is loaded with raw feeders of loooong experience and much knowledge.

http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pet-health-information/article/animal-health/anal-sac-disease-in-dogs/429

Wanted to second the concept of too much food leading to loose stool. I'd consider a trial of 5-6 meals a day of just a few tablespoons each, so that the total volume of food is about 1/2 to 3/4 of what the dog normally eats in a day. See what that does, perhaps over a weekend when it might be convenient.

After that, I'd do Giardia Rx and Panacur. I wouldn't test, I'd just spend the money on the Rx.Unless this is a huge dog, where the Rx is frightfully expensive.