FYI, don't let the vet tell you that a single poop sample is sufficient to test for giardia, or that a single 5 day dose of meds will work either. We went through this for over a year before I took matters into my own hands, and did a 5 day, then waited and did a 10 day round of generic Flagyl. Have not had the runs again except for "normal" runs like while on an exciting hike, since. I wish you the best of luck with this very frustrating issue.

Samantha, Kasey had this very issue for the first 1 1/2 years of his life too. Sometimes his poop would be normal for a couple days, then bam, back to loose again. Some days he would barf up the kibble, and some days not. But for the majority of days he had problems. I tried every single quality kibble I could find, including the expensive Rx kibbles with only 2 ingredients! Nothing worked. We did the Elisa giardia test several times with negative results each time, and even treated for giardia anyway.

I finally found this site 4 years ago, when he was 1 1/2 yrs old, and learned about raw. I switched cold turkey one day from kibble to chicken backs and some muscle meat, and within 24 hours his poops turned solid and he never threw up again. It was like a miracle! In the last few years I have tried giving him kibble a couple times on vacations because it was easier, and he reverted right back to loose poop and barfing.

I use Honest Kitchen Thrive on an occassional basis with the bones - I'll mix up 1/2 to 3/4 c. of Thrive and give him that and a chicken back. If I give him too much muscle meat, organs, honest kitchen, etc., and not enough bone, his stools will go soft too. So I've found that that bone is really big for him in staying normal!

We have an apartment sized fridge, and can barely fit our own meat products in the freezer. However, we did price a smallish chest freezer that could fit a good amount and it was within our price range. I've been looking on CL but I can only find them too big or too expensive.

Thanks for all the good info, folks. I'm going to sit down and do some research on the different suggestion tomorrow and see what I come up with.

This evening around 5 pm he went out and had a nice solid log of a poop. Two hours later it was liquid squirts. I don't even know how that happens. He didn't eat ANYTHING between those times.

I know how frustrating that is. Have they ruled out inflammatory bowel disease or anything like that?

I'd be talking to your vet (on the phone) about his plan pursue this problem. There is an established protocol for working up chronic, intermittent diarrhea. If no one will talk to you, find someone new.
Parasites, giardia, coccidia, whipworm, hookworm ---these you can rule out by giving medication. Flagyl is expensive in a big dog, but the rest of it is cheap--i.e. the medication to treat is cheaper than a bunch of diagnostic work.

Definitely look into the generic if you need to go with Flagyl. I don't remember the spelling, but it was something like Metrodonizole. I told the vet he can either write me a script to get a 5 day and then a ten day supply, or I will go somewhere else and get it. He agreed to write it. I know this is frustrating, hang in there.

I'm trying out the new dog food and giving it a month after the switch. If he has anything less than normal, I'll be in contact with the vet.

You can get generic Flagyl (sp?) online from fish medication websites. It's the same exact pill and dosage you'd get from the doctor, only the name on the bottle is different so it's cheaper.

Thta is good to know if its ever needed again.

Well we went through a bag of Diamond Naturals chicken and rice and he was doing great. I bought a new bag of the same stuff from the same store and now he's having diarrhea. This is pretty much the norm for him. He'll be fine until we get a new bag and then suddenly he's sick again and then he's fine.

We bought ourselves a chest freezer, and he's currently munching on frozen turkey wings right now. I'm switching him to raw. I'm tired of fighting with his gut.

 Quote: SamanthaTopper

Well we went through a bag of Diamond Naturals chicken and rice and he was doing great. I bought a new bag of the same stuff from the same store and now he's having diarrhea. This is pretty much the norm for him. He'll be fine until we get a new bag and then suddenly he's sick again and then he's fine.

We bought ourselves a chest freezer, and he's currently munching on frozen turkey wings right now. I'm switching him to raw. I'm tired of fighting with his gut.

What happened with the Flagyl?

Switching a dog who is in the throes of diarrhea to raw has many points against it, not least of which is the need to evaluate poops as you adjust bone/meat ratios.

He sounds so much like a dog with recurring giardia .....