My 7.5 month old Rottweiler is having some stomache issues. 4 days ago he started getting diahrea, which he gets every once in a while from either change in amount of kibble we give him, or too many treats, or if he somehow gets into something. This diarhea was much worse than other times he's had it.. it was explosive and all liquid (like water) but obviously smelled terrible. He did this in the evening 4 days ago, then again the following morning, so we took him to the vet that afternoon. The vet gave him (2) shots which were supposed to stop the diahrea and vomitting (he vomitted his kibble the night before, but ate it again before I could clean it up. He will vomit if he drinks too much water and then burps sometimes). He also had me leave with (2) types of antibiotics, which I've given him over the last 2 days.
The day after we came home from the vet he ate normally again, but no pooping. The following day he had a good hard poop, and then today he had half a hard poop and then diarhea again. What could this be?
I'm going to take him back to the vet again tomorrow if this persists. Should I have some ideas one what it could be going in there? We recently changed to this vet because we didn't like our previous one.

He's been eating normally the entire time, but his energy seems low. He's drinking plenty of water and hasn't vomitted since that first time 4 days ago. I was a little afraid that he swallowed a twig or bark or something, but he did have a good poop yesterday and half today. Thoughts?

Thanks,
Ryan

What was the vet's diagnosis?

What were the injections?

What are the antibiotics? You're still giving them, right?



eta
By "hard poop," you mean good firm logs or hard marbles with straining?

The vet told me that we could give him the antibiotics for a couple days and give him "bland" food such as cooked rice. If it doesn't fix the problem to come back for an xray to make sure he didn't swallow anything. I mentioned that he eats sticks sometimes, which I discourage. The vet seemed interested in that and wanted to do an xray. I told him I would rather wait to see if the antibiotics help.
Maybe I should have just gone with getting the xrays? I'm a little hesitant to go with all of the vets requests because of stories I've heard about vets just trying to make a buck. Xrays would be $110 I believe, but even without the xrays the bill was $150. I even turned down the special food that he wanted to sell me because it was a bland food. The first ingredient was corn. This is when he said I could cook him some rice instead. Would an Xray be the next logical step?

I dont have the antibiotics in front of me, but I'll look them up and post exactly what they were when I get home. One of them was 3 pills twice daily for 2 days, and the other was 2 pills twice daily for 7 days. We're still giving him the 2nd type.

Yes by hard poop I meant good firm logs.

Do hard marbles mean something different? I ask because he's had this in the past.

Hard marbles are a sign of constipation; when I see them I add a little extra muscle meat to their raw diet.

You saw regular length logs today, then? Then "followed by diarrhea," meaning what? Pudding or water?

The parts that I would be most concerned about are (1) if that was water poop following the log and (2) the lethargy.

Also, please do read the antibiotics name and the directions. Maybe Dr. Betty will see this, or Will, but I personally don't think I know of an antibiotic protocol that's just a couple of days. Can you post back with the name of it and what the label directs? Also, maybe we can help with side effects (like nausea) which might be making him quiet/low-energy.

But yes, an x-ray would be the next logical step, IMO.

I'm not a health professional.

Was a fecal test done?

This may be unrelated, but when my female had explosive diarrhea like that, it ended up being Giardia. The first fecal didn't catch it, and upon a second float test, Giardia was found.

Just thought I would mention this, but you also had vomiting.

I hope your boy feels better soon!

Thanks for the information so far. The medicine he's been taking are listed below. The Bayril Tabs are done, but we're still giving the metronidazole.

Metronidazole 500mg - 1 tablet twice a day for 7 days
Baytril Tablets (enrofloxacin) - 3 tablets orally twice a day for 2 days.

Since this morning he ate twice (1 cup twice) and hasn't pooped yet. When I let him out he pees and then wants to come right in. He's still a bit lethargic, but will lay there and chew a bone, or grab his tug toy and bring it to me to play.. so the lethargy isn't terrible. The diahrea is what I'm mostly worried about.

My dogs (especially when I had a kennel of working Jack Russells) tend to get something almost every fall. The whole group would go through something pretty similar to what you are describing. I think it's a dog "flu" similar to the one I'm dealing with myself today. The other thing I've considered is that there is some sort of mold that activates at this time of year.

I'm fairly new to large breeds, but both my German Shepherd and my Mal have a tendency to intestinal problems. Talking to a friend who has a lot of experience in GSDs, I found that she see's runny poop at the end of a normal one fairly often in her dog when he is healthy. Sometimes when the dog isn't well, we tune in and notice details that have blown by us in the normal course of things, but which aren't actually a problem.