Hello Everyone,

I've been reading the forums for quite a while, trying to follow advice for my boy.

I haven't had any luck.

My 16 month old Labrador seems to have an extremely sensitive stomach, or aniexty issues that cause diahhrea..I haven't been able to figure out which.

I tried the slippery elm bark recipes for three weeks with no results.

I've changed his food from Med-i-cal (chicken base) to Innova (chicken and turkey), and then to California Natural (lamb and rice) with no results in the last 3 months. I've just started a bag of Wellness Simple Solutions (rice and vension)- a new novel protein that he has not had before.

Randomly he seems to get projectile runs - He will have a solid bowel movement at 10pm, and then wake me up at 4am with the runs, he HAS to go outside..or will make a mistake. The next day he might have a hard stool again.

This has been going on since I moved into a new apartment building.

The vet has run all stool samples including giardia, coccidia, etc..

With the food changes, he is fine for about 2-3 weeks, and then this problem develops again, and I change foods (proteins) and he is fine for another 3 weeks.

I don't know what else I can do for him at this point.

Any suggestions?

Thank you for your time,

Sarah

Wow. I feel for you being on the food roller coaster is the pits! Well, I can only tell you my experience with Angel- hopefully others will chime in and you will be able to take all of our experiences and find something to work for your pup - I hope so. I started Angel on a limited Ingredient diet as she has allergies- we first thought a food change would rule out all food allergies -we noticed she got worse afterthe lawn was freshly cut so I began watering it down after a mowing and wipeing her with unscented baby wipes (on her feet and tummy) upon re entering the house after being outside. Th food coupled with the wipe downs and an ocasional prednisone seemed to be doing wonders. Well, this Sunday I thought I'd try adding a scoop ( 1 c) of Nutra max to her food to see if ashe could tolerate it. She could not. she broke out in a itchy rash so bad she has scratched a leison on her front leg. So- I've come to the conclusion that I will continue on the Natural Balance Limited Ingredient diet until the end of her life if need be. The point I am trying to make is your dog may just have a sensitive stomach and need to be on a very bland single ingredient or rather limited diet. You may also want to try canned pumpkin- ( NOT PIE FILLING but 100% pumpkin) for the runs. there are people on here that say it works wonders.

I know you said your vet ran a fecal sample. Problem with parasites is they can be incredibly hard to confirm through fecal. Sophie had giardia three times. The third time around after meds she was still sick. Ran another set of fecals and for the first time it showed that she had coccidia. It did not come up on her prior fecal. Talk to your vet about possibly treating one of the parasites based on symptoms.

What I did before Sophie's giardia was diagnosed (it took awhile the first time for us to get a giardia positive fecal even though she had symptoms for awhile) bland diet and slowly switched to normal kibble when she had good stools.

Also I woudl really recommend not switching food so often. It is likely not helping his sensitive stomach. Good luck and I hope your pup feels better soon!

Hi Sarah, welcome to the board. I'm sorry to hear that your baby is having problems. It might help you get some suggestions if you could provide more information.

How many stool samples did your vet check? Weeks or months apart?
Has he ever had any bloodwork? X-rays of his abdomen?
Does he get a monthly Heartworm preventative? with worm control?
Do you measure his food?
How many times a day does he eat? on schedule?
Does he get any edible treats or chews like rawhide?
Can he be eating anything he's not supposed to be eating (rugs, sticks, trash, animal poop etc.)
Does he have any other problems like scratching, biting, chewing his feet or scooting?
How is his appetite, skin and ears?
Does he get any other supplements or medicine?
Since you moved has his routine or schedule changed?
What does your vet say?

Thanks everyone for the quick advice...I've been giving him two tablespoons of pumpkin with his slippery elm bark twice daily. But he still has very loose stool :(

To answer your questions:

How many stool samples did your vet check? Weeks or months apart? Two, a couple weeks apart.
Has he ever had any bloodwork? X-rays of his abdomen? No blood work as of yet
Does he get a monthly Heartworm preventative? with worm control? Yes, Advantage Multi - applied monthly.
Do you measure his food? Yes - 1.5 cups twice daily. - he was also getting some EVO canned 95% food - Not anymore..trying to limit the diet
How many times a day does he eat? on schedule? Yes 7am, and 6:30pm
Does he get any edible treats or chews like rawhide? Yes, he was recieving wellbars (by wellness - limited ingredients) and all natural beef tendons, raw beef bones by Healthy Paws - but I've removed those from his diet as well - I don't believe in giving him rawhides
Can he be eating anything he's not supposed to be eating (rugs, sticks, trash, animal poop etc.) - I live in an apartment building, so he is walked on a leash always, and not allowed to sniff - So I don't think he is getting any of the above
Does he have any other problems like scratching, biting, chewing his feet or scooting? None of the above, although, with the runs he does seem to have lost weight, his coat condition is poorer, and he seems to lack muscle mass even though, he is getting the same amount of exercise.
How is his appetite, skin and ears? Appietite is fantastic, nice clean ears always, and good healthy skin
Does he get any other supplements or medicine? I have been giving him Prozyme Powder for digestion and nutrient absorbtion..But this was started after the runs occured.
Since you moved has his routine or schedule changed? No, I worked the same job, but just recently I have started school again.
What does your vet say? The only thing the vet suggests is a novel protein diet....or Medical GASTRO - (I dont want to feed the vet brands) this is why I went with California Natural, and then Wellness Simple Solutions.


Thank you for all the help so far....Keep it coming :)

i feel your pain. Cassie has a very sensitive stomach although not quite as bad as you are having. my sympathies. She used to have soft serve all the time. I added metamucil, prozymes and a suppliment called gastriplex to her kibble which all seemed to help.

I have had her on Wellness Lamb and Salmon with ok poops except if she runs around a lot, then its much runnier. so its partially exercise related.

also if she gets any rawhide or treats, it gets softer.

i may be crazy but im in the process of switching her to Wellness Core Ocean mix. i gave her 6 kibbles at lunch to see if she liked it and already her stool is softer. we'll see.

best of luck, i wish i had more to suggest. its my gut feeling that 4 am runs is infectious, not food related so i agree with a more careful check for coccidia and giardia.

So sorry your pup is having tummy problems. It is very frustrating. We had several fecal exams, over several months, with negative results, but finally giardia showed up. The vet sent the sample to a lab for further testing and also found e.coli. Emma was on a bland diet and prescription food for a couple of weeks while on medications. We very slowly transitioned her to a simple food for sensitive stomachs and added probiotic powder to her food. Once her stools were good, I noticed she had a softer one almost every night, so I cut down the amount of food each meal and all the stools became firm. I would continue testing for parasites. They are sometimes hard to find. Best of luck.

Hi there, I just wanted to add something a friend told us about our labs. We were told they can't digest turkey. This was after our first lab had pretty bad diarrhea after having some turkey. We had the same thing happen a few thanksgivings in a row, before we realized something was wrong. She was on a lamb/rice based food otherwise. That was our first lab. Our current lab, Ruthie, is doing pretty well on Royal Canin Labrador specific food. I wouldn't say it's perfect, but she's quite healthy. She had a really hard time when I tried her on Innova a year or two back. It was too rich for her. She seems great on chicken or lamb formulas. Also the suggestion for canned pumpkin is a very good one....they love it!

i have been told that pumupkin can be used both ways, for diarrhea and constipation. supposedly when giving for diarrhea then its only 1 tbls/day. i'm certainly no expert, however that was what a cust rep from natura foods told me.

just a thought....

First of all I love your forum name.. Very cool.

If this were my dog.... and you have changed and tried these foods....

Talk to your Vet about treating the pup for Giardia.. forget about the testing... It is epidemic in nature and will cause what you are going through. They can get it from just picking up sticks and yard debris.

Panacur is no more or less a dewormer (in this case a parasite) and very inexpensive to use. My pup got powder to mix in to the food for a few days...

Then some probiotic (good bacteria) after treatment to keep the reinfection less likely .

I agree that a round or two of Panacur might be a useful diagnostic tool. In case you are dealing with hookworms (their rapid life cycle makes them difficult to eradicate with monthly worming), perhaps timing it to fall mid-way between your Advantage Multi doses would be most helpful.

You mentioned stress, so if this doesn't help, perhaps you and your vet might explore the possibility of irritable bowel syndrome. http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/23312.htm&word=IBD There are a few dogs with this issue here on the board, and they had a heck of a time getting a diagnosis.

Good luck! I hope you are able to sort this out.

I can understand your frustration. Ernie has a sensitive gut and been through all sorts of foods. At Xmas the vets put him on rice only diet to settle him, then Hills perscription diet. He had nothing else and it helped.

One thing I learned the hard way is if you are trying new foods, it is to be just that food. Nothing else at all. Not a crumb of bread, or treat as these could be the cuprit.

Each dog is different and what works for one, may not for another. Maybe an elimination diet could help and slowly introduce another food.