HELP! Rescued 5 month old won't grow or gain weight, and has random diarrhea.

[bett]

i never go by what the bag of food suggests as it is always too much food, and that can cause loose stools.
for starters i'd get a fecal done at the vet.
i'd also not allow stick eating, tho i doubt that has anything to do with his loose stools.

in addition, triflexis has a lousy reputation but i doubt that is the reason either.

have you tried over boiling rice, adding some boiled chicken, a small amount for the first meal and see how that goes. too much food isn't what he needs now. less is better. slowly, if that works, add some kibble into the mix, reducing the rice and chicken.

[Mr. Riggs]

i never go by what the bag of food suggests as it is always too much food, and that can cause loose stools.
for starters i'd get a fecal done at the vet.
i'd also not allow stick eating, tho i doubt that has anything to do with his loose stools.

in addition, triflexis has a lousy reputation but i doubt that is the reason either.

have you tried over boiling rice, adding some boiled chicken, a small amount for the first meal and see how that goes. too much food isn't what he needs now. less is better. slowly, if that works, add some kibble into the mix, reducing the rice and chicken.

We ended up cutting back his food to 3/4 of a cup twice a day after his last bout of diarrhea and his diarrhea has gone away.

A friend mentioned that a lot of vets have stopped selling trifexis due to health problems, but she also mentioned frontline causing problems as well. Do you have a dewormer/flea and tick that you trust and use?

A couple weeks ago, when he had his first bout of diarrhea due to changing his food without mixing it, we tried him on a chicken and rice diet. His stool went back to normal so I took out the chicken and slowly started to add his food in with the rice. I believe my boyfriend didn't finish cooking the rice all the way or he added too much dog food because he started having diarrhea again. At that point I thought there was something serious wrong and took him to the vet which gave no answers. Since they wanted to charge a lot for a full screen of parasite tests, I decided to try to just put him back on the original puppy food we had him on and he went back to normal stools until we gave him trifexis.

[Shelley]

Oh goodness, 3/4 cup of food twice a day is not nearly enough food for a 5 month old growing baby, no matter the calorie count on the food. My six week olds eat more than that, my 13 week old is eating 4 cups and treats, throughout the day.

Do you have confirmation that this puppy is 5 months old? Perhaps he is older and a mix, and has finished growing? It is not normal for a 5 month old to not grow or gain weight for weeks at a time, unless there is something seriously wrong. Your puppy needs a full work up and you need to stop messing with his diet. I would start with a thorough fecal exam, have them send it to the lab to test for giardia, since giardia commonly won't show up in an in house fecal. His immune system is most likely compromised with all the vaccines he has gotten while he is not healthy and strong. Good thoughts for the little guy.

[Woofie]

My opinion - get him OFF Blue Buffalo products - so many owners complain of major digestive problems on Blue Buffalo foods.

Agreed, 3/4 cup of food twice a day for a lab is NOT nearly enough food at 5mnths old; is it even enough at 5YRS old I wonder??

Find a food that is very bland, not super high in protein or fat and is geared for *all life stages* or growth.

Many members here state their labs do awesome on Purina One products; I'd seriously look into their foods before feeding another meal of Blue Buffalo.

And your dog IS trying to grow, thus the reason he's so skinny and hungry.....I'm dead serious, STOP Blue Buffalo. I don't care how good they might look on paper, numerous dogs across the country have become ill while eating their products.