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

[Mr. Riggs]

A little over a month ago, I rescued what was supposed to be a 5 month old, not neutered black lab. A little back story: one woman paid for this guy, had him for what I assume to be a few months and decided she couldn't handle a puppy. The next owner had him for about a week, said that he had constant diarrhea and was tired of trying to figure out what was wrong since she had a newborn baby as well. She said whenever she gave him chicken and rice or pepto bismal that everything went back to normal. A friend of the last owner got me in contact with the woman and we decided to rescue him.

The day we got him, we took him to get his first round of DHPP and also Rabies vaccinations because the previous owner had no idea what kind of shots or care he had received. We were not provided with any of his previous food so we started him on Blue Buffalo puppy breed, the blue bag. He had no issues of diarrhea for the three weeks we had him on it. I ran out and decided to buy the Blue Buffalo large breed puppy food thinking it would be the same formula and wouldn't cause any problems. He started having diarrhea about 4 days later with what looked like mucus in it. I put him on a strictly steamed rice diet for 32 hours and his stool went back to normal. I slowly started to add the puppy food to the rice and it was okay for a day or so. I believe my boyfriend didn't finish cooking a batch of rice all the way and added too much dog food and he started getting diarrhea again. At that point I decided to take him to the vet. He got his second round of DHPP and Bordetella. We gave the vet all of the back story and they had no clue as to what could be wrong. She suggested we try a bland dog food or do expensive tests on him for intestinal issues or parasites. We decided against both of those and instead just bought another bag of the Blue Buffalo puppy breed, the blue bag again. His stool went back to normal, other than going about 4 times a day and it was full of sticks as well (he's obsessed with finding sticks and eating them.) A day or two ago we gave him Trifexis and he just started having diarrhea again.

He has been 33 lbs since the day we got him. He is skin and bone and hasn't gained weight or lost weight, and as far as I can tell, he hasn't grown any. He doesn't seem to be lethargic, although he doesn't run as much as my 1 year old Lab mix, he does run and does not excessively sleep. He is always hungry, although he does inhale his food. We got him a slow-feeder bowl but it still doesn't seem to slow him down.

He seems to be very happy, always wanting to cuddle and looks healthy if he was supposed to be this size, but I know that he's not. Does anyone have any clue as to what could possibly be wrong or what we can do to try to figure out what is wrong and cure it? I believe in having dogs vaccinated but don't like the way vets try to charge us outrageous amounts for playing guessing games with my babies so I prefer to try to do home remedies.

[colding]

33 lbs seems awfully small for a lab. Maybe he's mixed with a smaller breed. In any event, you need to get that diahrrea under control. If he's doing well with the BB, I would just keep him on that. How much/how often are you feeding him? Overfeeding can result in runny pooh.

[Mr. Riggs]

We are feeding him with the suggested amount on the bag. We are giving him a cup and a half twice a day. We don't know what is causing the diarrhea because he just randomly started having it again yesterday, but it could have been from the dewormer we gave him.

[emma_Dad]

What it says on the bag is suggested Emma was on BB Freedom puppy and she was eating 3 cups a day plus treats and weighs 59#. I would cut the food down a little bit every meal.

[Labradorks]

The tests may be expensive but you should rule out parasites. Otherwise you're never going to get to the bottom of things.

[Sam I Am]

You need to test him for giardia and coccidia. The regular stool checks often miss it, and regular dewormers don't work on them, because they're not worms, but a different type of parasite that's very common.

[Maxx&Emma]

You need to test him for giardia and coccidia. The regular stool checks often miss it, and regular dewormers don't work on them, because they're not worms, but a different type of parasite that's very common.

^^This! Testing for parasites, etc isn't that expensive nor is the treatment.

As for this guy's size is it possible his original owner wasn't taking the best care of him and feeding properly? This can cause some stunted growth. The diarrhea issues are obviously causing even more issue. Once you can get that under control I think he will start to grow. Poor little guy, thanks for rescuing him! I love your avatar, he is precious!

[Mr. Riggs]

What it says on the bag is suggested Emma was on BB Freedom puppy and she was eating 3 cups a day plus treats and weighs 59#. I would cut the food down a little bit every meal.

You need to test him for giardia and coccidia. The regular stool checks often miss it, and regular dewormers don't work on them, because they're not worms, but a different type of parasite that's very common.

I gave him 3/4 of a cup of food tonight and he had normal bowel movements again! Could parasites still be present if he doesn't have constant diarrhea?

^^This! Testing for parasites, etc isn't that expensive nor is the treatment.

As for this guy's size is it possible his original owner wasn't taking the best care of him and feeding properly? This can cause some stunted growth. The diarrhea issues are obviously causing even more issue. Once you can get that under control I think he will start to grow. Poor little guy, thanks for rescuing him! I love your avatar, he is precious!

I'm not used to getting puppies, my whole life I've rescued dogs that are 1-2 years old. I didn't know if growth could be stunted by lack of care or if only something intestinal would cause that problem. But like I mentioned, the first three weeks we had him there was no diarrhea or any signs of anything wrong...

But he really is such a sweetheart! He has a heart of gold and I can't imagine a baby like him going through 4 different homes. That's why I feel so bad that there might be something wrong with him. I just want him to have a happy and healthy life.

[Mr. Riggs]

Someone else suggested to get him tested for EPI. Is that still a possibility if he hasn't lost weight, but hasn't gained weight either?

[Tanya]

There two threads, maybe a Moderator can merge them?
HELP! Rescued 5 month old won't grow or gain weight, and has random diarrhea.

Really step 1 is a basic fecal, with maybe giardhea. That one can cause intermittent issues. it's the simplest and cheapest first step. From there depending on the results you can either dig deeper (foods, other tests) or you may have an answer.

I wouldn't panic over him not gaining weight - if he hasn't lost any. Is he getting only kibble or does he get many extras? treats, table food…?

Many members have had issues with BB here (it not working for their dog) and it may be very rich compared to what the pup was eating before.