Yeah, I know, diarrhea is actually a quite common occurrance when they change their food (another thing: I asked whether it would be possible to give them a big bag of his usual food so that he doesn’t have to change and then change back again when he comes home, but they said ‘not possible’ …), it was more the over-all impression of a dirty, slightly thinner, and not entirely healthy dog we got back …
Btw, he wasn’t able to shake the runs since he came back, the vet’s meds don’t seem to have an effect either, any tips?? He seems o.k. otherwise, very alert, fit, friendly and playfull … Thanks, Xpet.
I think I saw stray dog post that yoghurt (spelling?) is good for that. I cannot find the post in question, so you should PM stray dog for the correct info.
Yes, I saw that too, somewhere in the Lazarus thread I believe. But probiotics are already included in the vet’s medication, and we didn’t want to give it to him in addition, maybe we should …
He usually gets very hard stool after chewing bones, they seem to absorb a lot of fluid or so, but the vet said not to feed him any bones for the time being, any comments? Thanks, Xpet.
Is it probiotics he’s getting or antibiotics? It’s usually a good idea to give probiotics when your pet is having antibiotics. I always have some at home in powdered form, but I’ve run out; otherwise I would have sent you some.
A great place to get some is B-Naturals.com. (If you do order, let me know, as I need some, too). Or you can use live, unswetened, natural yoghurt (many western ‘delis’ sell it - let me know eher you are and I’ll direct you to te nearest). The other alternative, although I’ve never tried it on dogs, is that yoghurty drink the kids all have. It’s called something like YouLeDoor or YangLeDoor or something sounding similar (excuse my Chinese/pinyin). I’ve used this for myself and others and it’s worked 80% of the time - even cleared up a nasty bout of food poisoning.
But make sure you have a god vet who’s testing for everything, as dogs can pick up some nasty diseases in kennels. Cardiovet on the corber of JianGuo/HePing always do extensive tests to find the problem, so, if in doubt, give them a try.
Hi, guys. The vet gave him probiotics to help him clear up or straighten out his intestinal system, he didn’t say anything about antibiotics. We decided to go with the meds until they’re done with (another day or so) and then try the yoghurt thing. We’re up in Tianmu, I’m sure I can find some life yoghurt in Wellcome, G&G, Wellman’s or Jason’s up here. I think the small “you ge” drinks for kids are always sweetened, so I’d rather not try that on him.
I read on an animal forum that a little bit of black tea (steeped for about 5 min.) in the drinking water helps, also that chicken & rice does the trick … anybody heard about that?
Thanks, Xpet.
Edit: and thanks for the Cardio Vet’s address, good to know there’s always a place to escalate things to …
Yeah, I didn’t think about that - the drinks being sweetened.
There are different types of probiotic. Do you know which kind the vet has prescibed for your dog? If it’s non-dairy, maybe yoghurt (dairy probiotic) would do the trick. I would ask the vet to be sure, though, in case there’s a good reason why (if) the dog is on non-dairy probiotic.
Does it have any other problems?
Vomiting
Dehydration
Loss of appetite
Abdominal pain
High fever
Lethargy
Bloody and/or watery diarrhea
If it has other symptoms, the dog may be ill; if not, it is probably just stress or something rotten it ate. But all the Web sites say that diarrhea should not last more than a few days (3 - 4 at most); if it does, it’s recommended to get the dog to a vet again.
Don’t know about chicken and rice. I’m not a big fan of rice, as it has no place in a dog’s diet (empty carbohydrates), but it might help diarrhea, so let us know what you find out.
Thankfully, he doesn’t show any of these symptoms, apart from a little decline in his overall fittness which we think we noticed, but we put that down to him being in a kennel for two weeks and not getting his usual three walks a day. He’s still fit enough though, plays around with the kids as usual etc. …
The vet said he looks to be in very good shape otherwise … we always knew he’s a very handsome lad!
When I worked at a vet clinic a few years ago, one of the things that was done (if no other syptoms were present) was to with hold food for about 24 hours to rest the intestines, and then feed easy to digest, bland foods like, chicken and rice and a little cottage cheese or yogurt (1-4 tbsp per meal) for a couple of days.
As for the Doggohome kennel, I took my dog there about a year ago for a week. They were freindly and helpful, and Finn really seemed to enjoy playing with the other dogs all day. He was in great shape when I returned (though he did climb right over the gate to see me when we got back!). They also let me pack his own food and treats for him. I used to live about a block away from the place and would walk past it everyday, and it always looked clean inside, too.
[quote=“Stray Dog”]So it doesn’t sound like your handsome lad has anything too serious.
Might just be, as TM suggests, stress from a change in his circumstances. How long has it been, now?[/quote]
That’s what worries me: it’s been almost three weeks now, with a couple of days about halfway through when we thought he was improving … will go to the vet again tomorrow or latest at the weekend.
[quote=“TD”]When I worked at a vet clinic a few years ago, one of the things that was done (if no other syptoms were present) was to with hold food for about 24 hours to rest the intestines, and then feed easy to digest, bland foods like, chicken and rice and a little cottage cheese or yogurt (1-4 tbsp per meal) for a couple of days.
[/quote]
TD, thanks, this sounds like a very good recommendations, better than just trying various different food-stuffs that might upset his system even further, we’ll discuss it and see whether we’re strong enough to do it for a full 24h … Thanks a bunch! Xpet.
Just wanted to follow this up quickly: we followed TD’s suggstion and reduced his food for 24 hours (we actually didn’t manage to not feed him at all, it seemed too cruel!) and it did the job wonderfully! Very soon after that his stool normalized so that we could go back to his normal feeding routing & amounts. Also saw that this approach is likewise recommended on StrayDog’s favorite pet health site Bnaturals, and as I say, it worked very well for us, thanks!!
Re, kennels: sorry, no info yet about the Yangmingshan kennel, but I just saw that the doggohome web-site is now down, so maybe they did more than just move … ?
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