Lithium

Roman is almost 2 year old and has never really had a long run of solid compact poops. He's always been in reletively good health and is up on all his shots and medication (heartworm..etc).

We've tried several foods for him from: Nutrience for puppies, Cannidea, Wellness Core, few others I don't remember off the top of my head and now on Orijin (for several months now).

He's been in the kennel for two weeks as we were on vacation and his poops are more on the runny/liquid side now but would not say he has diarrhea per say. He does not look discomforted in the house, never had any accidents indoors or even rushes to go relieve himself when given the chance. We will go for our normal walks without any sense or urgency and then 10-20 mins in he will go but it will be totally liquid.

His behaviour and energy levels are normal, I'm feeding him 1 1/2 cups of Orijin twice a day (8am and 5pm) and have tried giving him Pet Pectillin which doesn't seem to be doing much.

Any ideas on this?

dobermansrule

are the post-kennelling poops softer than pre-kennelling poops? or, are soft poops the norm for him? I think I read in your post that soft poops are the norm...

one constant seems to be you are feeding higher quality kibbles (good for you). However, it might be that the super premium kibbles are too rich for his system. Sounds odd but try downgrading the food a little.

You might consider taking a poop sample in to the vet to be checked for parasite or coccidia or giardia or something like that. The vet might recommend a round of metronidazole.

__________________

http://www.kemporama.com/wavs/howard_dean_short1.wav

Tess-a-boo

I agree with dobermansrule. If you haven't gotten him checked for parasites, try that first.

Otherwise, it sounds like his foods are just too rich - it's not uncommon in Dobes. Lots of DT'ers, including me, have had good luck with Purina Pro Plan (just regular Pro Plan or the Selects, which has more veggies & stuff in it). They have a sensitive skin & stomach formula; it's salmon & rice. Maybe try that for a bit?

__________________


Dancing Star's You Are My Sunshine, CGC, TDI

Lithium

Well I guess Roman saw what I was typing and decided to prove me wrong by puking twice on the carpet. Will make an appointment at the vet today and see what's up.

poconogal

I switched our 3 to Pro Plan Sensitive Skin & Stomach formula several weeks ago. They are doing fantastic on it. Our boy, Duke, (rescued in Aug. '07)was on Canidae for almost a year and was doing well until their formula changed. He used to have soft poops all the time with other foods. We especially noticed the soft poops with foods that have many ingredients, those foods seem to be too rich for him. The Canidae he was eating was Lamb & Rice, with just a single source of protein. The Pro Plan Sensitive has very few ingredients and no wheat or corn. Our 2 girls are recent rescues (July '08) and they were a mess, their coats were dull and felt like straw. You should see them now, their coats are thick, soft and shiny, and no soft poops anymore either.

Like others have said, you may want to have your vet check for worms, or any other types of parasites. If all is clear, maybe a switch to Pro Plan will work for your boy.

dobermansrule

something else to consider - two weeks in a kennel, away from home and away from his pack can be very stressful on a dog. A dog expresses a lot of stress through the gut. How long ago was it he was kenneled for 2 weeks?

__________________

http://www.kemporama.com/wavs/howard_dean_short1.wav

Lithium

I picked him up this past Friday and he's been with me everyday so far. His morning poop today was pure liquid so will try to get him to go before we see the vet and take a sample for them.

Lexxsmom

sounds like maybe the food is too rich for him combined with a stress event. Definitely go with what the others said and get him checked by the vet asap, just to rule that out.

Also, of course make sure that he has access to LOTS of cool, clean fresh water all the time if hes having an upset tummy...

__________________
Leanne and Lexx


Dragon Slaying Dobermans Incorporated, member #001, President.
" I don't need to sit for the cookie, I hunt dragons all day dammit!"
Lexxington's blog: http://lexxslife.blogspot.com/

cbresnah

Lithium,
We have the same problem with our red dobie "Guss". Since he was a pup we have had nothing but runny stools, describing everything you describe, some vomitting here and there. He has been on 3 meds 3 times. The runny stools, just begin to form ever so slightly, at the end of the meds. It has been nothing but a cycle rerunning over and over again. Guss is on a potato and duck food with no results for the better. Time to go back to the vet for us also.

Lithium

Well the Vet didn't find anything in his stool. They gave him some meds (Apo-Metronidazole) which he is still on and also some bland food (6 cans of Mc Gastro) which we just finished up last night.

He hasn't vomitted again since the time of my last post and his stool is now firmed up although he only goes once a day now instead of his normal 2 times (sometimes 3). Will see if that keeps up once he's finished his meds. The doc suggested I add fibre into his meals in the form of Metamucil powder, will see how he does in the next while and go from there.

Thanks for everyones suggestions and help!