GSP diarrhea for a month

[jhgooldy]

My 5 month old GSP has had loos stools for about a month now. Sometimes they are more formed and other times it is full out liquid but his stool is always an orange/brown color. He previously had nice firm dark brown stool. He has been checked for worms and has none. He acts completely normal with no lethargy or appetite change. We have fed him Dr. Tims Kensis since the day we got him so there has been no dietary changes. He has been gaining wait as normal. He is now 37 lb at 5 months.

My Vet said that it is not uncommon to find loose stools in high energy breeds like GSPs and not to worry. He advised me to add some pumpkin to his food which has not changed anything.

Has anyone else had this problem?

[ezzy333]

Cut the pup back on the amount of feed you are feeding. I would skip a day and then go back to half of the current amount and then increase the amount very slowly.

[birddog1968]

If cutting back doesn't firm him up I always keep Tylan powder on hand.

I'm not sure if there is a dog flu going around but I've had some loose stool issues in all 4 of my dogs this spring. We are always out running or hunting...three or 4 days of some dilute Tylan (antibacterial/antibiotic) cleared them right up.

[Sharon]

I'd see the vet and start with a check up first then ....

I see dog flu alerts here and there in USA:

Are you in one of these locations?

https://www.google.ca/search?sourceid=n ... lu&tbm=nws

[SubMariner]

Cut the pup back on the amount of feed you are feeding. I would skip a day and then go back to half of the current amount and then increase the amount very slowly.

In addition to the amount the dog is fed, It could well be that the food is a little "too rich" for him. Cutting down on the amount is very logical.

If after a vet visit & cutting down on the food still yields no answers, perhaps the dog has become intolerant of one of the ingredients in the food. At that point I would consider changing.

[MikeB]

I agree with cutting back the food and see what happenes.

You may not have changed the brand or formula of food but have you changed the amount of food your feeding before the loose stools started. A growing pup will certainly need a little more food each month to maintain weight. In order to maintain weight many owners can easily over feed a young pup. Many GSP's will be very thin and can't gain weight well with out using digestive enzymes with each meal. I have seen adults eat 6 cups of food a day with cow patty stools and won't gain weight. Adding Prozyme to each meal the dog started gaining weight and only needed 3 cups of food a day to maintain perfect weight and had a great looking body condition and coat. Many breeds have poor digestive systems not saying yours does or that GSP's do but I know that digestive enzymes really work well for most dogs that are hard keepers as they say.

Do you feed once or twice a day? Free feed? How much are you feeding at each meal? Do you measure the food with a measuring cup.

[shags]

If cutting back on his feed and adding pumpkin doesn't help, ask your vet about putting him on a course of metronidazole. Orangey colored stools can indicate a lack of balance among beneficial and bad bacteria in the digestive tract. I had a similar situation with one of my guys and my vet told me that sometimes dogs can get an overgrowth of "wrong" bacteria high up in the gut. The metronidazole (Flagyl) can help with that. Sometimes giardia is hard to pick up in a fecal float, but the meds will treat that, too. My dog's stools improved within a couple days on the drug.

[sknabnoj]

Do you know if something is stuck in the intestine? Or maybe folded over? That happened to my gsp... It was awful.

[claybuster_aa]

Maybe try giving some acidophilus (probiotic) orally until to get things back to normal. It also maybe possible you caught a bad batch of food with some traces of salmonella. Things should clear up given some time and the probiotics should also help firm up stools.

[RickB]

Keep an eye on it. Everything that everyone said is solid (sorry for the pun). My dog has Inflammatory Bowel Disease, so I am too well acquainted with the loose stools. Just a couple of things to add/consider:

1) pumpkin. Performance foods just do not have a lot of fiber. This is why folks are suggesting pumpkin...for the fiber. I find metamucil easier to deliver. I mix it with some water to make a sludge and mix that sludge over the food.

2) tylan powder. Stuff can work, but it is very bitter tasting. You wind up having to mix it with rich food to hide the flavor. And rich food can be a reason for the squirts in the first place.

3) Metronidazole. Vets prescribe this stuff because it is an anti protozoic AND it has the side effect of firming up. Problem is, the stuff is only ok on fixing protozoan infections (like giardia).

4) Giardia: A lot of dogs carry this parasite, only a few are affected. The bug is very hard to detect as eggs are only occasionally dropped in the feces. And they are very very small. You can get stuff over the counter to get rid of Giardia. Called Safe-Guard. You get a package and you have 3 doses (1x a day). Problem is, 3 days isn't long enough...you kill living giardia, but it doesn't kill the eggs. If you give it for 6 days, you'll be golden. Mostly safe, so I'd give it even though there is no report of parasites, since they are so hard to see. Peace of mind.

Rick

[birddog1968]

I don't try and feed Tylan as said it doesn't taste good. I mix a small amount with water and use a needle-less syringe to squirt in the mouth......

[dog dr]

I would have your vet (or a different vet) do some more diagnostics and then give you a recommendation, instead of just throwing some random meds at the dog at the advice of folks who may or may not know what they are talking about. Not saying the vet is always right, but they should have a little more working knowledge of the dogs physiology and how the drugs work than a forum on the internet. No offense guys, I know your trying to help, but some of your advice on here is just plain wrong as far as vet medicine is concerned.

[birddog1968]

Fair enough.....and sometimes vets are flat wrong.....seen it twice this week including one dead dog.

[ezzy333]

I don't try and feed Tylan as said it doesn't taste good. I mix a small amount with water and use a needle-less syringe to squirt in the mouth......

Tylan is an antibiotic that is used almost exclusively for respiratory ailments in my experience and sure wouldn't be the drug of choice for anything else that I am aware of. I have always leaned towards Doc's answer when it comes to medications and for some unexplained reason think a vet may be place to go for medical advice.

Ezzy

[birddog1968]

Tylan is also used in shipping stress and diarrhea in cattle, it works well to clear such symptoms in dogs. Been using it for dogs for decades,when needed with good fast results.

Might want to take a look at what it does treat..... Just saying......