[Subby S]

Hi All!

I have a 25 week Australian Shepard / Labrador Retriever puppy (almost 6 months old) that constantly has diarrhea from time to time. When we first got her, she was extremely sick with parasites and had to be hospitalized for a couple of days. She slowly got better and started to eat again until she became a ball of joy and found unconditional love for eating things / food.

We have taken her to the vet multiple times and during the diarrhea phases here and there, the fecal tests turn out just fine with no issues at all. We have been feeding her a bland diet for about a week now (boiled chicken and rice) and she her stool was normal for 1-2 days until she went to the park and licked some snow-poop on the ground that she probably she shouldn’t have and we are back at diarrhea again.

We have spent so much money with the vet and would love some input here whether or not we should take her to the vet again. She is playful, acts totally normal, is always hungry but still has this diarrhea going. We feed her probiotics every morning and feed her 4 cups of the chicken and rice mix (25% chicken and 75% rice) 3 times a day (1.3 cups per meal – once at 9 AM, 2 PM and 7 PM).

At this point we really aren’t sure what to do so any help is deeply appreciated.. She hasn’t had her kibble for a over a week now.

Thanks in advance for all your help!

[Subby S]

Wanted to emphasize here that she seems to have an ultra sensitive stomach and gets diarrhea from the smallest things.. We have stopped giving her treats for some time now as a result but if she does anything out of the ordinary of the bland diet, she gets diarrhea instantly.

[Patricia A]

Subby so sorry your going through this with your pup. First off from experience I know my two will get diarrhea with any food too high in fat. This would include DARK meat chicken. Only boiled white meat breasts is what I can feed. Also , I had a pooh eater. Never failed to give her diarrhea. After weeks of making sure I was right there to pooper scoop hers or my other ones pooh to the pail and a stern yell of her name she no longer has that habit thus stopping the diarrhea. So make sure she is not eating her own pooh.
Now don’t believe a diet strictly of chicken/rice is given her proper nutrition in the long run. As long as your vet says there is no problem such as IBD then it’s going to be a painstaking task of finding a food that agrees with her.
I believe the trouble begins when any food introduced is not VERY SLOWLY introduced. Then the diarrhea and thinking it’s not agreeing your switching AGAIN and it’s a vicious cycle then.
Don’t know if possibly the kibble you gave wasn’t agreeing with her? So as long as you have stopped kibble you can SLOWLY,, being a two kibble at a time each day introduce a new brand? Kibble is only a VERY small portion of my dogs’ diet. I feed freeze dried and home cooked . However, again those low in fat. My dogs’ do very well with Stella Chewy’s kibble in chicken grain free. Freeze dried is what DFA rates as 5* because lower in fat. This works for my two. But again..introduced VERY, VERY, VERY slowly. Mine two did have loose stool for the first few days but gave it a chance and now doing great with their diet. Hope this helps a little.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by Patricia A.

[Subby S]

Hi Patricia!

Thanks so much for getting back to me. A lot of good details here. I am not entirely sure if the kibble is the issue as we haven’t fed her kibble in about a week now. We have been feeding her chicken and rice entirely. I have a feeling that she is eating too fast / not digesting enough and probably licking things she shouldn’t. It definitely is a vicious cycle currently.. you said it just right.

We checked the kibble with her vet and it’s not really a problem. We did get a bit confident after some time and gave her treats when her stool was doing great. Only to arrive back at square one now.

It sounds like the solution is >> Chicken and white rice until stool firms up. Then introduce her kibble 1-2 pieces at a time until she is fully adjusted and used to the kibble. Any other thoughts / recommendations / comments?

[Patricia A]

Sound like a good starter plan Subby. With any luck it was only the treats that were disagreeing with her. So stools firm up and none of those treats. Then slowly introducing the kibble back maybe even starting with just two on top of her chicken/rice. Then four etc. No reason even to stop the chicken at times even if the kibble is agreeing with her. I often feed pieces of hard boiled egg to mine also. Don’t think that would disagree with most dogs and the white of the egg is another source of good protein. Just first make sure introducing the egg when no diarrhea for awhile so it’s easy to tell the foods that doesn’t work with her.
Maybe, with time you can introduce another treat. I use freeze dried in open Farm or Bixbi. Their just little nuggets in different protein. Also had luck with feeding these even to my one that tends toward sensitive stomach. Just one though to see how she does. Even a string bean could be a nutritious treat as an answer to a question below. .
(Yes, your dog can eat green beans. Plain, unseasoned green beans can be a healthy addition to supplement your dog’s diet. Just remember: all dogs react differently to each and every food. Moderation is key here to avoid gas or diarrhea.) I myself give canned. My one doesn’t digest the raw . The other like raw carrots though.
UHHH I!! know how she feels. Just figured out that I can continue eating Japanese food. It wasn’t the rolls but the the salad dressing they used that was doing me in. lol Keep me updated and fingers crossed no more tummy trouble.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by Patricia A.

[Author]

Posts