Pirate, Diarehha, crate crashing, and me...losing my mind!

I feel like I'm at my wits end. All our dogs had giardia awhile back, and were (successfully ?) treated. About 3 weeks later Keira had diarehha again. I took stool samples in, and they tested clear, although the doc did give them more meds. That was about 2 weeks ago.

Today, when I went home at lunch, Pirate has it again. He has always had a very delicate tummy. I don't know what to do. The girls are both fine. And quite frankly, I'm sick of cleaning it all up. None of them ever appear to be sick either.

Now for driving me crazy, situation #2: Pirate rams his crate door and bends it out, and escapes. We've tried putting rubber mats under it, so he can't move it, but he does. (As much as I hate to admit this) we have even put a lock on it, and I sweat he can flatten his body and ram it just enough so it opens a wee bit and he can get out. IT IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!!! He doesn't get in "much" trouble, but I hate that he can do it! Today, in a way, it was a saving grace, since he got out in time to have his diarehha attack (on the living room carpet! Yes, the same carpet we replaced 1 1/2 years ago.)

So, I guess I'm asking for 2 pieces of advice. 1st, his stomach problem, and 2nd, how to keep him confined.

Thanks

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my vet provided me a few extra supplies of the stomache pills so we could medicate when an attack started. we haven't had the issue since we switched diets and added a probiotic powder to Morgan's food (almost) everynight.

Turn the crate against the wall after he's in it.

Believe it or not...we have done that. Then he ran the nondoor side to get it away from the wall, and preceeds to get out.

There have been times I've come home to find his crate halfway across the kitchen.

Tony wants to put wheels on it, and set up a video camera. I've nixed that idea.

I know it sounds really funny, but this whole thing is exhausting.

Geez, I don't think it's funny at all. These are the worst kind of things! It sounds really concerning because he could really hurt himself between the banging and the squeezing. Can you nix the crate and confine him somewhere instead? It sounds like his anxiety in the crate could be worse than him being out of it, you know?

We used to put yogurt in Wilby and Kissy's
food since they would have soft stools.
Also, Wilby was on Endosorb on and off
for loose stools.
Did the fecal come back negative when you
took it in?
Maybe they could send it out to the lab for a
more thorough test??

I think Jill has a good idea with maybe keeping him
out of the crate....maybe in a safe bedroom or laundry
room?
Boy, would he tease the girls then :wink:

Good Luck....
(I know I have some pooping foster puppies...yuck)

We have all 3 crates in the kitchen, which is a very large room. I'm thinking of crating the girls and using Lizzie crate to block the living room, and letting Pirate have free run of the kitchen. Maybe all the stress of the prison break may be upsetting his stomach.

I know he hates it when he gets this. He looks at me so pitifully, like he really didn't mean to do it..and I try to comfort him, but he's such a good boy, all he wants to do is please.

Yep...the girls are really gonna get pissed off!

Wow thats terrible. we have an attached 2 car garage that we never have parked a car in it. It's more like a giant laundry room we keep our dogs in there when we leave. Would you be able to do something like that?
I feel bad for you :oops:

debcram wrote:

Maybe not Marley will lay in her crate all the time with the door open and Morgan lays in front of it.

You might have it upon part of it, the stress of wanting out of that cage! Isn't there somewhere he can be left safely when you are away? And from that spot access to outside for these sudden bowel problems?

You could try Pirate on a Digestive Enzyme powder to help settle his tummy after the bout of Giardia. It contains the Pro and Pre biotics in it as well as helping the digestion. Better then Yoghurt if the dog has had the squirts and might be helpfull to get his stools solid again. I have used it after Kelsey had Giardia years ago, she needed a few weeks on it to bring back the rock solid ones. :lol:

Pro-Zyme and Flora-Zyme are two brands in the powder. Excellant stuff for when they have been unwell & lasts a long time a small tub of it.

Can you anchor the crate to a couple of hooks against a wall to stop him moving it when he does bang against it?

Either that or put him in a room and close the door when you have to leave him, preferably somewhere with tiles or lino just in case, with his bed down and his food & water dish in there.

Quote:

1st, his stomach problem, and 2nd, how to keep him confined.

We also give a digestive enzyme and probiotic. It can help to settle tummies.

I'm not sure what type of crate you're using but I take a green plastic coated wire and securely tie up where the tabs hook (I flip the ends over so they can't get poked). You can just make out the green wires in this picture... http://oesusa.com/DarbyAndEmma06012004.jpg . I do the same with the middle of the front-bottom at the tray area. We never had any problems with the girls trying to escape so I don't know how it would work with a determined adult dog.

lisaoes wrote:

Pro-Zyme and Flora-Zyme are two brands in the powder. Excellant stuff for when they have been unwell & lasts a long time a small tub of it..

Where can I buy this stuff? On the way home from work, I bought Pumpkin puree, and Activia.

Poor Pirate. He's such a gentleman, I can tell he feels bad about everything, that is out of his control. He is a love.

You can get probiotics at any pharmacy!
I have been advised to ask the pharmacist
for the ones that are refrigerated...also natural
food stores have a section refrigerated with them.

We love Pirate :hearts:

Deb here most larger pet stores sell it, stock feed stores and most Vets sell it too. Another brand init is Petguard Digestive Enymes & Canine Formula Digestive Enzymes, all are the same sort of stuff.

What you have to remember too is Pirate has probably scoured more in the bowel then the others after the giardia so he is probably still quite sensitive there till he settles down more, so I would be feeding just fairly bland food at the moment, rice and chicken with just a small handfull of the dry in it with a pinch of the Enzyme powder over his dinner. Take it slow to transistion him back to his normal diet. As the stools start to get firmer then you can add more of his dry. :wink:

Had to do that with Kelsey as she seemed to of been more affected and took longer then the others when the dreaded giardia hit. Slowly over a few weeks till all was back to normal and the bowel has lost its inflammation.

Good luck I know how awfull it must of been with them all, I remember the clean ups and got fed up with that too, where to start, the dogs or the floor & bursting into tears

hopefully pirate will soon be back to normal with the help of the Enzyme powder & a bit of a bland diet for a little while. :wink:

My vet has given me "pro-pectalin" for Nigel. He gets the runs whenever it starts getting hot. It is a combination of Kaopectate and probiotics. It works really well and I give it to him at the first sign. It is in a gel tube. I think you can get it online also...just do a search on the name.

we get our probiotic from our newfie breeder but you can also order on line also I believe solid gold sells a version in pet stores that carry premium feeds

Poor Deb and poor Pirate!

Oscar takes probiotics (PermaClear) as well colostrum. Flagyl (metronidazole) from the vet might help as well, to balance the good flora in his system. He probably took that for the giardia in a therapeutic dose (750 mg, 2 times per day), but Oscar is on a maintenance dose (500 mg, 2 times per day) in addition to the above mentioned supplements.

Also, you might want to give Pirate the probiotics in powder form, rather than in yogurt form. In Oscar, the dairy in yogurt overrides any probiotic benefit and causes him more tummy troubles.

I hope this clears up soon.

Laurie and Oscar

Oh no! I hope things get better fast. That's so cute yet sad he feels guilty about being sick. I hate dealing with that stuff.

Oscar's Mom wrote:

Poor Deb and poor Pirate!

Also, you might want to give Pirate the probiotics in powder form, rather than in yogurt form. In Oscar, the dairy in yogurt overrides any probiotic benefit and causes him more tummy troubles.

I hope this clears up soon.

Laurie and Oscar

also the probiotic powder delivers much more benefit than yogurt - unless Panda can eata couple of gallons at a time and that may defeat the purpose :lol:

I started him on pumpkin last night. We had a couple flagyl left, so he's getting those. I also started him on Activia (which he loved) but after hearing about Oscar, I will stop it.

I spent a great deal of time cleaning his tushie this morning. Oh...the sweetie was so patient.

This morning, I've got him secured in the kitchen, but not in his crate. The girls are pissed. I'm hoping he will not feel so stressed. I'm hoping he doesn't find anything to destroy.

Tony and I looked at our "white" living room carpet (yea, right...white) last night and decided, we are going to put hard wood in. The carpet isn't old, but 3 dogs and 2 elderly cats have totally trashed it.

Do we know why sheepie's stomachs are so sensitive?

debcram wrote:

Do we know why sheepie's stomachs are so sensitive?[/color]

Suspicion: unless there is a definitive cause - a variety of (often lower-level) immune mediated issues; many of them more nuisance related, so we haven't made a concerted effort to breed for hardier dogs.

In Pirate's case, unless he has a long history of digestive issues, it could just be due to the giardia since it is very hard to clear and will flare up at a moment's notice with stress.

White carpet? What an optimist! :wink:

You'll like the easy clean of your new hardwood floors. Tell the girls to suck it up. Pirate is your Special Boy :lol:

Hope the kitchen containment works for you.

:ghug:

Kristine

The living room was the last carpeted room in the house. The upstairs is Pergo, the kitchen, dining room, laundry room, 1st floor powder room and foyer are tiled, and the basement (which is finished) is slate. (Sigh.......)so much for carpeting in our home, but the love we get from the dogs is so worth it!!!!!!!!! :hearts:

My Tyler always had a very sensitive stomach, to the point that even changing kibble was cause for Montezumas Revenge... He also had terrible hot spots every summer starting in late July... One spring I took him off of the food he was on that had corn in it and while I continued to feed him his wet food with lots of cooked grains, (barley & Rice) till I could get his stomach off of the old food. This was fed for several weeks, then I started to slowly introduce a higher quality no corn based food to his diet. I was elated, it was the first time I had been able to switch his food with out the squirts. He never had another hot spot and after that I could actually feed him more stuff because his tummy was able to adjust to different higher quality foods. His coat was also lush and thick even when I had to assist him to the bridge, his coat was just beautiful.

I came away with the conclusion that when a dog has a food alergy and we see, lets say, hot spots. The hot spots are probably only one of the symptoms of the alergic reaction. I think in Tylers case, the corn based foods were causeing his senstive stomach too.

I have never had to deal with such a senstive stomach in my life till Tyler and it was really something for us. Because I had tried to change his food to a higher quality several times and was always met with the stomach issues, I left him on a lower quality food. It wasn't till I was determined to change his food to non-corn and used the cooked grains for his carbohydrate balance in his daily feeding did it work.

I think I thought of the BRAT diet that my MD had suggested for me that I thought that a modification of it might work for him.

Deb I hope you go home to no messes and a boy who feels better.

Well? how did lil pirate do?

He did really well. I think he likes not being in the crate. I put down a blanket for him (tile floor) and he stretches out, with his feet in the air. SO CUTE! I don't think he can do that in the crate.

And for the record, the girls are still pissed. I can hear them barking at him when I leave the house.

I have not seen his poopies, so I'm not sure how they are. Dad refuses to look at doggie poo...but Pirate has not had any accidents in the house. I think the pumpkin may be working!
:clappurple:

debcram wrote:

Not that we need to discuss "dog poo" anymore then we already have on this forum, but what is it that the "pumpkin" does to the "poo"? Does it make it harder? Just wondering????? (I am supposed to be unpacking boxes and must be looking for excuses not to lol)

Someone suggested to me that pumpkin puree is binding for dogs.

Did you move? Is that why you're unpacking, or returning from vacation?

debcram wrote:

Someone suggested to me that pumpkin puree is binding for dogs.

Did you move? Is that why you're unpacking, or returning from vacation?

That is good to know regarding the pumpkin. Yes, we moved this weekend. About 45 minutes by x-way south of where we did live. We are still in the same County just further south. Hubby had started a new job and the cost of gas was tooo much.

Employment opprotunities are better in this area also then where we did live. More shops, stores, offices ect. We will, however, miss the watching the Shuttle blast off from our backyard, but we are 45 minutes closer to Key West. :lol:

15 minutes closer to Key West...ah...those are beautiful words!

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