loose stools
She's abut 20 mos old now and her owner reports that her stool can be positively liquid periodically - roughly once a month. No food changes, no other triggers that they can think of and it's so shortlived that I can't think of any kind of parasite that would only wreak havoc so very intermittently. They say she seems fine otherwise. Vet can't think of any reason why this might happen. I'm not used to dealing with stomach issues (not counting the time spent watching Sybil to make sure what goes in does eventually come out, since some of it is very interesting and not meant to be considered edible, but I digress) so I have absolutely no idea what to tell her. Evidently her significant other spoke to another OES owner who said one of her dogs had something similar going on as a youngster, but outgrew it. Is that possible? thanks! kristine |
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| Some kind of obstruction?
Maybe something structural in nature in the bowels - polyp, mass, weird loops? A partial block could show up intermittantly and cause the diarrhea. Just a guess. I assume they have ruled out parasites, drinking some pond water or puddles, stuff like that? Maybe she just needs to go live with LeAnne? (Tongue in cheek - as the change in homes affected Clay so well.) 
Maybe stress related? |
| Hi Kristine, I have a couple of suggestions: could be stress the people need to check if they do anything out of the ordinary the day before that may stress her, check the water I would recommend them to boil water before giving it to the sheepie and lastly check if it happens with regular intervals and the look at what she has eaten just before hand. We feed our sheepies fresh tripe once or twice a week, Hamish and Misty love it but Zorro cant stand it he just brings it back up. Hope you solve this soon. |
got sheep wrote: Maybe she just needs to go live with LeAnne? (Tongue in cheek - as the change in homes affected Clay so well.)
Maybe stress related? That's what I was wondering, but once a month? Funny, I was thinking about what happened with Clay. The warnings for him came from what he was like in his last home. When I got Clay back from from there. I changed his food from the special diet one to regular food and took him off his meds the day I got him back, gave him some structure and his diarrhea went away literally over night. Only a certain stressy breeder could trigger it  Which leads us back to Stewart's suggestion that they pay better attention to what was going on in her life right before she has these episodes. They do have a new granddaughter and she is evidently a bit jealous of her. She's an only dog.
I can't see how it would be an obstruction that would flare up monthly over a number of months and not give her any other clinical signs, nor that the water would matter so infrequently, but I'll mention the possibilties. I know giardia can remain sort of sub-clinical and flare up during stress, and I know it can be hard to detect in stools even during a flareup, but her episodes are so shortlived as well as infrequent. I'll ask about special foods/treats as well. Thanks to both of you. Kristine |
| Just things I would try if we had it again...
Absolutely no rawhide, pigs ears, etc. Panacur- 3 consecutive days... then again two weeks days later. THEN making sure the dog isn't reinfected. A quality probiotic... boost during stressful times. Colostrum daily. If all else has failed, I'd consider giving this whole program a try- http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/f ... BS_IBD.htm |
| Over exercise could be something else to consider. |
| I noticed that if there is any sort of change such as different treats or even different water from what my 3 are use to then they get the runs. Maybe have them keep a notebook of what they give the dog to eat and snack on and see if there is anything different when the runs occur. |
| Overexcitement, stress etc etc there is a lot a things that can contribute to a loose runny one. What's her personality like? Does she get over anxious, highly exciteable etc?
Sometime too it can be a mild IBS problem that can flare on occassions, with the way she is on and off with runny ones might pay them to have her on some sort of Pro-biotic to support her system. Something like Pro-Zyme, flora-zyme one of Digestive Enzymes that have the pre & pro biotics in it too. Or go the health food shop and get some Acidophilus capsules and pop that into her food to help support the gut and see if there is any improvement in it not happening. Either stuff will not hurt in any way only help till you see if it does help it stop happening to her. Sometimes with a slight IBS problem just being a bit stressed, exciteable, etc can set them off with a sloppy one. Some can grow out of this as the bowel settles more over time and usually good to have some sort of Supplement to help them regardless if it might be an IBS problem or something else.  |
| Morgan had perpetual issues when he was on kibble. his big triggers were exercise (with hm that could mean a walk around the block), stress and even a very small different food - half a cookie, something he picked up off the floor when I was cooking etc.
it all virtually disappeared when we switched him to raw. |
| I have to agree that stress would be the most likely factor. I have seen dogs have a normal (let's say firm to semi-soft) stool at 8AM, have it literally run like water out of them at noon & be back to pretty much normal the next movement when they are in a stressful situation. And remember that stressful to the dog is different than stressful to us humans. Dogs read us pretty well & if you are showing some signs of stress the dog can pick up on this. As a rule, when I travel I take my own water from my tap at home & when I run out I stop at a store & buy the gallons of drinking water. Most of the time my dogs can handle water changes quite easily but rather than deal with the potential messy runny stool issue when I don't have all my nice conveniences of home is worth the trip to the store. |
| I've been leaning towards stress too. I've asked them to document what's going on around the time she has these bouts, so we'll see what they say.
Thanks so much to all for all of your input! 
Kristine |
| With Miley until I figured out the food allergies we would swing from extremely firm to really loose. I notice loose stools still when we change her normal day. If I miss a morning walk - so will hold the BM even when given the opportunity to go out. If she holds it too long we get loose stools. It might be the rythm of the day changes. Just a thought. |
| I didn't have time to read the whole thing so I'm sorry if it's already been suggested...
Does it happen to be around any time she gets heart worm meds, dewormers, flea treatments etc? |
dairymaid wrote: Hi Kristine,
I have a couple of suggestions: could be stress the people need to check if they do anything out of the ordinary the day before that may stress her, check the water I would recommend them to boil water before giving it to the sheepie and lastly check if it happens with regular intervals and the look at what she has eaten just before hand. We feed our sheepies fresh tripe once or twice a week, Hamish and Misty love it but Zorro cant stand it he just brings it back up. Hope you solve this soon. I agree stress...... My Devyn has loose poops if she gets agitated in the am! We leash walk her in the yard since she is a "crazy" gal! After her "accidents" she always has firm stool. Does she have stress issues?? |
| I'll ask about Heartworm preventative. Especially since the interval they suggested was about once a month. She didn't have a problem while she was with me. I'll also ask what they use. She was on Interceptor here, and that's what I recommended to them, so we'll see.
Kathy, she wasn't a stressy dog at my house and she doesn't really sound like she is in her new home either, but it's kind of hard to tell since I haven't seen her since she was placed. Last I heard they were coming to sheepiefest. Deb J has a sister - they came into rescue together. It'll be interesting to see how they react to to seeing each other again. Kristine |
| Obe seems to be that way as well. Maybe once a month he will get a loose stool. I know he has a sensitive stomach so that is part of the deal. But Obe doesn't get anything different unless it is a slow change. Yogurt, carrots, same dog food, and treats. He still on occasion will have a runny stool. So after two years of this I have come to this conclusion with him. When he gets real excited a good chance it will happen or if we go for a long walk a good chance. The problem is it is not consistent though. So what I have found to work is we go for 3-4 shorter walks a day. For some reason on a long walk he wants to go as many times as he can. Well first time is good second it gets worse and if there is a third it's definitely not good. The funny thing is if we go a walk in the a.m. and that is it, he goes to the bathroom maybe once during the day. As for the excitement well that just depends not a whole lot I can do about that. He goes from sleeping to let go play in about 3.5 seconds. Like I mentioned there is no consistency to this so kind of hard to diagnose. I have had the stools checked nothing shows up. Had him checked nothing. So I dont know but glad I'm not the only one. Not sure if this will help but I have found that after two years I can sort of control/ prevent it 95% of the time. |
| Archie is the same way
First is firm, subsequent looser and looser. Depending on the amount of exercise and excitement he gets. Shorter one poo walks are the way to go with him, the poo on his next walk is firm. |
| Pro-biotics help a ton!! |
| Someone else mentioned pro-biotics to me. Said they had used them now & then when needed. They mentioned something about ordering off the internet. Where do you guys get them? |
| We use this one... they have a kennel pack which lasts a long time. Just a tiny amount is required with each meal.
http://firstchoicenaturals.com/Index/sh ... d-74?gid=4 We've had loose stools in the pack a couple of times in the past year and a half. One dog that had BAD loose stools twice this year and another one a brief bout. The one with a bad case adores my son and he came to visit Memorial weekend. The vet thought it might be from stress. The second time it occurred, we believe we figured it out. Both dogs had had a rawhide chew we put aside for "special times"  Our son has been home for up to a week at a time since with no problems. NO more rawhide here. |
| I just buy pro biotics at the pharmacy. The capsules can be broken open and just dust their food with it. |
| we got ours from our Newfie breeder - I need to find out if I can get them elsewhere too cause I am getting low. the ones we use are by dogzymes and it can be mixed with water and given by syringe if needed. Usually I am able to just mix it with a wet mix and they tolerate it. I just checked out the dogzyme website and they have some great supplements - hmmm. |
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