Mystery diarrhea sweeping the house!
 ). I took them off regular food and fed nothing but small amounts of rice, rice water and LOTS of clear water. I'm an old hand at diarrhea and, although it was a pain in the butt (for them and me) I dealt with it. My other two dogs were fine - No issues whatsoever
Yesterday it seemed to be slowing down for both of them but I was obviously worried. I took them both in to the vet and spent about 5 hours getting them examined, stool samples, complete blood panel, the works. The stool was negative for parasites and it didn't seem to be fungal, which I was worried about because I do take Loki and Beauty to a park near here to walk and it's been mighty awful wet here this summer. There's no respiratory involvement whatsoever. Their temps were normal and there was no abdominal discomfort on examination with either of them and believe me, the vet really probed. I left with Flagyl and Centrene for both and ID prescription kibble for Beauty (no way I'm feeding that to Loki - Corn is the first ingredient and that's a NO with IBS. He's staying with Pro Plan). So ok. As of this morning the diarrhea had all but stopped, and I'm getting hopeful. There's no way the meds worked that fast, and it looks like it's the combination of the meds and whatever it was running it's course. Then I get a call from the vet - Bloodwork is back and there are some 'borderline' readings for both dogs. Most troubling was that Loki is 'borderline anemic' and his liver counts are a little off. He is now on Doxycycline in addition to the Flagyl and Centrene. Neither dog is in the danger zone with any of the results and the vet is assuming that the illness, whatever it is, caused the funky results. She is monitoring with me and wants them back in two weeks for a re-check if they're better..........If not, we do the ultrasound, x-rays etc right away. Obviously I'm watching like a hawk but tonight, they're playing, eating normally and no diarrhea in 24 hours. Very perky, in fact. BUT.............. Now the baby, Chrissie the Lhasa Poo, has diarrhea. Same color and consistency as the other two had, and she NEVER gets the runs. Once in a while she gets constipated and she'll let loose with a loose poop, but that's it. She eats like a horse and is extremely active. No stress with the new arrival either - They've been joined at the hip since the newbie walked in the door. I have never heard of a stomach virus for dogs, but this is acting like one. You know how when one member of the family gets a bug, starts throwing up and within 24 hours everybody is fighting for the toilet? This is exactly what this acts like. I'm waiting for Jack, the last dog to be 'runs free', to start with it. What the heck is this? Does anyone have any ideas? Please?  |
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Btw: Forgot to include that none of the dogs eat anything but ProPlan chicken and rice and canned Purina One with their evening meal (One can split between 4 dogs). They eat twice a day, morning and evening. They never get table scraps - I'm pretty rabid about that, because of Loki's IBS. I feed one Blue Buffalo baked liver cookie per dog (Loki gets two because he's a horse  ) once a day, as a little treat type party. That's their 'brush up on commands' cookie. I've been doing this for years.
There's been no change in their diet at all. What the heck have I got going on here? Help! |
| Could be a flu type bug or most likely coccidia? A lot of the time that never shows up in the fecal tests, but it's there and causing problems. It doesn't hurt to treat for it anyway.... |
| Another possiblity?
http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/health/dogshowcrud.htm |
| Thanks so much! Good info here. Lovely name - Dog show CRUD. eeeeeuuuwwww
It's interesting that the duration of Loki and Beauty's 'events' are exactly the same.............Started and (hopefully) ended at exactly the same time. Both of them are diarrhea free for the moment. Chrissie still has a healthy appetite and is her normal vivacious self, even with the poopy butt syndrome. The antibiotics I've been giving are not the ones mentioned in the article, but the symptoms are similar. Very strange.............And very messy. Here we go again. That steamer is the best money I ever spent. Got a Little Green Machine too - Good thing, since I had to steam clean the seats in the car yesterday after the poopie butt twins so sweetly striped them. I'm still concerned about the bloodwork results, but I keep telling myself that I have to take this one step at a time. |
Lynn, I was worried about your kids. When we talked yesterday I had thought about your other 2 fur kids. I didn't say that hoping no one would get it. 
We were to meet here , my home for lunch when you called. I sure hope all works out soon and we can get together to visit. I wish you all the best that your at the end of this illness now.... Deana |
| Sounds like doggie flu.
We recently were at a show and one dog came back with it and it ran through 4 other pack mates (two were also at the show, but didn't show any symptoms for several days) in progression. One dog who was at the show never got sick - but she was also not housed with the sick ones, after the show. Symptoms were not the same as the crud symptoms, other than the explosive diarrhea. But all is well now. They treated with flagyl which seemed to clear it. |
| Doggie flu. Yikes
I'm wondering why the vet put Loki on Doxycycline in addition to the Flagyl. Beauty isn't on it
Why prescribe a broad spectrum antibiotic that will kill all the good bacteria that he needs especially now? Doesn't make any sense. I filled the prescription but haven't given him any yet..............I think I'll hold off on that till tomorrow until I get a better reason from the vet. They're going to be good and sick of me before this is over. |
| just give pro biotics while they're on meds and for a while after to restore healthy gut flora. |
| If you've had a particularly wet summer, it could be a bacterial imbalance hence the meds the vet gave you. Doesn't hurt to ask so you understand better. They can pick it up from the grass even if they aren't on grass that much. |
| We've had the wettest July on record here - 4 inches above normal just for this month - it rained every day in July but two. Downright mucky and smells bad too. The park has been swampy but I keep to the high ground as much as I can.
I am going to check with the vet in the morning. When I went in the office today to pick up the Doxycycline prescription the vet wasn't there so I spent about half an hour peppering the tech with questions - She wasn't sure why the doctor had prescribed it. That poor girl - She earned her pay today. I just ordered another large economy size tub of Probiotics - We're going to need them. Thanks to all of you for your answers - This forum is definitely the go-to place when you need advice and expertise.  from all of us! |
| Bailey had the same symtoms the end of June. It started Thursday afternoon and by the next morning, she was having trouble walking.
Te vet put her on flagyl, had us put her on rice and biled chicken, with bananas as often as possible. She was great the next day. However, her annual checkup was two weeks later. Her liver enzymes were elevated, though she seems fine. We are rechecking her bloodwork next week. Strange that the other dogs didn't get it though. |
Lokis Mom wrote: I'm wondering why the vet put Loki on Doxycycline in addition to the Flagyl. Beauty isn't on it
The liver values and anemia can be indicative of a tick borne disease and doxy is the standard treatment for a few of them; Lyme, for sure and I think ehrlichia/anaplasma as well. I think it may also be the treatment for lepto, trying to remember. Belle wasn't anemic but her liver values being just a little off on standard geriatric blood work combined with a very wet spring we had was what made my vet think about it. If you've had a lot of rain, lepto is a good bet. She did test in Belle's case and she came back positive for two serovars (neither protected by any of the current vaccines in case you're wondering.) When I read that I wondered why he didn't run a tick panel or check for lepto. But if you vaccinate for lyme you have to run a more expensive/extensive panel to differentiate between vaccine and natural exposure, and since time can be of the essense, especially if anemia is present (now, don't panic - sounds like the poopie butt situation may have enabled you to detect something early and so something good may have come out of it at least) and doxy is pretty safe for most dogs, many vets including mine may treat first and ask questions later. He (she?) may also be thinking giardia for the poop situation. Again, lots of standing water, easy transmission, flare ups under stress, hard to detect in stool samples unless you get lucky; easier to just treat first and ask questions later. Flagyl is the standard treatment for that. Of course, I may be off the mark and only your vet can tell you for sure, but I was nodding reading what you wrote, thinking, yup, that's what my vet would probably do too. Hope it all clears up soon. Kristine |
| Thanks, Kristine. It makes sense now.
I don't vaccinate the dogs for Lyme. I did get Chrissie vaccinated last year when she was in for spaying and it made her violently ill. Of course, last year the park wasn't even there (still under 'construction' - It's a beautiful place with lots of trails, green opens meadow areas and a soon to be open dog park). We won't be re-visiting there until fall, though. Maybe winter. |
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