Dutch Shepherd Forum

Xander has had some poop problems the last week or so. He has very loose and sometimes runny poop. No worms, no vomiting, acts perfectly normal. I checked with the breeder and no know medical poop issues with his lines.

He eats merricks dry food. He has been eating merricks for probably close to a year. He occasionally gets boiled chicken with green beans or sweet potatoes as a special dinner.

Up until recently he would have an occasional loose poop, but it always cleared up after a day. And is wasn't often, maybe once a month to month and a half.

His routine has been changed dramatically the last few weeks with mom having back surgery. She would take him out several times a day to play ball. So his outdoor time has lessened during the day. I still take him out in the morning, at lunch, and in the evenings. We are also having a sunroom added to the back of the house. So his backyard has been a construction zone for a couple weeks now with lots of beating and banging going on.

He does like to play in the mud puddles in the yard that we get when it pours rain and he likes to walk out on the safety pool cover and plop down.

Any ideas on what could be causing his issues? Maybe a food issue? Or just stress from routine change? Or something else.

As I said before, no worms. Should I have him tested for parasites, or maybe even do some x-rays or tests for other problems. Like I said he acts fine, no fever, eats normal, plays as always. The vet leans towards food but he has been eating it for so long with no problems I'm not convinced that is the problem.

I would run a fecal test - usually about 20-30$. Should turn up parasites, worms, and any bacteria overgrowth. Super easy and no doggie required, just his poo. Once that's ruled out I would say stress unless you see other signs of allergies - it's not uncommon to develop allergies on one food but if you're not seeing itching, sneezing, red bumps, etc then I would be less inclined to food. If things calm down and there's still a problem, then I would consider doing an elemination diet. Allergy testing can get expensive and can be temperamental/not accurate.

Owned-By-Hendrix wrote:I would run a fecal test - usually about 20-30$. Should turn up parasites, worms, and any bacteria overgrowth. Super easy and no doggie required, just his poo.

I took poo, but I just asked to check for worms. Maybe that was my mistake. I will take more and ask for them to check parasites and bacteria as well. Or maybe they did that anyway and I didn't realize it. I will go back in the morning and verify. Thanks

if it is not a consistent or big problem at the moment, you could wait [not my usual recommendation!]; it sounds like it should be stress. with merrick, i would rule out food as that usually happens with poor quality food as toxins build up. that leaves bacteria or protozoa for which ONLY A FEW are detected in tests available at vets [ unless one goes with tests that cost many 100s of $ ].

so unless you have reason to believe that he ate or licked something that gave him a serious infection, i would up his probiotics [ a brand without chemical sugars - which has become the new rage under the guise of a prebiotic! ] intake and maybe some canned pumpkin each night before bedtime. yogurt?

you could also get platinum performance's ''bio-sponge'' to have on hand for now and any future episodes; it works very well when there is not a real NEED for medicines. unless there are reasons to believe that ill-formed stool represent an infection that could be serious or stubborn, i always use the bio-sponge first with great results under those circumstances.

johninny wrote:so unless you have reason to believe that he ate or licked something that gave him a serious infection, i would up his probiotics [ a brand without chemical sugars - which has become the new rage under the guise of a prebiotic! ] intake and maybe some canned pumpkin each night before bedtime. yogurt

The only thing I can think of that he possibly ate or licked would be nasty mud hole water or dirt on his ball or yucky swimming pool water.

I tride pumpkin but he wants nothing to do with that. I'm going to check at the pet store for some probiotis/enzymes. If you can recommend a specific brand that would be great.

The poo was tested and nothing was found. I feel like it's nothing serious because he is otherwise fine. But of course I worry a little about pancreatitis/diabetes or something like that. I feel comfortable trying probiotics first as long as other problems don't arise. Thanks for your response.

and the bio-sponge is really worth considering - for now and just to have around. it is surprisingly effective when a serious infection is not involved.

as for probiotics brands, the brand i have used started including this newfangled sugar [ don't have the chem name in my head ] in it so i have stopped that and do not yet have a replacement. maybe someone could recommend a good, everyday-economical probiotic that has remained without any PREbiotic sugars [ as they will encourage the growth of both good AND bad bacteria - don't need that ]?

Biosponge is good, as is the stuff Stacy recommended in my thread Supplements, and I'm very impressed by Caniotic too.

If pumpkin doesn't jive with Xander you can try goat yogurt, Greek yogurt, or kefir yogurt. This will help. Or if you can find it raw goats milk - some speciality pet places carry it.

If the problem still persists, might want to run another fecal in 2 weeks. H when he had parasites from drinking gross water took a while to show up in fecal. I don't think Xander was exposed though if he wasn't consistently drinking out of the muddy water. If it's stress adding in a good probiotic or yogurt will fix things.

Could be stress.
What other tests did you have them run on his stool sample?
I use goat's milk yogurt when needed.
Best probiotic that I know if is Mercola Complete Probiotics for pets. "Brings together 14 of the most powerful strains of beneficial bacteria, Provides over 58 billion bacteria in every serving, Has earned the GMP Compliance Certification, Contains a special blend of the appropriate strains that are most effective for promoting optimal gastrointestinal health in your cats and dogs"

Stacy_R wrote:Could be stress.
What other tests did you have them run on his stool sample?
I use goat's milk yogurt when needed.
Best probiotic that I know if is Mercola Complete Probiotics for pets. "Brings together 14 of the most powerful strains of beneficial bacteria, Provides over 58 billion bacteria in every serving, Has earned the GMP Compliance Certification, Contains a special blend of the appropriate strains that are most effective for promoting optimal gastrointestinal health in your cats and dogs"

I had to call back and ask about the test because I had just asked them to test for worms. They tested for worms and parasites.

I think Mercola Complete was one of the ones I looked at the pet store today, but I can't remember for sure. I did not buy anything there because the 2 they had contained the sugars.

Should I try to find one without the sugar or not? I'm not educated on probiotics. I was going to pick up some yogurt today to use until I found a probiotic. I'm not sure if I will find goat's milk yogurt here. We are limited on grocery stores. Harris teeter is my best bet.

Mercola's Complete Probiotics for pets does not contain sugar.
Earth Fare carries Redwood Hill Farm goat's milk yogurt.

Stacy_R wrote:Mercola's Complete Probiotics for pets does not contain sugar.
Earth Fare carries Redwood Hill Farm goat's milk yogurt.

Thanks. I will look up Mercola and order some. I'm not sure it was the one at the pet store but it's probably cheaper online anyway.

Is this the right one????