"powder coat"

[Jenny]

We have a adult female rescue pitty that came from a hoarders home, very nasty environment, lots of dead dogs and feces everywhere. .. she is unspayed yet.. she had the longest heat in history when I got her (of course. ) She has a powdery look to her coat.. like she rolled in dry cement? it was very bad when she first came end of January and is getting better but still not right. After bathing she looks great but then powder look is back next day but not as bad as it was in the beginning.

She had a heavy parasite load and we treated her 3x for hook and whip with 2x panacur and once with Drontal. She was initially VERY gassy and bloated. She tooted loudly with every step. Giardia and Coccida come back negative but I find it hard to believe at this point since she still has the poops! . She is eating TOW salmon with probiotics added. The gas problem has gone away.

Should I treat her for Giardia anyway? Vet did not seem to think it necessary but I'm really tired of the poop. Its not so much poop but soft nasty ick. I can take her out at midnight and at 7 am she has pooped! she just can't help it I'm sure. We'll go back to boiled chicken and rice.

[SisMorphine]

I don't think you'll be able to tackle her coat issues until you get her gut under control.

Personally I'd go with a bland diet for a while, see if it firms anything up.

[Malli]

yeah, if her GI tract isn't functioning properly then it won't be able to absorb everything it needs from the food to try and fix all the imbalances in her systems I'm sure must be going on from her poor treatment...

[ParisStreetPitCrew]

I would encourage the use of probiotics/digestive enzymes too, in order to help the GI tract get back in shape.
We use Primal Defense (made by Garden of Life) for Sidney.

[Patch O' Pits]

I would encourage the use of probiotics/digestive enzymes too, in order to help the GI tract get back in shape.
We use Primal Defense (made by Garden of Life) for Sidney.

Great advice! I hope your pup is better asap!

[call2arms]

Just on a side note, for Giardia and Coccidia, and all the other little GI friends... When something doesn't show in a fecal, doesn't mean it's not there!

If she keeps having the poops no matter what you do, I'd get her re-tested... Or better, if your vet has the ability to send it to a lab to get the poop centrifuged and then analyzed. Some bugs need different floating solutions or techniques to be found and I'm frankly surprised of the things they find in labs that we don't see sometimes (then again your clinic may do it by centrifugation and not simple float, you can always ask)! It is worth to invest a little more into a better fecal for finally knowing what's going on... We had a cryptosporidium outbreak last summer, and also saw quite a few trypanosoma... All diagnosed at the lab (but we sent all our fecals out)... I'm rambling now.

Good luck and I'm sure her coat will improve once she's back on track with her health! In the meantime, hang on tight and buy a lot of carpet deodorizer...

[call2arms]

Woops, not trypanosoma, it was something else but I can't remember which one. Rambling some more.

[Jenny]

Thanks so much for the advice. Its been a challenge. We've had several dogs in a row with bad guts full of whips and hooks. Seems to take forever to get the dogs inards acting right again.

Back on chicken and rice.. different colored soft serve today BUT she did not messy in her bedroom this morning! whooohoo

I'm would bet its Giardia.. its so greasy looking and not the right color even when she ate kibble. Freaks me out I don't want any other dog to get it..I'll ask about sending it out, I think her previous tests were floats.