Worm Boy

[katiek0417]

Two of mine came down with a cloistridium issue a couple of winters ago -- it was pretty bad and the flagyl didn't work completely. We ended up using Tylan powder for about a year on each dog until the cloistridium was under control.

Good advice, Katie -- most vets don't think to look for it. My guys saw three different vets before the fourth vet diagnosed it properly.

My vet checked for it b/c Nisha was only about 4-5 months old when she came down with it...it's apparently common in pups....but she had soft serve/diarrhea for weeks...covered by mucous...they had exhausted all other things (coccidia, giordia, worms, etc)....They looked for clostridia, and her poop was apparently OVERRUN with it....they put her on 2 extra-strength flagyl per day for 14 days....and on a sensitive stomach diet....

Poor Nisha!

My guys are adults and both had the soft serve and diarrhea alternating for weeks, too, and were tested for all the above that you listed. One of them was just crapping nothing but mucous for a few days, so that's when I called a friend of mine who is a vet and lives over an hour away -- I dropped off a sample and got the diagnosis the next morning.

I fed them nothing but cottage cheese and rice or pasta for about 10 days, then weaned them back to a normal kibble diet. After they stabilized on the Tylan powder, I switched them over to Merrick Wilderness blend and weaned them off the Tylan. Thank the lord, no more cloistridium!

I didn't know you could give them cottage cheese....that's a great suggestion...

Did all of your guys get it at the same time? I didn't realize it was contagious at all....do you feed the same food? Do you think it could have something to do with that?

[turtle]

Oh that cloistridium sounds nasty! Poor dogs! Is it contagious between dogs?

I know someone else who is having trouble with a foster with worms and soft and runny poop. What do you use to disinfect your yard? I have recommended Trifectant. She also got a recommendation of "diatomaceous earth", has any one here used that?

[Marinepits]

I didn't know you could give them cottage cheese....that's a great suggestion...

Did all of your guys get it at the same time? I didn't realize it was contagious at all....do you feed the same food? Do you think it could have something to do with that?

They LOVED the cottage cheese -- plus, it helped block them up a bit, LOL. We also gave them little bits of Monteray Jack cheese to help bind their intestines.

Two of my four picked it up at the same time, but I'm not sure who got it first or how it was transmitted. My female who got it has always had stomach/intestinal issues of some sort or another, but this was BAD. And my male who got it has a tendency to eat ANYTHING off the ground, doesn't matter what it is.

This happened the same year we got new neighbors who have a few outdoor cats. My two dogs did like to find those "tootsie rolls" the cats would leave behind and my vet said that eating the "tootsie rolls" very likely contributed to the over-growth of the cloistridium since cats have cloistridium naturally occurring in their intestines as well.

This also was the same year we had those terrible snow storms back to back all winter long and the weather drove the herds of deer up to the house. The deer managed to poop EVERYWHERE and the dogs would step in it no matter how we tried to keep them out of it. Licking their feet could have also contributed to the infection.

Here's a great article: http://www.pvy.com/pcl/articles/c100010/q10000053.htm
(this article rec's using yogurt to help bind the dog's intestines, but my vet said not all dogs can tolerate yogurt -- some will have the opposite result of the diarrhea getting WORSE.)

And here's an article about the disease in humans: http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/chap11.html

[katiek0417]

Here's a great article: http://www.pvy.com/pcl/articles/c100010/q10000053.htm
(this article rec's using yogurt to help bind the dog's intestines, but my vet said not all dogs can tolerate yogurt -- some will have the opposite result of the diarrhea getting WORSE.)

And here's an article about the disease in humans: http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/chap11.html

Awesome...thanks for the links!!! It's a bad thing...my poor puppy couldn't gain any weight...

What do you use to disinfect your yard? I have recommended Trifectant. She also got a recommendation of "diatomaceous earth", has any one here used that?

LOL...well, I don't really have a yard anymore...no grass, at least...so, I had no problem using a 10% bleach solution. There was really nothing to kill...

I have heard of diatomaceous earth....I heard about it when I first got Sacha...supposedly takes care of worms, fleas, ticks, etc....I think it also kills the lawn. At the time, I actually had a lawn, so I didn't want to use it.

[Maryellen]

thats one thing arturo is doing really well at, he is gaining weight.. he is now 31 lbs., up from the 27 when i first got him.. he could use a little more, so whatever is infecting him is not helping. he is eating great, drinking great, peeing normal, and evenhis poop although soft serve is not mucusy.. i will suggest this to the vet tomorrow when i call himand see what he says, he is very open minded, and i think he gets a kick out of my trying to self diagnos the dogs..

[Maryellen]

what would be the best food to try with arturo instead of the CA Natural?

[katiek0417]

I personally like the fish-based foods. I've used pinnacle and timberwolf...protein content isn't as high in them....Unfortunately, you'll put weight on Arturo slower....the other good thing about fish-based is that you typically don't need to add salmon oil.

The other food which I ABSOLUTELY love is Artemis. They make many varieties, but this stuff is GREAT!!!

Innova is always a good feed, though some people do complain that it's too rich....

Does CA Natural have any grains (sorry, I'm not that familiar with the food)?

[Maryellen]

the ca natural chicken and rice has rice. the herring and sweet potato has no grains. i was giving him that at first, and thought it was the food.. i can go backto that as jesse eats that,so i have it at home..

[msvette2u]

he was on flagyl all last week, and another penicillian..
i was thinking maybe the CA natural is too rich for him.. maybe the canidae might be better??

If he's having clean stools I'd look for another cause. Not that worming will HURT, but I'm sure your vet is charging you for all these meds. Many can be gotten at feed supply stores, etc., for horses and given to dogs in the dosage of about the size you'd put on your toothbrush (if it were toothpaste).
Yaeger has a famously sensitive tummy and often has soft stools but we wormed them with Ivomec (you can use this orally) and we know he's not wormy.

[Maryellen]

i called the vet, he said its possible for either gardia or the other one, they checked for coccidia and it was negative. i gave him 2 table spoons of canned pumpkin tonight, and right after he ate it was still soft serve. i guess it takes awhile for hte pumpkin to kick in? he will get fed again at 7 with the rest of his food w/ the pumpkin. the vet said if his stool is still no change he will put him on whatever it takes if its an infection

[katiek0417]

i called the vet, he said its possible for either gardia or the other one, they checked for coccidia and it was negative. i gave him 2 table spoons of canned pumpkin tonight, and right after he ate it was still soft serve. i guess it takes awhile for hte pumpkin to kick in? he will get fed again at 7 with the rest of his food w/ the pumpkin. the vet said if his stool is still no change he will put him on whatever it takes if its an infection

It took several days for the pumpkin to really kick in and do the trick with my dogs...

[turtle]

I just had a thought... How much are you feeding him?

I know you want to put weight on him but if he is getting too much food, it can cause soft stools. You might try feeding him a little less and mix some plain cooked rice in with it. Rice acts as a binder and often helps "firm" things up. Less food and a little rice and pumpkin mixed in should help...

It might be the change to quality food and a lot of it. It's actually better for him to gain weight slowly. He'll be back on track soon enough with your good care!

[Maryellen]

he is getting 1 1/2 cup in the am and one cup in the pm.. maybe thats too much for him? he was eating nutro puppy at the owners house, we saw the bags there. but she wouldnt give us the bag to wean them over, so i just put him on the CA Natural instead.. he is still thin, but i want to keep him that way due to his ankle.
i will cut back the food to half a cup in the am and one cup inthe pm and add the pumpkin at both times and see what that does

[turtle]

he is getting 1 1/2 cup in the am and one cup in the pm.. maybe thats too much for him? he was eating nutro puppy at the owners house, we saw the bags there. but she wouldnt give us the bag to wean them over, so i just put him on the CA Natural instead.. he is still thin, but i want to keep him that way due to his ankle.
i will cut back the food to half a cup in the am and one cup inthe pm and add the pumpkin at both times and see what that does

That does sound like quite a bit of food. I know he's a big boy but still...

Maybe 3/4 cup in the am and the 1 cup at night? Try and see if it helps. The 1 1/2 cup in the morning does sound like a lot. CA Natural is a pretty good food and it's not that rich. I fed it to my dog for almost a year and she did great on it.

Yes, with his ankle, let him gain weight slowly, that's a good plan.

[Maryellen]

i will do 1/2 a cup in the am and one cup at night and see how that goes, the old owner said his stool was loose then, which i saw when i evaluated him as he pooped outside.. maybe the combination of the worms and the better food is making his stomach twirly.. i am also giving him acidophus powder too to help settle his stomach

[Maryellen]

ok, now i am confused. i got a can of canned pumpkin.. was i supposed to get real pureed pumpkin? thats what was in the can when i opened it, it was really orange and pureed.. but i dont know if it was pie filling or not.. would the can say pie filling? the can said pumpkin only..

[msvette2u]

The ingredients list should not have spices in it at all. Just pumpkin.

[Maryellen]

ok, the can says nothing but pumpkin, as i got this one last night http://www.verybestbaking.com/products/libbys/pure.aspx so it should work right? it doesnt smell like spices, just like if you carve open a pumpkin

[Marinepits]

Have you tried fasting him for 24 hours, then giving him NOTHING but boiled chicken and/or rice/pasta (and whatever meds he's on) for the next 5 days? That's what our vets always rec'd when the diarrhea/soft stool is really bad.

Apparently, dogs' intestinal systems process cooked chicken and rice/pasta completely, so there is very little to no waste product to poop out.

Also, Mac's system reacts very badly whenever he needs antibiotics, regardless of type. He always gets really soft poop, and LOTS of it. When he's on the antibiotics, we give him 50% chicken and rice/pasta mixed with 50% of his kibble. That seems to eliminate the soft poop problem. Is the pup on any antibiotics?

[msvette2u]

ok, the can says nothing but pumpkin, as i got this one last night http://www.verybestbaking.com/products/libbys/pure.aspx so it should work right? it doesnt smell like spices, just like if you carve open a pumpkin

Yep that's the stuff.