# Westie with Chronic Diarrhea



## Maisie (May 13, 2013)

We have a 14 month old West Highland Terrier who recently has had episodes of diarrhea. It has been going on for 4 weeks, off and on. She has been on 2 different antibiotics that stop the diarrhea, but it returns after being off medication for 24 hours. Our vet has done a stool sample which came back negative for everything; blood tests and electrolyte tests which were all in the normal range; X-Rays which showed nothing abnormal; and numerous physical examinations which show she is perfectly healthy. She had gained 1/2 a pound since our last visit so there were no signs of weight loss. She runs around and plays completely normally.

We recently switched her food from Science Diet (which she has been on since we got her a year ago) to Taste of the Wild in hopes this was just a simple food allergy, however, her diarrhea has come back. Our vets next step was a liver test, but she wasn't too optimistic it would show anything, as normally problems with organs would have shown up in her first year typically.

If anyone has had something similar happen, or has any suggestions, please let me know.


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## georgiapeach (Mar 17, 2012)

Westies are known for allergies. I have a westie mix who's allergic to nearly everything! We've found through trial and error that she's allergic to grains, any grain eating protein source (chicken, duck, beef, bison, kangaroo, etc.), eggs, alfalfa (she's also allergic to grass topically), potatoes, and rosemary. Many of these are in most dog foods. Your westie may have something like IBD (irritable bowel disease) and may need a lower fat, moderate protein diet. I've read that westies do best on this type of diet in general, for some reason. Has your vet tested your dog for this? 

Have you been feeding a chicken based kibble? If so, you may want to try a fish based, moderate protein, lower fat kibble. My westie does best on California Natural Salmon and Peas (recently recalled, but coming back on the market now). It's grain free and free of all the things I mentioned previously. The recall actually involved their cat food and ferret food, but to be proactive, the company recalled nearly everything to test it further. I don't have any qualms about feeding this food.


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## Gogoclips (Apr 27, 2013)

I was under the impression a lot of dogs have loose stool from time to time. How often is she having diarrhea when it starts back up? You might want to give her a tablespoon or two of plain canned pumpkin with each meal.


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## Maisie (May 13, 2013)

She has had diarrhea for about 4 weeks. It goes away when she's on medication and comes right back within 24 hours of being off medication. She has continued to have it until we put her back on medication. I will ask my vet about the pumpkin. Thanks so much for the tip!


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## Maisie (May 13, 2013)

She has been on chicken and rice the entire time she has had the diarrhea issues. We also gave her chicken and rice right after we got her spayed and she's never had any tummy issues being on the chicken and rice, which leads me to believe that it wouldn't be an allergy to those. The Taste of the Wild we just put her on is bison and veal so I'm wondering if she's just having a reaction to new food. I didn't do the "weaning" off with her old food because I was afraid that if it was an allergy to grains in the SD and didn't want to upset her tummy anymore. TOTW does have a salmon kind, so I'm wondering if we may need to put her on that instead. I would have if the vet hadn't said the bison and veal was the best. 

We have not done the allergy test with the vet yet. She said it was quite expensive and we've already spent quite a bit just trying to diagnose her. It may be the next step though, just so we can rule out allergies, or find out what she is allergic to.

Thank you so much for all of your information!


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## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

If you didn't switch slowly, that can be causing the problem. It also can take a couple of weeks to get the old stuff out of their system, and see any difference. Try adding some pure canned pumpkin to food. Make sure that you aren't giving treats that have grains or chicken.


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## sherrymyra (Mar 24, 2008)

I had similar situation with my westie. I tried many, many different foods until one worked. I finally found Natural Balance Limited Ingredient food and no problems since.


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## BlopityBleepityBloop (Jun 15, 2013)

I have a young westie and her tummy is very sensitive too.

I feed her dry blue buffalo dog food and that seems to be THE only thing that gives her normal bowels.

I heard that switching foods too fast can also cause loose stools, as well as canned food in general. wanted to give my Maggie canned blue buffalo puppy food I tried to mix a little canned with dry and yuck! Boy did I regret that! 

What kinds of treats do you all feed your westies? 


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