# Puppy keeps getting diarrhea



## playdog212 (Oct 2, 2014)

Our 3month old husky puppy is having digestion problems. When we first got him, we tried Eukanuba puppy kibble but that didn't work since he was having diarrhea 8+ times per day. So we decided to switch him to raw diet (chicken+rice) until poop firms up and then try a better, more quality food.

The raw diet worked pefectly and his stools were back to normal, so we searched for a better kibble food and a lot of people recommended us Taste of the Wild which is what we went for (HIGH PRAIRIE PUPPY FORMULA). After trying to switch him gradually back to kibble, we started adding 1/4 of TOTW to the chicken+rice meal and first two day seemed ok, and on the third day when we tried 2/4 it was really bad diarrhea again, even worse than on Eukanuba.

I'm not sure what to do now since it looks like it's same story all over again and we tried to move to new food slowly. Please suggest what else can we do.


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## Dog Person (Sep 14, 2012)

I've seen people here recommend canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling) to help with diarrhea, I have never used it myself.

Look at the ingredients in both kibbles and see whats common, that may be a reason. It could be a food problem or your pup just isn't digesting certain brands. My dog didn't do well on Origen as a pup as it was too rich. I am thinking that if your pup handled raw then what you are feeding isn't too rich but it could be something in the kibble. I had a dog that would get colitis if she was fed beef, no problem with chicken or anything else.

Try probiotics, their not a miracle but they could help. Look for a multi strain formula, I use NWC brand but others use different brands with good results as well.

Sometimes its trial and error until you find the right food.


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## Erin80 (Oct 12, 2014)

It's frustrating. Our puppy is 4 months old now, but about a month ago we had a huge battle with diarrhea. When we got him, he was on Blue Buffalo Large Breed Puppy. He ended up getting really sick after eating something in our yard (I think it was a small mushroom), and I took that opportunity to switch his food. We put him on chicken and rice until things firmed back up after being sick, about 5 days I think.....and then I mixed in some of the new food with the chicken and rice. The new food we tried was Diamond Naturals Chicken and Sweet Potato. He got the runs again, so we went back to chicken and rice for a few days. At that point, it was time for his second puppy needles so I took him to the vet - I asked about switching his food and she said it is fine to just try the new food after being on the chicken and rice, so once again, I tried another food. She gave me a bag of Hill's Healthy Advantage Large Breed Puppy - as much as I didn't like the ingredients in this food, I was desperate......and it totally worked. I kept him on this for a week or so, but then wanted to get him on a higher quality food....so again, attempted to switch. This time to PC Nutrition First puppy food (a Canadian food that got 4 stars on the Dog Food Advisor website). He got HORRIBLE awful unbelievable diarrhea, just from mixing 1/4c into the Hill's food. It was insane. 

So here we are, one month later, and he is eating Hill's Healthy Advantage.....at $100 a bag. IT SUCKS, but it seems to be the only food that works at the moment. I am going to keep him on this until he's probably 6-8 months, or maybe even 1 year, and then try switching again. I don't think his digestive tract can handle the rich ingredients of the higher quality foods.....


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## playdog212 (Oct 2, 2014)

So if Taste of the Wild and Eukanuba are not "good" for him, which other EU brands would you suggest to try, that differ from these two ?

Also, when he's eating, he eats and swallows so fast that he doesn't even chew on the kibble, just swallows them, and appears hungry all the time.


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## Erin80 (Oct 12, 2014)

So many people here have such excellent knowledge on foods. I am still learning, so I am not going to suggest any foods....but the moral of my post is when you do find something that works, stick with it, regardless of whether it is a "good" food or not. I don't love the food Ghost is on, but I am not changing it because dealing with diarrhea sucks....for him, and I! Eventually, we will once again try a good high quality food - I have Acana in my sights, I've heard good things.


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## Dog Person (Sep 14, 2012)

I can't specifically speak which EU brands are out there as I am in the US and even here some brands are more readily available then others. One brand that comes from Italy - Farmina may be available to you. People here have raved about it. I have a 5 lb bag that I have yet to try as I am working through some other food first.

As far as hungry ... that's what puppies/dogs do! My dog is constantly on the food prowl ... she hears a cabinet or the frig open and she is around looking and waiting for food LOL!!




playdog212 said:


> So if Taste of the Wild and Eukanuba are not "good" for him, which other EU brands would you suggest to try, that differ from these two ?
> 
> Also, when he's eating, he eats and swallows so fast that he doesn't even chew on the kibble, just swallows them, and appears hungry all the time.


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## playdog212 (Oct 2, 2014)

So my best bet it so keep switching food and buying different brands until I find something that works?


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## Dog Person (Sep 14, 2012)

The first thing is to make sure your pup is OK and only a Vet can tell you that. 

Assuming your pup is OK, are you feeding him too much? Are there ingredients in both foods that are similar? 

The protein in the food you are feeding isn't too high especially since you fed raw and it should have been higher protein on raw but maybe the food is too rich. Is he getting into something that is giving him diarrhea? Other treats?

Ultimately it may come down to trying different brands or flavors to find the one that works. I mostly feed a food called Annamaet but have tried Dr Tims and Fromm, both had pork in them and Zoey didn't do well ... She had diarrhea. She also didn't do well on Orijen as a pup so there's three brands and/or flavors that are out.


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## playdog212 (Oct 2, 2014)

He is now back on chicken + rice and I guess I'll be looking for another brand very soon. While on the raw diet, is there something else puppy should eat to get all of the nutritions he need for growth and development?


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## Erin80 (Oct 12, 2014)

Usually they are only on the chicken and rice for a few days to a week, so I was told that just the chicken and rice is fine in that time - he was getting 1 cup of this mixture, half and half. When you do start adding dog food, do it super slowly. I did it like this (he gets 3 meals a day):
Day 1: Morning feeding - 1/4c of dog food mixed with the chicken and rice (1/2 c of chicken and 1/4 c of rice). Meals 2 and 3, just chicken and rice (1 cup).
Day 2: Morning and lunch feedings: 1/4c of dog food mixed with chicken and rice. Meal 3, just chicken and rice.
Days 3&4: 1/4c of dog food in all feedings, decreased the rice by 1/4c.
Days 5&6: 1/2c of dog food, 1/4c of both chicken and rice
Day 7: 3/4c of dog food, 1/4c of chicken, no rice
Day 8: finally on dog food. He gets 1 cup in the morning, 3/4c at lunch, and 1 cup at dinner.

I wouldn't suggest you just keep randomly trying dog foods, because that will mess him up again. Find one you want to try, and stick to that. If he gets diarrhea even after slowly adding dog food to the chicken and rice, I would probably go back to chicken and rice and take him to the vet for advice. It could be the protein source. It could be anything. It's so hard to say. I still have no idea why Ghost was getting diarrhea from those 2 different foods I tried, and I don't know what it is about the Hill's Healthy Advantage that is agreeing with him....but when you do find one that agrees with your pup, stick with it!


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## fourdogs (Feb 3, 2014)

Not all dogs are going to do well on the fancier foods, (TOTW, etc). Knowing what my little Jack has been through tummy-wise over the last year, I'd find something he can digest and be comfortable on and leave it for a good long while. Science Diet is not the worst thing your dog could eat, despite all the negative spin the internet has put on it. If your pup digests it and likes it, I would keep him on it at least til he is done growing (12-18 months) before I would even think about messing with it again. 

To "upgrade" the quality of meals he's getting, you can add cooked meats, egg, yogurt (but no more than 25% of the total diet). 

I keep feeling completely guilty that Jack (mini poodle, 20 months old) is not on a "5 star" food. He just can not tolerate it! He was doing well on Purina, and then Science Diet, but has become intolerant to even the rice in those, so now it's Natural Balance Potato/Duck. So far he is tolerating me adding in some of the accompanying canned food. I feel really sad about feeding him a lower rated food, but hey, he is not miserable with diarrhea, he's not super skinny anymore because he can assimilate nutrients in the food now vs it just flying out of him and not nourishing him. 

I also learned not to get all hung up on how many "stars" a food is "rated" (because that site doesn't also look at mineral content, which is important), or listen too much to any internet gurus about how I'm going to kill my dog with the lower quality foods... he just can't tolerate them. 

So, anyway, that's my opinion on the matter. 
Good luck.


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## playdog212 (Oct 2, 2014)

Erin80 said:


> Usually they are only on the chicken and rice for a few days to a week, so I was told that just the chicken and rice is fine in that time - he was getting 1 cup of this mixture, half and half. When you do start adding dog food, do it super slowly. I did it like this (he gets 3 meals a day):
> Day 1: Morning feeding - 1/4c of dog food mixed with the chicken and rice (1/2 c of chicken and 1/4 c of rice). Meals 2 and 3, just chicken and rice (1 cup).
> Day 2: Morning and lunch feedings: 1/4c of dog food mixed with chicken and rice. Meal 3, just chicken and rice.
> Days 3&4: 1/4c of dog food in all feedings, decreased the rice by 1/4c.
> ...


I'm gonna try again with your meal plan. I was just wondering if you weight cups before you cook them or after? I just cooked 300g of rice which is around 1.5 cup if I'm correct and it looks A LOT of rice. I wanted to give him 1/2 of chicken and 1/2 of rice on the first day.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Half cooked rice and half chicken is better since he keeps going through this. Make good and sure the rice is overcooked and mushy so he can digest it better. 

Sassy's GI upset never completely resolved until I added a little pumpkin to the chicken and rice. Chicken and rice has very little fiber but pumpkin and kibble have lots. The day after I gave her pumpkin her poop was perfect. Don't start substituting the kibble for the cooked food until you see perfect poop.

Pups often have worms/coccidia/giardia and some are almost impossible to detect with a single fecal as eggs aren't passed all the time. You might consider having fecals done for a couple weeks in a row to see if this is one of the hard to find sort of parasites. One infamous case ending up with the dog having scoping done after years of suffering and I know of a giant breed pup that had the same thing happen. He got better on bland diet but couldn't tolerate any kibble and ended up on raw but of course that didn't solve it either.


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## Erin80 (Oct 12, 2014)

1/2 a cup of cooked rice, 1/2 a cup of cooked (boiled) chicken. I make a dog broth for him when he gets diarrhea since they can dehydrate so fast. I throw in 4 bone in chicken breasts, 2 potatoes quartered, and 2 carrots...then cover it all with water. I boil that, covered, for 3 hrs. I then strain it, discard the veggies, store the broth in the fridge, and shred the chicken. In his chicken and rice meals, I did a generous amount of broth in the beginning to ensure he was fully hydrated since he didn't want to drink water - it worked very well, he was peeing like crazy. I would just continue mixing the broth in until it was gone, then use warm water after that. Even now in his dog food, I always add warm water. 

If he still has diarrhea, I would do 1/2 c of cooked chicken and 1/2c of cooked rice 3 times a day (that's what I did.....Ghost is a Weimaraner, so he eats quite a bit) until his stools are firm, and THEN start weaning off. It is a bit of a process, but it is so worth it.

ETA - I felt bad in the beginning about feeding him the Hill's food, but he is doing SO well on it. The only thing bugging me about is now is the cost. Anyway, I do make sure he gets all top quality everything else.....he chews bully sticks and chicken feet, his treats are all top grade, we stay away from rawhide and "junky" stuff. Makes me feel like I'm balancing it all out.


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## chimunga (Aug 29, 2014)

It seems to be kind of a subject of contest on the internet, and I'm not sure how helpful it'll be with a chronic problem, but when Watson had mild diarrhea for a few days, his vet _and _his breeder suggested I give him a tablespoon of plain Greek yogurt mixed in with his food. That cleared it up real quick. Now he gets a tablespoon in his food every day or so. He get super excited whenever he sees me take the yogurt out of the fridge. 

(For his kibble food he gets Holistic Select puppy, sometimes mixed with Natural life canned puppy food.)


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## seaboxador (Sep 23, 2012)

First, have you talked about this with your vet? DIarrhea can be parasites as well. I had issues with my puppy when it was younger. I would suggest, as my vet did, to do a reset for a few days. Take food away for a half day or a day to give their system a break. Then something really bland like scrambled eggs and rice for a day or two and then re-introduce kibble. 

If you haven't had the dog checked, I'd get it to a vet asap. I tried the pumpkin and yogurt bit. Notice no difference.


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## Capri142 (Jun 14, 2013)

First off, you do not need to feed your pup any of these "designer" brands. When we were looking for our last Corgi we contacted 5 of the top breeders in the south East. I asked all of them what they feed their puppies and dogs. Every One of them said their puppies get fed Purina Puppy Chow and all but one of them said their championship dogs get fed on Purina Pro Plan dog food. When we got our pup, I started checking these boards to see what the best food would be and got caught up in the Raw and Designer foods. A few days of that and little Arlo was eating but had bad diarrhea. A trip to the grocery store for a bag of puppy chow and all was soon well again. Now that he is older he gets fed Purina Pro Plan, an occasional table spoon of pumpkin. and a daily pet vitamin.....good stuff. You really don't need to fix your dog a dinner as if he was sitting down to the table with you.


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## Pasarella (May 30, 2013)

I'm froEU. I would suggest Acana , Carnilove , applaws, Canidea if you are looking for a grain free. If not my dogs did well on Nutra Nuggets , I know many people who feeds Nutra Gold and Advance and dogs are fine.


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## Erin80 (Oct 12, 2014)

Yup, don't feel pressured into feeding him a top grade food and don't feel guilty if you don't. Ghost is doing best on Hill's Healthy Advantage - food you get at the vet. It is the ONLY food that has not given him diarrhea, so we are sticking with that for now. Once he's older, we will probably switch to regular Science Diet, or something somewhat equivalent. The Healthy Advantage is $100 a bag, and I can't keep doing that, but I will do that while he's young and his system is sensitive. You do what works.


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