# My Puppy Refuses To Eat And Has Diarrhea



## JenaMarie (Mar 2, 2013)

I have a 4 month old, almost 5 months Labrador Retriever named Lucy. I was feeding her Purina Puppy Chow until my vet said it wasn't a good brand for large breed dogs. She said she feeds her dog Iams and I should switch. I would do half Purina and half Iams to get Lucy used to the Iams and she ate it really well until I just gave her the Iams. She stopped eating unless it had soft food in it, she wouldn't eat it as well as the Purina but she would eat if there was soft food. It just took her longer. For lunch I give her plain Iams and she wouldn't eat at all. I started to get worried about her so I added a spoon of yogurt and mixed it in, she ate it really fast that way but when I ran out of yogurt she went back to not eating so I would hand feed it to her. As soon as Lucy was eating straight Iams she started to get diarrhea. It wasn't all the time at first but now it is. She has also started throwing up, normally white foamy stuff.

She was a happy, sweet, cuddly puppy but now she has become sad, hyper stubborn and temperamental. Now she is sad will growl, bite (not hard enough to bleed but it will rough up the skin) and will jump on my nieces and nephew- taking them down to the ground and bite them. She doesn't even stop when they cry. My niece says Lucy is mean and I should take her back and get a new puppy. I could never get rid of Lucy, I am completely in love with her.
She doesn't want to listen to commands either anymore. She has always had a problem with walking on a leash but she was getting better about it, now she will try to drag me around.
She is also staying away from people most of the time which is completely weird for her, she loves people and always wants to be around them but recently she only wants to be around me. When it is just me and her home she will lay next to me or even try to get in my lap when I am working but when other people come over she wants to be in the bedroom or she will lay in the hallway away from everyone.

I took her to the vet about my concern with her behavior and the fact that she isn't eating. The vet said it is just because she is coming up on the "teen years" and she just doesn't want to eat but she will eventually. They also gave me a very short leash that will tighten when she pulls that will help teach her to walk with me but it tightens so much she gags herself and she throws up.

Lucy has always been underweight since I got her, at once of her check ups she even lost 2 pounds, the vet said not to worry about it unless it keeps happening and she is starting to lose weight, I can see and feel her ribs now. I called the vet yesterday and asked if I could bring her in they didn't seem very concerned and said to make an appointment. I asked for the first available appointment they have which isn't for a while so they said we will just talk about it when I take her in to get her spayed on June 5th.

Last night Lucy was crying and pacing all night, she was wanting to go out every hour but once she was out there she would either pace and eat grass or have diarrhea as soon as she was off the step. Twice last night she had accidents as we were on our way out the door. Finally around 4am she got up on the bed with me, laid her head on my stomach and just looked up at me with sad eyes.

Lucy has had diarrhea for about 3 weeks now, I have never heard anything but good things about Iams. I even feed it to my two cats but I honestly think it might be the food. This morning I only gave her soft food for breakfast and I am going to pick her up some Purina Puppy Chow soon and give it to her for lunch. I know the vet said it isn't good for large breed dogs but I want to get her something I know she will eat.

Has anyone had this problem with Iams before or heard anything about it? Or maybe a suggestion on what food I should give her?

When I give her the Purina should I do half Purina and half Iams again or because she already has the diarrhea should I just give her the Purina?


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## zeronightfarm (Jun 15, 2011)

I didn't read all of it, but Iams and Purina are both really crappy foods.

Check out http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/


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## JenaMarie (Mar 2, 2013)

I have never seen most of those dog foods in stores. I will look into them though. Thank you!


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## zeronightfarm (Jun 15, 2011)

JenaMarie said:


> I have never seen most of those dog foods in stores. I will look into them though. Thank you!


Your not going to find good quality at walmart, you can find things like Taste of the Wild (one of the less expensive foods) at Tractor Supply.


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## Adjecyca1 (Jul 25, 2010)

Look in petco or petsmart they usually have a wide variety of food


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## BostonBullMama (Apr 20, 2013)

Adjecyca1 said:


> Look in petco or petsmart they usually have a wide variety of food


 I agree with this.
I will *NEVER* buy my animals Iams or Kirklands pet chow. Iams gave one of my animals awful crystals and he nearly had to be put to sleep and kirklands actually killed 2 of my animals because it was so high in protein and fat that it sparked fatty liver disease and both animals were dead within 3 months of the switch (unfortunately we didn't catch on until after their deaths). 
Go to a pet-specific store and look for high quality (maybe expensive) foods. I have never had problems with ANY of my animals eating Authority, for example, and it's a "cheaper" food. It's about 40 bucks for a big bag, however my vet has recommended we switch brands because I guess it's not a well advertised brand so they haven't heard of it - but get this. They wanted us to switch to Iams, which is cheaper and I've already had a bad experience with it. I told them no way. LOL.

Read the ingredients list**** You don't want things like corn meal in your dogs food because if it's one of the first 5 ingredients, then it's likely a main ingredient and that won't supply enough nutrition to your pets. You want meats to be the first ingredients


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

Did the vet do a fecal test? Parasites and such can cause chronic diarrhea.

The food could be an issue, but I think you might want to take her in for another check up at a different vets office. I'm surprised at a vet sounding so relaxed about chronic diarrhea and vomiting in a young dog, especially one that is losing weight because of it at a time that she should steadily be gaining weight.

Even if the food isn't the cause, a higher quality food may help because less fillers tends to equal less food needed which equals less poop. 4Health is TSC's own brand and Taste of the Wild is also sold at TSC, both are a big improvement from Iams. I know that even my healthy dog will have soft stools and upset GI tract on the foods like Purina.


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## JenaMarie (Mar 2, 2013)

zeronightfarm said:


> Your not going to find good quality at walmart, you can find things like Taste of the Wild (one of the less expensive foods) at Tractor Supply.


I don't get dog food at Wal Mart, I normally get it from the Commissary.


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## JenaMarie (Mar 2, 2013)

Shell said:


> Did the vet do a fecal test? Parasites and such can cause chronic diarrhea.
> 
> The food could be an issue, but I think you might want to take her in for another check up at a different vets office. I'm surprised at a vet sounding so relaxed about chronic diarrhea and vomiting in a young dog, especially one that is losing weight because of it at a time that she should steadily be gaining weight.
> 
> Even if the food isn't the cause, a higher quality food may help because less fillers tends to equal less food needed which equals less poop. 4Health is TSC's own brand and Taste of the Wild is also sold at TSC, both are a big improvement from Iams. I know that even my healthy dog will have soft stools and upset GI tract on the foods like Purina.


This isn't the first time the vet has sounded so relax when I called with a concern about my puppy. I wanted to take her to the vet to get a tick removed but they said to wait. 

I called the vet office and asked if I could bring my puppy in to see another vet in the same office. They did do tests and everything came back normal. The vet said not to give her any dog food at all, to change her diet completely and try the raw food diet to see if it clears up. I told him I was worried about giving her raw meat and he said I could cook the meat if I am really worried about it but dogs eat raw meat in the wild and they are fine. 

My brother in law isn't happy about me giving her human food because she already begs him every time she sees him eating. lol 

Has anyone tried the raw food diet?


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

There are several threads in the food section on a raw food diet. The important part is making it a balanced diet; a unbalanced raw diet is less healthy than a decent dry kibble. If you have the freezer space and can make the effort to do it right, raw might be a good choice. I admit to not having the freezer space and don't want to deal with the extra effort to do it right so I choose to feed a high quality dry food (a variety actually since I rotate). If you don't want to try raw and she's checked out as healthy with no parasites or illnesses, then I would suggest to feed her a bland diet of chicken and rice and a spoonful of plain canned pumpkin for 4-5 days and then start her on a good kibble. 

What brands are at the commissary?

Tick removal is pretty easy so I can see why they wouldn't be concerned about that. If she's on a flea and tick med, the tick should have been dead after biting and you can just carefully remove with tweezers.

Begging is a training issue, not a question of what the dog is fed. Feeding "human food" creates begging when the dog is being fed from the table or while you are eating. Teach her to go to her bed during the human meal times and reward her for sitting or laying quietly and not begging. 
My dog is a hound, no matter how he is fed, he wants more. So he will sit and stare at my food but he knows not to bother me and beg so he goes and lays down and once I am all done, I call him into the kitchen and feed him a small treat after asking for sit and shake or down and stay (any basic command to "earn" his food).


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## JenaMarie (Mar 2, 2013)

Thank you, I will check out the threads on the raw food diets and see if that is something I could do. I had never even heard of it before.

The Commissary has brands like Purina, Iams, Pedigree, Beneful, Blue Buffalo, Kibbles N' Bits, I believe there was something called Royal Canine and something else that I can't remember the name of. 

That is good to know because I just found another tick on her. The vet gave me some medication to put on the back of her neck, I'm just worried that it didn't work because the tick is still moving. I am going to look for some flea and tick shampoo also.

She never begs me for food, it is always people who aren't around very often. When I am eating she will lay down and go to sleep at my feet or behind me chair, anyone else she will sit and watch them eat. I give her fruits, veggies and yogurt but only in her dish never at the table or when I am eating. My sister gives her food while she is eating once in a while or if she drops something on the floor she will call Lucy over to eat it.


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

Blue Buffalo is probably the best choice out of those options as the commissary. The others range from really bad (Kibbles N' Bits, Pedigree) to really mediocre (Purina, Iams). Check the prices between BB there and what's available at Tractor Supply Company (TOTW or the house brand 4Health)

Not all topical flea medicine works on ticks and of course it doesn't work the second you put it on the dog either. I just grasp the tick as close to the dog's skin as possible with tweezers and yank it out. You don't want to squeeze the tick's body. Some camping and sporting stores (Bass Pro for example) sell a cheap tick removal tool that looks sort of like a bottle opener and slides under the tick's body and then you twist and pop it out.

I don't suggest using both a topical medicine treatment + a chemical based flea/tick shampoo and I definitely do NOT suggest the Hartz flea shampoo (i.e. what's available at Walmart) since the chemicals are pretty nasty. I use a natural flea and tick shampoo sometimes that uses cedar and peppermint oils and such.


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## Sparkles123 (Dec 3, 2012)

So glad you are getting advice here!
Purina and Iams are crap since proctor and gamble bought them...
You should first heal the inflamed intestine by feeding rice and cottage cheese for 5 days (as per my vet)
Then add some chix and eliminate the rice (it's a grain after all, and you want to be grain free)
Good luck and hope your pup gets well soon!


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## JenaMarie (Mar 2, 2013)

I started her on chicken and rice with a small amount of pumpkin and the diarrhea cleared up the very next morning, then I gave her plain yogurt in her KONG and she had a small amount of diarrhea so I am wondering if maybe it is also dairy that is playing a part. I haven't given her anymore yogurt and she is doing fine again so I am going to keep her on chicken and rice for a few more days and I am going to go to PetSmart to try to find a dog food for sensitive stomachs. 

I will try a little cottage cheese and see how she does with that, if it gives her the diarrhea then I am going to stay away from diary products.

Thank you so much for your help! I will keep you posted on how she does with the sensitive stomach dog food.


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## JenaMarie (Mar 2, 2013)

I tried the cottage cheese and it gave her diarrhea again. 

I also found a all natural dog food but that also gave her the diarrhea so I went to talk to her vet and they said to give her Purina Puppy Chow again because it is good for diarrhea. I got it and she hasn't had the diarrhea since until recently because she got spayed a few days ago and one of the side effects of the pain killers are diarrhea but tomorrow is her last day on them so she should be better soon.


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