Help with diarrhea in dogs - UPDATE, pg. 2

[gritsar]

Jax (7 1/2 mo. old GSD) has always had very firm, smallish BMs.
A week ago Wednesday I made a HUGE mistake and allowed to have two rawhide sticks he received as a gift. I gave him one on Wednesday and one on Thursday. The sticks were about a foot long and an inch in diameter. Oh course he inhaled them.
On Thursday he didn't have a bowel movement. On Friday he had slight diarrhea. On Saturday we had to be gone for awhile. When we came home Jax had had an accident in his crate. It was really fowl smelling diarrhea. We gave him pepto-bismal per the vet's dosage instructions. We also gave him no treats, no cookies, and we fed him boiled chicken and rice. He didn't have any more bowel movements on Saturday and none on Sunday.
Monday morning he had a almost-normal BM. We continued with the chicken and rice. His bowels were normal for about two days and then he went back to having diarrhea.
We have taken away everything but his dry kibble. He is still having mostly diarrhea with a few normal looking BMs.
He was wormed last in October (Nemex 2).
Other than the diarrhea, he is acting just fine. He has a good appetite and runs and plays like nobody's business. His belly is not tender in any way. We are still having to watch his consumption of chicken poo. He can find that stuff like he has chicken poo radar or something!
Could it still be the rawhide that is causing the problem? Is there anyway to "hurry it along"?
DH has to work all weekend and Monday night. If it's not better by Tuesday, we will be taking him to the vet. I can't drive right now due to a new med., but if necessary I will stop taking the med. so I can drive.
TIA

 

[OccamsTazer]

Ouch, the rawhide poos! When I used to work as a vet tech we saw this all the time, but you're already doing everything I was going to recommend

Sometimes when the intestinal lining gets irritated by debris, infection can set in, he might need a round of antibiotics. When my dogs get stomach upset I like to give them a probiotic supplement to balance things out. Just don't do it via yogurt, the milk could make diarrhea worse!
Hopefully he will clear up soon, good luck!

 

[ChickenToes]

You might want to take a stool sample to a vet to make sure he doesn't have parasites.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Yeah, we have a little collection vial that we are going to take with us, if we need to go.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Thunder, the 13 year old, had constant issues with throwing up. Every night we'd have to give him a "shot" of pepto. He hated that stuff and so do I. You CANNOT get it off of concrete. The stain is there forever!

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Memories of Charlie Girl taking pepto willingly than shaking her head and spraying the walls with it!

Jax likes the stuff and takes it willingly. He even licked up off the floor what my DH spilled giving it to him.

P.S. Rod, if you don't already do this try refrigerating the pepto. I do and don't really taste it at all.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Luckily Thunder's pancreatitis has calmed down. Thunder looks to be losing ground though... poor old guy. It's going to kill me to lose him. He's eating 2 meals a day with 2 cups at each feeding and is still losing weight. We had to put him outside because he's started having poo accidents in the house. He looks so guilty when it happens, it's like he's berating himself.

 

[Redyre Rotties]

I would be VERY WORRIED about a BOWEL OBSTRUCTION.

Please speak to your vet about this, and the symptoms he is having, immediately!!!

 

[BFeathered]

I agree with Redyre, get him checked out, just to be safe. A partial obstruction can turn ugly fast. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[mypicklebird]

If he is pooping and eating, and not vomiting- he *probably* is not obstructed. Transit time from mouth to bottom is around 24-48 hrs, so the rawhides are probably gone by now. The current problem may not have anything to do with the rawhide. There are lots of causes of diarrhea- 1) parasitic (giardia, coccidia, hookworms, whip worms ect)- a fecal float and giardia test at the vet's will help rule those out and/or provide a treatment plan. 2) viral- is he vaccinated? corona is usually self limiting, parvo usually causes vomiting too. 3) malabsorption/maldigestion- in a GSD you need to think about EPI (pancreatic insufficiency) these guys eat alot, and lose weight- they can't digest their food, the problem usually brings them into the vet around 5-7 months old. there are also other causes in this category 4) ate something gross- ie garbage gut- ie gastroenteritis or colitis. These are often bacterial- some are self limiting, some need medications- antibiotics, tummy protectants, anti-nausea meds if vomiting ect. 5) Ate or exposed to something truly toxic- and the diarrhea is just the first symptom. 6) inflammatory- pancreatitis. not common in youngsters. If you bring him into the vet's, bring a fresh fecal sample- expect them to check for parasites. They will sort though all of the common causes of puppy diarrhea and come up with some probable causes for you. If he is acting totally normal, no vomiting, no belly pain, and has no fever, they may suggest supportive care- bland food, metronidazole, pepcid ect. If his physical is abnormal- they will help you sort through some testing and treatment possibilities.