Whats a good diet for pups with diarrhea?

[Dezzieboo]

Hello! I was wondering if anyone could help me with my teacup yorkie's diet. I've only had him for little over two weeks and we can't find a diet he'll eat and have solid stools. He's gone through so much since we've had him too.. but to keep things short, we're looking for a diet that would help him!

I forgot what the dry food the breeder gave him but when we got him he ate Blue Buffalo for pups, after a critical decline (not sure what caused it) he refuses to eat dry food. It seems like he has low blood sugar so the vet suggested wet food (AP diet? i think) and he ate that up but would still have diarrhea. Then the vet decided to give him goats milk with the wet food to get more nutrients. He'll gobble up the goats milk but avoid the wet food! We then had to force feed him his wet food through a syringe because all he wanted was the goats milk. Then after reading some forums on here, we decided to try give him a little bit of nutrical (maybe 2-3x a day or when we notice he's being lethargic) with rice and chicken and we stick dry food in too. He eats the chicken right up and eats a bit of the rice and completely avoids the dry food. It's been a couple days on this new diet and he still is having nasty looking diarrhea (comes out like a mustard color, sorry for the detail of color!). Should we keep this diet for a couple of more days to see if anything changes?

Has anyone experienced this? Or has any suggestions of what to do? I would greatly appreciate it! We would love for him to go back to dry food too but so far none of our tricks are working out. Thanks!

[ladyjane]

He could have any number of things going on. Did the vet do any tests on him?

[Roccosmommy]

How old is your pup? He may just be too young to take to a dry food and you might have to cater to his needs for now just to nourish him. Either way, with diarrhea in a pup, I'd waste no time going to the vet again if it's been going on this long.

[Dezzieboo]

Yes, the vet did a bunch of tests on him, they have no idea whats wrong with him. He had been going to the vets every day for the past two weeks (basically since we got him!) and we finally decided to stop bringing him because it seems like all they were doing was monitoring him. The change in food that we made, got him more lively than what they were doing so we decided to keep him at home and not at the vets anymore.

He's going onto 11 weeks now. I guess we figured he'd be able to eat the dry food since the breeder said he was eating dry food from them. I'm just wondering if there's something else that will help with his diarrhea. We'll keep with the chicken and rice since he loves it and is more excited to eat, but has anyone else had issues with this food giving their pups diarrhea?

[Roccosmommy]

Canned pumpkin helps with diarrhea and they usually love it. You could mix a little in with his chicken and rice. Hope he feels better soon! By the way, how much does he weigh?

[Verbena]

For his diarrhea I would make some boiled chicken and white rice with the canned pumpkin. It is plain canned pumpkin not pumpkin pie mix. Once you get it under control then you can start adding the dry food to the mixture. Then slowly take him off the mixture so he is only feeding him dry. Make sure he has lots of water. And try to feed him at least 4 times a day. Keep up with the Nurical also. Good luck

[Dezzieboo]

Thank you everyone for the suggestion! We have been boiling the chicken and giving white rice. And we try to feed him a small portion every couple of hours to make sure his blood sugar doesn't drop.

I just wasn't sure if this was common that the food would give him diarrhea or something. But I'll definitely try the canned pumpkin! Do you just heat it up with the rest of the food? Or we thought that the drastic change of food could have caused it. For the two weeks we've had him, he hasn't had a solid stool, but maybe once? I guess he's also just become a picky eater too.

He weighs around one pound.

Thanks again!

[Verbena]

You just add the pumpkin. You do not have to heat it up. Has the vet done a fecal?

[mimimomo]

When a dog has diarrhea, the stool can turn yellow. Yellow stool means that the stool is traveling very quickly through the small intestine. When a dog has diarrhea and it's yellow, it can also mean that he is eating foods that he can't tolerate; so the dog's food should be changed.

If your dog is a puppy and is eliminating yellow poop, you need to take it to the vet. If a puppy drinks too much milk, this can turn his stool yellow. Puppies can easily be killed by an infection, so treatment must begin ASAP.[LEFT]
Read more: What Causes Yellow Stool in Dogs? | eHow


Maybe try a different vet, get a 2nd opinion? Switching foods on a young puppy is very dangerous, it causes digestive problems & that causes them not to want to eat which ultimately gives them hypoglycemia. Hope he'll be ok!

[TxVicki]

Has a fecal sample been tested for worms or other parasites?

[Maximo]

A note of caution about pumpkin -- it doesn't work with all pups. It makes things worse with my Teddy.

How old is your baby? Diarrhea in a pup, especially a small one, is very concerning. I would want to rule out parasites and some of the common illnesses in new pups.

[Roccosmommy]

Oh my, 1 pound at 11 weeks...I would agree with mimimomo and get a 2nd opinion. Can't mess around with such little babies. Good luck and please keep us updated.

[Dezzieboo]

When we brought him to the vet, he did all sorts of testing on him. I wasn't told exactly what because he was in such a bad shape when we got him, things went quick. But I know the vet said that he doesn't seem to have any infection, parasites, etc. They had no clue what was wrong but to keep making sure he ate to keep his glucose levels up.

He's still eating (chicken and rice w some pumpkin) so that's a good sign! I tried the pumpkin and fed it to him in two of his meals and he's already having solid stool! Yay thanks for the help! I'll keep a close monitor on him though in case.

Those that given their dogs pumpkin for diarrhea, is this something you continue giving each meal? Or do you slowly take him off of it? I've had him for little over two weeks and I've never seen solid stool from him. He was also on meds for diarrhea but I didn't see that making a difference.

Yeaa hes really small because he's a teacup yorkie. We were told he won't get any bigger than 3 pounds! He's at 11 weeks and around a pound.

Thanks again everyone for the help! I'll look into a second opinion in case!

[mimimomo]

Originally Posted by Dezzieboo

When we brought him to the vet, he did all sorts of testing on him. I wasn't told exactly what because he was in such a bad shape when we got him, things went quick. But I know the vet said that he doesn't seem to have any infection, parasites, etc. They had no clue what was wrong but to keep making sure he ate to keep his glucose levels up.

He's still eating (chicken and rice w some pumpkin) so that's a good sign! I tried the pumpkin and fed it to him in two of his meals and he's already having solid stool! Yay thanks for the help! I'll keep a close monitor on him though in case.

Those that given their dogs pumpkin for diarrhea, is this something you continue giving each meal? Or do you slowly take him off of it? I've had him for little over two weeks and I've never seen solid stool from him. He was also on meds for diarrhea but I didn't see that making a difference.

Yeaa hes really small because he's a teacup yorkie. We were told he won't get any bigger than 3 pounds! He's at 11 weeks and around a pound.

Thanks again everyone for the help! I'll look into a second opinion in case!

Giving him pumpkin as a supplement should be no problem, esp if it's helping his stool firm up. Maybe all the goat's milk gave him diarrhea? I know my boys can't tolerate goat's milk, but my girl's can drink a whole bowl w/out any problems.
Since he's only about 1#, he should be eating small meals regularly several x's throughout the day...you've got your hands full! As long as he's got a good appetite, he should be fine. If he continues to have diarrhea when you stop the pumpkin, then his stool should be tested again (giardia maybe?) or have a BATs (bile acid test) done. Or switch the protein you are giving, when dogs are intolerant of an ingredient, they vomit &/or have diarrhea. I have 1 that's intolerant of pumpkin, it makes him throw up. Best of luck w/your little one!

[Scoobstersmom]

Jenny, I noticed you mentioned giardia in the previous post. We have recently acquired a small pup - probably poodle mix - six months and around 4 months, that was diagnosed with giardia right after we got her. Since she is so small the vet broke the dose of panacur up so she would have six doses - six days - instead of three. I've never had a pup with anything like this. Do you know anything about it? Will she be okay? We're to take another stool sample in one week after she finished the meds, so a few more days, but we're really worried about her. She did not have any symptoms when she was diagnosed. It was a routine stool check.

Diana and Scooby