gastroenteritis in dogs

hitemhard

Hello, can I have some advice please. My dog has gastroenteritis, had it for months on and off, been on meds for months. My dogs seems to get it for a day or two every week or two. The diet is chicken and rice, manly chicken because the rice is left behind! Yesterday the dog had, chicken, a little rice with oxo chicken cubes and chicken gravy ( will do anything to get the rice in) Also chewed on a raw bone. The poor lil pet had the runs last night (twice) and today, has not touched water or food today, not as worried because it was the same two weeks ago and by the morning the appetite was back. The vet has checked and given milky med. One other thing the dog had was the raw hide bones, are these bad? I did give natural bone but it stinks so only had it in the house for a while yesterday. Anyone else experience this?

carleigh

My Cocker Spaniel suffers from a gastro problem also, and as a result of this and another ongoing condition, he can only eat white meat and fish. One of the best ways I find to get rice into my fella is to get some minced turkey, and mix it in a bowl with some cooked rice and breadcrumbs, and then mould them into little patties and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. He loves them. And if I bake fish, I put a bit of water in the dish, and just before it comes out of the oven I toss some cooked rice in and let is soak up the fishy water! I would try and stay away from the stock cubes unless they are low sodium as they can be very salty. He gets about 3 natural raw hide bones a week, and the vet says they are fine. You might like to try making homemade treats with porridge oats, they go down well in my house. Hope your dog gets well soon. Its tough going, I am up most nights letting my dog out but since he is on his meds and strict diet, there is a definite improvement. But some days are easier than others. Best of luck!

ISDW

I would leave the oxo cubes and gravy out, too salty for dogs. If you want to make some kind of stock, boil up a chicken carcass (after you've roasted it and eaten the meat yourself:D) then you can use the stock left over to pour over food if you need to.

The rawhide could also be having an impact definitely. The dog could have an allergy to rice, so that could actually be causing the problem, rather than helping it. Did you used to feed a dry food, and if so, which one?

There are some good salmon and potato complete foods on the market that might be an option for you.

Cherry Blossom

Well my dog has an allergy to chicken, so it could be the chicken! Try a lamb and rice diet for a week if nothing changes try a lamb and potato diet. Boil up a chunk of lamb in a saucepan with a boil in the bag rice, the rice will soak up the lamb juices and make it more appetising. You can also pour some of the water over the finished product in the bowl. If this goes well come back and we'll see if we can figure out where to go next. You need to identify the problem first so do not feed anything other than the very basic ingredients. You can then add things back in one at a time to help identify the problem ingredient.

hitemhard

Carleigh – thanks for the reply, this also is an ongoing condition here – but my dog can’t eat fish! Chicken or mince but not mixing, like if I swap from one to another it sets it off. Looks like the rice, gravy, oxo cubes could be setting it off – all recommended by my vet. But also to change if they are causing problems.

I will stay away from the gravy and stock cubes, my dog does like porridge! So maybe some of that. My dog is fine for anything from a few days to about two weeks and then out of nowhere its up in the middle of the night and off food for the next day. Thanks for your advice.

ISDW - thanks for your reply too – oxo cubes and gravy are out! Not a chicken eater so no stock at all, Like you I think the rice could also be causing the problem cause some was eaten yesterday! I did read that the rawhide could be causing the problem and the dog had that yesterday for the first time in a few days. I did feed the dog royal canin but the dog was underweight so the vet asked me to change to cooked meats – the vet thought the dry food could also have started off the gastroenteritis!

The dog can’t eat fish – tinned fish anyway – sick within hours after having it so will stay away from that, I prefer to keep the dog on cooked meat as been underweight did worry me.


And thanks to you too adrenalinjunkie. My dog seems ok with chicken alone, its if I swap from one meat to antoher. Plain chicken is ok but the dog seems to get bored with it so that’s why I tried the rice with oxo and gravy. I think I will sick to chicken only for a week – no rice and won’t eat potato! So I will try plain chicken (costing a small fortune) only first and see how I am.

Now for all – I have the dog chewing a natural bone – but as I said it stinks! And the dog is in while I am at work. So what can I give to keep them chewing on something (not the chairs) but won’t stink OR does the smell come off the natural bone in time?

Cherry Blossom

You can stuff a kong with chicken, add a little of the chicken water or something to make it stay in better and freeze it in advance.

SukisMam

Hi, I have been through hell and out the other end with my dog and these kind of problems. She was drugged up to the hilt at just 6 months old with 6 tablets twice daily and horrible white stuff to squirt down her throat. It's the only thing that worked until I looked at alternative medicine and a raw food diet. She is thriving and no more drugs! It takes time to get used to the raw food/BARF diet, but when you see the results, you know you're on the right track. However, rice would still give her the runs if she got it, so I'd recommend you stay away from him. If you're interested in more info please PM me and I can give you tons of advice.

lorebringer

@ hitemhard - sorry to hear about the plight you and your dog have been going though. One of mine had Gastro for 6 weeks, nightmare (diarrhoea everyday - and night - and all the rest that goes along with it) and the poor pet was miserable. After many vet trips, lots of trial (and error) on food and different drugs we ended up, by chance, discovering Royal Canin Sensitivity Control (Veterinary food) and we haven't looked back since. She is still on it and doing very well. We have tried her on other foods and there are a few that she can eat but we always end up going back to the RC. It comes in both wet and dry (we feed dry), is pricey but well worth it. There have been a few flare ups since we started her on it (she suffers from colitis) but all very minor and short lived. If any of the other dogs are ill with stomach problems, we put them onto the RC for a few days and it all clears wonderfully. I cannot recommend it enough. Most vets stock it, or can get it in, or it can be bought online (www.medicanimal.com is a good site for it). Well worth a try and it works fantastically.

ISDW

Can I ask what breed she is, as somebody might know if some breeds are more prone to allergies than others.

hitemhard

Thanks all - I will try the chicken in the kong, I have the fillings but they are not bothered about it. The dogs were RC before and this one had to be taken off. They are two Bichon Frise both from the same litter so when one went on chicken so did the other - only fair. The sister is fine with all food but this one seems to be picky and has this problem. Both parents were fine - no health problems.

Sigma Force

Each dog is different so it depends, I had a dog with the same problem can't remember the name of the medication but it was a sticky liquid I had to give her it about 20 mins before her food and it helped she was put on Royal Canin Sensativity and if she managed to get any other food it would really upset her tum. Was it the regular RC food you tried of the sensativity one?

A raw bone shouldn't smell strong, do the raw bones agree with your dog I can't feed mine raw one especially ends up with colitis every time which is a shame, parents dog has an iron stomach and can eat them no probs.

I know it's boring for the dog but for a while to see maybe just stick to the same food all the time to avoid any tummy upsets, if possible and if it agrees with the dog a few boiled peas as well. Small dogs especially can get fussy about their food no matter what you feed them so sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind and feed them the same stuff every day at least for a while.

PeaSoup

I'm sorry to hear that, it's a real bugger of an illness to manage. I think you're right that the bones may have had a small part to play. I would lay off them as these sporadic changes in diets can affect a sensitive bowel. Try and keep the diet as simple as possible whilst providing adequate nutrition. Have you tried any of the hills sensitive stomach? It's slightly more expensive but it will give a much more balanced meal than your rice and protein. From what I know that mix of chicken and rice is really generally meant to be more of a short term diet to get an animal through a period of more severe gastroenteritis. Of course when switching diets this can cause some upset also so do so slowly and gradually mixing the two feeds over a period of 1-2 weeks.

Here is the link, it's available from most vets and is (imo) a top brand of dog food for cases like this

http://www.hillspet.com/products/sd-canine-adult-sensitive-stomach-dry.html

hitemhard

Thanks Sigma Force – my vet doesn’t supply RC, dead against promoting food and reckons there are better food on the market. She actually cooks for her dogs, likes scraps and mix meat. Anyway I could try it to see if it works. The raw bone smells while its in the house – should it smell or will this go in a few days? I usually leave them outside with their bones. It’s not the raw bone that caused it, I have it down to rice, oxo or raw hide bones, only thing had yesterday that prob set it off (going by past events). Chicken was boring hence the oxo and gravy but off that for now!

Thanks PeaSoup, first time to experience this, had westie and terriers before and nothing like this at all! I read raw hide can set it off and this is one thing in common from the start! Vet said to keep off dry food as one was underweight, this started off and reckoned it was the food. Another common factor is water – may sound mad but I used to give them bottled water to keep the eyes clean, when this didn’t help I put them on tap water and I think it could be one thing that could cause it. I did notice fish or change from mice to chicken would set it off but if I stay on one it seems fine. I will try anything now – even dry food, if left out while at work at least there is something to pick at.

ISDW

If you're going to give raw bones, stick them in the freezer for a while first to kill any bacteria.

With changing their food, and them getting the runs, this is very common, it is recommended that when changing dog food, you do it gradually, reducing one and gradually increasing the new one.

A friend of mine has to cook fish and potatoes every day for one of her dogs at the moment, a nice bland diet.

PeaSoup

That's good that you're still open to options, I would definitely recommend hills for a specific diet. It shouldn't have any effect on weight as long as he/she is eating the recommended amounts. It's better for the dogs overall health and immune response to whatever is the source cause of this GE. I think you can get the feed in cans if you'd prefer though. I'm a vet student in UCD and from what I've seen in practise feeding a nice bland diet short term and then hills sensitive stomach long term was the most common diet management options for those chronic cases of GE.

The Sweeper

hitmehard, I think you should talk to your vet about possible underlying infections. The way it flares up regularly would make me suspicious.

In order to find out what your dog is reacting to, you need to run a very strict elimination diet. Remove all treats, bones and food. Buy a couple of rubber tooth-cleaning bones if you're worried about their treats. Then start your dogs, both of them, on a plain food and nothing else.

Don't worry too much about them getting 'bored' of the food - if they're hungry they'll eat. You can bring variety and fun back in when you've figured out what's making your dogs sick. As other posters have pointed out, some dogs react to poultry protein, some to cereal, some to rice, some to egg, some to dairy.

Let's say you start off with dry Hills food for sensitive stomachs - feed that, and only that, as per the serving size instructions on the packet. If the dogs look well on it, eat it and enjoy it and there's no gastro symptoms, well hey, keep them on it! If you're certain the dogs have had absolutely nothing else to eat, and the gastro symptoms flare up again a couple of weeks in, talk to your vet about testing your dog for a bacterial infection that's causing the symptoms, like campylobacter, salmonella or e-coli. I believe it can sometimes take those infections a long time to clear out of the gut. (They should also be able to test for them using a stool sample I think.)

Just an idea - you seem to be doing a lot of food switching and that would make it very difficult to figure out precisely what is really causing the reaction. Additionally, long term feeding of food like boiled chicken and rice is going to start causing an imbalance in your dog's diet and you may end up struggling with vitamin and mineral deficiencies along with everything else.

JustAThought

OP where are you based? Is it Dublin or " other" !?

tk123

An elimination/exclusion diet as The Sweeper has talked about in their post is the best way to go imo - find out what is causing the problem first and then decide what you're going to feed them. EG I think my guy's problem is brown rice which is the carb source in his Luath- if it is I'm going to try him on a dry food that uses a different carb source or possibly RAW. RC sensitivity is working for him at the moment but even feeding him less than suggested it's going to work out twice the price as his Luath so I'll be looking for a cheaper but good quality alternative. You have westies thou so you should be ok - my guy is a retriever!

Our story is that he's had a gastro bug/bad tummy on and off for a couple of months. It was very bad at one stage (lots of blood in the poo) and he got really lethargic and wouldn't eat or drink anything - the vet gave him a day to improve and if he didn't he was going to have to be taken in for fluids. He bounced back and was fine but it came back again and again. He had it bad again there about 2 weeks ago so I decided to switch him to RC sensitivity and it sorted it straight away. I fed him just the RC for a week and no problems and have been introducing his different treats in over the last few days and again no probs which suggests the problem is the Luath. This morning I added a handful of Luath to the RC and plan on slowly weaning him back on to it to see if it's causing the problem once and for all - I think it IS the problem as it's brown rice based and when he was bad a couple of weeks ago and I was feeding him brown rice and chicken he was passing a lot of the rice undigested.

I went with RC senstivity as I had him on Hills before and he broke out in hotspots. RC has Tapioca and Hills has maize. Also the RC has changed to duck thank god- it used to be smelly whiting flavour! :pac:

hitemhard

Thanks ISDW – I will put raw bones in the freezer and changing food I know wouldn’t agree, I was feeding two different types food and it seemed to give them the runs but if I stuck to one it was ok.


Thanks Peasoup – always open to options. I did get food today but couldn’t get hills, not sure what brand but it is sensitive. The dog was put on cooked meat first because it was underweight and needed to build up weight for an op. Even when it was on RC and eating the daily amount it was underweight : (.

Thanks to you too The Sweeper - I didn’t to a lot of changing, the dog may have rice one day and not the next, its not as if it was given rice for a week and stopped and changed to something else. I have started dry sensitive food this evening, small amount, but as odd as this may sound I put him back on bottled water Sunday night and it seems the runs have stopped. No. 2 is still not 100% but its not runny or blood, blood wasn’t common just on some days, like 1 day a week or two.

Based in Roscommon JustAThought.

Thanks tk123 – reason as explained above the dog was taken off RC because no matter how much was eaten the dog was underweight. But will stay on chicken and sensitive dog food for a while.

So thanks all for your help and advice, I will see how it goes over the next few days. The simple change of water made a big difference, the pups were on bottled water for months and then I just started giving tap water and it sorta links in with the problems. I am sure there is something else there in the back round too but this did help the dog out. No 2 has improved since yesterday morning so I will give it a few days and see how the dog food helps.

Thanks again for your help, it is much appreciated!

hitemhard

Ok all, dogs tum seems to be better, on bottled water and dog food BUT the dog has started eating their no 2, didn't eat it when off the dog food. Is this a sign they are not getting the goodness out of their food? Went from one prob to another - serious one gone for now TG.

PeaSoup

Hi hitemhard,

Glad your dogs GE has improved. I've been told that this behaviour can arise after you change your dogs feedstuff their faeces smell different (more fibre, less fibre, different microflora thriving) and potentially more appealing. You're right in that there is the theory that animals eat faeces in search of vitamins/minerals not included in their own diet, but if you are buying a good quality dog food this shouldn't be an issue. Dry food really is best for your dog in terms of nutrition and value for money.

It isn't really dangerous as long as they don't really eat other animals faeces (risk of picking up parasites, etc.) and although it's unpleasant your dog should get over the change in a few day!!

hitemhard

Thanks for your advice I'll update in a few days