Our dog has chronic diarhea if he eats soft food and he refuses

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Our dog has chronic diarhea if he eats soft food and he refuses to eat dry food. If he eats at all he then goes out said and likes dirt or the wood chips. He has some ear infection which our usual vet gave us mometamax for but his ear fur is all black now (he is a cocker spaniel). We have had blood tests and urine tests and stool tests and they have back fine, but the dog isn't. We rescued him six months ago so don't know his full history, we think he is about seven.

Some other info his feces is either slightly liquid, liquid or solid. When it is solid it can be a normal stool, othertimes it is very light almost like it is petrified, with holes and no weight. Our vet has run test but nothing definately.

Is there any type of food that is soft but will give him a solid stool?

Edited by Customer (name blocked for privacy) on April 3 2006 at 5:28 PM

Customer (name blocked for privacy)

Status: Closed Value: $10

HI there! Is he eating wood chips or any other objects similar to this? Is anything else going on w/ him other than the diarhea?

Reply to Valarie Matthews's Post: well we think he is eating the chips, but this latest diarhea bought we don't think that was it. He was not eating his hard food so I started mixing with wet food, which he loved, however the next day he did his business on our rug, the next night he had diarhea, and the night after that as well. I then stopped the wet food.

Thansk for the response. Sounds like a combination of 2 things going on.

A. He is eating the chips and they are not passing through causing him to have an upset stomach OR

B. The wet food is causing him the problems.

My first suggestion would be to try and eliminate him from eating chips as these can get stuck in his stomach and cause severe damage.

Second, restrict his food intake for the next 12 - 24 hours and give him Imodium AD to help clear up the diarrhea.

Third, put him on a bland food diet for the next 2 - 3 days: Boiled hamburger meat and steamed white rice is great way to help get him back on track. You can also add egg as well.

If he is doing better and is not getting worse you can start to slowly add the dry food in w/ this until he is eating normally again.

If he is still being picky about the dry food you can add wet food in w/ it but would limit it to about a spoonful and mix well w/ the dry food. If he is doing well w/ this you can gradually add more wet food over time.

He can have Imodium to help regulate him again. If his condition gets worse, or he develops more symptoms he should see a vet to ensure it is not a GI problem or an infection.

I hope this helps. Warm regards!

Reply to Valarie Matthews's Post: I am sorry you got confused about the wood chips, but he doesn't eat them regularly, we just noticed one day and they don't show up in the stool at all. I was just pointing out that he is licking the ground and seens to chomp on anything then his dry food. I am worried that I have been using the ear medicine and he is still scratching it, and our vet doesn't seem to know what is wrong. I have tried feeding him only at a set time for a set period over a number of days and he still doesn't eat the dry food. The diarhea just keeps coming back every few days or weeks and cleaning it up is a real pain.

Is he just old, is there some other problem we can't find?

I have tried the raw food diet which he didn't want to eat, a number ofd dry food sand he just likes the wet. I am looking for a soft solid food.

thanks again
dave

Hi Dave!

I've got a few more suggestions for you.

1. Have you tried moistening his dry for w/ some warm water for about 10-15 mins before giving it to him? This will help soften it up but still give the firmness of a solid food. You can also add some wet food to this (in small amounts) to increase the flavor for him.

2. Has he been checked for a tooth infection? This could also cause him to go after his ears.

3. Make sure when you are switching his food are you doing it gradually, as many dogs will have loose stools if it is not

Also, if you dont mind, what type of dog food do you have him on? A soft moist food might also be considered. Science Diet makes a canned food that you can usually get from the vet that is for a "bland diet" if you will that vets recommend to help get stomachs back on track, this might be a solution for you as well until he is a little more stable over a longer period of time.

IMO 7 isn't really old, and I think the problem can be resolved, just might take a little more patience than we like it to sometimes.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help!

If this helps please click the accept button.

Edited by vmatthews on April 4 2006 at 4:32 PM

Reply to Valarie Matthews's Post: I like the idea of moistening the food, which I am trying. The vet checked the teeth and he was fine. The switching of food has not been gradual and that may be a problem. We feed him iams and the wet was max, but only one can

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Our dog has chronic diarhea if he eats soft food and ...

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