Half diarrhea..half not???

OH man....update..... he went two more times from around 7 and again 8:30......two watery stools.....can't even call them stools come to think of it. As DH said when he took him out at 8:30... "didn't turn the light on so couldnt' see but could hear it!' hhhhhmmm!  I gave him 2 pepto bismos pills....and am cooking him some ground meat right now.  Here we go again.

You know................I think I might put him back on BilJac Frozen again for a while....after I can get him better that is.   If I can.  I'm taking stool sample in to work tomorrow.... maybe something will show up there...but the fact that the stool is firm sometimes and water sometimes sure confuses me.

When you take in a sample do they JUST do a float or do they actually look at it under a microscope? 

Billy woke me up this morning throwing up.  But what REALLY horrified me was that he threw up FOOD and hadn't eaten in over 12 hours!!  YIPE. 

So I raced him to the vet this morning and the vet was immediately as concerned as I was (throwing up undigested food after 12 hours is a big huge BAD sign of stuff like renal failure) so I was freaking out to be honest.

 But ... he took a fecal first thing and not only floated it but looked at it under a microscope.  AND .. he found grain mites!!

Now some dogs are bothered, some aren't -- but bottom line in Billy's case they made his intestinal tract so irritated that it didn't want to accept stuff from the stomach -- so food stayed in the stomach WAY too long (excessive digestive acids and that made him SICK).

I'm NOT NOT NOT sayig Gibby has this -- my point is do they actually LOOK at it to see if they can identify things or just doing a passing float to see if there is something typical?

It's just that some vets never do that kind of stuff -- and sometimes that's what it takes to identify something like this that plagues a dog. (and yeah - when we went to the car, Billy took a big dump and the first half was 'normal' and the second half was diarreha.  All SORTS of things can cause diarreha).

umm... slightly OT - but you can't identify anything in a fecal without looking at it under the scope. Now - there are two different types of ways to do it - float, or smear. With a smear - you'll find bacterial things, but with a float - you typically only find parasites. But both HAVE to be looked at under the microscope.

Back ON topic - have you tried forti flora? I found it for a cat at work that couldn't eat dry food - but got horrible diarrhea off canned, mix that stuff in - and we're golden. just a thought! 

ERica said that better than I did -- it's just a lot of vets seem ONLY to do a float (and not the straight smear) because they tend to have tunnel vision on what they think they're looking for.

Forti flora is a darned good probiotic.

erica1989

Back ON topic - have you tried forti flora?

Never even heard of it...what is it?  Almost sounds like a probiotic??????????????????????????

You know Callie.....I work at the desk in front......but I sure am going to make sure they look for  both bacteria and parasites.

Shoot...enough is enough. After I wrote the last time he asked to go out again.... and DH said it just shot out of him.  Seems like its getting worse...hopefully he will sleep all night and I will worry in the morning.

 Floats are very common - but typically - if you don't ASK for a smear - it wont get done. Many people don't even now how to read a smear... it takes more practice than a float.

Fortiflora IS a probiotic - made by purina. It's a powder that you sprinkle on the food (flavored, I think) and seems to really work well for the ones I've used it on.

Hope Gibby feels better soon.  Willow gets Forti Flora in her food when she has a GI flare up.  I used it for the first time this last episode and it worked well to get her back on track.  But, once she was OK again I stopped and saved it for next time. The box has all little individual packets so it's very convenient. 

Aesop's chronic poos were helped by a probiotic..he's got pretty consistently normal poos now even after we disontinued the probiotic.  I'd definitely take a stool sample in, though. He had a problem with an overgrowth of bacteria last year that caused nastier stool than what was, at the time, normal.

I will say that for bouts of nasty diarrhea we fast completely..he never gets boiled meat, etc. Toppers are not Aesop's friend.

Not a bland food, but for example's sake, I gave him a spoonful of tripe a few weeks ago as a treat..he ended up having to go out 6 times

 Unless Gibby is havng chronic issues  (after a stool and/or vet check) I'd probably not switch his food if the food has been working for him. Since it seems to be all of a sudden, I'd assume it was some sort of  parasite/bacteria issue rather than a food one

 Awww Dyan, I'm sorry Gibby's having loose stools again; poor fellow. I hope you find the problem soon. You can ask the vet, but I think it may be a good idea to fast him and rest his GI tract. I'll keep him in my thoughts.

Thanks for all the posts, good wishes and help!

I can't believe it.....but its worms.  Whip and I think he said round.....can only remember the whip for sure. He is on panacur now.  You know...for some reason I am shocked by this...totally shocked. Not long ago, when he was having a bout of this the vet said bring a stool sample in...I think I said okay but figured that wasn't a problem. He has never had much more than a day of diarrhea here or there......... had more of a vomiting issue.  BUT......this time I suggested it because as I told them... "I am tired of worrying....tired of asking them what they think...and I'm sure they are tired of me asking!"    Hoping this ends it now.......   wondering just how long he has had them??? Gosh....wouldn't that be someting if he had them all along?????????    YIKES....I feel really bad now.... I thought I took so good care of him.

He goes to play days a lot....where he spends the whole day playing with others....you know I never saw the outside area in one of the places...they do keep the inside really clean though. He is due to go back there on the 6th of November..... we are going on vacation on the 7th...figured we'll tire him out for Chelsea who is coming to babysit him.

You do take good care of him Dyan.  It's just one of those young dog things that are very common and you will take care of it and he'll be fine. 

willowchow

You do take good care of him Dyan.  It's just one of those young dog things that are very common and you will take care of it and he'll be fine. 

Thanks Lori.....but you know I told both doctors yesterday... all of the years I have been working at the clinic....each time a dog is diagnosed with worms ( except for little puppies ) I always think "they probably let their dog do anything...don't even watch them" way back in my mind. It just one of those things.......so I am like shocked that they came up with worms...honestly.    I mean everytime my vet says "bring a stool sample in,we'll check for parasites" I figure..."thats not what it is!"   YIKES...        Worse than that is every time a client makes an appt for their dog with diarrha I tell them to try to bring a stool sample in so we can rule that out first.........And here I am.  

Aww Dyan you do take good care of him!  We lived in an apt building for a while, and the girl below us ended up with a 3-5 week old pittie (long, long story) but she never ever wormed him.  So of COURSE he had worms, and even though Sammy never played with him, it was enough to share similar "grass space" -- even though we stayed clear away from her "common" areas with that dog.  It was nasty and gross cuz we could see the worms in his stool, but we took care of it and he's been fine ever since we moved away from there.  At least it's something safe and easy to treat for, and he'll be fine.

Especially whip worms, I think those are the ones he can just just by walking on ground that's been exposed to them.  That could happen to any of us.  There is no way to tell.