Underweight, seemingly starving GSD

 EPI was suspected when I adopted Indie.  It cost me about $110 for the test.  Thankfully he did not have it, but my vet had a GSD who did.  Once the diagnosis is made and they are on the medicine the turnaround is pretty dramatic (according to my vet) and they can live a healthy normal life, they just need that medicine to replace something their body isn't producing (can't remember all the details now).  I would insist on getting the test because it really sounds like your dog might have it.  It's very prevalent in GSDs.  If the test comes back negative, I'd then start looking at possibly doing a consult with a nutritionist and maybe try a homecooked diet. 

Good luck! 

He is indeed a beauty.

I do have a concern or two about your vet, NOT because she didn't know what SG is, but because she seemed to let intestinal issues go for a rather long time.

I too don't think that 55 lbs is all that small for an 8 month old.  But, if you can SEE the hip bones and count the ribs without touching, yeah, that's a bit too lean.  I have 6 gsds and I keep them on the lean side to avoid stress on their hips and joints.  And, I see so darned many dogs who look like tootsie rolls on legs......breed standard for the gsd is 65-90 lbs, full grown, so your guy isn't that far off the pace.  And one of my THREE year olds is still filling out.  It is healthier for thei bones and joints to let them fill out at their own pace and not try to rush it.

I don't disagree with the vets suggestion of a simple food either, but, clearly this particular food isn't doing the trick.  Many of the super premiums are "rich" and have a vast combination of ingredients.  I find that my crew do best on either Innova or Blue Buffalo, and Blue gives me the nicest coats and less shedding.  But, neither of those foods are simple formulas.  "They" tell me that gsds have sensitive stomachs, however, fortunatately "they" forgot to tell my dogs that.  I do homecook for supper and I find with my crew that now and then PORK will cause a bit of a problem unless I buy a better cut, trim the fat and grind it myself.

Of the grain frees, I'm thinking that all are probably too complex in ingredients, AND I don't think that any of them are good for a large breed puppy.  EVO has changed position on this so many times that I wouldn't trust that it is OK, and with that in mind, I have concerns about all the grainfrees.

One of the most common causes of diaherra in dogs is overfeeding and if your boy has weight issues, it could be that you are overfeeding a bit to try to bulk him up.  Are we talking total liquid stool?  Soft mushy piles?  Always?  Occassionally?

Anytime a dog is on antibiotics, probiotics are needed.  the anti's kill all the bacteria in the gut, good or bad.  The pro's help to reintroduce those back into the system.  Any time any of us, human, feline or canine need antibiotics, I alway stock up on yogart with live active cultures. Tastier than taking a pill!

Canned pumpkin is also excellent for a dog with tummy issues, and I always have pumpkin on hand.  The fermentible fiber acts kind of like Pepto for dogs.....it helps the digestive track pull the right about of liquid in.  But, while that will help in the short term, of course you want to figure out the WHY and fix that.

One thing to look at in the food....avoid corn, wheat, soy, grain glutens and grain fragments.  Those are incomplete sources of protein, difficult or impossible to digest depending on what, and VERY common allergins.  And allergies tend to show up in the coat (excessive shedding), the skin (hot spots) the ears in repeated ear infections, or in the gut.  I'm not familar enough with SG to say that it has none of those things.  Beet pulp can be another culprit.  So, a "simple" food might NOT be needed, but rather one without any of those ingredients.  And it will take some time.  You can't expect results immediately.  It will generally take 3-4 weeks for the system to adjust to a new food, and you ALWAYS want to feed on the low end of the feeding recommendations.  Start low and then add a bit at a time IF needed.

And, do look into finding another vet.  A holistic vet is awesome.

 OK if he were mine, this is what I would do.  First, take fecal samples to a vet (could be your vet but if you are fed up with them, get some recommendations and try a new one).  Have them run every test they can to rule out any more parasites.  When I read your post my first thought was "giardia" and then I see he DID have that, maybe he still has it, it can be tricky.  Actually, now that I think about it, I would do fecals for whip worms.  If they are negative, keep doing them.  Whips can be hard to find, but my foster dog had them and she was basically fine except for diarrhea which led to her being very emaciated.  Maybe they can give you Drontal treatment even if they can't 100% verify whips.

Besides the parasites, I would put him on a bland diet for two weeks.  You are on the right track as far as good foods, but constant switching can cause as much problems as a parasite.  I did the same thing this summer, my dogs kept getting diarrhea and I kept trying different foods, just made it worse.  I used a bland diet and then slowly weaned them on the food of my choice and they have had perfect poops ever since.  The bland diet I use is instant white rice and boiled ground beef.  The ratio I use is between a 50/50 mix and 2/3 rice to 1/3 meat (my vet recommends 1/4 meat to 3/4 rice but to me that seems like not enough meat).  I cook the rice in the microwave.  I boil the hamburger in a big pot of water.  When it's partially cooked, I dump it out in a strainer and run hot water through it to run off most of the grease, then I put it back on the stove with a fresh pot of water and boil it until it's fully cooked, then again strain it with hot water to rinse off the grease.  I make several big doggy casseroles so I have enough to last several days.  Usually I feed the same amount of this mixture as I do kibble and break it into 2-3 meals, so if my dog eats 3 cups of kibble a day, I feed 3 meals of 1 cup beef/rice a day.   The goal is for the diet to be very very simple, just one protein and one carb, easy for the dog to digest so it "cleans" out the system.  In your case I would do it for two weeks.  Then slowly start mixing in a little kibble and slowly increasing the ratio.

GSDs can be prone to sensitive tummies, and of course any dog can get a parasite.  My friend's GSD is from a very good breeder, excellent dog and he also had diarrhea basically from 8 weeks to 4 months.

From the picture your dog does not look starved.  Like others say I would focus on figuring out the cause, getting him on a bland elimination diet and consider the weight problem secondary.  IMO in a young male GSD it's healthy to see some rib anyway.  A male GSD under two years of age should not appear filled out yet.

 I'm glad I posted on this site, you guys are very helpful

 As far as what kind of stools he has had, it's everything.  He's had explosive/watery/muddy diahrrea--all kinds.  But the past two days he has had 3 large and hard stools and one small and hard stool, I'll keep this info updated.

 If the diarrhea stays away, can I safely assume that he has finally rid himself of all the parasites and his digestive system is finally returning to a normal state?I hope that it is the case as the above poster said--that GSD's just stay skinny a lot of the times until they get older.

And as far as food goes, now I'm not sure about the EVO.  I can't even cook for myself, so home cooking is out of the question; but I'm fine with buying relatively expensive premium dog food.  He is on a limited ingredients diet right now, so should I just keep him on that type of diet?  If so, what brands are there for that, specifically? 

 Finally, how much yogurt/pumpkin should I be giving him per day?

Don't change his food right now.  Let him settle into it for a bit before you even consider changing.

EVO is NOT for large breed pups, or at least, last that I heard.  They've changed their minds too many times for me to be comfy with whatever they say now.

My gsds are adults.  When someone has a tummy issue, I give 2 tablespoons of pumpkin with each meal for a few days.  They are fed twice daily.  I don't use yogart on a regular basis, but given what this little guy has been through, I'd do a couple tablespoons per day for a few weeks, and do make sure it is something like Stonybrook farms, with live, active cultures.  And avoid the artifical sweetner ones at all costs.

For the simple formula's, that I know of there is *** Van Pattens, Natural Balance, California Natural and I'm sure that I'm forgetting some.

For what it's worth, on my adults I can still see the last couple ribs......no hip bones though

Slims

 If the diarrhea stays away, can I safely assume that he has finally rid himself of all the parasites and his digestive system is finally returning to a normal state?I hope that it is the case as the above poster said--that GSD's just stay skinny a lot of the times until they get older.

No, I think some parasites can come in waves.  I've heard from a lot of people whose dogs had giardia for a long time, it was on-and-off as far as good poop/diarrhea.

And as far as food goes, now I'm not sure about the EVO.  I can't even cook for myself, so home cooking is out of the question; but I'm fine with buying relatively expensive premium dog food.  He is on a limited ingredients diet right now, so should I just keep him on that type of diet?  If so, what brands are there for that, specifically? 

 Finally, how much yogurt/pumpkin should I be giving him per day?

EVO is great but right now I'd really do the bland elimination diet.  Many people will do that when changing foods, even if the dog is not sick.  EVO was too rich for my healthy adult GSD, it actually gave her bad diarrhea.  My dogs are actually on a limited ingredient diet right now - California Natural Lamb and Rice.  Best poops ever.  But again, they had terrible diarrhea until I did the bland diet first.  I tried switching to Cal Nat by slowly adding more to their previous kibble (Canidae) and it didn't work.  The fecal tests revealed nothing and like your dog, their diarrhea would come and go.  Eventually I just gave them both a round of Flagyl in combination with the rice/beef diet and slow switch back to kibble and they have been fine ever since.

I tried pumpkin as well for mine and it didn't really work.  If you do go with the bland diet to switch, I would wait on the yogurt/pumpkin.  The goal is for it to be as simple as possible, to clean them out and rule out any food causing the diarrhea.  Pumpkin and yogurt are fine additives for a healthy dog or a random bought of diarrhea, but if the food or a parasite is causing the problem, neither will really be a solution.

 Also I would definitely test for giardia, whip worms, and EPI.

Slims

  

EDIT:  I forgot to mention that I am feeding him about 5 cups a day now and he is no longer on puppy food because the vet gave me the prescription stuff.

What kind of food is he on right now?  If it were me and his diarrhea was gone on this food, I'd keep him on it at least for a month or so to give his poor battered GI system a break and see if he stays stable on this food.  Then, I'd examine what exactly is in that food that might be working (certain ingredients, no grain, high fiber, etc.) and look for regular foods that might have a similar profile that might work and keep him in good shape poop wise.

That's the course things went with both of my dogs with different GI issues.  They both did well on certain RX foods.  That enabled me to deduce that Indie needed higher fiber in his diet and that Woobie was sensitive to poultry.

I didn't read all the replys - but what have you done to decontaminate your yard? Giardia and coccdia can live in the soil for a long time, and he may be reinfecting himself everytime he goes outside....

It is also possible you are overfeeding- causing diarrhea. Soild Gold may be too rich for him, but - his body will adjust if that is the problem.

I would take him off the perscription food, give him a very blad diet of chicken and rice for a few days, work on cleaning out his yard and house, then SLOWLY add back in whatever food you're looking to feed.

I would also get a regular general deworming done... I like panacur (fenebendezole, sp?!) for this, it will also take care of giardia. flagyl works well for bacteria infections, but I do panacur every time with great success.

Another vote for Panacur.  After my friends GSD had diarrhea for so long, Nikon was on a double dose of Panacur for 5 days starting the day I got him.  Then three weeks later we were with the breeder again with our puppies and she gave them all a second round of preventative de-wormer (can't remember what it was but she said it would not harm them if they didn't need it).  Nikon has had nice poops since day 1 and I do have whip worms in my yard (he also started on Interceptor at 8 weeks).  I think her dogs have had giardia in the past, and once its on your property you can't really kill it short of removing your soil, so now all her pups get preventative de-wormer.  That worked great for us and Nikon's fecal test was negative.

glenmar

EVO is NOT for large breed pups, or at least, last that I heard.  They've changed their minds too many times for me to be comfy with whatever they say now.

No other input from me but that is what I was going to say - NO EVO for him yet

 Can I get panacur without a presciption?

I'm so glad that people who know more then me have chimed in!

Wanted to add something about Evo...When i was originally switching to evo i talked to someone from the company, and they said DO NOT feed evo to a large breed dog until about 2 years of age. Not positive, but i think it's something about the calcium to...something ratio??...so i agree with the others, if the company says stay away...haha. 

Maybe the phosperous/calcium ratio?