Probiotics?

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#1
Long story short: Springtime in the country turns my well-behaved dog bad. One night about a week ago he ran into the woods chasing something and didn't come home for a couple hours. He has had a runny stomach and begs to use the bathroom a couple times a night.

I took a fecal sample to the vet yesterday and it came back negative. The results came back negative. The vet still put Leo on some meds to combat his loose stool rather than dealing with it for the next couple weeks while waiting for a more conclusive fecal sample.

He is now on an antibiotic, de-wormer, anti-diarrhea. This seems like A LOT of medicine! Does anyone supplement with a probiotic or anything to balance good bacteria while treating?
 

stardogs

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#2
Is he on metronidazole? That's usually what the vet gives me for upset tummies.

I <3 probiotics for digestive issues - my current foster had to have a hard switch of food AND ended up having hookworms. The probiotics firmed his stool up pretty quickly and the deworming took care of the rest. Usually I feed pumpkin as well, but this boy thought it was gross and wouldn't eat it. lol
 
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#3
I'd check for worms and other infection, but why anti-diarrhea? if your, or your dog's body is trying to get rid of something, why keep it in? It's an inconvenience, but a necessary one. Just make sure they get water. It's like fever, why is everyone so quick to try and get rid of it. It's necessary sometimes and then they just have to take another medication to do what was going to be done naturally.
 

*blackrose

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#4
I second the metronidazole. (Unless that is the antibiotic he's already on?) The parasites that don't commonly show up on a fecal test are coccidia and giardia, and I do believe metro is the treatment for one of them. (Giardia?)

Probiotics are great, for sure. I'm pretty sure metronidazole wipes out everything in the gut, so if he's on that AND a probiotic it isn't very useful, but once he's off the metro, starting him on a probiotic immediately is a great idea.

I also second the "re-consider the anti diarrhea med" thought. LOL You shouldn't have to give that more than the first day to give time for the other meds to kick in. If you're needing to give it past the first day...you need to reconsider what you're treating for, IMO.
 
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#5
Perfect, thanks all for the reponses. He was on Metro. The loperamide I gave him only one dose last night because I was afraid that it would be counterproductive. Since he was having consistent urges to go and would let me know so I wasn't so concerned about that. I know that it is common for that medicine to in turn cause constipation. The stool was very loose, but obviously controllable. I gave him one dose and the first round of meds last night and we both slept all through the night.

I didn't do a fiber rich diet like Pumpkin, i didn't even think about that!

What kind of probiotic do you suggest? Plain yogurt?
 

*blackrose

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#6
Giving probiotics for diarrhea purposes, I personally would bring out the big guns and purchase an actual probiotic. The brand I know off the top of my head is Forti-Flora, and I have personally seen awesome results with it. I'm sure there are others out there, too.
 
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#7
I don't consider most commercial yogurt any sort of pro biotic. They have very little in the way of bacT and are mostly sugar. Or they have organo-chlorines to give a sweet taste that kill off gut bacT anyway.
 

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