Suddenly Ongoing Loose Stools?

Michiyo-Fir

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#1
I thought I'd ask you guys for some opinions.

Nia is a dog that can eat anything, switch to any brand of dog food and eat any kind of treats/tablescraps/raw/kibble with no problems at all. She's has an iron stomach, well that is until about 3 weeks ago.

She was put under for a dental/teeth pull and then put on a week of combined antibiotics and pain meds. After that, she's had loose stool continuously.

Some days it's still formed but too soft to pick up, some days it's a bit runnier and shapeless. I called the vet but she said it shouldn't be related to the dental. It's been about 3 weeks since she started having loose stools.

I tried to switch to another food after she had loose stools for about 1.5 weeks, but it's the same result. She won't eat pumpkin or yogurt so I can't add those.. But also she's never had a problem before, I don't see why she would need to have pumpkin added to firm up her stool right now.

Ran a fecal on her and it came back clean, so what do you guys suggest I do?

She's still her regular self, still eats the same amount, it doesn't seem to bother her but I don't want her to keep having loose stools forever....

Edit to add: there doesn't seem to be any kind of pattern. I feed the same amount of kibble at the same time of the day everyday. But sometimes the poop is pretty loose, sometimes it's borderline acceptable and sometimes it's just soft but still shaped.
 

stardogs

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#2
The antibiotics might have messed up her intestinal flora. I would be adding some human grade probiotics to her food to see if that helps. I get the refrigerated capsules, break those open on their food, and never have issues with the dog eating it, but you could also mix it with canned food.
 

Michiyo-Fir

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#3
I've never bought human probiotics either, could you tell me what brand to buy? And where would they be? At a health supplement store? Or do they have them at the pharmacy in supermarkets?

Also, for such a tiny dog (7 lbs) How much should I give? Is it dangerous to give too much?
 

stardogs

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#4
I usually just buy whatever brand seems to have the highest number of organisms listed on the label. lol Around me, the only places that carry them are health food and supplement stores. A larger city might see them in a regular pharmacy, but probably not the refrigerated kind, which is the most potent.

I don't know about dosage, but I give all of my dogs one capsule and they range in size from 24lbs to 45lbs. I take the same dose myself, and I'm 113lbs.
 

Beanie

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#5
The antibiotics might have messed up her intestinal flora. I would be adding some human grade probiotics to her food to see if that helps. I get the refrigerated capsules, break those open on their food, and never have issues with the dog eating it, but you could also mix it with canned food.
This is my thought as well, the antibiotics probably just put her a little out of whack and she needs to be set right again and will be a-okay. My vet told me you can just use that Align stuff they make for people, I know Target carries it because I bought some to try with Payton years ago. Wal-mart I think also has something by Nature's Bounty. PetSmart carries at least one probiotic for dogs now, and most vets either have or can get Purina Fortiflora, or you can order a box on Amazon, if you want to try the pet specific route.
I ordered the DogZymes digestive enhancer with Payton when he was having tummy troubles. It was highly recommended by raw feeders so I gave it a shot. I know there's a dosage chart on the tub for that by weight.

I think if you bought something non-pet grade at the store I might try just half a capsule for Nia. An overdose of probiotics won't really hurt her but it won't solve the problem (and might actually give her more runny stool.)
 

Stingr69

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#6
My boy pap had loose stools at 4 months but it was probably related to his strange drive to consume his own and random miscellaneous turds found everywhere in nature. He did get diagnosed with coccidia at check up and the vet prescribed meds and special canned food for it. Adult dogs typically have enough antibodies against it so I don't think that is your problem. The coccidia went away but the loose stools persisted. At the advice of the breeder, we mixed in a small amount of pumpkin into his canned food and left it there and he ate it. You can freeze the pumpkin portions in an ice cube tray then put them in a zip lock bag in the freezer to prevent spoiling the whole can before you use it up. We went through a few cans of pumpkin and it was cured for good.

The baby girl was "supposed" to be having the loose stool problem when we got her but it never happened on our watch. Her Breeder gave us Fortiflora packets and some other med sample but we never had to use any of it.

Hope this helps,

-Mark.
 

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