# 5 month old puppy has diarrhea



## mcparlston (Oct 30, 2012)

Hi 
Just after a bit of advice please. My pup seems to have come down with diarrhea in approximately the last 5 hours. It is the consistency of pudding mixture. He seems to be drinking quite a bit more than usual too. He seems ok in himself apart from maybe a little sleepy and bad wind. I think he possibly may have eaten something that he shouldn't whilst we were out walking this morning, he is a bit of a scavenger. I read on the Internet about fasting him for a day but still allowing him access to water. Is this correct or should I just monitor him. I am currently staying with family 7 hours from home so would rather avoid a trip to the vets if possible. Any advice please?


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

I would starve and see what he's like in the morning. Put him onto chicken or white fish and rice for a few days. 
Hopefully it's just a passing upset.

Don't leave it too long with a pup or see a vet if it gets any worse


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## mcparlston (Oct 30, 2012)

Thanks for the advice. I thought it may have been the bread he gobbled up this morning from outside but then I remembered him foridging in the undergrowth out on the walk and he had some kind of fungi in his mouth. Was a bit worried when I remembered that as thought he may have ingested something poisonous. Fortunately some kind soul had extensively detailed the fungi found in this abbey/park and I was able to identify what I had wrestled from his mouth this morning.

He is a complete nightmare though and would eat rat poison if i gave it to him. he just doesnt seem to have a filter. the other week he gobbled up half a chewy rawhide stick which again I didn't realise I shouldn't be giving him until after the incident had occurred. Fortunately he seemed to pass it through. But I seem to spend much of my time worrying about what he's eating or attempting to eat. Does anybody else have this trouble?


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

mcparlston said:


> Hi
> Just after a bit of advice please. My pup seems to have come down with diarrhea in approximately the last 5 hours. It is the consistency of pudding mixture. He seems to be drinking quite a bit more than usual too. He seems ok in himself apart from maybe a little sleepy and bad wind. I think he possibly may have eaten something that he shouldn't whilst we were out walking this morning, he is a bit of a scavenger. I read on the Internet about fasting him for a day but still allowing him access to water. Is this correct or should I just monitor him. I am currently staying with family 7 hours from home so would rather avoid a trip to the vets if possible. Any advice please?


Usually if its something minor missing a meal or two (I dont usually like starving pups for a whole 24 hours unless you really have too) then feeding a light easily digestible diet like boiled or grilled chicken (no skin its full of fat)
and fresh boiled rice or instead of the chicken you can give boiled white fish
(check for small bones first) usually sorts it. You should see an improvement if not back to normal in 24 hours. I usually keep them on it until back to normal and then usually for another day to make sure and then back on normal food.

Drinking is really important especially if the have frequent diarrhoea as they can get de-hydrated so make sure he is drinking plenty.

If you see signs of lethargy, uninterested in his surroundings, looking depressed, vomitting or trying to vomit and bringing nothing up, or the diarrhoea gets worse or there is no improvement with the resting diet then I would get him checked out.

Checks that you can do to make sure he is not de-hydrated is checking him gums to make sure they are moist and a nice healthy pink, dry sticky gums can be a sign of dehydration. If you pull the loose skin on his back gently it should spring back like an elastic band, if it goes back slowly or especially if it stays up like a tent before going back down then thats a sign he is dehydrated too usually. De-hydration in pups needs vet attention.
Just also make sure that his tummy isnt hard, bloated and tight like a drumskin and there are no signs of pain, dogs often stretch a lot an arch their backs if they have stomach pain or worry at their stomachs. Laying in a sphinx like position rather then relaxed on their side can sometimes be another sign.

A good thin to keep in for upset tums with no other symptoms too is protexin prokolin as it calms the gut solidifys the poops and helps put back the good gut bacteria needed for a health digestion that and the chicken/fish and rice especially usually sorts them out.


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

mcparlston said:


> Thanks for the advice. I thought it may have been the bread he gobbled up this morning from outside but then I remembered him foridging in the undergrowth out on the walk and he had some kind of fungi in his mouth. Was a bit worried when I remembered that as thought he may have ingested something poisonous. Fortunately some kind soul had extensively detailed the fungi found in this abbey/park and I was able to identify what I had wrestled from his mouth this morning.
> 
> He is a complete nightmare though and would eat rat poison if i gave it to him. he just doesnt seem to have a filter. the other week he gobbled up half a chewy rawhide stick which again I didn't realise I shouldn't be giving him until after the incident had occurred. Fortunately he seemed to pass it through. But I seem to spend much of my time worrying about what he's eating or attempting to eat. Does anybody else have this trouble?


You probably have but as you have identified the fungi already did you check it isnt toxic to dogs? sometimes we can eat things and be fine but it doesnt always mean that dogs can eat the same things and be OK, dogs for example cant eat chocolate especially in certain amounts and some dogs can get serious reactions to things like grapes and raisins and certain types of nuts which are toxic to them but not us.


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## SmileyNurse (Dec 6, 2012)

Also just to add, when you start him on the chk/rice diet don't just put a big bowl of it down, little and often is key, if you feed him lots in one go it will be a lot for his tummy to cope with after being starved and he may vomit or have diarrhoea still, and i'm guessing he gobbles his food as it is, so just give him 3-4 mouth fulls at a time every 1/2 hour or so. If he is no better within 24 hours definitely take him to the vets.  My first forum post


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## hazel pritchard (Jun 28, 2009)

while out walking recently i met a man whose offlead Lab had a muzzle on, it was really friendly the man said reason it wore a muzzle was he had had so many trips to the vets with his dog eating things while out off lead and as he didnt want to restrict the dogs walks, the dog was really happy with it on and the worry of what the dog was eating had gone, hope your pup is better soon, just a thought maybe give your vet a call to make sure there are no cases of Parvo in the area.


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## mcparlston (Oct 30, 2012)

Hi 
Yes thanks for all the support. I have checked and its a non poisonous variety but its not ebible either. He's only had 1.5 lots of diarrhea. Once at lunch - the stool started firm but trailed off like pudding mix and then after dinner - it was complete pudding mix. But i do worry constantly about what hes scavaging. 

Another thing I thought of was I've recently changed his food from Burns to Applaws because he wasn't putting on weight on Burns. This was literally a couple of days ago. Could this have caused the problem?

I have thought about the muzzle option but my vet told me it wasn't a good idea to muzzle a puppy and to wait until he was a little older. I just followed the advice given. Has anyone else been told this?


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

mcparlston said:


> Hi
> Yes thanks for all the support. I have checked and its a non poisonous variety but its not ebible either. He's only had 1.5 lots of diarrhea. Once at lunch - the stool started firm but trailed off like pudding mix and then after dinner - it was complete pudding mix. But i do worry constantly about what hes scavaging.
> 
> Another thing I thought of was I've recently changed his food from Burns to Applaws because he wasn't putting on weight on Burns. This was literally a couple of days ago. Could this have caused the problem?
> ...


If you did an abrubt sudden change of food then yes it can make them loose or give them diarrhoea, if its the normal amount of times he has gone and its just a matter of consistency then its probably not too bad in that case, if sounds loose rather then full blown diarrhoea or at the moment anyway.

Really to stop change of foods causing upsets you should really do it over a few days to a week, adding a little more of the new and a little less of the exisiting on a daily basis until completely on the new food, so if you dint do that could have contributed to it. Also have you checked your quantities sometime over feeding can cause the squits.


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## mcparlston (Oct 30, 2012)

Just to let you all know pup did a firm poop this morning and he was back to his annoying self. I think it was possibly an upset tummy brought about by something he ate. Thank you all for the advice given. This is a very helpful site.


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

Good news.


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

Glad he is better this morning, it could well be just something he ate and now its passed out his system he is fine again, it does happen sometimes with pups and just sorts itself out.


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