by william brackenridge
(searcy arkansas)
first off i really love your site . im sure all rottie lovers would agree. i am happy to say i took my pup to the vet after reading your response and he is healthy as can be. we done a test on fecal matter and skin and nothing. after reading response i had forgot about him losing patches of hair not a lot but couple of quarter size on his side , under the arm pits and down one back leg. i was focused on the diarrhea and might have over looked the most important part of what was wrong.
confused that the vet couldn’t find anything , really don’t know what to do he said i should have kept him on the blue buffalo but then said i should try iams. he gave me some antibiotics and wormer guess because he didn’t know a solution. i don’t want to keep changing the food but what would be a good food. i’ve looked online and the brands i’ve seen i haven’t heard of or seen. he is a beautiful dog and i only want the best for him and i hate he is going through this and i seem helpless.
i was certain the vet would have the answers but that wasn’t the case. should i give him the meds and change food or try treating his coat or even get another vets opinion ? i actually seen the bowl movement today and at first it seemed solid at first then just exploded in diarrhea.
thanks so much for reading god bless
Hi William
The good news is that your Rottie is healthy, so that’s a positive and means you can pretty much rule out a serious underlying condition for now 🙂
The patchy hair loss could be another sign of allergies and if this were my dog I would concentrate on the possibility of a food intolerance and try to rule that out first of all.
There is a list of foods especially designed for dogs with food sensitivities or allergies on my Hypoallergenic Dog Food page. I know that you won’t see the majority of these foods in the stores (buying online gives you a much greater and better selection), but if allergies are the issue getting him onto one of these types of food is the starting point. Choose one with ingredients that he has never eaten before, most of these foods use more exotic ingredients so that it’s easy to do just that.
Personally I wouldn’t recommend Iams, in my opinion they don’t produce the quality foods they once did. Blue Buffalo IS a good food, but if your pup is sensitive to any ingredients then it’s not the quality, but the type of ingredient that’s causing the issues.
Once you’ve got him on a hypoallergenic dog food, give him only that for 2 months and see if there is any improvement. Also stick to all-natural, hypoallergenic treats with a single protein source (one that is in the food you’ve chosen) this will avoid getting a reaction from treat ingredients.
Hopefully this will help and his tummy will settle down. If he seems itchy and uncomfortable, there are many things you can do to relieve that.. check out this page for more information and tips on this – Canine Skin Allergies
If your vet gave you an antibiotic called ‘Albon’ then I would suggest giving it to your pup as it treats internal parasitic infections such as coccidia. Sometimes a fecal sample can show negative for these organisms but the pup still has them in his digestive tract. Giving him the medication couldn’t hurt.
The same pretty much goes for a general antibiotic too, although it’s possible that a short-term bout of loose stools can be caused by these, the benefits of treating an infection if there IS one should outweigh that.
If your pup has been dewormed regularly then the dewormer may not be necessary, but if you’re not sure about when/if he was dewormed then he needs it! BUT giving him several medications at once when he already has loose stools could make the problem a whole lot worse. If he needs to be dewormed, I’d wait until he’s finished up with the antibiotic (or at least until you’re sure it’s not causing digestive upset) before going ahead with the dewormer.
BUT I’m not a veterinarian, this is just my opinion which comes from experience, not professional qualifications. Your veterinarian should be your number one port of call when you have a health concern. It’s perfectly okay to seek a second opinion if you’re not 100% sure your own vet is getting to the root of the problem too. Your pup is relying on you to take care of him so you need to follow your instincts.
Luckily this pup seems happy and healthy overall, so one of these measures should help solidify his stools and all will be well. Just take it slowly and don’t overdo the treatment all at once as it’s important not to make things worse!
Hope this helps, please let me know how it all turns out if you get the time.
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