My Cane Corso puppy has chronic diarrhea

[PapaEd]

I have a 20 week old pup that had no bowel issues till 3 weeks age. I had exposed her to other dogs too soon after her bordatello vaccine and she caught kennel cough. Diarrhea started then, off and on for a week. Trips to the vet and numerous tests revealed nothing. She was on Blue Buffalo Large Breed Puppy food, and I switched to Purina Pro Plan. Diarrhea was off and on. 10 days ago she was spayed and on pain/anti-inflamation/antibiotics and the diarrhea turned orange and got more watery. For the last week it has been boiled chicken and rice with the same result. More trips tp the vet, more tests with no evidense of parasites or disease, but diarrhea persists. Stopped meds 4 days ago. Tried Immodium, but diarrhea persists. Maybe its time to try a new vet. Drinks a lot so she remains hydrated. No fever ever. Lots of energy in relative (referring to pre-diarrhea days) high energy for short bursts.
Any and all comments/suggestions appreciated

 

[Smokeycat]

So sorry to hear that she (and you) are going through this. I have no experience but one idea might be to get her off all chicken. I used boiled and rinsed hamburger with rice when my guys have digestive problems. It might also be time for a second opinion.

 

[Penelope's Mom]

She's been spayed already at five months old? The boiled hamburger and rice works well on Franklin too.

I would definitely ask another vet for a 2nd opinion. Poor girl. I hope she feels better soon.

 

[glen]

I would take her for a 2nd opinion.Was there a reason you had her spayed so young.Hope she gets better real soon.

 

[The_wolfeman]

Every time we've had diarrhea issues at our house we do a goats milk fast that seems to knock the gut back into place. We had an issues with Beaux our 16wk old CC when switching him from kibble to primal raw and used goats milk to ease the transition. We use raw goats milk from Answers. Hope your pup gets better.

 

[PapaEd]

So sorry to hear that she (and you) are going through this. I have no experience but one idea might be to get her off all chicken. I used boiled and rinsed hamburger with rice when my guys have digestive problems. It might also be time for a second opinion.

I'm getting her off the chicken tonight; trying the lean ground round, I've never followed through to rinsing it, but will tonight.

 

[PapaEd]

I would take her for a 2nd opinion.Was there a reason you had her spayed so young.Hope she gets better real soon.

I didn't realize five months was that young. Vets and trainers that I've talked to have suggested anythime between 4-6 months was appropriate

 

[DMikeM]

Research has shown that the old ideas of the vets and trainers are wrong. I won't go into detail but it can be harmful to the proper development of the dog especially large mastiff breeds. Good luck with the runs, the boild rice and ground beef should help.

 

[musicdeb]

I hope your girl's diarrhea clears up soon. Be sure she is drinking water to keep her hydrated.

Since you spayed her at 5 months, be aware that she could develop spay incontinence and she may be smaller as she grows.

Titan's previous owner neutered him @ 6 month and Titan is shorter than the average DDB.

 

[DennasMom]

Some other things I'd suggest -

Go with the hamburger and rice (rinsed to remove fat, too much fat can cause diarrhea, too).

Get a good probiotic to add, also. All the antibiotics have stripped her good gut-bugs, too, so adding some back in should help a lot. The raw goat milk from Answers is loaded with probiotics and other goodness, if you can get it. Some pet stores may have it, or I think you can order it online. Otherwise, you can just use a pet or human version. There are lots of options out there.

We used "GI Support" pills from onlynaturalpet.com when we did food switches and ran into runny poops... it has probiotics, slippery elm bark, and other herbs that supposedly do something good for the GI tract. Seemed to help us, but you can probably get similar stuff at the local hippie vitamin shop for humans.

Since lots of mastiffs have chicken issues, see if you can find a food with zero chicken - many use chicken fat as a preservative, even when it's not the leading ingredient. You can use dogfoodadvisor.com for research on some good foods. Anything by Purina is normally not on the recommended list...

And... since you went ahead and got her spayed - understandably per vet's outdated recommendations - you might also want to look into some glucosamine/chondrontin supplements when she's a little older. Early spays can change how the bones and joints develop, so adding in some arthritis prevention early is never a bad idea, either.

I know it's too late now, but this article has some things to be aware of: Spay, Neuter And Joint Disease | Dogs Naturally Magazine
You might print out a copy for your vet the next time you visit and get their take on it...

 

[PapaEd]

Thanks to everyone for all the help and suggestions; I'm starting to see a bit of improvement with the beef. I'm using prescription probiotics that the vet gave me along with immodium.
This is my first dog of a specific breed. Previously I've always had the pound puppy mutt, a.k.a. Heinz 57. My kids and sister wanted this breed for me and I couldn't be happier.
Really glad I found this forum.

 

[PapaEd]

BTW, this is Roxie

 

[cmj2830]

My boy has dealt with diarrhea for three weeks due to diet change from what breeder had been feeding. I strictly only gave him his native performance stage 3 food, and started adding one can of EVO aday and now oddly enough he has hard stool now. I fed him the 95% beef EVO so I believe beef works great.

 

[cmj2830]

ROXIE is super cute!!!!

 

[musicdeb]

Roxie is adorable!