Hello all, I need help with my 4 months old Alaskan Malamute puppy. I bought him when he was 2 months, then shortly after that he got pneumonia. He spend week at the animal hospital having antibiotics and oxygen pump. After that they kept him for 2 more weeks on antibiotics. He got cleared off for that and the vet said his X-rays are good. Then after being off the antibiotics for a week he started having rainy poop. We thought it was because of the food change so we waited for couple of days but his poop wasn’t hanging. Our Vet gave us special food to regulate his poop for one week. The food helped for 2 days and then after that he started having rainy poop again and started doing it even more often throughout the day. We tried over counter medication for diarrhea from PetSmart, but it didn’t help at all. Vet tested his poop for worms, but it showed that there are none. At this point poop was rainy for almost 2 weeks. The Vet gave us Metronidozole Tabs to stop it, but it didn’t help at all. At this point I also started giving him some Probiotics. After using them we went back to the Vet and they suggested doing abdominal X-ray, which only showed gas in his intestines. Then we decided to try giving him Fenbendazole for worms for 3 days, and Tylan powder for a week. After that poop started to be normal for 3 days, but since today he started having his rainy poop again. We are still on Tylan Powder for 3 more days. Also, around week ago we started cooking for him white rice with chicken and carrots, and stop giving him any treats. For the whole time of having his rainy poop he remains full of energy and still have appetite. The Vet is suggesting that he may have twisted intestines and wants to do X-ray with barium, but it doesn’t sound right for me since my puppy is not in pain in any abdominal areas. He also doesn’t have any blood in his poop. At this point I feel so helpless and have no idea what could be wrong with him. I don’t want the Vet to keep on doing bunch of not needed test and put him in more stress because of that. Also, he is rapidly growing now and because of all that rainy poop he is so skinny. Any help or advises would be highly appreciated. Thank you!
I am afraid that I cannot advise you except to find another Vet asap and I hope that your puppy will then be OK. To be honest it sounds like your Vet does not have a clue and no way would I take a puppy with so many problems to such a Vet. One important thing though - have you contacted your puppy's breeder about these problems?
I don't know if you're interested, but over on Dogsey, there is an holistic vet (also qualified as a conventional vet) who seems happy to advise owners regarding dogs' health issues. One thing that struck me: In the commercial foods you have tried, did they also contain chicken? I'm just wondering if he may have an intolerance to it. Just a thought
Thank you for your reply. No I didn't. I wasn't even thinking about it? Do you think this would help?
Sounds like a good idea. I just checked and it seems like it did have a chicken in. Maybe we can try cooking him some beef instead. Thank you for the advise.
Definitely. If your puppy has had health problems from within such a short time since you bought him, I would definitely have immediately checked with his breeder. I am really not happy with your Vet trying this, that, whatever. This antibiotic, that antibiotic, this "special food", that "special food". And your poor puppy is still having health problems. Whether he has an allergy to some food, I do not know and would not suggest it. Other members know a lot more than I do about that. But then I do not feed commercial dog food as I am a raw feeder, and there is no way I would recommend that to someone who does not fully understand it. My own Vet has no idea about raw feeding but he is a wonderful Vet who accepts that I know what I am doing. I just hope your pup will be OK. It sounds as if he has not had a very good and happy start to life.
I notice that you have posted your query on our sister forum Dogsey as well, and I like Chris B's suggestion that you contact the vet who has offered to help on there with member's problems. On the Dog Forum page, look down the right hand side for a post, 'Your biggest Fear Regarding Your Dog's Health'. Click on this to reply to him. Please don't be insulted, but did you get your puppy from a dealer or a puppy mill? If so, I'm afraid these problems are very common, and can take some time to resolve as, even without having pneumonia, these puppies often have a less than ideal start, and have so many changes to cope with at the same time. My own older dog was bred in a puppy farm, and had passed through a dealer, a home, and a rescue centre before I got him at four months. He also had loose motions, and had metronidazole, antibiotic and ProKoln from the vet, and I remember that it did take some time to settle. It might be worth trying your puppy on lightly microwaved, (or poached), white fish with well-cooked rice. Feed him small portions several times a day. I would cut out the carrot for the time being - I have noticed that sometimes it can come through undigested. You could try adding a little cooked pumpkin, or butternut squash. Keep him well hydrated, keep up the probiotics, and a teaspoonful of live yoghurt should help too. Don't give any commercial titbits or biscuits until he starts to firm up, - if you want to treat him give a small cube of low fat cheese. See what Dr. Thomas has to say, and please report back - not everyone on here is on Dogsey too. Best wishes.
Sorry to hear of your issues, When Everest was small we had some issues with food and subsequent BM's, Nothing to the scale of what you have experienced however our vet did mention in passing that changing the protein source in the food rather than the brand/composition/quality may help...... We did switch from Burns lamb based food to Fish based and this resolved all issues within a day or 2..... We didnt have any medications etc so i feel our issue was not so serious but may be worth considering.
