Malamute with Diarrhea advice

Chris_Heilong

My new Malamute Pup Titan has being having Diarrhea ever since I had him at the vets for his first shot. They gave me some Science Plan for large breeds as a sample and asked me to slowly mix it with his regular food for about 7 days, I was also given medication to worm him. I noticed his poo was very soft the first night home from vet and I could hear him putting in some effort as he passed his stools but still I put this down to the change in diet, next morning things looked ok as the stole was somewhat solid again but as the day went on he started to jet some of the poo out:o now that I think of it the problems seemed to start just after I wormed him.

now today it is bad and I dont think it is his food as he is pooing almost once every hour and some of it is just liquid as in very little sh1t, he also does not seem to be able to hold it in the same way as before.

He is always hungry and wolfing down his food when I feed him(4 times a day) and he is also full of energy and playful, his poo doesn't smell especially bad so Im not worried about parvo.

Anyone have experience of this with a very young pup? I am used to older dogs and so Im not sure if this is just him adjusting to the new food or not. All the food I am giving him is first soaked in water as he is almost 8 weeks so still too small for solids.

Shanao

TBH I've never been too fond of the Hills food, it doesn't seem to suit a lot of dogs. Maybe try him on it for another day or two but if he's pretty much the same, I would try him on something else. Also, I wouldn't bother with the water; at his age he should be well able for solid food by now.
What was the original food he was on?

tk123

Our guy was the same -we had to try a few different foods until we found one that suited. Hills gave our the runs and hot spots. For wolfing down the food you can put a ball in his bowl to slow him down - if he wolfs it down he might get wind/bloat.

andreac

Yeah, id imagine the food doesnt agree with him if hes been like this since you started him on it.
I wouldnt feed Hills personally, had too many bad reactions from it and havent heard good reports from others either so maybe try him on something else.
By the way, at 8 weeks they are more than able to eat the food dry, no need to soak it at all.

adser53

Chris_Heilong wrote: »

My new Malamute Pup Titan has being having Diarrhea ever since I had him at the vets for his first shot. They gave me some Science Plan for large breeds as a sample and asked me to slowly mix it with his regular food for about 7 days, I was also given medication to worm him. I noticed his poo was very soft the first night home from vet and I could hear him putting in some effort as he passed his stools but still I put this down to the change in diet, next morning things looked ok as the stole was somewhat solid again but as the day went on he started to jet some of the poo out:o now that I think of it the problems seemed to start just after I wormed him.

now today it is bad and I dont think it is his food as he is pooing almost once every hour and some of it is just liquid as in very little sh1t, he also does not seem to be able to hold it in the same way as before.

He is always hungry and wolfing down his food when I feed him(4 times a day) and he is also full of energy and playful, his poo doesn't smell especially bad so Im not worried about parvo.

Anyone have experience of this with a very young pup? I am used to older dogs and so Im not sure if this is just him adjusting to the new food or not. All the food I am giving him is first soaked in water as he is almost 8 weeks so still too small for solids.

Hey Chris, just wondering how old was your pup when you got him? You say you brought him to the vet for his first shots and that he's almost 8 weeks old now? I don't mean to panic you at all but at 8 weeks he still has another round of shots to get in a few weeks so I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss parvo without the vet giving the all clear. My 3 year old cav with all his boosters got it out of the blue and died a few months back and he didn't have terrible smelling poo either (well, it was no worse than normal ). To be safe I'd take your lad to the vet. Diarrhea is very dangerous, especially in a pup so young so I'd definitely take him down for a check up. It could well be just his belly being sensitive to the change in diet but better safe than sorry IMO and I'd agree with the posters above about Hills. I tried it a few months back (admittedly cos it was on offer so bought a few bags) and it literally ran out of one of my akitas He has'nt an overly sensitive stomach but he does get runny poo from time to time but never as bad as it was on Hills

Chris_Heilong

Thanks for the advice,
I have ordered some Eukanuba puppy food from zooplus.uk.

Last night the pup continued to poo every half an hour even in his create, so I around 2:30 last night:o I called a 24 hour vet(Patrick Condren) and I explained what was happening. He told me it sounded like an infection and he would have to be put on Antibiotics, My wife took him to the local vet today with a stool sample and they said they think its worms but are unsure and gave us more worming tablets and told us to only feed chicken and rice for a while. Hope this was the best advice as he was really bad last night.

I didnt think it was parvo because it didnt have a bad smell and he was also full of energy and had a good appetite, sorry to hear about your dog.
Thanks again.

andreac

How long have you had the pup? Has it been wormed up to date with the breeder and has it had its vaccinations up to date too?

Chris_Heilong

I have had him a few days,
First time breeders who were friends of a friend, seemed like they bought two Malamutes(both with papers female was three years old) and wanted to breed them but it didnt work out(was a lot of hard work) and they were going to head back to China for good soon and wanted to sell the parents as well as the pups. Pups had never been to a vet:mad: and they were feeding them pedigree dry puppy food:eek::eek: which is just rubbish. I didnt pay much money for them and know I shouldn't buy from these kinds of people but at least they were closing down and I "saved" a wonderful dog. They also lied about the age(I think they panicked when I asked) said it was 7 and a half weeks after checking when the litter was born it turned out to only be 6 and a half (the pup was very large so it was hard to tell) which really made me angry because I know how important it is for to have a mentally balanced dog and at six and a half week it still has a lot to learn from its mother and siblings, especially because it will grow into such a large powerful breed.

First thing I did was contact a vet to get him checked, wormed and first of his shots and micro-chipped.

ISDW

Chris_Heilong wrote: »

I have had him a few days,
First time breeders who were friends of a friend, seemed like they bought two Malamutes(both with papers female was three years old) and wanted to breed them but it didnt work out(was a lot of hard work) and they were going to head back to China for good soon and wanted to sell the parents as well as the pups. Pups had never been to a vet:mad: and they were feeding them pedigree dry puppy food:eek::eek: which is just rubbish. I didnt pay much money for them and know I shouldn't buy from these kinds of people but at least they were closing down and I "saved" a wonderful dog. They also lied about the age(I think they panicked when I asked) said it was 7 and a half weeks after checking when the litter was born it turned out to only be 6 and a half (the pup was very large so it was hard to tell) which really made me angry because I know how important it is for to have a mentally balanced dog and at six and a half week it still has a lot to learn from its mother and siblings, especially because it will grow into such a large powerful breed.

First thing I did was contact a vet to get him checked, wormed and first of his shots and micro-chipped.

Oh I know about these dogs, I was contacted by their vet, they sounded like good owners to me going by what the vet said, they also didn't mention any pups.

Anyway, whilst I would agree that pedigree chum isn't a good food, I would actually put the pup back on it. My first husky had diarrhoea on every food that was tried, James Wellbeloved, Burns, we tried a lot of different ones and the only one that she was solid and thrived on was the pedigree puppy food. We didn't get her onto the pedigree until she was 7 months old as I didn't want to feed it, but it was a last resort, and was great.

Cherry Blossom

OP, I think in this case I would definately put the pup back on the pedigree for a few months anyway until it's condition stabilises, if you wish to change the food later I would do it by literally just giving a few extra pieces of the new food at each feed to make it go as smoothly as possible. High quality food while a good idea in the long run can sometimes just be too rich for them to deal with and digest especially when not used to it. Good luck with this little guy!

Chris_Heilong

Thanks,so it will be chicken and rice for a while, then pedigree and slow mix in the Ukanuba over 7 days:) got it.

sionnaic

Chris_Heilong wrote: »

Thanks,so it will be chicken and rice for a while, then pedigree and slow mix in the Ukanuba over 7 days:) got it.

Nope do not put him back on pedigree!! :eek: why would you bother once he's been weaned off it? Just leave him on chicken and rice for a week or so and then oh so slowly (as in over 2 weeks or more) introduce whatever good quality food you would like to try him on.

Pedigree is pure muck and I wouldn't touch it with a barge-pole. There are so many better foods out there to try before resorting to it. Just introduce the new food really really slowly. If he has a dodgy tummy, chicken and rice is the only way to go for a while, but you have to stick with it. And I speak from experience here. My rescue pup has had digestive problems and loose stools since we got him at 4 months old. It was only when we tried a new vet that we discovered he probably has EPI. We have him on Robbies Lamb and Rice now (from the "Land of Holistic Pets" company) and he's cleared up completely in that regard. He can't handle dried food (kibble) at all we think, so this is stuff you soak in water and it has all natural ingredients.

Given the crappy start your little fella has had in life, he's going to need all the decent nutrition he can get.

tk123

sionnaic wrote: »

Nope do not put him back on pedigree!! :eek: why would you bother once he's been weaned off it? Just leave him on chicken and rice for a week or so and then oh so slowly (as in over 2 weeks or more) introduce whatever good quality food you would like to try him on.

.

+1 - I didnt get a chance to reply yesterday but i would do the same - skip the pedigree. When our guy gets soft poo I give him Royal Canine Sensitivity Control cans for a few days and it always sorts it - then I mix in his food over a few days so say 1/4 his food the first day 1/2 the second etc. If he has runny poo I give him the RC but also give him so ProKolin/Diarsanyl too until the poo starts to firm up. I always have some RC and ProKolin/Diarsanyl in stock just in case. Luckily he rarely gets the runs anymore since I switched his food to Burns (I've since switched him to Luath) or if he does start to have any probs the sensitivity control stops it in it's tracks.

Chris_Heilong

sionnaic wrote: »

Given the crappy start your little fella has had in life, he's going to need all the decent nutrition he can get.

Yeah I thought of this myself right after posting, if he is on chicken and rice for now why not just start him on the Eukanuba instead of putting him back on pedigree. He is on Antibiotics and I have to also give him Diarsanyl tablets too.

Thanks for all the good advice, Titan is doing much better now, I really have to keep him out of trouble, he got to the top of the stairs today by himself and he knows exactly where we store all the dog food and treats, he already seems to have a much better nose than my other dog, I am also glad my other dog is there to be a good role model for him. Still havent gotten used to the howling yet, he seems to do it for attention, I not joking a full blown wolf howl:eek: