Loose Stools

Mishka has had loose stools for a year now. It occurs maybe every 10 days and lasts for maybe 2 days. We have been giving her pro-biotic powder in every evening meal. I guess we should take her to the vet for this problem. She was checked out though early last year when she had diarrhoea and vomiting and stayed in the night and had a drip and bacterial test. Since then she has had this loose stool problem (not diarrhoea).Any suggestions?

 

What do you feed her? Or what else is she eating in addition to that food? For example, is she getting any treats? Or eating things she shouldn't sometimes?

 

I would take her to vet as a precaution. My sister's dog had chronic vomiting and diarrhea last Summer. It wasn't every day, but every 2-3 weeks. She isn't the type of dog that throws up often. This went on for about 4 months until one weekend she stayed with me and threw up 3 or 4 times. It turned out she had a UTI that had been bothering her off and on all that time. She didn't have the traditional potty problems. A couple weeks of antibiotics and she was fine.

Inflammatory bowel disease can cause problems like you mentioned as well. It can be caused by diet, stress, nerves, etc.

As Jessi mentioned, it could be food, too. Normally when my dog has an upset stomach the vet recommends boiled chicken and rice or cottage cheese to help bulk up the stool. I would check with a vet though. You don't really want to mess with diet until you know if something is wrong.

Is Mishka an older dog? I know that their digestion can slow down or react to foods differently as they age.

 

Ooooo! That would've been rough. With it happening only every few weeks, I wouldn't have given it much thought, which means my own dog would've gone untreated for a long time, I think.

 

That's a hard call. Of course you want to make sure your dog is medically sound. Taking them to the vet every time there is a episode would empty out your bank account quickly. Since you have had the dog there before and they treated her and sent her home without any real explanation for the sickness, I think monitoring it the way you have might be the only thing to do. Keep a eye on weight, physical changes and dehydration.

My first thought would be something in her food that might build up in her system and after awhile causes the loose stools. My dogs used to get loose stools when I switched their food, which I stopped doing when I figured it was the cause.

 

Mishka may have anal gland issues. None of my dogs have ever had problems with their anal glands, but I am house/dog-sitting for a friend right now whose dog has had a lot of issues.

 

Thanks Shepherd. I checked out anal gland problems but Mishka doesn't drag her bottom on the ground to indicate the problem. We have kept her diet constant for sometime now. Changing diet didn't seem to matter.
I just googled up this and now I'm wondering if it's Giardia or diet again. We have Giardia in our water in this area. Not our home drinking water but maybe puddles she drinks from.
We will consider taking her off her grain dog food diet gradually as well as suggested in this link.

http://orangecountypetnews.wordpres...dogs-why-to-go-grain-free-with-your-pet-food/