Update for pooping puppy/ham thief

[shelby_36]

Just to update. (this was the 4month old that was pooping 10 x a day)  We saw some blood in the puppys poop Sunday so i took him to the vet on Tuesday. They tested him for Coccidea (which he had when at the breeder) And also for Giardia. He had Giardia. They put him on antibiotics and he has felt much better almost immediately. He hasn't had a poop accident since we started the meds. She said he was bordering on malnourished - with his build (bulldog) it was hard to see how skinny he was. We thought he was just a slighter build than our other bullie. I looked at his paperwork more cloely and I think he has been plaqued with digestive problems since birth. I don't know if this will fix it or if this will be an ongoing cycle until his immune system matures. But it is fixed for now. Yeah. thanks for all the advice and support.

[shelby_36]

The vet gave him one round of antibiotics and said another round may be needed. So I'm going to have him retested Wed and see if we need more meds. The vet didn't say anything about sterilizing/cleaning but I have read online you should. We have another bullie but she said not to treat him preventatively only if he appears to be getting sick too.

The blood he had was just once and it was probably 1/2 tsp? I think that is expected with giardia? The vet wasn't concerned about it. But between the ham theft and the tummy troubles I'm sure his bowels were raw.  He did well again today. We have off work for cold temps today and tomorrow and then 3 day weekend so by Tuesday the meds should be working wonderfully.

[Jaybay]

Oh good!  Thanks for checking in Peek!  :-)

[peekawho]

Giardia can often recur, so repeated stool samples may be necessary after the antibiotic is finished.

We had a doxie puppy who was plagued with giardia for months.  He required several courses of the antibiotic for it.  

You have to clean up all stools, and disinfect the areas where he defecates.  And keep it very clean.

[Ghilly]

That's great news!  Thank goodness you found out when you did, now you can get a handle on things and all will be well.   :)


To Wolly114:
Sometimes when a dog defecates often, as is the cast with diarrhea, for example, the intestine becomes irritated from all the "action", and it's not uncommon at all to see a bit of blood in the stool.  As long as your puppy has been wormed, I wouldn't worry about it and would agree with your vet that this is just because the puppy is going so often.  If the defecation continues at this rate, though, and seems to be what is normal for this puppy, you might want to consider switching his food to something more digestible for him.  If he is defecating this often, it means that his body isn't absorbing a lot of what he eatsm, and that's wasteful both in terms of what you are feeding him and also in terms of his body isn't getting the nutrients that it should.  What kind of food are you feeding him, if I can ask?  If it is a grocery brand, these are the doggie equivalent to you eating nothing but junk food.  You might think about switching to a premium brand of food, such as Flint River Ranch or Canidae.  These types of foods are readily available at feed stores, and can also be ordered off the internet if they are not available in stores near you.  They are definitely more expensive than grocery brands, but it all works out about the same, because where you might have to feed, say, five cups of a grocery brand for your dog to get the amount of nutrition he needs in one feeding, with a premium brand you will be feeding half that amount, and sometimes even less, because the food itself is so much better.  So while it might be twice as expensive, you only use half as much, so it all works out the same.  The benefits your dog will get from it will MORE than make up for any difference in price, and, since it's much more digestible, he'll only be pooping maybe twice or three times a day instead of 10, and the amount of stool per poop will be a lot less as well.  It will be a lot easier on his system in more ways than one.

Ghilly

[Jaybay]

I'm so glad you got a diagnosis and your pup responded so quickly to treatment.  That's just wonderful news!  Did your vet mention the need for any particular precautions regarding poo cleanup?  People can get giardia too, and believe it or not, it can get passed to their dogs who drink out of the toilet.  Got that little factoid from our vets here at Med Help.  Yikes!

I know the parvo organism can live for months where an infected dog has lived, and it requires some pretty serious sterilization before bringing another pup into the home.  Just not sure about giardia.  I think one of our members has had a go-round with giardia, so hopefully she'll see this and chime in.

[Wolly114]

I have a new beagle/pom puppy who is pooping close to that amount.  He also has a single drop of blood after he poops occasionally.  Our vet said it was probably just irritation and not to worry about it.  How much blood are you talking about?  Thanks a lot.