Does anyone have any remedies to try and help?

[Guest]

Hello, As most of you probably know by now, I have a four-year-old 17.7 pound Havanese named Bentley.

Bentley does have a history of kind of going back-and-forth between solid stools and more on the softer side of stools, but has never really had pure diarrhea until now.

I took Bentley outside and he went and the first little bit that came out was definitely soft but still had a shape and was more of a yellow very very light brown color, and then he continued to go and what he did was then pure liquid diarrhea it just came out of him. Then he did stay in poop position for quite a while as it seems like he felt that he still needed to go but nothing more came out.

My dad said that his poop was normal this morning and for the most part as far as I’ve noticed he has been perfectly normal all day long. Went for his walk, played with my brothers dog, really has an acted sick, I am not 100% sure if he has eaten today as I had my 14 month old niece all day and with her it’s hard to keep track of if jingle ate the food or Bentley.

Like I’ve said Bentley has had soft stools before but never really pure diarrhea, and so at what point do you start to worry? I’m guessing if one time he had diarrhea and seems to be acting OK it’s nothing to really be concerned about.

Does anyone have any remedies to try and help? The only thing I worry about is I don’t know if anyone has heard of this but apparently there is a new virus going around in Michigan that has killed like 30 dogs, and I read the other day that they think it’s moving south.

Bentley has been to the dog park and he does go on walks where there are lots of other dogs and so I’m not like overly concerned, but again I just want to be aware and so I thought I’d come on here and see if anyone had any suggestions.

[Alyce]

Ask your vet about Fortiflora. It's a probiotic specifically made for dogs. (They have one for cats as well.) You don't need a prescription -- you can get it at PetSmart or Amazon, etc., but I'd talk to your vet about it first. Until then, you MIGHT want to try canned pumpkin -- NOT pumpkin pie mix -- with his regular food. (Yes, I know it's given for constipation, and it seems counterintuitive, but it can hold water in the stool if he has diarrhea, just like if he has constipation. It draws water into the stool when he's constipated, which you don't need at this time.)

Don't worry, his colon will know the difference. But don't give him any probiotic for humans unless your vet tells you to. Dogs have a different gut flora than humans do.

[Dianne]

With fecal that colour, I would be concerned about pancreatitis. If you haven’t had a fecal checked by your vet and blood work done recently, I personally would start there before you start trying to cure something that hasn’t got a diagnosis.

[Mary]

The disease going around here in Michigan per the latest notice I saw yesterday is either Parvo or a strain of Parvo. Bloody diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy. They are recommending everyone get their dog's vacinnations up to date. It is killing younger dogs, like 2 years old.