Runny Poo: Worm or Too much food

B

BethH

Forums Regular
I notice in "Diseases & Illnesses" for a runny poo, we say its worm. But the same runny poo was briefly mention under "Puppies 101", we say its possibly too much foods would cause the runs...

How do you know which you are dealing with?

Beth
Annie & Charlie's mom

ps. forgive me guys, I am kinda making a project of bringing certain issues or questions to light when I think of them. This was one that struck a cord with me on how someone who is new to raising shelties would even know which is which if they had read both post for their own sheltie(-ies).
 
I would have to say if the puppy has been dewormed recently and fecal check is negative for worms then it is too much food.
 
Looking at the thread you are questioning in the Disease/Illness section, quite a few of the responses ask 'when did you change the food' or something similar. The folks who responded with 'possibly worms' are those who breed or have had experience with worms and pups. Quite a few didn't make any diagnosis beyond get the pup to a vet because extended cases of loose stool in a pup can cause severe dehydration.

I can't find the thread under "Puppies 101" to see how that post was phrased to even begin to figure out why it was answered the way it was. If the Original Poster in that particular thread mentioned the pup had recently been dewormed that that may have led to the 'too much food' reply.

As a general rule of thumb, when in doubt, get you and your pup to a vet. The folks on this forum, while they may be experienced are NOT necessarily trained vets. The trained vets or vet techs who may be on this forum are cautious about making ANY sort of diagnosis based on only a description.
 
my best suggestion- listen to your gut feeling and use common sense...
each case is individual... evaluate situation you are in- is there a reason to believe that food MIGHT be an issue- change of food? treats? recent ride of garbage can? playing in pooch park, eating someone else poo? etc
if the answer is firm no, then take the stool to the vet... unfortunately puppies could get reinfected with worms easily or as the case with whipworms for example, it takes up to 3 months to show infestation and not every stool will show helmints/ eggs...
then we have a case of nervous/ stress aggravated puppy who reacts to many situations with runny stools...
then puppies with sensitive stomach who have runny stools for almost no reason...
.
 
In my book, stools come in three types:

1. Normal. This is your everyday poo.

2. Cannon Butt. This is caused by too much or too new food. It should resolve within 12 hours. This is what I see in my house when I feed a new protein source, or too much liver in one sitting. It is short lived. Normal to cannon butt to normal again happens inside of 24 hours. I saw this with every beef based kibble I tried my collie on, though because she was getting the food every day, it was continuous. Once off the food, it resolved within 24 hours. Sometimes the girls get a little cannon butt while they are in season, that's OK.

3. Diarrhea. This is caused by an illness, worms, SIBO, IBD or something more serious than too much or too new food. This lasts more than 24 hours, does not self-correct. This is where they get to go to the vet.

So how do I decide what to do? I wait. I've never had to take a dog in for diarrhea. I did take one in for tapeworms though. :dead: GROSS! So by the second one with tapes, the vet just gave me the drugs, I didn't have to take her in. Both girls were recent imports from Hawaii, which is full of fleas/tapes.
 
If a puppy has loose stool that last more than a day, I would bring a sample in to the vet. Worms are no joke. Especially for a growing puppy.

Whenever I brought home a new puppy, the next day he/she went straight to the vet with a stool sample. 3 out of my 4 dogs were positive for parasites. I always recommend taking a new puppy to the vet ASAP.

If my puppy developed loose stool after it's been treated or was negative for worms, then I would start thinking if I gave the puppy something new to eat, change of food, too much food or did he get into the garbage? If diarrhea is more than 24 hours and boiled rice and chicken doesn't solve the problem, then straight to the vet. I don't mess around with loose stool and a growing puppy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top