[Rebeca J]

I adopted my dog (4 year old 40lb beagle mix) from a shelter in January. Initially we fed him Newman’s Own Adult Dog Formula (chicken and rice), but his poops were pretty runny and yellow and we decided to switch to IAMS Healthy Naturals (chicken and barley). At first it seemed to be working great and his poops were firm and darker for a few weeks, but then all of a sudden he would not eat the food at all, and started having upset stomach symptoms and vomiting undigested kibble. We went to the vet a couple of times and after a week of bland diet (chicken and rice), a dewormer, digestive supplements and antibiotics he seemed to be doing better, but would not touch the IAMS kibble still. We switched him to Merrick Backcountry Big Game Recipe because of the great reviews, but it clearly did not agree with him AT ALL, his poops were as runny and painful-looking as ever. We decided to switch again to Zignature Grain Free Turkey Formula (it was recommended to us) and now his poops are worse than they have ever been. I just don’t know what to do at this point, I’m really worried about my dog he’s otherwise acting completely normal, coat looks great , very active, but having diarrhea for months on end can’t be pleasant and I’m worried about the long term effects. I’ve spent over $300 on vet fees, just for my (honestly just horrible) vet to dismiss my concerns and refer me to a nutritionist that charges abt $400 per consultation. None of the other vets in my area are taking new patients. I don’t have the means to exclusively feed wet/raw food, but want to supplement his diet with it once we find a kibble that works for him. I have spent so much money, I really have no idea what else to do. Any and all suggestions/advice welcome.

[anonymous]

I would stop all supplements. I might try Pro Plan Focus Sensitive Stomach as a base. Add a tablespoon of cooked ground turkey or something.
Add water or/and presoak with water. Don’t free feed (leave kibble out all day)
Two feedings per day, maybe a bite of something for a snack once or twice a day.
Long walks as tolerated.
Give the dog some time to adjust, the symptoms you describe most likely may be stress related.

[Kathy B]

We rescued a 1 year old OES and at least once a day she would have horrible diarrhea which would get in her hair making her smell just lovely. I like you want to feed my dog the very best so I went with high end foods, tried grain free nothing seemed to help. Then I got on this forum because I was thinking of switching to blue basic and wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions and/or thoughts that it would or would not be a good idea….. One of the members suggested NutriSource it has done wonders! Very easy to digest, I was concerned because it is not sold at PetSmart or Pet Supplies Plus so it can’t be high end, right? Wrong! We have a feed store that told me it is better than ProPac which they are always trying to push as the very best. I did also find it at Menards which is a building store here in Indiana. Good Luck to you!

[Susan]

Hi Rebecca,

Thanks for rescuing a rescue, I did the same & same age & SAME problems… sometimes these rescues had done it hard or been dumped at a pound cause the owner is sick of them being ill especially with Diarrhea, my boy is terrified of the hose & water, I’d say someone hosed him when he had diarrhea when they were cleaning the mess…

Did the vet do stool testing for Giardia & put your dog on Metronidazole (Flagyl) for 21-28 days?? what meds was your dog given? also was he put on a Hills I/d Digestive care or Royal Canine PR Potato & Rabbit vet diet?
This vet you saw sounds like an a*s h*l* & wasn’t listening to you, there must be a waiting list at another vets office or a waiting list if someone cancel appointment that day & our on call ??…is their another suburb you can drive too to see a vet? ring around & ask for vet that knows about IBD, IBS & EPI some vets specialize more in certain fields…

Yellow poos can be Small Intestinal Bacteria Overgrowth (S.I.B.O) & he will need Metronidazole for 28 days…. have a look at “Taste Of The Wild” Sierra Mountain, Roasted Lamb, it has 1 single protein Lamb with limited ingredients, fat & protein isn’t too high, fat-15%max & protein-25%max, a lot of dogs with intestinal stress seem to do real well on the TOTW Roasted Lamb or the TOTW Pacific Stream Smoked Salmon formula BUT he will need to take the Metronidazole as well & you will see an improvement with 3 days….

[Jennifer H]

I see that Susan recommended treating for Giardia which is what I recommend. Giardia is hard to find it in a stool sample. Giardia is becoming somewhat resistant to Metronidazole, but I would use it as Susan recommends and also add 5 days of Panacur.

I am not a fan of prescription diets, but every once in a while with a foster dog I will break down and feed ID and that has helped.

[Rebeca J]

Hi hi thanks for all the suggestions! Susan, our vet didn’t do any tests on his stool because it was too expensive and he made it sound really unnecessary. I am currently in the process of switching vets, finally, and have an appointment for tomorrow!! I cannot for the life of me remember what meds he was on, it was over a month ago and at the time I didn’t think it would become such an issue. All I remember is he was on FortiFlora and some white pills that lasted about a week (one in morning, one in the afternoon). Either way, he has not been on anything for about a month (not even treats!) in order to rule out anything else causing the upset stomach.

[Rebeca J]

UPDATE:
Since I posted last, he finished the bag of Zignature and we switched him over to TOTW Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb since we’ve heard so many good things about it. He ate it for one day and the color of his poop improved almost immediately! We were so happy for a second, the consistency seemed to be a little bit more solid too… until he stopped eating it. Entirely. He will not touch the stuff, he won’t even get near it! This is not a picky dog-at all. I thought maybe we switched to the new food too quickly and he was having trouble adjusting and then he started having THE WORST poops I have ever seen a dog have, to be perfectly honest. I don’t know how else to describe it other than he is having explosive black tar-like diarrhea. It is awful, it looks painful, he is NOT happy, and neither am I. I’m pretty scared because I’ve been reading recent reviews of TOTW making pets sick, but there’s been nothing confirmed. Has this ever happened to anyone out there? Black sludge-looking poop? Is his stomach just getting used to this new food? Should i just bail and try NutriSource or just go back to Hills i/d ????????

[pitlove]

Hi Rebeca-

Black tar like poop is called Melena and contains partly digested blood. You will need to take him to the vet.

[Susan]

H Rebeca, sounds like your dog needs to see a vet & be prescribe medication, has he had a course of Metronidazole (Flagyl) for 21-28 days?? also has he been tested for EPI, S.I.B.O?
You need to slowly introduce a new kibble to a dog especially when they have Intestinal stress, it took me 2 weeks to put Patch on a new kibble….they say 10 days.. The TOTW Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb will probably work but not yet… unless he has an intolerance to Lamb or an ingredient in the TOTW formula…
I think at this stage no matter what he eats he’s going to get worse, until the problem is fixed…..He needs tests or ask vet for a round of the Metronidazole enough for 28 days, some dogs need to stay on a very low dose of the Metronidazole, I’ve been struggling with my boy IBD coming up 5 years now, black poo is blood, it doesn’t mean the food has caused it, it means whatever the health problem is, it’s getting worse cause its not being treated….The TOTW probably will work but he needs medications as well, I would see vet get meds & if a vet diet did work & helped then get more & leave him on that vet diet for a good 6-9months & don’t feed no other kibbles yet, it took my boy 2yrs to get better….TOTW was the only formula that worked but if I had feed the TOTW in the beginning when I first rescued him it probably wouldn’t have worked cause he needed meds & the stomach & bowel had rest to heal… I went from vet diet Eukanuba Intestinal Low Residue kibble & would try a new kibble taking 2-3 weeks to slowly introduce, if it didn’t work then I’d go back to the Vet Diet Eukanuba Intestinal, then finally after 2 yrs of trying a heap of different brands I read about TOTW…. I always had a vet diet as my safety food + the Metronidazole when things got bad now the TOTW is his go to food if he starts having a IBD flare & 10 days on the Metronidazole….if poos look yuk for 2 days straight I quickly start course of Metronidazole, my vet gives me script so I can take to my chemist & get out saves paying to see her just for some Metronidazole…
Your poor boy may need a wet tin vet diet instead of a dry kibble, he sounds like my boy he couldn’t digest any kibble when I first got him & wouldn’t eat a kibble either, sounds like his stomach & Pancreas aren’t working properly… keep us updated..

[InkedMarie]

Hi Rebecca,
After you go to the vet, buy a notebook and keep all your invoices in it for your dog! I have three dogs & three notebooks. I know at a glance what meds they’ve ever had and the results of all tests (I ask for copies).
Try NutriSource, great for sensitive tummies. You can order it from Chewy and probably other places.

[a c]

Rebeca,

You probably need to take your boy to see a vet asap to find out what’s wrong.

My boy had black tar like poop with very strong smell when he was first diagnosed with intestinal lymphoma. Melena is blood from the digestive tract.

If you can, take some picture of the melena and show it to the vet.

Keep us posted.

[Author]

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