[Lindsey T]

Deric-Ferdinand is now over a year old. We struggled with soft stools to no avail for 6 months. The one thing that the vet did that helped us was prescribe a powder antibiotic called tylosin/Tylan powder. We had tried a lot of things and lots of foods and nothing helped. The Tulane helped a bit, but we did still have some soft ones in that time. He hit is peak of growth at 8 months and that’s when it suddenly just stopped. The vet says he sees it with large breeds because their growth is so fast and the tummies cant keep up with any food in the amount they need it in.
He’s great now…just needed time to catch up.

Hope that helps…it’s messy…but it’s temporary. Keep checking in with the vet.

[Lindsey T]

Yes, we are using a good probiotic. And i do know limited ingredient may be out best next step ifnthis is diet related. And i kind of think it is if he formed up while he was on the science diet r/d (high fiber weight management food). They use it for helping with diarrhea and we used it for 4 days and it seemed to really help. Once we started adding back in kibble is when it went south again. And we can’t stay on it because it is weight management and he was actually not gaining weight on it which is not good. That’s why the vet hoped the I/d would work because it’s very similar but has the right calories and nutrition for him to stay on it a while. But…it’s chicken based…and lots of Newfs don’t handle chicken really well, so that’s a possible issue if he is not handling chicken well.

Someone else suggested going to chicken and rice for 4 days. If the stool forms up…it’s food related. If it doesn’t…it’s likely to be gut related. Who knows. I think my head spins so much with thoughts of things to try that I confuse myself! Lol.

[Lindsey T]

Thank you for the suggestions. We have been doing a probiotic, but we sprinkle it on his food in the morning.
I did mention to the dr that if things didn’t improve with this science diet that maybe the Royal Canin hi formula would work better. We also thought about the fact that all the foods we have tried have all been chicken…and maybe chicken doesn’t agree with him. A lot of sensitive dogs do better on salmon, so that’s another thought.

The vet visits are getting costly and I’m overwhelmed trying to get him better. It makes me anxious over every little odd thing he does and I feel like I can’t relax and enjoy him with all of this stress!

[Lindsey T]

I definitely don’t want to keep adding things…for sure.
I have had several puppies over the years and NEVER dealt with this kind of issue in puppies or my grown dogs, so it’s new and kind of worrisome to me. I am definitely following closely with my vet. I won’t do anything he doesn’t approve…just didn’t know if anyone else had experience with something like this that could offer something to ask my vet about.

I’m also new to this breed, and I know giant breeds need super important nutrients while they’re rapidly growing so I worry that in this time of so much soft stool that seems to be going through too quickly, that he is lacking important nutrients.

[Lindsey T]

Updating and hoping for more experience and advice.
We completely transtioned to the Science diet I/d (please spare me the “its trash food-its temporary to fix the digestive issues). He has been on it 2 days and still very soft stools. It comes out formed, but I cant scoop it off the grass without keaving a mess. When I contacted the vet about it he suggested giving it a couple more days to see if he adjusts and show improvement. If he doesnt, he said he wants to do a 10 day course of panacur and tylan (an antibiotic I believe) in case there is giardia or any other worms or parasites that the fecal just isnt picking up. He is continuing to gain weight throigh all of this, so that makes me feel a little better. But soft stools so often just makes me think things are not right, so trying hard to get to the bottom of all of this.

His poop has never been watery or bloody, and the fecals are only showing a slightly eleveated bacteria count despite the flagyl treatment we just finished.

Just looking for more direction on what more we can try, or what to ask the vet about. Vet still thinks this is food related which is why he wants to give the gi care food a bit more time. I’m just impatient since we have been dealing with loose poops for 3 weeks now

[Lindsey T]

I have been in contact with the vet. He is recommending science diet I/d which is not my favorite food. But if it helps his poops firm up, that’s ideal.
He is having some solid, and some soft poops. Seems he poops solid, then an hour later, poops again and it’s much softer and skinnier than the first poop. I believe he is pooping around 7-8 times a day. Not diarrhea and again, some are solid, some are soft-like formed, but mush when I scoop them.
We transitioned very slowly to the new food…it was over a week of transition, but it was around day 4 that the softer poops started coming again.

Is there a better quality dog food that is a low residue or sensitive digestive system formula like the I/d?

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