Dog Diarrhea

by Dan
(Newport, Michigan, USA)

Reader Question: Dog Diarrhea

I adopted a 12 year old male Greyhound (Wammer) with no known previous health issues other than those that predominate to Greyhounds that being dental problems.

Wammer had a bad case of periodontal disease and underwent dental cleaning to help reduce this. He was placed on antibiotics prior and Clindmyacin following.

His diet consisted of dry dog food such as Blue Buffalo natural, Ultramix natural, some canned Avoderm natural, natural dog treats OTC, a cooked mix of turkey/brown rice/carrots/green beans/(yams once in awhile), then switched to hamburger/white rice once diarrhea erupted.

Within days he developed severe diarrhea issues with a consistency between liquid state and that of peanut butter. Sometimes formed but very soft. There were many, many accidents in the house, truck and on walks.

Complaint was voiced to the local Vet and other drugs were prescribed to no avail and was ultimately placed on Tylan Powder and Probiotics. He was fed a diet of hamburger and rice and chicken tenderloins for treats.

The diarrhea persisted. I took Wammer to a specialist who conducted an exam and took blood for an Idex test panel. The specialist suspected an enzyme, B12, folic acid deficient. He said to stop all meds until exam results returned, continue diet of hamburger/rice and Blue Buffalo if he wanted it (I just stopped it under suspicion. Many other Greyhound owners told me Blue Buffalo gave their hound’s diarrhea as did local Vet)

Meds (Tylan) were stopped with disastrous results of fluid diarrhea. I placed him back on meds and within 24 hours he produced a normal stool and has continued to do so. Wammer has been more playful since. Imagine that!

Test results came in today 01/23/12, pancreas normal, positive IBS/B12 and folic acid deficient of which he will be started on those meds.
His regular Vet says to continue the Tylan for another 3 weeks as he has only been on it for 10 days 1/2 tspn in water every 12 hours plus probiotic once daily.

Specialist states Wammer probably had been an IBS patient all along and that following the dental and antibiotics it was the final straw that pushed it to the surface.

Vet Suggestion for Dog Diarrhea

Hello Dan,

I’m not sure what Wammer’s ultimate diagnosis was – IBS, as in irritable bowel syndrome? I usually use the term colitis, but some vets do refer to it as IBS. Another possibility is inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

If he is finally doing better on the Tylan, I would not rush to take him off of it. Many dogs with severe colitis take this medication for the rest of their lives to control their symptoms and it is an effective treatment for the small intestinal bacterial overgrowth that is often associated with inflammatory bowel disease as well.

Both chronic colitis and IBD are diseases that cannot usually be cured, but can often be managed successively with the right combination of diet and medications. The goal is to find the treatment protocol that has the lowest risk of side effects but still effectively controls the patient’s symptoms.

Good luck!

Jennifer Coates, DVM