Hi
Peggy came to live with us a week ago and since has had very runny poo. On vets advice I changed her food and now she has very runny poo throughout the day but good firm poos in the evening and through the night. Very confused! Any advice? She doesnt eat any differently at end of day - 4 meals of naturediet and the very very occasional tiny treat.
Thanks

did you change her food gradually over a week or two?

Poor thing

A sudden change in food can cause a very upset belly - my pup (7 month old Mastiff) only a few weeks ago, stole my other dogs breakfast (different food to his own) and had violent runs for a week, it took over a week to get him back to normal and that was from 1 meal.

Or maybe she is eating too much food?

Boiled rice is a great way to firm up runny poo, also starving for 24 hours is recomended. I would definately stop all treats untill her poo has firmed up, you never know wheather she has a sensitivity to the treats. Whatever you do, keep an eye out for her getting dehydrated, the smaller the pup , the quicker it can happen. If you suspect that she is dehydrated atall, it's best to get her to the vet.

Thanks for advice - dont think she is eating too much as I have been quite strict with not overfeeding as have read this can cause diarreah. I didnt change her food over the space of a week - I tried mixing it with her original dry food but she was eating round the dry food and her poos were firming up a lot more than on the dry food so I assumed the dry really didnt suit her. Am hoping that this is the reason she still has a little diarreah but just seems strange that its only in the daytime. Have stopped all treats apart from her chewing bone (she just gnaws on it so doubt that has anything to do with it). She has actually just this minute been outside and again its nice and firm - its like once it goes dark her digestion works!!!

As has been suggested it could possibly be the quantities of each meal causing the problem - too much food is as likely to cause upset tums as changes or inappropriate (to that dog) extras.  If the meals being given are all the same in size perhaps you are feeding them too closely toegther hence why issue is during the day ony???

My pup is on 4 meals a day with first around 8-00 am and last around 10-30pm - spread evenly in size and time span.  They only have very small tums so need regular food amounts which most people appreciate but often they try to dram four meals into a very short time frame (sometimes in the belief it will help house training). 

HTH - it may seem a little simplistic but if your timings are all between say 9-00am and 6/7pm then IMO that is the more likely cause than the food itself.
regards. Teri

Hi Teri
She is fed at 7.30, 12.00, 5.30, 9.00. So think she is getting enough time in between. She did brilliant poo at 7.00am and I was delighted thinking we had cracked it but then at 9.30 went and did a pure liquid one...poor thing.

poor thing.
Is her worming up to date?

Yep she was wormed about 10 days ago and the vet said to do it again in 4 days. Think I will take her back to the vet - doesnt seem to be her food as surely she would have the runs ALL the time not just in the daytime?! Not sure but at least the poos have slowed down a little and she seems to be going only about 4 times a day now.

Hi again womblewoo,

hopefully your vet will be able to clear up the mystery for you, ease the little 'uns system and calm your worries   It certainly does seem strange that it is a daytime only event, particularly with your feeding schedule being as it is so I am out of ideas but clearly your vet is the best person to assess what needs attention.

On the plus side defecation being down to 4 times daily should be a positive improvement so hopefully only something very minor needs "tweaking" either in the diet, with minimal meds or just in routine - please keep us posted.

Best wishes, Teri

hi
my last dog would often have inconsistant poos - varied quite often from day to day + time of day
in the end we sent a faecal sample off to the lab + turns out she had campylobacter, short course of treatment + she was all sorted
if it doesnt settle with diet it might be worth chatting with your vet + seeing if they think its worth sending some samples away just to rule out any medical reasons for it

The reason most dogs' poo is firmer in the morning is because food has sat in their intenstines all night - allowing more of the moisture to be absorbed in the body.   It's not strange at all., it's normal.  If you have a dog that always has solid poos you are not likely to notice the difference, but with a dog that otherwise has soft poos the difference is quite noticeable.  

To Cairnmania

>The reason most dogs' poo is firmer in the morning is because food has sat in their intenstines all night

yes, there's sense to that however the OP said

>she has very runny poo throughout the day but good firm poos in the evening and through the night

which seems strange to me.  

Toatal shot in-the dark, but is there any chance of her eating something she shouldn't be during the day? I don't now what, but maybe eating mud in the garden/ managing to scrounge some morsels of food/paper/carpet fluff off the floor in the house?

Other than than, I'm out of ideas, definately worth a visit to the vets, esp. if her tummy doesn't settle.

Sorry to hear you're having problems with your little pup.  I can sympathise as we too have been having lots of trouble with our 6 month old pup having very runny poos.  After the starving/chicken and rice diet didn't do much, the vet took blood and fecal samples, and as someone else posted, the fecal results showed she had campylobacter and another bacteria which I can't recall.  Our vet said many dogs are carriers without symptoms, but some are affected.  She is now on a course of antibiotics (Erythromycin).  As an added bonus (not!), these have been causing her nausea and vomiting (a common side effect) so she is now taking anti nausea meds along side them.  We have a 10 day course of antibiotics plus some special food from the vets which is good for dogs who have been having vomiting and upset stomach and things are improving.  Our pup had lost a fair bit of weight and condition and was deperately hungry bless her, so hopefully this will be sorted now and she can get back to gaining weight and growing.

out of curiosity I know you said you feed Naturediet is the dried food you are also giving james well beloved ??
also make sure she isnt drinking from water outside that has collected with the rain in buckets etc my dogs will if they can rather than thier own clean water bowls !

but..agree with everyone else she is best having a visit to the vet for a sample test.

Hope she is better soon

Roni

Starryeyes - can I ask why you ask about the James Wellbeloved food?  This is what our pup has been on since weaning, but she seems unable to eat even small amounts of this now, and once we have sorted out the other tummy issues we will be looking at changing.  She is currently on Hills I/D from the vet which is firming her up, but not a long term food really.

"She is fed at 7.30, 12.00, 5.30, 9.00. So think she is getting enough time in between. She did brilliant poo at 7.00am and I was delighted thinking we had cracked it but then at 9.30 went and did a pure liquid one...poor thing."

Teri - this is what my comment was based on ...

Thanks everyone for their advice. Peggy has kept to the same routine - firm poo in morning and then sqidgy mid morning. Will book a visit to the vets - I assume it will be worth taking a sample of her poo with me - that will be pleasant!!