I adopted a 12 week old puppy about four weeks ago, and he has almost never had a solid stool. He would have "pudding" consistency stool 10 or more times a day. He is up to date with all of his shots and deworming medications. He's been to the vet multiple times, and his stool samples have all come back negative for any kind of intestinal parasites. I've suspected that my puppy may have Giardia, but all tests have come back negative.

My vet first prescribed probiotics for 10 days, which did not help. Next, she prescribed metranidazole for 10 days to clear up any potential parasites alongside a bland diet (1/4 can Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Low Fat twice a day). This cleared him up fantastically, but once the round of medication was done and we started slowly reintroducing him to his old food, he began having loose stool again. His original food was Diamond Naturals Large Breed Puppy food, which was recommended by the breeder and what he had been eating while in the breeder's care. We started feeding him 1 cup 2x a day and his stool was soft, but somewhat formed still (like soft serve yogurt from a self-serve machine, if you will). We upped his food to 1 1/2 cups 2x a day after he went up a weight bracket, and his stool turned to pudding and then pure liquid.

I began to suspect my puppy had grain intolerance, so we weaned him onto a Taste of the Wild/Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Low Fat mixture. His stool was starting to firm up again on this mixture. I fed him a treat from a dog bakery that uses all natural ingredients, and his stool was soft again the next time he went potty. I was convinced at that time that it was because he has a grain intolerance, as the treats were made from grain.

However, after a few days on the grain free TOTW, he's started having loose stool/diarrhea again! I called the vet and the Dr recommended another 14 days of metronidazole and hydrolyzed diet, but I'm not convinced. I want to trust my vet, but I honestly just feel like they're trying to drain me of all my money...

I'm at a loss. Should I put him on a raw diet and see how he does? Should I put him on another round of metronidazole and switch his dry food AGAIN? Hydrolyzed food is extremely expensive and it doesn't have the right nutrients for a growing puppy.

Any input would be helpful. If a raw/bland diet is indeed the way to go for a while to give my puppy's tummy a rest, opinions about amounts and what exactly to prepare would also be very helpful. He's about 15-16 pounds and will be 17 weeks old on Sunday.

I had the same issue with Zhukov. Pumpkin. Canned pure pumpkin. A tablespoon mixed in with his food, and, VOILA! His poop firmed up. I had to try a couple of different brands of food to find the one that he would both eat and not poop right out. Also, add some pedialite (spelling?) to his water, to help out with any dehydration issues.

If store bought food is no good, try boiling some boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Dice/shred them up and mix them with real (not minute style) rice. You can also add some yogurt.

Hope this helps.

I've seen so many Husky owners recommend pumpkin, and I actually just bought some from the store to try. So, I'll definitely see how he does with it for a few days. Then, if not, chicken and rice it is. Really hoping the pumpkin will be the miracle cure!

Thanks for your input

Mark gave you the go to bland diet. TOTW is normally a pretty safe food for huskies with sensitive tummies, just curious as to which one you are feeding? It may also be the combination of what the vet is giving you. I hate recommending medications, especially antibiotic, however Metro is the go to med for many tummy issues and some severe cases of ibd and other issues dogs are on metro long term, now I am not saying your pup needs to be, however it is not an expensive med, and I would feed the bland diet for 3-5 days along with the metro, if they give you probiotics, get it as well, but don't give the full recommended amount and totally skip the vet food. My Sofie had this issue too, and I actually asked my breeder, and he said what I am saying, give about half the prescription and store the rest for just in case. He was right. What I felt with my girl was that the High Prairie puppy was too rich, too high in protein. Try the Pacific Stream puppy and see if that works, not much lower in protein. I also figured out Sofie is allergic to chicken, I ended up going with Taste of the Wild Sierra Mountain, lower in protein, no chicken, and is also formulated for puppies, and she has had no issues ever since. As puppies grow older they do develop a stronger immune system, and tolerances to protein gets better. So what I recommend is Mark's bland diet (I do recommend the yogurt and the pumpkin, and mix that along with the rice and chicken), you can skip the vet if you want, and then try slowly introducing the Sierra Mountain. I also think with puppies if doable to split the allotment for the day into 3-4 meals vs 2. Hope that helps more. Oh and not sure if you knew but the pumpkin needs to be pure can pumpkin not the pie filling kind. You can also substitute turkey burger or a lean hamburger like 90/10 for the chicken, if you use hamburger and it is not as lean as the 90/10 (like 80/20 or 85/15) then rise off with water after cooking and before mixing with the rest of the food, you want to feed as little of fat as possible.

MiyasMomma wrote:

Mark gave you the go to bland diet. TOTW is normally a pretty safe food for huskies with sensitive tummies, just curious as to which one you are feeding? It may also be the combination of what the vet is giving you. I hate recommending medications, especially antibiotic, however Metro is the go to med for many tummy issues and some severe cases of ibd and other issues dogs are on metro long term, now I am not saying your pup needs to be, however it is not an expensive med, and I would feed the bland diet for 3-5 days along with the metro, if they give you probiotics, get it as well, but don't give the full recommended amount and totally skip the vet food. My Sofie had this issue too, and I actually asked my breeder, and he said what I am saying, give about half the prescription and store the rest for just in case. He was right. What I felt with my girl was that the High Prairie puppy was too rich, too high in protein. Try the Pacific Stream puppy and see if that works, not much lower in protein. I also figured out Sofie is allergic to chicken, I ended up going with Taste of the Wild Sierra Mountain, lower in protein, no chicken, and is also formulated for puppies, and she has had no issues ever since. As puppies grow older they do develop a stronger immune system, and tolerances to protein gets better. So what I recommend is Mark's bland diet (I do recommend the yogurt and the pumpkin, and mix that along with the rice and chicken), you can skip the vet if you want, and then try slowly introducing the Sierra Mountain. I also think with puppies if doable to split the allotment for the day into 3-4 meals vs 2. Hope that helps more. Oh and not sure if you knew but the pumpkin needs to be pure can pumpkin not the pie filling kind. You can also substitute turkey burger or a lean hamburger like 90/10 for the chicken, if you use hamburger and it is not as lean as the 90/10 (like 80/20 or 85/15) then rise off with water after cooking and before mixing with the rest of the food, you want to feed as little of fat as possible.

I am indeed feeding my pup the venison TOTW. I actually went to the vet yesterday afternoon, and my vet sent me home with 7 days of Metro and a 3 dose round of Panacur, just to rule out parasites for good. We put a bland diet on hold for the time being, because my vet agreed that we've been changing too many variables to determine what the root of the issue is. He's been on the meds for a full day now, and I see no improvement, so I'm really thinking its the food and not Giardia or some other parasite that may have slipped through his fecal floats. Previously when he was on Metro and the Royal Canin bland food, he cleared up immediately after he had his first bland meal.

I'm going to give the Metro and venison TOTW a few more days (the bag is nearly empty), and then if there's still no improvement I'm going to switch him to the salmon TOTW. The Royal Canin food had fish (by product) and pork in it, which he did great on, so I'm hoping the fish protein TOTW will be a safe bet.

As a side note, the pumpkin hasn't helped at all. I mentioned pumpkin to my vet, and she said she normally recommends pumpkin for constipated puppies and not ones with diarrhea. I thought that was... odd, to say the least. Literally every person I've seen or heard talk about it swears by it to firm up loose stool.

I had the same reaction about pumpkin at my vet, they told me bland diet, and I said with pumpkin, and the tech said hey I thought that was just for constipation. Vet said no she's right, pumpkin is fiber and it's good for constipation and for diarrhea. Unless your vet is a holistic vet, or focused on feed and nutrition, most vets only know basics when it comes to food. Mine even said she was sick because I feed a partial raw diet. I do agree that changing up stuff may make it difficult to know what is going on, and may cause the upset stomach as well. but I have to say it is odd that the vet didn't recommend a bland diet, did they want you to continue their food?

As far as food or kibble is concerned, I personally switch up proteins without a transition within the TOTW brand, so I bounce from the lamb to the venison without issue. The reasoning behind the bland diet.....rice absorbs excess liquids in the tummy, it is also bland. The lean meat is for the needed protein keep it lean, too much grease will upset tummy. The pumpkin, I used about a tablespoon per meal, at your pups age, I would feed the mash 3 or 4 times a day max 1/2 cup at a time of the mash for 3-5 days, I also use the yogurt to give the meds, so 1-2 tablespoons a day. Overfeeding a pup that already has an upset tummy may make it worse, so if you are only feeding 1-2 times a day, feeding smaller portions more often may make the tummy feel better. If the vet did not give you any probiotics, which is strange if they didn't, feed the yogurt, probiotics is needed when pups have upset tummies who are also taking antibiotics, probiotics helps promote healthy gut flora, which is currently way out of whack with your pup. With the rice, many people double cook it, apparently making it even more easily digestible.

Often times we think it is the food, and if it is, then normally it is one thing with the food, like with my girl too high of protein, for Sofie she had pudding poop, but something else triggered the severe diarrhea. We figured more than likely bad water that she drank outside, because my adult girl 2 days later had the same symptoms. My older girl is only bothered by grains.