Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently purchased a purebread yellow lab. I purchased her 5 days ago. She's going to be 8 weeks old on 10/4 and I've noticed that her stool has turned from soft to very creamy (diahrea). This morning there was a slight trace of blood in her stool. This is my first Labrador and I'm unsure at what the symptoms could be. My first reaction was to take her to the vet asap, but i want to make sure that I'm not making a mountain out of a mole hill. Obvioulsy my puppy's health is priority number one, but I have had several people say that the reason for her soft stool could be due to stress. I've been feeding her the same food her breeder has been feeding her however he was feeding her 4 times a day. My vet said that was too much and they said to cut her back to 3 times a day. they also said that the brand he was feeding her could be too rich for her and i should try to introduce her to pedigree or science diet or even Eukanuba puppy formula. I have started to introduce Pedigree puppy mix to her by mixing 3/4 of her normal food with 1/4 of her new food. Any help on this situation would be very much appreciated!!

I wouldn't want to go against the advice of your vet but I think I would try to find a better puppy food to initiate into your pups diet. I'm not knocking the product... some dogs may do very well on it but 'm looking at the ingredients of Pedigree puppy food and the first five I see are Ground Whole Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Rice, Corn Gluten Meal. Some dogs have allergies to corn and I do believe there are better foods available in the marketplace. Try checking out premium foods sold in pet stores and not so much those sold in supermarkets. Otherwise you're doing the right thing by introducing the new food slowly and over time and I would continue to do that. No matter what... with your pup only being 8 weeks old, his digestive system is very sensitive to any kind of food change but should settle down once the changeover is complete.
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Bob

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

Bob what would you suggest? I'm really at a loss right now. I've grown up with nothing but dobermans, which have a really sensitive stomach, or thats been the case for me atleast. this is my first lab. Thanks for the reply though! its nice to know their are other dog lovers out there that care for others as much as their own.

My dogs are all adults and one has allergies. I use Wellness Simple Solutions and all three have done very well on it. Before that I used another brand of Wellness and again the dogs did very well until the allergies manifested itself. Because of my familiarity with Wellness I would try to find a place that sells Wellness puppy food and also pick up a few cans of Wellness puppy food. While you're there you might want to pick up some Wellness biscuits. At the supermarket you could pick up some carrots and apples to try as a treat and also maybe a little cottage cheese, chicken and rice to use alternatives to mixing in with the dry kibble... though any of this should be done in moderation. Many of the members of the Shiba forum used Wellness at one time or another and some have drifted off into using other food. Please feel free to come visit the forum and ask for suggestions... we welcome anyone to out to our board.
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Bob

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

I'll second the advice to go with Wellness brand and/or something of a similar quality. I've always been a fan of Wellness- good quality, not hugely over priced.

Stress can and does cause what you are seeing. I also on top of transitioning to a better quality brand of food, I would go to the store and grab some probiotics and add to the food. You can get them as an active form in some brands of yougart products, cheeses, and milk. You can also get them in pill versions.

You don't have to give probiotics every day. It's just a fairly natural way to get the stomach and intestines to work better again after a dog has been sick.

Blood in stool is typically a cause to go to the vet ASAP- however, the color of the blood is signifigant. Bright red typically isn't as much of a concern as dark red. Dark red indicates internal bleeding. Light is typically caused by irritation of the area and some small broken blood vessels. When in doubt, it's a trip to the vet though. Vet's prefer when they treat problems before they are chronic and heavily infected. I do to for that matter.
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles

well good news, i went to the vet, its not internal bleeding and its not parasites. so they put her on a canned food called I D. its basically like putting her on a boiled hamburger and rice diet for 3 days to see if it improves her situation, otherwise its another trip back to the vet! Sure glad i can afford all this while im STILL in college! Its so worth it though! Thanks to all who have helped with my situation!
-Adam

Adam that really is great news! I hope the I.D food helps with the problem. Please continue to keep us updated on her progress.
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Bob

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

well, the diahrea came back, along with the blood. they found a parasite in her stomach which is why she looked bloated. ontop of all this they had to perform an x-ray to rule out internal bleeding and to put the cherry on top, they are also treating her for a cough, possibly bordetella. all in all, she will be under 24 hr watch between myself and my parents. now its just gonna take some time for the meds to work their magic.