Every dog experiences the occasional diarrhea when he or she has eaten something he shouldn't have done. Getting rid of something bad fast is one of the bodies safety mechanisms.
Not all diarrhea is a sign of something seriously wrong but when it becomes chronic you do need to take it seriously and find the cause fast. For one thing diarrhea drains your dog's body of the water and minerals it needs as well as causing undernourishment in the long run.
Over the years I have had three cases of chronic diarrhea with my Golden Retrievers which I would like to share with you here.
Case One: Henry
Henry had the runs almost right from scratch. What ever we fed him - it was bound to come back out fast. There was no regularity found in this. A few hours after his meal the poor chap would have to run.
We tried him on all sorts of homeopathic treatments as well as medications we got from his vet - no improvement.
We tried different kinds of food - no improvement.
Finally one of the vets we consulted did a test for pancreatic insufficiency and found the answer to our problem.
With his pancreas insufficiency treated Henry's motions became the way they should have been all along.
Needless to say that we were very happy about this. Over the years he somehow managed to outgrow his problem so that we could feed him on a steady diet of tripe, raw meat and the occasional biscuit. He didn't need his tablets any more to be sound and fit.
Case Two: Sebastian.
As a youngster Sebastian was healthy and fit, no problems with his digestion other than the occasional runs after eating something bad.
Then, well into his third year, he started the need to go out at night. Assuming this had something to do with his food I changed his diet which seemed to work.
Not long after the same thing happened again Additionally he had developed an eye infection. Not knowing how the two could be related I treated both with different homeopathic potions which seemed to improve matters.
But the diarrhea came back - more aggressive than ever.
No change of diet, no antibiotics, nothing helped my poor dog.
Then one day my mothers partner took Sebastian along to his own vet who tested him for Canine Anaplasmosis - a tic borne disease hard to suspect and even harder to treat. The bug killed many dogs and it would have killed my Sebastian as well - had it not been for the vet who had just developed an interest in strange and then uncommon diseases.
This killer bug was responsible for his diarrhea. He had to take a long course of special antibiotics - but since then, the runs are few and far between.
Case three: Sunshine
This young fellow showed signs of diarrhea plus vomiting from a very early age. As the runs became more frequent I had him checked for the mentioned problems but luckily he was free from both of them.
Left with the question what to do next my vet insisted that I should give him a trial of one kind of meat and one carbohydrate source for eight weeks. Since this didn't sound good to me I asked for a complete allergy check to be done by a lab. Three days later we knew what was wrong:
Sunshine is allergic to beef and all cow products as well as each and every single carbohydrate source - including rice and potatoes!
He may eat venison, poultry, fish as well as lamb and mutton.
Now that I keep him on a strict diet of meat plus bananas, eggs, apples and vegetables he is doing well. Sunshine has put on weight, looking better than ever before.
Three dogs - three completely different reasons for the runs. Sometimes you need to be a bit like Sherlock Holmes to find the right cause but with the help of a good vet and some common sense you should be able to finally solve the mystery.
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