When to change dog food for intolerance while on antibiotics?

Violet's diarrhea is probably from the recent change in food and possibly the antibiotics she was on. For some dogs canned food is too rich and is difficult for them to digest. If she will only eat canned food you could consider feeding her a low residue prescription diet (Hill's i/d, Royal Canin GI low fat). You can purchase these from your vet. Since Violet has been having diarrhea for a longer period of time she may have an imbalance of the normal bacteria in her gut. When this happens dogs usually need antibiotics and probiotics to help get everything back in balance. And finally, I always recommend having a fecal performed in cases of diarrhea to rule out intestinal parasites. I hope this helps. Best of luck.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Coco. I would consider a prescription low fat diet such as Purina EN canned food. It is highly digestible palatable diet that easy on the gastrointestinal tract. You can also add Fortiflora as a probiotic. Most dogs like the taste and it can help repopulate her gut with good bacteria after the antibiotics. I hope this information helps!

If you intend to transition to a new food, do it this way: I would fast Lou for 24 hours and then put him on bland food for two days, such as boiled white rice and boiled white boneless chicken meat, fed in small quantities over several feeds and then transition back to regular food slowly over a few days. This should work.

It is common that dogs will develop diarrhea from a sudden food change, but it can be challenging to do a slow diet change when they stop eating their regular diet. If Chi won't eat a bland diet, adding cooked white rice or cooked white or sweet potato to a diet may be a good option for her. I think at this point, you could continue the previous food since she was eating it well or try to introduce a new limited ingredient diet if that was what your vet had recommended. Sometimes 95% meat diets are too rich for dogs alone, but Chi may tolerate it with white rice or potato. However, you may also need to talk to your veterinarian about medication for the diarrhea since she has IBD and those dogs will sometimes have a harder time getting their diarrhea to resolve with diet change alone. I have included a handout with more information on IBD below. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=598 Good luck! I hope that was helpful and that Chi feels better soon. Thanks for using PetCoach.

Hello, and thank you for your question. I'm sorry to hear that Chi has been unwell. If IBD is suspected, we should always try out a limited ingredient hypoallergenic diet (such as rabbit, venison, or kangaroo), for a minimum of 8 weeks with NO other treats or table scraps. However, since Chi's appetite is not the greatest, it will be a challenge to find a hypoallergenic diet that she likes. It sounds like the medications that were prescribed are appropriate for the suspected illness. Carafate is a gastroprotectant that is used to minimize gastric ulcers - it should not worsen diarrhea symptoms. Two other suggestions which I would discuss with your vet: 1) try a different type of anti-diarrhea antibiotic, such as tylosin. 2) consider weekly treatments of vitamin B12, as many dogs with IBD are B12-deficient. 3) try again with steroid therapy such as prednisolone, or try a different immunosuppresant such as cyclosporine. I hope this helps, and that Chi feels better soon.

Riley’s stool looks a bit soft. This may be be from being on doxycycline as antibiotic associated diarrhea is fairly common. Your vet may be able to dispense a probiotic such as FortiFlora or Proviable that can help return the stool to normal. The blood may be due to stress colitis. Typically, metronidazole (flagyl) is an anti-inflammatory antibiotic for the gut that recommended for blood tinged soft stool, however as she just finished a course of antibiotics, putting her on probiotics and a plain boiled rice and chicken diet (unless she has an allergy to chicken) or a prescription Hills intestinal diet or Royal Canin Gastrointestinal diet for 3-5 days may be enough to allow the irritated intestinal mucosa to heal. Good luck!

Mucus generally means inflammation and this can come from parasites (like worms and giardia), a diet not right for Lucy's body or bacterial over growth. A bland diet for 3 days can help and then a slow, gradual introduction to the normal food can be done. A bland diet can consist of 25% boiled white meat chicken and 75% boiled white rice. This should all be plain. A probiotic may also be beneficial. I recommend Purina FortiFlora if you can find it. A good diet in general is Royal Canin. It is low residue and highly digestible. Lastly, if the mucus continues after 2 weeks, have Lucy checked for worms and giardia by her veterinarian. I hope this helps.