Puppy has loose stools

[srichardson1958]

Hello, We just rescued 2 pups about 13 weeks old.
Have been feeding it Lamb/Rice with new Kirkland puppy food dry. One of the pups has loose stools, what could this be caused from? What can I do?
Also they just had their 2nd set of shots on Monday, June 16th.

[Kate]

Hi,

Loose stools or diarrhea can be caused by many things. Is your puppy happy and healthy otherwise? Running around with the other pup, or just wanting to sleep? Still interested in food?

Common causes of diarrhea that should be ruled out are stress, change in diet, overeating, or intestinal worms.

How long have you had the puppies? They both may be stressed due to the change in environment and if you haven't had them for too long I wouldn't be surprised if the diet change is causing problems.

Puppies should be wormed (tablets are available from your vet) every 3 weeks until they are 12 weeks old, and then every 3 months until they are 1 yrs old. This is a simple inexpensive thing to do to rule out worms as the cause of the loose stools.

If your puppy is showing any other signs of illness (vomiting, unwilling to eat, not wanting to play etc) I would get them checked out by a vet. Young animals can become very sick very fast, so if you are at all concerned, it is better that you get them checked sooner rather than later.

Hope this helps you. Let me know how it goes
Kate

[srichardson1958]

Hi Kate,
Thank you for replying. We took them to the vet yesterday and they said it was a respitory bacterial infection so they started antibiotics. Noses were running, lethargic etc. Also did a fecal and it came back positive so after this dose is up for the one problem will start on the other for giardia(sp). I might ask why they couldn't take the one for giardia now with the other, don't know why.. They were back to themselves today...
Thanks again, Sharon

[Annie]

a good fix for loose stools is grated apple. Of course you have seen a vet and there are other probelms, but to help with the stools I have fed my dog a good yoguht ( to balance the stomach), grated apple, and some dry food. She loved it when she was sick and it really helped. I give this mix to the kids as well ( though without the dry food )
annie