# Zio's GI Problems



## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

The last couple of weeks have been a bit of a rollercoaster for Zio's GI. About a week ago he had the runs for several days that no amount of "home remedies" could fix. A trip to the vet discovered he had some bad bacteria in his system, which the vet indicated was the type usually found in nasty puddle water. So we came home with antibiotics & probiotics.

His system was returning to normal, but this week he AGAIN started having the runs. Back to the vet. This time it's a DIFFERENT strain of bacteria than the last time (one the vet says usually shows up in soil), so now he is on a longer dose of two sets of antibiotics plus something for worms "just in case". 

The vet confided to us that the last time we were in there were no fewer than 5 cases of dogs with GI distress that same week. Plus colitis seemed to be popping up more frequently than normal. We discussed this & we both thought this was due to the unseasonably long hot summer that has basically turned any pond or puddle of water into a petri dish of bad bacteria. 

We always carry a gallon of cold water for Zio when we run him, but when he comes to a puddle or pond, he instinctively jumps in to cool off. Of course it often results in him grabbing a couple of mouthfuls of water. :frown:

I just wanted to pass this along to anyone who's going through the super hot summer as we are down here in FL.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

So what did Zio have? Giardia! If he did I hope you treated him with panacur instead of the nasty stuff the vet wants to treat them with.


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

whiteleo said:


> So what did Zio have? Giardia! If he did I hope you treated him with panacur instead of the nasty stuff the vet wants to treat them with.


The vet said he didn't think Zio had giardia, but he gave us Panacur for him in addition to the antibiotics. I just forgot to list it. :redface:


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

*Update - Which probiotic?*

Zio just finished his 2nd round of antibiotics last week and while he doesn't seem to have diarrhea, his stools are DEFINITELY not as solid as they were before he started having these problems. I'm thinking a couple of things:

1) that sometimes the antibiotics themselves upset the dog's GI on top of whatever problem he/she has, thus perpetuating looser stools.

2) that he needs some probiotics to re-colonize his system with "good bacteria".

I looked at the pets store and their "probiotics" are pretty much the same as what's in yogurt: lactobacilus, acidophilis, etc. So can I just give him yogurt, or is there a special type of "good bacteria" that is specific to dog GIs?

Thanks,


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

My vet in the past when my female had so many issues as a puppy said to give "plain yougart" no flavored kind and I'd probably chose one now that is loaded with probiotics. Good Luck with getting Zio back on track.


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

*Epilogue (hopefully)*

Last week Zio again had GI issues. After getting two different diagnoses from Vet #1 (water borne bacteria, then soil borne bacteria) we lost confidence in him. 

So we asked some good friends who their vet was, and made an appointment to go there. After hearing Zio's recent GI history she decided that more diagnostics were in order rather than simply looking at his stool under a microscope. In addition to Xrays (which showed nothing amiss) she also ordered a more comprehensive culture panel for his poop.

Also, she started asking more pointed questions about his diet. What was he eating? Was there anything different than usual? Maybe we should think about putting him on different food? Etc.

During these discussions we hypothesized that Zio's GI problems may have been due to eating beef, specifically (cooked) hamburger. 

Ultimately, the visit ended with her giving us more antibiotics, as well as an anti-diarrheal specifically for dogs. She also advised us to keep him on probiotics. (He started refusing yogurt, so we just got the highest level of probiotic capsules we could find at Walgreens. On sale--BOGO -- and still a better value than the ones at the pet store even at their regular price.) One caveat: she asked us not to give him any antibiotics until AFTER we had collected a sample.

At that point his system actually started to improve. So we passed on the antibiotics, but kept up on the probiotics. And since Sunday he's been 100% "normal".

Meanwhile, the vet called today, advising us that his cultured panel came back negative. Yaaay! 

So it seems the culprit was the beef. Which, even though he loves it, we'll be steering clear of; any future extra protein will be in the form of chicken, fish, or possibly some pork. 

Now I'm wondering whether or not to go back to Vet #1 later this month for Zio's annual DHPP & Rabies shots. Pearce says he'd rather stick with Vet #2 because she didn't just treat him reactively, but started a more pointed diagnostic routine to find out what was going on, including asking more about Zio's diet.

I guess I'm with him on this, but I'm feeling a little awkward about leaving Vet #1. 

Hmmm...


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