Sick greyhound

[Harvey1822]

We adopted a greyhound 5 weeks ago. The first two weeks he was ill, through tapeworm, it wasn't coming out in his poo but he was being sick. After attending the vet's he got well, he has all of a sudden gone down hill again he has diarrhoea, he us now in antibiotics and rehydration supplement us there anything we can do for him? Also can you walk a Grey Hound too much??

Thank you

 

[fenny]

Hi Harvey1822. It's still very earlie days, poor boy. Not surprised to read he has a bad tummy now, they are sensitive dogs it's all new for him and will take a few months to settle down . Are you feeding him the same food as he was on previously is it a good quality one? Are you leaving him for long in a day, these are some things that can cause a upset. Greyhounds normally like 2 30 min walks a day, when you say can you walk him to much it depends, the most important thing they need is company, warmth and love. I really hope he picks up. Enjoy him, they are beautiful animals.

 

[Harvey1822]

Hi Denny, thank you for your response, we are currently in transition of his food from Wainwrights to Attu.My partner works from home & my daughter has currently broke up from uni, I work full time, but there is always someone here, he hasn't been left for more than two hours at a time. You read up & research these dogs before diving in, but actually having one is totally different. He is so adorable and has a wonderful character.

 

[Harvey1822]

Can anyone please help, I have woken up this morning to a few cow pats plus my grey have wee'd all over my been bag!!! He hasn't been well since we collected him. He has been in two courses of working treatment, just finished a course of antibiotics and now this. I currently have my grey on Aatu dog food, could it be this?? Looks like another trip to the Vets

 

[eingana]

Hi Harvey

Antibiotics could be the cause of diarrhoea in dogs, just like they can be in humans because they kill off the beneficial gut bacteria. Changing the food can also cause this, whether it's because the new food doesn't suit them or it's just the change of diet. So can the worms, including the inflammation in the gut that is likely to be left over after the worms themselves have been killed, and the upset of a new home won't be helping either.

My advice would be to get him onto something really bland, at least temporarily, until you've got control of the diarrhoea. Tinned Chappie has a really good reputation for not upsetting their digestion, or you could try raw chicken mince with boiled rice if you'd prefer. Boiled eggs and a spoonful of bran are both very good natural binders which could help to slow his digestion down so you may wish to include this in his diet. Then you need to get him a source of probiotics to try to replace some of the good gut bacteria, so I'd get a large tub of natural live yoghurt and give him a big spoonful of that twice a day. Most dogs adore this and will happily lick it off the spoon, but you could mix it in with the mince and rice if you prefer. Worry less right now about whether he's having a balanced diet, just feed him whatever gets his guts to calm down, because once you've got his guts calmed down you should be able to move him gradually onto whatever diet you want him to eat long term (and he'll probably be fine on it then).

I would imagine that the weeing is a side effect of a dog with very unhappy guts who isn't settling and sleeping properly because of them. Our bodies are very beautifully set up with bio-feedback systems that prevent us from being woken up to go to the loo in the night if we're sleeping properly because we produce a hormone that partially shuts down the kidneys while we are properly settled and in deep sleep. if we're not getting into the deeper levels of sleep, however, that hormone is not produced in normal levels so we find that we have to get up to go to the loo a few times during the night. The same applies to dogs, so if his guts were keeping him awake he would have needed loo breaks during the night to avoid weeing in the house.

Good luck

 

[Harvey1822]

Hi Eingana,

Thank you for your response, it is very resurring to know that this maybe just another process we have to go through. I will definitely be trying the natural yoghurt for a couple of days to see how he goes he loves chicken so will do some chicken and rice. He seems to be pooing less but still runny, hopefully for now it's coming to an end. He's not showing signs of restlessness so illness so did take him back to the vet's.

thanks again

 

[fenny]

Defiantly a bland diet until you get things settled. With my whipps I always used to cook lots of chickens and white rice NOTHING else until things calm down. Live yoghurt is good or acidophilus sprinkled on food, only a small spoon of yoghurt as some does can't tolerate it. Aloe Vera juice is very good but later on when things are calm. Main thing is just do the same every day with the food until things change. Eingana is correct with the post also. I would just be caustious about feeding raw at this stage, but that's me, you will have to make your own decision on that one. Hope things change very soon for you all