Hi All
I'm new to the forum and looking for some advise.

I have a 2yr old Shih Tzu, Misty, who is suffering from monthly bouts of a bad stomach - and by bad, i mean really bad
I've had her at the vets in March and again in April and they said it was just gastro, gave her and injection and antibiotics and sent us on our way. After a few days, she was fine and the poo's were back to being solid. She's been house trained since the age of 5 months and never had and accidents since. The last 3 nights now, she's gone in the house (i've thrown out 3 good mats over it so no mats being left down now!) It's obviously so bad she physically can't hold it anymore. Her poo's are very watery with nothing solid in there at all. I'm trying to change her food - she's a very fussy eater and for the last year, she's ate half a tin of caesar in the morning and a bowl of bakers meaty in the evening. I'm now trying (only since yesterday) the specific royal canine food for her breed. I gave her chicken and rice this morning to try settle her stomach and i have been giving her pro-kolin for the last couple of days.

Without going back to the vets for the 3rd month in a row, is there anything else i can do with her? Should i just let it run and see if it passes itself?

I'm really worried about her because it's so out of charactor for her. In general, she seems fine in herself, eating and drinking and playing as per normal.

Thanks in advance

is rawhide bad for dogs???? i'm just thinking that she had been eating raw hide on the last two occassions!

When was she last at the vets? I'd take her back in again for another check over and then think about slowing changing her food.

Bakers and Cesar, to be honest, are the worst of the worst. Utterly pants dog foods and could very well be the cause of her tummy upset and I'm afraid Royal Canin wouldn't be much better.

I'd leave her on boiled rice and chicken/fish for a few days until her tummy settles down, and give her a small teaspoon of natural prebiotic yoghurt before she eats and then think about starting her on a good quality hypoallergenic feed - a fish and potato blend is often good for sensitive tummies, so I'd try Fish4Dogs. It's a very smelly kibble so highly palatable for fussy dogs, and has no junk in - and the fish/potato is gentle on tums. The raw food diet (BARF) would probably be amazing for her, it's brilliant at settling persistant tummy problems - I won't ram it down your throat but it's something to consider!

Exclude all rawhide and treats for the time being - rawhide often gives lots of dogs poorly tums anyway, and once you've got her settled on a good diet with no bad tummy episodes, then you can start slowly introducing different treats back in and see if any of them trigger a bout of tummy upsets.

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''Dogs are like chocolates, you can never have just one!''

thanks sixstar, i'm only starting to realise that with the so called "big brand" foods that they're not all they're cracked up to be. Last time she was at the vets was the middle of april so just 6 weeks ago, and 4 weeks previous to that.
i'm very confused though with what is "good" food and what is "bad" food - i mean, the vets rams Science Hill and Royal Canine down our throats so you think that that's "good" food??!!! I was actually out looking for Orijen food yesterday after reading good reviews on it but couldn't find it - in fact, in Dublin, there doesn't seem to be a huge choice in foods, not that i can find anyway!!

Rawhide is a no no from now on!!

Science plan isn't much better but the vets get money for selling it and a lot of their nutrition training is sponsored by them. You can order food online and have it delivered I'm sure it wouldn't be much difference to deliver it to Ireland. Zooplus has a good range of foods. Orijen is one of the best as is naturesdiet and naturesmenu. Have a look for foods with a named meat as the first ingredient and little fillers or grains.

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"A dog is not "almost human," and I know of no greater insult to the canine race than to describe it as such."
John Holmes

Owned by Buster cairn terrier mix and Leo netherland dwarf mix bunny

Another for fish4dogs here. Good for sensitive tums.

Also maybe consider keeping her on something like protexin profiber or bionic biotics to give her tum a little boost.

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Have the vets done a 3 day fecal sample? There are bacterial infections one in particular called campylobacter that need a prolonged course of certain antibiotics and sometimes a combination to completely eradicate it. If it is comething like that, then that may explain it getting better after a course an then re-occuring again. The course may be enough to "damp it down" and see an improvement but why it re-occurs.

There are also parisite infections not a worm but a protozoa organism, there is giardia and another called coccidia, again these can damp down but flair up again if not eradicated completely.

If the vet did a 3 day fecal, it should show up if the above were present. The reason a 3 ay is done, is that it increases the chances of finding things. 3 different samples are taken over 3 consequestive days.

Is there any mucos or tiny flecks on blood present anytime in the faeces, that can be a sign of colitis which means the bowel is inflammed, thats usually accompanied by diarrhoea and sometimes the dog just strains and produces a muscos.

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I used to have a dog who within hours of having rawhide she had upset tummy, in the end i stopped her having rawhide and she was fine, i am not sure if it was rawhide that started her colitus,

Hills Science Plan and Royal Canin are, IMO, at the ''better'' end of the bad foods - they're a head and shoulders above Bakers and Pedigree, but have got a long way to go before the likes of Arden Grange, JWB, Burns, Fish4Dogs, Simpsons etc. Vets get commission for selling Hills and Royal Canin, that's why they are so keen to push it!

Orijen (and Acana) is, ingredients wise, the best kibble you'll get. I use the 6 fish Orijen for my greyhounds as they're grain intolerant and I don't have a bad word to say about it - don't forget you can always order dog foods online Most sites offer free delivery if you spend a certain amount, and a big bag of Orijen will normally take you over the amount for free delivery

Lyceums suggestion of adding something like protexin to the food is a good one - supplements like that are fine for long term use, and help keep the stomach healthy.

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''Dogs are like chocolates, you can never have just one!''

Since you've got a small dog I HIGHLY recommend Ziwipeak (I don't recommend it for big dogs as it works out much more expensive than other foods but for small dogs it's almost exactly the same price as Orijin). It's dried raw so you feed much less which is why it looks much more expensive than it actually is to feed.

My Westie had tummy problems on and off on other good foods, especially NatureDiet, but has NEVER had a tummy problem on the Ziwipeak and she has been eating it for a good few months now.

It's not for everyone but I thought I'd throw it in the mix as it's working so well for my little girl

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