Our cavalier king charles puppy is nearly 13wks old.....when we bought him home he had diarrhea(sp?).

I took him to the vets as he started having blood in it,he was diagnosed with slight colitus and was given royal canine intestinal tinned food to give him instead of eukanuba which is what the breeder had been feeding him.
His poos immediately went "normal" however we have had a few spouts of slightly runny poo and another lot with blood in but i have continued on the intestinal food and touch wood he his poos seem fine!.

Im now wanting to wean him on to some dry food as he cant conitinue on the intestinal food forever and it cost £3.75 for 2 tins,i know you shouldnt think about the cost when it comes to your dogs health and if he needed to be kept on the tins then i would keep him on but i feel i should try to wean him on something else.

When he went for his 2nd jab the vet said that eukanuba would be fine to wean him back on to but im dubious as he was on this when he had the diarrhea!.

Ive been looking at the royal canine which they sell in the vets and like the eukanuba it seems very expensive ....can anyone give me any advice as to what i could try to wean him on to...i obviously want to get the best but i do have to think of the cost but i would never feed him "cheap rubbish" just for the sake of the money!.

Im unsure what to go for because of his trouble in the past and the vet doesnt seem that helpful!

thank in advance!
Debsx

If you want to continue feeding a veterinary diet for a while to try and stabilise the problem then Pet Supermarket online sell veterinary diets at a discount - Check out the link and then follow the prompts to Prescription Diets.
Always follow veterinary advice until the situation is stabilised, and then you can look for cheaper alternatives - but don't keep chopping and changing foods or you'll never work out what's causing the problem

Thank you,the original vet who put him on the special food said i could wean him as soon as his poo was normal.

The second vet who did his jab said keep him on the special diet till his poo is ok and then wean him back on to eukanuba but i dont want to use eukanuba.

His poo seems fine now,if the vet said to keep him on it then i would of course but he did say to wean him off so want to choose the best for him.
thank again!

Is he insured? if so, check with your insurance company as some will cover the cost of the food.

For a tinned food, alternatives are naturediet, burns and chappie - the latter available in most supermarkets and relatively cheap. Vets used to recommend it for dodgy tummies in the days before these expensive prescription diets.

Have you spoken to the breeder? Is there a history of sensitive tums with either the parents or any of the other pups. One thing to remember is that while some puppies can have problems, for many it is simply a combination of immature digestive systems, and adjusting to a new environment... even a change in water can upset a sensitive tum... and most will settle as they mature.

Edite to add:
Just read your most recent post... I wouldn't worry too much... this sort of this is quite common and as said, most go on to have no problems. If you are happy with eukanuba (it's not one I'd use - but nothing wrong with it), then slowly wean him back on it.

Ive told the breeder and she seemed surprised although she told us he may have diarrhea due to the stress of moving...she made a point of this so our vet seems to think he may have had it before we got him home.

I want to find a good dry food to wean him on to...the vet suggested eukanuba but i dont want to put him back on it incase it was this that was causing the trouble....i know other food may do the same and he may end up having to be on the special food long term but until i try him on something else i wont..i just want to choose a good dry food to try.

Ive heard so many good and bad things with certain makes its quite confusing!

ive been reading up and what do people think about james wellbeloved?...it says its gentle on the stomach so could this be a good option?

It's possible that he had it before, but know reputable breeder would allow a pup to go to it's new home with diarrhea (they would delay the move) - did she come from a reputable breeder? ie health tests done... saw results. etc.

regardless, it is true that this does happen to pups when moving. One of mine developed diarrhea within a few days of being home... he is now 6 and has a cast iron digestion ever since - so don't worry too much.

James Wellbeloved is a good food, although personally I found it gives my dogs wind - possible due to fillers - so I don't feed it now. Burns is an excellent dry food, although some dogs don't put on weight well with it. I feed working dog food as it is VAT free, but I'm not sure how a small breed will get on with it. Arden Grange is also another good quality food. The reality is that there isn't one food that is the best because different dogs suit different foods, but those mentioned are all good quality.

i seem to be torn between wainwrights,jwb and ag.

which do you think is the best out of these 3?

I haven't used Wainrights so can't comment, but both the others are fine.

Can I also suggest you get some prokalin paste in too. I find it so useful for puppy runs. You can sometimes buy it from the vets, but I get mine online at vetuk

When our pups leave here to go to their new homes we also provide a bottle of water from our taps even a change of water can upset tums, when we travel ours always have bottled water.

I always keep in the house Dorwest Treebark Powder and when weaning pups sprinkle teaspoon on the food to help the stomach, I have had one dog that suffered with horrendous colitus and raised him on Purina lamb and rice and he also had treebark mixed in the fat free probiotic drink from Tesco he was so bad it wasnt thought that he would survive - he is the one that is in the photo in the enclyclopaedia for the golden retriever, father of many and never has one of his pups had the digestion probs that he had it was just not good husbandry by his breeder.

Good luck with your babes

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