# Diarrhea after coming back from boarding/groomer



## kelrobin

It seems like Mother's Day was a little stressful for some of us and shouldn't have been . . . but, I am starting to get a little freaked, so here's my story to add to the pile.

Just spent wonderful 6 day trip to the beach with DH for 30th anniversary and then nice visits from sons and their g/fs. Left Jackson with the groomer around the corner who keeps him in her home, and she was to give him a puppy cut. When we came to pick him up last night, the daughter brought him out. I could tell he had not had his puppy cut, but the daughter apologized and said her mom had lost their 17 year old dog that morning, so she had not been able to finish Jackson. I certainly understood . . . a sad Mother's Day for the groomer. 

When we got home, Jackson immediately ran to the yard and pooped - then I saw rusty orange streaks down his backside. I couldn't find anything in the yard, so I took him in and bathed him, and fed him his usual Merrick dinner. I figured maybe he had been given a treat that contained something a little colored in it, but the groomer is really picky about using all natural treats (although he does have some exposure to the other dogs and the run of the kitchen, so could have gotten into something). 

Jackson was so happy all night, and slept until 2:30 AM when he woke me up whining to go out. Same thing . . . he ran back in needing another butt bath with streaks down his backside. Same thing at 4:30 AM, and then I saw what looked like a little blood (it's raining at this point . . . oh joy). He has been several times since with blood in some of the loose stools. I have had to give him a warm butt bath every time, and of course now I am freaking out about Giardia or something worse.

He has seemed happy and not in pain, and I have checked the anal area which seems to be OK, but I'm sure it's irritated. I called the groomer . . she was a wreck and sobbing over her dog (understandable), but I do trust her when she said Jackson was fine and did not have any problems at her house (he was there 6 nights). I'm just not sure she was able to give him much attention, and don't know if he was upset by not only being away, but also the trauma going on at her house. She thinks Jackson has a sensitive bowel and gets very upset when we leave him, but she is also very knowledgable about Giardia, and did say if it keeps up I may need to have him tested. The last time I left him there he came home and promptly threw up!! And he got diarrhea when we took him to the beach last fall . . . maybe he's just a home body? I really do trust her as she cares for lots of people's dogs and knows so many things that I see on this site. Can stress/separation anxiety cause that much gastro upset? What in the world can we do about it if that's the case? She acted like there may be something we can give him in the future to calm his tract. 

She had done a mini-groom on him, but had not touched the anal glands. I am watching him carefully today, and have not given him any food. I did have to take a bully stick away from him in the middle of the night which may have exacerbated things. I just checked and he is not dehydrated and I have seem him drink water. Before I rush off with a sample to the vet's, I thought I would give him 24 hours. He seems fine but is sleeping a lot now, so I went ahead and called the vet who was not in today. I understand there is a 8-minute Giardia test now. My vet doesn't have it, so I'm not sure how they test. Should I give him any food tonight? I thought maybe a little boiled white rice and chicken or pumpkin might be good once he quits pooping, but he seems to be still going. I appreciate any thoughts . . .


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## gelbergirl

boiled chicken and rice, nothing else.
several small meals throughout the day.
get him to the vet for some anti-diarrhea pills.
let him rest as well.

I just went thru this with Henry, and have just completed slowly introducing his regular food into his system. Not sure what the cause of it all was, but it was messy!


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## AgilityHav

Dogs can get viruses just like humans, recently at a very large dog show, ALL of the dogs we had with us(all extremly hairy, including havs, afghan hounds, and bearded collies) had a major Diarrhea problem. It wasnt just our dogs, MANY of the handlers/breeders at the show had dogs come down with it. After about 4-5 days they finally all got over it. As it turns out, a few dogs had it at the begining of the weekend, and by the end, half the dogs on the show ground had it. Any easily communicable virus could be the cause, its very possible a dog came into the groomers with it, and gave it to your baby(along with other dogs that were there, im sure). I also agree with what gelbergirl said. Also, for a quick fix, half an immodium pill( 1/2 a 25mg pill) will stop the diarrhea.


Hope that helped a little


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## Poornima

I would also make sure that he is hydrated. 

As to the anxiety, Lizzie always gets "anxiety diarrhea" the next day we leave her. We have a petsitter whom they adore and she loves them. But not having me around tends to make Lizzie nervous. However, the stool is back to normal once she gets comfortable in a day or two. 

I recommend you get the stool tested for parasites just to be safel.


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## maryam187

Poor Jackson and poor you. He should have stayed with us  I agree to give him boiled chicken and rice, nothing else. I'd personally try that for 2 days IF the dog acts normal otherwise. If it continues or Jackson's appetite declines or any other unusual behavior, I would take him to the Vet. He may be a little tired from playing a lot at the groomer's. Pablo slept for 4 days after our 3 day GA/SC trip. Hope he feels better soon and can chase his little guest around this WE.


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## pjewel

Oh poor baby! Sounds as if he has a sensitive stomach when he's stressed so it could be as simple as that, but it does sound a little severe. I'm hoping he's feeling better by tonight or tomorrow morning. Let us know.


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## kelrobin

Thanks, everyone, for the tips. Jackson is still acting happy, normal, and hungry, so I guess that's good. I am getting ready to start some rice and DH has gone to get fresh chicken. My groomer mentioned the 1/2 immodium pill too. I'm just hoping this is not a pattern every time Jackson goes somewhere different. I just counted and he has been 8 times today (yikes). 

Maryam, you ought to see me out in the yard with my clorox bottle . . . the yard will probably be dead by the time Pablo gets here LOL. Plus the house will probably smell like a hospital. Don't worry . . . I will let you know if anything worse develops . . . hopefully not!!


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## maryam187

I'm sure Pablo won't mind the smell as long as he can play with Jackson. I just hope your little happy man gets better soon, poopy butt is really stressful. If he doesn't feel any better by the WE, I'll just stay home with Pablo, don't worry about us!!!


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## Scooter's Family

Last time Murphy had diarrhea the vet said to hold him off on food for about 12 hours to let his digestive system rest. Lots of water though. I hope he's feeling better! The butt baths get tiring for everyone involved.


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## Evye's Mom

Awww... poor little guy. We have had quite a few diarrheal episodes here and it is a couple of days of boiled rice and chicken. Unfortuantely pumpkin doesn't work for either of my two, other than give them a dirty face and orange diarrhea. Hope Jackson is better soon.


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## Lilysplash I

My two have had diahrrea whenever we have kenneled them at the vets and have had to be on medication. They said that kenneling stresses some dogs & the result is diahrrea. My past dogs never responded this way when kenneled so must be some truth to it.


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## kelrobin

Jackson did gobble up his chicken and rice tonight and look at me, like, "Is that all there is?" He did play and act fine and only went once after dinner which is normal, but it was still bloody and loose.

Does anyone know something to give them to keep them from getting this "stress" diarrhea, if that is indeed what it is? The boiled chicken and rice would be difficult to give them away from home and I'm not sure that would help. I know Jackson has refused to go at all when away from home, and then he eventually explodes and gets his system all out of sorts. Poor thing . . . I feel so bad for him. Maybe some type of probiotics would help. If he still has it in the morning, I am going to take in samples to the vet just to rule out anything else. Thanks for all the information.


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## maryam187

I'm thinking frequent overnight stays with us in combination with some oral stress relievers would be a great solution. If we keep it positive and short, he may slowly feel more comfortable. I know some people use rescue remedy and I bought some calming pills from petedge that seem to work. http://www.petedge.com/Total-Pet-Health-Calming-Tablets-TP473.pro I will bring you a bunch to try out, OK?


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## DAJsMom

I haven't noticed upset stomach, but Dusty definitely sheds more when we are gone or take her out of town. It's like blowing coat but stops within a few days of being home again. 
I hope Jackson feels better quickly, poor guy.


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## maryam187

Hope you had a better night with little Jackson.


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## marb42

Hope Jackson is feeling better. Is this the first time Jackson got this sick at the groomers? Marble was got sick every time I left him at the kennel (combined with doggie daycare). I couldn't figure out if it was the stress, if he caught something or if they weren't really giving him the hypoallergenic food I brought. I talked to my vet, and she suggested I board him with her because it's quieter and less stressful. I tried it for the day, and he was much better. She also mentioned that some dogs definitely get so stressed they have diahrrea. She told me about one dog that just "explodes" as soon as he steps foot in there, so they take him out to the run immediately. I think the calming pills before going to the groomer are a great idea. And maybe, he got extra stressed out this time because all of the sadness with the groomer.
Gina


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## kelrobin

Well, we were up again twice last night and Jackson has already been twice this AM, but is happy and playful. He also threw up at some point last night, but there was nothing in his tummy, and it sounded really empty this morning. I let him have a little more chicken and rice, and he is sleeping now. There is still blood, so I am going to take samples by to the vet today. I am trying to stay calm about this, but the blood and the amount of times he goes is starting to concern me. He went without food for about 24 hours (except when he found the bully stick in the middle of the night which I had to take away from him . . . the chewing woke me up.  :yawn: ) Several people mentioned a three day window of time for a virus/upset, and I imagine that once the system gets irritated that it can persist for a while until it heals . . . correct?

Maryam, I would love to try the pills . . . now I'm almost hoping this is a virus because if it is stress, I can't imagine that he will ever want to go back to the groomer's. He always gets upset in the car and shakes, pants, whines, etc., but usually calms down once he realizes he's not going to the vet or groomers. 

Gina, he did throw up after coming back from the groomer's once, and had some potty accidents when he was a puppy, but nothing like this. She has kept him before without grooming him, so I thought he would be calmer about going to her. She didn't even do a full grooming or bath this time.

Thank you all for your concern . . . I will post more once I get to the vet. I am dragging around from giving butt baths at 2 AM . . . reminds me of the days of having human babies


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## kelrobin

Whew! Took samples to the vet's and the technician said he had lots of rods, spirochetes and cocci bacteria caused by stress diarrhea - at least no parasites and nothing contagious. She suggested a week of metronidazole (Flagyl) to help him . . . said he would be fine in a few days. When I asked what I could do the next time we needed to leave him or take him on a trip, she suggested to start giving him the Flagyl before he went! I thought that was interesting and wondered if anyone else had done this . . . seemed a little severe to give an antibiotic to prevent this. I would much rather try calming pills first. 

Do I need to give him some type of probiotic after the Flagyl? His regular Merrick food already has some probiotics in it.


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## MaddiesMom

Kathy- I'm glad to hear your vet says cutie Jackson is going to be fine. Bloody diarrhea is no fun. As far as the probiotics, I don't think the probiotics in kibble do much good. Probiotic bacteria need the perfect environment to survive. A dry kibble that is stored in a warm environment is not suitable to keep the bacteria viable. I always look at the label and think, "oh, that's nice...but it probably makes me feel better than the dog." I've always used a teaspoon or so of unflavored, unsweetened high quality yogurt with live cultures. I've only needed it twice with Maddie (once for colitis from wheat intolerance, once after an antibiotic). You can buy probiotic capsules, but yogurt is easier to find, cheaper, and works well.


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