# Toy poodle with frequent colitis: How to prevent?



## Poodlemammy (Jul 20, 2014)

I have a 13 year old toy poodle named Stetson who developed sudden vomiting and diarrhea in May. He was dehydrated and stayed in the hospital for 2 days where he was rehydrated with IV fluids. He had senior bloodwork panel, an xray, and a sonogram which were all completely normal. He bounced back quickly with his usual wonderful appetite and pep. The doctor put him on ID gastric sensitive diet which is low in fat and easy to digest.

He was doing fine until we had to go out of town and left him with a new babysitter. We came home and he developed diarrhea which cleared up in one day after he was on a broth/water food fast with Proviable gel which has probiotics and kaopectate. I thought it was due to stress.

Just last night after eagerly eating his dinner he had loose diarrhea. I started giving him the proviable paste and this morning he had diarrhea which was a bit more formed. I am giving him frequent feedings of 1/2 lowfat chicken broth and 1/2 water to keep him hydrated and am planning to withhold food until tomorrow morning (36 hours). My vet is out today and will not be back until tomorrow.

I am perplexed and concerned. Why is he getting this so frequently and this time he certainly wasn't stressed. 

I want to figure out a way to prevent this from happening if possible.....

I have heard of people increasing fiber (psyllium or pumpkin) but I would appreciate any advice or experience that you have had with this. Also, do you use imodium? The proviable gel that I get from the vet is extremely expensive.


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## Manxcat (May 6, 2013)

I don't know about in an older dog, but when Pippin (nearly 3) has one of her episodes I use Pro-Kolin from the vet (sounds similar to the stuff you are using) and chicken and rice for a couple of days.

As regards prevention - she is now on an I/D diet and I have gradually reduced it so she is on a half quantity with a half quantity of grain free kibble (James Wellbeloved). She does well on this and has far less episodes than she did. I also use the kibble for training treats. This keeps the cost of buying the ID down somewhat.

Things I find definitely trigger and attack are high protein kibble (Acana slays her) and also too many rich treats. Is it possible her sitter was giving Stetson too many treats? Or maybe too much food? That can upset Pippin's guts too.

Pippin seems to be best on bland, bland, bland! 

I have added pumpkin to her diet sometimes too (which is VERY expensive here!) but she's not overly chuffed about the taste and tbh I'm not certain if it makes a difference or not - but folks here swear by it!

Good luck

ETA: - I wouldn't use Imodium without checking with a vet - especially on a toy as the dosage would have to be spot on and very tiny - could do more harm than good.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I would not rule out an infection - it may be worth asking your vet to check.


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

*Tylan Powder*

For a past dog and with a current dog that has soft stools, my vet has prescribed an antibiotic commonly referred to as Tylan Powder. It was the only thing that helped my one dog have firmer stools.

If your dog has real diarrhea, he might need more than Tylan Powder, but it really doesn't hurt to try it. It is a low level antibiotic that will either help or not within 3-5 days and it can be used long term. They mix it with sugar and you just put a 1/4 teaspoon in the food once a day.

In early June I complained about soft stools in my dog Neeka. The vet put her on a strong antibiotic for 8 days. I gave her Fortiflora at lunch to counter the antibiotics. Her stools got progressive worse during this period. I was also giving her Pro-pectin.

After finishing the antibiotics, I continued the Fortiflora and Pro-pectin and STILL she had yellow unformed stools, much worse than at the beginning of the treatment. I stopped the Fortiflora and cut back on the pro-pectin and her stools started to improve. The vet then gave me Tylan Powder which I have given her the last two days. Her stools are almost normal now.

I am putting the improvement down to stopping the Fortiflora first and adding the Tylan powder second. It think I was giving her too much probiotics or there was something in Fortiflora that didn't agree with her. The Tylan powder addresses issues in the colon that the previous antibiotics did not.

Here is some info on Tylan powder (also called Tylosin).

Treating Canine Diarrhea With Tylan

ETA: Just read at bottom of above article that Tylan powder is what is used in Angel Eyes to prevent tear staining. I did not know that.


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## N2Mischief (Dec 3, 2012)

Minipoo, that is really interesting as I have tried fortaflora as well as several other probiotics for Misha and they all upset her tummy.


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

N2Mischief said:


> Minipoo, that is really interesting as I have tried fortaflora as well as several other probiotics for Misha and they all upset her tummy.


My former dog Dasher who had all kind of digestive problems, including Addisons, seemed to get worse when taking Fortaflora but got better when using Tylan powder. What is funny is that when he developed runny eyes late in life, I started using Angel Eyes which worked for a long time, and I stopped the Tylan powder. I didn't know I was just substituting one form of the same drug for another. With his medical problems, I did not worry about long term use of the drug, but I am glad to be aware now that they are similar ingredients.

I would like to add that I am using Prozyme (digestive enzyme) for breakfast and dinner for Neeka, and a combination digestive enzyme/probiotic from Animal Essentials at lunch only. It is a much lower level of probiotics and I think Neeka can tolerate it better. I think I was simply giving too much probiotics than Neeka could handle although I can't rule out it was just the Fortaflora that worsened the problem.


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## N2Mischief (Dec 3, 2012)

I used angel eyes on Misha when she was a pup. It didn't clear up her eyes and her liver enzymes went up. I was thinking of trying it again though, as her tear stains are still bad and I thought I would give it a second chance. She is older now so possibly it won't affect her liver? I will check with the vet first of course.


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## Jan Ann (Jul 7, 2014)

I had the same problem off and on with my Mpoo. I started giving her Digestive Enzymes (prebiotics and Probiotics) in the morning 1/8 of a tsb and she has not vomited and her stools are solid. The Digestive Enzymes is a powder by NaturVet. you can order this from Chewy.com. Best of luck hope your puppy gets better. :angel:


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

I would have thought the vet would have him on an anti biotic. Many times this is caused by a bacterial infection. Also, has your dog been checked for all kinds of parasites? Maybe a 2nd opinion? I hope this gets under control soon. I'm really sorry for your little dog...not fun at all. Good luck. Let us know how things go.


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