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Night time diarrhea

3K views 8 replies 5 participants last post by  jagger 
#1 ·
Hi, have a lab-shepherd mix puppy about 4 months old. He has normal stool during the day, but will get diarrhea at night fairly often.

Took him to the vet, no parasites or protozoans. Vet gave him medicine for parasites, giardia, etc. just to be sure. He has all his normal shots and has been dewormed again about a month ago. Vet thought the bacteria flora was out of balance, but not by a lot.

He eats Purina Puppy Chow, which he has eaten his entire life, feeding him 3 times a day.

He normally sleeps hard all night. Just tonight I let him out about 1am when he pawed at his bells on the door. About an hour later he whined and then had watery diarrhea (almost completely fluid) in the span of time it took me to get up and go to the door.

He doesn't have accidents at all normally and tries to get to the door when he gets sick, but it seems to come on suddenly.

He was chewing on sod for a while, but I got him to stop. There are some type of palm leaves or banana tree leaves that the fall over the neighbors fence that I see him chew on sometimes.

But his stool is completely dry and normal during the day and he never seems in distress. It is only at night and happens about every other night.

I'll be going back to the vet, but I can't think of what would cause night time issues only. Appreciate any help!
 
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#2 ·
I'm sorry to hear about your pup's issues!

Since you've already worked with your vet to check for parasites, flora balance, and overall health, the next things I would look at are new foods added to his diet.

Banana skins, and banana tree leaves while not toxic for dogs, are dangerous for them since they are very fiberous, can result in intestinal blockage, and do not digest well. I would start with ensuring that he doesn't eat any of them. It'll take about 3 days from dietary changes to know for sure if what you've removed from his diet is helping.

If that doesn't solve your issue, look at any particularly rich foods that may be a part of his diet, like table scraps, chew sticks, or treats.

I hope this helps, and please let me know how you make out!
 
#3 ·
Thanks, but though I have no idea what to remove, he gets nothing but dog food. I'm strict about no scraps or additives.

I can't tell if it's something he's getting into in the evenings, or is there something that only affects animals at night or when asleep? Very solid, normal stool during the day, explosive watery diarrhea at night.
 
#5 ·
How long have you had him?

How long has he been eating the Puppy Chow?

How long has the diarrhea been going on?

What treats does he get?

What chews does he get?

Does he have any other symptoms?
 
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#6 ·
Had him 3 months. He got diarrhea about a month ago, took him to the vet, got it cleared up with high fiber food the vet gave me.
Couple of weeks later, he has it again.
He gets small training treats, same brand he's had for months.
He has a rawhide bone he's had for about 90 days, though he hasn't managed to break off any of the braids of it and swallow.

Might be anecdotal, but I did notice him yakking a bit when I was playing chase with him in the backyard, but he was pretty tired from sprinting. I feel like I've seen dogs do this when they are exerted from playing. He didn't throw up, just did the yawn-like yak while walking.

Otherwise he has a good appetite and plays often, no weight loss or gain. I keep him fairly regimented on food, treats, training, exercise, etc, so there's not much variation to point at.

I stopped giving him treats the last few days but he still had his worst bout of diarrhea.
 
#7 ·
He's really young to have one, but I have seen young puppies develop food intolerance. The reason I think that is that I have a dog with an intolerance to chicken and what is sounds like may be happening with your puppy is what happens to him. He'll have nice, normal, firm, poo in the morning but as the day wears on it gets softer and softer. My solution is to cut chicken out of his diet, I'm a compulsive dog food label reader and make sure there's no chicken in any of the food or treats he gets.

Try home cooking for your puppy for the next 4 or 5 days. Feed him a diet of 1/2 cooked sweet potato or white rice, and 1/2 LEAN beef, and if his stool stays firm try slowly adding back in the puppy chow, if his tummy gets upset again it's likely the food that caused the problem, and I'd try finding a chicken free, corn and grain free, puppy food to feed him. If it stays firm try adding back in the treats one by one and see if those caused the problem. If his tummy stays upset on the home cooked food then I'd guess it's some sort of medical issue that the vet hasn't figured out.
 
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