Bowel Issues With My Dog

by Pam
(New Hampshire)

Hi. I have a 16-year-old small Australian Shepherd. For the past 3 weeks he had had a mix of diarrhea and constipation. He had been to the vet and has had a stool test. Stool came back negative for anything. Vet has kept him on a bland diet and he was prescribed probiotics and antibiotic pill, which he had been on for over 4 days now.

Yesterday he threw up all his rice diet breakfast. We are feeling like the antibiotics might not be sitting well with him. He is a spoiled eater and is now getting sick of the rice I think. He is eating the meat out of it. 🤦 He is drinking water and other than that one throw up, seems active and normal.

His stool is off-color (bland diet for 3 weeks I'm sure) and it's still soft. Sometimes runny. He has hip issues and I think, at times, he is reluctant to go outside to try. He will go through a 24 hour period or so of not pooping, then have a loose stool. Once in a while, kind of firm, then back to loose or not at all again.

I am hoping for any suggestions as to how we can help him through this. We are obviously staying in contact with our vet. We can't tell if he initially got into anything... a possibility. No change in food. Any past issues have never been this long. This constant.

I am looking for maybe suggestions on how to help him with this. Firm him up faster? Help him eat the bowls diet better? How long is too long on a bland diet? I appreciate any thoughts or advice and thank you.

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