other reasons for soft poo?

[kimbt622]

Kirby has had soft poop for a few days now. Hes had on and off inconsistently for a little while but it always goes away. I never noticed any other symptoms that would lead me to believe he had an infection, I thought he may have been stressed about being seperated from indy, etc. Initially, I got him acidophilus and he takes it pleasantly, it clears the poop up for the night maybe and then its soft again but not ALWAYS. its bizarre. He's caged with Harley and his poop is perfectly fine. Now, I wasn't concerned at first because he is eating well and just as active as he's always been, but I noticed the last couple days that hes been looking a little smaller. He lost maybe 10 oz. Because of this, I made an appointment for the vet on tuesday to test a fecal sample. But he is still eating, drinking, jumping, running. Is it possible that theres another reason for his soft poo and weight loss besides a parasite? Could it be a bacterial infection? or something else?

I'd appreciate any ideas! Thanks guys.

 

[RDZCRanch]

I don't think he lost 10oz, that's over half a pound which would translate into over 200g. Have you weighed him in the past and then again more recently? I would definitely get a fresh fecal sample tested at the vet office. Make sure that they don't just do an in house fecal exam but actually send it out to a lab. Giardia is VERY difficult to see in an in house fecal test and is best diagnosed with the heavy equipment at a lab.

What pellets are you feeding again?

 

[kimbt622]

Bah sorry Tab I meant 10 g. I'm a little loopy today with all the studying ive been doing. Okay I will be sure to do that. I feed him oxbow pellets and oxbow hay.

I don't think he lost 10oz, that's over half a pound which would translate into over 200g. Have you weighed him in the past and then again more recently? I would definitely get a fresh fecal sample tested at the vet office. Make sure that they don't just do an in house fecal exam but actually send it out to a lab. Giardia is VERY difficult to see in an in house fecal test and is best diagnosed with the heavy equipment at a lab.

What pellets are you feeding again?

 

[aznmexaggie]

Does he get treats?

 

[kimbt622]

Yes, the only treat he gets are cheerios and shreddet wheat and the occasional sprinkle of oats for special occasions.

 

[aznmexaggie]

Does he get softer poos after getting cheerios or shreddies? I have heard of some chins having wheat intolerance.

 

[cindyv3737]

Does he get softer poos after getting cheerios or shreddies? I have heard of some chins having wheat intolerance.

This is the email I just got from Kim.

No his poop is mostly soft during the day I usually give him a cheerio early when I clean and his poop is usually soft in the afternoon and evening when he's sleeping then he runs around and I give him a wheatie and he is fine at night so I don't know!

 

[kimbt622]

Also Sumiko, would the wheat intolerance explain the weight loss? I will try to pull his treats for a few days and see how he does.

 

[aznmexaggie]

Perhaps. I don't know too much about it... but can say from personal experience, I am lactose intolerant and when I eat dairy (without a lactase supplement pill), I have GI upset, gas, and other BM issues... I'll leave it at that, lol.

It could potentially cause weight loss over time as the GI tract would be trying to rid itself of the wheat treat and increasing the rate the poos are released... so fewer nutrients would be extracted from the bolus of food since it's moving through the GI tract so rapidly. With less time in the large intestine, less water is resorbed and it would explain why the poos are softer...

Anyway, that's all speculation. Let us know how it goes after pulling the treats.

 

[kimbt622]

Well, I tried pulling all his treats but the next day his poop was extra soft. So i pulled his pellets and I went out and got pet pectillin and it helped ALOT. we went to the vet this morning so we will see what the fecal sample says but for now I'm keeping the pellets out and burritoing him up and giving him the pectillin, no matter how much he hates me for it!

 

[Sandi]

Try giving him a few different types of hay so that he doesn't get bored with just hay, maybe it'll encourage him to eat more of it and he won't miss his pellets too much. Keeping my fingers crossed for your baby too!

 

[kimbt622]

Try giving him a few different types of hay so that he doesn't get bored with just hay, maybe it'll encourage him to eat more of it and he won't miss his pellets too much. Keeping my fingers crossed for your baby too!

Thanks Sandi! I'll try some alfalfa and see how he likes it. He's actually being pretty good about eating his hay cause he's a little fatty But his poops already look 100x better. I'll see how they are tomorrow and may put the pellets back in then. By the way Sandi, I need 10 more lbs i'll pm you now.

 

[kimbt622]

So, a few days ago Kirby was diagnosed with a parasitic infection with Giardia. He was prescribed panacur for three days. I did his treatment along with his cagemate Harley's treatment just in case. I wiped everything in their cage and sanded down all the wood and threw out any toys. He finished his treatment two days ago but his poop is still soft. I pulled his pellets. I also gave him an additional night of the panacur because there was some left over. Any other suggestions? Thanks.

 

[Cat75]

What kind of water are you giving?

 

[kimbt622]

Well I was giving Brita filter before the infection, but I cleaned out the water bottles and have changed to bottled for now until I can get my hands on reverse osmosis.

 

[Sandi]

Kim, I'm not sure if you knew this but brita filters do not remove cryptosporidium and giardia from water, whether it be the filter attached directly to the faucet or a filtered pitcher. PUR filters do and I have one on my faucet in the bathroom near the chins and my fridge has one as well. Just in case you want to go back to filters, I thought I'd throw that out there. Sorry about Kirby, I hope he feels better soon.

 

[kimbt622]

Kim, I'm not sure if you knew this but brita filters do not remove cryptosporidium and giardia from water, whether it be the filter attached directly to the faucet or a filtered pitcher. PUR filters do and I have one on my faucet in the bathroom near the chins and my fridge has one as well. Just in case you want to go back to filters, I thought I'd throw that out there. Sorry about Kirby, I hope he feels better soon.

Yeah Sandi I found that out very recently (after he got infected!) I feel terrible but there's nothing I can do now except treat him. Thanks for the heads up though.