The American Beagler Forum

I have a 5 month old male that I just can't seem to get a firm stool out of. He has been wormed, has his shots, and is fed good food. Any suggestions for simple remedy to firm up his stool?

B0b-Michigan

Try feeding him cooked rice and chicken for a couple days. He could be having problems with the food even if it is good quality. If that clears it up you may want to try a lamb and rice dog food or something else easy on the stomach.

cottage cheese often will work also, it recoats the lining of the stomach, and intestines. it works real good when you bring home a new puppy and they are getting used to new food and a new home.

take stool sample to vet he will tell ya right away whats wrong. Cost $10 pretty cheap ahh.Compared to guessing and buying.

PLATEAUBEAGLER wrote:take stool sample to vet he will tell ya right away whats wrong. Cost $10 pretty cheap ahh.Compared to guessing and buying.

Yep, might be gardia or cocsidei (s) if so you need some albon to clear it up.

fed good is a bit vague.

get a small bag of Hill's I/D from your vet. Feed him JUST the I/D for ten days, then slowly switch back over to the other food, mixing a little. One of my guys had soft stool for a month, ran bloodwork, whole nine yards. Finally he crapped out a wad of grass and sticks that I had to help him with (dang dog was runnin around the back yard with it hangin out his backside). He's been fine since.

A fecal examination honestly won't tell ya much...giardia is a difficult catch for a good vet tech that sees it a lot, coccidia is seen more often, but is still easy to miss. Even clostridium isn't likely to be caught on a fecal, though it could be at fault.

If your vet is willing, you can also blindly treat with metronidazole, it will generally firm up the stool if it's not related to one of the common parasites.

I've always heard that canned pumpkin was good for that. NOT pumpin pie filling, just plain canned pumpkin. Add some to his regular food, but not too much.