If anyone could give me even just a bit of advice regarding the situation I've been dealing with for months, I'd be so grateful!
I have a Golden Retriever puppy who is currently five months old. I got him from a breeder with a clean bill of health, but I noticed right away that something wasn't right. I took him to the vet for an initial check-up, and because he had very bad breath, she had me do a stool sample, which came back positive for giardia. His pet health record also showed he'd had two doses of Procox for coccidia. I followed the antibiotic treatment for giardia, but he continued to have diarrhoea and, more importantly, he kept eating his own poo. I've been given various explanations for this coprophagia: that he's mimicking his mother cleaning the whelping area, that he was taken from his mother too soon, that he isn't absorbing nutrients properly and is looking for them in his stools, or that it's a behaviour he’d just grow out of after a few months... I was told to be patient and that I needed to be with him 24/7 to stop it, but obviously, as much as I tried during the first few days, the moment I left the room for even two minutes, he’d do his business and eat it. I decided, perhaps wrongly, to get a second opinion from another vet who had me switch his dry food to Royal Canin Gastrointestinal and added Bendiar. I repeated the giardia test and it was negative, but his stools were still too soft and the coprophagia was getting worse.
So, we did another switch (always gradual) to Purina Pro Plan Hypoallergenic, and his stools became hard and crumbly, like little pebbles. It was clear my dog was straining a lot to go, so yet another kibble change followed. Throughout this period, I was also told to give him Forbid powder and Nucron, and then we moved on to a single-protein white fish dry food. All these constant food changes have left me with so many doubts because my puppy already had a sensitive gut, but I'm not a doctor and I trusted what was suggested to me. Even with this food, his stools weren't normal. For the past month, his diet has consisted of the single-protein kibble, and on the vet's advice, I've been adding parmesan, yoghurt, and apple at regular intervals during the week.
I was told to wait and I did, but I kept seeing that my dog wasn't opening his bowels properly, so I saw yet another vet just yesterday. First of all, he told me to change the dry food I’m giving him now (Expecial Pro Puppy Medium white fish) because he explained it doesn't just contain fish but a lot of meat derivatives. He banned the parmesan and yoghurt (which the previous vet had added to the diet) because he explained that dogs don't have the right enzymes to digest them—he mentioned lactase, if I'm not mistaken. He cut out all treats except for apple and banana and recommended I only use Vetline treats as rewards because they have healthier ingredients. Finally, at my request over the phone the day before, the vet did a parasite test on the stools, as I thought a parasite might have reappeared given his poo-eating. Fortunately, the test was negative. He added some probiotics to be given for about ten days (2 tablets). He also performed a procedure to express my dog's anal glands, which released a lot of fluid; because he isn't passing stools correctly, he isn't able to empty them naturally.
I’ve also seen a dog trainer to try and resolve the coprophagia, but in his opinion too, this is an expression of dietary distress rather than a behavioural issue.
I'm asking for help because I'm tired of constantly changing his food; I don't think it's good for him given the situation. Sorry for the long post.
Even now, his stools aren't hard; they are still soft and mucousy, even if they are more formed than before. This problem with malabsorption and irritated gut flora leads to the coprophagia, and I just don't know how to solve it anymore, as it seems to have become a compulsive behaviour. I've tried various things suggested to me—nappies, an Elizabethan collar, positive reinforcement when he goes—but nothing seems to work. As soon as I leave the room, I see him run outside to go and then eat it, which is why he does very little or almost nothing on walks (though I'm starting a training programme for this next week because he's very fearful and doesn't feel safe, as the trainer explained).
Please give me some advice because I'm spending so much money and not resolving the problem. Maybe I was wrong to seek so many opinions, but after being told to be patient and seeing that the situation wasn't improving and my puppy was suffering, I did what I thought was best.
Now the vet has advised me to choose one of these dry foods:
- Hill's
- Monge Superpremium
- Exclusion
- Farmina
- Vetline Puppy
(Until he is one year old). He consistently recommended a single-protein diet. Do you have any opinions on which would be best to choose given the situation?
