My dog's not improving: lethargic, limping, diarrhea on meds. Help!

I'm sorry to hear that Henry is not feeling well! It's hard to see your pet sick! It's great that you're seeing improvement in Henry's energy level and that he has stopped vomiting. It can take several days for the diarrhea to resolve. Continuing to feed a bland diet may help and finishing out the course of metronidazole is always recommended. If Henry's diarrhea persists even after the metronidazole is finished or if you feel he is getting worse again, I would recommend having your veterinarian exam Henry again to determine what might be going on.

It would be best to consult with your veterinarian before changing treatment or giving other medications. Legally, we are prohibited from recommending medications or dosing information in the absence of a physical exam and a patient-veterinarian-client relationship. You can try withholding food for 24 hours. Allow small amounts of water or an unflavored electrolyte replacement beverage. Resume feeding a bland diet in small frequent amounts until symptoms resolve. Transition slowly to the regular diet afterwards. A stool sample should be submitted to diagnose intestinal parasites or bacterial overgrowth. A veterinary probiotic such as Prostora, FortiFlora or ProViable may promote gut health.

If Lexi is still playful and eating, and her stools are improving (even if they're not normal yet), then it sounds like you're on the right track. I would continue with her course of flagyl as your vet prescribed. If her stools don't continue to get firmer, you might want to ask your vet about adding a probiotic, or even consider the Hills Biome prescription food, which has been shown to be very effective for diarrhea issues. If the diarrhea worsens again, reach back out to your vet. We often start by treating diarrhea fairly symptomatically and supportively, but there are many other potential causes of diarrhea including Addisons disease, intestinal parasites, inflammatory bowel, food sensitivities, etc - so depending on the diagnostics your vet ran on Lexi initially, they may recommend further workup if this issue becomes recurrent. Hope this helps! Feel free to reach out if you have any follow-up questions.

Poor Harley does sound quite sick at the moment! It is concerning that he started to limp after taking a wee, and he could have injured, torn, or strained a ligament. If he's still limping now, two days after the initial time you saw him limp, I would take him back into the vet today. The vet can diagnose what is causing the limp and how best to treat it. In addition, the vet can follow up on how he is doing after having such bad diarrhea. Good luck, I hope he feels better soon!

Hi there. In my experience, it often takes 48 hours or so to see improvement in diarrhea after starting metronidazole. Full resolution of the problem may take another 2-3 days from there. So if Jake's diarrhea seems to be improving and his appetite is better, this is a good sign. I would continue with the current treatment plan prescribed by your veterinarian. If his diarrhea has not resolved in another 2-3 days, then I would recommend taking him back in for a recheck to see if some other type of treatment is needed.

Hello. It might take 3-5 days minimum to see if the diet will work. Often, when we suspect a problem is due to a food sensitivity, the food trial is 6-8 weeks. So, it can take time to see if the diarrhea subsides. Just make sure she is drinking plenty of water & not losing weight. Also, make sure you communicate to your vet that the diarrhea did not respond to the metronidazole. She may want to continue testing, switch to another antibiotic or medication. I would also start her on a good probiotic for dogs like Proviable or FortiFlora, both should be available at most pet retailers. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Poor Paloma! I would recommend a vet visit for her because she has had diarrhea for over a week and the bland diet has not worked. No, do not give her the metronidazole. Drugs prescribed for another dog should never be given, as it may be the wrong drug for the cause of her diarrhea and the wrong dose. It has reached the point where veterinary care is needed for this issues, and I would call your vet today to set up an appointment for her as soon as possible. Best of luck.