Why is my dog's stool still orange and soft after antibiotics?

With a normal stool sample and blood panel, the next steps are experimenting with diet - specifically a hypoallergenic prescription diet (such as Royal Canin Ultamino, which is definitely the most expensive option, but also the one that seems to work best in diagnosing food allergies. It takes eating ONLY the prescription food for about a month to see if it helps, and then if it does help you can certainly experiment with less expensive foods. If you she would having signs of food allergy you'd need to do a full 3 months, but for intestinal issues, you should see a response in just a couple weeks) OR a high fiber/easily digestible diet (such as Hills Fiber Response EN). Some dogs need continual probiotics to keep normal stool. Treating any underlying anxiety (if present) can also help. Finally, a gut biopsy, which is much more invasive and costly can be done. Since she isn't yet spayed, I would consider doing a gut biopsy when/if she is spayed because that would be minimal additional expense or trauma for her while she's already have an abdominal surgery. I hope that helps! Wishing you the best with this difficult issue - It can take a long long time to get to the bottom of things

The color of the stool is usually associated with something they are eating, but the yellow/orange color can sometimes be associated with liver disease. Since Marley does not seem to be responding to previous medical treatments, I would recommend that you discuss additional diagnostics with your vet. I would start with an intestinal parasite screening, and if that is negative, move on to bloodwork and/or a GI panel (specialized bloodwork). Occasionally all labs can be normal and surgical or endoscopic intestinal biopsies are needed.

Some antibiotics can cause gastrointestinal upset. I would have expected that to resolve once the antibiotics were discontinued. Since he has vomited and continues to have a soft stool, you may need to have a fecal samples checked and obtain abdominal x-rays to rule out a foreign body.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Remi. In the bloodwork that was run, did it include GI specific testing such as cobalamin, folate, PLI and TLI levels. These are values that will give information such as the location of GI disease (small intestine vs pancreas) and treatment options. I typically do this planel in conjunction with an abdominal ultrasound. This information with the ultrasound can give insight into conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatitis, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, food sensitivities or as you mentioned cancer. The anti-inflammatory properties of the antibiotic she was on could help even with a tumor in GI tract, but there are so many other causes of diarrhea that would respond as well. I think it is worth pursuing further bloodwork and the ultrasound. If you can get a diagnosis, then a treatment plan can be developed. I hope this information helps!

Please contact your vet clinic to discuss changing or altering your prescription - the course should always be completed unless directed otherwise by the prescribing vet and we are not in a position to authorise this. Antibiotics are often used in bloodied diarrhoea in young pups to prevent bacterial infection spreading to the blood stream and are continued until the bowel has a chance to repair (5-7days). Antibiotic resistance is a higher risk if short or low doses are used

Hi. I would recommend adding a spoonful of canned pumpkin to each meal to increase fiber. You can also add boiled rice. If that doesn't help, i would recommend talking with your veterinarian about possibly getting him on metronidazole to help firm up the stools. Good luck

Riley’s stool looks a bit soft. This may be be from being on doxycycline as antibiotic associated diarrhea is fairly common. Your vet may be able to dispense a probiotic such as FortiFlora or Proviable that can help return the stool to normal. The blood may be due to stress colitis. Typically, metronidazole (flagyl) is an anti-inflammatory antibiotic for the gut that recommended for blood tinged soft stool, however as she just finished a course of antibiotics, putting her on probiotics and a plain boiled rice and chicken diet (unless she has an allergy to chicken) or a prescription Hills intestinal diet or Royal Canin Gastrointestinal diet for 3-5 days may be enough to allow the irritated intestinal mucosa to heal. Good luck!