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Why does my dog's recurring clostridium diarrhea keep returning?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Miniature Poodle | Male | neutered | 2 years and 4 months old | 15 lbs

We have an appointment with Jack’s doctor in the morning but I’d love a Petco Pet Education Center opinion before hand! Jack has been treated for reoccurring clostridium. He’ll take an antibiotic, it will clear up, and days or a couple of weeks later, it’s back. After two weeks off his meds for the third occurrence, he was doing great, and then yesterday it seems it’s come back. What can we do to kick it for good??

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Dr. Elizabeth

Veterinarian

Published on May 8th, 2020

Dogs who deal with frequent issues related to bacterial over growth often have any underlying condition causing inflammation in the gut.
The most common causes are worms, giardia or food allergies. Less common causes could be IBD, pancreatitis or pancreatic insufficiency (though other causes are also possible).
I recommend to start by having Jack checked for worms and giardia. If none are found, I recommend a 12 week diet trial with a hydrolyzed protein. This is similar to an elimination trial for humans and it will give you an idea if food is related to the issue or not.

I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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