Jack Russell - Funny Tummy

[SwiftyDog]

We have a 10 month old JRT. Since we got him at 8 weeks old, it seems that every 6 weeks he gets a funny tummy and runny poo (sorry!). We've been to the vet and she has prescriped Amitriptylene (sp?!) which didnt work and now he's on Steriods. He's changed from being very lively into a lethargic, underweight dog. We've tried feeding him different foods...Burns, Purina, Puppy Pouches, Egg, Fish, Porridge..the list could go on! He eats it all with gusto, but nothing seems to do the trick. He's very well housetrained, but quite often now he has 'accidents' in the middle of the night. So - I was wondering if anyone else has a JRT who has had similiar problems or what other JRT owners feed their dogs as I now think that it's something that cannot be cured by medication alone. Thank you!!

[kita1]

Are you still in touch with the breeder? What do they say?

Did they recommend a food?

Has the vet tried testing him for allergies?

Have you tried him on chicken and rice?

[ruby27]

My mothers JRT eats everything without any problems. I did have an Irish Setter who had digestion problems. The Vet said it was due to over breeding. He had a vegetarian diet as meat and fish made him ill. I used to give him Vitalin which looked more like something you would feed a Rabbit than a Dog, but he could eat this without his tummy being upset. This was over 15 years ago so do not know if they still make to product.

[tiggerwoo]

Don't like the idea of steroids...vets seem same as gp's these days...very fond of medicating uneccessarily and actually making the patient worse.. I would try weaning him gently off the steroids and see how how is then and perhaps googling alternative remedies. there are quite a few conventional vets now who also practice "natural" medicine. Just my thoughts....hope it helps and he is soon back to his normal self and drug free. Please let us know how he goes on.

[SwiftyDog]

Thanks for all your suggestions!

I phoned his breeder who told me that she feeds her dogs raw tripe...yuk! So, I've given this a go and so far, it seems to be going the trick...plus he LOVES it! I also went to the Vets yesterday who has reduced his steriods and has also suggested introducing 'Wafco' hypoallergenic/sensitive biscuits in Salmon and Potato. Well, have to see how this goes. Problem is, that she weighed him and he'd lost weight! He'd gone from 6.4kg to 5.4kg in the space of a couple of weeks....oh no! So, I'm increasing his meals to 3 a day. Fingers crossed! Thanks again!

[lankeela]

Try putting a plain wholemeal mixer with the tripe. Tripe should soon put the weight back on him.

[lankeela]

Having read what you have been feeding him I am not really surprised he has had the runs! Did the breeder not give you a diet sheet? If he was raised on tripe, then thats what he should have been fed on, and only slowly changed to another food if you needed to.

[charlie01]

lankeela is right, i agree. the sooner he's of steroids the better!

[lankeela]

As tiggerwoo says, I'd wean him off the steroids, but please do it gradually as they become addicted to them, and if you stop them suddenly they go through 'cold turkey'.

My old bitch has to have them but instead of every day I give one every day and a half, I tried every other day but this was not quite enough. When she improved on them I extended it to every other day and then every third day then stopped them. This was ok for a while but she had to have them again.

[nobjob]

my dog had the same problem and i v ended up feeding pasta and chicken or chappie as this has a lot of ceareal in it and it seems to have worked