My adopted dog has diarrhea that won't stop. What tests are needed?
Updated On September 23rd, 2025
Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Male | unneutered | 15 lbs
So my dogs breed is lab/basenji. I adopted him from a shelter on februaury 10th he’s had diaherra every since we brought him home. Took him to the vet last month they did fecal examine and gave me diaherra pills. I used pumpkin sauce for a while it stopped working and now the diaherra pills don’t help. He is known to eating non food items. I Have a palm tree in my back yard that produces orange seeds and he’ll eat them but I believe they usually pas Been giving him rice and chicken for two days.
4 Answers
Most Helpful Answer
Published on April 16th, 2019
Thank you for submitting your question regarding your dog. Ongoing diarrhea can be very frustrating. I would recommend a diarrhea panel submitted to a reference laboratory to look for evidence an intestinal infection. This will be more detailed than testing performed at your local veterinary clinic. Next, I would recommend blood work and a urine sample to look for an underlying disease contributing to his symptoms. If no abnormalities are found on all of these tests, then I will usually implement a diet change. I hope this information helps!
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Related Answers from Veterinarians
-
Published on October 16th, 2019
I hate to hear this is happening to Doug. It sounds like your veterinarian is working hard to figure out whats wrong. Since I don't know what tests have been run other than a barium study, you may want to discuss the following tests with your vet: Giardia Fecal Culture Pancreatic Lipase Insufficiency Food trial with 100% hydrolyzed Protein diet Food trial with high fiber food (Like Royal Canin Fiber Response or similar diet) Blood work to look at liver or kidney values 5 day trial of Panacur 6 week trial of Tylosin Referral to specialist I hope this helps an please feel free to post any additional questions.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
-
Published on November 20th, 2016
I'm sorry to hear that Daisy is having so much trouble! Chronic diarrhea can be a very frustrating problem. It sounds like she doesn't have a specific diagnosis yet, so I would be interested to know exactly what testing has been done and what treatments have been tried so far - feel free to request a consultation if you want to discuss things in more detail. In general, some tests that may be helpful in diagnosing the cause of chronic diarrhea like this would include a fecal analysis for parasites (including less common ones like Giardia and cryprosporidium), general blood work to check for a systemic illness that may be causing the diarrhea, a GI blood panel to look at whether or not nutrients are being absorbed appropriately, and even endoscopy or exploratory surgery with biopsies in some cases to check for things like IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) or GI lymphoma. If a full diagnostic work-up is not an option financially, then some treatment options that could be tried would include a diet trial with a prescription hypoallergenic or GI diet, metronidazole, an oral steroid like prednisone, and vitamin B12 supplementation. I would recommend taking Daisy back to one of the vets who has seen her before to discuss options for where to go from here, or asking for referral to an internal medicine specialist if you prefer.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
-
Published on April 13th, 2018
Poor Lola. There are so additional things that your vet could look into. I would have her poop tested for campylobacter and giardia. These are common parasites/bacteria that cause diarrhea but can be difficult to diagnose on a regular fecal test done in house. I would also try her on a prescription hypoallergenic food. If she has an allergy to something in the food, this could also cause on/off diarrhea. Finally, I would talk to your vet about running a GI panel. This tests for Vitamin B12, folate, and 2 pancreatic enzymes. I would also start her on a probiotic. I like Purina fortiflora, propectalin, or vetriscience brands. It is NOT normal for them to have diarrhea especially with blood this often. It could be stressed but I would want to rule everything else out. I hope this helps!
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
What are the recommended vet tests for a dog with repeated bouts of diarrhea? Last time it took 10 days of rice & chicken, probiotics and antibiotics for the diarrhea to get better, a week later it's back. Other than stool sample and blood panel, wh
My dog has been having diarrhea for the past day and half, he gets diarrhea often and when I take him to the vet they can’t seem to find anything wrong. For the past 5 hours he has been doing yellow droplets, has yet to form a a solid stool. Is there
Doug has had diarrhea the entire time we have had him (4months). We have had tests run over and over to no avail. Vet says that he doesn’t keep his food in his stomach long enough to digest. We have even had barium xrays done with no answers. He is o
I adopted a Pom on 11/4 from TX & came back home to Lafayette, LA, on 11/5. He’s had no appetite for dry food & has diarrhea. Stools had some blood & mucus, but got better after I fasted him, did the bland diet, & fed him some pumpkin & yogurt. It’s
My 9 year old dog has had chronic diarrhea for over a month. Took him to the vet twice, had blood work and urinalysis, no issues were found. It all started when he had problems with his anal glands. The vet took care of that, but I am not sure wha
I have a 6 yr old border collie lab mix, she is having diarrhea uncontrollably have taken her to 2 vets and they say change her food and nothing is working it's getting worse, they put her on message and it stops till she's out of medicine, what shou
Long question will cut off... Ok. I have a doggy diet question. We have two dogs, a blue nose pit and a German Shepard/Rottweiler/lab mix. The pit is named blade, the mix is named arrow. We adopted arrow in late August of this year, we think he's ab
Remi started watery diarrhea a month ago. No scraps-good Dog food. tested for worms/gut bacteria- negative. It got a little better with chicken and rice. did blood work- negative. 10 day dose of metronidazole 500mg & hills canned i/d - poop normal
My dog got home 2 days ago from the humane society after having been treated for heartworms and having a few teeth pulled. Now he’s got bad diarrhea that doesn’t seem to be getting better. What can I do?
I recently adopted a cat, whose blood results and overall health came back perfect. He has been pooping diarrhea on and off. He received 2 dewormers on Monday, Sept 4th, because there was blood in his stool. He has an increase in his appetite, as wel
Book an appointment with the pros – our expert vets are here to help.
