Puppy Diarrhoea

By Kay Hisano | Dated April 12, 2024

It can be quite unsettling when your new puppy that you have just brought home starts to get explosive diarrhea all over the house. Little Miss Noodle had been adopted 10 days ago from her new lovely family and had been experiencing some diarrhea. Owners were worried for her, as she was not being her usual, perky, puppy self.

When Noodle came to the consult she was looking very quiet and was curled up in her pink blanky. Upon examination, she was slightly uncomfortable on her belly being palpated.

Puppies can be affected by diarrhea more significantly compared to adult dogs due to their immature immune system, higher susceptibility to dehydration, and limited energy reserves. Diarrhea can be caused by a multitude of issues including infections, changes in diet, dietary indiscretion, and many more.

When it comes to infectious causes of diarrhea in puppies, parvovirus is often a number one worry. With an increase in awareness of parvovirus leading to increased hygiene standards and vaccination rates, there has been a significantly lower number of parvovirus cases that the veterinary industry manages. At Gordon Vet we are able to quickly test for parvovirus with a simple in-house faecal antigen test. Along with parvovirus the faecal antigen tests for Giardia, which is a common protozoal infection that dogs and cats can get which causes diarrhea.

Thankfully Noodle’s parovirus antigen test came back negative, but her test came back positive for Giardia.

A Giardia infection is commonly spread through soil, food, or water contaminated with feces. Antibiotic treatment is often required for these cases. We had started Noodle on an antibiotic treatment along with some probiotics and advised her owner to feed her some chicken and rice, which is commonly the go-to bland diet that we recommend when our patients have some runny stool.

Animated Giardia, A Protozoal Parasite

After 2 days on treatment for Giardia, Noodle was very much back to her chirpy self and getting lots of cuddles from her new family. We are all excited to see her back at Gordon Vet when she is back to her full perky-self.