"Cate" wrote in message
...

Do you know what purpose the muscle relaxer was for? We've never been
given
that for his runs.

it's supposed to slow down the movement of the intestines. it's called
Loperamide, and it's in Immodium, i think. it doesn't seem to make her
tired or anything, i think it only affects the digestive tract muscles.

-kelly

"Suja" wrote in message
...
http://www.cm-d.com/buckeye/tech_manual/8_39.html
http://www.joebattsarm.com/labradornet/diarrhea.html (a checklist, might
be handy)


thanks for the links, i'm bringing the checklist to the vet so i don't
forget anything.

well, we're off to the vet, wish us luck!

-kelly

"Suja" wrote in message
...
http://www.cm-d.com/buckeye/tech_manual/8_39.html
http://www.joebattsarm.com/labradornet/diarrhea.html (a checklist, might
be handy)


thanks for the links, i'm bringing the checklist to the vet so i don't
forget anything.

well, we're off to the vet, wish us luck!

-kelly

"Cate" wrote in message
...

I don't know what this is, but I'm interested, because Orson has regular
bouts of diarrhea.

fyi- the new vet recommended a teaspoon of plain yoghurt with each meal,
she said it will help prevent future soft stool (Lola also had regular
bouts). she also said a digestive enzyme mixture can help as well.

we'll see how it works...

-kelly

"Cate" wrote in message
...

I don't know what this is, but I'm interested, because Orson has regular
bouts of diarrhea.

fyi- the new vet recommended a teaspoon of plain yoghurt with each meal,
she said it will help prevent future soft stool (Lola also had regular
bouts). she also said a digestive enzyme mixture can help as well.

we'll see how it works...

-kelly

"culprit" wrote in message
...


well, it's clostridium, again. this time we got metronidazol (sp?) so
hopefully it will go away for good this time. we also picked up some
"IVD"
food for sensitive stomachs, i'm hoping this will help as well.

as an aside...
we went to a new vet today. based on some of the decisions the new doc at
our old clinic was making, i decided i didn't want to work with him any
more. the new vet was surprised he had used amoxicillin at all, let alone
for several courses of treatment. i tend to agree with the new vet on
this,
so here's hoping it works out.


Few thoughts here....first of all amoxicillin (in my mind) is the drug of
choice for a true clostridial infection. That being said, though, it's
pretty hard to conclusively diagnose clostridium as the problem. You can do
fecal cytology, and if you see a lot of clostridial spores (they look like
tiny paperclips) then you can *assume* that's the problem, but it may not be
the primary problem. I think the current thinking on clostridal overgrowth
is changing on a daily basis -- I'm not sure whether that diagnosis is
currently "in" or currently "out" with internal medicine specialists :-).
Metronidazole evidently also works for clostridium, but it's main advantage
is that it will kill giardia, and is anti-inflammatory in it's own right.
Secondly, I hope you've had multiple fecal floatations done, to rule out
other intestinal parasites. Or at least had both dogs dewormed with a nice,
potent, broad-spectrum dewormer like Panacur (fenbendazole I think).
Whipworms can certainly cause recurrent bouts of diarrhea, and could
potentially pass from dog to dog.

Hope your course of metronidazole clears it up for you.

Deborah, DVM

"culprit" wrote in message
...


well, it's clostridium, again. this time we got metronidazol (sp?) so
hopefully it will go away for good this time. we also picked up some
"IVD"
food for sensitive stomachs, i'm hoping this will help as well.

as an aside...
we went to a new vet today. based on some of the decisions the new doc at
our old clinic was making, i decided i didn't want to work with him any
more. the new vet was surprised he had used amoxicillin at all, let alone
for several courses of treatment. i tend to agree with the new vet on
this,
so here's hoping it works out.


Few thoughts here....first of all amoxicillin (in my mind) is the drug of
choice for a true clostridial infection. That being said, though, it's
pretty hard to conclusively diagnose clostridium as the problem. You can do
fecal cytology, and if you see a lot of clostridial spores (they look like
tiny paperclips) then you can *assume* that's the problem, but it may not be
the primary problem. I think the current thinking on clostridal overgrowth
is changing on a daily basis -- I'm not sure whether that diagnosis is
currently "in" or currently "out" with internal medicine specialists :-).
Metronidazole evidently also works for clostridium, but it's main advantage
is that it will kill giardia, and is anti-inflammatory in it's own right.
Secondly, I hope you've had multiple fecal floatations done, to rule out
other intestinal parasites. Or at least had both dogs dewormed with a nice,
potent, broad-spectrum dewormer like Panacur (fenbendazole I think).
Whipworms can certainly cause recurrent bouts of diarrhea, and could
potentially pass from dog to dog.

Hope your course of metronidazole clears it up for you.

Deborah, DVM