Irritable Bowel Syndrome

I have ten month old hound that has been dealing with this for a months. Basically soft stools. Diarrhea at times. I see mucus at every now and then. I've only seen blood like once. I was gonna go to the vet if it persisted but it didn't. I've had him dewormed so it can't be parasites. No vomiting. Switched dry feeds a few times. These are premium five star dog feeds. One feed didn't do better than the other. I'm using probiotics at this time.
He seems to be growing normal and is where he should be at in weight. Pretty active dog. Runs the mill, springpole work, flirtpole...He's indoor raised. Crated. Not in a stressful environment.
Just seeing if you guys had any tips. I'm going to the vet but won't be able to go till next week due to work. In the meantime I'm going to the store to get Licorice, Slippery Elm, canned pumpkin, marshmellows. I read these were natural remedies.

 

If it were me I would take the pup to the vet to rule out anything medical. Giving the pup different foods and adding things to his diet probably isn't helping the issue.

 

Had a similar problem with a dog returned after 5yr.
Tried the probiotics,wormed & good quality kibble. The dog.returned in great condition but the loose stools came with him.
Finally got it sorted with Purina Pro Plan Digestion. 3x small meals daily & absolutely nothing else other than his water. After a week i gradually upped the amount & several week later he is on his full amount & fed twice daily. Had no problems at all after day 1 of feeding the "digestion". Not saying it will work for you,but it did for me.

 

Yeah, we're going to the vet but not till next Monday. My main concern is that he is hydrated, energetic and still has a bright coat. Just wanted to hear from other folks who've dealt with the same issue. And what worked and didn't work. Been reading about it and can last a long time and be hard to cure. Sometimes it never goes away.

 

I've only had it happen to us two times. Once after we went hiking and she had some of the fresh stream water and the second time when I switched her food. Both times she had runs for 2 weeks straight like a faucet. As long as you don't see any change in behavior and they have plenty of water it should pass but the vet might want to send some of that to the lab for testing so just be sure to bring some when you go.

 

IBS is the most fXXed disease ever. Seen symptoms in a dog once and you are right, it never goes away. Any dog that has will not get rid of it and more than likely it is genetic but many are on the fence of this issue for humans let alone dogs. My wife has had this and it is more than chore to live life with it. I think a complete raw diet would be close as to a cure as you can get for it. The reason I say this is due to the fact that IBS stops your intake of nutrients causing a lack of them and dehydration is a problem at all. Get your use out of the animal and I wouldn't breed them unless they are to special to the program.

 

I've used slippery elm bark powder with great success for many digestive issues. Even with the kids! lol I always have some socked away just in case.

 

Thanks for the info guys. Yeah, I was worried this would be a lifelong issue because the bulldog I had before this one had immune defiency that I worked on for about a year. His mange was finally controlled at a year old but his allergies were pretty extreme. Finally put him down. Even though his lineage was rare no one wanted him.
Then I researched IBS for my ten month old bulldog to replace the last one and I was like damn. Just my luck. I did the worming with febendazole a month ago prior to writing this and he still had soft stools.
I tell you what though. Added the pumpkin, slippery elm, and licorice and next outing a bunch of tapeworm in his stool. Guess it irritated them. I treated him with Equimax. When I finally did bring him to the vet his fecal float was free of any worms. They did say he had a overbuild of bad bacteria. He was prescribed an antibiotic called Metronidazole and Carafate. And they gave him one week of Prescription Science Diet in a can. I didn't like that idea but I followed the doctors orders.
Anyways he's doing great now. Back to his five star dog feed and solid stools. I'd love to have him on a raw diet but honestly I don't have the time. Work 12.5 hr shifts.