Stress-Induced Diarrhea

Both people and animals can get diarrhea from stress. A new puppy introduced  to your family has went through a lot of changes in a short period of time. She's been taken from her mother and siblings. He has been physically relocated from the only environment he's known to a new, unfamiliar one. There was probably some travel involved, if only a short drive in the car. The sights, sounds, smells have changed in his world. He's no longer one of several, but the only puppy in the household. If your family is like most, your new little boy is overwhelmed with attention – he's being handled, talked to and played with more than ever before. Any change can be stressful, even a change for the better. When you think about your puppy and the major adjustments he must make during his first few months of life, it's really not surprising if his GI tract reacts to the stress. Keeping plain yogurt on hand in case this happens to your baby is a great trick to introduce good bacteria into their GI tract. 

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What is Giardia?

Giardia is an intestinal infection of man and animals caused by protozoan parasite. " It is Not a "Worm", bacteria or Virus. Giardia is a simple one celled parasitic species. The parasite occurs worldwide and is common cause of " Traveler's Diarrhea" in people.

 

What is Coccidia?

All dogs carry coccidia. But something has got to weaken the immune system of an animal for the protozoa to have an opportunity to take hold and start multiplying. That "something " is usually stress of one kind or another. A loose, stinky stool that can even have streaks of bloody mucus in it usually accompanies coccidia. Some Vets will explain coccidia to their clients by saying the animal is loaded with parasites. This is sometimes interpreted by that client that the animal has worms. Coccidia is not exactly a parasite but can be just as hard to get rid of. A daily supply of yogurt prevents coccidia from getting a foothold as it keeps a good balance of bacteria in the G. I. tract. So long as good bacteria exist in an ample supply in the gut, coccidia can not grow. Coccidia is shed in the stool like a virus. If the animal is not shedding it when a stool sample is taken, the animal can be misdiagnosed as being free of the protozoa. If your puppy is put on antibiotics of any sort, feed yogurt to replenish the good bacteria that is killed off by the antibiotic. It will in no way affect the antibiotic from completing its job but may save your animal from secondary infections caused by an imbalance of good bacteria. When coccidia does exist in the G. I. tract of your puppy, it can easily spread up through the system and into the lungs and if unchecked. The first signs of coccidia is usually a lack of eating properly accompanied by a loose stinky stool and sometimes espneumoniacalating into bouts of hypoglycemia. Coccidia can be transmitted to humans if hands are not washed and contaminated utensils are handled improperly. Coccidia should never be allowed to progress to a point that the puppy's life is threatened. If your puppy shows signs of this disease, immediately seek professional advice and treatment, usually Albon is given.

 

How Parvo infection Happens, Why Breeders take Precaution

There is Virus everywhere, on carpet, on every floor, in every yard and park. Virus is shed in the stool for the first two weeks or less after the initial infection but only a tiny portion of infection stool which could be months old depending on the environmental temperature and humidity is needed to infect a non-immune dog. Some dogs become what is called sub clinically infected sick. These animals tend not be confined since no one knows they are infected , thus they can spread virus around a large area depending on where they leave their dropping. When puppies are born, they are completely unable to make antibodies against any infectious invader. They would be totally unprotected except that nature has a created a system to protect them. Their mother secretes a specific type of Milk called Colostrum for the first day or two after giving birth. It contains all the antibodies that the mother dog has circulating in her own body and in this way, she gives her own immune experience to her off-spring These antibodies are protective until they wear off sometime in the first months of the puppy's life.