Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 12/8/2009

Question
QUESTION: I am currently fostering 5 puppies from the local shelter. They are at most 7 weeks old. they have been wormed about 6 days ago and will be wormed again in a about a week but today i noticed that one of them had pooped and all it was , was a clear mucus i gave them all some plain yogurt but i want to make sure that its not something else besides the fact they have had a lot of stress between going to the shelter then coming here and changing food (still mixing with a milk replacer. ) also out of the 5 3 of them sound snotty and have runny noses and every once in awhile sneeze should i be concerned about either one

ANSWER: Changing food will cause the mucousy stool and diarrhea, but so will worming. You might want to get some probiotics from your vet to give them all. That will help even more than the yogurt.

Runny noses are a concern because of distemper. You didn't mention vaccinations so I have no way of knowing what they might have in that respect. Dogs do get cold like symptoms but if they run a fever, have any kind of a discharge from the eyes and/or nose, they need to be quarantined right away and have a vet look them over. Distemper is still out there as is parvo. These are not the symptoms of parvo but distemper starts with runny eyes and noses- so watch them closely.



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QUESTION: Parvo is defiantly a concern but im pretty sure its not distemper i had a pittbull 2 years ago that went through that and we unfortunately lost him. It was the most terrible thing to watch happen and  unfortunately we were not aware it was distemper pr the signs but i will never forget now. the people we got him from lied to use about shots and didn't happen to mention they were feeding him milk at 2 days old cause he was the runt and his litter mates wouldn't let him nurse. As for these puppies,since im fostering them from the local shelter(it could have been detrimental to them both physically and mentally if left there)they were given DA2PP & Bordatella and were wormed with Strongid on 12/1/2009. but for 2 days before i got them they were in a kennel with a indoor/outdoor run the door was left open so there for it was cold and the blanket they were sleeping on was soaked and so were they. so could distemper still be a factor? Also thank you for your quick response. I would hate to think that I saved them from starting their life's in a shelter just to wait to long to help them in my home

Answer
Sounds like they just have a mild cold. Keep them warm and dry and get that probiotic for them. Dogs and cats are lactose intolerant and you don't want diarrhea on top of all of this.

And stop the milk replacer also. They don't need that at 7 weeks old. A good quality food like Science Diet Puppy Growth is all they need to help them catch up, get stronger and healthy. Anything else will take twice as long to see results with.
Trust me on that!!