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Expert: - 3/26/2010


Question
i'm from Pakistan. i have an seven week alsaction puppy he became sick and also have diarrhea past 6 days i give him "calpol suspension" for sickness and "flagyl suspension" for diarrhea and all of this medicine was given by the animal specialist but there is no change in his condition and i am also not satisfied with the doctor.please help my puppy because he is not drinking the milk and losing his weight.please reply fast

Answer
The first thing you need to do is take this dog off of all milk and milk products unless it is a puppy milk replacer. Those are not made with milk. Dogs cannot drink milk, they have no ability to digest it once they are weaned from their mothers and it causes major diarrhea.

Flagyl is an antibiotic. It is given for bacterial diarrhea but you don't know if the puppy has this.

This puppy should have had a fecal test done on it to see what kind of parasites it is suffering from. It could have a lot of roundworms, hookworms, or even coccidia, which is a protozoan and causes massive diarrhea and weight loss.

He could also have Giardia, which is another protozoan that causes major diarrhea and weight loss in humans and dogs.

Get this puppy back to the vet and have his stool tested with fresh stool for these parasites.

He could also have parvo virus since he is young and they get it right after they are weaned. This is a virus and it is deadly most of the time. Again, he should be tested for that and treated with IV fluids and supportive antibiotics.

Find another vet if this one isn't helpful.

These are the things I would ask the vet about. I hope he does better and gets well soon.  

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Jana Connell RVT, CVT

Expertise

PLEASE READ BEFORE SUBMITTING TO ME: I am NOT a vet and do NOT diagnose diseases. That is only for a licensed Veterinarian to do. I will give you suggestions and steer you toward calling your vet for help. You can call the vet's office and talk to the technician there or the vet at times. Don't be afraid to call them! If you have a serious issue with your pet please post it to one of the veterinarians in here- I will tell you the same thing in my answer. IF your pet is injured or in an emergency situation, CALL YOUR VET- Do not wait and post in here. Just call the vet's office and get them in to see the vet right away. Critical treatment time is lost if you seek answers here when you should have your precious pet at the vets!! Don't sit at home waiting for an answer when your pet is critically ill or injured!! I can answer most questions about small animal and wildlife care as well as small animal nutrition. I can also answer questions about all phases of dental care for small animals. I DO NOT answer questions about birds (unless it is wildlife or songbirds) or HAMSTERS/GERBILS/CHINS/GUINEA PIGS/REPTILES/FROGS/RABBITS/PET BIRDS OF ANY KIND so please submit these questions to the appropriate sections. I, as well as other experts in here, do NOT do homework questions- that is for YOU to do! Please respect these rules for all of us. Thanks!

Experience

I have over 35 years experience in the field of veterinary medicine. I specialized in small animals and did wildlife rehab for over 25 years, mostly raptors, squirrels and opossums. I am a Small Animal Nutritional Consultant with 6 certificates from Hills Pet Foods, CNM and Purina. I also specialized in Small Animal Dentistry which is a field I truly love.

Organizations
Audubon,World Wildlife Federation, American Society of Veterinary Dental Technicians.

Education/Credentials
Licensed with California and Oregon, RVT and CVT. Certified Veterinary Dental Technician Have over 500 logged hours of Continuing Education Credits(that means I keep up to date!).

Awards and Honors
Nominated for Expert of the Month for the last 5 years.

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