Rescued Chow Has Health Problems

[sneakyvader]

Hey everyone!
I rescued a chow from a shelter recently. He is a senior, 8 years old, and has a few health issues. The shelter had him shaved, and he has some fur loss on parts of his body. There are no abrasions, sores, or hot spots on his skin or paws, it was just hair loss. He has stool problems, sometimes his stools are liquid, and sometimes they have some form and turn into liquid. He licks his paws and chews on his legs. His eyes were also very red and puffy.

When we took him to a vet, she said that all of these issues were related to the stress of being in the shelter and because the shelter fed him a different brand of food every day. She ran fecal tests, and those all came back negative. He doesn't have fleas, mange, or worms. She prescribed Omega 3, a medicated shampoo for fur loss, and 250mg of metronidazole twice daily, with food. She said that Nature's Recipe: Easy Digestion was a good pick for him since Chows are known to have sensitive stomachs. However, while his coat is returning and is nice and soft, he is still chewing and licking himself, and is still having stool problems. His eyes now look nice and bright, too. I tried withholding food until his tummy was clear, and then easing him back onto the kibble, but it didn't seem to help.

He drinks plenty of water and is eager to go on walks and sit outside with me. He isn't lethargic, and will even do tricks for me that his previous owners had taught him. Because of all these things, I do not think he is ill. He is also UTD on shots and he is neutered. He is the only dog I currently have.

I will be returning to the vet soon, but I was curious if anyone on here would have any recommendations for how to help him, or if anyone had a similar issue that they solved. Unfortunately, I don't have much medical history for him because I rescued him. He was a family pet, and knows a good amount of tricks.

I wasn't sure how long it could take him to adjust to a good food schedule, and be free of the stress that the shelter caused him. I just do not want him to be in pain or be uncomfortable. Should I add some kind of stool hardener to his diet for the time being? I tried low amounts of cottage cheese, but it didn't seem to have much effect. He didn't seem to really enjoy eating it anyway lol.


Thank you for reading through all of this!

BTW this is what the hair loss looked like! https://38.media.tumblr.com/755511f45c2 ... o1_500.jpg It's not red or irritated or anything like that. This was when we first met him at the shelter.

[Rory's Dad]

Without watching his behavior full time, its clearly a guess, but i agree that it doesnt appear to be hot spots or skin irritation. Most likely he is chewing his own fur out. That can be stress or boredom.

Keep going with the tricks he already knows. Reward him when he does them.

Stick with the new diet. It does take Chows a bit to adjust to a new food, they do have sensitive tummies. As long as its a good quality he should adapt to it as long as their are now allergies involved.

[Cindy J]

When our dogs have loose stools we often add a tablespoon or two of canned pumpkin (it is good for both diarrhea and constipation) I also boil chicken and rice together. Let it cool, remove any bones and mix in a scoop with their dog food.

[Laura]

Shug can't tolerate high protein quality dog foods and will have diarrhea so that is a thought. Changing his food also leads to diarrhea unless I do it very gradually. Allergies come to mind with the skin issues. Perhaps trying limited ingredient dog food for dogs with food allergies. I know there are threads on here about food allergies so maybe use the search engine and type in different keywords like food allergies, skin issues/allergies, diarrhea, etc. to get more info.
Yard chemicals, cleaners? My aunt has a dog allergic to fleas. I've heard of dogs allergic to grass. Shug is allergic to certain shampoos/conditioners that my groomer tried on him. Made him itch like crazy. Could be lots of different things with the skin.