u/Apart-Drive-7549

My standard poodle (1yr, 10mo) is a very healthy girl. I make her food with chicken, beef/gizzards, lentils, sweet potato, and supplement with a raw egg, pumpkin and a multivitamin. Occasionally I'll give her Zuke's treats to train, or an apple core as a snack (no seeds). She normally has a healthy poop schedule; once in the morning and once in the evening. Shes a good girl that sleeps great through the night and just politely squeaks each morning when she's ready to be out of her crate to go potty. She's a dream for the most part.
I am staying with my sister in her finished basement temporarily while my house is being worked on. We've been here two months so far (the house situation is a different issue), but she has a fenced in yard to play fetch, children to play with, and plenty of love. Since we've been here, she has maintained her poop schedule. We had one incident where I gave her coconut oil and she immediately shat it out. I promptly quit giving it to her and she recovered in a day or two.

One Friday morning (8 days ago), I had to wake up at 5:30am for a 3 day event. I planned on leaving her with my sister each day. I passed by her crate and she squeaked. This is a little unusual as I often get up to pee around this time and she ignores me. No big deal, I planned on taking her out anyway before I left. She rushed to the back door and as soon as she hits grass she releases a very large and very loose poopy. I thought huh, that's unusual, and put her back to bed. The end of Friday, her aunt gave a good report. "She did good, pooped a couple times, it was soft. Otherwise, her energy and appetite is great."

Friday night into Saturday morning, she woke me up 3 times in the night to poop. Not a lot but still pretty soft. This has happened in the past when I switched her food too abruptly. The food I had been giving her was all the stuff she normally eats. I considered all of it and concluded it may have been the beans I gave her because I didn't soak them before I boiled them. I took those out and keep giving her everything else.

Saturday and Sunday night, she had me up a minimum of 4 times. The 5th was at 6 am on Monday morning. I ignored her. It was the only time I had and I regretted it. She pooped in her crate. I scooped her up for a shower, dried her and took the bedding out to wash it. As I'm replacing her bedding, I turn to find her pooping on the step. You've gotta be kidding me... I started feeding her beef and rice and absolutely nothing else.

Monday night into Tuesday, I thought I was going to lose my mind. 6 times! It was getting worse and all her food was going straight through her. By 2pm, she has the tiniest loose poop with a little bit of blood at the end. I panicked and called the Vet. She said "If shes not lethargic, eating and drinking water, and keeping her food down, this can be normal. We see it in Kennels. We call it 'stress poop'. If her colon is inflamed, it can be a little bloody. Switch to chicken and rice and keep an eye on her." And she was otherwise great! Still bringing me toys to play with her, played fetch, drank water, ate like a rabbit animal as usual.

Tuesday night was torture. She has be up every 45 mins. 8 times that night!! I couldn't ignore her and keeping her outside a little longer each time didn't work either. I called the vet that Wednesday morning close to tears. "Bring us in a stool sample and we'll schedule a 'just in case' appointment if it doesn't come back clear."
I packed her up and drove back to my home town, 1hr and 30mins away with my little baggy of diarrhea. The sample came back negative for bacteria or parasites and she was prescribed Metronidazole (2x daily) and a Probiotic (1x daily). The Vet said "I get 2-3 patients like this a day. It's very normal." with a chuckle. "Has she eaten anything that you've noticed?"
"I found her chewing a couple small butterfly clips but I found the pieces in her poop so I think she passed it all. My sister has little mushrooms in her yard but she doesn't usually pay them any attention. I guess she could have eaten a small one and I didn't notice," I said.
"Well the clip wouldn't do it but the mushrooms might. Whatever she ate is probably long gone. He colon is just inflamed, thus the diarrhea," was his response.

I gave her one of each pill that evening with a couple eggs and like some miracle, she slept through the night. I had to nudge her at 4am to make sure she was alive because she was sleeping so deep. She had as much to catch up on as I did!

We're now 3 days into the medication. She has only pooped once on Thursday morning (tiny and soft) and nothing since then. I've slowly started incorporating her usual things into the chicken and rice. She's still happy as could be and I'm assuming it will take a couple days to build up the bulk she lost. I haven't given her the Metronidazone this morning but will start giving it to her just at night. I don't want to make her constipated and start a whole other issue. I wish this story has some sort of discovery like "She's allergic to poultry!" or "I found my thong in her poop!" but I honestly still have no idea. I will update y'all once she poops.

Update: SHE POOPED! And it's solid and huge and beautiful. I'll continue this round of meds and apply all the advice I've been given so far. thanks everyone!

How did I do?
Okay, before you comment on the Clydesdale hooves in the back, last time I trimmed her I kept the fluffs in the back too low. I trimmed them below her... heal? Anyway, when I used the clippers this time, I stopped higher up and faded it down. My intention is to eventually bring the puffs up higher. Thus the bell bottoms.
Other than that... and her back tendon going through the guard and shaving down to the skin (I tell myself every time to move the skin over so this doesn't happen and it still did to both ankles...), I think I'm improving!
My silkie chicken (1yr, 10mo) is getting better every time I groom her. I notice the more I stay calm and offer lots of treats, the better she does. She is still so flinchy around the nose though. I Have been brushing her regularly and only have found a couple small mats around her ears and back paws. Im open to all (kind) feedback and suggestions!
(I gave her a ponytail after this. Don't worry, chicken can see!)

How did I do?
Okay, before you comment on the Clydesdale hooves in the back, last time I trimmed her I kept the fluffs in the back too low. I trimmed them below her... heel? Anyway, when I used the clippers this time, I stopped higher up and faded it down. My intention is to eventually bring the puffs up higher. Thus the bell bottoms.
Other than that... and her back tendon going through the guard and shaving down to the skin (I tell myself every time to move the skin over so this doesn't happen and it still did to both ankles...), I think I'm improving!
My silkie chicken (1yr, 10mo) is getting better every time I groom her. I notice the more I stay calm and offer lots of treats, the better she does. She is still so flinchy around the nose though. I Have been brushing her regularly and only have found a couple small mats around her ears and back paws. Im open to all (kind) feedback and suggestions!
(I gave her a ponytail after this. Don't worry, chicken can see!)