Chronic diarrhea/ stress colitis

hello all. My male Husky is 2 years old. Recently he was “ diagnosed “ with the assumption of “ chronic “ stress colitis after an awful 2 weeks spurt of liquid stool. I tried everything- fasting, bland diet, probiotics, etc etc but it got bad so I took him in thinking it was a blockage. Nope- bacteria overload. He will get sick over little stressors ( or none at all. ) He has been anxious again these past 2 days, only a few weeks after the last ordeal. Yesterday he defecated in his kennel and urinated. Today he went out and peed a TON ( like for a minute straight then turned around to go pee some more. ) Then he came in aaand after I finished my second shift I came home to feces in his kennel again. Solid stool! He has had loads of mental stimulation outlets today ( nee wobbler toy. ) Tonight he randomly started pacing and barking and I sit up to see him squatting and liquid stool just runs out… allll over, turning into little drops as he walked. Then he got done and kept squatting and trying but only clear liquid came out. 2 days ago I did start giving him calming supplements, but they don’t have chicken in them so I am not sure if those are causing it. He defecated in his kennel earlier and right after I gave him a tablet, in which tonight he had diarrhea. Could his stomach just be SUPER sensitive ( possible SIBO ) and he may just have to live without trying many new treats/ chews and sticking to cooling proteins? He is on beef currently as chicken is a no. I am going to be switching from beef to lamb however in a month. My questions; • Could the diagnosis have been wrong, is bacteria overgrowth ( I think she said clostridium ) hard to assess? He had antibiotics. • If this is something like SIBO, what is the best approach to ensure his stomach stays calm? We have a human baby coming in like 2 weeks ( foster kiddo :) ) so I am terrified!!! I know that is going to be FAR more severe stress than what usually causes his illness.

Hello!  You put diagnosed in inverted commas;  I wonder why?  It may be worth asking your vet to be clear whether a diagnosis had been reached (this would take time and tests to rule other things out) or whether they meant 'it might be something simple' and gave you symptomatic treatment to be getting on with?   Either way, the diarrhoea has continued and appears to  have liquified, so another visit to the vets is definitely due.   Vet treatment for diarrhoea has two facets: one is indeed to reach a diagnosis ('what is causing this symptom?') but this can take time and multiple tests and is rarely achieved on a first consultation, let alone over the internet without having seen the patient.  Meanwhile - and arguably more importantly - the vet will want to treat the symptoms, because ongoing fluid loss can be dangerous, whatever the cause. It sounds as though the symptoms have intensified and is definitely worth going back. Lots of luck.

(You can always call your vet or an emergency vet to establish whether a pet needs to be 'soom' or 'right away;' the latter can become the case if chronic diarrhoea becomes severe enough).

Hey Liz! I put them in quotations because unfortunately our vet clinic has not had great communication. I know for a fact if I called the vet right now ( which I can’t reach ) she would have no clue he was ever sick. I am planning on switching clinics. Our current one is the best in our state but unfortunately Covid took a toll and they are constantly hiring new techs. These techs unfortunately haven’t been able to receive extensive training and lack note taking skills/ communication. I always hear different things and a few instances now have been dangerous for the dogs. Break’s my heart because we considered them family but I understand and must do right by the dogs. For instance; my male Husky got E. coli, which is when I posted this. The tech at that time said all dogs have it in their system and that he has chronic stress colitis since with any changes it flare’s up/ he get’s sick, the runs, and bacteria overgrowth of clostridium. She said it was normal but gave antibiotics to lower the clostridium. My elderly male has random spurts where he will go straight pools of blood… I think maybe IBD or Colon Cancer after speaking to the head vet ( after like a year of her not being able to see us herself. ) They had us do a stool culture just for precaution and legal reasons. So I did. Came back he has E. Coli. Same thing my male did. Except now this new vet tech yet again told us the results. Except this go around she said it isn’t caused by stress colitis/ is environmental and said it is super dangerous and that with people they usually gown and mask up. Now I am all terrified because we have two littles, 5 dogs, I work in a canine facility, and we just had a newborn baby less than a week ago. But I know the first tech sounded more accurate. I just used the quotes because I don’t really take anything the techs say as a solid diagnosis. Would you happen to know what causes reoccurring E. coli? While I advocate for raw diets done right by nutritionists, I don’t feed raw myself due to budget/ time/ knowledge. So that isn’t it.  He doesn’t get into anything due to age and doesn’t interact with the other dogs. The best guess I have is going off what the first tech said above, maybe they develop the clostridium overgrowth when their systems are worked up. I don’t think this is what is causing the ongoing blood spurts for years now, but just that it is in his system due to his digestive tract already working overload. He is on antibiotics and will be getting further testing.