I just posted about my new rattie puppy, Abby. She is about 4 months old and weighs around 5 lbs. She's been through a lot healthwise already, having surgery for 2 broken legs when she was around 2 months old. I got her from a shelter in LA the end of April. Unfortunately, she had both hooks and coccidia when she got her. She did her first round of panacur for the hooks, just finished 10 days on albon for the coccidia and will be doing her second round of panacur starting next Saturday.

She's been having problems all along with loose stools (which is why I took a fecal in the first place) I started feeding her Eukanuba low residue from the vet while she is undergoing all the meds, along with probiotics. Her stool is definitely firmer now, but she is still going so many times a day, and its still not totally firm.  I'm feeding her 3x a day, a little more than 1/4c each time. (according to the bag she would be getting 1 to 1/2 cups a day, but her weight looks good. We don't want her to be too heavy because of her legs) Normally, the low res is used for stool issues. and you'd expect the stool to be firm and less volume per day.  The past couple of days she's been going 5-6 times a day. Should I just expect that she's going to have issues until she finishes all the meds and the parasites are all cleared up?

She's not going to be staying on this food, but I'm wondering if I should switch now since it doesn't seem to be making things a whole lot better. Or do you think it would be the same no matter what food she's on? My labs are eating NB sweet potato and fish for one meal and homecooked mixed with Honest Kitchen for the second meal. (started that a few weeks ago after all the recalls started) I'm a little hesitant to do homecooked for Abby because I'm worried about getting all the ratios of calcium/phosphorus etc right for her as a puppy. With large breeds like labs, that's an issue, I have no idea how it works with little dogs!

Should Abby be on a puppy food for a certain length of time, and then switch to adult at a certain age? (depending who you talk to, labs should be on puppy food for 5-12 months; Casey is just switching now at 11 months. ) Or is an all-life stages ok for ratties as puppies?

Does it seem like I am feeding her too little?

Bless you for rescuing Abby.  Excess pooping can mean you're feeding too much. Puppies should poop once for every meal and maybe one more time for the fun of it.  I would cut back to around a half cup and see if that helps. I think that the calcium/phosphorus ratio is a large breed concern, like you say, that doesn't apply to the little ones.  I'm feeding a grain free food because my boy Lucky, at 28 lbs, was too heavy. He strained a ligament and had a luxating patella that bothered him often. After switching to Innova EVO reduced fat, he's down to 22 pounds (as of a month ago) and hasn't had any patella issues in probably 2-3 months.  I think the difference is that this food is very low in carbs. It might be wise to get her on a glucosemine supplement. I started my one year old on Glyco-Flex I.  Lucky gets Glyco-Flex II since he's already had an injury. They both also get Seapet fish oil with vitamin E and probiotics.

If you want to home cook, you could get a consultation with an expert at this site.  http://www.betterdogcare.com/index.html