Soft (Wet) Food = Soft Stool?

[jshell]

Betty Joan is currently on three foods at breakfast and dinner - a prescription kibble (science diet G/D), a low-quality-but-damn-she-loves-it kibble (Purina Beneful), and something canned. I've been experimenting with the canned food, trying to find something of good quality and simple that I can preferably get at the local pet boutique (walking distance, and between work and home). I also have a Target nearby with the usual selection of supermarket kibble. I don't drive, so I'm trying to stick to those locations.

 

Anyways, a food that I like is California Natural's chicken and rice dinner. It's a single-source kind of food, which my vet prefers after some major digestive problems earlier this year. Since I tried it, however, Betty Joan's stool has been a bit soft. There might be one large solid turd and a couple of other fairly solid ones, and then the rest is kindof loose and light brown, similar to what you see when on longer walks and the dog poops two or thee times, with each one being less and less well formed.

 

Is this a problem with the soft food in general? Or might it be a transition thing? We've been trying this for about a week. Maybe two... (I also tried some Pedigree+ 'digestion' food, which isn't of great quality, but it did seem to produce better stools). Or might it be a problem with the food and/or its ingredients? I seem to remember similar effects when I had tried transitioning Betty to a full California Natural Lamb and Rice kibble a couple of months ago, but there were some other issues with her at the time (and she's not a fan of that kibble anyways).

 

I'm wondering if I should keep trying some different foods (she only gets about half a can per feeding). Last night she got half a can of Wellness 'Turkey and Duck Stew' (Turkey and/or Duck being parts of some of the prescription food and pill pockets she's on), and again had soft stool this morning. None of it is diarrhea style, just soft (and hard to pick/clean up nicely).

 

Or should I stick with this and try adding pumpkin? We see our vet again in a week to check Betty's blood pressure so I can ask him more specifics about her diet then.

 

In terms of health, Betty's at a good weight (at the top range of where she should be, actually) and seems more vocal than ever and pretty playful. She eats all or most of her food in this combination. She tends to do a good job sorting out and leaving some the G/D prescription kibble, but seems to eventually eat it all up; and at dinner, I put Forti Flora pro-biotics on that remaining kibble and then she eats it all.

 

Thanks in advance.

[TheFullHouse]

I had a couple that had soft stools no matter what I fed them until I started them on a probiotic. That firmed things up quite nicely.

 

It could be that all the transitions in food are causing the soft stools. I might choose one, use it for a month and see if things don't improve with time. To many switches in a short amount of time will cause soft stools.

[Guest BlackandBrindle]

Canned food has a higher fat content than dry kibble and can contribute to soft stool.

 

If she's on a prescription kibble because of stomach issues I'd be really hesitant to feed her Beneful.

 

As far as canned food goes, I've really liked Wellness, Newman's Own, and even Kirkland brand has been fine for my guys.

 

I've found the only way to get firm stool is to find the food that works for Spud and stick with it, with only slight variations/extras added in. If he gets too much wet food or treats his stomach gets upset. The problem with having so many foods is that you don't know what the cause of the soft stool is.

 

I'd start her with just the prescription kibble, add pumpkin if she won't eat it on her own, and get the stool issue sorted before changing anything else. If the food isn't working for her you want to know that sooner rather than later and the only way to do that is to isolate the problem.

[Guest sirsmom]

The only canned food I've found not to cause loose poop is Kirkland at Costco.

[GeorgeofNE]

I don't use canned food.

 

Anything new you give a dog has the potential to cause temporary (or constant!) soft stool. Your best bet is to find something that works well and stick with it.

[Guest snakes]

For awhile mine weren't eating, so i had to add canned food. Every single time it makes the stools soft. I actually found that Whole Foods brand worked best, Iams is/was our second choice.

For awhile I was getting a really good deal on Mother Hubbard (the vegetarian blend) and that really worked very well but it was just so expensive at 'real' prices i couldn't get it regularly

[Guest Vers]

One of my hounds is fed canned food with add-ins, and her stools are good to excellent. The two brands she gets are Merrick and Kirkland, rotating through several flavors. Also, canned tripe (Trippett brand) seems to have a firming effect.

 

I hope you find what works best.

[Guest borzoix4]

The quality of ingredients is what has my eyebrows raised. Do you have a Cosco membership?

When one gets loose stools, is usually due to one of 3 reasons:

* over feeding

* too much water verses disgestable proteins

* incompatability of the main protein food source.

 

The foods you mentioned as feeding have a lot of bulk in them meaning undigestable proteins and gut filling grains with low digestability.

 

I asked about Cosco as the Kirkland diet is the same rating as Blue at 4 stars, highly digestable, etc. And of course- a great price as well.

[jshell]

Betty Joan seems to be doing fine on the Wellness Foods' Turkey and Duck and Sweet Potato (or something like that) Stew. It's just that California Natural. Which is very weird, as the ingredients on the California Natural are pretty good, and not too dissimilar to some lower quality wet foods that I've tried where Betty's done well.

[Burpdog]

Isaac got major trots from CA Natural