jshell

Betty Joan had some digestive issues last year and they seem to have generally settled out. The vet advised trying to stay simple or single source protein where possible, and Betty seems to do well with birds. She does well on chicken and turkey based foods, specifically, and seemed to do really bad on lamb, and I'm no longer sure on fish, so I'm avoiding it. Beef is mixed. Anyways, I was looking at some Acana dog food but almost all of it is multi-animal based. But they do have 'Acana Singles' and I was given a sample bag of their Duck based kibble which looks pretty good from its ingredient list. The guy at the local dog food place who gave me the bag thought it might be too rich, but gave me the bag anyways. Is Duck similar enough to Chicken and Turkey? "Close enough for government work" as they say? Betty gets a small mix of foods that are primarily chicken based (Pedigree Healthy Digestion canned, and Prescription Diet G/D kibble for dinner) and for breakfast she gets Purina Beneful instead of the Prescription Diet (she won't eat the PD in the morning; i counteract this with giving her pro-biotics at breakfast). I'm looking for something to replace the Beneful which is a complex beef based low-grade food that Betty loves and I don't trust (but she gets small enough amounts now that I don't mind too much, but still would like to replace). Betty gets treats and occasional special-occasion food that is Turkey based and has had no problems, and I just want to see if I can also put 'Duck' in the good protein source category. Should be good, right?

Betty has gotten more vocal as she's gotten older, but most of her barking has been for play. She just seems to have figured out that "barking with helicopter tail about an hour after dinner may result in a second and possibly third dessert!"

Betty Joan is a social grass eater like I used to be (generally) a social smoker. One of the neighbor's dogs was always eating grass but only in front of our building, and Betty somehow picked up that that's what she's supposed to do. She only does it when we're hanging out or talking with neighbors, and only on our property! I try to get her to stop, but she keeps doing it. If we stop on our walk anywhere else to talk with people, there's no grass eating. If I'm outside on our property with just Betty, there's no grass eating. So for her, it's hard to determine if the grass eating is symptomatic of any larger issue. She has had digestive problems in the past, but her grass-eating does not seem related since it only shows up in certain circumstances. Maybe some of them just think they're graze-hounds.

Unfortunately I have no corn. But (if I remember), I'll try to get some at the Farmer's Market tomorrow.

Some of the phrases that Betty knows that I think are funny are: "Do you know what time it is?" (ie "is it time for dinner?") "Have you been a good girl? Do you know what good girls get?" (yummies!) "They're not here to see you" (something my parents would say to our old Schnauzer) and my new favorite: "Are you hungry?" Everything except "They're not here to see you" is typically greeted with the bow/stretch of agreement, also known as a "heck yeah!"

Betty Joan gets fed twice a day and poops twice a day (well, sometimes a few more smaller poops on longer walks, but still: two big walks a day). Meals are about 12 hours apart, and the walks are within an hour of the meal (morning walk is after breakfast, evening walk is usually before dinner). I've always wondered: which meal am I seeing in the stool? Is it the one from 12 hours ago, or 24? I've found some writing on line about the digestive system of dogs, but no answer on how long digestion takes (which I imagine varies for different sizes and breeds).

If you're really concerned, ask your vet if he has any concerns about the ingredients. Betty developed intestinal issues and I went through a few things before landing on Pedigree+ "Healthy Digestion". The ratings sites like Dog Food Advisor can help you understand the ingredients and their significance in their place in the ingredient list - if they happen to have a review for the food you're checking (the 'pedigree+' that DogFoodAdvisor reviews is a much more complex product than the 'healthy digestion' variety) - but it does come down to the dog. When we were making the switch and I noticed Betty was doing better on that than things like California Natural that seemed to have similar ingredients, I showed a can to my vet and asked if it seemed like a good food for Betty's condition. He looked and said "I see nothing wrong with that." Recently, I was concerned about not being able to find 'Healthy Digestion' and started looking for alternatives in case it was being discontinued. As I started to look at a lot of the 'fancier' products, I noticed that they all seemed to be using the same basic formula, whether it was Blue Buffalo or California Natural or some of the others. And knowing that Betty didn't do well on the California Natural, I started to realize that she wouldn't do well on a lot of these brands. Which I'm starting to suspect may have the same parent company. In any case, it seems to be the same formula packaged in different labels. Meanwhile, I haven't found a formula like the Pedigree Healthy Digestion.

Another little bit of follow up. Betty had her second dose today and I was prepared for a repeat of last month's day of diarrhea but didn't get it. Poop was normal. Betty just seems a little more sleepy today than usual. Weird. I still miss interceptor.

Thanks. I've got enough for a month. And Sometimes Betty gets a stew (Wellness) in place of the Pedigree and she does all right. I guess the California Natural just never agreed with her at all, and I guess if I tried something new I'd know pretty quickly of Betty is taking to it or not.

I'm still concerned about the availability of "Pedigree Healthy Digestion" which is a food Betty Joan has done well on. She's a bit sensitive in her older age, and while the ingredients of "Healthy Digestion" are not great, they are pretty simple. Betty gets half a can per meal, and half a cup of dry kibble (mostly G/D prescription diet). She also gets a packet of Forti-Flora pro-biotics with her breakfast. We've tried California Natural Chicken and Brown Rice in the past, but her stools were rather soft and never seemed to firm up. When comparing this food and "Healthy Digestion", they don't seem too dissimilar except that the Pedigree has more by-products, some different gums, and fewer fruits/vegetables. I'm really disappointed that the California Natural didn't seem to work, and looking at foods of similar caliber (including Blue Buffalo Basics), they seem to all be very similar to each other, and I still don't know what causes Betty to be more sensitive. I want to start trying some other foods. I know how to do the transition with dry kibble. Are there any recommendations for transitioning or trying out new canned food? Is it OK to mix? and how long should it take? Or, since I'm already mixing in dry kibble, should I just switch out the canned completely and see how she does as long as I stay close to her known 'safe' foods (chicken, turkey)?

Betty had a bit of extra hyper-activity this evening, which is good to see. I get a little concerned whenever I see diarrhea after a prolonged bad experience a year ago. On our normally scheduled evening walk, it was loose, but not explosive. Hopefully she can get through the night. The thing I don't like is that if this is to be monthly, I have to schedule time to be available so she doesn't have an accident in the house. But at least it's a known occurrence and doesn't seem to be too severe, so it should be workable.

I'll give them a call tomorrow and check wal-mart later this week. Did not know about PetFoodDirect. That may be the service I really need so I don't have to carry these things home from the grocery any more and be subject to the whims of their stock list.

I know this reply is a couple of months late, but we just switched from Interceptor to Heartgard Plus this morning and Betty just had a round of Diarrhea. She's had digestive problems in the past (possibly IBD), so it sounds like the same issue. I try to keep her on chicken based food and treats. The Heartgard is the only thing I can think of that suddenly brought this on, and Betty's mood seems fine, so hopefully it's the same thing. But also a bummer since we had no problems with Interceptor, but apparently they are having production problems and we were given Heartgard instead.

Betty does well on the Pedigree Plus "Healthy Digestion" canned dog food, which is typically mixed with Science Diet G/D kibble and a little bit of Beneful kibble. But it's been disappearing from a couple of stores near my house, and I'm wondering if anyone has noticed similar things or had heard of any official discontinuation. A few weeks ago, the local Target (just a few blocks from my house) put it on 'Clearance', and this week it was totally gone as they had re-organized their dog food and got rid of a few brands and varieties. Another local grocery store also had their "Pedigree Plus" food on 'Clearance', although they didn't carry the "Healthy Digestion" variety. A friend of mine who works for the local grocery chain told me that clearance does not necessarily mean that it's going away, but with two stores running out, I'm getting worried. The local Wal-mart (about 6-7 blocks from my house) has carried it, but last time I was there I took the last 10 cans they had out, and I've had a hard time searching Wal-mart's web site. Signs are not looking good. While the Pedigree Plus canned food got a low rating on Dog Food Advisor, the 'Healthy Digestion' does not seem nearly as bad as the one they reviewed, as it has less amount of overall ingredients, and (as a side effect) less of the controversial ingredients. The important things have been that Betty has done well on it, and that it's been available close to home (I don't drive, so being able to easily carry 8 cans or so home once a week is important).

Looks like it's Urinary Tract Infection. But they couldn't find any bacteria, just lots and lots of white blood cells! (and some other UTI indicators) So we don't know which strain we're fighting. Came home with Clavamox and hoping it works.

The time-span between outs is getting bigger - 2-2.5 hours this last one. Some of the pees on our last walk were just drips, others were small streams. Also, Betty ate her breakfast (well, half of it: she ate the wet food, and did not touch the G/D kibble, which is not terribly abnormal of her to do). Improving situation? Would love to avoid the e-vet if I could and just call up our regular vet tomorrow.

Thanks. I gave the emergency vet a call (since they're the ones I know are open today) and when I told them about her kidneys and blood pressure meds, they recommended the same. Habit. We just went through her annual "spring runoff" where she has a week of soft stool/diarrhea every spring. I was almost expecting this tonight as she was a little more gassy earlier in the evening. Plus at one point I was eating a handful of trail mix that has chocolatey stuff in it and noticed Betty licking the roof of her mouth and worried I might have dropped a piece (even though I was pretty sure I didn't). So, yeah, I was kind of expecting stomach problems. That's a good reminder to take a deep breath. I've been trying to practice mindfulness and meditation but it's still very easy to let anxiety take control. During the night, I totally let Betty set the schedule. Another trick learned long ago during big poopy times and also when on prednisone's heavy-urination schedule. I would look at her on occasion to see if she was standing or laying down, and how she was laying down, but since I was trying to sleep and deal with my own upset stomach, I don't think I was hovering (at least, not too much).

At about 2:30 this morning, Betty Joan got up out of bed in the manner that indicated she needed to go out. I thought it was another digestive problem, so we went out and she crouched to pee a lot and went poo once, and the poo was fairly normal (just smaller than our usual, regularly scheduled morning poop). Still thinking it might be a poo problem, I gave her an Imodium wrapped in a pill pocket. She ate it, but ate it kind of dryly and continued to lick/smack her lips for a while. About an hour later she needed to go out again. So, grudgingly, I took her back out. She threw up, but only that foamy bile and possibly the pill. Didn't throw up her dinner or anything. No indication of poop, but a fair amount of crouching to pee. The funny thing was, she was pulling ahead like she normally does when she is preparing to drop a deuce. Another hour or so later, same thing (no throw-up). I try to take a flashlight along to see what she's peeing, but can't make it out. She is drinking a little bit of water between these outings. Hour or so later, again, same thing. Now the sun is freshly up so we have light, and I decide to try a longer walk. Betty sustains her pace pretty much the whole time, walking like she's got to drop a nice poop at the edge of the current patch of grass. I see that only little droplets are coming out of her. And at one point, I saw little red drops on the blades of grass she was just over. But I only see that once. Oh, and during this fresh morning walk, I'm also throwing up (I think just an upset stomach made worse by fresh anxieties), so that's adding to the fun. We see a stranger on this walk and Betty's tail is wagging as she meets him. Aside from the other behavior above, there doesn't seem to be any lethargy or other anxieties (although it is now normally past time for breakfast and she doesn't seem to notice). We get in from that walk and back into beds at about 7:05 and this time Betty seems to go a full hour and a half until she starts pacing again. She drinks more water a couple of times and spends much of the rest just laying down. We went out again at about 8:35, and I tried to pay attention to her first pee after going out, and that one seems to actually be a little (clear) stream. All of the other ones are primarily clear little drops. Haven't seen blood again, but its hard to tell. This came up very suddenly. I haven't been paying attention to her pees the past few days, but all of our walks have seemed normal and things seemed mostly normal last night. We went out for our usual pre-bedtime piss at around midnight, but I didn't pay attention to whether it sounded like her normal strong stream or not (I know that most nights it is, since I use the sound to tell if she's gone pee or gotten distracted by the smells of neighborhood cats and such, I just don't remember noticing last nights). Since it's Sunday, I'm wondering if I should try to get her to the e-vet or work with her until tomorrow and our normal vet is available. Betty is nearly 9 years old and we noticed some light damage to her kidneys last year when we started testing her blood pressure (which was obscenely high, but is now down to normal levels). Since I don't drive I have to pull a neighbor or someone into service to get her to the e-vet, so I want to be sure it's worthy of the emergency.. Thanks for putting up with my ramble.

She seems to be doing better. I gave Betty her normal canned food last night for dinner and this morning's poop was well defined: a little soft, but well formed. Her mood and attitude towards food is still a little odd and less excited than normal, but getting better.

Mixed results so far. A lot of wet poops, mixed with a couple of solid pieces, but that seems to be when eating the I/D which we switched to rapidly. I don't know how to slowly blend canned food and keep the portions right. On her normal food, poops are a little better defined, though still soft. And, especially when on her own food (which we've only tried for two breakfasts so far) it seems like it takes even longer to get her evening poop out; the opposite of normal diarrhea behavior. Maybe I should leave that evening poop to solidify overnight? We went on the equivalent of three evening walks to get tonight's out. We will see what tomorrow brings. Gave her normal food for dinner and we will see what it does tomorrow...

Bah. Back to chocolate mud and water this morning. I'm starting to blame the sudden switch to I/D diet. Her good poop last night came from a predominantly regular (pedigree healthy digestion) breakfast. Think I'll stick with that and the forta-flora probiotics that we've been taking daily already.

I gave her that kiss before we went on our evening walk, and behold! Shapes! Granted, they were rather soft shapes, but no liquid. And she just ate her full dinner with a bit more enthusiasm than I've seen in the past couple of days. We willl see what tomorrow brings, but a little less anxiety on my side tonight.

Betty Joan went through a horrible and rapid weight loss last year. Normally she would be between 53-58 pounds, but suddenly dropped to around 42! Then she looked very skinny, with hip-bones showing and all of that! She eventually got up to around 61 pounds, but it seemed to take a while. Not 6 months, but at least 2-3 months just to get out of those horrible 40s. Then it suddenly seemed to jump. I don't know if others experienced this, but in my experience it took a while for that weight to get back on and to show up. So even if you've found a good food and format, you might need a little patience. I went through a few food experiments during this time to find things that she could tolerate, but once I found it, I put the weight back on by increasing her intake. Normally she'd get about 3 cups of dry (or the equivalent) daily split between two meals. To get her weight back up I tried to increase that to 3.25-3.5 cups of dry (equiv), mixing wet and dry food. Once she got up to 61 pounds, I pulled back to around 2.5-2.75 cups and she's slowly come down to the high 50's and back to her normal range. If he's an active boy, he really might be burning off the calories as fast as he takes them on. It's taken me a while to find the right amount to tell the boarders to feed Betty when I travel, as she'd usually come back looking very thin after playing (and possibly having nighttime anxiety) for 4-5 days. The last time I traveled, I significantly increased her food level while she was boarding, and this was the first time I came back to a pup who was the same weight!

It's been just over a week since Betty Joan's poop started going runny, which seems to happen each year in the springtime. Last year it went really bad - explosive, pure liquid diarrhea; vomiting; massive weight loss in a short amount of time. Dealt with that for about three weeks, and right when that was looking better, she had some kind of neurological incident that appears to have been vestibular syndrome. Not a fun start to the summer. But through it all, we determined that she was severely lacking in a protein (albumin, I think), which appears to have been fixed by prednisone. And then we did blood pressure test and found that it was really high (off the charts initially), but we've got that down to a manageable level. So this round doesn't seem as bad - no vomiting, no explosive diarrhea, weight seems stable. But it doesn't seem to be getting better. The vet came and checked Betty over on Tuesday and says she appears to be fine. She's on metronidazole and imodium along with her blood pressure meds, and has been put on a mix of wet and dry I/D prescription diet (and Betty seems to HATE the dry I/D and is leaving some of the kibble behind, but eating the wet food just fine). Prior to that we've done no major diet changes in the past few months and have stuck with a pretty restricted/simple diet since last year's trauma, and a good portion of food and treats revolve around "healthy digestion" these days. We're currently in a very high pollen time and the vet said that it's possible for seasonal allergies to contribute to a flare-up of inflammation in her system. I don't know if Betty was diagnosed with full IBD or not, but during last year's big trauma she had an ultrasound done and there was inflammation in the system (I can't remember if it was intestinal or on other organs). I asked this on the nutrition/diet board and didn't get many responses, so I thought I'd try here: has anyone else encountered this kind of seasonal soft poop? One neighbor said her chihuahua goes through something similar each spring. The airborne allergy side is something I had not considered but seems to make sense. My two worries are that this is still going on (although last May's outbreak took 3.5 weeks to get under control, but that was much more severe), and that 2.5 days into the Metronidazole treatment I haven't seen much change except for some loud-ish squeaks and squills from her stomach this morning (not sure if those are 'empty belly' or 'unhappy intestine' sounds; we have spent much of the past year starting the day off playing the game of 'are those sounds coming from my stomach or yours?').. Sorry if this is a bit rambly. I just want my baby to feel better. And really hoping this is not leading into a repeat of last year's troubles (indications seem to indicate that it's not, but daddy is still a worried man).