Bad Batch Of Dog Food Or New Sensitivity?

[Guest emmas_mom]

Hi there. I'm new to this board. I have a rescued Greyhound who's 8 years old. Her name is Emma. She's a wonderfully spoiled girl who loves to run and run and run. Her smile is adorable!

 

 

 

Anyway, about a week ago last Monday, Labor Day she started to have liquid diarrhea. The poor thing. She was a bit tired probably from being up all night and having to go out to poo, but generally good. Her eyes were bright, nose was cold and wet. But you could tell she didn't feel good. I started her on some rice and boiled hamburger - with which my vet agreed and she got better. Her stools were more solid and she had more energy. So I started to add in her dog food. Then the diarrhea started again once her dog food was added back. She eats Beneful kibble. She's never had a problem before. Can't find anything about there being a problem with any batches.

 

Do Greyhounds develop sensitivities to food? We didn't give her anything out of the ordinary. We'll give her the occasional piece of baked plain chicken with her food.

 

Anyone have any insight? I'm relatively new to Greyhounds. I've had her two years and I remember at the beginning when trying to find foods for her, some of them bothered her and upset her stomach.

 

 

 

Thanks for listening.

 

 

 

 

[macoduck]

Did your vet exam Emma and do any tests?

Could she have gotten into anything she shouldn't?

Has she drunk any water from ponds or birdbaths?

What other dog food brands did you try previously?

Have long has she been on the current food?

 

You'll probably get a lot of comments here on the Beneful as it is rather low on the quality status.

I, personally, am not near any stores that sell the high-end foods and they would be out of m;y budget with 3 dogs. I have had very good success feeding my crew Iams Pro-Active Health in the small kibble. Firm poop all around. It's reasonably priced at Walmart.

 

Regarding the bag you have, is there a phone number on it for consumer questions? Is that where you checked about any bad batches? Did this bag smell any different to you?

 

Check Emma for dehydration. Hope she feels better soon.

[Guest emmas_mom]

The Vet can't squeeze her in today... I'm waiting to see if there's a cancellation. I'm going to go back to the hamburger and rice today.

 

The dog food smelled fine. But I'm ditching it anyway. Diarrhea is always hard because ANYTHING can cause it. As a nurse, I know with people, it's always a symptom of something else. I'm keeping a close eye on her. She's hydrated, gums are wet and not sticky. Hopefully they can squeeze her in today.....

[macoduck]

For Emma when she feels better :dogcookie

[Guest emmas_mom]

For Emma when she feels better :dogcookie

 

 

Thanks... we got squeezed into an appt at the Vet's today. Her stool was negative. But the doc wants her to take an antibiotic to help her belly flora.

 

Afterwards I bought her a new fluffy bed... her's was getting too flat... and I picked up some different doggie food to try. Going to go slower this time adding back into her diet. Apparently I didn't realize that the dog food I was feeding her wasn't the greatest...Bad mommy!!!! I had her on the Nutro Max before and going to try that again. Little at a time....

[Trudy]

If it works for a dog, it's a fine food for that dog

 

 

[Fiona3]

We have a grey that just does not do well on some dog foods. They are either too rich for her or she has a sensitivity to some of the ingredients. This is something she developed over time - interestingly, her age is 8 years just as Emma. I hope all goes well with your food change. Keep us posted.

[macoduck]

You're not a bad mommy at all. I hope Emma has a quick recovery and enjoys her new fluffy bed. A teaspoon of yogurt could help her tummy too after taking antibiotics.

[Guest LynnM]

It's probably not the food.... it's probably just a bug. There's no way to tell for sure. Assorted creeping cruds happen in dogs just like they do in humans. Some individuals are more sensitive than others. My oldest has always been my "Canary in the coal mine" for gut ailments. It's sort of interesting to see a bug like this go through a kennel.... one or two dogs will go down HARD... need veterinary attention, IV fluids, the lot. Several- a bunch- will have liquid, bloody nastiness that requires a lot of cleanup but no fever, keep their appetite... definately sick, but the sort of thing that can be managed at home. Another bunch will have loose stools, but nothing uncontrollable... they make it outside just fine on their regular intervals, it's just a little bulky and loose. One or two will have no effects whatsoever.

 

As long as it's diarrhea only (no vomiting), it's not an emergency... keep the dog hydrated and monitor her temp. It's okay to feed a dog with diarrhea, though I never feed a full ration. Diarrhea PLUS vomiting is an emergency. A dog can go from "off" to totally down in a matter of hours.

 

Lynn

[Guest emmas_mom]

Well, she was doing wonderful on the hamburger and rice diet. Then I was working in some of the Dick Van Patten's organic mix. I thought "so far so good...". Well, it's 3:45 am and we're both up and the poor thing has horrible gas and the start of looser stools. My mom fed her this evening. I think maybe it was too much all at once with the food. Not enough time to adjust.... Hope so. She was fine on the hamburger and rice diet.

 

Anyone have any food suggestions?

[GeorgeofNE]

 

I assume the vet gave you Flagyl? That should fix the diarrhea, and if she has something like Giardia (which sounds possible) should also take care of that.

 

You're working off a (possibly incorrect) assumption that her food gave her the runs. If she was doing well on that food before, you don't need to change it, particularly right NOW. Go to the store and get a new bad=g; a small one if you think you really want to change, but get her diarrhea fixed first. She how she does on a new bag of her familiar food. If you THEN decide to feed her something else, you'll get as many different opinions from this board as to what a good food is as there are kibbles!

 

I think you need to get a handle on the diarrhea (not for a day--make sure it's completely gone) before you go switching foods or you won't know what the issue is--too fast a switch, or it never really went away!

 

 

 

 

[Guest jbox]

You may want to buy a bag of Purina One at the grocery store. When our old dog got a sensitive stomach and would get diarreah on any of the higher end foods this is the only food that worked for him. I'm not saying her food caused her to have diarreah, I am just adding my 2 cents that this food worked for our dog.

Good luck and I hope she is feeling better soon!

[stlgrey]

I think I would skip the Nutro. My hound developed a bad bladder, UTI infection on Nutro Max. Not the same formula as in 2007. I would tried Purina One or Pro Plan before Nutro. Just my opiniion.

[VinnieAndRexsMom]

Personally, I would not change foods in the middle of an intestinal problem. I work the problem first, and then make changes when they are "right" again. Some of my dogs have had the same symptoms form changing the food.

 

Hope she's feeling better soon!

[BrGreyhndz]

There is another pet food recall from Mars...pedigree and their other brands were possibly contaminated with salmonella.