Projectile Pooping

[RobinM]

This morning when we let Beau out, he went to poop and I watched by the window to see how it looked. It was literally a projectile poop and he cried out a GSOD and ran back to the house.

 

We are pretty certain that since we have gone back to chicken, his whole problem has gotten worse. And of course, yesterday he refused to eat anything but chicken. We tried offering him 3 different kibble last night at 10pm and he decided to eat the evo chicken which of course is very rich for his ultra sensitive system.

 

He is into the vet today for blood work. I had planned on picking up meat evo.

 

Do you think that will be too rich for him as well?

 

Now, ichicken of any sort is just not an option.

Edited January 12, 2009 by RobinM

[Batmom]

Well, you know me: I don't think you should feed kibble at all but rather one single meat, or at most one single meat and one single carb, until you get to the bottom of things.

 

If you can't do that, I wouldn't recommend EVO. It's very high in fat, for one thing, and it contains sunflower oil for another -- both things that a lot of dogs react badly to at the best of times. I would suggest something like Eagle Pack Anchovy , Solid Gold Mmillennia Beef, or By Nature Pork instead.

[Guest BlackandBrindle]

Honestly, right now I think kibble in general is going to be too much for his system, Evo especially.

 

Batmom's advice is right on. I know you want him on a balanced diet and you want to find a food he'll consistently eat, but right now the main thing is getting his system calmed down.

 

Good luck!

[Guest wmlcml6]

I may have missed it, Robin - but has Beau been tested for giardia? The projectile poop reminds me of when Hawk had it. And it did burn coming out. I was putting neosporin on his sore area, poor guy. They first thought he had parvo, but when the meds didn't help, they found giardia 3 days after the first incorrect diagnosis. The vet said they don't automatically test for it so you might have to specifically ask. Once diagnosed, the treatment started working immediately.

 

I'm sorry Beau is still sick.

[Guest DebR]

Not to be gross, but if his bum is burning from the acid, try a dab of preparation H on it.....it soothes the inflamed skin, and if it's the regular type and not the cream, it leaves it a bit "waterproof" much like vaseline would. Helps humans for the same thing, so worth a try.

[RobinM]

Ok we are back.

He was had more blood tests and once again another CBC just to be sure all is in range there.

 

He also had a sub q of vitaman B-12.

 

What is everyones thoughts on wellness lamb. He won't eat the beef anymore. I think the chicken is not toleated. I agree that the evo is too rich at this point.

 

We need to stick to ONE protein- agreed. We need to also have the treats to match. I've heard a lot of dogs tolerate the lamb well.

Which brands of lamb canned are good and do I need to add anything to it?

 

I may have missed it, Robin - but has Beau been tested for giardia? The projectile poop reminds me of when Hawk had it.

I'm sorry Beau is still sick.

 

yes, we did a 3 day fecal just a few days ago. He had been on Flagyl and he had a dose of drontal plus 2 nights ago.

[Guest KyGrey]

I'm not sure about lamb. It's always been too rich for my dogs and they don't have the issues that Beau has. I have to try to keep mine on chicken or turkey but I see that chicken is out of the question for him. Bless his little heart. I sure hope something can be done for him soon. Sending prayers and white light to Beau and his mommy.

[Batmom]

Wellness: Some people's dogs obviously do well on this food. Every version in that brand line that I've fed to any dog in my house has produced immediate (once it makes its way thru the digestive tract) liquid poop. I won't use it. JMO.

[RobinM]

Ok. We are starting from scratch. what can I give him that with all his issue and being extremely picky to begin with, he will eat?

 

Reviewing some of the old threads we see:

 

Every food that is mentioned, someone else says that won't work.

 

I currently have in my house:

 

EVO kibble, Wellness Lamb kibble, PP sensitive stomach, PP large breed, purina 1, Hills ID

 

Canned: wellness lamb, BG Chicken & beef, TRIPE, Beef tripe, Blue chicken, purina one, science diet ID

 

Raw- natures variety patties and medallions

 

(I could start a small store)

 

We are willing to get whatever we have to for Beau-

 

I'd like to start from the beginning. We tried the BG beef, he did not like it. he is not crazy about beef.

 

Where to go from here?

Edited January 12, 2009 by RobinM

[Batmom]

ETA: My post above refers to the kibble. The Wellness 95% meat canned is good stuff and I do use that.

 

What to feed: I wouldn't feed kibble at all at this point. For canned, I'd go with 95% or 100% meat, venison, lamb, beef, or fish. If there's a canned that has only meat and 1 carb and no funky extras (like canola oil, etc.), you could try that. Or cook for him. Unless you have a good butcher, lamb and venison are hard to come by; beef and pork are probably the easiest. Rice or barley, cooked soft, for the carbs. Some people have good results with potato or oatmeal; I don't (except in small quantity), so I don't recommend them. YMMV.

[Guest akgs13]

I am sorry he is still not feeling well.

I hate to ask, and would not want you to add to your mixed stock, but what about fish?

 

 

 

[patricia]

Poor boy...sending prayers.

[Guest ss556]

I can't believe this is still going on. Continued prayers. Hope to get to the bottom of this asap.

[Guest TBSFlame]

I may have missed it, Robin - but has Beau been tested for giardia? The projectile poop reminds me of when Hawk had it. And it did burn coming out. I was putting neosporin on his sore area, poor guy. They first thought he had parvo, but when the meds didn't help, they found giardia 3 days after the first incorrect diagnosis. The vet said they don't automatically test for it so you might have to specifically ask. Once diagnosed, the treatment started working immediately.

 

I'm sorry Beau is still sick.

 

Our first greyhound had giardia. Same symptons. He was returned because of it and it took several trips to the vet before correctly diagnosed. Hope Beau is better soon.

[Fiona3]

Robin, I have gone thru my records to look up the diet & meds. We had a Dalmatian with IBD and this is the only thing that worked for him (after much trial and error). Only canned food, no kibble. He would get one full can of ID Diet at each meal. Treats were limited to something close to the contents of the cans. You could try Beau on whatever type of canned food works best (no chicken, etc. from your experience). As long as Beau's system will tolerate it that's fine.

 

Eventually when his stomach & the IBD improved we were able to add a 1/2 cup of kibble, than 1 cup to the canned food - but this took several months of just the canned food for his meal.

 

For medication, he was on one Flagyl in the morning, 10 mg. of Prednisone (which was gradually reduced to 5 mg. every three days), and a Pepcid for his stomach. He was on this medication plan for two years and helped him to reach the age of 15.

 

I don't know if this helps a bit. I'm sorry that Beau has been going through this.

Edited January 12, 2009 by Fiona3

[Guest DeweytheGreyt]

We had very good success with Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Venison and Sweet Potato Formula. It was great that it also came in canned and had treats that matched the formula. We can't do chicken for Fallon either so this worked great for us.

 

Linky to Product Info

 

I hope your handsome boy feels better soon!

[Guest SoulsMom]

We had very good success with Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Venison and Sweet Potato Formula. It was great that it also came in canned and had treats that matched the formula. We can't do chicken for Fallon either so this worked great for us.

 

Linky to Product Info

 

I hope your handsome boy feels better soon!

 

This is Soul's regular kibble and he relapsed after I started working it back into his diet. Vet and I don't know *for sure* if it is food causing Soul's issue or not, we're just trying one or two things at a time to try and figure it out. It took a month of working in Soul's regular kibble before he relapsed again. I'm sure it's going to be different for every dog.

 

Robin, are you keeping diary? That is what I'm doing for Soul to try and figure out what it causing the GI bleeding. Right now I'm noting everything: What food he is eating, how often I put bag balm on his nose and paws, days and timing of his meet and greets, what days he has any stress or excitement, etc. Hopefully this will help me to determine what his triggers are.

 

Beginning 2/5 I'll start trying to add in his regular kibble again, and see how it goes. But last time it took month for his system to be affected, so I'm prepared for a long time of trying different things to get this figured out. In addtion, Soul needs a diet that will be good for both his GI issues and his lupus. I'm hoping the diary will help in doing this . . .

 

[NeylasMom]

I don't know the whole story here, but just wanted to chime in with one though. Giardia is often missed on fecal tests and flagyl isn't the preferred treatment these days, Panacur is. If you haven't already dewormed him, I think doing it prophylactically may not be a bad idea. You'd do 3 days of it immediately, and 3 more days 45 days from now. If he has giardia or another parasite the fecal missed, this would likely take care of it, especially in conjunction with the flagyl.

 

Sorry you're having so much trouble. I hope you find a food that sits well with him soon.

[Guest mandm]

I found true peace & harmony when I finally accepted that my greyhound cannot eat kibble, any kibble. I love kibble because it's cheap & easy. But I cant feed it. And I'm OK with that.

 

You'll save yourselves a lot of frustration if you just forget about kibble for your problem dogs. At least for now. Maybe later, when they are better, but not now.

[Guest DylanGospel]

I haven't had much experience with this problem, but had a foster who could tolerate nothing but boiled and rinsed hamburger. I became an expert at finding sales and even knowing at what time the store marked down the meat.

 

This really worked and when I began to VERY gradually add a tablespoon of kibble per meal, I could only get up to half kibble and half hamburger before the D started again, so that's what I kept him on. He was adopted and they've been successful with this mix, as well.

 

I know what a concern this can be. I just erased the picture of his first solid poop from my computer. I guess I didn't want a non-greyhound person to see it and think that we are completely bonkers!

 

I do hope that you find something that works- this can be pretty stressful, I know.

[RobinM]

we are not planning on giving any kibble even though that is the one thing he ususally eats.

 

We will see what he eats - then keep him on it.

[ahicks51]

1) Is there *anything* you know of for certain that he really, really likes? Anything at all?

 

2) Is tube-feeding an option with an adult dog?

[MaryJane]

I agree with Batmom that you need to get it to one protein and a carbo and most importantly, to keep it simple. Beau seemed to be doing OK on the hamburger and rice until he got bored. Can you get him back on that and use another small bit of food to entice him to eat? Maybe toast with butter would get his appetite going...

 

Someone mentioned fish earlier in the thread, you might try salmon (canned) as the protein but, my experience is that my dogs haven't usually done great on that as a sole protein (as an add-in it's great). You could also try beans as the protein. I feed mine pinto beans but not usually more than 1/2 cup day. Batmom mentioned barley which also another great alternative for the grain.

 

At this time, I think that maybe switching him between all these different commercial kibbles that have been recommended to find one that works will likely take a toll on his digestive system. You have some great recommendations for kibble from everyone on the thread, but is this the time to "experiment". You can do that later when he is stable and you have the time to do your research on the ingredients.

 

As I mentioned earlier, it seems like he is on a few "worming" and antibiotic treatments and this would be a concern to me because while these medications cure parasitic and bacteriological infections they can be overused and cause other severe issues. It also seems that there has not been a definitive diagnosis by the vet that Beau has either a bacteriological or parasitic infection and while one treatment without a diagnosis is common (and usually cost-effective), I would question continuing treatment without additional evidence.

 

 

 

[RobinM]

I agree with Batmom that you need to get it to one protein and a carbo and most importantly, to keep it simple. Beau seemed to be doing OK on the hamburger and rice until he got bored. Can you get him back on that and use another small bit of food to entice him to eat? Maybe toast with butter would get his appetite going...

Isn't the toast going against all the grain avoiding thing? all the bread we have is all grain/wheat etc.

 

 

We are starting from a clean slate as of now, he has not eaten toda except for one bite literaly of lamb. he's done.

 

 

1) Is there *anything* you know of for certain that he really, really likes? Anything at all?

 

2) Is tube-feeding an option with an adult dog?

 

He likes a lot of things, right now he likes nothing, He is feeling crappy.

 

Tube feeding is not an option.

[dmswartzfager]

If you'd like, I can send you some Hill's z/d ultrahypoallergenic kibble and cans. I bought an 18-lb bag and extra cans to have around in case Blitz has a relapse, and we haven't had to use it (knock wood).