Guest Lola Posted July 29, 2010 Share Posted July 29, 2010 our greyhound has only been living with us a little over 3 weeks so we're still getting to know her. ever since she's come to our home, she hasn't had a solid poop. it's not pudding, but not firm. we feed her kirkland lamb and rice and recently have been adding some steamed white rice and sweet potatoes. we also noticed that her nose is dry. not cracked but not moist unless she's just drank or ate. is this normal? the nose and the soft stool early into their adoption? she's going to the vet monday for a general checkup but i thought i'd see if anyone had any thoughts beforehand. THANKS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greyhead Posted July 29, 2010 Share Posted July 29, 2010 our greyhound has only been living with us a little over 3 weeks so we're still getting to know her. ever since she's come to our home, she hasn't had a solid poop. it's not pudding, but not firm. we feed her kirkland lamb and rice and recently have been adding some steamed white rice and sweet potatoes. we also noticed that her nose is dry. not cracked but not moist unless she's just drank or ate. is this normal? the nose and the soft stool early into their adoption? she's going to the vet monday for a general checkup but i thought i'd see if anyone had any thoughts beforehand. THANKS! Definitely check for worms, although if the fecal turns out negative, it won't mean that there aren't worms. Not all dogs can handle white rice. We have one that can't and another that can't handle grains at all. So we get kibbles that feature potatoes as the carb component. Let us know how the vet visit goes. And good luck! Quote Mary with Jumper Jack (2/17/11) and angels Shane (PA's Busta Rime, 12/10/02 - 10/14/16) and Spencer (Dutch Laser, 11/25/00 - 3/29/13). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFullHouse Posted July 29, 2010 Share Posted July 29, 2010 Like Mary said, check for worms and also some pups don't do well on the Lamb and Rice, the lamb is too rich for some pups. You might want to try the chicken and rice if there are no signs of worms. Quote Judy, mom to Darth Vader, Bandita, And Angel Forever in our hearts, DeeYoGee, Dani, Emmy, Andy, Heart, Saint, Valentino, Arrow, Gee, Bebe, Jilly Bean, Bullitt, Pistol, Junior, Sammie, Joey, Gizmo, Do Bee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lola Posted July 29, 2010 Share Posted July 29, 2010 (edited) Like Mary said, check for worms and also some pups don't do well on the Lamb and Rice, the lamb is too rich for some pups. You might want to try the chicken and rice if there are no signs of worms. thank both of you for the tips. i've checked her stool and don't see any sign of worms...but as you say...they might still be in her belly. she IS underweight too. we've been feeding her and extra cup of dry food a day for the past 3 weeks and she hasn't gained a pound. we'll try another carb source...but slowly as i know this can mess their stomachs up as well. thanks again! Edited July 29, 2010 by Lola Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ChasesMum Posted July 29, 2010 Share Posted July 29, 2010 you could add canned pure pumpkin instead of extra rice and see if that helps, and get a bag of chicken and rice (or one of the other dry foods costco in the US sells - see 'kirkland vs blue buffalo' thread in F&D) and if that works better, you can return the lamb food to Costco. seriously! they guarantee everything they sell. dry nose isnt a huge issue for us, a drippy nose is a sign of stress for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lola Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 so we took lola to the vet and she was parasite free via a stool sample. our vet looked over her blood work from the adoption agency and saw that she was dehydrated but other than that ok. she was put on a prescription, chicken based diet of which has completely helped firm up her stool...BUT....she is not gaining weight. we are feeding her 1 cup extra a day and she seems to have lost weight. she is also very lethargic which i know is a common grey trait, but we're worried about her. i'm going to take her back to the vet soon to see if anything else could be the cause. anyone have an idea of what could be up or how we could help add some meat to her bones? i don't want to overfeed her but at the same rate, this girl needs to bulk up. thanks! our greyhound has only been living with us a little over 3 weeks so we're still getting to know her. ever since she's come to our home, she hasn't had a solid poop. it's not pudding, but not firm. we feed her kirkland lamb and rice and recently have been adding some steamed white rice and sweet potatoes. we also noticed that her nose is dry. not cracked but not moist unless she's just drank or ate. is this normal? the nose and the soft stool early into their adoption? she's going to the vet monday for a general checkup but i thought i'd see if anyone had any thoughts beforehand. THANKS! Definitely check for worms, although if the fecal turns out negative, it won't mean that there aren't worms. Not all dogs can handle white rice. We have one that can't and another that can't handle grains at all. So we get kibbles that feature potatoes as the carb component. Let us know how the vet visit goes. And good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stripeyfan Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 (edited) If she's underweight, she will need extra food to help her put the pounds back on. The trick is to increase the food in small amounts rather than a huge amount all at once. When Kelly was really sick with his IBD back in April, he lost around 20 pounds and looked horrible. We upped his food by 1/2 a cup every few days until he started to gain, and split it into 4 feeds a day, as it's easier for him to digest smaller meals. I'll give you the amounts as an example: Kelly's on a home-cooked chicken/rice diet and currently gets 2 cups/1 cup am and pm and 1 cup/half a cup at lunch, plus a small snack mid-morning. But when he needed to gain he was getting 2 cups rice/1 cup chicken for breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus a snack of 1 cup rice/1 cup chicken mid-morning, quite a bit more as you can see. He can't handle fat of any description, or fibre, so it was quite a challenge - but it worked! If your girl can eat chicken, you could also add some boiled breast meat to her tinned food. It might also be worth worming her a couple of times (1 month between doses) just to make sure she's parasite-free. Kelly hadn't been wormed for months when he came to us, and although we wormed him straight away, he was (unknown to us) already so infested, it made no difference. We only found out when he got sick, because by then they'd really done a number on his insides. Also, the vet only found roundworm, but the damage Kelly has is more typical of hookworm - like Greyhead says, even if you do a fecal, they don't always show up! And if she does have worms, this could account for her lethargy - they can make dogs feel pretty rotten. Being underweight won't help with her energy levels either - Kelly was really flat when he was at his skinniest. I really hope you can get her all sorted out and feeling better - sending lots of hugs and good thoughts, and do let us know how you get on. Edited August 16, 2010 by Stripeyfan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MZH Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 I've seen tapes waving at me in stool samples but the fecals came out negative anyway-- and more than once. So, I'd deworm with Panacur and maybe something else for tapes despite negative fecals. Not sure about the dry nose except dehydrated. Hang in; you'll get it sorted out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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