Gas & Bloat

[Guest grammarules]

I'm having a problem with my puppy. She gets gassy and it can make your eye and sinuses burn. I've heard that greyhounds are suceptible to gas. Does anyone have an idea of what I can add to her food so she isn't as gassy. I give her a teaspoon of lactose free yogurt with her breakfast feeding. The regular yogurt gave her diarrhea.

Edited October 10, 2010 by grammarules

[KF_in_Georgia]

What are you feeding her?

 

When I cut wheat out of Sam's diet (and began using wheat-free treats), his room-clearing gas stopped immediately. He still gets farty, but it's not smelly any more.

[Guest grammarules]

I feed her Iams dry food and add a little yogurt and omega oil to her morning feed. Sometimes I add a little clear chicken broth to her dinner.

[GreyTzu]

If a dog is having that much gas all the time, it's time to re-evaluate their food. Dogs can be allergic to corn and wheat. Those are the primary ingredient in the vast majority of dog foods. A food with meat, not meat by-product or meat-meal, as the first ingredient is usually the best for most dogs.

 

 

We give our dogs acidophiles pills with their meals. They seldom get gas and if they do, it is from their treats. We give a variety of treats. The dogs eat Solid Gold Hund-n-Flocken. It is the acidophiles that helps prevent gas. The amount of yogurt needed to provide much gas relief is much more than a teaspoon. It's like a LOT. Dogs benefit more from the pills, beyond enjoying the yogurt. My dogs look forward to their yogurt treat.

[Guest KennelMom]

^^ What she said. I'd also cut out the yogurt (many adult dogs can't tolerate dairy)

[Guest Energy11]

I add canned PLAIN pumpkin *about one tablespoon* a.m. and p.m. to my dogs' food. I also add plain yogurt. Very little gas here. I also add a GAS-X to each of their meals, as well. My own theory to help prevent too much gas/bloat.

 

As was mentioned by the OPs, a lot of dogs can't tolerate grains. Many people recommend Taste of the Wild food, which is grain-free and very good. Might want to try a small bag of it, to see if it makes a difference. You can get it at Tractor Supply stores, believe it or not. I am NOT a fan of Iams food, myself.

 

Good Luck! Gas stinks!

[PrairieProf]

I agree about changing the food -- if the dog's diet agrees with her, she's not going to have terrible gas or much gas ever at all.

 

A digestive enzyme like Prozyme (or Fresh Digest, available at Petco) might be a good idea too -- helps break down the macronutrients and is supposed to help eliminate gas. I use it for my dog regularly because I think it may have some health benefits, even though she does great on TOTW -- I started it when I was still trying to find the right food for her, but I've kept it up.

[GeorgeofNE]

Gas is certainly not unique to Greyhounds.

 

I'd knock off the yogurt myself, and consider a different food.

[Guest greytloves]

ditto to above - check the food

 

I'm not big into additives like pumpkin. I think it is a band-aid and your better served in the long run finding a food that works long term. Grain free seems to have done it for my 3 and my moms grey. I do use ProZyme once every 3 months for a week. Dr. Eric - The Natural Way has some great ideas in his book.

 

One of our angel dogs that was a pit/great dane mix could clear a room (and did clear the car one time!) with his gas. It was pure food related. My DH at the time, boyfriend was feeding him crap food! I mean really crap food. Ole Roy. Boy did he get a talking to from me!

 

He also may be eating too fast.

 

Why chicken broth? Lots of sodium in that.

[Guest grammarules]

I use Campbells low sodium chicken broth and lactose free yogurt. The latter mainly because I'm lactose intolerant and that's what I have in the house. Thank you for all your help everyone. Where do I get the Prozyme?

[PrairieProf]

I order it online as we don't have upscale pet food stores that carry it here. But if you have a Petco they carry a product called In Clover Fresh Digest that has identical ingredients.

[Guest grammarules]

We have Petland and Petsmart. Maybe the Vet would carry it otherwise.

Thanks!

[GreyTzu]

I just use the acidophiles pills from Walmart. One pill for each meal. They aren't expensive and we get gas-free results.

[Guest Profgumby]

....She gets gassy and it can make your eye and sinuses burn. ....

Thanks for making me nearly spray a mouthful of water all over the screen....

[cello]

Our boy Riley had gas that could peel paint off the walls when we first got him. It was so toxic that he would clear an entire end of the house! He also had soft serve ice cream for poop. We tried several different foods over the course of a few months and nothing helped. Finally one day I was at Costco and in desperation bought a bad of the Kirkland Chicken and Rice. This food is wheat and corn free. It was amazing. Within a couple of days the gas was all but gone and the poops were now nicely formed. Turns out that poor Riley cannot eat anything with corn or wheat in it. Even a couple of dog cookies with those ingredients will produce the gas/stool issues. So we are just very careful about the contents of his food and everything is fine.

[Guest KennelMom]

I'm not big into additives like pumpkin. I think it is a band-aid and your better served in the long run finding a food that works long term.

 

If you have to doctor up the food to prevent gas, it's not the right food.

[Guest Profgumby]

Our boy Riley had gas that could peel paint off the walls when we first got him. It was so toxic that he would clear an entire end of the house! He also had soft serve ice cream for poop. We tried several different foods over the course of a few months and nothing helped. Finally one day I was at Costco and in desperation bought a bad of the Kirkland Chicken and Rice. This food is wheat and corn free. It was amazing. Within a couple of days the gas was all but gone and the poops were now nicely formed. Turns out that poor Riley cannot eat anything with corn or wheat in it. Even a couple of dog cookies with those ingredients will produce the gas/stool issues. So we are just very careful about the contents of his food and everything is fine.

 

I wish there was a Costco nearby...but alas...I think the nearest is 2 hours away! And the Kirkland gets rave reviews by others here. I also think it is a Diamond Brand. I just picked up Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul, it also is a Diamond brand. The ingredients list looks very nice, from my limited viewpoint anyway. We'll see how the girls do on it.

[GreyTzu]

I'm not big into additives like pumpkin. I think it is a band-aid and your better served in the long run finding a food that works long term.

 

If you have to doctor up the food to prevent gas, it's not the right food.

 

:nod

[Guest Ola]

I agree that additives just act as band-aids. The gas is not the actual problem, it's just a symptom that her tummy isn't doing well on what she is eating. I'd recommend cutting out all of the extras and trying a different food. My first choice would also be grain-free as suggested above, if that isn't working after a month or so I'd try some limited ingredient foods (one protein and one carb) to try and narrow down what agrees with her.

[Guest grammarules]

I switched to Kirkland Chicken & Rice and the Vet said to add a little yogurt in her food and the problem is all but gone. Unless she gets into the back of the yard where the deer like to bed down and leave little 'treats' in the lawn.

[tornadosgirl]

I found this pinned topic to be very helpful, when we decided to change what we were feeding our boys: Grade for Dog Kibble

 

 

I was amazed to see that what we thought was a good kibble had a poor grade.