Runny Poo

[Guest LineDancerDana]

Good Morning Grey Lovers!!

 

My Amelia has really soft runny poo. The vets say she is fine, but I am looking for a way to firm it up a bit. Is there any special food or dietary supplement I can give her so we can get regular dog poo?

[Laurenbiz]

Good Morning Grey Lovers!!

 

My Amelia has really soft runny poo. The vets say she is fine, but I am looking for a way to firm it up a bit. Is there any special food or dietary supplement I can give her so we can get regular dog poo?

 

 

 

What is Amelia eating right now?

 

Bernie had, not runny, but 'soft serve' poops, for the first month or so that we had him. He was eating Nutrisource Chicken and Rice. Our vet suggested we get him away from any chicken, chicken meal, chicken by product, etc., in his food.

 

When we changed him to Taste of the Wild Sierra Mountain (all lamb-based protein,) the difference was like night and day! He has healthy, firm poops now.

 

Another Greyhound owner told me at a Meet & Greet recently that if Greyhounds do not do well on chicken, that their digestive systems usually welcome lamb. I don't know how true this is, but it was true with Bernie!

 

Our vet told us, also, that when switching foods, we should be able to see a difference within three days (even three days with gradual switching,) if the food is going to cooperate with the digestive system.

 

Hope that helps

[Guest Swifthounds]

How long have you had Amelia? I ask because the advice is different, depending on your situation. Generally, diarrhea serves an important purpose in ridding the body of gut irritants and other undesirable things. If you stop the diarrhea in those situations, you actually promote illness and disease. Generally, things come out because they need to come out.

 

If your hound is new to your home, has recently been adopted, or has recently traveled, moved, or undergone a bit of life change, and you've run at least 2 fecals at least 3 weeks apart, then you might want to try some slippery elm bark to soothe the gut and get her back on track.

 

Some folks will suggest yogurt on the theory that the helpful bacteria will soothe the upset, but the stomach acid of a dog is pretty strong and little to none will survive. There's also the consideration that some dogs are lactose intolerant. If that's the case, things will get worse, not better. You can, however, use a human probiotic or something like Benebac (available at Petsmart and most farm supply places) to help repopulate the helpful gut bacteria.

 

Some people use and like pumpkin (the canned pumpkin, not the pie filling). All that really does is add fiber. There's nothing magic about it being pumpkin other than it's a draw for sweet tooths because it has sugar. You can add any kind of fiber in an equivalent amount and get the same result. If you want to go this route I would try a powdered fiber sprinkled on. Adding the pumpkin adds a taste in to the mix. Some dogs may not like it. Other dogs may like it so much they become conditioned to hold out for their pumpkin. Not so fun when you're out and not fun in the case of another pumpkin scarcity.

 

If the condition persists more than a week or two, consider that her food may be the culprit. If that's the case, any add ins are bandaiding a problem you'd do better by eliminating.

[Guest LineDancerDana]

Thank you both so much for your input!!!

 

Amelia joined our family over a year ago. She has always had the "soft serve" poo. So I will definitely try changing her food and see if that does the trick. She is 6 years old as of last Tuesday, and doesn't get into eatig anything other than what we feed her. I will try the Taste of he Wild, if that doesn't work then I will try just a straight diet of chicken and rice and see if that works.

 

Thanks for the suggestions!!

[greyhead]

One wonders what tests the vets did to determine that she's fine. Can you share that info?

[Guest Stripeyfan]

How is her weight and general condition? Did the vet test for parasites?

[Laurenbiz]

One wonders what tests the vets did to determine that she's fine. Can you share that info?

 

 

 

I wondered that, too.

 

When we took Bernie to the vet for the first time in October, he did a fecal test that came back normal. He gave us de-worming pills since he said the fecal sample may not always show the presence of parasites, if there are any. We didn't have any proof that he'd been de-wormed prior to this.

 

When our vet saw Bernie's fecal sample in the plastic bag, he questioned if his poop was always that soft as it was in the sample we gave him. He seemed surprised, and immediately told us to get away from the chicken, chicken meal, chicken-by-product, etc., in his food.

 

So, just from my experience with my vet's reaction to soft poop, I find it a little odd that your vet says your Greyhound is totally normal with runny poop.

[TwiggysMom]

I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that chicken is the problem. More likely it is one of the more minor ingredients in the kibble.

 

My current foster had this issue. At first, I thought it was due to the dewormer I gave him (he did have worms - doesn't have them anymore ). When his stool kept getting softer and larger, I decided to give him plain boiled chicken and rice for a few days to see if it would "reset" his system. His stool started improving after the 1st meal, so I knew we were on the right track. Once he had been good and solid for a few days, I started adding the original kibble back in bit by bit. The more of the kibble he got, the larger & softer his stool got.

 

I decided to try a different chicken & rice based kibble, adding that in a bit at a time to the chicken and rice. In less than a week I had him on 100% "new" kibble, and now days later, he still has great poop!

 

Clearly neither chicken or rice (or turkey for that matter, b/c I used that too) was the issue. I'm blaming the issue on barley. It is one of the main differences between two brands of kibble, and is difficult for some dogs to digest.

 

It could be that none of this is true in your case, but I really think it is much more likely that something other chicken/rice is the issue.

[Hubcitypam]

E-mail me -

Houndkeeper @ Sbcglobal.net

[Guest mom2hounds]

We had runny poo on and off for several months. Since we weighed to TOTW pacific steam, we have not had a single episode with any of the 3dogs.

[MyCutie]

We've been through several similar rounds of this with Rocket--from perfectly kickable poo to runs seemingly overnight. Vet can never find an issue. As soon as we change out the food, the problem seems to go away. Of course, it's always after we buy a big new bag of food. I don't know that it is any particular brand, so much as a particular batch that happens to come through the line. He's been on TOTW lamb for a couple of weeks now and everything is coming out fine. AND he's incredibly soft.

[Guest sheila]

I don't understand the chicken reference either. All of the five hounds I have had have been on a chicken based kibble with no issues. I did have one gal that had soft poops and a dollop of canned pumpkin once a day fixed her right up.

Also if you are running the gamut of all the so called 'premium' foods they may be too rich for you hound.

I am a reformed 'food snob' who used to think I had to spend $40+ on a 30lb bag of kibble. It just isn't so for most dogs.

[Guest Swifthounds]

I'm not sure where chicken came into the discussion, but, as others have siad, it's much more likely that one of the unnecessary and unnatural ingredients in the kibble are causing irritation than that a chicken allergy is the source of the upset. I wouldn't blame the chicken unless and until the other myriad of ingredients were eliminated and there still was an issue.

 

I also don't think that "premium" kibble (honestly, is there any bigger oxymoron than calling something made with waste products "premium?") is necessarily better than "Non-premium" foods. PRice doesn't dictate quality; it determines profit margin.

 

That said, canned pumpkin, yogurt, or the "band-aid of the week" aren't going to fix a problem or eliminate the damage done by repeatedly feeding a dog something gut irritating. What they do is eliminate the symptom of that irritation that annoys us - runny stool. Not really a "fix" for the dog.

[Guest LineDancerDana]

WOW!! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE INFO!!!

 

I do not know if it is the kibble. I give her pumpkin and yogurt but it is always the consistency of soft serve. She has been on Chicken, and Lamb kibble, and always the Kirkland brand from Costco, since that is what she was on when we adopted her.

 

I am looking into the Taste of the Wild to see if that helps, and a friend of mine runs a pet shop which sells it right up the road.

 

She had a fecal and some blood tests. I brough it many samples of poo over the course of a couple days so they could do a comparison.

 

So....I will see how everything turn out on the new dog food. And yes, I just opened a huge bag of dog food too....so i can either deal with it for a few more days, or try to give someone else the food and get the Taste of the Wild now.

 

Thank you all so much for the info and advice!!