A Loose Stools, By Definition, A Sign Of The Wrong Kibble?

[Guest BikeBookBread]

Chase, our newly adopted 5.5 yo boy was in foster for several weeks before we took him into our home. We have had him since November 5).

Purina Pro sensitive skin (salmon) was recommended by our agency. Additionaly, our agency recommended we not give him worm meds as he had been in foster, and had not had any diarrhea, and his recent blood work was clean.

While he has never had any diarrhea, not even once, his stools have always been very, very loose.

 

Should we try a different food? Something more bland?

Edited December 20, 2011 by BikeBookBread

[TheFullHouse]

I would try a different food, maybe a different protein source as fish can sometimes cause loose stools. Unless he has issues that require him to be on a sensitive stomach recipe, I might try one of the higher quality foods, maybe chicken or lamb as a protein source. If he has stomach issues that require a sensitive stomach recipe, I'd try a different food and see what happens. Keep him on the new food for at least a month so his body has time to adjust to it before making a judgement as to whether it's better or worse.

[Guest BikeBookBread]

Thanks so much for the quick reply. I just looked through the food grading post and am going to pick up a bag of Blue Wilderness (Buffalo) chicken and brown rice. Do I need to do a half:half ratio for a few days, old brand and new brand, to transition him to 100% new?

[TheFullHouse]

I would. I've never just switched mine without doing it gradually. Some of mine will get the runs from switching without doing it gradually. I'd do it for about a week and if things are going well then I would switch totally over to the new food.

[EnzaFerrari]

He hasn't been there long, right? It is amazing what stress and changes can do to a dog. He could still be adjusting and lordy knows with my girl, if something major changes, she can go soft for awhile. I know when I redid my kitchen, she was a mess stool wise even though all appearances were "normal".

 

As for not worming, it can take time for them to pop up or he could have picked up something since being with you. Just because they didn't have something a few weeks ago doesn't mean that holds true.

 

In regards to food, I think some people have had good results with Blue Buffalo but I think (I think) most people have not had good results. A good option many have had excellent luck with is the Costco brand foods - Enza could not be on the lamb or chicken, but she is doing incredibly well on the Natural Balance Salmon. I use to feed Taste of the Wild, but the Costco brand is made by the same company but a lot cheaper. It does have less meat, but so far so good.

[PrairieProf]

Blue Wilderness is really rich, and my impression is a lot of dogs here haven't done well on it. Keep an eye on protein and fat levels -- some dogs do better on lower fat foods and not the high-level, fancy foods.

[Guest NickelCreeksMom]

My boy Nick had loose stools for months, I tried Blue Buffalo (much to rich), Purina Sensitive Stomach (did ok), Chicken Soup (did so-so).

Then I realized that they all contain some form of grain. He now gets a grain free food (Taste of the Wild) and he has no loose stool.

Edited December 20, 2011 by NickelCreeksMom

[Guest Timo]

Timo has had a ton of loose stool problems ever since we got him. Tried many different things. For us, grain free fish based kibble worked the best, but still the poops weren't 100% firm... but much better than on other types of protein. I beleive he is either allergic to chicken or at least has an intolerance to it.

 

Recently, we started adding slippery elm bark, l-glutamine, and pro-active balance probiotic to his food, and his poop now is amazingly super duper firm, for the first time since we got him almost two years ago. Of course, I mean the first poop... he usually goes two to three times during his walks, and his second and third poops are soft (but very small in volume).

Edited December 20, 2011 by Timo

[Trihounds]

All good points and recommendations above and I'll give you my experience as a consideration if you find yourself, say, 5 different kinds of kibble later across 7 or 8 months and still dealing with soft serve poop:

 

We switched to raw feeding and immediately saw a reduction in gas, stool volume, and most importantly, got firm poops right away. Yes, it is more work and not for everyone, but we were amazed with the positive changes in the digestive process for both of our dogs. We had tried various protein sources, mid and high grade kibble, as well as grain free, limited ingredient, etc. Not fun.

 

After about 2 years on raw, we thought we'd give kibble another try about 5 months ago (given cost, convenience, etc) and while we found an improvement in stool 'quality' (but never firm), the quantity in both dogs more than doubled and for our spinal-problem-nerve-issue Bumper with sometimes little notice of an impending movement, it caused him to poop in the house up to 3 times a day - he just couldn't get outside fast enough (and we work from home and are always with him). We switched back to raw again and he's gone 16 days straight with no accidents in the house. An immediate improvement I can't ignore so it looks like we're back to what had always worked best for them.

 

Good luck...I know the vast majority end up finding the right kibble and are very happy with the results, but if you ever feel like trying an alternative, there are great threads on GT about raw feeding.

[GeorgeofNE]

I'm rather surprised no one asked if you've taken a stool sample to the vet yet! I see you say his BLOODWORK was clean, but any newly adopted dog, IMHO, should have a work up of stool, urine, and blood, if for no other reason that to get baseline measurements.

 

My dog had chronic soft poo in foster care, and his foster home did nothing about it.

 

In my case, I HAD to change foods on day one, because I discovered the bag of food she had been feeding him was full of mold. Anyway, fast forward, two months later, still has soft stools. A couple of courses of Panacur-D and it cleared up. He had several totally negative fecals--and it may be coincidence, but I doubt it!

[Guest BikeBookBread]

Thanks everybody. Lots of food for thought. Ba-dum-bum-chhhh. (Sorry, bad joke.)

 

Truly, I do appreciate your responses. He was in the vet for his routine post-adoption checkup just a few weeks ago, and everything was fine. I will have to look at the paperwork, and see if blood work was done at that visit. I can't remember. My brain is mush right now.

[Batmom]

What was he eating while in foster care?

[Guest BikeBookBread]

What was he eating while in foster care?

 

That wasn't disclosed to us, unfortunately.

[rascalsmom]

I too would take a poo sample to be tested, to rule out any type of parasite.

 

Our Jack cannot tolerate 'high end' food. Not all dogs can, and soft stool is a sign of intolerance. Jack is on a prescription low-residue kibble, and if you read that label, the only thing 'high-end' about it is the price. Really crappy ingredients, but he likes it and his stool is firmer than it's ever been. Even ProPlan, and Iams in the green bag was too 'high end' for Jack, and those aren't truly 'high end' foods.

[Batmom]

What was he eating while in foster care?

 

That wasn't disclosed to us, unfortunately.

 

I'd ask your adoption group to find out for you. Could save you a lot of time food-hunting.

[JenniferS]

Any food transition should be very gradual, and yes, it could be just adjusting to his new environment. Two foods my dogs have had success with for loose stools are Nature Balance Limited Ingredient Venison & Sweet Potato, and Taste of The Wild Pacific Stream. Neither are cheap, but worth it if your dog does well on it.

[Guest Melissa516]

Ginger had loose stools and outbreaks of diarrhea since we brought her home. She is now doing well on Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream. We've also been using Eagle Pack Holistic Solution and feel like it has really helped in the stool department. Eagle Pack also makes a supplement to aid with food transitions, but we haven't tried it.

[Guest Celestrina]

Two foods my dogs have had success with for loose stools are Nature Balance Limited Ingredient Venison & Sweet Potato, and Taste of The Wild Pacific Stream. Neither are cheap, but worth it if your dog does well on it.

 

Same for Angie. Originally it was NB venison for both canned and dry. Now she's on TOTW pacific stream dry and NB venison canned. Also, over feeding can give them loose stool.

[MaryJane]

Two foods my dogs have had success with for loose stools are Nature Balance Limited Ingredient Venison & Sweet Potato, and Taste of The Wild Pacific Stream. Neither are cheap, but worth it if your dog does well on it.

 

Same for Angie. Originally it was NB venison for both canned and dry. Now she's on TOTW pacific stream dry and NB venison canned. Also, over feeding can give them loose stool.

 

 

I have used the Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Venison and Sweet potato mixed with white rice with success for foster dogs with diarrhea if they have a chicken/wheat sensitivity. Right now I'm feeding a foster who has a non-specific diarrhea the dog food Science Diet Lite (has 10% fiber) with white rice and it has firmed up the stool in a day or so but the ingredient list is really not great (it works though - can't beat that).

 

Some of the premium dog foods seem to be too rich - I like the ingredient list on the Solid Gold Beef and barley but, most greyhounds I have given it to either get diarrhea or it doesn't help the stool firm up.

 

I would really suggest only adding about 1/4 cup twice a day for two days of the new food and see how it goes - doing a 50/50 mixture might be too much -- too soon. if the stools are OK the next few days, go up to 1/2 cup twice a day for two days. If the stools are still OK go up to 1 cup twice a day - this is the point that I usually see a problem. Keep on increasing until you get to what you normally feed per day.

 

You might also just want to add in some white rice to the existing food and see if that helps up the poop a bit. If lack of fiber is the problem, then you might also consider adding some oatmeal into the food and see if that improves the poop. I usually use the 5 minute cook type and add some to their morning meal and it has done wonders for my dogs.

[Guest hollyhound2000]

I'm in the process of switching from the Costco Nature's Domain salmon and sweet potato to the Nutro's Nature's Choice venison and potato because of ongoing soft stool in my new greyhound (had him for three months). I've brought in countless stool samples, treated with Pancur and flagyl just in case and nothing helped. UNTIL I switched foods. Almost instant improvement. BTW, I also stopped giving any dog treats with grain, just in case.

[Guest BikeBookBread]

 

Funny... My husband ( Bikeman ) is working on one thread and here I am on this. We truly want the best for Chase and our family.

Thanks for all of your insightful and informative replies.

I have added 1/4 cup of cooked instant oatmeal to his food and he is once again, interested in his food. So far, no change to his stools... It has only been a few days, of course, since we began the slow transition to Blue Wilderness chicken and rice. I chose that particular brand and variety due to its A+ rating on the food grading sticky post. I didn't know it was so rich... We will see how he does. We aren't afraid to keep trying formulations until something works well, though we will definitely give each one we try, some time.

Again, thanks. This board is proving to be essential to both Bikeman and myself!!

 

 

[Guest Celestrina]

If you do try other formulas, buy a small bag first. Learned that mistake the hard way; thankfully the local shelter accepts open bags of food.