Guest tore140 Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 In the for-what-it's-worth category -- I had my greyhound (adopted in September) on a grain-free salmon and sweet potato food and his poop was getting softer and mushier as time went on. I kept bringing stool samples to the vet, treating him with metro, reworming, adding cooked pasta and chicken, etc. Nothing worked until I switched to a limited ingredient venison and potato kibble. The turnaround was startling -- even when I was still giving him some of the old food during the switch over. I mention this only because many people consider the salmon foods to be good for curing diarhea but in at least some dogs, that doesn't work. (I also stopped feeding milk bones and only give non-grain treats.) Wow, your dog sounds a lot like mine. Always soft stool, played the food game every 6months until diarrhea again, and then the vet recommended Royal Canin limited ingredient Venison and Potato. I have never seen his poops to good! It's improved his life tenfold Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greyhead Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Having been through this at our house, I strongly agree with Batmom that the cyclic timing suggests parasites. You also need to be aware that a negative fecal test doesn't prove that an animal doesn't have worms. Those tests only detect eggs; if the worms aren't producing eggs just then, nothing will show up. So if the problem persists, repeat fecals at weekly intervals might be necessary. Or some people just go ahead and treat with Panacur. Personally, I think if a dog has something like hookworm, it's really good to know that because they are SO hard to get rid of. 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...
Brandiandwe Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 (edited) Hi everyone. Just to update. today is day 10. Nothing has shown up at all - in fact, she was better today than she has been in a LONG time, really since we got her. Things are still not ideal, but are certainly better. Soft, but not foul smelling and no blood. Just finished 5 days of intensive worming and 10 days of anti-biotics, so we have the all clear (as she was passing worms for a day or two and then nothing.) So, after consultation, we are trying to wean her back onto some kibble. It;'s just impossible for her to eat enough pasta and chicken to put the weight on, and I'd like to get her off chicken anyhow. So, we're moving over the next week or so to TOTW, which Brandi has been loving and which is doing great things to her. If things deteriorate again, back to the vet for a more invasive series of tests. I'd like to thank everyone here for your advice and patience. It's great to have a supportive forum which is welcoming and patient with newbies. Forgot to add, we've been in touch with her trainer/ breeder about her diet before adoption. It included Box 1 4x2 greyhound biscuits (not the most nutritious, but a great chewing treat which is good, because pigs ears and rawhide bones caused problems and Kongs are apparently for licking), a working dog kibble which I don't want to buy at all (too high in energy for the amount of work she does now), chicken wings, brisketbones, milk and weetabix occasionally, a stew with meat and vegetables and occasionally cheese flavoured snack bones. She was fed pretty well, and the trainer's dogs do well as well, so I'm thinking about adding a few of these sorts of things into her diet as well. With the chicken, it might just be that right now she's getting more than she's had in her life. We'll see. Edited January 10, 2012 by Brandiandwe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest verthib Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 (edited) I agree with keeping her on homecooked for awhile til her tummy calms way down. I don't know what foods you have but if you have any limited ingredient foods with a lower fat content, that you can slowly introduce, it may solve your problem. Foods like this that come to mind are Natural Balance LID formulas or Nutro grain free. The TOTW may have too many ingredients to be effective. I agree, natural balance has good LID diets. We use fish and sweet potato. And I agree that TOTW has too many ingredients. Edited January 13, 2012 by verthib Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest verthib Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 In the for-what-it's-worth category -- I had my greyhound (adopted in September) on a grain-free salmon and sweet potato food and his poop was getting softer and mushier as time went on. I kept bringing stool samples to the vet, treating him with metro, reworming, adding cooked pasta and chicken, etc. Nothing worked until I switched to a limited ingredient venison and potato kibble. The turnaround was startling -- even when I was still giving him some of the old food during the switch over. I mention this only because many people consider the salmon foods to be good for curing diarhea but in at least some dogs, that doesn't work. (I also stopped feeding milk bones and only give non-grain treats.) I doubt it's the salmon oil. The NB sweet potato and venison has the same amount of omega 3 and omega 6 oils as sweet potato and fish. I wish this issue was easier to solve. Is there a way to get Flagyl without a prescription? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest verthib Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 The reason I mentioned Giardia is that it is indeed cyclical See the article in the link if interested: http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/health/giardia.htm So what is the cycle? I read it and could not determine it. Is it intermittent diarrhea weekly, monthly, ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandiandwe Posted January 21, 2012 Author Share Posted January 21, 2012 The reason I mentioned Giardia is that it is indeed cyclical See the article in the link if interested: http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/health/giardia.htm So what is the cycle? I read it and could not determine it. Is it intermittent diarrhea weekly, monthly, ?? If you mean for Giardia, I'm not sure. For Paige it was every ten days. Things having continued to improve here. Her coat looks amazing, and she's gotten better and better as she's been eating less and less chicken. Weird. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest verthib Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 The reason I mentioned Giardia is that it is indeed cyclical See the article in the link if interested: http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/health/giardia.htm So what is the cycle? I read it and could not determine it. Is it intermittent diarrhea weekly, monthly, ?? If you mean for Giardia, I'm not sure. For Paige it was every ten days. Things having continued to improve here. Her coat looks amazing, and she's gotten better and better as she's been eating less and less chicken. Weird. :-) That is great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Romeo Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Love this forum. I rescued my greyt back in September. He was full of worms and parasites and 4 months later we are still struggling. But as for the food, I've tried Blue Buffalo which was way too rich for him. Now he's on 1/2 Nutro Max and 1/2 Beneful. I know Beneful sucks, but that was what he was on when I got him and he had hard stools. It was only when I tried adding more nutritional foods that the D came on. A dog trainer last week told me to try Natural Balance L.I.D. I went on the internet to check it out and found several blogs from people saying their dogs DIED after just one serving of this food!!! But it seems to me if this was true, it would have been recalled by now. I am afraid to even try the samples she gave me. Comments please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Romeo Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Today was D day. And, right on time, we had D. Not as much as normal and not as bad, but definitely there. On the up side, Brandi has been doing really well on the chicken and rice, except for unexpected urination in the house, same time on two days. I'm thinking this has something to do with too much water in the rice and chicken, and have cut hers back a bit, and added Canidae again. When was last fecal exam? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandiandwe Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 Today was D day. And, right on time, we had D. Not as much as normal and not as bad, but definitely there. On the up side, Brandi has been doing really well on the chicken and rice, except for unexpected urination in the house, same time on two days. I'm thinking this has something to do with too much water in the rice and chicken, and have cut hers back a bit, and added Canidae again. When was last fecal exam? Romeo, it all seems to be sorting itself out with a change of diet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest verthib Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Love this forum. I rescued my greyt back in September. He was full of worms and parasites and 4 months later we are still struggling. But as for the food, I've tried Blue Buffalo which was way too rich for him. Now he's on 1/2 Nutro Max and 1/2 Beneful. I know Beneful sucks, but that was what he was on when I got him and he had hard stools. It was only when I tried adding more nutritional foods that the D came on. A dog trainer last week told me to try Natural Balance L.I.D. I went on the internet to check it out and found several blogs from people saying their dogs DIED after just one serving of this food!!! But it seems to me if this was true, it would have been recalled by now. I am afraid to even try the samples she gave me. Comments please. Oh God, every food has that 'claim'. Many dogs on this forum, including mine, are on Natural Balance. It really is a good food made by a great company. It doesn't mean it will agree with your dog but it's certainly safe to try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sirsmom Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Someone mentioned Purina One large breed adult agreed with her dog after trying many. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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