Iams Green Bag Mixed Blessings

[Guest Vers]

So, my dogs have been trying the famous (hello, Pam! : ) Iams Pro Active Health Mini Chunks in the green bag (chicken) for over two weeks now. Prior to that, they had been having diarrhea/loose stool for almost three months, after being treated for hooks again and often seeming to be set off by hot weather, and I was desperate (you read that right -- desperate). Their previous foods were Holistic Select Anchovy, Sardine and Salmon or raw for Simba, and Merrick canned or California Natural Herring and Sweet Potato with various add-ins or home-cooking for Stella. They have both had two five-day courses of Panacur and a ten-day run of Flagyl since this started. Fecal tests seem clear now, and they've had probiotics regularly since. I'm actually adding a small amount of additional beet pulp to the Iams, and if you kindly read on....

 

Pros:

• Poos are, in fact, pick-up-able, sometime even bouncy enough that I need to chase them down a hill.
  
• Both dogs are eating the same food for the first time ever: Simba shows no signs of food sensitivity in terms of skin irritation, picky Stella is actually chowing down kibble without add-ins except beet pulp even at breakfast.
  
• No more liquidy poo in the house (someone was getting desperate enough while I was asleep to sneak downstairs to poo at the worst stage of this and it was urgent enough that they weren't waking me to go out).
  

Cons:

• There's LOT of, er, residue. Like picking up after elephants. Pick-up-able, true. But where before I could reliably take two poop bags plus one extra just in case each walk, I'm carrying the whole roll. On a single walk, I've carried five full bags of poop back for two hounds. Before, they used three or four bags over the course of a full day's worth of walks. Our walking schedule hasn't changed.
  
• Going by calories per cup, Simba should be eating about 4 cups of Iams a day, and Stella a little more than 3 cups. So far, I can't feed either of them much more than a little over 2 cups a day, significantly less than either of them need, without causing loose stools. Both hounds have lost a little weight; but when I up the amount a smidge, they both get loose again.
  

Where do I go from here? Switch back to previous foods and add beet pulp to those? Is there anything that helps with hot weather-induced diarrhea if that's even what this is? Should I add enzymes in addition to probiotics? Do another fecal analysis and culture? What am I missing and how do I get this right again? Our vet thinks they're clear of anything that could cause this.

[Hubcitypam]

Boy, I don't know what to tell you. Every time I've fed Iams the poops were much smaller and darker than with other foods.

[revamp]

No thoughts here, either. Rocky has been on Iams green bad (regular chunks) for about a week now, and his poos aren't any bulkier than when I had him on flint river ranch trout and sweet potato (except now they are formed as opposed to puddles). Rocky is 72lbs and I feed him two measured cups of the iams twice daily (although I am still trying to put a little weight on him--I'd like him closer to 75lbs).

[sweetdogs]

Go raw & only raw. There are good threads here with lots of info. No offense to anyone, but I would never feed beet pulp (what the hell is it?) to a dog. They're carnivores & need meat & raw bones. The increase in poop is what's indigestible - no wonder they're losing weight & get diarrhea from it. I get tiny wee poops from my guys on raw. If there's something that one or both are sensitive to, found in many of the foods you've fed, you'll be able to weed it out.

[ClarksMom]

Are you still putting the probotics in with the Iams? If so, could you leave the probotics out and see how they do w/o it?

 

Clark can eat about anything, but Runner had the same issue. And like you, I had tried all the additives, had fecals, etc., none of which worked. But as soon as I switched to Iams (and I mean with the first poop), Runner had solid poop and has never had a problem since (unless I give him a chewie or something).

 

Good luck! I know it's frustrating.

[revamp]

No offense to anyone, but I would never feed beet pulp (what the hell is it?) to a dog....no wonder they're losing weight & get diarrhea from it.

 

I'm glad you feed in a manner which you're comfortable with and which works for your dogs.

 

The idea that you would come in here and attempt to make someone feel foolish or uncaring in regards to what they feed their dogs *is* offensive. Also, your personal opinion touted as medical information (implying that feeding kibble is what is causing weight loss and diarrhea) *is* foolish.

 

Suggesting raw is fine. Providing information and resources is great. Judging someone else for what they choose to feed and implying they are harming their pets because they aren't doing exactly what you have chosen to do is unnecessary and unwelcome.

[Riverhound]

I also feed Iams, and get more poop than I'd like to have to deal with, but they seem happy and healthy. Joe's a little thin, but he's always been inclined to be skinny. Brees is at a nice weight. If you know that more Iams is bad for them, maybe modify Deirdre's suggestion and toss them a chicken quarter once in a while if their systems can handle it.

[sweetdogs]

No offense to anyone, but I would never feed beet pulp (what the hell is it?) to a dog....no wonder they're losing weight & get diarrhea from it.

 

I'm glad you feed in a manner which you're comfortable with and which works for your dogs.

 

The idea that you would come in here and attempt to make someone feel foolish or uncaring in regards to what they feed their dogs *is* offensive. Also, your personal opinion touted as medical information (implying that feeding kibble is what is causing weight loss and diarrhea) *is* foolish.

 

Suggesting raw is fine. Providing information and resources is great. Judging someone else for what they choose to feed and implying they are harming their pets because they aren't doing exactly what you have chosen to do is unnecessary and unwelcome.

Thank you for your opinion.

[NeylasMom]

Going by calories per cup, Simba should be eating about 4 cups of Iams a day, and Stella a little more than 3 cups. So far, I can't feed either of them much more than a little over 2 cups a day, significantly less than either of them need, without causing loose stools.

If you read my thread in this forum (title says something about "garbage" kibble ) you'll see that I was having issues with my foster Skye. After resounding recs to try the Iams green bag, I went ahead and bought something else because I couldn't bring myself to buy food that had corn meal and by products. But when that didn't seem to be helping the volume issue, I exchanged it for the Iams (similar feelings of desperation were overcoming me ). Anyway, I decided to feed based on what the bag said rather than what she was eating on previous kibbles despite the fact that it seemed kind of low to me. She seems to be maintaining her weight (and she's quite active) at 1 1/2 cups per day. She weighs 30 lbs and the feeding rec for 30 lbs is 1 1/4 - 1 3/4 daily. All of this to say, I had to feed less than I expected and if she weren't super active, I would expect to have to feed even less so I would go more by their weight than what you think you ought to be feeding.

 

Having said that, Skye's stool is definitely more compact and has firmed up on the food. She does need an extra potty trip to poop before bedtime so volume is not necessarily as little as I would like, but it's definitely much better. She's had one accident in her crate since the switch, but there are multiple factors at play so it's hard to determine what caused it.

[Hubcitypam]

Go raw & only raw. There are good threads here with lots of info. No offense to anyone, but I would never feed beet pulp (what the hell is it?) to a dog. They're carnivores & need meat & raw bones. The increase in poop is what's indigestible - no wonder they're losing weight & get diarrhea from it. I get tiny wee poops from my guys on raw. If there's something that one or both are sensitive to, found in many of the foods you've fed, you'll be able to weed it out.

Well, I think you *might* have offended a few people. Sort of like stepping into a thread on the topic of Oreo vs. Hydrox and telling everyone that the only cookies fit to eat are homemade ones. Not everyone has a desire to feed raw.

 

The leader of one of the biggest adoption groups here tried it and went back to kibble. She said it was almost a full time job trying to get them a balanced diet and she got tired of always having a parade of bloody body parts in her fridge or sink.

 

As far as what is beet pulp, it is what is left over after they process the sugar out of sugar beets - sugar beets are big business in south Texas. Here's a link that may explain a bit.

http://www.filadog.com/beet_pulp.htm

[Guest jbox]

I would try Iams Lamb & Rice. Mine didn't do as well on the green bag. 2 cups twice a day works well for my grey. The lamb & rice has less fat in it which is why I think it works better if you have a grey that is sensitive to too much fat intake which obviously mine is.

[MaryJane]

Iams has a new food - fish and barley that you might try (in a light blue bag). It also doesn't have any chicken or grains.

[a_daerr]

We tried Science Diet, TOTW, and Diamond Naturals in the past and always ended up with runny poops. After a few years of this, I tried Iams green bag with much success. I do know what you mean- my boys seem to have larger poops on the green bag. They haven't lost or gained any weight, so I'm okay with it. It just seems a lot easier than buying a more expensive brand and then having to mix probiotics or beet pulp in.