Puppy Food?

[Guest WhiteWave]

Joey has never had firm poop. It has gotten to the point it is just big mushy pudding piles. He was on Science Diet puppy when I got him and I switched him to Native Level 3 puppy and he it was firmer, but still not formed. Victor brand dog food just become available and I put Ronon, Joey and Jack on the Hi Pro. Ronon and Jack are fine, but Joey poop was firmer at first (but still not formed) but it is getting worse.

 

He was wormed before I got him, and 2x at the vets since then and I did a 3 day course of Panacur. Fecals were negative.

 

I tried adding can pumpkin- made it worse. I tried oatmeal- no change. Yogurt made it worse.

 

If I get a chance to get the health food store, I wanna pick up some slippery elm.

 

Last 2 days I tried feeding him Casper's grain free fish based food and it is still mush, but I did a complete change w/o transition, but it isn't any worse than it was before.

 

Any suggestions?

[Riverhound]

*cough* Iams in the green bag *cough*

[Scooby172]

When I got Jack he had Coccidia, Giardia, round worms and tape worms he also had a bad cough and an infection in both eyes. With all his meds to treat his various difficulties, I never thought I would get a firm poop. Once he settled in, got healthy and we found a food he did well on, his poop firmed up. Depending on what he gets into in the yard, sticks, rabbit poop etc. his poop is good to sometimes mushy. Jack started out on TOTW then switched to Blue Wilderness.

Linda, Jack and Keeva

[Guest WhiteWave]

Iams has never worked on any dog I've fed it too. Ronon had major "D" on Iams. Whatever I feed, Ronon and Jack need to be able to eat too. They are all very active and I need higher protein/fat and higher kcal/cup. I only want to buy 2 different foods each month. Casper, Pongo and Rocky have to have lower fat, calorie and limited ingredient foods.

 

Part of the problem is Joey does eat stuff he isn't suppose to. Sticks and stuff from the yard, cat food, steals off the counter, etc. So I'm not sure if it is the food or the extra stuff he gets into.

[greysmom]

What are the proteins in the foods you mentioned. The two culprits are either the protein source or the carb source (if it's a food problem and not something medical). Have you tried a bland diet for a week or so? A protein source - fish (tilapia is good), chicken, or beef - boiled and rinsed; and a carb source - lots of people recommend rice but mine have never digested it properly, so I usually use mashed sweet or regular potatoes or pasta.

 

I've been very pleased with our results since we switched to NutraNuggets about a year ago. They have a puppy formula, but Lilly was on the adult version after she was about five months old. We use the Lamb & Rice with the lower protein - they also have a higher one for active dogs. We have good poops and no tummy troubles or gas.

[a_daerr]

Probably not the answer you wanted to hear, but we feed Iams (yellow bag, large breed puppy) for Truman. Tried Science Diet, TOTW, and Diamond Naturals before that, and Iams is the only thing he's ever done well on. I also supplement with Nutro canned puppy food (chicken and oatmeal for sensitive stomachs).

[Guest WhiteWave]

Native was chicken/rice. Victor has multi protein (beef, chicken, pork, ocean fish meal) grains (millet and sorghum). The food I just started him on is salmon and ocean fish meal w/ sweet potatoes and peas.

[krissy]

Kili came to me from the breeder on Purina ProPlan Puppy. I switched her to Medical Intestinal Puppy because I got a free bag from work (it was about to expire), then switched to Medical Development. Now I'm switching to Hill's Healthy Advantage Puppy because I'm hoping the food was the reason why she has been SOOO thirsty (I doubt it though). Tonight she has BAD gas. I'm hoping it's all the extra treats she had today for training and not the new food because otherwise we'll have to switch back.

 

Poops have always been pretty good though regardless of what I feed. I wouldn't call them FIRM, but they are certainly formed and can be picked up easily.

[Guest WhiteWave]

I am thinking of giving Pro Plan Performance a go. Never had an issue with it and raised my Dobe pups on it. Joey is so incrediable active, regular adult foods aren't going to cut it. Plus even with Ronon if I don't feed performance foods, I have to feed more food b/c he burns it off.

[kudzu]

FWIW we're having better luck with the Victor Hi Energy formula instead of the Hi Pro. They all did well on the grain free Victor but it took so much of it to keep weight on them. The Hi Energy seems to be helping a lot there. It still has plenty of protein for my pack. Not sure how it would work for yours. Hi Energy has less protein & more fat than the Hi Pro.

[Guest WhiteWave]

I thought about that too. Less protein, but still 20 % fat and plenty of calories. May give that a try next time, it is cheaper than the PPP. I have 30lbs of Hi Pro left to go thru first. I know when we cut the fat lower than 20%, they start dropping weight.

[cmc333]

never mind...I missed the word "puppy".

Edited November 27, 2012 by cmc333

[RedHead]

I know it is expensive (probably not feasible for multiple dogs) but Acana is an awesome food that you can get grain free, or with grains. A lot of people seem to have success with it in terms of the poop department when other grain free or high protein diets have failed (I just tried a bag,and can agree...by far the best poops!).

[cleptogrey]

*cough* Iams in the green bag *cough*

_{and rice. do talk to your vet}

[Guest WhiteWave]

I know it is expensive (probably not feasible for multiple dogs) but Acana is an awesome food that you can get grain free, or with grains. A lot of people seem to have success with it in terms of the poop department when other grain free or high protein diets have failed (I just tried a bag,and can agree...by far the best poops!).

 

I was feeding Acana before I got Joey. It was costing $180 a month then. Victor is costing me $90 and as far it goes, my other dogs are looking as good or better on the Victor as they did on Acana. Plus Acana just made some ingredient changes.

 

I will not feed anything made by Diamond.

 

And rice makes it worse.

 

Vets just wants to put him on Science Diet, but admits the Greyhounds they keep for blood donor dogs have loose stool constantly on it!

 

Plus like I said, Ronon and Jack have to eat it too and Ronon has diarrhea and **ty coat on Iams when he ate it when my roommate was feeding it to her dog and I tried him on it.

Edited November 27, 2012 by WhiteWave

[krissy]

May not be ideal but you may need to consider feeding different foods to different dogs? The more individuals you have the lower the chances are of being able to feed one food.

[Guest WhiteWave]

I can not afford to buy more than 2 big bags a month so I can only do 2 different types of food do they are going to have to eat what I can afford.

[Guest mld]

Maybe you were using too much pumpkin, it can be used for both types of poops (diarrhea and constipation)

Also lamb is a good meat that is more tolerant to most dogs.

Maybe there is too much fat in your food.

I'm using Acana and I love it! The one I'm using doesn't have wheat or corn, but uses steel cut oats which can help bulk up the stools.

Edited November 27, 2012 by mld

[greytlucy]

I had a greyhound with a lot of sensitivities...I raised him from a pup and put him on CA Natural lamb and rice around age 9 mos. I also put my other greyhound on it at a time....they both did great on teh food for over ten years. I haven't fed it in a couple years now as both dogs are gone and I have my poodles on Acana but if they formulations haven't changed I'd recommend checking both their chicken and their lamb formulas out. Very few ingredients so great for dogs with allergies...

[cleptogrey]

flagyl??? sometimes it takes a couple of rounds to clean up the bacteria in their gut- so if there is some improvement w/ the first round, but the loose stools start again- ask for more. if not flagyl than another antibiotic to clean up the bacteria.

 

have you tried oatmeal since he doesn't respond to rice? i have NEVER had any luck w/ pumpkin.

 

i deal w/ giardia w/ felix as a pup, finally 3+rounds of flagyl help straighten him out. it seemed like forever and everytime he was treated w/ flagyl he developed bald patches, but fortunately the hair grew back.in my vet's 40 years of practice felix is the first dog to react that way- the coat filled in....stomach settled down.

[Guest WhiteWave]

We started with 1 tablespoon of pumpkin with each meal and then went up to 2 tablespoons. No difference.

 

Oatmeal doesn't help.

 

I may ask the vet for Flagyl and see if that will work. Part of it, I think are all the extras he manages to find. He can open cabinets now and helped himself to several bags of chips, cookies and other stuff! So I had to babygate the kitchen off so he can't get in there! He is sneaky too!

[Guest mld]

I would definitely see a vet, constant diarrhea can't be comfortable!

[Guest rennina]

We started with 1 tablespoon of pumpkin with each meal and then went up to 2 tablespoons. No difference.

 

Oatmeal doesn't help.

 

I may ask the vet for Flagyl and see if that will work. Part of it, I think are all the extras he manages to find. He can open cabinets now and helped himself to several bags of chips, cookies and other stuff! So I had to babygate the kitchen off so he can't get in there! He is sneaky too!

 

Have you tried cooked white rice? It worked for my baby girl. Pumpkin or oatmeal didn't.

[Guest WhiteWave]

Day 2 of the Yukon and poop is starting to get a form instead of liquid. I am going to continue with it for a while and see if keeps improving. Protein is salmon/ocean fish and carb is peas/sweet potatoe.

[Guest mld]

Sounds like it's getting better!