Anyone Having Issues With Sorbitol And Diarrhea?

[RaineysMom]

I would definitely start with another round of Panacur (together with the metronidazole/flagyl) and a bland diet for a few days. Some types of parasites are notorious for not showing up on fecals - we had three negative ones before the one that ultimately showed our poor boy to be loaded with hookworms.

YES. WORMS!!! Zeke had horrible D for 2 months and finally after 2 rounds of Panacur and one of Drontal Plus (plus at least 11 days of metronidazole) and switching him to Iam's Lamb and Rice. He's been a LOT better and we still don't know (but suspect) if it was just the worms, or other issues too, like his food was chicken based and maybe that doesn't agree with him.

[Guest Giselle]

If you haven't already, I think you should talk to the adoption reps to determine first whether this is acute or chronic. Has she always had runny poos or did it appear suddenly with a previous case of parasites?

 

If it is something she has always had, the problem is likely functional and chronic. Something about her gut motility is probably amped up such that it promotes diarrhea, similar to IBS in people. For these cases, the underlying etiology is usually unknown and you'll just have to experiment around until you find a good individual solution. The other possibility is that she is intolerant to some food ingredient and that constant exposure has given her constant runny poo. The solution to this would be easier, as you could likely figure it out through an elimination diet. The best case scenario (weird, right?) is that she simply has a persistent case of some type of parasite. This would be easiest to treat, but it seems like her fecals and history seem to indicate that it's probably the former two rather than the latter. Regardless, I'd try to get her history from your adoption group just to make sure whether it's an acute or chronic case.

[Guest kaiandsam]

I could have sworn my vet said sorbitol was bad for dogs.

[KF_in_Georgia]

I could have sworn my vet said sorbitol was bad for dogs.

Sorbitol isn't particularly bad for dogs, and you'll often find it in dental products for dogs. Xylitol is the sweetener that can be fatal.

[DaisyDoodle]

I would consider a food allergy/sensitivity as the culprit. You can test this by switching to a new food, but slowly and stick with the new food unless it is causing worsened problems. (Switching foods every couple of weeks doesn't work, it makes matters worse.)

 

You can also have allergy testing done if you want to spend the money to do so.

[Guest daniellering]

Hi there,

 

Sorry again for not getting back to you all. I have to get used to using this forum; I didn't realize there were new messages. Plus, I'm preggo with my first, so that's my blanket excuse ;-)

 

So I found out through trial and error that she does not do well on chicken or rice, but that her system seems happiest with ground beef and sweet potato. I was cooking that for her, and giving it with prescription i/d kibble from the vet. Things worked great for a while, but she stopped wanting to eat the kibble. I didn't want to keep throwing out expensive kibble, so I switched to a kibble that my local pet store recommended, Nature's Variety Limited Ingredient Diet Lamb Meal. She did great on the small bag, but of course right after I bought the large bag, she started having mucous in her stool and waking me in the middle of the night to go out. I'm not a fan of 3:00 AM wake-up calls (at least not before I have this kid), so I've been just giving her the beef/sweet potato mixture and leaving out the kibble, and what do you know, she's much better!

 

However... I don't know if I can keep up the cooking over the long-term. She eats a lot of food and she can still stand to gain more weight. In a few weeks, we're taking our "babymoon" and she'll be kept at a kennel with a huge outdoor area in the country for a week. I'm up to my ears in sweet potatoes and beef, and I just can't seem to make enough between feedings now and freezing for later.

 

I'm guessing at this point it's a food allergy and not parasites. I'll have to look up some more information on that. Mainly I need to make things easier on myself for the next year or so since I'm not going to have as time as I do now. I"m thinking about going back to the I/D for now just to keep her calories up. I feel bad if she doesn't like it, but I guess she'll eat it when she's hungry enough (I still plan to supplement it with the homecooked food).

 

Thanks so much for your advice. I promise to check back again soon!

 

Danielle & Chelsea

[Batmom]

Danielle, I've cooked for a couple of dogs now. I do batches -- I usually cook every @2 weeks. I package what I've cooked into individual meals, leave a couple days' worth in the fridge and put the rest in the freezer. It seems like a giant production but really takes only a couple hours, and then you're done for quite a long time. In between bouts of cooking for the dog(s), if the people are having the same thing for dinner, I'll make some extra -- another meal or two taken care of with no fuss .

 

For limited periods of time, you might be able to feed your good homecooking mixed with canned ID rather than dry ID. Most dogs find the canned more palatable. It is more expensive tho.

 

Also for limited periods, same reason, you might be able to feed freeze-dried beef patties instead of cooked beef. IIRC a couple manufacturers make these with no funky additives; believe Stella & Chewy's is one. I haven't looked for canned/frozen cooked sweet potatoes with no additives but there might be some, and that too would save you time in a pinch.

 

Best luck!

[Walliered]

I have had good success with Iams in the green bag.

[Hubcitypam]

FWIW - Merrick makes a beef and sweet potato kibble. It has a lot of different proteins but beef and beef liver are the first two and there's no chicken or rice.

http://www.petfooddirect.com/Product/53090/Merrick-Grain-Free-Real-Texas-Beef-And-Sweet-Potato-Recipe-Dry-Dog-Food

[Guest daniellering]

Thanks for the advice! I'm trying to buy more and more food and cook bigger batches, but it still seems like it only lasts about 5 days at the most if I just feed her the homecooked food.

My pots and pans don't fit everything! I like the idea of the canned potatoes--hadn't thought of that. Funny, I also thought that we have not had sweet potatoes some time ourselves for dinner and that I should incorporate our own meals into the process ;-)

 

I will check on the Iams and did not realize about the Merrick. My lesson is to only buy small bags for a few months. I've thrown out a few large bags of kibble a month after she developed issues.

 

I also wrote her vet for her advice. I'm sure she's annoyed that I switched kibble again, but I thought our problems were over.

[Guest OPointyDog]

I've thrown out a few large bags of kibble a month after she developed issues.

 

I've developed a whole network of people I give 1/2 bags of dogfood to. I sent a message out to our adoption group list, and found out who feeds what and gave away a lot of them.

 

I have had pretty much exactly the same experiences you have. I buy a small bag and things go OK, and then we get a big bag and everything falls apart.... Our laundry room looks like a dog food depot.

[Batmom]

You can take those bags back to the store and get a refund. If a store refuses you, call the manufacturer's 1-800 number. All you have to say is, the food made my dog ill. All the manufacturers guarantee their foods these days.

[Guest daniellering]

A friend offered to take the food to a shelter she knows needs it (we already put it in a container and threw away the bag). In the meantime, my vet recommended Purina e/n, but also mentioned Wellness fish/sweet potato. I guess I'll do the homecooking for while we're away so she doesn't have issues, then try the Wellness and/or Merrick when we get back.

[a_daerr]

My lesson is to only buy small bags for a few months. I've thrown out a few large bags of kibble a month after she developed issues.

 

 

I'm not accusing you of doing this, but I had a co-worker that switched her dog's food all the time when she first got him. She'd try a little bag of this, a little bag of that. And every single one gave the dog diarrhea. She then concluded that her dog was allergic to most forms of poultry, beef, grain, and corn, as well as lactose intolerant. But really, there was nothing wrong with the dog. She just never him on one food long enough to see real results. The dog was getting sick not from the food, but from the constant switching.

 

My point is this. It usually takes 4-6 weeks before a dog adjusts to a new food. Often times, you can't buy a small bag (that may only last a week) and be able to make a determination on whether or not the food is working out. It's also best to introduce the food slowly on a 25%-50%-75% transition over the course of 10-14 days. My advice is just to find ONE food and stick with it for awhile. Don't get discouraged at the first sign of diarrhea. If that happens, just scale back the kibble and bump up the bland diet. Reintroduce the kibble when things start to level out. It's a process, but if you do it right, the dog is able to transition with minimal problems.

[Guest OPointyDog]

I agree to some extent, and some dogs are very sensitive to food changes. Others aren't. Switching food too often can definitely be detrimental.

 

That being said, however, I think there are instances when you know for sure after just a small amount that the food is not going to work. Particularly if you are transitioning off a bland food like boiled meat and rice, and you add a small amount of a new food and diarrhea starts up again, there's a not unreasonable chance that food isn't going to work for that dog. Even just a handful of some kinds of food cause Mika's poop to turn to yellow liquid. I try to do 14 day transitions, but if the diarrhea starts, I back up to the previous mixture that was OK. Sometimes we have to go back to square one with just meat and rice again. So far we haven't found any kinds of commercial kibble that work for him. But before I start a new food, I switch him back to hamburger and rice for at least a week, get the diarrhea under control, and then very, very slowly try a new one. But it only takes a small amount sometimes to know that it's not going to work - which is why we have so many bags!

 

Sounds like from the other thread that the OP is actually dealing with hookworms, so hopefully treating those will help.

[Guest daniellering]

 

It usually takes 4-6 weeks before a dog adjusts to a new food. Often times, you can't buy a small bag (that may only last a week) and be able to make a determination on whether or not the food is working out.

 

 

I totally understand this point, which is what my adoption rep and vet have said. I have tried her on several foods recommended by each of them, including Nutro, Purina Dog Chow (for bulking up stool) and finally the I/D. She had explosive diarrhea with the first two, and wouldn't eat the I/D. She'd wake me up in the middle of the night several times and have accidents in the house. So I get the not switching too often, but being the one to get up and clean up, it's hard to keep feeding her the kibble making her sick, especially when I was in the first trimester and dealing with housebreaking in the freezing cold.

 

Plus, my last grey, who died in Sept, due to chronic renal failure, required home cooking, balancing supplements, fluids, etc. I"m still exhausted from doing everything possible to keep her quality of life as long as I could. Of course I loved her with all of my heart, but it was definitely difficult to keep up the whole routine. I was looking forward to a young, healthy pup! Again, I will go an extra several miles to keep Chelsea happy and healthy; it's just a stressful process.

 

I do thank you for the advice and insight, and will keep all in mind as I figure this out. You all are the best!

Edited May 10, 2013 by daniellering

[Burpdog]

Where do you live? Can you get frozen BilJac?

[Guest daniellering]

Hi Diane, I live in McLean, VA, just outside DC. I'm not sure but I'll check!