What Is Likely To Be Causing The Very Sloppy Poop

[Guest barnsleyfan]

Had my dog 3 weeks. Poop have never really been solid - can never pick it all up but got worse last few days.

Continued to feed her what she had at rescue centre - 600g of 20% protein complete and 400g of tinned dog food (or tin of sardines in oil).

For first week i put it down to environment and stress, but it has never really improved. She is also very gassy for around 8 hours after eating her main meal. Also for last 5 days i have been adding a 1000mg cod liver oil capsule to her food.

Her typical daily diet is

1 cup of cornflakes and 1 cup of skimmed milk

15 winalot shapes dog biscuits

600g complete and 40og dog food (or about 200g sardines) started with dog food but had switched to sardines for last 3 days to see if that changed sloppiness

1000mg cod liver oil

occasional treat (dog chew/choc drops etc)

 

Are any of the above likely to be making the poop worse. eg the cod liver oil is described as high strength - is 1000mg too much for a 25kg bitch?

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated - what should we be changing and at what point should we see a vet?

[OwnedBySummer]

I'm assuming your pup doesn't have any internal parasites? So with that out of the way...

 

Many dogs can't handle milk. I wouldn't personally feed milk to a dog, well, maybe just a tiny taste. Milk can cause diarrhea and could be your culprit.

 

Not sure about the reason behind the human breakfast cereal? Corn is a controversial item for dogs and, although corn is in MY dog's kibble, I wouldn't add additional corn in the form of human cereal. Also, the 2nd ingredient in Kellogg's Corn Flakes is sugar.

 

I googled "Winalot shapes", as we don't have those here and I didn't know what they are. Unless I have the wrong results, they are multi-colored and multi-shaped dog cookies. The ingredient list is kind of vague, being "Cereals, Meat and animal derivatives, Oils and fats, Derivatives of vegetable origin, Vegetables, Minerals". I would want to know what cereals, what meat and derivatives, what kinds of fats, etc. That's just a weird ingredient list to me. I couldn't find the calorie count, either. You did say you are feeding 15 of these every day -- that just sounds like an awful lot. If I was feeding my dog 15 dog cookies a day, I don't know if she'd have any caloric need for a kibble breakfast meal. Are they super tiny or something?

 

When you add all these cereal-based cookies to the cornflakes and then whatever grains are in the kibble... it sounds like a lot of grains. In addition to the milk. All of which can cause diarrhea and gas.

 

I tried to figure out how much kibble you are feeding, assuming that "600g complete" is kibble? -- 600g = 1.3 lbs. Normally, kibble is measured for feeding not by weight but by cups. I took out my kitchen scale and weighed Summer's food and determined, based on her kibble, that 600g is just over 5 cups. This isn't necessarily the same for YOUR kibble, though. The canned "400g dog food" is a can which is just slightly larger than the average North American dog food can. That's a lot of food for a 55 lb. girl, IMHO. Not being able to process and absorb all that food coming in one end... can just slide on out the other end.

 

I have never fed a dog cod liver oil so I can't comment on that. I'm sure someone else will know!

Edited June 1, 2013 by OwnedBySummer

[Batmom]

I would cut out the cornflakes, skimmed milk, cod liver oil, and possibly the tinned food for 5-6 days. If her stools firm up, then you can try adding things back one at a time, wait 5-6 days to make sure stools are still good, then add another .....

 

I will say, 600g seems like a lot of food for a dog her size but if she is very active that might be OK. I also don't know how many calories are in that 600g. Keep an eye on her weight -- if she is getting more food than she needs (of any type), then that alone can cause loose stools.

 

Here in the US, the most common cause of loose stools is worms! so if making some dietary changes doesn't help her, I would have a fecal analysis done.

 

If stool is formed, I consider food first of all. If it isn't even formed -- if it's completely liquid -- then I go to the vet if there is no improvement in 2-3 days. I'll go to the vet sooner if dog seems ill in other respects.

 

Good luck, and congratulations on your new pup!

[Guest barnsleyfan]

Thanks for the quick replies. I got the 600g wrong. I should have put 600ml - I use a measuring jug and i wrote down the 600 wrong!!!

 

I was basing the diet on what others said they fed at the rescue centre.

 

The description of the winalot shapes is accurate. Again on the box it suggests around that number for a dog of 25kg

 

Having been feeding the cereal for a few weeks, she has probably got used to her breakfast. What do you suggest as an alternative in the morning - she currently gets her main feed around 4pm.

[Batmom]

The cornflakes probably aren't an issue but the milk could be. How about a handful of her dry food, a half handful of cornflakes, and some warm water for breakfast?

[OwnedBySummer]

Phew! 2 1/2 cups is more in line with what I would think you'd be feeding than 5+ cups.

I still find the cereal and milk thing very strange -- I've only ever heard of one other person feeding human cereal and that was an adopter in Australia. I'm very suspicious about the milk contributing to the problem --- here's an article which may interest you. Milk (lactose) can cause loose stools and gas

As to breakfast, I feed 70 lb. Summer her kibble for breakfast (she only gets 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups but the calorie count may be totally different from yours, as could the actual size of the pieces), with the addition of a bit of hot water. At dinner, she gets a 374g can of moist dog food. So she still gets breakfast but it's more species appropriate. She gets a cookie (a small Milkbone) at bedtime. During the day, there's a couple of treats which happen, usually a dehydrated duck or chicken foot, maybe a dehydrated tendon, maybe even another Milkbone). But no more than a couple of cookies.

Edited June 1, 2013 by OwnedBySummer

[Batmom]

OwnedBySummer's method of dividing up meals is a good one, too.

 

My dogs normally get @ 1/2 their daily food in the early morning, and @ 1/2 in the late afternoon. Then they have a snack, which is a large handful of training treats, during evening games/structured playtime. No reason a person has to do it like this; I'm just giving it as another example .

[greysmom]

Don't use the "recommended daily amount" on the box of treats (or canned food or kibble) as a guideline to what you "should" be feeding her. We give our greys *a lot* of treats compared to others and even then they don't come near having 15 Milkbones a day. That's A LOT, in addition to her other food. Generally, you will want to decrease your regular food to lessen the caloric addition of the treats.

 

If you're also putting a whole tin of sardines on her food, that could also be causing her loose stools. That's a lot of fat to pass through her system.

 

Batmom's suggestion is what we usually do here in the States: 1/2 their daily kibble in the morning (about 1 cup at our house) and 1/2 (another cup) in the evening. On their kibble is a large spoonful of canned food mixed with some water to make gravy, and a squirt or two of salmon oil. In the morning they get a large spoonful of live-culture yogurt as a probiotic boost.

 

They get a cereal-based type commercial chew bone after dinner for teeth cleaning. They also occasionally get some bites of people food, including a few slurps of milk from the carton. Our dogs have no issues with dairy products, but many greyhounds can't tolerate it at all.

 

They also get commercial treats (similar to your Winalot biscuits), one each, after each meal, upon coming in the house after play, and to help them settle when we eat our meals, and sometimes just because (so maybe 5-6 a day).

 

Yes, she likely won't like it when you take away her cornflakes in the morning! Be strong and don't let her give you the BIG EYES to make you give in. She will probably pout a little too!

[ramonaghan]

Don't have anything to add to what the others have said re: loose stool, but for the gassiness a spoonful of plain, unsweetened low-fat yogurt (Greek or regular) at breakfast has worked wonders for our female. She could clear a room when we first got her, but she almost never has gas now.