Loose Poops - Running Out Of Ideas...

[Guest rgdaniel]

Hi folks,

We've had Cody since mid May or so, he's had runny poops from day one, never had a normal one. We had at least two stool sample checked for worms, negative. He's been on two different probiotics sprinkled on food, and I think we did the worm pills as well, even though negative both times.

Foodwise, we've tried Orijen Fish (which our other dog happened to be on), then Merrick's Bison, then California Natural Herring, and now Royal Canin Large Breed. I also put him on brown rice ONLY for a day and a half, and have tried sprinkling ground flax on his food, and adding some canned pumpkin to his kibble. The best we've ever managed is "soft but formed" poops, just barely pick-uppable. And it never lasts. And that was after the rice only, which obviously he can't stay on for long. All of the above having come from reading these forum posts (and thanks!).

He's happy and seems otherwise healthy and well-adjusted. We've not even had any "accidents" in recent days, but whether that's down to the Royal Canin or not, I can't say. The RC does seem to have helped his dandruff, which is almost gone.

I'm not sure we want to go the "raw" route yet, but I'm holding it in reserve as a future strategy. Any other tips for how to proceed? Or a simple way to feed raw, if it comes to that? (Haven't researched that as thoroughly as other things, yet. Our boy raced in the Texas / Oklahoma area and is three years old. We're up in Canada, so the summer hasn't been as hot as he's used to, I expect.

(Our other dog, a "Valley Bulldog" (boxer/bulldog) is enjoying a custom blend of all the rejected foods, and is doing perfect).

[Guest OPointyDog]

A lot of people on this board have tried lots of different foods to solve this problem and then ended up on the Iams green bag. The beet pulp in it seems to slow down food through the digestive tract and help a lot of greyhounds with pudding poop! I know it's not high end food, but it works for many people! Do a search in this forum on "diarrhea" and I think you'll find lots of posts.

 

A caveat - I've been through this twice already. One of my greys is now on Iams red bag (lamb) since the chicken didn't agree with her. The other one ended up on a high fiber, low fat prescription food (Purina DCO).

 

Other things to try - once they've been having diarrhea for awhile, sometimes a bland, highly digestible diet is needed for awhile, combined with an antibiotic to help balance their gut. You might consider overboiled mushy WHITE rice (easier to digest) and either boiled beef or boiled chicken for a few days and see if that helps, maybe combined with Flagyl or tylan powder. Then try a new food.

[Guest heathertrent]

I had the same problem with my Riley. We have had him almost a year and he has had tummy problems the entire time. Every test came back negative and we were out of ideas. We have discovered now that he is sensitive to many things in commercial dog food so no wheat, grain, corn, soy or gluten of any kind. We just switched him to raw a week or so ago but before that he was eating Natural Balance Limited Ingredient. It was the only food that that firmed his poop even a little bit. It was by far the best commercial dog food we tried. Hang in there, you will find what works for him.

 

Michelle

[macoduck]

I am an Iams green bag believer. Gracie was my first greyhound. I wanted to do right by her and so I launched into the fancier, more expensive dog foods. What ended up being right for her, and all of the greyhounds who came here later (with the exception of one on Rx kidney kibble), was the Iams green bag.

 

We also had tried canned pumpkin. With many greyhounds it really helps to firm them up. With others it can have the opposite effect. If it's gonna work, a teaspoon or 2 will do it.

[Guest rgdaniel]

Thanks for all the suggestions folks! Looks like IAMS has percolated to the top of my list of what to try next, I think. Can you tell me the exact variety name? It seems there was more than one IAMS in a green bag when I was getting the Royal Canin. Thanks!

[Guest FreeholdHound]

With the bland diet - discovered Harry does much better/faster on over cooked pasta (elbow macaroni) than the rice. For the past year I've tried it all it seems, Iams, pumpkin, beet pulp, yogurt & many food changes. Turns out he's intolerant to chicken, turkey, salmon, white fish, venison & sweet potato. Yeah--- that takes out most kibbles lol. I have found Natures Logic Beef formula has worked wonders. They're Sardine Formula is working out well also. Poo isn't "bouncing or rolling down a hill" but it's not milkshake anymore & I don't remove the lawn trying to pick it up. THAT is fine by me.

 

Good luck, stay with it - I KNOW how frustrating it is... But you will find the right thing Im sure.

[Hubcitypam]

Iams Proactive Health - comes in large and small bites. I tried everything with Rex. California Naturals, Solid Gold, Natural Balance limited ingredient and a few more. Then I got so fed up I just bought Iams. I'd fed it for years before those "in the know" lectured me about the demon cor. Fixed him right up.

[macoduck]

Here's link to a picture of the green bag: http://www.walmart.com/ip/23370270?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227017330233&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=29710003870&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=50360319190&veh=sem

Mine prefer the "mini-chunks" (small kibble).

[FiveRoooooers]

I am an Iams green bag believer. Gracie was my first greyhound. I wanted to do right by her and so I launched into the fancier, more expensive dog foods. What ended up being right for her, and all of the greyhounds who came here later (with the exception of one on Rx kidney kibble), was the Iams green bag.

 

We also had tried canned pumpkin. With many greyhounds it really helps to firm them up. With others it can have the opposite effect. If it's gonna work, a teaspoon or 2 will do it.

I feed Iams mini chunks and my campers do really well on it.

Yes! The same is is true for yogurt. It works for some but not for everyone. Segugio was on Tylan powder for a very long time and it is a staple in our cupboard.

[Guest FreeholdHound]

I think the Iams most frequently mentioned is Iams Proctive Health Mini Chunks Chicken (Green Bag) and the Proactive Health Lamb/Rice (Red Bag). Others have had real success with these, not so much here. Good luck!

[Guest rgdaniel]

I think the Iams most frequently mentioned is Iams Proctive Health Mini Chunks Chicken (Green Bag) and the Proactive Health Lamb/Rice (Red Bag). Others have had real success with these, not so much here. Good luck!

Awesome, thanks for those who clarified this, and for all the suggestions. Going to look into this Tylan stuff as well, though I had hoped to fix him up with finding the right food before getting into more medicine. But whatever it takes, right?

[Guest Doggone]

I've put Autumn on IAMS green bag to firm her up, but she's not too wild about the flavor (or the smell?). I've gotten around this by a. In the morning, when she only gets dry food, I put a little bit of smellier (tastier?) kibble on top, either a lamb-based or a salmon-based, and b. for her dinner, I mix 1/3 of canned food into the IAMS.

She's not extremely food-oriented, and won't go near vegetables, fruits, yogurts, or even peanut butter, so I'm glad I found kibble and canned food that appeals to her and makes the IAMSmore to her taste !

[a_daerr]

Another vote for IAMS green bag.

[Guest rgdaniel]

I've put Autumn on IAMS green bag to firm her up, but she's not too wild about the flavor (or the smell?).

Not to worry, probably... Cody always Hoovers up whatever I give him....

[RedHead]

If you are in Canada, you might also want to give the new "PC Nutrition" line a try. I just switched from Acana to that because it is basically the same food for almost half the price (and no ingredients from China!). The grain free one is fish and potato based AND it has beet pulp which is basically what helps with the Iams. You can get it at any grocery store that carries PC. If you need the ingredients I can check my bag.

 

 

[Guest WhiteWave]

Joey did best on NOW Fresh, Red Paw and Victor, but he never did truly well on any kibble. I finally went raw and his poop has been firm ever since. It is more of a hassle as I don't have an extra freezer right now, but he is doing so much better. I know many sing the praises of Iams- but it gave Joey horrible diarrhea, ear infections and his coat looked like crap and was dry and made me itchy. I tried it for over a month.

[Guest RMarie]

We dealt with similar issues with James. We ended up on IAMS green bag, as well. You might want to try it.

 

I also wanted to mention that you've gone through a lot of different foods in not a lot of time. Too many food switches can cause the gut to go haywire and give you a false impression on how the dog might do on the food. I'd pick a food and give in a few months to see if it works before switching again. It can take weeks to months to determine how your dog will respond to a given food.

 

In the meantime, a quick add-in to food that we found firmed up James' poops was tortilla chips.

[Guest rgdaniel]

 

I also wanted to mention that you've gone through a lot of different foods in not a lot of time. Too many food switches can cause the gut to go haywire and give you a false impression on how the dog might do on the food.

We've been a week or two on the Royal Canin, and have at least another week or two left in the bin. As it seems to be helping his coat at least, I'll give it the rest of the bag before I make a move. That said, if something works, it seems like it works almost right away, within a day or so, based on experiences noted here. By that logic, if it doesn't work fairly quickly, why would you keep feeding it? Maybe his gut will figure out a way to overcome the food in a month or two, but why put him through that if switching might help him almost right away? Personally, if tacos gave me the runs, I wouldn't eat tacos every day until I built up a tolerance, I'd think about maybe veggie wraps or something else.

[Guest shanesmom]

Another vote here for the Iams green bag. The results were immediate. Solid poop for the first time ever. It's been over a year and still very happy with the results. I used to buy the mini chunks but Ace was eating it way too fast and always hacking it up from inhaling it but now I buy the large breed with large chunks and he has to chew and eat slower so no more choking on it.

[DustysMom]

The only food that worked with two of my greyhounds was Hills prescription WD dry. I can also add some canned Evangers grain free chicken with no ill effects. I had tried many foods before WD but nothing worked well for either of them. With the WD we have "fabulous" poop!

[Guest psdirector]

Hutch had terrible diarrhea and gas when we got him, even after we got rid of his hookworms and he tested negative for giardia. He was on Iams green bag. Boiled beef or chicken and rice didn't help. The vet suggested trying a meat that he hadn't had before and removing grain from his diet. We put him on Natural Balance Venison and Sweet Potato and it was like magic within two days - perfect poos ever since.

[a_daerr]

We've been a week or two on the Royal Canin, and have at least another week or two left in the bin. As it seems to be helping his coat at least, I'll give it the rest of the bag before I make a move. That said, if something works, it seems like it works almost right away, within a day or so, based on experiences noted here. By that logic, if it doesn't work fairly quickly, why would you keep feeding it? Maybe his gut will figure out a way to overcome the food in a month or two, but why put him through that if switching might help him almost right away? Personally, if tacos gave me the runs, I wouldn't eat tacos every day until I built up a tolerance, I'd think about maybe veggie wraps or something else.

 

You're thinking about it too much like a human. Dogs don't have the same GI system as we do, and they aren't used to eating many different foods everyday. The reason why it is suggested you try a food for at least 4-6 weeks is because the dog's body may still be processing through the last food and adjusting to the new. If you only give each food a few days/weeks before switching again, the diarrhea you're seeing is probably NOT the result of the new food, but from the act of switching. Too many switches in a short amount of time can through his GI system into a tailspin, at which point, no food is going to work. I think many people give up too soon, then start believing the dog has allergies and intolerances to everything. It's frustrating, but you won't find one magic food. It can take awhile for the gut to stabilize before you'll see an improvement. My advice is to try the Iams and stick with it for at least 4 weeks.

[Guest rgdaniel]

Thanks again to everybody for all the suggestions, appreciate it!

You're thinking about it too much like a human.

Haha, yes, I tend to be limited that way... I don't know definitively what's really going on in a dog's GI tract, that much is certain. Anyway, for Cody, I will finish this bag of Royal Canin (1-2 weeks), blending him into some IAMS towards the end, then stick with that alone for a while. Even for treats (for training), we're sticking with the current kibble (no more RollOver, too bad, he loves it!)

[greyhead]

Vets don't often do culture-and-sensitivity tests on poop, but in a case like yours it should be considered. We went through this with one of our dogs, who had soft yellow poops for months following a dental. After changing foods repeatedly, to no effect, we found SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth) by means of the C&S. After curing it by means of three antibiotics, he wound up with IBD. Raw did help, and 1/3 of his diet was raw for the rest of his life. But by itself it wasn't a cure.

 

Btw, the germ that overgrew is one that's supposed to be there but in much, much, much smaller numbers. I sometimes think vets' reluctance to look for this kind of germ is because they well understand the first part of that sentence but not how critical the second part is!

[Guest rgdaniel]

Still mulling over the "how soon to switch" question... I know I've heard time and time again that when you've switched to a food that was effective, it was effective right away, within a day or two... and I acknowledge the argument about too much switching around being possibly hard on the dog... but has it ever been anyone's experience that "just giving it more time" has resulted in success after several weeks, say?... or are we just running out the clock until it's safe to change without upsetting the dog... just trying to do the right thing by our doggy...