Switched Foods... Now He's Pooping Inside

[Guest KTPrime]

So I posted on this in training and behavior because I thought him starting to poop inside was an issue of him not wanting to walk (and that's part of it, I'm sure), but I'm starting to really think that it's his change in food.

About a month ago, we found out Optimus was allergic to chicken. And it turns out, his limited ingredient brown rice and lamb had chicken fat. Not wanting to keep him on a food he's allergic too, we made the switch (very rapidly) to Natural Balance sweet potato and venison. Normally I would have done it more gradually but I was worried about the allergy so I made the transition over 4 or so days.

It seems to me that since we put him on this food he's been pooping a lot more--as in more frequently and at first his poops were HUGE. Like way bigger than previously. The size has come down to more normal but now we're having a problem with him going in the house, he seems much less able to hold it.

I managed to get him to poop outside this morning and I still came home to find two piles of poop (and pee for good measure) on the floor. One of the reasons I'm thinking it was the food is because usually, he doesn't eat in the mornings (because I'm not there) but I noticed this morning he was eating a fair amount of his food, and I came home to all the loveliness described above. I should mention BF also took him for a walk at 2am last night and he pooped and peed then. So we're talking 4 poops in like 12 hours.

I'm tempted to switch him but am afraid another switch will cause more gastro distress. Is it possible he will adjust in time to this food and not have to go so much? Or wdould you take the aforementioned events as a sign that he this food just runs right through him for whatever reason? As I think I mentioned, he's been on it about a month, we're about to come to the end of a 28-lb bag, which makes me think if he could adjust, he would. I bought him a new one today but now I'm thinking of returning it, though it's not like I can put him on his old food. Maybe I could try the fish version?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm incredibly anxious about this because we're moving in a few weeks, and I really don't want my first house to be immediately ruined by dog waste.

[cristar]

I tried Natural Balance with two of my greys once and both

had huge poops and about 4-5 times a day. It was the potato

and duck formula. The amount and size never decreased so I

took them both off Natural Balance completely.

 

Right now we're on Taste of the Wild. Tried the bison and then

we ended up with constipation. Tried the fish formula and the

constipation got worse. Finally went to the lamb formula and have

been on that for 2 years now with nice, solid poops all the time,

but that's just the formula that has agreed with Frannie.

A lot of greys can't handle the lamb based foods but have you looked

into any other of the Taste of the Wild formulas?

Seems to have worked the best for us.

 

Poop stuff....what a headache it can be to figure out!

[NeylasMom]

I would try switching to a different food that's likely to produce less volume and see if it helps. It sounds to me like you may have multiple issues going on, but the stool volume could be a part of it. What about a grain free food like Evo? That would likely produce less stool.

[Guest Houston1219]

I have little to offer advice wise, but the peeing "for good measure" sounds familiar! Could the food a dog is on have effects such as this(peeing in the house)? We have been on one food for well over a year but we have been backsliding in the house training department. I'm intrigued, never thought the food could play a role. (or could it?)

 

Best of luck to you and your pup! Keep us posted!

[Guest KTPrime]

This venison and sweet potato actually is a grain-free food. I had considered switching him to the natural balance brown rice and lamb since he did okay on that one before (minus some allergies related to the chicken ingredients), but maybe natural balance is just a bad fit. Maybe I'll try that taste of the wild brand if they have a limited ingredient version (he's allergic to soy, wheat, chicken... my little high maintenance dog).

[Brandiandwe]

About the peeing and food, with Brandi the two are certainly related with a good dose of anxiety as well. Opt he vet and I have really established that the foods she was on seemed to cause ongoing inflammation through her system (hence some symptoms of a UTI). These decreased dramatically when I switched her to raw.

[Batmom]

What allergy symptoms did he have on the other food? How was it determined that he was allergic to chicken?

[4My2Greys]

Yes, food can indeed cause urinary issues. It was what was behind Nadir's symptoms of what best could be described as urge incontinence. He didn't leak urine, but as he worsened he couldn't hold it for very long and it would just come out in a flood. I found the link to food back in March of 2009. He had been experiencing uncontrollable urination for going on 6 months by this time. It had gotten so bad urine would come out in a flood even if he was lying down. Anyway, after months of antibiotics having no effect I decided to try diet. He had been eating a lamb and rice based kibble. I then switched him to homecooked beef and brown rice for about 3 months with no change. In March I switched him to a grain-free (rice free) food and within 5 days the problem completely went away. I want to stress this was not about grain-free vs. non grain-free, it was specifically the rice in his previous diets that was the common denominator that was causing the problems he was having.

This article shows a link between food allergens and the development of kidney disease, which I feel was behind the issues Nadir suffered from and eventually led to his death.

 

http://m.ndt.oxfordjournals.org/content/24/8/2476.full

[NeylasMom]

It's been said enough, but yes, food can cause urinary issues. He could also just have peed because he needed to poop and was trying ot hold it, or vice versa, dogs often relieve themselves after they poop.

[Guest KTPrime]

What allergy symptoms did he have on the other food? How was it determined that he was allergic to chicken?

He had itchy red paws that he would lick constantly, and he would a recurring rash on his crotch. The vet said it was an allergy but we couldn't figure out the cause. We discovered the chicken allergy when he had diarrhea and the vet recommended we put him on a chicken and rice diet, which made him 10x worse and caused much more severe diarrhea. We didn't do an allergy test but the vet said it was safe to assume he's allergic to chicken.

 

After switching him to this sweet potato and venison itchy feet and rash are gone. It's just the going inside that's the problem. I think I'm going to try to find another rice and lamb to put him back on, and see if that helps.

[Batmom]

Ah, that makes sense.

[Guest Leaveittoweaver]

Could be the fact that the food lists the Sweet Potatoes first. It's not a meat dense food even though it is grain free. I would try Zignature Turkey formula. Works very well for most greyhounds!