New Grey Diet Challenges

[Guest KingCoryNCourt]

Hello all,

 

My boyfriend and I just rescued our boy Kingston last month. In the past month, we've been challenged with finding a diet that best works with him. So far we've been completely unsuccessful. We were advised to get a grain-free kibble when we first took King home. We tried Blue Buffalo Freedom Grain Free large dog chicken kibble. This led to pooping every time we let him out and all of his stool was complete mush. We blamed the tape worm he had when we first brought him home from the kennel. While he was on the deworming medicine, we switched him to cooked rice and ground beef which he seemed to respond really well too. Much less poop and it even had some form to it.

 

Since then we've made our way back to mush, & lots of it. Our vet directed us to put him on cooked rice & beef for a week to settle his stomach before trying a new kibble. This time the rice & beef didn't help. While he was pooping less, it was still mush. Now we've tried him on the Fromm salmon kibble- stinky & mushy.

 

We're thinking a raw diet may be the only way to go here, but any advice on things to try first? Or any advice for first time raw-diet grey parents?

 

Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

[MaryJane]

Add some cooked mashed green beans to the food - the fiber helps to firm up the poop.

 

You could also try adding some cooked oatmeal (the 5-minute type) as that also has fiber.

[greyhoundlady]

It is sometimes hard to figure it all out, as you will find. Does Kingston tolerate chicken? You could boil chicken and mix that with the well cooked white rice (if you are sure the boiled hamburger and rice isn't working). Then once things hopefully firm up, add a small amt of kibble to the rice/meat mixture, gradually increasing the kibble at each meal and see how he does. If he has the problem again, it could be the kibble. The key is to get his stomach settled. Oatmeal is also a good suggestion. I give my girl that and it seems to keep her regular. Also, are you sure the worm issue is resolved?

 

I can't help with the raw feeding, as I don't do that, but I do cook meat and veggies and add to the kibble. I wouldn't experiment with that yet though until Kingston's tummy gets settled as you will have a harder time figuring out what doesn't agree with him.

 

Good luck!

[RedHead]

If worms aren't the problem, you will probably have to experiment with different kibbles if you go that route. A lot of greyhounds don't do well on the higher fat kibbles. People here seem to have more success with lower protein/fat foods. My dogs do awful on most kibble but Taste of the Wild seems to always work, if you want to try more grain free options.

 

I have always fed raw (well mostly raw, with a bit of kibble or homecooked when I run out). All of my dogs have done well on it but you need to research. The big name petstore brands are insanely expensive and they have a weird odour/colour imo. There are a lot of small companies that have good ground mixes/rmb's though. You could also just try feeding some chicken quarters for a few days to see how things go.

 

Before making any big food switch (especially to a bacteria food like raw) it is good to settle the system down for a few days. I have never had luck with cooked beef, I think the higher fat causes issues when cooked. I would try rice and chicken for a few days and maybe add a bit of pumpkin or sweet potato in for fibre. Hopefully that will get the gut flora back into better shape.

 

[Walliered]

Like I said in another forum..the only food I can feed is ZD from the vet. It is WAY to expensive, but I have just decided I don't have a choice. My vet believes he has IBD. Huck also had IBD so I know and we could never control it. That is not what he died from (bone cancer at 6 years old), but while he was living IBD was a terrible thing to have. Good luck.

[GeorgeofNE]

Grain free is the newest fad in dog food. No reason to think your dog needs grain free food.

 

Normally, adopters are advised to continue feeding the exact same kibble that the dog was eating in the kennel, if known. Otherwise, it's a it of trial and error. Adding canned pumpkin to the food can help firm them up.

[Guest OPointyDog]

You will hear many people here say that after trying many different options, their dogs do best on the green bag of Iams (Proactive Health). Maybe try that and see how it goes - the beet pulp in the food seems to help slow the transit of food through the digestive tract, allowing more water to be absorbed and leading to more firm stools.

[ramonaghan]

Yes, Iams in the green bag is very popular around here for its poop-firming magic. You might also try adding a tablespoon of Olewo carrots as a daily supplement. My dog has done fine on every food we've given her, so she's a rarity, but for the occasional bout of diarrhea the carrots have worked well for us.

[denisetanaka]

Well, I think some of people tries a lot of types of kibbles until find the good one.

 

My fearful girl I continued with the same kibble from the rescue, cause changing subtle their kibble might be a problem. But in her health file diarrhea was happening for a long time, so I decided to avoid lamb. I have heard that some greyhounds don`t go well with lamb. Switched for Wellness grain free chicken and little bit of improvement, then I tried fish flavors, cause most of chicken and meat stuff still have lamb and all sorts of meat inside.

I`ve tried Taste of Wild Pacific, Blue Buffallo wild fish, First mate fish. I still don`t know if she is really intolerant to lamb, or if she was just adjusting our home, so less fearful, but her diarrhea and soft stool have improved so much.

 

To have one idea I wrote all the ingredients in a spreadsheet and compared all the diets even the treats trying to figure out if there was anything in common with the bad ones, the only thing that I concluded is that the kibbles with less ingredients and ingredients that you know what is when you read, are the better ones and they are not the most expensive ones.

 

I might be too neurotic with this diet thing, but grain free worked good with my girl and fish diet as well. But I might be wrong and maybe she got better just cause she has adjusted well at home and feel more comfortable.

Good luck trying to find the perfect kibble. To me Taste of wild and First mate were good. Blue Buffallo is a good one cheaper.

[Hubcitypam]

I used to demo Blue Buffalo and got free product but none of my guys - not just the greyhounds - could eat it. It was too rich. With Rex it seemed I tried every expensive food made then and I couldn't get anything out of him I could pick up as opposed to hose in. I got to fed up I tossed a green bag of Iams in the cart. I fed it for years before people on internet forums lectured about the demon corn there were no "super premium" foods. Within two days he was firmed up. Lamb and rice will work too. It's the high amount of beet pulp.

[greyhoundgang]

Definitely go raw for now. It will help with his inflammation (probably an allergy reaction, and rice is not grain free) causing all the diarrhea. Greyhound Gang has tons of articles and links to help.

Here is the FOOD one.

 

Here's treating diarrhea naturally. Slippery Elm gel is the way to go.

 

I also like Probiotics and Digestive Enzymes to help. Here's an essay about them.

 

He's lucky to have found such a caring home!

Best to you all.

[JohnF]

My Peggy has a very sensitive stomach, and after a bout of bad bloody diarrhea and vomiting, my vet said: you either pay quite a bit more for a better dog food or you'll keep getting ever more expensive bills every time you visit here.

 

I'm in the UK and all my dogs before had thrived on James Wellbeloved lamb & rice kibble. Peggy tried other mid-range kibbles with little success, then Iams green bag which firmed up the poop but made room-clearing gas. Tried TOTW high prairie which was fine until they changed the probiotic.

What I do now is feed 25% Canagan country game (expensive like Acana/Orijen but you can feed less of it), 70% Barking Heads golden years (more like TOTW) and the remainder of good house scraps with NO human gravy.

 

It takes up to two weeks to gradually change a food over.

 

If you get a bad digestive upset I'd recommend having another vet consult, then getting a dozen wet cans of Royal Canin gastro-intestinal veterinary, which should last 3-4 days with the dog better within 36 hours. Then move to a little of the Royal Canin plus real boiled skinless chicken and rice, then to the kibble of your choice.

[GeorgeofNE]

I'm sorry, but there is no reason whatsoever to believe this is an allergy.

 

Multiple different foods in the first month after adoption, worms, worming meds--stress. Any of those things could be the problem.

 

Find out what he was eating at his kennel, buy a bag, and keep him on it for at LEAST a few weeks. Add some pumpkin, make sure he is parasite free.

 

Greyhounds rarely have stomach troubles in the kennels. It's only when they're adopted that they become problematic.

[sarabz]

You will hear many people here say that after trying many different options, their dogs do best on the green bag of Iams (Proactive Health). Maybe try that and see how it goes - the beet pulp in the food seems to help slow the transit of food through the digestive tract, allowing more water to be absorbed and leading to more firm stools.

Yes - we went through this with our new boy

http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/318755-how-many-did-you-try-update-post-21/

 

Our older girl has done just fine on anything she's been fed so we got a little spoiled Iams green bag is working terrifically for the new boy. As much as I wanted to stay with what we were doing (Acana, which is all regionally sourced and made in Canada), Iams works so we're going to that.