Poo

[cgs]

Yes, the Kirkland has chicory root also. This is the Kirkland adult dog food, not the Kirkland naturals or whatever it's called. I would love to not have other things added--that just costs more.

 

Today the weather is nasty, so I'm thinking maybe he'll only poop twice since he doesn't want to go out. He went once this morning on a walk (didn't go first thing in the morning because he just wanted to come back in. He barely even peed) and has gone out once to pee since then-but peed on the deck, rather than go down the sleet covered steps to the yard.

[fastpointydoge]

I'm slowly switching him to Kirkland, but now he's pretty much rejecting the olewo carrots. That's fine if the Kirkland works to firm up his poop, but we'll see. I've been giving him the carrots mixed with a dollop of yogurt in the morning before breakfast and he'll eat that, but if I mix the carrots with his food, he'll pick around it. He's been pooping 3-4 times/day. Still a mix of firm, soft, and runny, though usually not too bad. I would just feel better taking him places if it was easy to pick up. Next weekend my daughter has a horse show and we'll probably be bringing Percy since we'll be out most of the day. Poop that's hard to get up won't be fun.

 

I've heard a great antidote (from this forum, can't remember the source, sorry) for cleaning up runny poop in public spaces. Slide a cheapo thin paper plate under the pooping hound! Of course the dog has to allow you to do this and not walk while pooping.

[cgs]

I've heard that too. Doesn't sound too appealing and then you have this big plate you have to stuff into a poop bag. And just the visual--serving up a steaming plate of poo. Mmm-mmm!

[NewGrey2017]

Our boy is a poop walker.

[cgs]

I'm more of a fan of finding the right food than I am of adding different stuff to make a food work. I understand that not everyone has this option, due to specific issues with their hounds, but for us, I will work until I find the right food that works. At one point, we were on three different foods, but finally found one low enough in protein for the old boy, and high enough in fiber for the young boy. The new girl, like the old girl can eat just about everything.

 

If eyes are the window to the soul, then poo seems to be the window to their health.

 

On another note, Chewy is an Amazon company, yet has become a cheaper solution to my Amazon problem. I come out ahead, and Amazon still benefits from losing my sale. The pet food store still loses, unless there are shipping delays.

 

Stay in touch with how the Kirkland works for you. Does it have both the beet pulp and the chicory like the Diamond naturals?

 

He's completely on Kirkland now and has been for 2 days. He likes it. He's been off carrots for several days. He seems to be pooping 3x/day (yesterday only 2, yay!). Sorry for the graphic description (but we are in a poo thread)--it's soft logs followed by a creamy topping, lol. But today, pretty solid logs this morning and wet logs on the morning walk. We'll see what comes out this evening. No creamy topping so far. He's also been off meds for about a week.

[GreytXpctations]

Hey that's all good news. Sounds like things are improving. Mornings are always a bit more firm. I think the beet pulp with the chicory keeps things moving along. Mine are 2x-3x per day on the Diamond Naturals as well. Hopefully that will continue to work out for him over the long term and that the hooks are gone for sure. Sounds promising.

[cgs]

It's pretty variable. Some days are better than others and I do wonder if it's the worms. He seemed a bit better after treatment and now he's worse and his next treatment is tomorrow. I may introduce the carrots back in, but I'm kind of waiting to see what happens when he's worm-free.

[cgs]

So, I after going through a bag of Kirkland chicken, I switched to Kirkland lamb. This was about a week ago. I had to transition faster than I wanted because I was running out of the old food and wasn't able to get the new bag sooner. His poop seems worse again. How much time should I give it before I just decide chicken is better? He's also still go worms and we're no longer doing Drontal. Just Advantage Multi and I was told it might take 6-12 months to clear up because of the larval leak. He usually goes first thing in the morning in the yard, then on the morning walk (mid-morning), again on the afternoon walk, and sometimes a little squirt before bed, but not always. And it's a lot. When I'm picking up with a bag, I try to shovel under the pile with my hand in the bag and scoop up. If I try to just pick it up from the top, it's too much to get in my hand and too mushy to get it all. Not sure if that makes sense. I know he's a big dog, bug sheesh. I'm pretty resigned to living with this 3-4x/day soft to runny poop, but hoping was hoping the lower protein lamb formula would be better. Should I give it more time?

[Fruitycake]

I've heard a great antidote (from this forum, can't remember the source, sorry) for cleaning up runny poop in public spaces. Slide a cheapo thin paper plate under the pooping hound! Of course the dog has to allow you to do this and not walk while pooping.

An alternate, and easier to bundle, is using newsprint paper. You can make it larger or smaller, depending on you dog's mobility while going. We used this with great success when Allie had severe bouts of IBS and things went to liquid and were absolutely not pick-up-able. Bundling for the bag is easier because it can be larger and is easier to fold/make a pocket to drop in.

[cgs]

I'm so tired of this poop situation. It had gotten a little better a few weeks ago, but is now bad and unpredictable. Sometimes it's pretty good, but more often it's worse than ever. I don't know if it's the hooks, the food, or what. I have too many variables. I'm currently using Advantage Multi only for hooks. Started nextguard in the beginning of this month, but that was over a week ago, so I don't think that's it. Changed food from chicken to lamb (both kirkland) hoping things would get better, but they didn't. I'm switching back to chicken. He's only been on lamb a couple weeks and his poop was never good on it--there was one day when it was good. Other than that, it's mostly been worse. Also started diatomaceous earth a week ago for hooks. I know some are against that, but I'm giving it a try. I've only read that it improves things after a week or two, not makes things worse. He also had his teeth cleaned, which through things off for a couple days.

 

*sigh* I'm going to get him back on chicken (it has dried beet pulp) and continue with the DE, Advantage Multi, and Nextgard and try not to change anything else for a while. The only other variable is treats, which I can't really get my husband to stop giving him. He gets one or two/day during the evening during the week (hard biscuit treats) and many more on the weekend when husband is home.

 

The only good thing is that usually the timing is at least predictable. He goes in the yard first thing in the morning, again on the morning walk (goes twice on the walk if he didn't go in the yard) and again on the afternoon walk. Sometimes he goes before bed, but not usually. I feel like the volume has gone down at least. Each poop is smaller. But his bad poops are like when we first got him--very runny. It had gotten to the point where the worst was soft with a little runny on top.

[cgs]

I think I've made some progress in switching back to chicken. I got really excited by 2 good days in a row, but then it went back to soft with drippy on top most of the time. But it's not as bad and is back to being more predictable. He still goes in the yard in the morning, then on the morning walk, then on the afternoon walk. He really doesn't ever go before bed anymore. Today, of course, he didn't go on the afternoon walk, so maybe he will go before bed. For a few days, he decided he was afraid of the yard and didn't poop there in the morning. On those days he didn't make up for it by going twice on the morning walk like he used to. He only went once. So we were down to twice a day. That was pretty exciting. Now he's ok in the yard again and goes twice in the morning--in the yard and then a few hours later on the walk. I do think the volume is less than what it used to be early on. I've also reduced his food a little. I feel like the Advantage Multi isn't doing anything for the worms, but the vet said the lab people said it could take 6-12 months to break the larval leak cycle. So I'll just stick with it.

[cgs]

I posted some of this in the hookworm thread...I switched to IAMS green bag and things are better, though still not what I'd like them to be. His poop has definitely become more formed and less soft almost all the time. Sometimes there are still drippy parts on top or an occasionally really soft poop all the way through. But all in all better.

 

So now my question is about volume and picking it up. It's still to soft to just pick up claw-like piece by piece. And it's too much to get my hand around the whole thing. So I try to shovel in from the bottom, but this rarely works well. I've often ended up using two bags. The first gets the bulk of it and the second gets the rest that smeared on the grass. Because it's still difficult to get it all up, I still try to get him to go in common areas, rather than someone's lawn. I'm female, but my hands aren't particularly small. This is my first large dog. Is this normal? My little dog's poops are solid and dry enough that I can usually pick them up log by log and it holds together.

[cgs]

Percy's poop has gotten really nasty again and I think it started when I opened a new bag of food a few days ago. Same IAMS green bag, just a different bag. It seems to me that the kibble is more varied in color. The first bag seemed all the same, at least that's what I thought. It could be my imagination. But has anyone had problems with a recent bag or just in general whenever they start a new bag?

[cgs]

Posted in the food forum--Iams changed the formula in the last year and my new bag was not the same as my old bag.