Underweight newbie and changing food/digestive issues (UK based)

[Razzie]

Hi, I'm new here and new to greyhounds - we adopted Bob from Dogs Trust a month ago. He is skinny at 33kg, at least 5 ribs visible and doesn't seem to have gained weight yet. When he came to us he was eating Wainwrights salmon and potato dry food with Wainwrights salmon and potato tinned food on top. We were advised to feed 500g dry food per day (200g, 100g, 200g meals) with 1/4 to 1/2 a can on top of each meal (I do 1/3 can). He was wormed and flea treated before coming to us.

He'd had loose poos from the start, but he came to us on painkillers as he was castrated 2 days before we got him, so we put a lot of it down to nervousness and the drugs.

He continued with the loose poos and killer gas, and going at least 4 or 5 times a day so we decided to change his food. We're just about fully transitioned over to new biscuits and I want to change his meat over soon as well because of the potato. His poop seems to have firmed up a bit and improved in colour for at least the first one in the morning, though they degrade as the day goes on, or throughout his walk! Farts are always worse in the afternoon into the evening

Anyway, I guess I'm looking for recommendations of gentle wet food to move over to, and how long to wait before we do that. And how long does it take to know there's an improvement from changing over? Also, could we just be overfeeding? I know we want him to put a bit of weight on but I'm not sure if the amount of food could be counterproductive?

 

Thanks

Sarah

[macoduck]

I wouldn't change his food any time soon. He is still settling in and you won't be able to tell if he is just nervous in his new home if there is truly a food/nutrition issue. Even though you mentioned the Wainwrights, it could still just be that your adoption group added donated dried food of various brands.

When I've changed foods I made sure it took a month.

Difficult for me to compare different kinds/brands of dried food since each has varying nutritional values.

Normal for poop to go from firm to mushy over the course of a day.  Some folks suggest pumpkin to firm up poop, but here it has always made for worse poop.Perhaps a small spoon of plain, unsweetened yogurt.

Give Bob three months to settle in and you'll begin to see more of his personality emerging.

Here's a link to healthy greyhound weight. Note it goes by look rather than by weight. http://www.greyhoundcrossroads.com/index.php?page=weight

 

[HeyRunDog]

I was given Grace's racing ID card when I adopted her which had her racing weight on and I try and keep her at that weight.

Grace's poos degrade during a walk too starting with firm and ending up squitty. You could try adding a spoonful of pumpkin puree to his food which is available in tins from supermarkets. Make sure it's 100% pumpkin and not a sweetened pie filling. Some of the dog treats and chews give Grace runny poos and gas. If you are changing his food do it gradually over a fortnight.

I see you are just down the A52 from me, perhaps we might meet on one of the greyhound walks organised by the Greyhound Trust once this pandemic is over.

[DocsDoctor]

I agree with the advice to take any food change slowly; a spoonful of porridge oats (straight from the packet) sprinkled over each meal is another good way of firming things up. But it is normal for poos to get softer as a walk continues, as others have said. Exercise loosens things up!

I expect the Dogs Trust wormed him prior to adoption but it might be worth checking - worms are one of the things that can make a dog skinny and his poos loose.

Tiger eats Autarky White Fish and Potato, a grain-free food made by Dodson & Horrell. He had had a bout of pancreatitis prior to me adopting him and so the kennels asked me to keep him on a grain-free food. He does well on it, anyway. My first greyhound did very well on Gusto, the Dodson and Horrell economy range. Their digestions differ, just like ours, so be prepared to experiment a little.

You could also add a little extra protein to help put weight on - a raw whole egg, a small tin of sardines once or twice a week. That would be instead of the tinned dog food.

[Bee]

We had this same issue when Rook arrived (about 6 weeks ago) and have followed the advice of others on this forum and gone for Olewo carrots added to the food. Rook isn’t a huge fan but eats them to get to the good stuff and it has definitely help to firm up his stools and reduce the (noxious) gas. The other thing I have noticed is that his stools are firmer if you leave it longer between poo breaks, and (if possible) stop the walk after the first two poos. Hope it improves! (Nb for wet food we use Forthglade, which he loves but not sure it is the answer to the stool issues.)

[Tigerstripes]

My grey (Bolt) came from the Dogs Trust and was on Wainrights salmon and potato as well. Wainrights (Pets at Home) supply the Dogs Trust with food.

I have tried quite a few different foods and found little variation in poo consistency i.e. first of the day firm then next soft then third like porridge. I have him on Burgess sup\dog Greyhound and lurcher at the moment and it's as good as any. I tried Olewo carrots but saw little difference if any. A behaviourist at the Dogs Trust who has greyhounds says that her dogs poo firmed up on wet food,but I haven't tried this yet. He's healthy and its me that is bothered about the poo consistency so I am not letting it worry me, I could just do without the sloppy third poo which is usually delivered on a walk.

I have come to the conclusion that greyhounds have an inefficient and possibly short colon which cannot remove water from the faecal matter fast enough to produce firm poos with the exception of the first of the day which has overnight for processing. If this is the case then there is little to be done to improve matters. Ideally a way of slowing passage of faecal matter through the colon is what is needed and more fibre in the diet seems counter-intuitive.

[Hubcitypam]

Broken record.  I believe that they have Iams green bag there.  Went to heck and back with Rex.  It is the beet pulp that fixes it.

[cleptogrey]

have stool checked for worms and giardiasis. that may be the culprit. or his gut may just need a good cleaning up w/ antibiotics. your vet will know. 

do not play around w/ food. also, it takes 3 months for a dog to sorta adjust to a new home/life. 6 months to feel pretty comfortable. be patient.

[Moo]

I replied on the other thread, but Dogs Trust are really good about helping in the first few weeks with any health issues. I'd give them a call and cite any concerns you're having about his poo, weight and eating, and they should offer to check him out. I know mine got wormed (they hopefully gave you his records when you adopted him, so it should say in there if your boy has been done) before taking him home. Rumble started off as a skinny, albeit muscley grey and is now pretty smooth (I can't say fat exactly, but un-boney). It'll take a bit of time, but take plenty of "now" photos and you'll notice a world of difference in about 3 months.