Beyond Pumpkin?

[twright3]

Tulip came off the track and into my life at the start of the pandemic at age 2.5. (After my previous greyhound, Lily, passed away at 15+ 10/30/19 I briefly flirted with considering other breeds before I came to my senses.) She is extremely affectionate and wants to make friends with every human and dog she sees. If there is such a thing as the perfect greyhound it's Tulip. I'm so lucky.

The only minor, minor problem is she often takes a "second dump" which is often runny and hard to clean up if not done on the beach where we live. Lily had responded fantastically to pumpkin added on her kibble with perfect dumps the entire last year of her life. With Tulip it hasn't gone as well.

She's on Hill's "Digestive Care" prescription diet only because users say there's less "output". Besides pumpkin I give her a little yogurt daily and the very rare shot of probiotics for dogs but to no avail. Has anyone found something like pumpkin only better for problem cases? I'm not going to resort to any medicines. It's not that serious a problem and I prefer keeping things as natural as possible.

[DocsDoctor]

A spoonful of raw porridge oat flakes (straight from the packet) sprinkled on top of a meal works well here. Beet pulp (a byproduct from sugar beet processing) is also helpful - and included in many dry kibbles. Both are a good source of fibre, and liquid-absorbent. But I would always expect a second poo on a walk to be a bit runnier, because exercise gets everything moving.

[Houndtime]

Olewo carrots or any of their products.  There is apparently a new one which is also supposed to work very well.  It it a combo of carrots, beets and something additional.  We have been very successful with the carrots.

[greysmom]

Several thoughts, in no particular order...

1)  The first thing to do when investigating stool issues is to talk with your vet and make sure this isn't a medical problem or a parasite problem.  Once you eliminate that side of the loose stool issue, you can go on to explore the input side of things.  And don't expect immediate results - it can take several weeks to a couple months to make a change in your dogs gut culture.

2)  Many greyhounds don't do well on Hill's foods (unless they are prescribed it for a medical condition).  Most greyhounds do well on a mid-range, complete (protein AND grains!) kibble such as Purina Pro Plan, Kirkland brands, or even Iams.  If the only reason you're feeding the HIll's is because of this loose stool issue, you might consider a different brand.

3) The issue you're describing is very common for exactly the reason Claire states above.  The gut has less time to reabsorb the liquid from the food, and the action of walking itself, sort of, bangs the stool around in the gut making it looser.  This is, for the most part, a natural things and not an indication that something is wrong.  If your girl has been tested for parasites and is clear, and she is currently holding her weight with her normal amount of energy, you may be trying to solve an issue that doesn't really exist.  If the stool is hard to clean up, bring along a paper plate and slide it underneath her to catch the more liquid emissions, then throw paper plate and stool away.

4) Some dogs have the exact opposite reaction to pumpkin - instead of firming them up, it makes the stools looser.  What you want to look into adding is *non soluble fiber."  How you do that depends on what works best for your individual dog.  The list of things to try includes: Metamucil wafers or powder (make sure it's the non soluble type), uncooked oat bran, raw chopped or grated vegetables, dehydrated beet pulp or carrots from the Olewho company.  We use Olewho carrots here with good results.  There is also a kaolin clay product that some people have used.

5)  Some dogs are lactose intolerant so if you only give her yogurt occasionally that may be part of the issue.  A trick from the racing kennels is to use buttermilk or goat's milk instead (they are both higher in good bacteria than yogurt), if you want to give her a shot of natural probiotic and she's NOT lactose intolerant.  Pre/probiotics work best when they are given routinely and not just once in a while, so you should be adding them in to every meal, no matter what you're using.  We use this product NaturVet - Digestive Enzymes

Good luck!

[Time4ANap]

As a start, if you haven't already tried it, IAMS green bag will often be enough to firm up everything and most dogs do very well on it. Lots of people here use it and have for years. When Starz arrived here a few weeks ago, she had pretty nasty stools and the IAMS solved that within just a few days. We have kept her on that particular food since it works so well for her. 

One of the other foods that we've found for consistent stools is Purina Pro Plan Large Breed Focus.  It just seems to work.  Rocket had stomach issues for years and this is one of the foods that just solved the issue and he had no problems with.  It also worked for others here who used it for similar stomach issues.  Along with the Pro Plan Focus we added Olewo carrots to each meal which really helped with those runny second and third stools that we would get on walks. The combination of the food and carrots worked well.  In later years as his stomach issues got worse, we had to give him Tylan daily, but that is more for extreme stomach issues and not something I'd give without the advice of the vet and only then for a chronic condition. 

 

[Jerilyn]

This is very normal and that might just be the way she is. However, have you had her checked for hookworms? I think all greyhounds have them when they come off the track or farm.

I will also add that more fiber isn't always the solution, too much can also cause loose stool. My Wiki came to me on a food with beet pulp and poop like a horse. She improved significantly as soon as I changed her food. 

[HeyRunDog]

It's probably normal for her. Grace's first is solid, the second soft and if the walk is long enough the third is verging on runny but she's always been like that.

[cleptogrey]

i observed that the output when my dogs changed over to Purina Pro Plan Focus(any variety) was decreased by 75%+! yup- maybe 2 poops daily vs 4-8! the secret to Iams is beet- the secret to PPP is their formula. I find the same output w/ Purina One Shredded beef.  No more 2nd, 3rd etc poops on walkies- coats were great(i stopped using fish oil) and they love the taste.

[Moo]

Rumble is exactly the same, except a normal first poo is miraculous at the best of times. If you're in the UK try them on Chappie tins. 

[HeyRunDog]

Another thought... Do you give Tulip commercial dog treats and chews? They can effect the consistency

[EnzoTheIggie]

On 6/5/2021 at 4:44 AM, twright3 said:

Tulip came off the track and into my life at the start of the pandemic at age 2.5. (After my previous greyhound, Lily, passed away at 15+ 10/30/19 I briefly flirted with considering other breeds before I came to my senses.) She is extremely affectionate and wants to make friends with every human and dog she sees. If there is such a thing as the perfect greyhound it's Tulip. I'm so lucky.

The only minor, minor problem is she often takes a "second dump" which is often runny and hard to clean up if not done on the beach where we live. Lily had responded fantastically to pumpkin added on her kibble with perfect dumps the entire last year of her life. With Tulip it hasn't gone as well.

She's on Hill's "Digestive Care" prescription diet only because users say there's less "output". Besides pumpkin I give her a little yogurt daily and the very rare shot of probiotics for dogs but to no avail. Has anyone found something like pumpkin only better for problem cases? I'm not going to resort to any medicines. It's not that serious a problem and I prefer keeping things as natural as possible.

I give mine chicken and rice now and then. If hes having diarrhea I give him his kibble for breakfast and then chicken & rice for dinner. He eats twice a day. I have an Italian Greyhound puppy thats 6 months old. His name is Enzo. He had Giardia and that with medicine and probiotics is how we got him better. 

He also had a reaction to Simparica Trio. He was throwing up and had diarrhea.  I decided no more harsh meds for him.  His system is too sensitive.  He eats Purina Pro Sensitive stomach and skin for puppies. Just FYI. Best of luck with your fur baby! 

[macoduck]

Ditto what Greysmom said. And Time4aNap about the IAMS green bag. I kept giving my first greyhound more and more pumpkin but it literally backfired with her. Owelo carrots weren't around then. The IAMS worked great. Hills food is a big no-thank you here. If you have to use a prescription brand, choose Royal Canin.