I’m a new member at a loss with what to do with my 2 year old dog Alfie. He’s on and off ever since I got him had runny stools and never been a firm boy at all and what I call a dripper. It can be solid to start with but normally ends up drippy at the end and sometimes it’s looser like the last few days and very hard to pick up.
I’ve had him tested by the Vet at least 5 times since a puppy, he did have giardia when he was about 6 months old which cleared up with panacur and then again she said he may have had it two months or so again, so panacur again.
He was a rescue so the first 14 weeks were terrible nutrition wise for him I think. I started off with canagans no good for him at all and always mixed wet with dry food. Then he went onto hills science prescription at the vets got slightly better and then went onto hills science for adult, keeping the biscuit dry food as hills science mixed with canagans biscuits which he liked.
But his poo has never really ever been good. He has no cheap treats or wheat only extras that are all 100 natural and meat, chicken or fish based.
My mum even gives him cooked meats on top of his tinned and dry food, but this can vary from leftovers like fresh chicken or lamb to a hamburger or sausage now and again. I’m wondering if it’s that which is doing it? as some hamburgers and sausages have wheat in?
I did think of moving to another brand like Forthglade? or Nature’s ?? but tried slowly and his problems got worse.
Any ideas would be gratefully received as I’m not sure that my vet knows what they are doing ref food and nutrition.
Thanks ever such a lot
Best Wishes
Lou
Hi Lou
I have had lots of problems with my red setter from a puppy,
I had a very thin puppy who did not put on weight easily, and all the dried food I gave him went straight though him with the same problems as you have . I tried him on tinned it was good out put, but he was not putting on weight and was still hungry.
I also tried him on pure which is one that you have to re hydrate with warm water, very good but did not help him put on weight.
the only one that worked with copper was raw , out put very good , firm , he also put on some weight and is doing very well on it.
I was not a raw food fan but now am all for it ,
The company I use is Luna and me they do patties and it is very easy to use.
You could also try cold pressed food which breaks down in the tummy quicker and is better than kibble which sits in the tummy for a long time.
Your dog may be like mine and does not do very well with dried food.
I hope that this helps and you can help your dog with a diet that helps his tummy.
Thanks ever such a lot for your reply! I will have a look at Luna and me for sure. I hadn’t heard of cold pressed food either.
Alfie is a very big boy! ie; 17 kilo’s as a cockerpoo is pretty big but he’s more labradoodle size and he’s never been thin or had a problem with putting on weight like yours but glad you’ve got sorted and thanks again for replying and I will investigate that more.
With very best regards
Lou
Hello and welcome to the forum. My first thought was that this might be due to overfeeding, particularly as your mum is providing extras. You say that he is a big boy so could this be the case? Here are some suggestions:
Whichever food you choose you need to weigh it accurately and give that and nothing else. Manufacturers’ RDAs are often high so it is sometimes useful to give slightly less. You can reduce/increase by 10% according to the dog’s weight.
Talk to your mum and stress that she must not feed extras. You could reserve some of the daily allowance of dog food for her to give.
Consider trying a good quality canine specific probiotic - YuDigest is one.
Cold Pressed food might be worth trying but you absolutely must weigh it because it is heavy. The amount in the bowl looks quite small in comparison with kibble. It’s easy to overfeed and this could cause problems. Transition should be gradual over one to two weeks. There is a thread here about cold pressed foods.
Consider an elimination diet as this will help identify intolerance. Your vet can help you with this but it does take a while and you need to be very meticulous.
I agree with Dotty, it sounds like over feeding. I’ve been guilty of this, blaming the food and so I kept constantly changing his food. I now raw feed (my dog has LOTS of allergies) and this suits him but I weigh every meal and under feed from the recommended daily allowance. Hes a WCS about the same weight as your dog and he tends to approx 70 to 80 g per meal time but definitely no more as he suffers from soft poop in the same way as you describe your dog does.
I recently changed my two Shih Tzu’s diet to Gentle cold pressed in the morning and raw in the evening. They have been totally raw fed for the past eight years and have done very well on it. But various reasons I wanted to change to cold pressed 1; my oldest who is 12 yrs was itching quite a lot and I felt that maybe was due to high protein in a mostly meat diet, I also started her on Yumega Itchy Dog which is certainly helping.
2; I was starting to forget to take enough raw out of the freezer in time and 3; it was starting to cost quite a bit at least £30 a month.
I did a lot of research and got samples for them to try and finally settled on Gentle. I couldn’t be more pleased, their pooh’s are nice and firm but not as solid as on totally raw, output is more but now starting to settle down to two good ones a day. They are eager to eat it. And I always weigh it out.It is very easy to over feed and often the cause of runny poohs. When the raw is coming to an end I will gradually transition to Gentle completely. I was also very pleased with the help I got from Beate too, I think the owner of Gentle for her help and advice. She also put some samples of other varieties in with my order. With the order for Gentle Small bites I added Buffalo meat which they woofed down. You can also freeze it into icecube trays, which is useful especially for small dogs like mine. This is my experience hope it helps.
Thanks everyone so much for your advice and feedback!! I have printed it out and will have a look at all the suggestions you’ve made. Very grateful! the only thing I want to ask is how many times are you feeding your dogs per day? Alfie is never hungry in the morning? and also do you ever give them any treats at all? bones? or chews? or not? it seems like you don’t do that at all? thanks again very much, best wishes, Lou
