5 MO English Mastiff eating too much? Stool is "gooey" on Orijen LB Puppy

[bmartinta]

5 MO English Mastiff eating too much? Stool is "gooey" on Orijen LB Puppy

Hello everyone. First post here. I have had my 5 month old english mastiff "Dewey" on Orijen Large Breed Puppy for almost a full month now and he is not gaining weight like I expected. I think he is around 50-60 lbs right now. However, I have been feeding him 6 cups per day for the past 2 weeks. He scarfs it down in less than a minute but he doesnt seem hungry afterwards. His stool is well lets just say it will make you take a step back if you get a whiff of it. It also is really "gooey". Sometimes it will start out semi hard, but my the middle to the end it turns into soft serve and even sometimes straight liquid. I was patient because I did a complete switch from purina pro plan and then my roommate got him some IAMS garbage and fed it to him for about a week before I picked up the Orijen. The Orijen is 38% protein, but I have read that is not a big deal as long as the calcium and phosphorous levels are low. Any recomendations on what to do about his stool and how to get him down to a normal feeding amount? 6 cups per day hits the wallet pretty hard.

 

[Smart_Family]

Re: 5 MO English Mastiff eating too much? Stool is "gooey" on Orijen LB Puppy

Well first off there's a chance you're overfeeding him which would cause soft stools. Secondly he doesn't need to be on a large breed puppy formula, but the adult formula. Occasionally though Orijen is too rich for some dogs and you may be better off trying Acana or Earthborn.

 

[bmartinta]

Re: 5 MO English Mastiff eating too much? Stool is "gooey" on Orijen LB Puppy

Should transition off the puppy or go straight for the adult? He has about half of a 34lb back left.

 

[Smart_Family]

Re: 5 MO English Mastiff eating too much? Stool is "gooey" on Orijen LB Puppy

Well it's up to you. I have known a lot of puppies who can't handle the richness of Orijen. If you want to transition off of Orijen I would use what you have left to do so. If you would like to stay with Orijen I would mix what you have left with either Orijen Adult or Orijen 6 Fish. Another issue could be the chicken. Both Orijen Adult and Large Breed Puppy are chicken based foods and many mastiffs have issues with chicken. The 6 Fish does not have chicken so I would maybe try that if you want to stick with Orijen.

 

[bmartinta]

Re: 5 MO English Mastiff eating too much? Stool is "gooey" on Orijen LB Puppy

Okay, I will be switching his food today. His stool was very bad this morning. He didn't go last night and I thought that after a night of digesting it would help but it was worse than ever. Also, I am looking to switch to a different brand. I cant justify the price of Orijen given the results I have seen. What do you think of FROMM'S? I know I need a grain free food, but I also want to make sure the quality of ingredients are satisfactory. Perhaps the protein levels in Orijen are a bit much for him or do you think it might be that he does not take to chicken very well?

 

[shodanusmc]

Re: 5 MO English Mastiff eating too much? Stool is "gooey" on Orijen LB Puppy

too much protein and yes, you are over feeding. Have my guy on Nutro Ultra LB Puppy. He just turned 7 months, is close to 90 pounds, lean, and just bumped him from 6 1/2 to 7 cups. Firm!

 

[bmartinta]

Re: 5 MO English Mastiff eating too much? Stool is "gooey" on Orijen LB Puppy

Here are my choices on what I might switch him to. However, I read that Mastiff puppies should not be fed grain free food. Any truth to this?

Acana - Wild Prairie or Pacifica
Fromm - Surf and Turf
Innova - Adult or Large Breed Puppy
California Natural - ???
Kirkland - ??? seems like a good food

 

[Smart_Family]

Re: 5 MO English Mastiff eating too much? Stool is "gooey" on Orijen LB Puppy

Acana is your best bet of those. The myth they shouldn't be fed grain free food is just that a myth, it's actually better for them as long as it has the proper levels. Fromm adult gold is okay but I believe it has chicken and Innova, and California Natural don't have the right levels from what I remember and Kirkland is made by Diamond so they are a no go.

 

[Robtouw]

Re: 5 MO English Mastiff eating too much? Stool is "gooey" on Orijen LB Puppy

38% protein is pretty tough on a mastiff's stomach, it takes a good deal of acid production to break it down. You said you were feeding 6 cups a day and he scarfs it, how are you feeding? In increments or all at once? For the best results multiple feedings work better. If you are feeding 6 cups at once you are literally throwing (pooping) your money away. His body will only break down and keep what it needs at the time he feeds. Also, at 5 months a nice transition to a premium adult food might help. Keep in mind alot of mastiffs are sensitive to chicken, meal, gluten and grain products. If his stool continues to be gooey, his body is telling you his food isn't right for him and you may have to experiment with other feeds. With my 3.5 month old Mastiff, we have gone thrugh 5 food changes before finding a product that is working well.

 

[Nancyc]

Re: 5 MO English Mastiff eating too much? Stool is "gooey" on Orijen LB Puppy

Fromm 's makes a grain free and chicken free large breed puppy and it complies w/the calcium phosphorus ratio and protein requirements. It's called prairie gold grain free large breed puppy. I ordered it on chewey.com. I got great results from transitioning 50/50 for 7 days then straight fromm's.