Stool

[musicdeb]

Good news, hard poo! Might want to try a grain free food if you can find it locally, i.e. farm supply store. I order Titan's food from chewy.com. They offer free shipping.

 

[ruthcatrin]

Day 2 of boiled ground beef and rice + a probiotic and her poo is finally normal. I really have no idea what food to put her on once she's off this diet.

Had you decided what you wanted to switch her too before?

 

[Penelope's Mom]

Thanks Deb. I can get a few different grain-free options locally, at Petsmart.

Ruth, I thought the Pedigree was working well until her bowels started exploding again. I have done a little research thanks to the info you provided, but I really have no idea what will work for her and what won't. She still has at least two more days on the beef/rice mixture so I have time, but I'm really clueless.

 

[ruthcatrin]

Sometimes all you can do is pick something and try it.

My minimum requirements for dog food (so you have a clue as to how I evaluated the list I gave you before):

Calcium/phos in the right range for a growing pup (calcium between 1.0 and 1.8 with a calcium to phos ratio as close as possible to 1.2 to 1), unfortunately some companies don't put that info on the bags.

No corn.

No un-defined "meat meal" or "byproduct meal". So "chicken meal" is ok, "poultry meal" is not good but its better than "meat meal".

The fewer "additives" such as preservatives etc, with big long unpronouceable names the better.

I really want to see a meat product in the first place on the ingredients list, and the first meat product shouldn't be any lower on the list than 3rd.

Though in general I'd prefer "grain free" myself, there ARE dogs who have problems with either the "potato protein" or "pea protein" or other legume proteins that has replaced grains in many of such foods. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure I remember that all the foods you did try so far contained grains, so you may want to try a grain free product to see if that does better for her.

 

[Penelope's Mom]

Doesn't potato help to bind their poop?

 

[TricAP]

I've been closely following your dilemma with Penelope since Angus is still having similar issues...up to a dozen times a day! So far nothing seems to be working for us consistently either.

We are on Solid Gold Wolf King Adult food recommended by our vet because of the ingredients. Solid Gold Health Products for Pets
(We did the 5 day bland diet reset for his system (rice, chicken, yogurt and pumpkin to get him off the Nutra Nuggest puppy the breeder had him on.) Never got a firm stool that way - formed but still soft was the best it got.

We also do a tbsp of home grown cooked then frozen pumpkin and are using FortiFlora Canine probiotics for the past month since we brought him home. Some times it helps and there is a perfect normal poop first thing in the morning- and not an hour later he will be "soft serving" and then progress to "squirts" by the end of the day. Only treats are his food or raw Fuji apple (1/4 of the apple) we share as his afternoon snack. From other previous threads I've read this issue seems to be a big challenge for the breed.

Is part of it because of their rapid growth and digestive system not keeping up? Or are the premium foods that have the right CA ration too rich for their digestive systems? No parasites are showing up in his fecal's we have taken to the vet (3 in the past month.) And like Franklinsmom we're concerned about the long term health challenges the nonabsorbtion of his food can have.

Is there anything else we can try or do we just need to give it more time?

 

[Penelope's Mom]

I don't give p any kind of treats anymore. The smallest things set her off. My other mastiff never had any problems like this so this is new to me.

 

[ruthcatrin]

Doesn't potato help to bind their poop?

In theory, but some dogs don't seem to handle potato, at least in kibble, very well.

 

[ruthcatrin]

TricAP: some dogs don't handle yogurt/milk products well (others have no problem and the good bacteria of the yogurt helps them, go figure), if you're still feeding yogurt that may be part of the problem

 

[ruthcatrin]

TricAP: do you ALWAYS give him apple? If not how does giving him apple relate to his occasional firm poops?

 

[TricAP]

We stopped the yogurt after the 5 day reset. The solid poops started after we began the apple treats - although we can see chunks in the stool it was the first solid one he'd had since he's been with us.

 

[mountainfila]

While researching ingredients while trying to figure out what was making my dogs itchy , potato is a member of he Nightshade family, its a member of highly poisonous group. If the potato is subjected to light they turn green and that is highly toxic to us as well as dogs. My question is are there green potato's going into the dog food?

 

[ruthcatrin]

We stopped the yogurt after the 5 day reset. The solid poops started after we began the apple treats - although we can see chunks in the stool it was the first solid one he'd had since he's been with us.

you might try adding some additional fiber to his diet then. The pumpkin and apple are adding some. The unflavored Benefiber was one my vet said was pet safe.

 

[ruthcatrin]

While researching ingredients while trying to figure out what was making my dogs itchy , potato is a member of he Nightshade family, its a member of highly poisonous group. If the potato is subjected to light they turn green and that is highly toxic to us as well as dogs. My question is are there green potato's going into the dog food?

Does make you wonder doesn't it? It comes back to how much do you trust the company thats making your dog food to be responsible about the ingredients in the foods.....

 

[Penelope's Mom]

I don't understand why buying dog food has to be so difficult and confusing. Ugh. Why can't every company make a good food without putting all the unnecessary crap in it? I know raw is best, but I just can't afford to do it for her.

At least now we are kind of starting with a clean slate so I can pick and choose what I feed her. I guess I'll go with a grain-free food and see what happens. She's loving the beef/rice/pumpkin mixture though.

 

[TricAP]

Thanks ruthcatrin! I need to make a grocery run during his next "nap" anyway and will try that. Would giving him raw as opposed to cooked pumpkin be of any benefit? We garden organically and have a bumper crop of them and squash this year. And do winter varieties of squash have the same benefit as pumpkin? Just asking since their fiber content is similar.

 

[ruthcatrin]

I've never tried raw pumpkin, I've never had a ton of luck growing them myself. I don't see any harm in trying though. Ditto other squash, I've used various squash in treats when I make them so I don't see any harm in trying.

 

[Penelope's Mom]

The only grain-free food Authority offers is chicken and potato. The ingredients are:

Ingredients: Chicken, chicken meal, dried green peas, potato starch, flaxseed meal, dried beet pulp, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), natural flavor, dried potatoes, dicalcium phosphate, salt, calcium carbonate, potassium chloride, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, vitamin E supplement, l-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of ascorbic acid), copper sulfate, vitamin A supplement, manganese sulfate, niacin, d-calcium pantothenate, vitamin D3 supplement, riboflavin, calcium iodate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, folic acid, sodium selenite, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement.

On Dogfoodadvisor.com it says, "Judging by its ingredients alone, Authority Grain Free Dog Food looks like an above-average dry product.But ingredient quality by itself cannot tell the whole story. We still need to estimate the product*s meat content before determining a final rating.
The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 29%, a fat level of 16% and estimated carbohydrates of about 48%.
As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 29% and a mean fat level of 16%. Together, these figures suggest acarbohydrate content of 47% for the overall product line.
And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 53%.
Near-average protein. Near-average fat. And near-average carbs when compared to a typical dry dog food.
Even when you consider the protein-boosting effect of the dried peas and flaxseed meal, this looks like the profile of a kibble containing at least a moderate amount of meat.
Bottom line?
Authority Grain Free is a plant-based dry dog food using a moderate amount of chicken meal as its main source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 4 stars.
Highly recommended."

So, having said that, what do you think of this food?

 

[ruthcatrin]

Authority® Grain Free Large Breed Adult Dog Food | Dry Food | PetSmart calcium/phos numbers look good. I've definetly seen worse, just looking at the ingredients.

I'll make a note, if this doesn't work my next suggestion is going to be get away from chicken entirely.

 

[Penelope's Mom]

Okay then. I'll give it a try. I was hoping they made one without chicken but no such luck. I'll get her some tomorrow and give her a few pieces to see how she does on it.