Alternatives to special gastrointestinal foods

[capella008]

My 6mo pup has been having digestive issues pretty much since we brought her home at 8 weeks old. She would have intermittent diarrhea nearly every day. Fecal test came back negative. They did another test also for some disease and it came back negative (cant remember off the top of my head). At that time we were feeding Chicken Soup large breed puppy. Mixing rice and ground beef on her food helped, but as we would taper it off she would have diarrhea again. Eventually we switched her to Fromm gold large breed puppy, and she seemed to be doing well. Then we started noticing that distinct anal gland smell and that she was constantly biting at her bum. A trip to the vets told us her glands were infected and very full. 2 weeks later they were full ans infected again. Vet recommended more fiber in her diet so we started adding 1/4 cup of canned pumpkin to her meals. This was about a month ago, but then she started showing sins of her glands being full again. We took her to the vet today and her glands were very full but luckily not infected. The get recommended Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Puppy, which runs about $38 for an 8.8lb bag.

We want to give out puppy the best we can to keep her healthy, but it will be very difficult for us to afford this food. The vet also wrote a script for Hill's Science Diet i/d, which is still really expensive.

Are there any alternatives? Even with homemade or raw food? The vets main concern is allergies and fiber.

[fuzzybunny]

Is your girl gaining weight normally? Is she losing weight? Has the vet ruled out EPI, SIBO, IBD/IBS? You mentioned an allergy so do you have any idea what she might be allergic to? If not, you could try a limited ingredient food with a novel protein source and see how she does. If you can feed raw or homemade affordably in your area then that's another thing to consider. My male suffered from chronic diarrhea for a year and he did very well on raw. All his issues went away. We just couldn't afford it so we did end up finding a kibble that worked for him.

[Jax08]

RAW. My cat had on and off diarrhea. Off to the vet, on antibiotics, on Science Diet ID. Anything else gave him explosive diarrhea. Switched to RAW and no problem.

I've read that many people on RAW no longer have issues with anal glands because the poop is harder and helps keep them cleaned out.

Definitely ask about the tests fuzzybunny suggested.

[jaggirl47]

Capone, how much did your pup weigh this time? Has she gained any weight since her last visit?

Raw is good but if it confuses you, one of the Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet foods may help. It helped with my old man when I was working to get his system back in shape. Alot of their LID foods have a sweet potato base. The only thing I don't like is that their protein level is kinda low.
Dog Dry LID Limited Ingredient Diets - Natural Balance Pet Foods Dry LID Limited Ingredient Diets

[Jax08]

Originally Posted by jaggirl47

Capone, how much did your pup weigh this time? Has she gained any weight since her last visit?

Wrong person

[jaggirl47]

Originally Posted by Jax08

Wrong person

Aww crud, I read the name too fast! Thanks Jax!

Capella, ignore the question to capone but the rest is what I did for my old man.

[onyx'girl]

Do you give any probiotics or digestive enzymes? I'd start with that and have fecal tests run again(coccidia/giardia can cause gut issues)or treat w/ a round of flagyl and see if it will help.

[Blanketback]

I'm also feeding Fromm's LBP and dealing with infected anal sacs, and what's been called a seasonal allergy. The stools were fine though. I'm thinking of switching to Acana Lamb & Apple to see if it helps. How did they treat your pup's infection?

[capella008]

I think she has been gaining weight normally. We've been keeping an eye on a few different "average" growth charts, and she's been a bit above or spot on. At the vet's today she weighed about 52, but I'm not sure how accurate the vet's scale is. I know they just got a new one and the numbers were bouncing around a lot. She does look very skinny, but from her past weigh ins she has not been losing weight. However, I think she was right around 50 when we got her checked last time (I can check my vet papers and see) so I don't think she's gaining much weight right now. The vet has not discussed EPI, SIBO, IBD/IBS. No idea what she may be allergic to yet, that is just what the vet said when I asked what the gastointestinal food would do.

We did try a digestive enzyme once and it did nothing. Giardia was the test the doc ordered and came back negative that I couldn't remember. At that time they also put her on a broad spectrum dewormer as well.

They treated her infection with an antibiotic...metrodonizole? maybe?

One of our vet's big concerns is that GSDs tend to develop anal fissures, and she's afraid this may be a preemptive warning sign for it. At our previous appt she said if Kora's glands got full and infected again, we would probably have to meet with a specialist. However because her glands were not infected this time, she wants to try the gastrointestinal food.

I would definitely consider feeding raw, but I don't even know where to start/if it would help. However, I know there are good resources out there...so we will see.

[Blanketback]

Are the abx oral, or was it injected into the glands?