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Diarrhea

3K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  Magwart 
#1 ·
Hello,

My dog is coming up on 3.5 years and he's always had a relatively weak digestion. Lately however he has had constant diarrhea and I was realizing I am quite irritated at spending lots of $ to try and help him take a proper dump. He is on the NOW Fresh adult large breed turkey/salmon/duck. He's been on this for years and there are usually large stretches where his poop is fine and firm. He's had very soft poop now for going on over a month. I had a fecal sample done about 10 days ago and came back fine. He was on ?metronidazole? or something that was supposed to cause constipation. But his poop stayed very soft and mushy. He was also on the fortiflora probiotic.

Since metronidazole is an antibiotic could this be causing his diarrhea to get worse? But he had diarrhea before which was why he was put on this.

I am considering permanently changing his food. Are there any suggestions for what the blandest but still nutritious food might be out there for dogs with weak GI.

Also any suggestions on stool hardeners? Does pepto bismol work effectively and safely in dogs.

To help focus the answers I have already read on stuff like rice/pumpkin and determining if he is stressed. Please keep your advice focused on long term diet changes like bland food or stool hardeners that can be used for prolonged periods (months or years).

Thanks in advance!
 
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#2 · (Edited)
I am considering permanently changing his food. Are there any suggestions for what the blandest but still nutritious food might be out there for dogs with weak GI.

Also any suggestions on stool hardeners? Does pepto bismol work effectively and safely in dogs.

To help focus the answers I have already read on stuff like rice/pumpkin and determining if he is stressed. Please keep your advice focused on long term diet changes like bland food or stool hardeners that can be used for prolonged periods (months or years).
Hi Tiger!

I understand what you are saying, but I think you need to look at a bigger picture here. You need to try and improve/heal this dogs gut.

The fecal "flotation" was good but does not show all. Typically shows, hook, round worms etc.

I would suggest going a step further and get an ELISA test for Giardia.
Giardi are flagellated protozoa, or one-celled organisms.
"Because Giardia cysts are only shed intermittently and not constantly, a Giardia-free fecal examination does not necessarily rule out giardiasis. Two or three negative fecal tests, done at least several days apart, usually are conducted before a Giardia infection is ruled out."


There are other things to use, but I suggest you begin by adding a Human Grade High Quality ProBiotic to your dogs food daily. Here are two that you order over the net.



Sunday Sundae (Digestive Enzyme & Pro-Biotic Combo: http://www.feedsentials.com/(Use the email to order)




Gut Sense (ProBiotic): http://dr-dobias-natural-healing-usa...ducts/gutsense




If you don't want to order over the net, a health food store (NOT GNC) or a Whole Foods store will have Garden Of Life Raw Probiotics Colon Care in the refrigerated section.

Because of holistic vets seeing sensitivities, I would check labels of anything you are feeding your dog to make sure that it does not contain ANY chicken items: Meal, Fat, Cartilage, Eggs etc. Other things are grains and flaxseed.

As for food, I'd suggest a single protein kibble:

[FONT=&quot]Acana Limited “Singles”: Pork & Butternut Squash: http://acana.com/our-foods/singles/pork-butternut-squash/
Ingredients: Deboned pork*, pork meal, green lentils, red lentils, pork liver*, butternut squash*, pork fat, green peas, yellow peas, canola oil, algae, garbanzo beans, pumpkin*, carrots*, pork kidney*, freeze-dried pork liver, kelp, chicory root, ginger root, peppermint leaf, lemon balm, mixed tocopherols (preservative), dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product. They also have a limited lamb. There is also Duck, Lamb & Mackerel.
Store locator: Store Locator | Acana


OR

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[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]Nature's Variety "Instinct" Limitednot Nature's Recipe): Limited Ingredient Lamb: (can be purchased at PetsMart, Petco) Instinct Grain-Free Limited Ingredient Kibble Dog Food - Lamb | Instinct Pet Food for Dogs and Cats
Ingredients: Lamb Meal, Peas, Tapioca, Pea Protein, Canola Oil (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid), Lamb, Natural Flavor, Montmorillonite Clay, Coconut Oil, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Choline Chloride, Vitamins (Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement), Minerals (Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Sodium Selenite), Green Tea Extract, Rosemary Extract There is also Duck & Turkey
Store locator: Find A Store | Nature's Variety
[/FONT]
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Always transition with small amounts of new food mixed with old, taking a week or two to change. If stool get loose, go back to previous amount fed (where stool was solid) and hold at that amount for a few days until his gut gets use to it. Then increase again. This is called "bowel tolerance".

Moms :)
 
#3 · (Edited)
Big NO on the pepto idea!

Metro doesn't usually cause loose poop -- usually it's the opposite. Since he had diarrhea both before and after it, I think that signals this is not an infection.

With dogs with chronic loose poop, and clear fecal tests, I am suspicious about a low-grade food allergy. Is there also some butt-licking sometimes or a bright-red, inflamed anus? Lift up the tail and take a look! That latter symptom is a classic food-allergy sign. (A healthy bum is light pink.)

If you change food, try make it a novel protein -- something he's never eaten before. Fish/sweet potato limited-ingredient foods are my go-to for foster dogs who've been on a chicken-based food, and it works for more than half of them -- but you've already been feeding that, along with turkey and duck, so you may have to go for something else. In addition to the one's Moms mentioned, I've also used the Wellness Simple formula with some foster dogs with food issues, as we had some donated to the rescue, and it worked very well -- it was my first experience with that brand, but it definitely agreed with that particular dog. There are at least a half-dozen or more of these brands of L-I food now (it's become trendy).

The thing to keep in mind is that these LI formulas are NOT "pure" -- some contamination from other ingredients has been found in virtually all of them that were tested (so some chicken and rice from the prior run in the extrusion machine may sneak into the fish and sweet potato bag...). The contamination may be low enough in concentration that it doesn't bother your dog though -- that's been my experience with several dogs. Or you'll see a partial improvement only -- that happens occasionally too.

Just keep the dog on whatever you pick for about 2 months, with no other small amounts of other stuff (incl. treats!) unless it matches the ingredient profile. Some of these lines have matching treats and canned food, if needed, with the same ingredient profile -- use those if you need those products. Natural Balance probably has the biggest line of that "extra" stuff (they were the first to mass-market L-I foods years ago). Or if you pick a beef-based LI food, you can offer natural beef treats (dried beef liver, trachea chips, dried lung crunchies, etc.). Just try to be thoughtful in keeping your treats lined up with your LI kibble while you're doing the trial.

The key is this: NO CHEATING with other food while doing your trial on novel protein -- you have to do this for about 2 months to be able to really assess whether the elimination diet works. This advice comes straight from the vet specialists who deal with allergies.

If you strike out with the L-I kibbles, or you want to straight to one of the best possible options for poop problems, then I'd suggest looking at any of The Honest Kitchen's dehydrated food -- you add water and it turns into a porridge. Something about their product is AMAZING in producing big, firm poops -- and getting allergy dogs off kibble seems to solve a world of GI problems. Whole Foods sells the small boxes of this now (and I just saw a $5 coupon for it on coupons.com), so if you want to give it a try, you might pick up a box, and see what happens.

In addition to a probiotic, I would put a dog with a tender tummy on a digestive enzyme with each meal if you stick with kibble (add water to the kibble to activate the enzymes). Prozyme makes a very economical one. I had a tender-tummied girl years ago who benefited enormously from this.

Another product that's not marketed a "stool hardener" per see but has that effect is Glandex: https://www.glandex.com/. It helps firm up poop to help the glands empty, so it might help your dog. It also contains the digestive enzymes, so it would cover that base too. I use it with my allergy dog too (who developed anal gland problems related to his chronic GI inflammation and diarrhea). He loves the taste (liver). You can find it on Amazon.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Just want to follow up on this regarding limited ingredient foods. Susan at Truth about Pet Food outed NATURE'S VARIETY for mislabeling their LI food:
https://truthaboutpetfood.com/all-ingredients-should-be-on-the-label-no-excuses/

They supposedly claim to have corrected it. Meh.

I didn't notice it when the news came out this year, but it came up in a FB live interview over on the Pet Fooled page yesterday.
 
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