Bug Off Garlic - Upset Stomach?

[evybear15]

We're trying to pinpoint the root cause of Baxter's sensitive stomach. As he does great on just his dry kibble (he get's Earthborn Holistic Grain Free), it is one of his vitamins. Originally, we thought that it might be his multivitamin, as it has a cheese base...but his probiotics have the same base and he does great on those.

I'm starting to suspect that it is the garlic. Has anyone ever had this reaction with their dog? We keep playing around with vitamins, and will switch him if need be, but he was doing great on them for so long that I'm reluctant to go that route unless necessary.

[Rott-n-GSDs]

Did you gradually wean him on the garlic? I'm currently doing this with my dogs. I am up to two pills per day (we just started) and last night my Rottie puked a few times after eating and we are 99% certain it was because of the Bug Off (it happened right after he got his Bug Off). We're going to go back to one pill for awhile to allow his system to adjust to it more slowly.

[evybear15]

He's on the powder form, and right now I'm only giving him about 1/4tsp at a time, even though he's 60lbs and should be getting the full scoop (which I believe is 1tsp). He was off of everything for a while due to a bad reaction to chicken backs, and we were weaning him back onto the vitamins, but it just doesn't seem to be going well, even though he seemed fine on them before. No puking, just diarrhea/soft stools.

He'll eat it without a problem - just trying to determine which vitamin is the culprit.

[GSDgirlAL]

I wish mine would eat it ... she hates this stuff.

[ChancetheGSD]

I feed Chance human garlic pills (gel caps) since he wont touch either of the Bug Off.

Though to the OP, I know that I personally get sick off multivitamins unless I take them at night. It's actually a really common problem in people, I wouldn't be surprised if the same was true for dogs. Might be something to consider?

[BowWowMeow]

I've used Bug Off for 7 years with 6 different dogs and not had any digestive problems but it could be giving your dog problems.

Here's what you need to do. Take him off of the supplements and start adding them back in, one by one. I would wait a week before adding the next supplement so that you can really see how he's doing as each is added.

Also, did I understand you correctly to say that the probiotic you are giving has a cheese base?

[evybear15]

Originally Posted by BowWowMeow

I've used Bug Off for 7 years with 6 different dogs and not had any digestive problems but it could be giving your dog problems.

Here's what you need to do. Take him off of the supplements and start adding them back in, one by one. I would wait a week before adding the next supplement so that you can really see how he's doing as each is added.

Also, did I understand you correctly to say that the probiotic you are giving has a cheese base?

He's had such a sensitive stomach that we're trying to figure out what it is - the cheese in his vitamin/probiotic, or the garlic. Or the vitamin C. Not sure! It could even be the chicken that he has in his kibble (he's very sensitive to raw chicken, but has been handling his kibble just fine).

I'm not sure that "cheese base" was the best choice of words. It does have cheddar cheese in it to add flavor, though. He loves it - I'm just trying to determine the culprit that's making him have softer stools. Thanks for the tip on adding them in slowly - we have been adding them back in gradually...but all at once, just smaller portions.

[BowWowMeow]

What probiotic are you using? I would get away from the cheese altogether.

Also, can you find a kibble with a novel protein (something he hasn't eaten before)? If he has trouble with raw chicken I would not feed him a kibble with chicken. Try to find something with a limited number of ingredients. I think Wellness and a couple of other companies make limited ingredient kibble.

How much C are you giving? That needs to be built up gradually because if you give too much at first it can cause diarrhea.

[carmspack]

too much garlic and you are going to mess with blood clotting time.

Carmen

[evybear15]

The current brand probiotic/vitamin that we are using is from Dog Bloom. NuVet vitamins were recommended to us, but we have not switched yet.

For the vitamin C, I believe he is just getting 1/4 tsp at the moment. It was definitely brought in gradually.

He is only getting 1/4tsp of the garlic per day right now, his recommended dosage is 1tsp. Our vet had mentioned being careful with the garlic, but hadn't offered an explanation. He seemed fine with the amount that Baxter is getting, though.

As for food, he is on Earthborn Holistic, grain free, but we may switch him to the ocean fusion to get away from the chicken. But when he's just on kibble, he does absolutely fine. It's when he gets raw chicken that things get REALLY bad, and when we start adding vitamins back in that things start to get a little softer/looser.