[BritTheGrit]

Hello all! Shasta is a 1.5 yr old male that I've had since he was a puppy. When he was about 5 months, he developed a difficulty digesting any sort of food (even rice and chicken) and would just have straight up pudding poops. It didn't seem to bother him, but it's a pain to clean up. Ever since. I've been feeding him Diamond Naturals Chicken and Rice along with a couple of pancreatic supplements, which has fixed the pudding poops. Now he poops usually three times a day, good and solidly, to be as blunt as possible :wink2:.

Within the past few months, especially during the winter, I've been adding chicken broth/fat leftover from my cooking. Just a tablespoon or so mixed in, which he adores.

So my questions are....do any of you have similar experiences? Was there a food you found helped the digestion? Is there a way I can eventually take him off the pancreas tablets? Additionally, weird question, but how often do your dogs poop? Is three times/day too often? It doesn't seem to bother him but it seems excessive to me. :laugh2:

 

[Magwart]

Have you done an EPI test? Given the supplements, I'm guessing that you or your vet suspect maybe that's what's going on -- or maybe have even diagnosed?

 

[tc68]

Pancreas tablets? Does he have EPI? If he has EPI, he will need to be on those tablets for the rest of his life. Pudding poops is one of a few symptoms of EPI.

Your dog is about 2 months older than mine...and I literally, 3 days ago, just started getting him down to pooping 2 times a day. So yeah, pooping 3 times at that age seems to be a little excessive. But every dog is different and their body clocks are different too. Maybe yours is taking a little longer to get down to 2 times a day. Again...if this has to do with EPI, you probably will have to be feeding more than the average dog, which means he will have to poop more. If he doesn't have EPI, we need to know why he's taking pancreas tablets.

 

[Heidigsd]

Sounds like he could be dealing with EPI. If he is positive he needs Enzyme replacement therapy for life. EPI dogs can't digest their food and will starve without it. Most EPI dogs will also need treatment for SIBO and low B12.



I would get him tested so you know for sure. Serum Trypsin-Like Immunoreactivity (TLI) - Texas A&M Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
Ask your vet to run this test at the same time. Serum Cobalamin (Vitamin B12) and Folate - Texas A&M Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences


If he's positive there is a wonderful EPI group. There is a ton of info about diet, enzymes and how to manage EPI in general: https://www.epi4dogs.com/forum/


My Nikki has EPI and it just depends on what she eats as to how often she poops. When I cooked for her, once a day was normal for her. Now she's on a prescription diet and goes at least twice a day, sometimes three.

 

[Koda'sMom]

Have you tried other protiens? My almost ten year old is extremely sensitive to poultry and it manifests as super soft and/or liquid poops. Her puppy food was beef and she had solid poops, then switched to adult food which was chicken and thus began the squirts. Switched back to a poultry free food and she was regular and solid within 2 weeks.

 

[BritTheGrit]

Thanks all for the thoughts! It's been awhile so I can't remember exactly whether my vet diagnosed Shasta with EPI, but I do know he said the test is expensive and if these tablet helped him, then that's probably what it was. I think. I could be remembering wrong lol. But I will check out that website and also investigate a different protein--perhaps it is a sensitivity to poultry. I should probably have another chat with my vet as well.