[Allstargirly]

Hi Ya'll I'm struggling to get Bohdi Potato to have firm poops.
He's been on Wellness Lamb and Barely for the past 3-4 months and before that he was on Science Diet Lamb and barley. I decided to switch to a better quality ingredient dog food and keep on Lamb to see if it would improve his poops. He's always had poop issues in his adolescents.
His poops have been especially mushy past month.He usually has 3-4 normal looking poops but not firm. I was adding glandx to see if it would help with the stinky butt. The other times he would have pudding piles. Slightly shaped. Recently, they would go from formed to pudding. So I took him to the vet and they put him on antibiotics for a week and also Purina Flora daily. It helped a bit as in he would have shaped log poops but not firm. He's back to his good/not gret poops after the antibiotics round.
The vet thinks its the protein so I'm trying to decide whether to go with Wellness Core whitefish or SD perfect digestion salmon. I wish I had all the money to take him to get allergy testing but I don't, nor can I afford tailored raw diet. Bc he doesn't have firm poops he has issues with captain shrimp butt (aka anal gland stink). Sigh.
Also I can provide poop pics....

My friend says not to worry about it that not all dogs have firm poops but I worry he's not getting all the nutrients he needs. He is for the most part a grumpy happy boy and maintains his weight. Right now he's just on plain wellness kibble.

Any thoughts or food suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Ffcmm]

Sounds like wellness is not working out for him. It’s not normal to have pudding like poop all the time. Could it be the quantity you are feeding? Sometimes when they are over fed they get soft poop as well?

You can try adding some soluable fiber like psyllium husk powder to his food to bulk up the stools so that his anal glands can clear. I would also continue with the daily probiotics to help increase his good gut bacteria which is likely wiped out by the antibiotics. There are many options on Iherb.

a popular brand that works well for many on the forum is PPP sensitive skin & stomach.

It will take some time to find out what works hang in there!

 

[diane0905]

If it were me, I’d try Royal Canin Hydrolyzed Protein for a while, along with Propectalin tablets when needed to firm up the stool. This is what helped my last Golden. Once he made it to two or so, his stool started firming up and he was able to switch over to a non-prescription dog food.

 

[Allstargirly]

I think I may need to save my Pennies and get him a bag on the EN food and see if it helps. I can’t afford it long term but to help reset his tummy. I just wonder if it does help where do you go from there I would not be able to afford a vet diet long term.

 

[hotel4dogs]

How much are you feeding him? Believe it or not, a major cause of chronic loose poop is overfeeding. Just a thought.

 

[Allstargirly]

How much are you feeding him? Believe it or not, a major cause of chronic loose poop is overfeeding. Just a thought.

He gets 2.5 cups a day. He usually eats all of it. Sometimes leaves a few kibbles. We use a ball as a slow feeder since he hates the ones you put in bowls and I don’t like using plastic bowls.

 

[Allstargirly]

If it were me, I’d try Royal Canin Hydrolyzed Protein for a while, along with Propectalin tablets when needed to firm up the stool. This is what helped my last Golden. Once he made it to two or so, his stool started firming up and he was able to switch over to a non-prescription dog food.

I went ahead and got him a 6lb bag of purina EN from the vet and see if that helps.

 

[hotel4dogs]

That is definitely not overfeeding him, so that's not the cause.

He gets 2.5 cups a day. He usually eats all of it. Sometimes leaves a few kibbles. We use a ball as a slow feeder since he hates the ones you put in bowls and I don’t like using plastic bowls.

 

[abee]

Aw the poop struggles! My pup is 11 months now and we've struggled with loose stools for most of his younger days so I totally get how you feel. First off, did you get his stool tested to rule out any viruses or bacteria that may be contributing to his stools? If that's been ruled out, I'd put him on a bland diet (chicken and rice or beef and rice) for a couple days so his stools can firm up. The Fortiflora that you're feeding does help too. Switch him over to the prescription gastroenteric diet (we used Purina pro plan EN) and feed only that (no other foods or treats) for a couple weeks. Once his stool firms up, then you can slowly (over 2-4 weeks) transition him to a new food (unless of course you plan on keeping him on the EN food), and see how he tolerates that. You might want to try the sensitive skin/stomach varieties to see if your pup does well on that. I've tried Purina pro plan SSS lines (both salmon and lamb), but my pup seems actually to be doing best on the PPP active 27/17 lamb variety since we started him on this (this is a non-SSS formula). Pro-pectalin tablets also help for diarrhea if he's having bad bouts of diarrhea. I'd keep your pup on your Fortfilora.

 

[abee]

I went ahead and got him a 6lb bag of purina EN from the vet and see if that helps.

The 6 lb bag of this bag won't last you long (I've had to purchase the 6 lb bag twice). You probably would want the larger bag. I got mine on Chewy (it will most likely be cheaper on there vs your vet).

 

[Allstargirly]

He luckily hasn’t had dio and he came out ok with his poop sample. He’s also do for his yearly next month so he’ll get it checked again. The bland chicken and rice don’t really help to much. I am gonna try the EN food (picking up today) and hope it works. If it does then Will come the fun part of finding a good that works for him. I was gonna try wellness core digestive Heath as it’s highly rated on food advisor and so is science diet perfect digestion. Which I found interesting since all their other foods have average reviews.

 

[Allstargirly]

The 6 lb bag of this bag won't last you long (I've had to purchase the 6 lb bag twice). You probably would want the larger bag. I got mine on Chewy (it will most likely be cheaper on there vs your vet).

I just got it at the vet to start out. It’s only a couple dollars less on chewy. If does okay on it I’ll get a bigger bag on autoship

 

[Hildae]

I wouldn't consider wellness a good food. I'd look into something from Purina or Royal canin. I hope the fortiflora helps, and the EN should as well.

 

[abee]

He luckily hasn’t had dio and he came out ok with his poop sample. He’s also do for his yearly next month so he’ll get it checked again. The bland chicken and rice don’t really help to much. I am gonna try the EN food (picking up today) and hope it works. If it does then Will come the fun part of finding a good that works for him. I was gonna try wellness core digestive Heath as it’s highly rated on food advisor and so is science diet perfect digestion. Which I found interesting since all their other foods have average reviews.

My dog didn't do well on chicken/rice, but beef and rice worked well. The PPP EN food helps (there's both the canned food and the kibble) if you want some variety. I'd probably stick to PPP if your dog does well, it's better than Wellness brand. Good luck, hope you see some solid poops soon!

 

[Allstargirly]

So I started mixing the EN food and last night I did a bit more and he snubbed his nose to it. He doesn’t want to eat it. It was maybe 1. 1/2 cup of his lamb and barely and 3/4 cup of the EN food and he did not want to eat it. Finally got him to eat by putting bone broth but it seems counter to add to his food if im trying to get him on the EN completely.

 

[abee]

So I started mixing the EN food and last night I did a bit more and he snubbed his nose to it. He doesn’t want to eat it. It was maybe 1. 1/2 cup of his lamb and barely and 3/4 cup of the EN food and he did not want to eat it. Finally got him to eat by putting bone broth but it seems counter to add to his food if im trying to get him on the EN completely.

If he's not eating it within 10-15 minutes, I'd put it away, and try again next meal. If he's hungry, he'll eat it. My golden loves the EN food, he's not picky, but one of my other dogs is a lot pickier with food. If he's not eating it, I just take it away, and he eats the next meal because he's hungry by that time.

 

[Hildae]

With fussy eaters we take it away and let them go until the next meal, and give it to them again. No toppers.

 

[Allstargirly]

If he's not eating it within 10-15 minutes, I'd put it away, and try again next meal. If he's hungry, he'll eat it. My golden loves the EN food, he's not picky, but one of my other dogs is a lot pickier with food. If he's not eating it, I just take it away, and he eats the next meal because he's hungry by that time.

Yeah I'll have to do that. Usually he isn't but guess he found something he was like NOPE.
I only feed him once a day so he'll be waiting quite a while.

 

[Allstargirly]

Well I just realized that I’ve been giving my 76 lb dog 1500 mg of glucosamine. Which is more than is recommended. The wellness lamb and barely have 250mg and I give him vetiq chews, 4 of them a day with food. I wonder if that could have been the cause of the loose stools? I’ve discontinued giving to him tonight to keep with the EN diet.

 

[Allstargirly]

Happy to report that my vet recommended a EN diet and its worked out great for him He's having good poops! I also got him an allergy and food intolerance test and he's allergic to everything. So I'm now working on a food that meets the criteria for his food allergies and in turn hopefully help his environmental. I give him apoquel every other day and I want to get him off that after doing some reading on it.