[rcarr2009]

Hey everyone! This is my first puppy & definitely my first with such food issues!

Ellie, my 5 mo old golden, has a super sensitive tummy & has faced bouts of diarrhea since I brought her home & transitioned from puppy chow(the breeder fed this) to different food. She had diarrhea first from giardia & was on a dewormer then a second bout of diarrhea and the vet put her on metronidazole. I moved to Blue large breed puppy from puppy chow first. I'm not a fan of Blue, but had a super strict vet who suggested it and pushed it because it was a single protein source. When she had the runs, we switched to home cooked chicken & rice which helped a lot. She had, and has, diarrhea only at night and can be up close to every hour.

Next we tried 4health Salmon & Potato, poos were nice & solid, but she scratched herself until she bleed under her pits & on her belly, so off that we went. This food is manufactured by Diamond, which also threw up red flags for me.

Now, we tried the 4health puppy formula-this is lamb based. Back to diarrhea!

She's currently finishing up a metronidazole prescription I had for her and is on pork/noodle diet. Today was her first big solid poop since last Wednesday.

I looked at a limited ingredient diet--my vet says try a rabbit or vegetarian mix. I picked up natural balance sweet potato & venison, but haven't fed it and didn't get the rabbit because they were out of stock. But, after research I see Del Monte bought them and people are reporting food issues previously unseen.

Now, I have no idea where to go, or what to feed. I want limited ingredient, natural, and to have low calcium and chelated minerals. A probiotic would be good too.

Any suggestions? I'm truly contemplating freeze dried or raw, but I travel a lot with Ellie and frozen or raw can be difficult. Also, I want something that's not so horribly expensive to feed.

Finally,I questioned cyclical giardia & the vet said that wasn't it for sure--I have an appt Friday with another vet for a second opinion.


Help please!!!!!!

 

[Max's Dad]

How did Ellie do on Puppy Chow? Many on the forum suggest sticking with what the breeder fed for a while.

Max's breeder fed Puppy Chow, but he had really big, soft stools, so we switched Max to Eukanuba Large Breed Puppy Food. It is chicken based and low residue. He did great on it and ate it until he was about 15 months old. You state that you fed your pup chicken and rice, so the protein in the Eukanuba should not be a problem. Eukanuba is readily available and not too expensive.

There was a thread similar to this several days ago, and a couple of us suggested a simpler, less rich food, might be a good idea. I have seen many comments on the forum about dogs not being able to tolerate Blue. Good luck getting your girl on track.

 

[Vhuynh2]

Due to allergies, I now feed my girl raw. I really have no other choice because there is no kibble out there that doesn't include at least one ingredient Molly is allergic to. I plan to feed freeze-dried when traveling, or pack an ice chest when feasible.

 

[Ripley16]

Ripley had a similar problem with Both Hills Vet LBP, then Blue Buffalo. She's now on Canidae (for 1.5 years now) and is thriving! No problems since! Natural balance is also a good food for sensitive stomachs.

 

[elly]

Hi, I have been through dreadful allergy problems with Chester, both stomach and skin. He is now three and a half and the biggest breakthrough was putting him on a one carb and one protein diet of a food he hadn't had much exposure to before, in his case, duck and oat. We have never looked back, is been fabulous and if and when he become intolerant to this we will me not another food he hasn't experienced before such as rabbit or sardine. He had a parasite as a puppy, went through the same antibiotic treatment as you etc, had regular attacks of colitis and it was a nightmare. He became almost phobic about food, it was hard to get him to eat properly and we guess he had become to associate it with feeling so ill. I wouldn't hesitate on using one protein and one carb diet..that must include treats too, strictly,..or raw but as you need to travel, raw and freeze dried or a single protein diet would be best. Good luck, keep us updated.

 

[rcarr2009]

Thanks so much for you input!!!!

On puppy chow she did fine and did fine on Blue for a few weeks. I have a horrible feeling that Blue was what started all of this

Still trying dry foods and made another switch this week and so far so good!!

My second vet opinion says that he thinks there are a few possibilities so we are processing through each to see if it can be solved.

1. She has a bacteria imbalance which is why the metronidazole helps. She's currently on Fortiflora once a day on her food and seems to be doing well. He also suggested Canidae, but I ended up putting her on Nature's Logic Venison recipe. It's potato and grain free & because I deer hunt and have lots of ham bones and opportunity to use the meat in various forms for treats, it's easiest for me to keep her on that one protein source.

So far she's had solid poo's just not as regular as they've been. I'll keep everyone posted on where it goes.

If this doesn't solve it, we'll go back to metronidazole or prednazone to see if it's a parasite that didn't show up on her fecal (he did a repeat fecal test on Friday and it came back negative)

Finally, if that isn't it, when he fixes her he'll do a pancreatic and intestinal biopsy to determine if it's IBD or a pancreatic enzyme that's absent or not working like it should.

I really hope we don't get there!!!!

Thanks so much for your input and if this food doesn't work I'll definitely give the Eukanuba, Canidae, and possibly raw a try.

Vhuynh2, how difficult was it to switch to raw? & how do the costs chalk up vs. dry kibble???? I think one day I'd try that, but I don't know how to even begin!

elly, how did you get Chester to lose the association of being ill with food? She ate heartily for the first time this morning on her new food, so that may be a good sign, but I worry she isn't eating like a normal 5 mo old pup because she's associating eating with getting diarrhea at night.


Ellie & I really appreciate all of your guidance and input!

 

[oakleysmommy]

My golden had same issues as a puppy. Giardia that took forever to clear. Then on Tylan powder and vet prescribed kibble which really helped clear him up. We did a week of plain boiled chicken and rice before the vet kibble. Slowly added in the vet prescription IBD kibble and weaned off the chicken rice. I always kept rice in kibble though. Then I switched to pro plan sensitive skin stomach and it did wonders for her. I don't believe in raw and blue buffalo is the loose poop food in my opinion...def go for second opinion. Giardia is tough I had to bring in 3 fecal samples 3 days in a row and they finally caught it

 

[Jules&Pilot]

Hey everyone! This is my first puppy & definitely my first with such food issues!

Ellie, my 5 mo old golden, has a super sensitive tummy & has faced bouts of diarrhea since I brought her home & transitioned from puppy chow(the breeder fed this) to different food. She had diarrhea first from giardia & was on a dewormer then a second bout of diarrhea and the vet put her on metronidazole. I moved to Blue large breed puppy from puppy chow first. I'm not a fan of Blue, but had a super strict vet who suggested it and pushed it because it was a single protein source. When she had the runs, we switched to home cooked chicken & rice which helped a lot. She had, and has, diarrhea only at night and can be up close to every hour.

Next we tried 4health Salmon & Potato, poos were nice & solid, but she scratched herself until she bleed under her pits & on her belly, so off that we went. This food is manufactured by Diamond, which also threw up red flags for me.

Now, we tried the 4health puppy formula-this is lamb based. Back to diarrhea!

She's currently finishing up a metronidazole prescription I had for her and is on pork/noodle diet. Today was her first big solid poop since last Wednesday.

I looked at a limited ingredient diet--my vet says try a rabbit or vegetarian mix. I picked up natural balance sweet potato & venison, but haven't fed it and didn't get the rabbit because they were out of stock. But, after research I see Del Monte bought them and people are reporting food issues previously unseen.

Now, I have no idea where to go, or what to feed. I want limited ingredient, natural, and to have low calcium and chelated minerals. A probiotic would be good too.

Any suggestions? I'm truly contemplating freeze dried or raw, but I travel a lot with Ellie and frozen or raw can be difficult. Also, I want something that's not so horribly expensive to feed.

Finally,I questioned cyclical giardia & the vet said that wasn't it for sure--I have an appt Friday with another vet for a second opinion.


Help please!!!!!!

WOW this is my exact story!! I'm feeling so helpless lately...

I've been having the exact same issues with my 5 month old. He's had recurring bouts of diarrhea since I got him. The diarrhea is always at night, usually every hour. This can happen for 3 nights in a row. Each time I take him to the vet the fecal samples are negative and there is a high Clostridium count. They give me Metro each time but once the pills are done, diarrhea is back immediately. I've been adding pumpkin, probiotics and oatmeal to his food but to seemingly no avail. During the bouts of diarrhea, I feed him rice and ground beef but he's always hungry.

I've switched his food to Performatrin Puppy Lamb & Rice, its a Canadian brand I believe.

Should I be feeding him an all stages food? Could protein be the culprit? HELP

 

[ktkins7]

Ella had some similar problems when I first got her with parasites and giardia. Since she was treated for that she has had two bouts of diarrhea. The first time I think she may have eaten something she was supposed to when we had a really busy weekend and she was exposed to lots of new things and people (I think she may have found some people food on the ground). The second time, someone else in my house gave her a pressed rawhide bone when I wasn't home and it didn't agree with her stomach. The vet gave her the metrozonal and something (don't recall the name) that he said was like giving her a good dose of yogurt.

When I got her the breeder had her on Iams Puppy Chow, which her poops were solid with but she was going a lot and they were massive for such a little puppy. I switched her over to Wellness puppy, which she seems to be doing well on. Other than the diarrhea caused by other things she has been doing well on it. I know they also have a grain free formula as well as a limited ingredient formula. I just use the regular puppy kibble now, but may eventually change to grain free. Was going to ask my vet's opinion during her next appointment which is Friday. But when I started her on Wellness she was underweight, and now at 18 weeks old her weight looks correct for her size. She is on the small side, but her mother and full sister were both under 60 pounds.

 

[Heartsdesire]

I have a four month old with the same diarrhea problem. Two stool samples were negative. She was ok on the antibiotics and ground beef and rice, but when I started to add her food back in slowly the problems have started again. 4health puppy food was what she was originally on. Now she is on Purina One puppy. Nothing but problems since. I'd really like to solve this problem but there are so many suggestions on different foods to try it gets confusing.

 

[oakleysmommy]

The simpler the better. Eukanuba,proplan always just seem to work..

 

[elly]

Thanks so much for you input!!!!

elly, how did you get Chester to lose the association of being ill with food? She ate heartily for the first time this morning on her new food, so that may be a good sign, but I worry she isn't eating like a normal 5 mo old pup because she's associating eating with getting diarrhea at night.


Ellie & I really appreciate all of your guidance and input!

Hi again,

It was only when it cleared up he started to eat better. He seemed to feel more confident in the food, odd, but that's the only way I could describe it. His appetite completely changed to normal when he went on the one protein one carb gluten free diet and his poos were A*! Also permanent antibiotics and antacids, one thing to consider is that acid can cause diarrhoea too.
He burps a lot without them, does Ellie? He was on venison when we switched to a meat he hadn't had much exposure too but eventually he started to react to that too. As well as my vet, I spoke to a diet expert at Crufts and he said that the duck and oat gluten free diet we had changed to was a great choice and should stay the same for at least a year before reintroducing any single food and only then, in small increasing amounts, just one each time, for several months before introducing the next. He also warned, as did my vet, that he could also build up sensitivity to the duck after a while and in that case, we could try rabbit or ostrich. He's been on steroids this summer for skin allergies and of course they REALLY increased his appetite and he went from being skinny to a bit of a hunky chunk!

 

[rcarr2009]

What brand is the duck and oatmeal? I feel like I've seen a recipe with that before. Now, I'm wondering from all these other posts if it is just recurrent giardia that they're not catching...

I'll keep an eye on her eating at supper time tonight and hopefully we'll get a solid poop-as she's not gone today, but yesterday was a very nice solid one!! So, there is hope.

I plan to keep her on a probiotic until she gets much bigger or well, daily forever. I think the Fortiflora isn't bad--as it contains some minerals and a different probiotic, but it has sodium selenite in it and I don't particularly like feeding that to dogs.

The animal health company I work for makes a prebiotic/probiotic/type 1 fimbrae binder(this is stuff like e coli & salmonella) called Bio-Mos that I'm a really big fan of, so I may switch her to that. It's just a yeast extract that is good for all species, including us humans! I feel much better feeding her just a simple probiotic that I know has tons and tons and tons of research behind it, is from nature, and doesn't have a lot of extras in it at the end of the day.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed she doesn't develop an intolerance to venison, because other recipes are hard to come by that are uncommon proteins. The brand I'm feeding now has other recipes like Bison, duck, and rabbit, so hopefully they will work for her. I just keep an eye on them because they do include a second protein source in a much smaller amount to help with cost of the food. So far, the beef in this venison recipe has been no issue.

I just hate that I've had to switch foods so often, that's so tough on my little punkin's tummy!

Thanks again

 

[Cowtown]

rcarr2009 - try this too: add a teaspoon of canned pumpkin to each meal...the fiber will help firm up the stool a lot.

If you're already on a probiotic good...that and an enzyme will help a lot and I think will solve the problem. I've not heard good things about Fortiflora. I have used a tablespoon of Kefir (next to yogurt in grocery store) or plain yogurt in addition to the pumpkin with each meal.

Try that and it may get you on the right track quickly and cheaply!

 

[rcarr2009]

I'll definitely give the pumpkin a go. Do they sell this in grocery stores or just specialty pet stores. I want to make sure I don't get the kind that has extras added to it. Thanks lots!

 

[oakleysmommy]

Plain pumpkin in grocery store. Just a little. And def recheck for Giardia. It only shows when the egg is shedding in the stool. Gross I know. Ask about Tylan powder as well to put in kibble.

 

[Mini golden]

Same story here. Just got home from the vet and am disappointed that he doesn't think food is an issue at all. He may be right, but at 4 months old, with a history of giardia, coccidia, and countless meds for both those and a traumatic ER vet visit for partial digestive blockage and all the meds for that, her system has got to be a total mess. How can he really not even consider her food could as a possible factor? He has her on a naturopathic remedy (called colon guard...) which is helping a bit, plus diarsinal as an anti inflammatory, so I'm going to wait it out a week or two and see if his theory pans out. We seem to be of the same mind as to how she got to this level of damage and diarrhea, and what's going on in there right now, but I just can't believe her food wouldn't contribute somehow.

Shiloh is on Taste of The Wild and he said it's a really good food so I shouldn't worry about it being hard on her system. But when I read here about all the people who get their dogs on prescription food and single protein and carb choices, it jut makes me wonder if I should get a second opinion. I think my doc knows what's wrong but I'm not sure he's correct in how he's having us treat it... I just want her diarrhea to stop and for her to be healthy! Of course, he is right in worrying that switching her around too much causes problems of it's own. This is her 3rd kibble since she was born, plus one canned type and all the chicken and rice she's had, not to mention treats. Maybe we've just made our own issues by trying so many different foods in such a short time... And he thinks the bouts of diarrhea are brought on when she eats something like scraps she found from the kids or leaves or grass from outside. If we have a dog that gets the runs every time the kids drop one cracker in the floor we're in big trouble...

Currently on TOTW, daily pumpkin, daily small amount of greek yogurt, colon guard, diarsanyl, and probiotics, plus some healthy protein only treats. Does any of that sound like it could be causing trouble? Should we just stick with the current food and see how she does when all the meds are done? I've never had a dog with such a sensitive tummy!

 

[Heartsdesire]

Mini Golden- I've had this problem since I got my puppy at 8 weeks. The only thing that worked with my now 4 month old puppy was to give her rice and ground beef drained. Nothing else. Both fecal samples were negative. Everything was fine until I started adding the dog food back in slowly. The vet approves of the dog food. This result makes me think the diarrhea is from the dog food.

 

[Cowtown]

ToTW is a great food but it has too much calcium for large breed puppies till about 8 months old. See if you can get Earthborn (coastal catch or meadow feast), Natures Variety Instinct rabbit or limited ingredient turkey, or Wellness Core Puppy. Sometimes a particular food just doesn't sit well with a certain pup.

Go back to TOTW after 8 months. 8)

 

[elly]

What brand is the duck and oatmeal? I feel like I've seen a recipe with that before. Now, I'm wondering from all these other posts if it is just recurrent giardia that they're not catching...
.
I just hate that I've had to switch foods so often, that's so tough on my little punkin's tummy!

Thanks again

To begin with we bought duck and gave it raw or cooked, and I cooked gluten free oatmeal too, he loved both. We are in the UK so our foods are different to yours. We then found a wet food that had 95% duck and 5% rice so the vet said that would be ok, which thankfully it is as it's made life easier! He still loves his oatmeal and for snacks he has dried duck and I make oat biscuits or oatcake by grinding oatmeal into flour, which he loves. His biggest favourite is a raw duck leg
It took two different courses of antibiotics to deal with campylobacter, the long term effect of having such a nasty parasite giving him diarrhoea is colitis, it doesn't take much to set it off any change of diet now seems to be that trigger. I think it should be considered a possibility for any pup, dog who has had parasites and continues to have problems, even if intermittently. Truly, we tried everything, this is The ONLY thing to have changed him together with the antibiotics and antacids.
It's so hard when it's happening but it's sooooo good when it all finally turns around and you can enjoy 'normal'! :doh: