Thoughts on low fat & highly digestible diets?

[Christine & Shelby]

Shelby's got some poop issues... it's been quite a while, probably about a year since I've had to take her to the vet for poop problems, but it's been a couple of weeks and it's just not getting better.   She has had very soft stool - reponds incredibly well to pumpkin on her food... but within 24-36 hours of finishing the pumpkin - she's back to soft stool.   Appetite is fine, activity is fine, water intake is normal. 

So we went to the vet today and the did a fecal float and fecal smear.   She noted elevated levels of bacteria and something that indicated possible irritation/inflamation of the colon. 

She has given me Metronidazole, wants me to keep adding fiber to her diet (either continue with the pumpkin or consider adding some metimucil, suggested a probiotic (or I could try yogurt). 

The vet suggested putting Shelby on a low fat (5-8%), highly digestible diet.  She recommended 3 products:

     - Iams low residue

     - Hills I/D

     - Purina EN

Well, knowing what I do now about doggie nutrition and some of these diets I politely declined buying any of those at this time and told her that due to her sensitive system (took a long time to find a food that worked well for us), I'd rather not mess with her kibble.  She said I could try keeping Shelby on her current food (Fromm 4 Star - currently 14% fat), but that if it doesn't clear up in the next week or two I should really consider a low fat/highly digestible diet. 

So to all you experienced DKers out there... any suggestions on low fat/highly digestible diets?   I did have her use the Iams low residue canned food a couple of years ago, and she did well on it, but now that I know a bit more about feeding quality food - I am wondering what options might be out there that I am not aware of that are in the 5-8% fat range and considered highly digestible.   I shared that I was willing to cook on my own - rice, ground turkey, etc. but she was concerned about getting her diet balanced properly. 

** I forgot to mention the low fat highly digestible diet was recommended for just a few weeks to help get her over this episode.  It's not a long term recommendation. 

Open to feedback and suggestions.... thanks so much!

 

 

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

I would stick with the Fromm and add boiled white chicken and brown rice with the pumpkin, to her diet.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Christine, I would cross post this in the food group.

[Christine & Shelby]

Nancy... thanks for the suggestion - just did :)

 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Oh great, I just got done answering here. :) 

I'll just copy and paste over there. 

[Christine & Shelby]

Thanks :) ... and sorry :(

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

No problem. :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

There is no commercial dry food in the 5-8% fat range, but that isn't necessary anyway. Neither a bacterial imbalance nor an irritated/inflamed colon is going to be affected by the fat percentage in a food. That's not a consideration even in treating dogs with Inflammatory Bowel Disease that has been reliably diagnosed through endoscopy. As long as you keep the fat percentage in her diet at 15% or below, you're fine. 

Fiber is a different story, and it may help with stool formation. You can use Metamucil, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, human food-grade powdered cellulose, or any combination of the above. I mix the fiber supplement into mashed sweet potatoes and mix it with JD's food. I've been using a cellulose product I order on-line, because I've had trouble finding unflavored Metamucil that isn't full of sugar.

A good probiotic will also help, and is absolutely necessary if she's on metronidazole. I recommend Proviable DC. You can order it on-line. Giving yogurt in the meantime will help. You might want to pick up a bottle of Gentle Digest capsules by Ark Naturals, they contain a prebiotic that helps "feed" the good gut bacteria. You can usually find it in the better private pet supply stores.

If there is a Four-Star formula that Shelby hasn't tried, and that contains a protein she hasn't eaten before, you might try that. If you are going to change her food, I'd put her on a limited ingredient formula with a novel protein and a higher fiber content. I can help you with that in TFG if you want to try it down the road. 

[Joani, Skadi & Elli]

I would post in the food group, but for some reason I am suspended. :(  and have no clue why...Anyway, that's okay because after dealing with so many poo issues and ear infections, I also researched and finally put Skadi on raw.  She's been on raw for almost a year.  No ear problems no poo problems.  Almost as easy as kibble and almost as convenient.  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Okay, your vet has to be talking about canned food, because none of the foods she recommended above contain 5-8% fat in the dry version. Hill's i/d has 13.9% fat (same as your Fromm) and a VERY low fiber content of 2.6%: http://www.hillspet.com/products/pd-canine-id-canine-gastrointestin...

The Iams low-residue contains 9% fat and only 4% fiber: http://www.iams.com/dog-food/iams-veterinary-formula-intestinal-low...

And the Purina EN has 10.5% fat and an incredibly low 2% fiber. http://www.purinaveterinarydiets.com/Product/ENGastroentericDogFood...

We can easily do better than this with dozens of foods from the recommended list. 

Read more here: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/cross-p...

[Oliver & Elizabeth]

I would try a food for senior dogs. They typically have a lot less fat and higher fiber. For example, Lotus (a DK recommended brand) senior formula has 8% fat and 4.5% fiber. When Oliver had a sensitive stomach as a puppy, at the suggestion of our pet store, we put him on Lotus puppy and he did great. We have since switched him to Acana and Orijen, but at the time it worked really well for us.

http://www.lotuspetfoods.com/dry-dog-senior.php

[Joyce (Casey & Cody's mom)]

I also use FROMM foods and have one little critter that has to have a very low fat content in his diet. The lowest fat content that FROMM has is the Whitefish and Potato. I've had my little guy (one of my dachshunds) on this for quite a while now - and not one flair up from his pancreatitis. (which prior to using the FROMM low fat foods, he had flareups more often)