BLUE BUFFALO SWITCH

[LORRIE PAULUS]

I posted a couple of weeks or so ago about #2 issues we were having with Rosie, our 19 week GD.  It seemed as though she was having issues with BB puppy, but we had her tested for Giardia because she had previously had it.  The vet put her on Science i/d until the sample came back--once it came back negative she instructed us to transition her back to BB from i/d.  After going slow and getting back to all BB in 7-8 days, she had soft serve poop again!  I decided about 10 days ago to transition her from BB to Wellness Core Puppy No grain (after reading things about BB and loose stools and on advice of folks here).  I have started her transition VERY slowly... she weighs about 23-25 lbs and the Core bag says 2-3/4 C for 20 lbs to 3-2/3 C for 30 lbs, so we are feeding her about 3C a day.  On advice of vet we did a complete clean out of her system after the soft serve poop and did all rice/chicken last weekend and then this past Monday I started introducing her Wellness back in.  For the last 3 days she has had 1C Rice and 1/4C Wellness.  Tomorrow I plan to increase her kibble to 1/2C and decrease the rice to 3/4C--also mixing a little pumpkin in with it too.  We have had so many food issues since we got her--first Iams then BB all with the end result of soft serve, that I am hoping this Wellness Core is going to do the trick.  Does anyone have experience with using Rice/Chicken to transition puppy food? For the most part so far her poop seems very formed, tonight it was a little soft, but still formed.  It's frustrating to get to day 7 with 100% food and to have her poo turn to almost soft serve like!  

[Amy Clayman]

Hi there! I am no expert and don't claim to be. But your story sounds identical to ours with Roxie. She came to us with giardia. We thought once cleared the loose poops would abate. They didn't. When on chicken and rice, fine. We tried yogurt, fruitables, pumpkin. Nothing helped. We would always joke when returning from a walk 'does the poop need to be watered in?' Because it was like soft serve. She was acting fine, anal glands a bit full but otherwise healthy. I was almost at my wits end wanting to switch and then---Roxie just got older. Around 6 -7 months, poops just hardened up and have been fine ever since. I don't think there is much harm in switching as wellness core is a great food. But with our girl, it was just time.

[LORRIE PAULUS]

She'll be 20 weeks on Sunday, so I am hopeful that when she hits 6 months it'll even out.  She was spayed 2 weeks ago so that was a slight set back too!  The cone comes off and suture out tomorrow, so I am going to ask the vet about the transition too!  Thanks for the encouragement!

[Star and Goldie]

I'm almost wondering if there is just too much food switching going on that it's shocking her system. I'm interested to see how she does on Wellness. Keep us posted!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

What medication was used for the giardia, and what probiotics if any did you give her? Is she getting yogurt? Pumpkin?

What kind of treats is she getting, if any?

[LORRIE PAULUS]

Right now I have been careful about what treats she gets.  I was giving her Milk Bones...I add a generous spoonful of pumpkin to her food with the rice/chicken & Kibble.  I was adding yogurt when she was on the Metronidazole.  I have been reading about powder probiotics but wasn't sure if that was good.  I have been reading alot on food transition and how to do it the best way and it seems the rice/chicken with kibble is the best way and adding pumpkin

[Star and Goldie]

My pup is on BB and she used to have softer stools but I started giving her iflora (per a recommendation from the awesome Karen) and her stools hardened right up and it even took away her gassy issues. If you are looking into a powder probiotic, I highly recommend that one.

[LORRIE PAULUS]

Where do you get the iflora?  I would love to find something that I can give her probiotic wise to keep her stools hard.  

[Star and Goldie]

Here is where I found the best deal on it and ordered it- it shipped super fast too!

http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/iflora_probiotic_pets.html

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Metronidazole alone is not the most reliable treatment for giardia. In the future, insist that the vet give you Panacur. It can be very hard to get rid of giardia, and a lot of dogs keep reinfecting themselves, especially if they are not supervised outdoors.

It also seems to take a long time to get puppies' GI tracts back to normal after antibiotics. I would continue to give the yogurt until you can get a good probiotic.

I've never used rice to transition a dog from one food to another, and I personally wouldn't give plain rice with kibble. Too much carbohydrate, which can also contribute to soft-serve poop. That's one of the reasons for feeding grain-free food. To mix it with rice is defeating the purpose.

[LORRIE PAULUS]

Should I get iflora ? I am also adding chicken for protein and plan to increase kibble tomorrow and finish transition this weekend. Should I use yogurt instead of pumpkin? I am trying to make this her last food change.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yogurt and pumpkin serve two different purposes, you don't use one instead of the other. You can give both. Pumpkin is given for fiber, it helps regulate stool consistency. Yogurt is given for the probiotics, to aid in the production of good bacteria in the gut which is necessary for healthy digestion. Metronidazokle and other antibiotics kill the good bacteria along with the bad, which is why it's so hard for puppies's digestive systems to rebound after being treated for giardia.

When feeding a bland diet, make sure there is as much chicken in the mixture as rice. I personally prefer mashed sweet potaotes and chicken instead of rice and chicken.

iFlora is a very good antibiotic, but until you get it, give her yogurt.

And I would get rid of the milk bones, even once her digestion is back to normal. We have lots of healthy treat recommendations here. But for now, don't add anything new to her diet until her poops has firmed up.

[Lisa Turner]

We have had similar issues with our poopy doodle Izzy. She is now on wellness salmon and potatoe limited ingredients which works great. She too is 19 weeks and I feed her one and a half cups of wellness twice a day and with each meal she has two big dollops of pumpkin mixed in with the kibble. The pumpkin makes a huge difference! No pumpkin or not enough equals sloppy poop! Nice - Not!!!!!