Continuing saga of Kramer's food

[Connie & Kramer]

I seriously don't know what I would do without this forum!  Ever since Kramer ate the stuffing/had a tapeworm, his poops have been very much like pudding or soupy.  I was switching him to Acana limited ingredients, but nothing was improving.  So... I took him down to boiled chicken and rice and flagyl...still soupy.  So I added the best Greek yogurt I could find...minor improvement.  Then I added the Purina probiotics and I think we are finally on the road to recovery.  If all is well tomorrow, I'll be a believer.  Could be that he needed a few days of the yogurt mixed in to reestablish a healthy balance of bacteria in his intestines.

To complicate this whole thing, I broke up with my boyfriend of 6 years and moved into a new house this week.  Kramer seems happy where ever I am, and he is especially happy that I started walking with him at 5:30am every day to the park.  The new house has a pool too, so in Kramer's eyes, this place is like a big playground.  He's been adjusting happily on this front.  Less bickering too...not sure if this is a factor, but given how sensitive these doodles are, I can't rule it out. 

Well, after a week of minimal grooming due to the move, I decided to clean his ears this morning and I was so surprised!  After being on chicken and rice for a week and no ear cleaning (a daily or every-other-day thing in the past with black crusty crap in his ears)...his ears were CLEAN!  I couldn't believe it.  I thought maybe I have the wrong ear, but no, both ears were minimally dirty.  They actually were as clean as his ears were after I cleaned them out with the black junk.

If tomorrow yields normal poops, I will wait another day or two before I start incorporating dry food into his diet...but which food?  I have a bag of Orijen Large Puppy...donating that one.  I have a small bag of Acana Lamb and Apple and another bag of Acana Duck and something - limited ingredients.  It seems like chicken is OK since he is on chicken and rice exclusively since last week.  Sorry for the long winded background, but I know how you have made sense of out this before, so do you think I should try the Acana Chicken and Potato limited ingredient?  I'm so nervous to give him anything at this point because he seems to be so sensitive to everything.  What do you guys think?

Thanks so much everyone,

Connie

[Sue & Lily Grace]

Connie, so sorry you are going through all this stuff. I hope Kramer is over the hump now and you both can relax.

[Connie & Kramer]

Thanks Sue.  We are doing well and I am focusing on making sure Kramer has lots of extra attention to help get us over the hump.  The change is good :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Is he still getting the metronidazole? (Flagyl)

The Fortiflora is not our favorite product, as it's made by Purina and contains some pretty crappy ingredients, the worst one being "animal digest". I'd finish whatever you have left of it and then use plain nonfat yogurt or a different probiotic.

Personally, I would go with the Acana Chicken & Burbank Potato to start with when you go back to kibble. Start slow. It's impossible to know how he is going to do with any commercial food, but that's as a good a place to start as any.

[Connie & Kramer]

Karen, thanks for confirming my thoughts on the next food to try.  What is a good alternative probiotic?  I just bought a box of 30 but I can give that to my pet sitter.  She was the one to recommend the Purina probiotic.  I would be happy to buy another brandt...especially trust your advice!  Kramer is on Oikos Greek Yogurt - I picked it because it had several of the good bacteria in it.  PS _ I hope Jack is doing better :)  With the house move, I haven't been able to keep up with DK lately.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I don't buy yogurt, so I'm not sure how much fat is in Oikos, but check that, because high fat foods can contribute to diarrhea. Any plain unflavored fat-free yogurt will have a good amount of lactic acid bacteria, which is what you want.

I give JD a human probiotic, VSL#3, which does wonders, but it's expensive, $52 for a bottle of 60 capsules.

Another good one is iFlora, or if you have a high-end pet boutique store that sells the better foods, you can ask them to recommend one. Ark Naturals prebiotic has worked well for JD, too.  

[Connie & Kramer]

I'll do a little online searching for those probiotics tomorrow.  It's not Oikos, I actually have Chobani.  I always buy plain non fat, so we're good there.  He loves yogurt.  I wouldn't be surprised if he gained weight on this chicken/rice/yogurt diet.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

I think the greek yogurt is okay - it has low enough fat and the protein is really good.  Peri has had it before and done fine.