Food problem--need help!

[Bronwen Watts]

Hi All,

Our 13 week old puppy is on Orijen Large Breed puppy food.  Since we made the switch to all Orijen (from the foods she was eating when we got her) we have had nothing but diarrhea--I think the Orijen may be too rich for her or maybe she needs a food with grains--not sure which it could be.  She is fine while on metronidozale, then diarrhea again soon after.  No worms or any other sickness, she's acting totally fine, just can't stop the diarrhea.  I don't think she has a sensitive stomach, as the breeder had her on a mix of really good foods, and she did ok until she was eating only the Orijen.  So I have a few questions:

Can/should I feed her boiled chicken and rice until her tummy clears up?

Can you recommend some other good foods that might not be as rich or that have good grains?  Our older dog is on Acana grain free, but I worry that still might be a bit rich or the no grain thing may not work for the puppy.  I'm going to try to find the same food the breeder used, but if I can't I wondered what might be some good options, and whether I should try something with grains.  I was leaning towards Fromms, Blue Buffalo, or possibly an Acana food with grains.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

What was the breeder feeding her?

When did you switch to Orijen?

Did you have a fecal done? If not, or if the fecal was negative, why was she on metronidazole?

When did you stop giving the metronidazole?

Are you/have you given yogurt when she is taking metronidazole or other antibiotics? it is very common for dogs to have stomach issues after taking antibiotics, and have a lot of trouble regulating again. They should always get probiotics or yogurt while on antibiotics to avoid this.

I really doubt this has anything to do with the food being too "rich" as richness in food refers to fat. The breeders always use that term when they talk about the better quality foods, but they are using it incorrectly. But not every puppy does well on orijen.

[Bronwen Watts]

Thanks for the response, Karen!  I can always count on your knowledge and help!

We started the switch to Orijen right away and finished that over 3 weeks ago.  I'm trying to find the e-mail now from the breeder with the names of the foods, but I remember looking them up and thinking they were good (one of them might have been Fromms, which is partly why I considered it).  She also knew we were putting Lilly on the Orijen and later Acana, which she agreed were excellent choices.  She also recommended some other good options, and talked about making sure we got a quality one with plenty of meat and not a lot of fillers.

Yes, we've had fecals done, and they've all been negative.  She had really bad diarrhea though, so the vet put her on the metronidazole to see if it would help.  She's actually been on two courses of metronidazole--her stool was great during her first course of it and then shortly after she stopped it was bad again.  After a week of not clearing up, the vet put her back on metronidazole as well as fortiflora--which I gave her for 2 days (separate from antibiotic) and then realized it was made by Purina so I started giving her yogurt instead.  Yogurt does not seem to be helping.  She just finished her second course of metronidazole about 4 days ago, and the diarrhea is back and bad again.  We got home last night and it was all over her and her crate and she had ingested some and so she was throwing up poop all night long.  It was horrible.

The good news is that Lilly is acting normal and aside from all this is quite healthy and happy.  I just need to find a way to stop this diarrhea.

No one has mentioned the food being too rich, that was just something I wondered. Do you think it might help to switch to a food with some healthy grains in it?  Would it help in the short run to do boiled chicken and rice?

[Ronna, Murphy & Wilson]

I have no idea why but my Murphy did not do well on Orijen. I really wanted to feed him Orijen but he constantly had soft serve poop....and he didn't like it very much. He has been on Fromm ( and Wilson too) for 2 years without a problem. They do eat the Fromm with grain as well as without.

[Bronwen Watts]

Thanks for letting me know!  Yes, unfortunately Lilly's diarrhea is very bad--soft-serve and best and often very watery-like.  I want to find something for her that will work for her!  I may try the Fromm with grain and see how she does.  Trying to do some research before I go to the store tomorrow, and might get several different small bags so we can try different options if one ends up not working.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Funny, I really wanted to feed Fromm but we had problems at both ends. It really is a personal thing for these dogs. 

Hope he gets straightened out soon.   I know, I found my solution here in the FG and I am sure you will too

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I would get another fecal done. I think she may have parasites (probably giardia) that just didn't show up in the fecals. It really sounds like there is more than food issues going on here. The timing of the diarrhea with the food change confuses the issue as to the cause, which is why I always recommend waiting two weeks after the pup comes home before changing foods. These cycles of metronidazole always seem to result in the dog not being able to get back to normal bowel movements. I wish the vets weren't so quick to hand it out.

I'm afraid that just changing her food isn't going to help, especially if she does have giardia. You can try chicken and rice (or better yet, chicken and mashed sweet potatoes) for a few days to see if it helps, but I really think you should have another fecal done before choosing another food. Going back to what the breeder was feeding would probably be safer. And if the vet wants to put her on meds again, I'd ask for Panacur instead of metronidazole.  

If I had to choose a new food for her, I'd go with one of Acana's Singles or their Chicken and Burbank Potato from the Classics Line. Something with limited ingredients.

 

[Bronwen Watts]

I thought the same thing with the giardia, since she tries to put everything in her mouth and drink any water she finds on the ground (obviously we stop her immediately).  But she's had 3 fecals, and none tested positive for anything. We can go ahead and do it again though just to see.

The chicken and sweet potato, should it be 50/50?  And how much should I give her?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

That's the hard part, with a puppy this young. What does she weigh?

[Jill, Woody & Maxi]

Prior to the food switch, was her poop fine? I know when we first had our issues, we had many fecals done before giardia finally showed up..I would have to check my records, but I want to say it was close to a month (and switching vets) to diagnose giardia!

[Julie and Charlie]

First, I would look at diseases or parasites, as suggested. I think I would try again if diarrhea continues. I know it's terrible for everyone- Charlie contracted giardia a week or so ago and liquid poop, frankly, sucks for everyone. Dog probably has a tummy ache, you need to clean up, etc. 

But months before the giardia, I learned from experience that I was feeding him too much, and that was causing softer than normal stools. You might want to think about cutting back on the amounts. Why don't you have your puppy on the same food as your adult dog? To me it would be easier if the puppy isn't too sensitive. The Acana Regionals (grain free) are all life stages.