Gastrointestinal can Dog food

[Dawn Marie]

Hi! DK members. I'm new to the group. I'm Dawn Marie and Holly is my 9 1/2 yo F1b Goldendoodle. My question is: Is there a healthy gastro intestinal canned food out there that's no grain or the right grains, meaning no corn? Holly has lost 5 1/2 ps since Jan. Getting too thin. Picky eater who has never been overly crazy about her Acana single source duck n pear. But, chronic ear infections for years moved us to no grain food. Acana for the past year. Liked it at first now, not interested. Tried other single source flavors which may work for a couple days then refuses to eat again. Constant problem with her. She gets diarrhea from every canned food I try even with only very small amounts mixed in with Acana dry. Vet put her on Royal Canin canned gastrointestinal last week. Well, she has gobbled up every bowl of food I've given her since. However, I don't really like her eating it. Water, pork by products and corn are first 3 ingredients! But, only canned food that hasn't caused diarrhea and so far no ear infections either. Unless I can find another gastro canned food to mix in with her Acana I feel I'm going to resort to her eating mostly high quality food rather than not eating like she's been doing. She's had more energy this past 5 days then she has had in a while. I'm sure it's because she's FINALLY getting some nutrition in her because she's actually eating twice a day now. 57 lbs and was 62.5 in Jan. She was surviving on about 1c a day many days. I didn't notice how thin she'd gotten until her haircut last week. Then, I went immediately to the vet. I kept thinking well, she'll eat when she's hungry enough. Well, she did, but only enough to keep her alive not really thriving. Anyway, could use some suggestions on canned food. Fyi...she won't go near raw or freeze dried. Already tried:( thanks.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It sounds like there are several different issues here, and food isn't going to solve all of them. It sounds like Holly may have Inflammatory Bowel Disease, and if that's the case, she needs to see a veterinary internal medicine specialist and have some testing done. 
But to address your questions, there is no "gastrointestinal" food, canned or otherwise, that doesn't contain grains. I put "gastrointestinal" in quotation marks because there is really nothing about these Rx foods that vets give for difestive issues that are therapeutic in any way. They are simply "bland diets". 
Royal Canin does make a grain free canned food that is used in dogs who have IBD and other serious digestive diseases. It contains hydrolyzed protein and works a whole lot better for digestive issues than the "gastrointestinal" formula your vet sold you. The ingredients aren't great but they are a whole lot better. You might ask your vet to give you a prescription for it. It's much cheaper if you order it from chewy than buying it from the vet.
https://www.chewy.com/royal-canin-veterinary-diet/dp/33960?utm_sour...

[Dawn Marie]

Thank you Karen. Holly does not have IBD. She doesn't normally have diarrhea and never has on the Acana. Problem is she just got bored with Acana Duck and Pear. So, she hasn't been eating much lately and dropped 5 lbs in 4 months. But, if I try to give her something other than what she's used to then she usually gets diarrhea. So, I don't like to add different things once I know what works. Problem is she gets unenthused with the food after a while. Been on Acana for nearly a year. So, to stimulate the appetite a week ago the vet gave me the junky Royal Canin Canned food with the pork by product and corn. She liked it and has eaten every meal since last Tues and has already gained 2 lbs. Now, I just want her to stabilize. I picked up a can of the Royal Canin today that you suggested and she ate it this evening with the Acana. I don't want to change her dry food now. Too much change with her too quickly is problematic. I appreciate your suggestion and expertise:)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

And if you are mixing the canned food with kibble, I strongly suggest switching from the Acana kibble to Wellness Simple Solutions Salmon & Potato or Turkey & Potato formula kibble. It has a much better macronutrient profile for digestive issues than Acana, which is a very good food, but not the best choice for dogs with digestive disease. There is also a canned version of the Simple Solutions formulas.