Need suggestions for soft poop -

[Katie]

No idea what to feed my poor girl???  Suggestions needed.  Heres the bacground:

My puppy is is 13 weeks old and currently weighs 13.5 lbs.  (at 10 weeks she was 10.5 lbs)  She is an energetic puppy and seems to be happy and healthy.

She has basically had soft poop since I brought her home at 8 weeks.  At first I thought it was just the stress of the changing homes.  We were feeding blue buffalo and poo went from soft to watery rather quickly.

At 10 weeks old the vet did a fecal which was negative so we changed food to Hills ID.  That seemed to work initially but then after a few days it went back to soft - not watery, just mushy pudding looking.

At 13 weeks, vet gave the ok to change food - tried Fromm Puppy food.  Slowly transited over 5 days and it's back to mushy, pudding poop.  During these 5 days vet also had us deworm.   She also slept ALOT today, just didnt seem like her normal puppy self.  I was feeding her 1 cup of Fromm twice a day.  This seemed like enough as she usually wasnt finishing it.

This morning I gave her the id and her poop was a better color and had more form than it's had in a long time.  Not normal poop by any means but better.  She seems to be feeling better.

I spoke with my trainer and she doesnt like the the id.  She wants me to go back to the fromm and add a brobiotic.  

What do you all think??  It seems like all the foods are too rich for her tummy.

I also give her pigs her - do these mess with the tummy.  She really needs them during those crazy zoomie hours.  

[Joan Bollaert]

Orijen..    

[Laura and Angus]

We had this same thing with our puppy and DK people suggested putting a scoop of pumpkin in with his food. This worked perfectly for us...we still give him some pumpkin with his food. We just buy a can of 100% pumpkin from the grocery store...it's cheap and really really helps.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Stop the pig's ears and stop the Hill's i/d. It's garbage.  Yes, the pig's ears could very well be messing with her tummy.

For chews, try antlers, or non-edible Nylabones. Be sure to give the non-edible kind. If you do a search for antlers here in the FG discussions, you'll find some good info and sources. Antler Pantry comes highly recommended. 

Order a bottle of Proviable DC probiotics. Until it gets there, give her 2 tablespoons of plain unflavored nonfat yogurt 2-3 times a day. 

Feed her a homemade "bland diet" consisting of 50% plain boiled white meat chicken, cut up very fine, and 50% cooked sweet potatoes. You will need to give her about 3 cups of this per day or more, as it's much lower in calories than kibble. 

Once the stool firms up, you can try transitioning her back to kibble. I would recommend that you choose a grain free food. Wellness CORE Puppy might be a good choice, or Orijen Puppy. Be sure to continue the probiotics for several weeks, at least until she is fully transitioned and doing well with the new food. 

[Katie]

Thanks all.

This group is just amazing!  I'm already transitioning to a bland diet and added a daily probiotic.  I'm using Animal Essentials Plant Enzymes and Probiotic.  I

I can already see a change in her poo - It's actually got a little form to it.

I'm picking up a bag of Orijen at puppy class on Thursday. 

When I switch to kibble do I just do it 100% or do I add it to the bland diet?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I would rder the Proviable, it really makes a difference. A probiotic is only as good as the number of live cultures it contains, and the minimum effective amount is believed to be 5 billion CFUs per dose. I could not find any info on-line as to how many CFUs are in a dose of the Animal Essentials product, but I'm skeptical about it. 

Start the transition to Orijen by mixing just a small amount to the bland diet, and then gradually increase it and decrease the homemade food.  Orijen has two and a half times the calories per cup of the homemade diet, so a little goes a long way; adjust accordingly. :)

[Shari Becker]

I posted a whole reply here, but it seems to have disappeared. Curious. Everything Karen says is right! We had a puppy with soft stool, too. She still can't have any treats like bully sticks or pig's ears. Those Yak sticks work well for us and so do the antlers, and she still loves her Nylabone baby set. For faster treats, cod skins are great, but I would wait until you pup's belly is healed. Actually, a puppy your dog's age doesn't need any real treats other than pieces of kibble or sweet potatoes. We use Proviable for probiotics. It just takes a little time and some trial and error until you find the right food for your pup's belly. 

[Katie]

Thanks!  

Now I have to find something to chew on..............She NEEDS to chew.  Really pigs ears are the only thing she likes but since they are crap I'm stopping them.  She has zero interest in the antlers

I'll check on the yak things.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Beef tendons and beef tracheas have worked well for me, but I'd wait until everything is stable with her digestion to introduce new treats or chews. 

Look into antlers, they have been a life saver for many of us. 

[Katie]

I went and picked up a split antler tonight...she loves it!!!

I also picked up a bag of Orijin.

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

When Moose came home he had tummy issues but since I didn't want my furniture to be a chew toy I would just freeze a kong, with nothing in it but it was very interesting to him, probably because it was cold but you could try that. Now that his tummy is ok I out Frozen PB in it but I wouldn't add that until after her tummy is ok, good luck!

[Laura and Angus]

Nylabone just had a recall of the baby set, so that's something to check out in terms of the dates of the recall. Also, our puppy had some stomach issues/digestion problems after the edible "teething puppy" set from Nylabone, so I'd definitely just get the kind that they can't chew up and swallow...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yes, it has to be one of their non-edible products. And the only reason I trust those is that they were recommended to me by Jack's Internal Medicine Specialist after his IBD diagnosis. In fact, they were the only chew item she considered safe for him.