Delicate Digestive Tract

[Donna Latrell]

My doodle Jazz is now 14 months old. He has an ongoing problem with Diarreah. Seems it comes and goes, but tends to be more often than not. We were up all night to let him out last night. Other than that he is very healthy. Not sure what is causing this or if it can be fixed. He destroys every toy we give him, pulls out the stuffing, frays any rope toy etc. and is sometimes ingesting this. If we give him anything with a high fat content, he goes into diareah mode. I sometimes think I have narrowed it down, but then out of the blue, it starts again. We have been putting about a large tablespoon of pumpkin in his food (lamb and rice), and sometimes it helps, but not always. We have decided to stop giving him the toys for a while to see if that helps. Any other suggestions would be appreciated...he has been tested for Giardia and is negative. Thanks, Donna

[Patty]

My Rocky is only 5 ½ months old and was having problems with loose stools. When I got him he was on Science Diet. I 1st switched him to Nutro Natural Choice. He was still itching and having loose stools. I started adding pumpkin which would help some. Next I tried Dick Van Pattens Natural Balance. I still needed to add pumpkin but felt the food was at least better for him than Nutro. Then it dawned on me that all of the food we’ve given him has chicken in it. So last week, I bought Natural Balances Allergy formula made with Lamb and Brown Rice. It’s a single source of protein and carbohydrates. With this last change, I just gave it to him without mixing it with the old food for a few days. He loves it and is doing great! No itching, firmer stools and he seems to be a little calmer too!
Good luck!

[Paula]

Donna
I am no food expert. I will state only for sake of information that I feed my 9 month old Doodle and my 7 month old Standard Poodle Royal Canin Large Breed Puppy and nothing else! My friends and relatives tell me I'm a meanie and sometimes try to sneak them dog cookies and worse; human food.They too had a terrible diarreah problem the SP more so than the D. They also ate their stuffed toys, had to take them away. I have to be very hypervigilant. The SP is like a goat: I mean anything! He got ahold of his cousin's rawhide chew 2 months ago, ingested a large part of it before I noticed. Although he had actually chewed on it before swallowing, (doesn't usually with the socks,towels, pieces of sheets, cardbord, cellophane, deck etc.) he had bloody diarreah so bad within 8 hrs that there were actually drops of blood on the cement steps where he stood waiting to be let in after pooping. And it continued for three days. Of course I took him to Vet to be sure it wasn't something else causing it but multiple tests ruled that out. Until ELIMINATING EVERYTHING but their dog food began I spent many a sleepless night letting both of them in and out never able figure out what the specific cause was with any certainty.
Paula

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Donna, do you mean "Natural Choice" for the wet food? If so, that's a Nutro product, and there have been some serious problems with Nutro. They are currentlyunder investigation by the FDA for some pretty serious consumer complaints of illness in dogs. I'm not familiar with the different treats, but check the ingredients carefully. It is true that corn, wheat, and soy are lousy foods for dogs, so if the treats contain those, get rid of them. The old standby diet for diarrhea of plain boiled white meat chicken & rice may help. Give the pumpkin separately, not mixed into the food. I really urge you to join the Food Group, there are so many recommendations and so much info there to help you with food choices. A lot of us have done a lot of scientifically based research and put it all together in one place to help with these decisions. We are not vets, but when it comes to canine nutrition, I will put us up there many notches over vets, who have only a very rudimentary education in nutrition anyway, most of it provided by the Science Diet/ Hill's corporation.
That said, for medical issues, I would not take the opinions of anyone but a vet. Before my guy Jack was diagnosed, I tried asking some questions in various forums (not this one) and got some very bad, very wrong information. If these small diet changes don't help, and you are sure Jazz isn't ingesting any non-food items, I think he should see the vet again. There are some good simple meds a vet can prescribe that will clear up the diarrhea, and maybe you can find out what's causing it.

[Donna Latrell]

Yes, tested negative for parasites. We feed him California Natural kibbles, and give him a couple of tablespoons of Natures Choice Lamb and Rice or Chicken and Rice wet mixed in. His treats consist of Costco Brand Milk Bonz, also lamb and rice, and Natures Pantry large puppy treats. He was getting some Mother Hubbard small treats, but I have stopped using them as I think they might be part of the problem. The natural food store we buy the kibble at also has a formula for sensitive stomachs, so I think we will try that when we get a new bag. He also eats chicken, white meat only. We mix that in his food when we have it. We have been known to buy him his own roasted chicken , debone and skin it and cut up the white meat for him. As long as we stay away from the dark meat and any fatty pieces, he tolerates it well, and loves it.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

We used to give our dogs rawhide chews which gave one of our dogs problems. Too many treats is also a problem.
Has your dog been checked for intestinal parasites?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here is the problem with what most vets tell us when they talk about nutrition and recommend the Hill's RX foods. Kitty was told that Emily is "allergic" or has a food intolerance to wheat, corn, and soy. The vet prescribed Hill's i/d food for her.
Here is the info directly from the Hill's website on the ingredients in i/d:
Hill's Prescription Diet Canine i/d Canned 24 14.75 oz (418 g) Cans

Detailed Description
Canine i/d®
For the Nutritional Management of Dogs with Gastrointestinal Disorders.
Gastrointestinal (GI) disorders affect the stomach and intestines, causing painful symptoms and problems with your dog's overall health. Some of the more common symptoms include vomiting, regurgitation, flatulence, weakness, diarrhea or constipation. Prescription Diet® Canine i/d® is a highly digestible formula created specifically to help manage dogs with GI disorders. There are several types of GI disorders that affect dogs, including colitis, constipation/diarrhea, gastroenteritis and pancreatitis. The nutritional formulation of Prescription Diet® i/d® may also be useful for pets with a variety of conditions.
Ingredients
Water, egg product, turkey, rice, corn meal, pork liver, soy fiber, taurine, minerals (dicalcium phosphate, potassium chloride, salt, calcium carbonate, zinc oxide, ferrous sulfate, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, calcium iodate, sodium selenite), vitamins (choline chloride, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, thiamine mononitrate, niacin, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement).

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/allergies-and-foodwhats-the

Well, Adina told me how to post a link here, but I can't seem to do it; anyway, the above is the link for our Food Group discussion, which ironically includes trhe same info Kitty posted below, plus a whole lot more. It's the discussion called "Allergies and Food".
Adina- I was just reviewing the connection between the gut and the immune system today, (stocking up ammo for raw feeding debates, lol,) and I cannot find anything in dogs similar to the Celiac issue in humans...in fact, even Celiac disease is still not referred to as an allergy, but as an intolerance. Even though both are immune system diseases, the antibodies cells that involved in celiac (& other absorption diseases) are different cells than the ones involved in allergies.

[Adina P]

This is for Karen... in your reading have you come across any potential for a food allergy to cause an autoimmune response in dogs similar to Celiac in humans? Just wondering because I can't help but think there has got to be some food ingredient (or level of fat, protein, etc) that could lead to absorption issue. But I dunno...just thinking out loud.

For Donna...what is your dog's personality like? Is Jazz a more nervous, high strung type dog? The reason I ask is that I know of a few dogs who are that way...thin, difficulty putting on weight, separation anxiety and they tend to have diarrhea with any changes or excitement. I'm grasping at straws, I know...

I would recommend the following website: petdiets.com -- a veterinary nutritionist runs the site and might have some help for you.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

DIARRHEA AND DIGESTIVE UPSETS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH FOOD ALLERGIES.
Sorry for the "screaming' caps, but I cannot stress this too much or too often. Food allergies present with the same exact symptoms as inhalant allergies, and that is primarily itching. The diarrhea is not an allergy reaction.
Susan is correct in that just "lamb and rice" doesn't mean there is no corn, wheat, or other bad ingredients in the food. What brand of food is it? How much are you feeding, and how often? What else is Jazz getting besides kibble?
High fat content can also be a cause of diarrhea. Ingesting pieces of stuffed toys could certainly cause some stomach problems. Could he be eating anything outdoors? Parasites can also be to blame, but I'm assuming those were checked for when they did the Giardia testing.
It's hard to discuss things in the "blog" format, and links won't post in a blog. Donna, please join the Food Group, do some searches through the discussions there, and post a new one on this topic if you can't find any info.

[Debbie and Thomas]

I agree with the other two comments-no grain, no soy. Many dog foods fill this requirement. Also, if our last dog ingested the stuffing from toys, latex or even a bit of the rope on some toys-he would vomit and have diaherrea for several days. He was healthy too, and could eat any kind of people food, but if he pulled apart a stuffed animal-LOOK OUT.