When a Food Change Causes Loose Stools...?

[Marion Carmickle]

We have been trying to move Riley from Iams to California Natural. She did great until we moved to 50/50...loose stools resulted, and I do mean loose! We scaled back to 25% and all is well, but I wonder if I should try another food OR wait another 2 weeks and then try 50/50 again. Thanks for your help!

[Dianne Carter ~ Trinity Doodles]

Hang in there it gets better and I think you will be very pleased upon completing this process. Wholistic Pet makes an enzyme for digesting that does seem to ease this process and it also helps them to get optimal digestion results also. I recommend not going right from 25% to 50% now that you know the reaction. Another option is to add a bit of pumpkin and rice to the food. Sometimes I also use a bit of baby cereal oatmeal or rice. All of these things will help to firm up the stools. Good luck!

[Oliver]

thanks for posting this....our puppy will be coming home with us on Iams as well and we were also wondering what kind of schedule we should follow in order to switch brands...

[Marion Carmickle]

If you use the baby oatmeal, do you prepare it first or sprinkle it into the food? I am afraid I don't quite understand how you incorporate it into the existing food. Thanks!

[Dianne Carter ~ Trinity Doodles]

Its not you, it is my speeding through emails ~ sorry. I mix it with some water (which I sometimes add a small amount of low sodium chicken broth to as well) first. Then I add it to the kibble, I tend to dilute it to more of a 'gravy' type consistency. When I am feeding to the masses around here at night (currently 7) I will very frequently scoop out about 14 cups of dry food, 1 can of California Natural with an additional 2 cans of water ~ from there I taylor it to our current needs or my preference ~ I might add baby oatmeal/rice cereal, digestive enzymes, pumpkin, brown rice, cooked chicken, blueberries, cooked egg, cottage cheese, etc... I should also mention that when ours have diarrhea I not only add brown rice to the food but also the water that it was cooked in.

Now obviously you do not want to add all of the ingredients I have used as examples during this changeover time, I am merely trying to give you an idea of how I incorporate the 'mixture'. When our puppies are first introduced to solid food I add baby cereal and goats milk to kibble I run through the blender. I also give them a last evening meal of this mixture when they are very young and I believe this is why we have has so much success with them sleeping through the night at an early age, it helps to keep their little tummies full.

Non premium foods have many fillers, sometimes the first looser stools are not just reacting to a change but the lack of the fillers that bind them together. If you can add a small amount of an ingredient that would act as such where you control the quality of that ingredient that can be helpful. Best of luck to you, if I can be of any assistance at all, please do not hesitate to ask or shoot me an email.

[Tegan]

One thing you can try for a temporary fix is tinned pumpkin. It's great for relieving diarrhea. Just a few spoonfuls should do it and make sure you have 100% pure pumpkin (pumpkin pie mix is not the same thing and can make stomach troubles worse). Kali often has tummy upsets and this works like a charm (she also loves taste of the pumpkin, she thinks she's getting a treat).