Still no luck and now a new symptom. Suggestions?

[Heather & Jake]

Jake has been transitioned to Orijen 6 fishes for a whole month now.  His poops are still very unpredictable: 1/3 are great, 1/3 are formed but very soft/mushy, and the other 1/3 are either too firm they are like rocks or back to rip up all the grass soup.  It's worse and always very soft/soup unless I add pumpkin and plain yogurt, or his Honest Kitchen Perfect Form supplement.  The first few weeks I was adding pumpkin/yogurt, and he was chewing on his feet a lot and bit off all the hair on his toes and his nails are all cracked from him chewing on them.  So I stopped adding the pumpkin/yogurt to see if he would do okay without them, and about 3 days later I saw his poops were getting super soft, I tried adding the Perfect Form.  From this I discovered the PF works the same for him as the pumpkin/yogurt (firms it up for the most part but not reliable) and he doesn't seem to be chewing on his feet as much, but still chewing.  Do you think it may be the food or yogurt and this is allergies?  Also since it has been a full month and he's still not having reliable poops, I'm thinking this is not the food for him so it's time to find another food to try.  The Honest Kitchen Embark is still high on my list, but I was wondering if the new constant feet chewing is an allergy, if I should try something else.  Is there anything else I may not have noticed symptom wise to look out for?

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

We definitely need Karen to weigh in on this one but I have a few thoughts.

 

Is it possible that the itchy feet are a separate issue and not food related? Could it be allergies to grass or something else that he is encountering in his environment?

 

As far as the Orijen Six Fishes goes, I have recently given up on that formula for Tara. I tried for months to get her stools to firm up with it and it just never happened!  It was SO frustrating!  Last week I finally switched her to Taste of the Wild and she is doing GREAT with it!! I have heard good things about HK too but have never tried it.

 

Also, is it possible that some treat he is getting is part of the soft poop issue? If Tara gets too many liver treats or eats too much of a bullystick at one time they will affect her poops.

 

Hopefully Karen will be on soon. Hope she hasn't lost power again! :(

[Kim]

I was waiting for Karen as well! I don't know much about allergies, but do know that food allergies are rare.  Allie gets severely constipated when she is on Regional Red.  She is ok with the 6 fish.  Maybe you could try the red?  I also agree with treats.  We have to be so careful as to what she gets.  We don't usually give treats anymore.

 

Hoping Karen has power!!!!

[Heather & Jake]

Yes I'm waiting for her response as well since she knows our situation well from past posts of mine! :)  Here are the links for more reference if interested...  The top one is the most recent.

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/how-soo...

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/another...

To answer both of you (and I should have mentioned it above for those not familiar with our saga), Jake does not receive any treats.  All training we do is with his kibble, lucky for me he's very food motivated!  As for it being a separate non-related issue I didn't think of that since I don't know for sure if it is even an allergy... nothing has changed environmentally around us as far as I know, so unless he's just developed it, I don't know... I only know he started chewing his feet right after we switched to Orijen.

I'm glad TOTW and the 6 fish foods are working for you!  I know we all know how frustating this is.  TOTW is another food I've considered and from what everyone else says Fromm and Acana sound like they might be something to try as well.  If it is allergies I wasn't sure if I should try some sort of limited ingredient diet.  Karen suggested we try the Orijen 6 fish after being on SolidGold WolfCub which is a bison based food and it didn't do well at all.  Before that he was on Blue Buffalo Large Breed Puppy which was chicken based and it was worse.  I've always loved the idea of the Honest Kitchen and know others with similar issues have had great success with it... I keep saying I'm going to try it next and then end up getting another bag of kibble hoping it will work.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Just read your other posts! OMD! You guys have been through the wringer!!  I think it was Jane of Guinness and Murphy who has had such good success with Murphy's issues feeding him Honest Kitchen.  The trouble is that not all doodle digestive systems are created equal! So it is really hard to recommend a food to someone just because it works for your doodle. I know that Jane tried many things too prior to ending up with HK.  If you have always loved the idea of HK maybe your intuition is leading you in that direction for a reason! :) Good luck to both of you! I hope you find your solution soon!

[Sue, Lola, Pongo & Hubby]

We had the exact same problem with Lola. Tried 6 fish - horrible. Even tried Regional Red - not any better. Just alst week we started doing a 50/50 mix of the remaining Regional Red with "Whitefish and Potato" Fromm and it's really solidified things. I think the whole 4-star line from Fromm is supposed to be pretty good. I'd give it a try. As for the chewing...Lola has environmental allergies (we've seen specialists!!) ....have you tried washing his feet at least twice a day? During prime allergy season, we keep a bowl of water at the back door (or hose down her feet if it's warm enough outside). Give that a try...and keep the hair in and around the feet pretty short...I usually have to trim hers weekly to keep up. Good luck!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I apologize for not having commented here yet. Crazy weekend and yes, we did lose power again briefly. I promise to respond when I have a chance to read through and think about it!

[Heather & Jake]

That's fine, I completely understand!  We are going out of town this weekend and since I do not want to deal with possibly worse diarrhea at the hotel, I am going to pick up another 5lb bag of the 6 Fishes before we start the transition to something new.  Hope to hear from you soon though because I know it won't last us very long before I'll need to get another bag!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

What I can tell you is that the feet chewing may very well be an allergy, but NOT to the food. Chances are that it's a seasonal allergy to some type of plant pollen that's prevalent in your area right now. Keep his feet clean and dry, wipe him down when he comes in from outside, thoroughly vacuum and dust the areas where he spends the most time, wash his bedding, wash his food and water bowls daily, and you should see an improvement. Evening primrose oil cpasules (500 mg/1x per day) help a lot with this, but i hesitate to recommend them for Jake with all the digestive issues.

So I'd say at this point, you can go ahead with the HK food if you want to give it a try, I would not worry about allergies.

[Heather & Jake]

Okay, thanks.  Since my original post I read though your post on allergies and agree that is can't be from the food and the timing was just coincidence.  I have also starting looking for changes outside and noticed the big tree under which he does his business most of the time is producing a lot of sap right now. I trimmed the hair between his toes and the pads... that has seemed to help and I think he may have just been chewing to get the dried sap out of his hair.  However in a completely unrelated food issue the poor little guy was running on the rocky shoreline at the river on Sunday and his paw pads are all torn up with big chunks missing from each foot. He's limping all over the place and licking his feet more than chewing on them now.  They did not get torn so badly they bled, but the top tough layer was just ripped off and the sensitive part underneath is exposed in those areas... kinda like a popped blister is the only way I can think to explain it.  So we are trying to keep his feet clean and dry now because of that too so they can heal.

Anywho back to the food...  the last 5 days have been pretty bad and we are back to being on no schedule-having to wonder when he is going to go, and we're getting more soft than solid stools. This morning was the first time we pooped in over 24 hours!  Definitely need to do the switch. This brings me to my next question, should I do it cold turkey like you suggested when he was all soup, or over a period of days since he is at least somewhat solid right now?  I don't want to be too rough on his tummy and be back to the complete soup every poop again.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I switched to the Honest Kitchen Embark all at once.  From the first meal, Murphy's poops were firm and have stayed that way now for over a month.  I was desperate so I didn't transition.  I have a spray for Murph when he's lapping his paws from seasonal allergies and it seems to give him lots of relief....I got it from my Vet.  I also do wipe his paws down which I think also helps.  Good luck and keep us posted on how the food change goes.  I'm so hopeful that you have the same great experience that we had.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Tara has a very sensitive digestion system too and we also have a tree in the backyard that drips sap. A couple of times she has gotten the sap on her feet and has licked it off and it has given her horrible diarrhea!! Ours is a Spruce tree. Sap can be very harsh-some types are used to make solvents! So you can imagine the effect it would have on a sensitive tummy. Just thought I would mention it in case your sap may be part of the equation! Good luck!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Be careful with those torn pads. Until they re-granulate, they are susceptible to infection. It's imperative that they be kept very clean and completely free of moisture and dirt.

I think Jane has given you good advice about the food change.