Puppy Diarrhea...in need of advice.

[Chelsie]

Hi all,

My goldendoodle, Sam, is 18 weeks old.  I decided to switch dog foods so my doodle and Chorkie could be on the same formula and just have a better quality food, we were on ProPlan.  I decided on Acana Regional-Grassland.  We started the transition almost 2 weeks ago.  The first few days Sam did great.  Then he had mucus diarrhea a couple of times.  I called the vet and they said to just go slower with the transition.  I also went back to the store I bought the food and they recommended a Digest 911, an equine formula but they assured me they use if for there dogs and cats.  I started the transition over at a slower pace and using a little of the digest 911.  Sam seemed to be doing find and then a couple of days later he had some mucus, but still diarrhea.  I used a little pumpkin in his food then.  The next day he would have a perfectly formed poop.  2 days later, today, he has diarrhea again.  It was bad enough that he woke me around 4 am to go outside.  Sorry for tmi, but it was a rather large pile of soft poop.  Then again at 7 am he woke me to go out and had diarrhea.  This time it seemed like he was struggling to poop a little.  He always was a slower pooper, but this morning he would squat for awhile and nothing or just drips would come out, then he would move and try again.  I feel bad for the poor guy.  He seems to be acting normal in all other areas, he drinks his water and plays the same.  Does anyone have advice for this?  Is it still the food?  Has anyone have another food option I could try?  I am tempted to stop using the Acana.  Any thoughts would be wonderful!    

[Cheri & Bonny]

I had to continue to use the pumpkin for awhile after transitioning, like a few months just to be safe.  I'd open a can of pumpkin, divide the extra in ice cube trays and then freeze it.  Then I could add a defrosted cube to the evening meal and voila normal poops.  I would also add a little plain rice if needed.

I also switch between the Orijen and Acana foods now to keep a variety and she has no problems now, but if you choose to transition between bags you might need to add the pumpkin at various times.  Good news, it's fall, so you can stock up on cans of pumpkin for the summer months when you can't find any!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

What you're describing sounds like more than just an upset digestive system from a food change. I would bring a stool sample to the vet for a culture before doing anything else with the food.

And return the Digest 911 to the pet supply store for a credit or a refund. It is absolutely inappropriate to give to any dog, let alone a 4 month old puppy. Horses digestive systems are about as different from dogs or cats as they can be; their nutritional needs are completely different, they are herbivores that live on plant foods, and the ingredients in this product could very well be causing a bacterial imbalance in your puppy's GI tract. It's full of yeasts and plant sugars: http://thefarmstoreveneta.com/product.php?id_product=3014

Straining, combined with mucus in the stool can be signs of GI disease, not to mention urgent diarrhea.I would make a vet appointment.

Use plain, unflavored fat-free yogurt as a probiotic, or get one specifically made for dogs. Do not let the vet sell you Rx food or Fortiflora. I would give him plain boiled white meat chicken and plain white rice, 2 parts rice to 1 part chicken, and cut the chicken up very small. Add a spoonful of plain pure canned pumpkin and a spoonful of yogurt twice a day in the meantime. I would absolutely not introduce any new foods until you find out what's going on with him.

Please keep us posted.

 

[Carol and Banjo]

Karen, What would we do without you? Hope Sam's tummy upset clears soon.

[Shannon & Lily]

I'm new here (so take this with a grain of salt), but I'd want to be 100% sure that it's the food & not just a coincidence.  We've been fighting diarrhea in our puppy for the past two weeks and it turns out that it was bacterial -- she's doing better now that she's on antibiotics.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

That's good advice and my thought, too, Shannon. A food change just doesn't cause these kinds of issues, especially when it's a high quality food, and doodle puppies seem to be quite prone to digestive problems.

However, I will say that going from garbage like ProPlan to a very nutrient dense, grain-free formula like Acana does require some adjustment time, especially for an immature digestive system.  

[Cheri & Bonny]

But once you've ruled out any bacterial issue, you might still find you need to use the pumpkin and/or rice to help.  For the first two years, I found that every time I weaned her off the pumpkin and rice added to her food, the squishy poops would return in a few days.  So back to the pumpkin and rice....  I'd make large batches, freeze them in meal sized portions, then just microwave and add to her food.

I don't need to use it now (she's 3), but I do find if something changes in her environment, like when we went to visit my daughter for a few weeks, I had to use the pumpkin again.  She is a bit of an anxious dog by nature, so maybe that has something to do with it.  More anxiety, more stomach issue?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) is fairly common in these dogs, and it's believed to be caused by stress, kind of like a spastic colon in humans. (NOT to be confused with IBD, inflammatory bowel disease, which is a serious autoimmune disease.)

Most dogs with IBS do best on homecooked or dehydrated raw diets like Honest Kitchen; both have worked well for other DK members who have this problem. But if the rice/pumpkin mixture works for your dog, there's no harm in it.

[Cheri & Bonny]

That's the way I looked at it!  But now that I don't need the pumpkin I've got a bunch of cans stored up.  Looks like lots of pumpkin pie this fall....

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Just to make sure, and for the benefit of others who are reading this, what you were giving her was plain pure canned pumpkin and not canned pumpkin pie filling, right?

[Cheri & Bonny]

Yes I was!  I know there can be some confusion out there, so it's always good you ask.

[Chelsie]

An update on Sam. I called the vet yesterday and he said to start him on a bland diet. He recently had a stool sample done so he thought to try this first. He said it could take a few days but to feed this until I notice a formed poop and then to very very slowly introduce his kibble back in. Well this morning his poop was perfect as perfect can be. Not sure what to think about that. I'm glad to see his diarrhea is gone, but I've seen it go away for a day then be back a few days later. He loves the bland diet food, more than he ever did with his kibble.

On a side note I am curious about the grain free diets. If we feed them rice in their bland diet when they are sick, why wouldn't we want to feed them grain, good quality of course, in their normal diets? Just a thought...I'm still a newbie to the whole grain free food bit!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Cooked white rice has binding properties, due to its high starch content. You don't get that in kibble.

That said, many dogs do very well with some grains in their diets, most often oats, barley, and rice, and many of our recommended foods do contain them. The Acana LID formulas all contain steel-cut oats.

Unfortunately, too often, the grains in many dog foods are devoid of nutrients and just there as cheap fillers.