Cross Post: Any Suggestions for a low fat & highly digestible diet?

[Christine & Shelby]

Shelby's got some poop issues... it's been quite a while, probably about a year since I've had to take her to the vet for poop problems, but it's been a couple of weeks and it's just not getting better.   She has had very soft stool - reponds incredibly well to pumpkin on her food... but within 24-36 hours of finishing the pumpkin - she's back to soft stool.   Appetite is fine, activity is fine, water intake is normal. 

So we went to the vet today and the did a fecal float and fecal smear.   She noted elevated levels of bacteria and something that indicated possible irritation/inflamation of the colon. 

She has given me Metronidazole, wants me to keep adding fiber to her diet (either continue with the pumpkin or consider adding some metimucil, suggested a probiotic (or I could try yogurt). 

The vet suggested putting Shelby on a low fat (5-8%), highly digestible diet.  She recommended 3 products:

     - Iams low residue

     - Hills I/D

     - Purina EN

Well, knowing what I do now about doggie nutrition and some of these diets I politely declined buying any of those at this time and told her that due to her sensitive system (took a long time to find a food that worked well for us), I'd rather not mess with her kibble.  She said I could try keeping Shelby on her current food (Fromm 4 Star - currently 14% fat), but that if it doesn't clear up in the next week or two I should really consider a low fat/highly digestible diet. 

So to all you experienced DKers out there... any suggestions on low fat/highly digestible diets?   I did have her use the Iams low residue canned food a couple of years ago, and she did well on it, but now that I know a bit more about feeding quality food - I am wondering what options might be out there that I am not aware of that are in the 5-8% fat range and considered highly digestible.   I shared that I was willing to cook on my own - rice, ground turkey, etc. but she was concerned about getting her diet balanced properly. 

** I forgot to mention the low fat highly digestible diet was recommended for just a few weeks to help get her over this episode.  It's not a long term recommendation. 

Open to feedback and suggestions.... thanks so much!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

There is no commercial dry food in the 5-8% fat range, but that isn't necessary anyway. Neither a bacterial imbalance nor an irritated/inflamed colon is going to be affected by the fat percentage in a food. That's not a consideration even in treating dogs with Inflammatory Bowel Disease that has been reliably diagnosed through endoscopy. As long as you keep the fat percentage in her diet at 15% or below, you're fine. 

Fiber is a different story, and it may help with stool formation. You can use Metamucil, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, human food-grade powdered cellulose, or any combination of the above. I mix the fiber supplement into mashed sweet potatoes and mix it with JD's food. I've been using a cellulose product I order on-line, because I've had trouble finding unflavored Metamucil that isn't full of sugar.

A good probiotic will also help, and is absolutely necessary if she's on metronidazole. I recommend Proviable DC. You can order it on-line. Giving yogurt in the meantime will help. You might want to pick up a bottle of Gentle Digest capsules by Ark Naturals, they contain a prebiotic that helps "feed" the good gut bacteria. You can usually find it in the better private pet supply stores.

If there is a Four-Star formula that Shelby hasn't tried, and that contains a protein she hasn't eaten before, you might try that. If you are going to change her food, I'd put her on a limited ingredient formula with a novel protein and a higher fiber content. I can help you with that if you want to try it down the road. 

Read more here: http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/thoughts-on-low-fat-highly...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

We can also give you a homemade diet that is completely balanced, low in fat, and has been approved by Jane's vet and JD's internist. :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Oh, and be absolutely sure to allow at least two hours between the metronidazole and any yogurt or probiotics.

I prefer to talk food here in the Food Group rather than the main forum, so I'll just make my comments here. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Christine, can you list the animal proteins that Shelby has been eating on a regular basis for me? 

[Christine & Shelby]

I am not at home with her food right now, but she is currently eating the Fromm 4Star Pork & Apple Sauce, she also eats the Duck & Sweet Potato.  I should clarify that the new diet is recommended for a few weeks to help her get past this episode... not necessarily long term.  Sorry if I didn't make that clear.  Shelby tried the Salomon a La Veg and that didn't set well and we had issues quickly - so we've not gone back to Salmon at all - that was a couple of months ago.  She has had chicken in the past with no problems either.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Okay, your vet has to be talking about canned food, because none of the foods she recommended above contain 5-8% fat in the dry version. Hill's i/d has 13.9% fat (same as your Fromm) and a VERY low fiber content of 2.6%: http://www.hillspet.com/products/pd-canine-id-canine-gastrointestin...

The Iams low-residue contains 9% fat and only 4% fiber: http://www.iams.com/dog-food/iams-veterinary-formula-intestinal-low...

And the Purina EN has 10.5% fat and an incredibly low 2% fiber. http://www.purinaveterinarydiets.com/Product/ENGastroentericDogFood...

We can easily do better than this with dozens of foods from the recommended list. 

[Christine & Shelby]

She is very fiber responsive.... pumpkin (what I've been using) firms her stools up very quickly!   

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I would recommend trying Wellness Simple Solutions Turkey and Potato: http://wellnesspetfood.com/product-details.aspx?pet=dog&pid=121...

It's low in fat at only 12%, higher in fiber than most dry foods at 5.5%, has an acceptable protein level of 26%, and contains very few ingredients, so it's bland and easy on the GI tract. Some of the other FG doodles with GI issues have done well with it. You can always go back to the Fromm's after the meds are finished and the bacterial issue hopefully improves. 

[Laura Bogar]

Thanks to Karen Heidi has been doing well with her poop issues. I gave her proviable for about 2 months when we couldnt clear up the issues and we switched to natural balance duck and potato. We havent had any horrible issues in over 6 months thank goodness. Heidi's poo is always super firm so as soon as its just a tiny bit off I take away food for 24 hours then feed her only chicken and rice for 5 days and wean her off of it for 2 two days... iv noticed she still gets the runs about once a month and i have no idea why....I just assume she ate/drank something bad at daycare. She must just be really sensative because she cant go swimming at the beach or dog park or anything without getting sick. Oh and she also seems to get UTIs from swimming too so weird. Do you think she could have just drank something bad at daycare like Heidi?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm glad Heidi is doing well. :)

[Christine & Shelby]

My guess is it's something from drinking icky water somewhere.... while I try to stop it.. with her swimming, puddle jumping, etc.  it happens :)

 

[Joyce (Casey & Cody's mom)]

I responded to this in the other post as well.  FROMM Whitefish and Potato in the 4-star line has the lowest fat content at 11%.  We give one of our guys ½ of the FROMM whitefish and Potato and ½ canned food that is 4.2% fat content from Nuvo.  Since we started this, we haven't had any tummy problems with him.  FROMM has 3 lines of food, and in each of their lines, there is one flavor that is 11% fat - which is the lowest fat content in their line.