Puppy With Sensitive Tummy

[Jerry Kandel]

We finally got a brother for Bailey - his name is Kobe and is four months old. We have had him a few weeks shy of two months - and got him from a reputable breeder and from the same breeder where we got Bailey. Kobe has had continually loose stools - better described as a small mound of mush. We are feeding him Taste of the Wild Grain Free. He is not lethargic - he has doubled his weight in two months (10 lbs to 20 lbs) - but he rarely (read: almost never) has formed stools. We did a stool sample with our vet and it came back negative. Our breeder de-wormed him prior to our getting him. We are at a loss as to what to do to have him have regular hard formed stools. We don't know whether we should change foods (perhaps he is allergic to one of the ingredients in TOTW) - our breeder suggested getting Probiotic Max - she said that she has had good luck using that.  Is anyone familiar with Probiotic max?

Hope someone can help

Thanks

[Stephanie and Ragley]

So are you going to be "treating" this despite not knowing that that is what is truly the cause? Seems that arbitrarily giving even MORE medicine that Kobe may or may not need is just going to be detrimental. 

[Oliver & Elizabeth]

Oliver came home from the breeder on TOTW and had soft stools the whole time he was on it. Our breeder also sent him home with metro "just in case," but we never used it because we had stool samples run and they all came back negative. You can also try getting the ELISA giardia test, if you haven't, it's more sensitive and giardia can be hard to diagnose using regular tests.

The sales assistant at our local pet store recommended Lotus puppy because she had good experiences using it for puppies with sensitive stomachs. We mixed it with a little pumpkin, chicken, and probiotics and it worked! As Oliver is no longer a puppy, he now eats Acana Duck and Pear (and Orijen Regional Red in his treat balls). For some reason Oliver has always done better with grains (his current food contains oats). I know grain free is the trend but for us grain free never worked. Perhaps your dog is similar. Good luck!

[Jill, Woody & Maxi]

When you tried home cooking, how long did you actually try it for? I remember you saying it wasn't working..

We had the same GI panel done that Karen mentioned.  We have had it done at both our regular vet, and our specialist vet.  There is a substantial difference in price between our local vet, and our specialist, which is at a university vet. hospital… 

Have you considered seeing a specialist?

[Jerry Kandel]

We have started Kobe on mashed sweet potatoes and we need to find a mild food for his sensitive tummy (and get everything back to square 1). Two vets I contacted told me that Orijen is a great food but it's probably too rich for Kobe right now - they said when he is all better that I can reintroduce Orijen as his main food intake. My breeder's vet wanted us to use Purina EN to get his stomach back to normal. After reading everything here and other places on the internet - I don't want to give him this food. Does anyone have a suggestion on what we could use (probably something low in protein and fat)?

Thanks

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I have the perfect food for you: Wellness Simple Solutions. Limited ingredients, low protein and fat, good fiber content (which is also necessary for stool formation). It's worked very well for my guy. We use the Salmon & Potato formula, the Turkey and Potato would also be a very good choice.

[Jerry Kandel]

It sounds good but some of the ratings I have seen on other sites only give it 3 to 3 1/2 stars. Maybe a few more people can chime in.

[Shari Becker]

Lexi had trouble on one Orijen formula. It WAS too rich for her, but she tolerates the Acana Lamb oatmeal better. My vet said she has one dog who can't tolerate most foods, but does well on the Acana duck. if you are willing to splurge (I mean really splurge), you could try one of the raw or dehydrated rabbit foods, like Primal or Stella and Chewys. It's controversial, and I know Karen isn't sold on it, but Lexi tolerated the raw rabbit food better than any of the others we tried. We just couldn't afford the rabbit long term, so we used it to settle her belly and then switched it up. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Shari, it isn't that I'm not "sold" on those foods at all, or I wouldn't recommend them. But "raw" has nothing to do with it. It's the moisture content and the minimal processing that makes the difference. I frequently recommend Honest Kitchen for dogs with GI issues.

Rabbit is a novel protein for most dogs, and therefore works for dogs with food allergies and intolerances. There is nothing in rabbit itself that makes the difference, it's the fact that the dog cannot have developed an intolerance to something he's never been exposed to. If a dog had always eaten rabbit from the an early age, instead of chicken, rabbit would cause the GI problems and chicken would be fine. Any novel protein would work just as well. There is science behind all of this. 

But the fat and protein content in the foods you mentioned are extremely high, and Jerry specifically asked for a food with low fat and protein. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I actually priced the Primal rabbit for JD when he was first diagnosed. It would have cost $600 per month. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Also..."richness" in food refers to fat content. The Orijen may not have worked for Lexi, but it wasn't because it was "too rich for her". The fat content of Orijen puppy food is 20%. The fat content of Stella & Chewy's Freeze-Dried Rabbit formula is a whopping 32%, which means almost one third of the calories are supplied by fat. It doesn't get much richer than that, lol. 

[Shari Becker]

Egdaz, Karen, your knowledge on this topic is remarkable. Our vet is quite convinced Lexi's stomach issues are related to an allergic syndrome (because it comes with so much itching), so you are probably right that it has more to do with the novelty of rabbit than the protein and fat. I just know that rabbit does not give Lexi an upset stomach. Lamb is pretty good for her, too. Feeding a 30+ lb dog raw costs about $120 a month. I could not imagine doing it for a large dog... it's insane.

BTW, I tried Honest Kitchen, and Lexi wouldn't go near it. It's SO soupy. I thought it would be a more affordable approach and still good for her. We're talking about a dog who will eat ANYTHING left to her own devices ... but not Honest Kitchen.

Jerry, listen to Karen. She is the pro!! The folks on my breeder's facebook page sent me here because they said she would be the one to help figure out what Lexi can and can't eat. 

[Donna K & Quincy]

Listen to Karen.