JD's Lima Bean Challenge, An Experiment For All Food Groupies!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Before JD was diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease in December 2011, I used to add a little of my own dinner to his dinner bowl just about every night. A particular favorite was lima beans. He always knew when they were on the menu, and was even more eager for his dinner than usual those nights.

All that stopped after the IBD diagnosis, and it had been a long time since JD got lima beans in his dinner bowl. Not so much because there is any reason he couldn't have them, but I had just not been cooking them for myself much either since my family's schedules changed and family dinners are a rare occurrence here. And I had gotten out of the habit of giving JD some of whatever I was eating for dinner, since there is so little he's allowed to have. 

But last month, I cooked lima beans and gave JD about 2 tablespoons with his dinner. 

The next morning, his poop was the same as always.Ditto the evening poop. 

But on the morning of the second day after he'd eaten them, there were lima beans in JD's poop. 

Now, the fact that the lima beans had passed through undigested was not a surprise. That's par for the course, because dogs can't digest plant cellulose. (People aren't very good at it either.) 

But the fact that the lima beans showed up in the poop about 40 hours after he'd eaten them, and that he'd had 2 normal poops in between, did surprise me. 

I tried it again this past week, and same thing.

It seems to me that in the past, they would have appeared in the next morning's poop. But I don't really remember. 

I think maybe JD's food is taking much longer to pass through his system than is normal, due to the IBD, and maybe all the meds. 

But I thought it would be interesting and maybe informative to see how long it takes food to pass through a healthy dog's GI tract. So JD and I are looking for volunteers to participate in our Lima Bean Challenge experiment. 

The LB Challenge is open to all dogs over 8 months old who do not have any current digestive issues, who do not free feed (food is eaten at regular set mealtimes), and whose owners are willing & able to immediately inspect all poops from the time the dog eats the lima beans until said beans exit the premises.

Here's all you have to do. Over the next week, cook some lima beans (we use frozen baby limas). Set aside a small portion (1-2 tablespoons per dog) before adding butter, salt, or seasoning. Let them cool sufficiently and then add them to your dog's dinner. Make a note of the day and time that your dog ate the beans. 

Then watch the poop. Make a note of each subsequent poop (day & time) in which the beans do not appear. I do not think there will be more than one, if that, but that's the point of this experiment. And then when the beans do show up, post your data here. I'd like all results by next Sunday, June 29th, please.

Yes, this is very unscientific and maybe silly, but you will be helping me & JD, and we might all learn something besides. :)

Do I have any participants? 

[Vivian & Mojo]

I used to examine Mojo's poop all the time because he ate paper towels and other things so I have the method of searching the poop down to a science. Plus I'm interested in everyone's findings.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I had to look up Lima beans. Here they are called Butter beans! I may cook some and see for myself how long they take to appear on my lawn. I wonder if I leave the poop on the lawn will I get a beanstalk for Jack ;) ?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

LOL, Nicky! Only if you dig a hole and have the boys make their deposits in it!

Glad you're joining us. :)

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

ha ha when I first read this, when you said 'see for myself', I somehow thought you were going to try to the experiment on yourself lol. then I got to the part about the lawn, and I thought 'wait no, that can't be right'... :D

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

ROFL!

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

Nicky, I have always called them Butterbeans too. My family is from North Carolina and that whys we grew up calling them.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I'm just checking in here now and laughing so much at all this.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Nicky, did you give your boys butter beans? 

Maybe I'll start calling them that, it sounds so much nicer. :) 

[Stella]

I call them Butter beans too! (I'm originally from England).

[F, Calla & Luca]

Karen, I am watching this from the Baltic Sea with exorbitant interest rates. So please give up a synopsis when done : )

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You got it, F! 

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Oscar's Lima Bean report:

It may be too soon to know definitively, but I believe I saw light green fibrous material in Oscar's poo last night at about 6:30pm, so that would have made it 23 hrs. from start to finish for him. Oscar gets half a can of green beans with each meal, so I'm accustomed to seeing med. green plant fiber in his poo from time to time. Last night's poop, however, was lighter in color than that, so its my guess that he digested the beans. There's been other things, too, I've noticed that have shown up the following day that he ingested the day before so I think 23-24 hrs. is normal for him.

Nothing yet from Lucy. Just to be clear, I'm only going on visuals, not actively 'searching' their poos with a stick...lol.