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? 

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

Daphne chews her food very carefully. Most of the time she just looks at me like "really, this stuff AGAIN??" She doesnt always eat twice a day. Sometimes she just puts her little nose in the air and walks away. She enjoyed getting the lima beans added in.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

So at least Daphne had fun! 

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

Yeah, she is a very picky eater! Except when Baby Lyla is here. Lyla tries to eat everyones food so Daphne makes sure to eat it before Lyla can get it!

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

Hey, so I couldn't find frozen Lima beans but did track down a can of them at the third grocery store :) they had them with their dinner last night so I will keep you updated as things 'progress'

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Thank you, Sherri! 

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

POO Report - This just in:

It was an eventful day in the rainy city of Ottawa.  It was a full 24 Hours after eating Lima Beans that an almost 8 year old goldendoodle named Winston took a giant poop.  The poo was firm at first then turned to sloppy gunk. Winston's owner was not pleased to have to scrape it off the neighbour's lawn. Winston's sister Sophie also pooed but nothing out of the ordinary could be detected.  Despite extensive search efforts no lima beans were found.  The search for the processed or unprocessed lima beans will continue tomorrow, however, officials are holding out little hope that the beans will be found intact.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

ROFL! Next you'll be tacking "missing" posters up throughout the neighborhood: "Have you seen these beans?"

Seriously, I hope it wasn't the beans that caused Winston's poop problems. They usually firm things up for JD.

Since it looks like the beans that have made an appearance have taken more than 40 hours to do so, you might just find those beans yet! 

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

I am ROFL too! So funny!

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

No Lima beans I'm afraid. Time to call off the troops over here. More sloppy poo though, so hopefully that clears up by tomorrow. Sophie wasn't affected, which is weird because it's usually the other way around, which makes me think Winston has gotten himself into something else that I'm unaware of...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I sure hope Winston feels better soon, and the beans weren't the cause of it. :(

[Vivian & Mojo]

Mojo gladly ate the lima beans mixed in with his raw meal this morning...will report in with my findings.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Mojo is the only one eating raw food with the beans, I think, so I'm especially interested to hear your "findings", lol!