Still having soft poo with Orijen

[Katie]

So, it seems my puupy still has soft poo while on Orijen.

Luna is 17 weeks old and 20.5 lbs.  She is gaining weight nicely so I'm not concerned about that at all.  Her poo is still soft even though she's been on Orijen for 5 weeks nows.  It's tootsie rollish sometimes but still a very soft tootsie roll.  I also notice it never really gets hard and dries up in the yard.  Is this normal?

The vet said she would like me to think about changing her food to a high quality grain food.  She thinks the Orijen is just too rich for her tummy.  She didn't make any suggestions just said a high quality grain.

What are your thoughts?

I've been giving her about 1 1/2 cups per day.  She eats twice a day with about little bit of pumpkin added in.  Maybe I'm over feeding??

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I don't think the 'too rich' thing is an argument and I hear that vets often say that. I know when I transitioned Riley it was weeks before he settled down on it. Karen may some other suggestions but I would wait for her input because the truth is that vets know little about nutrition getting their knowledge from one of the big (rubbish) food companies like Scence or Hills which of course they then go on to sell. For now try adding some cooked sweet potato or pumpkin (not sweetened) and see if that helps. Do also check you are not over feeding as the Orijen amounts are less than lots of others and this would also cause loose stools. 

[Raj and Teddy]

We just started transitioning our 17 weeks old 12.6 lb F1B, he has been on it for 3 days now. We are transitioning from TOTW Orange. So far our experience has been positive and the following change is what we have noticed.
1. Quantity and freq of poop has dropped down.
2. The poops are more harder and easy to pick up
3. The color of the poop is more like blackish vs more brownish/greenish on TOTW

We are giving 1/2 cup twice a day, on TOTW we were giving 2 1/4 cup per day over three feeldings. We had stored out TOTW in the vault storage box in our pantry and it's now 2 plus months old and our puppy had lost interest in it and we were adding toppers like boiled beans, carrots and lactose free yogurt. My hope was that I could skip the toppings but except for first day, our puppy would eat 1/2 his Origen and then the remaining 1/2 I would mix with yogurt. He eats it all and transitioning to twice a day feeding was not an issue. Maybe you can add yogurt and see if it helps.

By the way we could not do the recommended 25/75 mix followed by 50/50 mix and then 75/25 mix (new and old kibble) as out puppy would not touch TOTW ( maybe it's lost it's freshness) during transitioning. We ended up switching completely to Orijen puppy food completely.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yep, this was my experience with Orijen, too. Much lower stool volume, much firmer, smaller poop. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree with Nicky, vets know next to nothing about food or canine nutrition. "Richness" in food refers to fat content, it has nothing to do with whether or not a food is grain-free. I can't imagine why on earth the vet would recommend a food that contains grains; more filler would only make the stool softer. 

What else is she eating in thew way of treats, chews, etc?

It's possible that this is not the right food for her, but I would still not look for a food with grain. Remind me of what she was eating before?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Katie, it can't have been 5 weeks that she's on Orijen, I just found your last discussion here about the soft poop and it was posted 3.5 weeks ago. It's only been 16 days ago that you were fully transitioned: http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/need-suggestions-for-soft-...

"Reply by Katie on August 7, 2015 at 3:37pm

I'm happy to report that we now have tootsie roll poo!

Slowly transitied from Hills ID to orijen.  We are now Orijen 100% with probiotic and pumpkin,  I think the pumpking really helped us.  Thank you all!"

I think you need to give it more time. 

[Katie]

Karen, You are correct.  I noticed that after I posted it.  We've basically had runny / soft poop forever so its easy to forget.  We are much better on Orijen but it's still not where it should be.  

Will her poo ever get firmer?  

Vet still said to think about changing to a higher quality grain food - Should I just wait it out?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Your vet is also the one who prescribed Hill's i/d, if I'm not mistaken. And you've tried a high quality food with grains, the Fromm Puppy formula, and that wasn't a good choice for her either. So I really think you should ignore your vet's advice about food, as strange as that may seem. I do wonder what she thinks grain has to do with it, though. Typically, poop is frimer on grain-free foods, as they have more digestible ingredients and less fillers. 

I'd give it another couple of weeks, and be really strcit about her diet. If you are still giving the enzymes you had mentioned previously, I'd stop those. I'd order some Proviable DC probiotics. I really think she just needs to build up some good intestinal flora. I'm assuming you've stopped the pig ears. I'd use only pure protein treats like Purebites. And she needs to be closely supervised outdoors, to be sure she isn't eating anything out there. Two of JD's friends eat cicadas like they were candy, lol. You're walking along and all of a sudden, one of the dogs is crunching something, that fast they find them and eat them. 

[Katie]

Thanks Karen.

Yes, I'm using the same vet the put me Hills I/D.  She wasnt even familiar with Orijen and simply said there are too many foods on the market that she cant keep up with all of them.  She said a little grain would firm his poo - then I reminded her I had already tried Fromm and Blue Buffalo.

Anyway, I do see progress so I want to continue with Origen.  I'm still giving pumpkin with each meal - is that okay?  I'll get some probiotic ordered and Yes, I stopped the pigs ears awhile ago.  

When we go out, she is always on a leash.  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The pumpkin is fine.

Grain doesn't firm poop, can't imagine why the vet thinks that. 

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

It was a good four weeks until Riley settled with Orijen and no treats. I would stop asking your vet at all about food you will get much better advice here. I would wait it out and if after a few more weeks she is not settled ask Karen to help try an alternative. 

[Rhoda and Asta]

I had the same problem with Asta on the Orejin puppy.  I switched him to Orejin six fish and now his poop is perfect.

[VScott & Lloyd]

Lloyd had similar issues and is on Orijen. He also gets about 1.5 to 2 cups a day. I finally figured out he can't tolerate chewy treats like Zukes and Fruitables. Now with only crunchy treats, his poops are firm and regular. Are you giving puppy chewy treats? Maybe that could be her issue too?