Hi Jeri,
out of all the grain free formula’s you have tried what are the common ingredients in all these brands you have been feeding when he has had diarrhea?? is there always tapioca, chicken, peas, beet pulp, potato, chickpeas, fish?? do you feed teh same protein source? go thru all the brands & formula’s you have feed & write down the first 12 ingredients…. do you give any treats, is he eating anything else outside, are you using a flea product, did you change anything the times he’s had diarrhea??
Start keeping a diary & write down every single thing that goes in his mouth & on his skin if the flea meds are spot on’s, when he has diarrhea or starts doing sloppy poo’s…..I have a diary & it sits on loungeroom table & I write down what Patch ate, times, what his pos were like on walks, firm, soft, sloppy, yellow, condom over poo etc when he eats any treats, he’s eating the Hills Vet Diet treats at the moment & doing really well, so if he does get diarrhea I can look back thru his diary & see what has happened or it might be his IBD & he needs his Metronidazole tablets for 14-21 days again….
When you buy a new bag of kibble always read the “Use By Date” & I try & keep getting the same Use By Date Batches, this is what I do when Patch is doing really well, stick with the same Use By Date bags of kibble they always have 12-18 months on the bags of kibbles…..When the diarrhea has happened did you start a new bag of kibble?
also do you store kibble in a cool place, in air tight container?
My boy has IBD & this happens with Patch I’ve given him a food or started introducing him to a new kibble when he gets the rumbles (diarrhea sloppy poos) & I’ve just found out this year he can’t have barley tapioca & chickpeas, or he’s having an IBD flare too much bad bacteria….
Patch does the best on “Taste Of The Wild” Sierra Mountain, Roasted Lamb grain free gluten free formula, it just has 1 meat protein Lamb meal, sweet potato, potato, peas, egg, blueberries, raspberries, Costco sells Kirkland Signature, Nature’s Domain, made by TOTW but cheaper….Kirkland Signature Salmon & Sweet Potato is the same as the TOTW Pacific Stream Smoked Salmon formula, or there’s the Turkey & Sweet Potatoes aswell, the Beef formula has garbanzo beans, you want a kibble with the least ingredients…
Have you tried “4Health” sold thru Tractor Supply, I’ve read alot of dogs with stomach sensitivities do really well on “4Health” grain free limited ingredient formula’s…look at “4Health, Duck & Potato”, it has the less ingredients, it has no beet pulp, no tapioca, no chicken, or there’s
4Health, Special care Sensitive Stomach or Special Care Sensitive Skin, sometimes in certain brands the Sensitive Skin is better then the Sensitive Stomach formula’s, read ingredient list to both formula’s, I think the 4health Sensitive skin is better it has Hydrolyzed Salmon, potato free (he might be sensitive to potato??) & it has less ingredients & it’s higher in Omega 3 what you want for his Skin, Joints, Stomach, Brain, Heart. you can always try both & see which one works best, rotate between the 2, they both might be good…Google “4Health” Tractor Supply also have the wet tin food $1.19c a 13 oz. can
When you rotate foods it helps with food sensitivites & strengthens their immune system..
If after trying either the Kirkland Signature, Natures Domain, Turkey or the Salmon + sweet potatoes formula’s or the 4Health Duck Meal & Potato or Sensitive Skin formula & the same thing happens you might have to ty a limited ingredient grain formula & see does it happen as well?? if it does happen then he might have small intestinal bowel overgrowth S.I.B.O, stop feeding kibbles with Beet Pulp, is poo yellow, is it just a one off diarrhea? or do you need Metronidazole (Flagyl) from the vet to stop the diarrhea & get rid of the bad bacteria in stomach & bowel ??
I had to use the Metronidazole (Antibiotic) maybe three times a year to fix Patches bacteria & kill the bad bacteria cause it takes over the stomach & small bowel when he was eating kibble with Beet Pulp… S.I.B.O…..
Pick a new kibble with different ingredients to what he’s eating at the moment..
Good Luck keep me posted..
