Hi Dawn R- I am very sorry to hear about your struggles with Bella. My dogs had a similar start. First of all, I’m pretty sure you have done this, but I just have to ask. Has she been retested for Giardia? It is a difficult parasite to get rid of at times and I’m wondering if it is active again. Have you wormed her lately? If not, I’d try either Panacur or Drontal Plus in case she had some dormant giardia lurking.
My pups had a bad case and struggled with diarrhea off and on for a few years. I think the parasites and the over use of antibiotics caused them to have a leaky gut or some form of colitis. Check out this site for some great info: http://www.dogaware.com/health/digestive.html
My dogs are having issues right now because I think I got too confident in their tummies being better and they are not. I am feeding them the Merrick Classic Chicken formula and it is not going too well. However, when I fed them the Merrick grain free duck and turkey they did fine. My suspicion is maybe there are just too many ingredients in the classic formula. My dogs do fine with peas, sweet potatoes, and rice as a binder. I’m now suspicious of rye and barley as no no’s.
So far, my best kibbles for them have been Victor grain free and California Natural Pork and Peas. I try to add some fresh, frozen or canned to their kibble every meal. Your best is to try to keep their kibble as simple as possible. Shoot for just one protein and one carb with low fat and slightly higher fiber. I think the California Natural Pork formula might be a food one for you. I ordered it from Pet Flow when it was 30% off to give it a try!
The supplements that I have used with success are:
Seacure, Phytomucil, Vetri Pro BD, Gastriplex, Perfect Form and Pro Flora probiotic
chews. I still rotate them.
Oh, and also, plain canned pumpkin doesn’t work wonders for us either. But the Fruitables Pumpkin digestive canned supplement does. It has a few other goodies in it that seem helpful. Of course, it costs at least twice as much as the plain pumpkin.
Please write back if you have anymore questions!
