[alicia9265]

Merry Christmas! I have a 4.5 year old spayed German Shorthaired Pointer named Sadie. She is a super sweet, hunting and retrieving machine. However, due to “dad”’s busy job, she can’t be brought out as much as she once was as a puppy. She also has to stay closer to the house now (not run as freely) as she was eating some stray cat food in a neighbor’s yard AND grabbed a pheasant as the neighbor was watching them feed. We were always feeding her Purina Dog Chow – for 4 whole years. She started having urinary incontinence. She gained weight at about 3 to 4 years old. (I don’t know her current weight but she’s a big statured female and it has to be around 70 pounds.) About 4 months ago, I stumbled across dogfoodadvisor.com and was appalled about the dog food I was feeding the dogs and switched immediately to Taste of the Wild. Her urinary incontinence has decreased by probably 90%. She’s not totally healed of it but it’s remarkable the difference it’s made. However, she’s still a bit chunky. Now I know that we need to start playing with her outside more, playing fetch, going for walks (despite it feeling like -40 here in MN this morning)… Also food portion control. But I would like to get some suggestions of food with less fat and maybe more protein? And grain free! We love Taste of the Wild but now that she seems healthier, I want to look at the protein/fat/etc percentages to figure out if another 4 or 5 star rated dog food (listed on this website) would be a better choice. Anyone have any success with a certain brand to help with weight loss of a larger breed dog (while also limiting food and exercising her more)? Thank you!

[Sue’s Zoo]

Is anyone familiar with the k9instinct website? Looks interesting but would like more info before investing in their resources. Looks like a good site to help with feeding raw without spending a fortune.
http://www.k9instinct.com/

[theBCnut]

Remember that those are higher calorie foods so he should need less of them than he did of Pedigree. If he is eating around 3 cups a day don’t worry. It’s good to let a large breed pup grow up thin so they don’t have extra stress on their hips. Large breed pups have special needs when it comes to food. Too much calcium can make their bones grow too fast so their joints don’t form properly. Here is a list of foods that Hound Dog Mom put together that have the right amount of calcium for large breed pups.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?srcid=0BwApI_dhlbnFTXhUdi1KazFzSUk&pid=explorer&efh=false&a=v
There is also a thread discussing large breed puppy nutrition issues under Diet and Health Issues.

[theBCnut]

What kind of puppy is it? Large breed puppies have special requirements.

[theBCnut]

Earthborn Holistic Meadow Feast has no chicken and neither does Coastal Catch. You can definitely use All Life Stages foods for your pup. At his age, you are probably just fine no longer worrying about calcium levels. Sometime around 8 months is when large breed puppies are supposed to gain the ability to regulate calcium uptake.

[charliegn]

Any suggestions for large breed puppy food that has no chicken? Most of the ones on the list are chicken based and looking for something other than that.. lamb is fine. My puppy is almost 10 months old retriever about 60 lbs. is he old enough to transition to adult or all life stage food at this point.. that would be much easier to find a non chicken based appropriate food. We are in Ontario and can’t get all the foods suggested.. our other adult dog is on Acana and doing well.

[Jenmarlew]

Thanks!

[theBCnut]

Probiotics and digestive enzymes. Bad smelling gas is due to undigested proteins being worked on by anaerobic bacteria. Adding digestive enzymes helps ensure that your dog gets to use all the protein, instead of the bacteria getting it and probiotics help to rebalance the good bacteria in the gut so that there is less room for the bad bacteria.

[Jenmarlew]

Thanks for your response Patty. I’ll keep him where he is. He’s not emaciated by any means, he’s just not bulky. He does have the really bad flatulence that Bouviers are known for. Any ideas for that? I was thinking probiotics, maybe yogurt? Or is there a supplement that is recommended?
I’ll have to figure out how to post a photo.:-)

[theBCnut]

Very adorable!!!! And I would get the extra weight off of her over the course of a few weeks, but not many, she is very chunky looking. Just the home change may take care of that. Some pups eat a lot less for the first few days in a new home.

[lmnordrum]

Puppy goes to the vet on Monday and I’ll ask for his opinion on her weight.

I don’t mind two or three meals; at issue is housetraining and how fast puppy will have to go outside. But that’s just part of having a puppy. (I have not had a dog in about 20 years!) So I’ll plan on 3 meals a day, measured out. For training I am planning on using low value treats like frozen peas or even pieces of kibble. The breeder uses Cheerios (which is oat and not corn.) Still on the fence about Cheerios.

I have a photo taken last week and you can see the belly but I can’t figure out how to post it within this forum. Its quite a belly though! Here’s a link to pup on my Pintrest (which is in the process of being created): http://www.pinterest.com/pin/384494886908431455/

[theBCnut]

Sometimes you do put a puppy on a diet, but hopefully you will find that just stopping the free feeding and getting on a better diet will cure the problem. Also, some people just look at the size of the tummy and assume a puppy is fat when every rib is still showing, so make sure you are paying attention to the cover over the ribs. As far as not starving her, consider feeding less food at one sitting and feeding 3 or 4 times a day. Go to twice a day somewhere between 4 and 6 months of age.

[lmnordrum]

PattyVaughn just posted about keeping the puppy lean. I will be picking up my 8 week old Giant Schnauzer puppy in two days. Breeder says that the puppy is chunky, and she is feeding Royal Canin puppy food. I’ll be changing that food to Wellness Core Puppy (and will switch gradually if possible, however its likely that puppy is going to like the new food better than the old–the cat even chewed into the Wellness bag to get that kibble.)

Anyways, my puppy is definitely not lean. Do I just work on feeding better food and let her the legs catch up with the belly? Puppies are like babies and you don’t put a baby on a diet. Since the breeder still has a couple of pups she hasn’t been measuring the food: she puts it out in a pan and lets them all go for it for a max of 30 minutes twice a day. I will not be feeding free choice for a set time period.

Whats the word on getting that puppy to slim down without starving her?

[theBCnut]

The amount you feed of any food has to be based on the number of calories the dog needs and the number of calories in the food, so throw out any method of determining amount that does not take into account that some foods have more calories than others. Next, it is very important to keep large and giant breed puppies lean while they are growing, so slim is good as long as he isn’t looking emaciated. The 4 cups plus topper that you are feeding is very close to their recommendation, so I would say you are probably feeding very close to the perfect amount.

So the only question I have for you is:
When are you going to post a picture?

[wiscnorthwind]

The three foods I use are Breeder’s Choice Pinnacle, Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diets and Timberwolf. Natural Balance has no probiotics. Pinnacle and Timberwolf (previously Timberwolf Organics) use lactobacillus strains.

I am also immune compromised, and give my dogs human grade probiotics…Kyo-dophilus is a good one because is contains both Lactobacillus (predominant in small bowel) and Bifidobacter (predominant in large bowel) strains. I’ve used other brands as well…including Primal Defense for both myself and my dogs. Totalbiotics is brand designed for dogs that does not contain E. Faecium.

Here’s a good resource with people very knowledgeable about K9 GI issues….

http://www.epi4dogs.com/sidsibo.htm … scroll down for a list of probiotics and articles regarding Small Intestinal Bacteria Overgrowth a/k/a Small Intestinal Dysbiosis (imbalance). And a separate page on probiotics… http://www.epi4dogs.com/probioticstrains.htm … be sure to look at the label though because some of those listed do contain E. Faecium.

I’m currently dealing with some pretty severe GI issues in my female GSD after 15 months of high doses of antifungal drugs for a Blastomycosis infection. We saved her life, but her gut is a mess. She has a great deal of inflammation and is extremely intolerant of any food variations (does not even tolerate Purina HA hydrolyzed food), as well as very touchy about any amount of probiotics. I’m using DGL, Slippery Elm, Arabinogalactan with a small pinch of Kyodophilus, NAG, a small amount of 8x Pancreatin and Tylosin as we work towards healing her GI tract. She eats Natural Balance kibble double soaked (soak to absorb water, and then add a bit more water mix in the enzymes and slippery elm, stir an allow to soak some more…sometimes overnight) along with a bit of canned mixed in.

Two ready made supplements that might be helpful are Only Natural Pet GI Support or VetriScience’s Acetylator.

A good resource on supplements is Dr. Messonnier’s book, “The Natural Health Bible for Dogs and Cats”.

While I can tell you that I have had repeated success treating my own dogs’ GI issues. I am not a vet, so I highly recommend that you discuss the use of these supplements with your vet.

Best of luck to you.

[Jenmarlew]

Hi. This is my first time posting and this has probably been mentioned somewhere else on this forum but… I have a 5 month old Bouvier. I feed him Wellness Core Puppy kibble as well as Wellness canned topper. The bag says 4 and 3/4 cups per day. I’ve also heard 1 cup per 10 lbs. (I think that was from the Vet). I just recently heard all they can eat in 15-20 mins. He’s about 40 lbs. or so and on the slim side for a Bouvier. I feed him the 4 cups a day plus topper but I’m wondering if I should increase the amount. He does seem to be really hungry but I worry about overfeeding and loose stools or him gaining too much weight. Any ideas?

[theBCnut]

Yes, it can be what was wrong all along, especially in light of the doses of probiotics you have been giving. I think if you hadn’t been doing that, it could have been even worse.

[kms]

Just wanted to update and see if anyone has any thoughts on this. About a week ago, the vet put Augie back on anti-biotics (SMZ TMP). His diarrhea had gotton so bad that he was having it all night long. They also had him start back on Pro-Pectalin. After about 3-4 days on that (SMZ and Pro-Pect), his diarrhea got better and his stools became intermittently soft and formed – with occasional diarrhea/runny stuff. In the meantime, his stool had been sent to an outside lab. The results came back Saturday and the lab found a pathogenic bacteria called Campylobacter. They switched his anti-biotic immediately to a new one called Marbofloxacin and continued the Pro-Pectalin. He has been on that combination for 2 days and things are about the same so far. I read that Marbofloxacin is not recommended for large breed puppies under 12 months of age (can cause bone/joint abnormalities) so I called the vet. He said that this is true, but only in pets who have taken the med for longer than 14 days (his script is for 14 days). He also said it had the least side effects of all the anti-biotics that the lab recommended.

Does anyone know anything about Campylobacter and/or Marbofloxacin? Is it possible that this is what has been wrong all along?

As far as feeding, I’m still feeding NVI Rabbit, along with a theraputic dose of Mercola Probiotics (no pumkpin, no digestive enzymes, no treats other than his kibble).

[Duke The Boxer]

No I don’t add any water to the food. Just some omega 3 supplement and the probiotic and enzyme. The thing is he doesn’t throw up immediately. It will be like 1-2 hours later. And it is undigested food. I do have cider vinegar at the house so I will try that.

[theBCnut]

IDK. Does he gulp his food? That’s the most common reason, swallowing a lot of air when they eat too fast makes them feel like they have to regurgitate the food. Does he want to re-eat it immediately? Do you wet his food? And I mean cover the food with water. That can help with the air swallowing, if that’s what it is. Do you add apple cider vinegar to the kibble? 1/2 teaspoon per cup of kibble. If it is acid reflux, that may help, and it definitely helps with digestion in my dogs.

Coconut oil is great, but I don’t know if it would help with that.

[Duke The Boxer]

Thank you. What do you think could be the problem with duke throwing up? A local natural pet store recommended coconut oil in his food. I give him enzymes and probiotics every means so idk

[theBCnut]

I haven’t seen it, but a few people on here really like it and recommend it.

[Duke The Boxer]

patty have you tried this brand or have heard about it? Obviously it is not one of the foods on HDM’s list but some of their formulas looks pretty good. i like how this formula has a good amount of glucosamine in it. please let me know your consideration.
http://www.midamericapetfood.com/victordogfood/joint_health.html

PS
I should also add that Duke is doing good on Coastal Catch but he is still having random regurgitation of his food a couple hours after eating it. It was happening towards the end of the wellness core bag and im still transitioning with the wellness core and the CC. Please if any one if you ladies not just patty can please maybe give their 2 cents to come to some leads for figuring out why he is doing this. he is going to the vet tomorrow to get reweighed for his demodex medicine and i will mention it to the doctor.

[theBCnut]

The rating on the review side is based on the guaranteed analysis and the ingredient list, not on whether or not it’s good for LBPs. Thank goodness for HDM!!

[BlueEyedGirl]

Ok – I am not understanding something here Patty (Math was never my strong suit).

The numbers she gave do not in fact match what is on their website (the data on their website is dated July 29, 2011.)

According to the PDF on their site, Calcium is 374.723 per 100kcal while the Phosphorous is 227.364 per 100 kcal.

With the ratios she provided, I understood that to be 3.34/1000kcal but I see now that I misinterpreted that.

What I am puzzled by is why if the Calcium and Phosphorous ratios play such an integral role in feeding these large breeds, is the Now LBP Dry Kibble formula given five stars on the Dog Food review page on this site?

(from the Petcurean NOW Fresh page Food Summary Review on this site)

Now Fresh – Four Stars
The following is a list of recipes available at the time of this review.

Now Fresh Puppy
Now Fresh Adult
Now Fresh Senior
Now Fresh Large Breed Adult
Now Fresh Large Breed Senior
Now Fresh Small Breed All Ages
Now Fresh Large Breed Puppy (5 stars)

Now Fresh Small Breed All Ages was selected to represent the other products in the line for this review.

[Duke The Boxer]

Yeah the petcurean formula that I saw on their website the large breed formula I calculated at 3.7g /1000kcal.

[theBCnut]

I’m missing something here. Your numbers don’t make sense. For a large breed puppy, a food needs to have less than 3.5mg/1000kcal. Your numbers are nowhere near that low.

[BlueEyedGirl]

Hi – In case anyone else was curious about any of the Petcurean Large Breed Puppy dry kibble, here is the breakdown for Calcium & Phosphorous per 1000 kcal.

Calcium: 334.908 per 100 kcal

Phosphorus: 235.542 per 100 kcal

I will be adding it to our rotation here! (they unfortunately do not have a large breed puppy formula in their Go! foods)

She also offered directions on how to access the breakdowns per 1000 kcal for all of their formulations on their website.

from their email:
Here is a quick instructional on how to find the nutritional breakdown for each of our recipes on our website:

http://www.petcurean.com > click either “for cats” or “for dogs” > select recipe you would like to view and then click “view recipes” > Select food which you would like to view and then click “more info” > scroll down to the bottom of the page > Click “Guaranteed Analysis” > Click “Download Nutritional Profile”

I hope this helps! Take care and Happy Holidays!

[Duke The Boxer]

Yup and i thought i was overwhelmed when i started to look for the correct puppy food. Hahaha i have a couple that i want to try though orijen,eb, pet pantry, dr tim grain free, and some NV formulas. ugh but there is so many others and so many more that i want to learn about. Also some of the fromm formulas.

[theBCnut]

Couple more months and you’ll be able to feed it too.

[Duke The Boxer]

Damn patty the ME is 3750 so it equates to 3.7333 g per 1000 kcal. So it Is barrely too much -.-

[Duke The Boxer]

heheh good point 😀 but yeah it has its perks living in such a metropolitan city like Miami. A lot of negatives though -_-

[theBCnut]

I like to buy local where I can. I’m jealous of all these people that have great local options. I have to drive 45 minutes to get to anything worth mentioning. Fortunately that particular business is right by my dog training club, so I’m near it once or twice a week.

You may very well be right about the timing of when it came out. HDM only included the ones that got back to her with the requested info, and if it wasn’t out yet, they would have had a hard time giving her the info.

[Duke The Boxer]

Regardless Duke is getting EB Coastal Catch on thursday so we are both super excited 😀 unfortunately i just found a local pet store that carries all the brands that petsmart doesnt. It is a holistic natural k9 store and they have EB in stock for 1-2$ more than online so its perfect that i can pick up a bag locally and i dont mind helping local business

[Duke The Boxer]

Hey Patty i saw your post on the review and i totally rememeber your formula but some of their recipes dont have the metabolizable energy on the analysis. I am emailing the owner of the company now. He has been very open answering all my questions so im sure he will let me know in the morning. But the reason i think HDM didnt include it in her list is because the new recipe has not been reviewed by Mike yet so it failed the requirement of being at least 4 stars. When i was talking to the representative today that got me in contact with the owner, she said that the new grain free salmon recipe came out after the buffalo and is their newest formula.

[theBCnut]

Duke

If one of their foods made HDMs list and another didn’t, it is because the calcium is too high, so that formula must be lower calorie or something.

[RescueDaneMom]

I’ve used Petcurean with my adult Dane. I prefer the Go! formulas over the Now but I have used both. If it turns out that the calcium is acceptable, it would be a good choice to use in rotation. I think the bag size you use should be determined by how quickly you use the food. As long as you go through the food fairly quickly there is nothing wrong with getting the bigger bags. I rotated food every 4 weeks.

[BlueEyedGirl]

Hello all –

I just left a message for the health and nutrition person at Now Fresh (Petcurean out of British Columbia, Canada).

According to the main site, their Large Breed Puppy rates 5 stars and according to their label, their calcium content is 1.3% and phosphorous is 0.8%. I requested the ratio for 1000 kcal (in a very bumbling way as I did not have the formula with me as I was at the pet store).

It also has the benefits of being grain free/ gluten free/ different protein than the NutriSource Large Puppy she is currently on.

Does anyone here have experience with this brand/formula?

Also, is it better to rotate product with small bags (8lb or less) or larger bags (14-16lbs).

We are all getting into a groove here and the new pup is loving the Nutri Source. We have seen a huge difference in her stools since we switched! Fortunately for us, she did really well so we have pretty much transitioned her straight into the 2nd food already from the Hills Healthy Advantage.

Thank you again for your support for a newbie!

D

[Duke The Boxer]

i got the email back and the levels is 1.4% calcium, .95% phosphorous, Magnesium .20% for the salmon and sweet potato. I know your dog cant have potato though FreeHoldHound

[Duke The Boxer]

Patty so im looking more into Pet Pantry and currently am getting in contact with the owner so he can tell me the calcium levels of their salmon formula. The link is below. Unfortunately their buffalo and duck formula that is on HDM’s list is out of stock -_-
http://www.feedyourpets.com/product/TPP008.html

[Duke The Boxer]

Thank you so much patty. I feel so foolish I meant to post this I’m the large breed thread. -.- duke had a reaction to the nv rabbit but ugh it’s so difficult and frustrating trying to specifically narrow it down to what ingredients he is allergic to. I want to try the pet pantry buffalo and duck formula because it looks good on paper. I want to find foods with as little fillers and plant protein in it. I want as much meat protein as possible.

[kms]

losul –

Wow – thanks for all the information. I have been reading all evening! Really bugs me that the vet didn’t instruct me to give Pro-Pectalin and SMZ TMP a couple hours apart. I definitely gave many of those doses at the same time.

The Metronidozole was prescribed when Clostridium (not sure what type) was found in my pups stool (end of Sept). He did 2 rounds of Metro, along with Pro-Pectalin. After 2nd round was completed, the vet said that the Clostridium had gone back down to normal levels – but other bacteria was found also (bacteria that was either not detected originally – or it was something new my pup had picked up). Either way, he was surprised that it had not been wiped out by the Metronidozole, so he prescribed 1 round SMZ TMP. During that round, his stool turned bright yellow and soft/diarrhea for several days and then it became a weird mix of half yellow/half brown and eventually all brown and firm.

[BernerdAd]

Hi sorting through all the good information — I’ve come up with a few questions
1) why did Grain Free Canine Caviar Open Sky make the list but Grain Free Canine Caviar Puppy did not?
2) None of the Blue Buffalo dry products made the list at all – why is that.

Ive created some spread sheets and in particular looked at calcium and there are not major differences? At what point do small percentage points — i.e. the difference between 1.2% and !.5% make a difference – I mean statistically what is the variance in these numbers when a food doesn’t make the list by only a few tenths of a %?

3) While numerical data is great isn’t there any sage wisdom out there for specific large breeds? I have Berners (bernese mountain dogs) – on the main website it says ”

“Bernese Mountain Dog owners feed a range of food from raw diet, homemade diets to commercially prepared kibble. No matter what type of feed, Berner owners seem to agree to feed a high quality food with relatively low protein level, approximately 18 -26% and a moderate fat content, under 16%. High protein/fat feeds (> 28%, >16%) can be ‘too much’ for many Bernese, especially those that are not very active working/performance dogs. Feeding a diet that is too ‘heavy’ in protein has been known to precipitate hotspot outbreaks in some Berners. A diet too high in fat adds unwanted pounds and in some cases causes diarrhea.”

So did one study on large breed puppies looking at critical variables protein levels, calcium etc debunk all the sage wisdom from breeders – some of which specifically notice concerns with high levels of protein over 30%

[Duke The Boxer]

i just ordered the costal catch from earthborn. i will definitely be reporting back to you guys and girls on how duke reacts and how i feel like he is doing. Duke is getting near the last couple months where he needs to have a controlled amount of calcium. He is 7 months going on 8 soon. There have been a couple foods thats i have been wanting to try but have been too high in calcium like the orijen line, the earthborn primitive, wellness core large breed formula and a couple others. i wish there was a way to send private messages here cuz patty and rescuedanemom i would love to hear more of the foods that you have liked and disliked regardless of calcium

[nationalguard88]

Hey thanks guys. Patty, I agree with the peanut butter, as I did in the past. Wasn’t sure about their other treats.(your reviews have been a big help with my choosing dog foods, thanks.)
Ohbichon, thanks again for the local location help, and I agree with her being more involved in making treats herself. I use venison I harvest myself for meat in treats. All natural the way it should be. Only downside would be the pesticides the farmers use, but I eat it, and dogs love it. Anyone have their own recipes for treats they’d like to share, be glad to hear. Or direct me to another forum area about it, appreciated. Ill defininately check out zukes and the others mentioned as well. Thanks again for your politeness and help. So glad I found this site 🙂 truly knowledgable people that care for their babies as I do! My vet gave me a complimentary bag of large breed puppy science diet, went in the garbage. Also vet tech tried to give my baby a treat for being good, I took it from her politely and put in the trash when she left. Know one feeds my baby anything but me or my fiancé. I don’t know what’s in that stuff?

[losul]

Kms. Before you even mentioned metronidazole, I had already guessed that it had begun there. Do you mind me asking why specifically he prescribed metro? Giardia, clostridium, just a shot in the dark for diarrhea?

[losul]

Kms.
I’m really sorry I can’t answer many of your questions and I’m not qualified to give medical advice. I don’t know specifically what your vet prescribed the SMZ TMP for, if it was even for anything specific. It may not be effective against clostridium? I would ask questions of your vet, before carrying on.

c. difficile and c. perfingens are often culprits in humans. I think c. perfingens more often in dogs.

SMZ TMP (usage in humans) http://www.webmd.com/drugs/drug-64007-SMZ-TMP+DS+Oral.aspx?drugid=64007&drugname=SMZ-TMP+DS+Oral

“This medication may rarely cause a severe intestinal condition (Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea) due to a resistant bacteria. This condition may occur while receiving treatment or even weeks to months after treatment has stopped. Do not use anti-diarrhea products or narcotic pain medications if you have the following symptoms because these products may make them worse. Tell your doctor immediately if you develop: persistent diarrhea, abdominal or stomach pain/cramping, or blood/mucus in your stool.”

“Use of this medication for prolonged or repeated periods may result in oral thrush or a new yeast infection (oral or vaginal fungal infection). Contact your doctor if you notice white patches in your mouth, a change in vaginal discharge or other new symptoms.”

About the kaolin (pro-pectin)

Kaolin Interactions

Kaolin pectin may decrease the absorption of drugs that chelate with aluminum salts (eg, digoxin, clindamycin, lincomycin). Until more information is available, avoid taking kaolin with drugs that chelate with aluminum. It may also decrease the absorption of trimethoprim and quinidine.

http://www.drugs.com/npp/kaolin.html

It looks like as long as you separate the doses enough, it may be O.K.

Trimethoprim (Proloprim) interacts with KAOLIN
Kaolin might decrease the absorption and decrease the effectiveness of trimethoprim (Proloprim), an antibiotic. To avoid a potential interaction, separate trimethoprim (Proloprim) and kaolin doses by at least two hours.

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-44-KAOLIN.aspx?activeIngredientId=44&activeIngredientName=KAOLIN

The questions about the probiotics and enzymes- I don’t know, but me, I would be leery of using the enzymes at least for the time being.

By lightly cooked meat, I meant cooked only enough to kill pathogens that may be present. The rice cooked per package directions should be fine.

[kms]

Thank you guys so very much for all the feedback. You have no idea how much this is helping.

As far as dehyrdation…. I’ve been checking gums/skin/saliva daily since diarrhea started and he seems ok. I find that surprising because he has had 1/2 c – 3/4 c diarrhea every 2 hrs for the last 72 hrs (all night long too). Prior to that, it was more like every 3-4 hrs and he did not wake up in middle of night. He has been drinking tons of water and I was giving pumpkin with each meal up until a couple days ago (no pumpkin since Sat night).

I started Pro-Pectalin yesterday. He’s had 2 doses so far. Still having diarrhea, but he only wanted to go out twice last night after we went to bed (instead of every 1-2 hrs like before). This morning, 2 stoools so far – mix of diarrhea, moucous and thicker diarrhea (milkshake consistency). It’s really concerning that Pro-Pectalin interferes with TMP. I didn’t think to look into that because I assumed my vet wouldn’t prescribe 2 things that don’t work together. The last time he did that (Pro-Pect + SMZ TMP) we had already gone through 2 rounds Metronidozole, so maybe he was just grasping.

As far as bland diet…..We started bland (boiled chkn/plain white rice) at the beginning of his 2nd round of Metronidozole (plus Pro-Pectalin). During that week, his stool was soft, runny and had a slimy coating (never firmed up). Then we did another week of bland plus a course of SMZ TMP (plus Pro-Pectalin). During that week, stool firmed up and turned bright yellow. By end of that week, it was formed and a mix of brown and yellow in color. So, for what it’s worth, it seems like the stool did not improve on the bland diet until we started SMZ TMP. (After that, we transitioned to Orijen. Stool got soft/runny during, but firmed up on day #5 of 100% Orijen. Had a week of good stool but then it started to get greasy. That’s when I started Dig Enz’s and Probiotics – which helped breath, gas and volume of stool – but not consistency – stool was still formed followed by soft runny).

The vet doesn’t want to change his diet until we get test results, but I know the kibble isn’t helping. I stopped the Dig Enz’s 2 days ago because I was afraid they were adding to the problem, but it hasn’t made a difference.

So at this point, he’s on kibble + double dose Probitoics once per day + Pro-Pectalin. I have stopped all: pumpkin and digestive enzymes.

Here are my questions:

Would you hold off on SMZ TMP until test results are back – or start them now? I don’t know enough about oil of oregano to go that route yet, but have started reading. Will the combo of probiotics + Pro-Pectalin + compromised GI system be enough to fight the Clostridium without antibiotics (at least for next 3-4 days)?

As far as the “double dose” Probiotics…. the jar says Therputic dose for his weight is 2 scoops per day. Is that what you’d do, or would you do that with every meal (which would be double or tiple what the jar calls for – he eats 3 times per day).

If we stay on kibble, would you add digestive enzymes back in?

What does “lightly cooked” mean? When I make bland, I boil the chicken until completely cooked and make white rice according to the pkg.

Thank you so much.

• This reply was modified 12 years, 5 months ago by kms.
• This reply was modified 12 years, 5 months ago by kms.

[dogspotindia]

Hi, Gumbo and Roux Mama-
Ideally for small dog 1-10 kg weight
medium dog 11-25 kg weight
large dog 26 – 45 kg weight
and more than 45 kg is consider as a giant breed .

[losul]

canigivemydog-cool site and bookmarked it. I got a good laugh out of the can i give my dog viagra?

unh unh my dog isn’t getting any of mine, lol.