[Catherine W]

Long background story:
I have a 2 year old Bernese mountain dog who never had great stools from when we got her. She was on blue buffalo and we always had issues, especially between new bags. But last may we had to evacuate our home from a fire and we ultimately moved, then had a new baby in September, and her stools have just been on and off ever since. They were good in July/Aug on Kirkland salmon but then a mess after new baby and my husband wanted to change foods at the same time to Kirkland turkey because of bad fish breath. Well since September she hasn’t been on 100% kibble, started with a blend of rice/boiled meat/kibble, but the rice started to go right through her so we tried oatmeal. Now she’s on an oatmeal/kibble blend. I supplement with carrots, and a probiotic, and recently I’ve been giving her a multivitamin because I’m concerned. In December I managed to get to 70:30 kibble to oatmeal ratio with great stool then explosive diarrhea for days. Basically it’s been the worst since May, midnight outings every 2 hrs. Oh and I took her to the vet in December who did a deworming and stool sample and put her on Hills prescription w/d canned which made her constipated and bleed, which we then blended back to kibble which didn’t work. I’ve tried adding pumpkin and bran buds (vet recommended) but it’s hit and miss.
Last week I researched all sorts of dog foods and decided on Hills large breed light because of the high fiber and low fat content. She can’t eat anything fatty, raw bones just cause diarrhea, and never gets meat scraps because they just cause upset.

Basically I’m wondering if I’ve tried it all and my dog is just destroyed inside and is hopeless. Thanks.

• This topic was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by Catherine W.

[Susan]

Hi, have you seen a vet that specializes in IBD?? I have a dog with IBD, he can NOT eat boiled rice the boiled rice irritates his bowel, your dog sounds like she has food sensitivities & you are feeding the wrong kibbles, have you tried “Taste Of The Wild” Pacific Stream Smoked Salmon or Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb? after my boy was on a vet diet Eukanuba Intestinal 9 months to rest & heal his bowel + Metronidazole (Flagyl) antibiotic for the stomach & bowel, we tried a few kibbles but after 4-5 weeks Patch would start doing sloppy yellow poos & be put back on vet diet Eukanuba Intestinal Low Residue & the Metronidazole for 10 days, food sensitivities can take 1 day up to 6 weeks to show symptoms… then finally I tried the TOTW Smoked Salmon first & then the Roasted Lamb formula, I never tried TOTW cause I thought like you Patch couldn’t have any kibbles that were higher then 12% in fat & the TOTW was 15% in the Smoked Salmon & Roasted Lamb so I never tried the TOTW but its been the best kibble for Patch…he does his firmest poos on the TOTW & now I’m trying Pro Pac Ultimates Meadow Prime Lamb & Patch is doing good poos & the Pro Pac Ultimates Bayside Select Whitefish.. but its taken 3 years to finally fined the TOTW kibble & now the Pro Pac Ultimates Grain Free, the Grain Free kibbles seem to work the best…
Hills use chicken in most of their kibbles with the Hills W/d sounds like tooo much fiber causing the bad constipation & food sensitivities probably to the chicken causing the bleeding, stay away from chicken & boiled rice, boiled rice is old school now, you need to see a vet that specializes in IBD ASAP, letting her keep going like this will damage her bowel & will cause thickening of the bowel in the long run…….
Taste Of The Wild makes Kirkland kibbles but I think there’s more ingredients in the Kirklands kibbles, you need to try a kibble with very limited ingredients & have just 1 Novel Protein like Kangaroo, Rabbit, Venison, Salmon or Lamb & only 1-2 carbs & stick with kibbles with Sweet Potatoes & Potatoes…..Chickpeas & lentils are harder to digest but if further down the ingredient list may be OK…..
TOTW Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb has the least ingredients out of all the TOTW formulas & may be worth a tried or Royal Canin Vet Diets PR, PS or PV these are Potato & Rabbit, Potato & Salmon & Potato & Venison….I really think your dog has food sensitivities & you need a vet that specializes in IBD so you can try the vet diets not Hills Vets Diets & work what is happening with your dog….have you tried boiling potatoes & sweet potatoes? Oats would be like the rice
there’s also “Natural Balance” & “California Natural” Lamb meal & brown rice has only 3 ingredients & the rice in kibbles is grounded, my boy can eat rice in kibbles but not boiled rice, vet said the sharp corners of the rice is what irritates the bowel & can get caught in little pockets of the bowel……

[Catherine W]

Thanks Susan!
Rice used to work great with boiled ground beef. Just in December there were a few days where it didn’t so I stopped. It’s just weird that before the baby addition Kirkland salmon was fine mostly and the stress of the baby and change to turkey just did her in. I’ll see if I can find a specialist in my area. I’m quite annoyed at the vet I went to as she didn’t really listen to what had been happening. The blood from there prescription food was just one day on the outside, likely from pushing and straining every hour for three days. The vet didn’t even have a comment on proper food. I’ll look at those foods you suggested and the metronidazole.

[Susan]

Hi, look for a good vet & ask test for S.I.B.O Small Bowel Intestine Overgrowth, or just ask vet for some Metronidazole tablets a 21-28 days course, that’s what I did. also ask vet does she need a B12 injection you give B12 weekly.. on this EPI Dogs F/B group they know the dose & what B12 you can buy for dogs, they also know about S.I.B.O
https://www.facebook.com/groups/38663535025/?fref=nf
My vet writes me out a few scripts of Metronidazole to keep in the cupboard, so if Patches starts pooing sloppy yellow smelly poos, I start him on the Metronidazole for 10 days twice a day with food every 12 hours, I just take the script to chemist & buy & put him back on his Taste Of The Wild Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb kibble…. but since starting the TOTW last March Patch has finally been doing really well, I don’t know if it’s cause TOTW uses purified water or its their probiotics in the kibble but the TOTW keeps his gut healthy & no more bacteria overgrowth, I rotate between a few kibbles but always feed the TOTW in Patches rotation, I have found Patch does heaps better when I change between a few kibbles he does well on, I started rotating kibbles so Patch doesn’t start reacting to just eating the same kibble, later on when you have found a couple of kibbles your dog does well on then rotate between them & change every 2-3 weeks before poos goo down hill again… I rotate between fish & lamb limited ingredient kibbles..
Sounds like food sensitivities & maybe bacteria in the bowel, I give Patch 1/2 of a “Yakult” it’s a pink probiotic drink for humans, you buy from the supermarket in fridge section, he has 1/2 & I drink the other 1/2…but you will need the Metronidazole first to kill the bacteria overgrowth in the bowel…also may be stress related & need a routine to feel safe & secure… How is she doing on the Hills light?? it has a lot of ingredients tooo many to know which one could be causing problems …..Hills is money back guaranteed so if she gets diarrhea return it say she wont eat it & look for a fish or lamb limited ingredient kibble…

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