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I went to a free class today on holistic dog care. In talking about constipation in dogs, she mentioned using chia seed as a source of fiber. Does anyone agree with this? Anyone use it?
I use it sometimes for the omega 3 but it does have a fair amount of fiber but for fiber I use psyllium. You can find chia seed profile on nutritiondata.com
Thanks Sandy and Patty!
This class was mostly a joke, I’m so thankful it was only 2hrs long. I couldn’t even leave because Steve had dropped me off. When she started talking about alpha dogs, I wanted to be out of there. She never talked about raw foods but instead talked about cooked foods. Had Pitcairns (sp) books there so that was a good thing.
Someone brought up constipation in dogs and she mentioned chia seeds. She also mentioned psyllium but said some dogs don’t like the taste. I don’t know if you gals remember a couple weeks after we adopted Gemma, she was “stopped up”. I still don’t know if it was from eating a stone, from too much or too big bone in the Darwins she ate at the time or what. She has not had that problem again but it does take her awhile to poop. No straining but she does stand in the poop pose, for usually a couple minutes, before she goes. Stool is not hard, not soft, nicely formed. No idea what causes this but I wondered if the chia seed might be worth trying. She eats The Honest Kitchen’s Embark in the morning and Bravo Balance pre made raw in the afternoon. Gets various supplements and a dollop of pumpkin on top of her meals.My old girl has slow bowels, everything just moves slowly with her. I always make sure she has a little fiber in her diet so her poop doesn’t get too hard. I don’t think there is a down side to trying chia seeds as long as you don’t add too much at once.
Hi Patty,
The person who did the class said for Gemma’s weight (21lbs) to use 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of chia seed. I may pick some up today. I’ve had many seniors but she is the first one with “slow bowels”My JRT is my first too, but she has always had hard stools no matter what she’s eating. I think her large intestine is a little too good at resorbing liquids, so if I don’t add in something that helps keep moisture in the stool, she dries out too much and everything doesn’t move through the way it should.
We feed chia to our Border rescue (a senior) daily. He usually gets it from the grain we feed our cattle – he cleans up their buckets. With the cows having calves, Buddy does not get to partake in the clean up of grain right now, but we sprinkle about 1/4 cup on his dinner.
When we first got Buddy, we took him for a grooming experience and a “summer” cut. Needless to say, it was a butchered job. When we met our current groomer a month later, she did express concern about how Buddy’s coat would grow back. With daily chia, Buddy’s coat came in well and has a shine to it. Our groomer continues to express how well Buddy’s coat is. His nail growth is also good – and are they strong.
We have just adopted a Border puppy, and she too is beginning to have chia added to her diet.
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