[theBCnut]

Mine have great stools on rabbit, so it is definitely an individual dog thing. I’m not sure I would wait to transition just because you don’t know that the poor stools aren’t because of a food intolerance, just transition slowly, unless you see that his stools start getting better just from the change, in that case you may want to speed up the transition.

[Duke The Boxer]

Dammit patty. -.- as soon as I started to mix in some nutri source with the rabbit his stools got better. This makes me super sad as duke other than the loose stools did amazing on nv rabbit.

[theBCnut]

LOL!! One of mine is intolerant to the tomato in the NVI Rabbit, but he still had great stools. Have you tried any other rabbit foods? Just wondering if it was the rabbit or something else that caused the loose stools. Mine get rabbit raw and it is one of the raw meats that they do best on.

kms, I forgot to mention that as long as he is gaining weight, I wouldn’t try to rush it. That alone can cause diarrhea.

[kms]

Pattyvaughn –

OK. Thanks! Is anyone concerned that the rabbit in NVI grain-free Rabbit Meal is sourced from China? I thought I remembered reading a discussion on that subject earlier in this thread – but I can’t remember what the consensus was and now I can’t find it.

Also, I don’t see any info on the NV website as to whether their meat is hormone-free, anti-biotic-free – and also if their vegetables are certified organic. I will contact them, but just wondered if you have any info on that? Thanks again.

[theBCnut]

NVIs raw rabbit is sourced from China, but the kibble is not. I can’t remember if it was sourced from Italy or France, but it was one of those two.

[lmnordrum]

Since I posted to the list the other day about Merrick I thought I would share what they provided regarding Calcium. Obviously this food will not go on HDM’s list for large breeds.

Dry Dog Food
Chicken, Brown Rice & Green Peas-Adult -2.50
Beef, Whole Barley & Carrots-Adult 2.50
Lamb, Brown Rice & Apple- Adult 2.50
Large Breed-Chicken, Brown Rice & Green Peas-Adult 2.36
Small Breed-Chicken, Brown Rice & Green Peas-Adult 2.50
Puppy-Chicken, Brown Rice & Green Peas 2.28
Senior-Chicken, Brown Rice & Green Peas 2.20
Grain-Free Chicken 2.50
Grain-Free Buffalo 2.50
Grain-Free Duck 2.50
Grain-Free Pork 2.32

[QueenCeleste]

Does anyone have recommendations on glucosamine for large breed puppies? I have a 10 month old rottie who has seemed a little stiff lately/her gait is off. I have taken her to the vet and she seems to have no obvious injuries. A friend recommended glucosamine, but I am unfamiliar with its use for dogs. Thoughts? Suggestions? Thanks

[QueenCeleste]

PS- She eats NVI rabbit kibble.

[RescueDaneMom]

I have a Great Dane and my mom is taking care of my brother’s rottie. We used to have both of them on Dasuquin with MSM for large breed dogs made by Nutramax. http://www.nutramaxlabs.com/dog/dog-joint-bone-health/dasuquin-for-dogs It worked very well but was very pricey. Last time I bought it on Amazon it was $80 for the 150ct bottle. They come in beef flavored chewable tablets which makes it easy to give. The rottie ate them like treats but my Dane was picky and I had to crush them up in his food. Now, I buy the same components (glucosamine, MSM, chondroitin, and ASU) from swansonsvitamins.com and give them to my dog crushed in his food. It costs me about $25/month now instead of $64 (I was giving 4 tabs per day so the 150ct lasted about 5 weeks).

[karink]

Hello everyone! I have an 11 week old lab puppy I’ve had for two weeks. After reading all the great information on here, I decided to feed him the Annamaet Salcha. So far everything is great.

My question now is regarding peanut butter. Is it safe to give puppies, and if so, what kind and how much. I’m having a lot of issues with him barking in his crate when I leave for work and would like to give him a kong toy with frozen peanut butter hoping it will keep him busy during the first moments that I leave, that way he won’t be so anxious.

First I want to know if it’s safe for puppies, and then if giving him a small amount (to fill the kong) daily would off-set any of the calcium / phosophorus %. It would then defeat the purpose of all the research done with the food.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. He barks forever and I want to find something that will calm him during my absence. Can’t be toys (other than kongs) as he already chewed one up and swollowed a little piece the other day! Almost had a heart attack – and he hasn’t even starting teething yet! I’m in SO much trouble!!! LOL!!

[theBCnut]

The issue with peanut butter is that since it is grown in the ground, it can carry aflatoxin. As an occasional treat it won’t matter, so rotate kong filling with some plain yogurt, canned food, etc. then freeze. A small amount of things that are not balanced for calcium don’t matter.

[kms]

I just wanted to post an Augie update and ask for more help (sorry – someday I hope I can be the one helping). He has been on Probiotics and Digestive Enzymes for 6 days now (and still on canned pumpkin also). The changes I have noticed are: he has less gas, his gas doesn’t smell as bad as before, his breath smells less fishy and his stools are a tiny bit smaller (but still soft). 3 days ago, I began the transition from Orijen LBP to NVI grain-free Rabbit Meal (started at 75% Orijen/25% NVI). I was planning on moving to 50%/50% on day #4 (which would be tomorrow), BUT his stool is still soft (it starts out formed, but then turns to pudding). I read that you shouldn’t move to the next step until the stool is normal. Should I continue at 75/25 for another day or two – or should I move on to 50/50? or is it looking like the rabbit is not going to work for him?

Also, he has been on the “therapeutic” dose (double dose) of Mercola probiotics for 6 days. Is it time to back it down to a “maintenance” dose (single dose)? Thanks for any help!!!

• This reply was modified 10 years, 5 months ago by kms.

[theBCnut]

If his stool has not gotten worse then I would consider soft to be normal for him for now. If it gets worse, then slow down the transition. I would leave him on the double dose for at least 2 weeks, especially since you are in a transition. How it starts out formed and turns to pudding is telling me that his large intestine is still not happy. Did he have a large dose of parasites when you first got him? I’m wondering if some slippery elm might help soothe his intestinal tract. I hope the montmorillite clay in the NVI will also help.

[kms]

ok – started the 50/50 today. I don’t think he had a large dose of parasites. They were roundworms and we treated with Strongid (2 treatments 10 days apart). I only saw worms in 1 stool after his 1st treatment. I have tested him for worms twice since then and both were good. But with his “dirt-eating” fetish, I guess he could have them again. I’ve been diligent about “leave it” and keeping him out of trouble, but he still gets a mouthful once in a while.

I have never heard of slippery elm. What does it do and what kind would you recommend?

What do you think is wrong with his large intestine? Does it just need more healing time or do you think he may have some type of medical issue? Thanks again – very much.

[RescueDaneMom]

kms-

Here is an article on GI issues: http://www.holvet.net/slippery_soup.html
It has info on slippery elm bark and how you use it.

The Honest Kitchen makes a supplement to help with digestion and intestinal health that has slippery elm in it called Perfect Form.
http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/supplements/perfect-form

I hope this helps. 🙂

-Caroline

[theBCnut]

Hi kms
Yes, I think he might need more time for his intestines to heal. The worms attach to the intestinal wall and do it real damage, the more worms there were, the more damage, and you wouldn’t have seen all of the worms.

Caroline provided some good info and Perfect Form is a great supplement, if you are interested in trying it.

[kms]

Caroline –

Thank you for the info on slippery elm and Perfect Form. I’ll read up on it. Would Perfect Form have enough slippery elm in it to suffice? or would using slippery elm only (like the slippery soup) be better? Also, he takes Mercola dig enzymes and Mercola probiotics (thanks to this forum), so I just want to make sure there are no conflicts with the elm – this is all new to me.

Pattyvaughn –

We got him at 9 wks old and I took him for his wellness exam the following week. That’s when they found the worms. One thing I should have mentioned is he had a “little” blood (the vets words) in his stool, so the worms had progressed enough to cause that to happen. The last time he had been wormed prior to that was at 6 weeks.

[theBCnut]

Puppies get roundworms from their mother, so he likely had them pretty much since birth. There should be no conflict with slippery elm and enzymes and probiotics. I can’t tell you whether using just slippery elm or Perfect Form would be better. I know that Perfect Form has several different beneficial ingredients, but I don’t know if that means better or just different. I really think that I would lean toward Perfect Form for your situation, but that might be because you have already tried so many things that I feel like maybe a little of several different things may be more likely to have one or two that actually help. But that may be just a feeling, not reality.

How is the transition coming along?

• This reply was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by theBCnut.

[RescueDaneMom]

I would lean toward the Perfect Form for the same reason as Patty. I think there is probably enough slippery elm in it to help but maybe one of the other components will help too. Plus it has been formulated to help with digestion and intestinal health. I think it’d be worth a try.

[kms]

RescueDaneMom and Pattyvaughn –

Thanks! I did some reading last night and ordered some from Amazon.

As far as the transition, the stools the first 3 days (75%Orijen LBP/25% NVI Rabbit) were basically half formed followed by half runny. Then I moved to 50%/50% and the first day was exactly the same. But the second day (yesterday) was slightly different : his first 2 stools were very formed – almost dry – and he seemed like he was straining to push them out. The third stool was large, formed and greasy/shiny – followed by 1/2 cup runny. The fourth one was was soft (no runny stuff, but no formed stuff either). So far today (day 3 of the 50/50 mix), he had one stool and it was formed followed by 1/4 c soft. I’m not sure if I see a pattern yet or not, but it’s definitely not getting worse. Yesterday, I was starting to get worried that he was constipated (even though I’m still giving him pumpkin – 1 tsp/10 lbs), but then it kinda changed back to where it has been all along. What do you think? If I keep going, tomorrow would be the next step in the transition (75% NVI Rabbit/25% Orijen).

One other thing I was curious about…his stool are always dark – even when I was back on 100% Orijen. The dark stool seemed to start when I started giving him pumpkin. Does this make sense?

Thank you again for all your help.

[theBCnut]

High protein stools should be dark, almost black. Don’t be surprised if he starts going less often and when they finally form up they should be much smaller too. It sounds to me like you are getting some good results. I think there might be something in the Orijen that doesn’t agree with him. I would continue just like you are, 75% tomorrow. Woo Hoo!!

By the time the Perfect Form gets there you may only need a small dose for a while. Keep it aroung for any future transitions, just in case.

[kms]

Wow – I didn’t know about the dark stool meaning high protein. That’s a huge relief – I was starting to worry that he had blood in it again. Couldn’t find any other explanation on the web.

He has had 2 more stools since this morning. 1 was rock solid (there was MUCH celebrating in the yard). But the second one was semi-formed – followed by 1/2 cup soft/runny (Arghhh!!). But still, it’s continuing to get better. I’ll bump up to 75%/25% tomorrow. Would never have gotton this far without this forum. Thank you.

[BlueEyedGirl]

Hello –

Thank you all for the wonderfully intelligent conversations and to HDM for curating the list of LB Puppy Dry Foods. I have tried to read as much as I could, but with over 50 pages, it is quite overwhelming. I apologize in advance if my questions are redundant.

We are hoping to adopt a Boxer/ Great Dane (?) (Maybe Catahoula Cross?) mix from a local rescue this weekend. (I was hoping to be able to add her picture to my profile to show off her blue eyes, but I can’t seem to figure it out right now).

The food she is currently on is Hills Healthy Advantage Large Breed which appears to be borderline for Calcium, but it rates quite low for quality (Two Stars. oh – the irony that it is considered a vet exclusive product).

She was placed on this food as she had as her foster mom says “a wicked case of diarrea” when she came into her foster home. According to her foster mom, she seems to be doing quite well on this food and she has requested we keep her on it for the next couple of months.

After reading all of the information here, I am wanting to transition her to a higher quality food for the remainder of her puppyhood. (She is currently 38.3 pounds and leggy with pretty marled markings at just four months, thus I am leaning to the Great Dane mix).

I have a few questions –

1) I am considering the Wellness Core Puppy as the beginning food to transition her to. Although we transitioned our previous dogs with foods for interest, is there another medical reason to switch out the foods? Is a 3-4 food rotation sufficient?

2) If it turns out that she is NOT a large breed mix (maybe Catahoula), is there any danger or adverse results from feeding a medium calcium food?

3) Are there any training treats that are recommended for large breeds that follow suit with the calcium content?

Thank you so much for your help. There is so much to collect in time for her arrival on Saturday! I want to be prepared. Any advice you can offer is appreciated!

D

[RescueDaneMom]

Hi BlueEyedGirl-

First, if you want to upload a picture as your avatar you need to go to gravatar.com. You can also add a picture to a post using photobucket. Copy and paste the image link into your post and it should show up.

Now onto the food…Wellness Core Puppy is a great food, but it is a BIG step up from Hill’s. To play it safe, you might want to gradually step up the quality food. You could start with Nutrisource Large Breed Puppy. Nutrisource has a reputation of being an easy food to switch to. Then you could transition to Wellness Core. 3-4 foods in a rotation is good. That would be my minimum. If your dog doesn’t have intolerances or allergies then you could find many foods to keep switching through.

Because you don’t know if she is a large breed or not, I would play it safe and feed large breed puppy appropriate food. Feeding lower calcium won’t hurt a small/medium breed dog. In my opinion, it’d be better to err on the side of caution.

I think that the amount of calcium that they get from treats is pretty negligible. However, if you are very concerned, I think dehydrated/freeze-dried tripe would be a good choice. Tripe has balanced Ca/P and I believe it is lower in calcium than some other treats. Freeze-dried liver may also be good.

There are more knowledgeable members on here that can give you more feedback and correct me if I’m wrong. I hope this was helpful to you. Have fun getting ready for your pup. It’s so exciting getting ready to bring a new dog home. 🙂

[theBCnut]

Hi Blue Eyed Girl
RDM gave you some great advice. Any treat that is just meat will be low in calcium, but just make sure you keep treats to under 20% of the diet, then you don’t have to worry. Rotation of foods helps to keep the intestines healthy and support a wider range of probiotics. If you have agreed to keep her on the SD for 2 months, I would still go ahead and get the next food and after she is settled in your house start adding in 25% of the new food. That way you can start getting some of the better quality in to her and she can have a really long transition to the new food, just in case she does have a sensitive stomach. BTW, rotational feeding cured my sensitive stomach girl. I can feed her any thing, any time I want now with no upsets.

[BlueEyedGirl]

Thank you so much for your input and suggestions RescueDaneMom & Pattyvaughn!

I managed to find a bag of the NutriSource LBPuppy to mix in with the Hills. I had to buy a 4kg bag as they were out of the larger one, so we will transition slowly, but if she seems to be tolerating the switch well, we might move things along a bit.

It was exciting to see that the rescue group changed her status straight from Available to Has Found Her Forever Home! Now it seems that much more real!

I am sure you will see me here more often. I will add a picture of her when we get back.

Thanks again.

D

PS – Happy American Thanksgiving!

[kms]

Just wanted to update. I’m starting to get more worried. We made the last transition step yesterday and are now at 100% NVI Rabbit. It was a 9 day transition. Still doing digestive enzymes and 1 heaping tblsp pumpkin at each meal – plus a double dose of Probiotics at each meal. Meals are twice per day (1 1/4 c NVI Rabbit per meal) – plus I use 1 c for treats throughout the day – so that’s a total of 3.5 c per day (he’s a 35 lb, 6 mo Weim). Other than the improvement in the quantity/frequency of stool and less fishy smell (which is probably due to the dig enz’s, not the food), it’s the same. The first part comes out nice and formed – and second part comes out like pudding. It has only been 2 days now that he has been on it @ 100%, but shouldn’t I have seen gradual improvement the whole time we were transitioning? or am I not being patient enough? It just seems like most people see a improvement right away. I’m getting worried that it may not be the food. He has now been on 4 foods (Eukanuba Puppy Growth, Chicken & Rice bland diet, Orijen LBP, NVI Rabbit) and all 4 resulted in the same thing. The first 3 were chcken based and the last is rabbit based (although it does use chicken fat as a preservative). His last antibiotic and negative fecal were 40 days ago – so the antibiotics are long gone from his system – and he has been on a double dose of Probiotics for 2 weeks. The really weird thing is…. in all this mess, he HAS had some days with great stools. He had 3 days in a row at one point while on the chicken/rice bland diet – and then he had about 3-4 days in a row when on Orijen – but there was no pattern that I could see.

Should I start looking for another food or give this food more time?
Could the 1 c I’m giving as training treats be messing him up because they aren’t being given with dig enz’s and prob’s?
Is 1 1/4 c (sometimes 1 1/2 c) too much to feed in a meal (ie. should I feed him 3 times/day instead of 2 times/day) I moved to twice per day feedings about 1 month ago at the suggestion of the breeder – she said it would give his GI tract more time to rest.
Should I stay on a double dose of the probiotics?
Do you think I need to see the vet?
I got the Perfect Form – should I try adding that now? I got concerned when I saw that it’s not allowed to be sold in some states. Can you shed some light on that?

I know that’s a lot of questions and I really appreciate any and all advice.

[RescueDaneMom]

kms- Thanks for the update. I was wondering how it was going. The Perfect Form is perfectly safe and I would suggest starting it ASAP. It is not sold in some states because of the herbs that it contains. Some states are weird about what they will allow in. For example, many of the Acana varieties of dog food can’t be sold or shipped to the US because of the “botanicals” they contain. I’m not sure why it is such a concern. I don’t know if they have an issue with them being non-native or what.

If I were you, I would try the Perfect Form and give it two weeks to see if there will be any improvement. I would keep up the double doses of probiotics. If things haven’t changed in two weeks then I would consider changing to a different food.

[Hershy]

Hi, kms,
I have been away for awhile, so am not up to date on all the discussion, but have you considered there could be a parasite present? That is, since you have tried many options with the diet? Coccidia is common and will cause a similar stool. Here is a link about it. The occurrence of this is most common in young puppies, but can show up in any dog.
This link has more information about it –
http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/infectious-parasitic/c_multi_coccidiosis#.UpoFpeC6_8s
Whipworms is another possibility- a link about that is- http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/infectious-parasitic/c_multi_trichuriasis#.UpoIG-C6_8s
As I said, this may be old news to you, but wanted to offer in case it isn’t.
Take care, and hope you are able to solve his problem soon.

[theBCnut]

I would start the Perfect Form and get a really freash stool to the vet to be sent to the lab for analysis. A lab can find things that are difficult for the vet to find.

[kms]

RescueDaneMom, Hershy and PattyVaughn –

Thanks for getting back to me so quick. I’ll get a stool sample to the vet asap. The last time he was tested and clear of parasites was 10/22 (that was after we had completed 2 doses Strongid and 3 rounds anti-biotics for roundworms and Clostridium). At that time (10/22), they tested for worms, Coccidia, and Guiardia and he was good. But it’s possible he picked something up since then (although I watch him like a hawk and he is always on leash in yard).

Also, I’ll start the Perfect Form today. Just to verify, I am going to make a paste out of the PF and mix the paste into his meals along with the pumpkin and Probiotics and Dig Enz’s, right?

What is you gut on this? Does it seem like he may have parasites again – or is it starting to look like a problem with his lrg intestine – or just not the right food yet? or does it sound like an issue with chicken/chicken fat? He has not been scratching, biting, chewing and is eating/drinking normal.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by kms.

[RescueDaneMom]

Yes, mix the PF into a paste and add it to the food with the pumpkin, probiotics, and enzymes. I don’t have any personal experience with parasites but I know it can take awhile for dogs GI tracts to recover from damage. It’s possible you just haven’t found the right food yet. Do you think he’s allergic to chicken? Was he scratching/biting/chewing when he was on the chicken-based foods? That’s good that he’s not doing it now.

[kms]

No – he was not scratching, biting, or chewing at all when on the chicken-based foods. There was no sign that anything was wrong, other than his stool. His stool back then was the same as it is now – starts out formed and then goes runny. Oh and he does it in 2 squats almost every time – first he pushes out the formed stool and then he walks around for about 10 seconds and squats again to push out the runny stuff…

• This reply was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by kms.

[RescueDaneMom]

Interesting. I don’t think he’s sensitive to chicken then since he hasn’t improved on the rabbit food. That sounds like our rottie right now. He’s still recovering from a nasty reaction to his last chemo treatment. The drug did not agree with him at all. I think it killed off everything in his gut. We’ve been feeding him 3x a day with probiotics and enzymes in every meal. We had him on Nutrisource Weight Management for the high fiber (12%) which helps his diarrhea. Now he’s got mostly solid poop with the runny stuff at the end because we switched him to the Earthborn Holistic Primitive Natural (2.5% fiber) with no transition time. He just decided he didn’t want to eat the Nutrisource anymore. I was thinking that fiber might be the issue with your guy but that doesn’t make sense either. You tried 2 higher fiber foods: Orijen at 6% and NVI at 7%. I’m kinda stumped. Hopefully the Perfect Form will start helping. After you run out of NVI you could try NV Prairie LBP to see if he does any better with grains. I also wonder if he might do better on a dehydrated food like Honest Kitchen. It might be easier on his digestive system than kibble. Sorry I can’t be of more help. Those are just some thoughts I had. It sounds like all you can do is trial and error right now until you can definitively rule out parasites again.

[theBCnut]

I still think his digestive system is just off from everything before, but it’s best to check and make sure. After you have tried Perfect Form for a bit, try to find chia seeds at the health food store or try a little psyllium powder. Maybe pumpkin is not the fiber for him, for that matter, stop the pumpkin while he is on Perfect Form.

[kms]

I made a vet appt for this coming wed – will have a fecal sent out. Also, I started Perfect Form last night. He ate it right up – no issue with taste. So far, he has had 3 stools – all 3 softer/runnier than normal. But he has only had 2 doses, so it’s prob too soon to tell. As far as pumpkin, I’ll stop that today.

I like everything I’ve read about Honest Kitchen products and would be willing to try. Also have been reading about Primal, Darwin and NV frozen and freeze-dried raw. My biggest fear is that things could get worse at a critical time in his development. I’d also have to face both my vet and breeder – who aren’t really in favor of my direction so far (in terms of going to a kibble rotation diet and also for heading toward raw down the road). But I’ll keep reading and taking baby steps. Another reason why I’m so thankful for this forum.

The NVI Rabbit uses chicken fat as a preservative and it’s 4th on the ingredient list. So NVI Rabbit is not 100% chicken-free, but it’s fat instead of meat. I don’t know if that changes anything. In other words, can I still rule out “chicken intolerance” – or could that small amount of chicken fat still cause a chicken intolerance? I really hope his system just needs more time to heal, as Pattyvaughn sugggested. It’s just that I’ve never had a dog who didn’t have worms or diarrrhea at some point – and it has always been remedied quickly. So I keep worrying that it’s something more serious.

I’ve read on threads where people go back to grain-inclusive and the stools get better. Why is that? I thought grains were not good for a dog. The reason I went grain-free is because I thought it would be healthier and the food would be less likely to trigger an allergy.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by kms.

[mfulton7]

kms- sorry for cutting in here. My opinion is that your dog hasn’t been on the new food long enough. If a dog food isn’t working for your dog it takes a few weeks to figure it out. My vet recommends at least 6 weeks, I can usually tell if it is working by 4 weeks with my dogs. That being said my dogs have been on quite a few different types of food. Most recently we had brought a dobie home and she hadn’t had firm stools. We tried 2 different foods with her and she still had runny stools. Now she’s been on the new food EB meadowfeast for 3 wks and her stools have finally started to firm up. In my opinion you need to wait it out a little longer. If you really want I’d have the stool tested but if it comes up neg then stick with the food a little longer at least 4 weeks. I hope this helps!

[theBCnut]

Chicken fat should not be a problem. The way they render to get the fat seperated should leave just pure fat, no protein. Grains are a problem for some dogs, but others handle them just fine. Usually the problem is in how much grains are in something, not the fact that it’s grains. With gut issues, the problem is that grains can be inflamatory, so if the gut is already inflamed, you don’t want to make things worse by feeding something inflamatory. All you can do is keep trying different things until something works, and if that thing is grains, good, at least you found what works.

[kms]

mfulton7 –

Thanks. I appreciate your feedback very much and need all the help I can get. I hope “more time” is what it comes down to – that would be a huge relief. I think I’ve read so many threads where people said they noticed a change in stool fairly quickly, that I assumed this was another dead end. It has only been 6 days since he has been on NVI Rabbit @ 100% (plus I changed the protein source), so maybe he just needs more time to adapt to the food and for his gut to heal. I will rule out parasites again while I’m waiting.

All –

When first starting out on perfect Form, does the stool get worse before it gets better? I gave him PF twice per day for the last 2 days and his stool got progressively softer. Last night, it was even to the point of runny – like a thick tomato juice. This morning, it was half formed and half soft again. I’m just wondering if this is normal or if there is something in it that doesn’t agree with him.

[theBCnut]

Hmmm… This is a really tough one. I wonder if he can’t handle fiber and needs to go off of the pumpkin and perfect form altogether. I guess if it were me I would keep him on the prefect form until the vet appointment, and if the vet doesn’t find anything in his stool, I would take him off everything but the food for a bit and see what happens. It is true that it can take longer for things to work all the way out, but in my experience you should be seeing some changes by now.

[kms]

So do you mean stay on double doses of Probiotics, regular doses of Digestive Enzymes and Perfect Form till vet appt – and then, if stool is clear, discontinue all of it or just the PF and pumpkin? Just want to make sure I don’t misunderstand.

A was thinking yesterday… could the twice per day double dose of Probiotics for 2 1/2 weeks be too much for him? I could back it down to a double dose once per day (that’s actually what the jar calls a “theraputic dose”). I called Mercola and asked if that could cause loose stool. She said that you really can’t give too much of Probiotics, but some dogs will end up with loose stool if they have too much of a build up in their system. Probably grasping at straws here…

[theBCnut]

If the vet finds nothing, stop everything except the food for a few days and see if that helps. In a perfect world, you can’t give too many probiotics, however the probiotics have other things in them besides just probiotics. If he is sensitive to the other stuff in probiotics, or digestive enzymes, then taking him off of them for a few days should help. It may do nothing at all, but then you would know that they aren’t contributing to the problem. I would take him down to the normal dose of probiotics now anyway. By now he has got to have what his system can support in his system. Right now, I feel like straws is all we have to grasp at. Basically, this has been going on long enough that I feel like if you can think of something different to try, try it, just wait until after the next fecal check.

[Emastiff]

Question for Hound Dog Mom.

What do you think of feeding an English Mastiff puppy Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw Frozen food. We are looking to blend a kibble and a more convent pre made raw food. The dry kibble will be Nature’s Variety Instinct Rabbit
Would love some thoughts.

[theBCnut]

HDM doesn’t come here very often. She is busy with school and other projects.

Here is her list of foods that are OK.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?srcid=0BwApI_dhlbnFTXhUdi1KazFzSUk&pid=explorer&efh=false&a=v

NVI raw is not one of them. The end of the list is the raw foods that made the list.

[Duke The Boxer]

hey Patty, Duke is not 7 months and 51 pounds! So excited. I started to notiece some weird patches and i took him to the vent and it turned up to be demodetic mange or demodex. After he went on the medicine for the mange thats when he gained the 8 pounds in 3 1/2 weeks. But recently sometimes in the mornings he will throw up some or all of his food. It is not everyday or even every other day so thats why its confusing me.
Any thoughts? He is transitioning into wellness core puppy which he had been on before and never had these problems. Could it be food related?

[theBCnut]

He might be eating too fast or gulping air. Is it real soon after he eats? One of mine used to do that in the morning. I always figured that his tummy was so empty that he was inhaling his food. I started giving him just a handful of his food, then a bit later a little more, and then the rest of it. He stopped vomitting. I eventually started just pouring his kibble all over the bottom of his crate to make him eat slower. I also started saving a small amount of his evening meal to give right at bed time so he wasn’t going as long before getting more food in his stomach.

[Duke The Boxer]

Hmm i definitey think that could be the issue. At night i usually watch him eat and make him slow down and swallow his food every little bit. In the morning my mother feeds him early and she doesnt watch him and if hes not watched Duke will devour the food within 5 minutes

[theBCnut]

Have her feed him in a muffin tin.

[sharfie]

Does any one know about the calcium levels in canned food? Would one be able to calculate using the same method as for the dry and raw? Also, is the canned food usually “all life stages” and appropriate for a puppy? Sorry if this has been asked and answered already.

[kms]

Duke the Boxer –

I got this for Augie and it has slowed down his eating significantly. He used to wolf down 1.5 cups of food in less than a minute. Now it takes him a good 8-10 minutes. It’s harder to clean than a regular stainless steel bowl, but well worth it. In case the link below doesn’t work, it’s called the “Pet SkidStop Slow Feed Pet Bowl” – found it on Amazon.

[Author]

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