[Karen D]

I have a Shih Tzu and a Lhasa Apso. Both are having very loose bowel problems. I don’t know what else could be causing it but food. They get Blue Buffalo dry food, mixed with a small amount of Little Caesars. Any ideas on a food I can change them to? Thanks

[pugmomsandy]

I’ve used Nutrisource grain free lamb and Zignature lamb on my fosters and they consistently have formed stool.

[Susan]

Hi Karen, my boy has IBD, after 1 year of being just on the vet prescription diet & trying a few different brands along the way, about 3months ago, I found “Wellness Simple” Limited ingredients Lamb & Oatmeal so far his poos are good, no smell & nice & firm…its best to start with an limited ingredient kibble I found, that way there’s less ingredients to irratate their bowel, also Ive found a lower protein (21%-24%) & lower fat around (10-12%) helped with Patch…maybe stop mixing in the Little caesers, I’d give it separate that way u’ll no if its the Little Caesers causing the problem, maybe do the little Caesars for breakfast & the kibble at night then u’ll see the difference in poos & which food is causing it…well thats what I do, when I want to try a new food I feed it at breakfast & do his kibble that agrees with him for dinner.. here’s a link to have a look at the Wellness range they have Toy breed, Small Breed, Core, Simple & Complete health….you could always start with the Wellness Simple then if they are doing real well change to the small breed that has a few more ingredients..
http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/recipes.aspx?pet=dog&ft=1#Complete

[InkedMarie]

Hi Karen,
It’s great or add canned but Little Cesar is not a good food. In the search above, search for recommended canned foods to try. I don’t think many of us care for Blue; how long have you been feeding it? How long have you been adding the canned? I agree with Sandy about NutriSource. Be careful not to over feed; that can cause loose stool. Have you tried probiotics?

[Karen D]

Thank you, all of you. Some good suggestions. They have been getting the Caesars for about 2 years. The Blue, maybe 6 mos? I mostly use the caesars for flavoring. They both have me under their little spoiled paws! They don’t like just dry dog food, and I know it’s my fault for giving in to them! But enough is enough!

[Naturella]

Karen, it is not bad at all to add wet food to dry – it helps moisten it, which helps with digestion and the constant state of mild dehydration that dry food causes. Just try to switch around both dry and wet food brands until you find a combo that works for them. Also, adding just warm water to kibble and letting it sit for a few minutes should help too.

Some quality and affordable brands with small kibble are Victor, Earthborn Holistic Grain Free, NutriSource (in some areas it is affordable, in others – not so much), Wysong, and my boy did well on Blue Buffalo Wilderness, he managed Dr. Tim’s kibble size (a bit on the medium size), and has done great on the above brands both food-wise and kibble size-wise. Also, Holistic Health Extension he has done well on and with. For wet I use The Honest Kitchen dehydrated and I just add water to it and the kibble, let it sit a bit, then serve.

Good luck and let us know if you have any more questions!

[Dori]

Hi Naturella. Thinking of you and Bruno. How’s his digestion issues. I hope he’s back to being your happy, healthy, playful little guy.

[Karen D]

Need to make a trip to Petco I guess! I have always (except for the caesars) kept them on a good brand of dog food, no by-products, I have heard horror stories about that. Will look at the nutrisource and wellness. I would like to be able to feed them the same brand in canned and dry. Also will try suggestion on giving new food in morning. Hope I can post good news in a few weeks!

[Naturella]

Dori, hi! Thank you for thinking of us!

Well, Bruno is okay now, but remember when I had said I was just going to toss out the NVI Rabbit… Well, I didn’t – I wanted to see if it really was the food that made him sick last time or something else… So I got a canned version of it and slowly introduced it at the end of his “mush” with some pumpkin and Perfect Form, and then I added kibble, and all was well until 3 days in or so (just like last time) when he started vomiting again (last night) and his stool started getting soft and getting dangerously close to jelly. Poor guy was so miserable and scared, and I now know it was the food. And that’s better than not knowing. I wonder if it’s the protein (rabbit, although he’s had a rabbit neck before) or the brand as a whole, so maybe one day (in the DISTANT, DISTANT future) I will try it again (another flavor), but until then, it is out of his stash. Protein level is 33%, and he has had Earthborn Holistic at 38%, so it shouldn’t be that, right? Fat in NVI is 20%, and in Earthborn as well.

Anyway, he is back on chicken, rice, and pumpkin mush with Perfect Form (vomiting is gone and stool is good again, puppy is playful) and in 2 days I will begin introducing the next food in line – he’s had it before and done well on it – Holistic Health Extension Grain Free. So we’ll do that and hope he will be fine on it.

[Susan]

Hi Naturella, that’s high 20% fat for rabbit, are most of the different brand kibbles he eats around 20% in fat?? maybe with some different brand kibbles or foods he can tolarate higher crude fats cause they are a different protein but with NVI he cant tolarate what crude fats they are using as much, cause what Ive read about Bruno he seems to be able to tolarate alot of different foods, so I just wonder what crude fat they are adding awell, rabbit is lower in fat, lower then beef, lamb turkey & chicken, maybe there’s another protein in this kibble making the crude fat go up to 20%, have a look at the other proteins in this kibble & write them down & see when he eats a different kibble are these other proteins in that different kibble & is he’s OK…or there’s an ingredient thats not agreeing with him…I like his name Bruno, my mum is Polish & her brother name was Bruno…

[Naturella]

Sue, the rabbit kibble has other ingredients he has had before… It is pretty heavy on canola oil, but so was Earthborn Coastal Catch and he did fine on it… So far rabbit is the unique thing, maybe he just can’t take it in large doses, I guess…

And thank you! My husband came up with the name, after his granddad’s dog Brutus – a Doberman. 🙂

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