[Karen D]

Hi all, new here so here goes, Pnut is 13 yrs 8 months old, Cocker spaniel. She has eaten Newmans Own dry & canned most of her life. After a bout with bloody diarrhea & trips to vet for Sulfa pills & Flagyl I decided to try a better dry food & after many days of searching online I decided on Honest Kitchen Keen, this was in August. I went through (2) 4 # boxes, Pnut loved it mixed in gradually with her canned Newmans Own Turkey & Rice…..so I decided since all was well to order the 10# box of Keen, everything was fine. The end of October I ordered another 10# box but before I could open it Pnut developed diarrhea again, tho no blood, after 4 days I took her to Vet who questioned her food. A few days of Metronidazole & no Honest Kitchen & she was fine again. Well after 10 days of good poops I mixed 1/4 cup HK with water & added it to a can of Newmans, 2 days later the diarrhea started again. Anyone know why? I thought HK was one of the best, now I’m stuck with 12 #s of it. TIA

[anonymously]

What does your vet say? It is not about what is the best food at this stage of his life. It is about what agrees with him. I am thinking that some of the high quality foods may be a little too rich (fatty, greasy, high protein) for him.

Maybe a bland, boiled chicken and rice diet would be better. Consider consulting a veterinary internal medicine specialist, otherwise, keep the diet simple, nothing fancy.

PS: See if you have the option of getting a refund for anything unopened.

[Karen D]

The vet said “what are you feeding her” I said Newmans Own Canned Turkey with Brown Rice & Honest Kitchen Keen, she said well you could try the prescription allergy food but then she can’t have anything else, no treats, nothing. I decided against that due to her age & quality of life issues. So I used the elimination method & it is definitely the Honest Kitchen food. The soft poops stopped after stopping the HK. Was just wondering if anyone else had the problem with that food cause everyone online raves & praises it for helping with digestive issues. I stupidly opened the 10# box, wish I could donate it to someplace???
It’s not cheap to just toss in trash.

[aimee]

Hi Karen,

I tried the premix Preference and got lots of poop and the pieces of food came out as it went it in. The store that I purchased it from took it back. As you said it is too expensive to just toss… see if you can return it.

[Karen D]

Hi Aimee, thanks I was beginning to think my dog was the only one…I bought if from Amazon & it says not returnable. I will email The Honest Kitchen & ask them, can’t hurt to ask, right?

[anonymously]

Call your local shelter, maybe they can mix it with the cheap stuff and the dogs will be able to tolerate it.
You may be able to consider it a donation.

PS: My senior likes Newman’s Organic beef and liver canned, mixed with watered down dry food. If I give him only canned, he gets runny stools.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by anonymously.

[Karen D]

The HK told me to call Amazon……she also said they have never heard of Keen causing diarrhea as it is one of their milder foods.
I will seek out the shelter or ask on Craigs List if anyone is feeding HK & wants it….starving dogs out there & I can’t stand the thought of tossing it. Thanks

[DogFoodie]

It’s quite possible that he has an intolerance in an ingredient in the Keen. Keep in mind, it’s not just beef, chicken or grain to which dogs can be sensitive. It could be the chicken, grain, flax, cabbage, the soluble fiber, and so on. One of the things that my dog with food sensitivities cannot have at all is flax – it causes loose stool just like your dog has now. Just because your dog reacts to it, doesn’t mean it’s not a good product. Has there been a recent reformulation of the product? Figuring out food sensitivities takes a lot of trial and error. Strict elimination is the only way to do it. One ingredient at a time.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Karen D-
My dogs did not care for it much and they did not digest the veggies very well either. Fortunately, I bought it at Chewy.com who gave me a credit for the box and then I gave it to one of my co-workers. I also learned the hard way that it is best to order from a company that makes it easy to return something if it doesn’t work out. I’ve had good luck with Chewy, Petco and Petsmart.

Like DogFoodie mentioned, it could be anything in the food causing trouble and you may have to do an elimination diet to find the culprit.

Good luck!

[Karen D]

Thanks to all who replied, Amazon is refunding me the price of the food. I will now seek out a shelter to give it to. I did notice when she ate more of the HK than Newmans as I was trying to wean her to just HK that she had to poop a lot more times & although the first 3 months they were normal I did notice undigested carrots. Well, so much for that, will be staying with the Newmans canned. You all are so knowledgeable & helpful, thanks again 😉

[anonymously]

Glad you were able to get a refund. However, it is not unusual to see undigested carrot pieces in dog feces. One of my dogs had weight issues, she loved to eat, so I would give her a raw carrot as a snack midday. They were bright orange and appeared undigested in her bms…the good news is that they otherwise agreed with her and were low in calories.

[C4D]

Hi Karen,

I do feed THK in various formulas and my dogs do love it and I’ve had no problems with stools with the exception of some larger pieces of sweet potatoes in one of the formulas unless I grind it before rehydrating. So sorry your pup didn’t do well on it.

It could be simply too wet a mixture for her, but it sounds like she might have developed an intolerance to something in the food. I have a senior that ate a particular protein with no issues and then, a couple of years ago developed a reaction whenever she had it. Sometimes it takes a bit of time for the body to increase the reaction. As DogFoodie said, it doesn’t make it a bad food, it just doesn’t seem to be working for your dog.

Anyway, glad to hear that it worked out well for you! Keep that sweet senior happy and healthy! 🙂

[Karen D]

Just wanted everyone to know i didn’t mean to imply that The Honest Kitchen food was in any way a bad thing, in fact we love the Pecks & Nuzzles & I bought the fish skins too but gave them to a friend cause I thought that was what causing her runny poop. Today I ordered their herbal digestive Perfect Form in hopes it will work to firm up her stool. Keeping fingers crossed XXXX

[Jenn H]

Doesn’t sound like you were implying THK wasn’t good. Sounds it just isn’t good for your dog.
Have you asked THK if they have made any changes to the formula or suppliers. Sometimes the most minor changes can be a big deal to some dogs.

Have you tried giving your dog pure pumpkin when they have diarrhea and when changing foods? Goat milk (raw if you can get it or THK has some) or some kind of probiotics also works well for runny butts.

[Karen D]

Update on Peanut, I bought a canister of The Honest Kitchen Perfect Form, it came yesterday & I gave her 1/2 teaspoon in her food as I didn’t see the part about mixing it with water to form a gel, she ate it all anyway. This morning the same & also “borrowed’ some Natural Balance Duck & Potato dry from my neighbor…..I mixed a little of the kibble into her canned Newmans Turkey & Chicken……Poops are OUTSTANDING, haha has been a long time since she has done such small firm ones. I don’t want to try giving her Keen again, why tempt fate, right? My question to the forum is this……what dry food do you recommend for a 13.8 yr. old 30 # dog… she isn’t itchy & ears are fine, the only thing wrong with her is she has gone deaf & she has those subcutaneous cysts pop up that I get removed when bothersome. Thanks
Karen

[Pitlove]

If it’s within your budget have a look at Orijen Senior. Chewy.com offers the frequent buyer program for Orijen even though its not advertised on their site and you get free shipping at 49$, plus they have excellent customer service as others mentioned.

[Karen D]

Thank you so much Pitlove, I bought a sample of the Orijen Senior & Peanut adores it, poops are getting better too, so ordered a 15# bag from Vetinternet. I spoke to soon about the Honest Kitchen Perfect Form, it worked the first 3 times then back to mushy poop. I am mixing the Orijen with her canned Newmans at present & probably will continue as I have several cases stockpiled…..is that ok to do?

• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by Karen D.

[Susan]

Hi sounds like Peanut has food intolerances /sensitivities, I started my boy on the Wellness Fish & Sweet Potato kibble, he was doing really well, I slowly introduced the new Wellness with his old kibble then about 5-6weeks he started having gas bad wind pain & doing sloppy poos, I emailed Wellness & they said food sensitivities can take 1 day to 6 weeks to have a reaction, I have written down all the ingredients in the Wellness Fish & Sweet potato & avoid any other kibbles with those ingredients now he’s eating Fish & Rice no other ingredients & doing nice firm poos again…..there’s an ingredient in the Honest Kitchen that Peanut is sensitive tooo also what is the fat % ?? maybe the fat is too high, have a look at the ingredients to the “Zeal” & see if the ingredients are different to the other Honest Kitchen formulas you have tried & look at the fat %
http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/dog-food/zeal

[Jenn H]

Glad you found something that stress with your dog. Orijen is great.
It should be OK to mix the canned with the new food if it agrees with his belly and you figure out the fat, protein, etc of mixing both so he doesn’t get too much of this or that.
Another option would be to donate the cans to a shelter. I’m sure they’d appreciate it.

[Karen D]

How do I figure out the fat, protein etc……the Orijen package says 38% protein min. & Newmans Canned Turkey & Chicken says 8% min. Fat 15% vs 5.5%???I’m lost.

[Karen D]

I used the online calc I found posted on this site….this is the result & thanks to the poster.
Orijen vs Newmans
42% Protein vs 36.6%
16% Fat vs 25%…..Newmans surprised me
8.8 % Fiber vs 4.5 %

[Jenn H]

Using formulas like the one Karen D suggested is very helpful.
You just need to find out what is required for your dog’s specific needs like breed, age/life stage, size, etc
I mix & match my dogs’ foods all the time. And because I have a large breed puppy I have to be very careful about making sure I stay within certain guidelines most importantly calcium & phosphorus, protein, fat.
Because dog food companies typically only put minimum amts in guaranteed analysis I find myself having to contact the companies for their maximum levels.
So you may have to do a little leg work.
When I have the percentages I need I subtract the lower amounts from the higher amounts of the different foods to be sure I’m within the percentages.

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