[malinda r]

Hi, I have a dog with sensitive stomach, 40lb, 8 years old. He’s had the issues since I got him at 2 years old but he’s greatly improved with some trial and error.
I don’t think he’s vomited in 2 years which is incredible compared to the first year I had him!

We feed Carna4 chicken for kibble, it’s baked rather than extruded, made in Canada. In the am we give Stella & Chewys raw dehydrated patties with a little kibble, in the evening we give health extension canned turkey with kibble. Although lately the canned has changed formula, not so great.
But anyway I would suggest using some freeze dried raw with the kibble, it’s rehydrated with a little water.
We feed cooked ground turkey anytime he has loose stools, and lay off the kibble. That seems to have solve some of his issues.
Some days we feed primal raw frozen nuggets, or Evermore frozen lightly cooked, delivery service dog food.
It’s funny because it’s well known that you shouldn’t just throw a new food at a dog, because that alone could make the dog sick. But there are some high quality foods that we feed once or twice a week and there’s no adjustment period.
We limit water and high energy play for 30 minutes after eating, I started realizing my dog wasn’t digesting his food well, based on vomit and diarrhea I’d see when he was sick. So I try to let his stomach do it’s work without the added stress of play or excessive water. ( my dogs an ocd water drinker!)

[malinda r]

i have been looking at pinto valley, their food does contain barley, alfalfa, etc, but not the usual peas/pea proteins:
Fresh deboned chicken, Chicken meal, Ground brown rice, Oatmeal, Ground dehulled barley, Ground whole flaxseed, Dehydrated alfalfa meal, Chicken fat (naturally preserved with Mixed tocopherols and Citric acid), Calcium carbonate, Natural flavor, Sea salt, Potassium chloride, Zinc proteinate, Iron proteinate, Dried Bacillus coagulans fermentation product, Vitamin E supplement, Beta-carotene, Inulin, Copper proteinate, Monosodium phosphate, Spinach, Manganese proteinate, Apples, Bananas, Blueberries, Broccoli, Cranberries, Dried kelp, Sweet potatoes, Niacin supplement, d-Calcium pantothenate, Vitamin A acetate, Riboflavin supplement, Calcium iodate, Vitamin B12 supplement, Thiamine mononitrate, Pyridoxine hydrochloride, Vitamin D3 supplement, Sodium selenite, Folic acid, Rosemary extract.

i currently feed stella & chewys freeze dried topper/patties…this adds a good amount of protein that does not contain legumes. i mix with a kibble, and like fromms, carna4. i have been using health extension canned at night. their small serving cans do not contain BPA, and low legume products in this as well.

[malinda r]

my dog has a sensitive stomach, and I feel this might be due to extensive antibiotics and fast kill heartworm method. when I adopted him he had advanced heartworm…and the year following treatment he had stomach issues that seemed to meet the criteria for colitis.
3 years later and he is doing very well, occasional flare ups that usually coincide with medication/vaccinations and sometimes just stress. (the 4th of july for instance!!)
he has done well on fromm, he liked pork and applesauce…he does well on Carna4 chicken, Stella&chewys chicken, health extension lamb canned. I have noticed when his diarrhea starts if I limit dry food and use more toppers, freeze dried, canned, and home cooked foods he usually returns to normal within a day or two. kibble is convenient but seems hard for our dog to digest when his stomach is distressed.

i noticed he did poorly on foods higher in beet, chicory root, exotic meats.

[malinda r]

https://breedsy.com/dog-food-without-peas-lentils-legumes-potatoes/

The link above mentions some good foods without peas/legumes. Victor, Sport Dog Food and Farmina seem to have a decent reputation. I read that Sport Dog Food is a favorite among working/sporting dogs, so may be rich for a lower key dog. I am curious about several of these and will be looking at their ingredient list to see what they got.

In the end they may find a different factor as a probable cause, instead of peas/legumes….so I am not going to be too extreme in my choices. Feed a decent food that is low or absent for peas/legumes, don’t feed the same food all the time, use some toppers, give some wholesome human grade food once or twice a week.

[malinda r]

I have a dog that has had frequent issues with recurring diarrhea, vomiting, mucus stools, etc. I would just say after that long bout of diarrhea a lot of foods will be irritating right now, even the foods that normally she might do really well on. I can’t tell exactly from your post if you did the ground meat or how long, but it is good to do the ground meat diet 2-3 days and then slowly introduce some other foods.
After feeding my dog ground turkey a couple of days his diarrhea disappears and his bowels are much smaller and less frequent. When I then start to add other foods, it is easy to see if they are agreeable or not if he has reaction, like loose bowel or rumbling/gurgling stomach.

I have had great results for my sensitive dog with Stella&Chewys, health extension cans of wet, Carna4 dry. I also order cooked food from Evermore. If you have to feed a dry due to work/schedule, check out Carna4, it is pretty incredible. I first start feeding it a few months ago, changing nothing else in my dogs diet. As he has transitioned to it fully, his BM is so much smaller and compact, which from what I read is considered healthy.

Try to be as preventative as possible. If I notice a loose bowel or lots of trips outside I immediately start feeding ground meat, before the dog gets to a stage of vomiting with the diarrhea. It seems like at a certain point a vet trip is unavoidable, so I try to not let him get to that stage. My dog had several vet trips with antibiotics the first year to second year I had him, and the antibiotics are not helpful long term. Since I have starting watching more closely and acting quickly he has done so well. I think he has vomited1-2 times in the past 3 years, which is amazing considering how frequent it was the first year I had him.

My dog also has a reaction to his heartworm med, which is monthly for him, something for you to think about. You might record when he gets different meds for what and see if there is any physical effects for the couple of days following.

[malinda r]

Our dog is a 5 year old mix who had frequent loose stools that in the past led to more severe diarrhea and then late stage vomiting.

When I first adopted him 4 years ago this happened twice in six months, where he had to go to the vet for an injection to stop the vomiting, and then antibiotics. Over time I realized the kibbles seemed to be hardest on him, and also after some reading felt like he might have colitis.

In the past three years he has not had to visit the vet for illness, or take antibiotics. He does still get occasional diarrhea, but I treat it very quickly/early and it seems to halt the course of being more severely sick.

His diet:

In the am I do a little kibble and a lot of topper, kibbles I purchase are Stella and Chewy raw baked, Fromm pork and applesauce. I use the Stella and Chewy topper. I have tried some others, such as Nature’s Instinct, but it didn’t agree with him.

In the evening I give him canned with a little kibble on top. Currently we are using Health Extension lamb, but he has done well with their turkey also. So overall, not too much kibble.

I add in a probiotic from Mercola at times, herbal digestive supplement from the honest kitchen sometimes, a couple squirts of ultra oil for pets. I have purchased all this from chewy online. I try to not give these things every day, and let his body have a chance to do its own work, but when he seems a little off I add supplements to his food.

When his stool is looser, more frequent I start feeding cooked ground turkey or boiled chicken breasts. I may add in a sweet potato or some plain oatmeal. Usually if I do that for two days and then gradually add topper to the turkey and then topper and kibble to the turkey he is good by day 4 or 5.

When sick they need the antibiotics of course, but over time the antibiotics are so hard on their natural gut flora, so better to catch issues early and treat with the probiotics and other supplements before things get to a point where vet assistance is needed.

I have found when looking at food labels that foods with chicory and also beef flavors are hard on my dog. Also the monthly heartworm has caused some severe diarrhea as well!

It is really rough trying to monitor, theres me or my husband at 3am with a flashlight letting the dog out and then checking out his stool. haha. But monitoring and treating fast has been the best preventative for our dog, it seemed like once he got to a certain stage of sick no home treatment helped.

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