Stool sample negative, advice on what to do about food?
Do I try Adult dog food? Do I change the brand? Do I try Lamb? The Vets advice, thru the receptionist, was to come up there and buy W4, which is a bland diet they sell. Has anyone else been thru this? Any advice? I am worried her anal gland will not be expelling correctly. Dont want problems there! The groomer has commented that it is full when she goes to her.. 
Thanks guys! |
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I am having the same problem with Izzie. Poop soft, but not quite diarrhea. Going on for weeks. The vet says stool is normal, but and I quote "we noticed it was very soft"...really...that is why I brought it in  . She is almost 2 and therefore already on adult food. Her energy level is normal and nothing else seems out of the ordinary.  |
| I wouldn't use a large breed food first of all, and I would try a food with less filler. (no corn or wheat, rice is better but look for something with the first 5 ingredients being meat based) |
Well what do we do Amanda?? I really do not hink "Bland Diet" sounds very good! Like for her to enjoy her food 
And I am not interested at all in making homemade meals for her.... Anybody have suggestions for us? |
| ccnwater, I would also stop adding the beef for now. It will be easier to see what the problem is with less foods to rule out... |
| It might be the amount of food as well... If I feed mine more their stools get loose. Just a thought, especially since the first poop of the day is solid. |
WizardMerlin wrote: It might be the amount of food as well... If I feed mine more their stools get loose. Just a thought, especially since the first poop of the day is solid.
I hadn't even thought of that! LOL That's absolutely correct, how much are you feeding? How much does the dog weigh and how tall is she? |
| Izzie weighs about 65 lbs.
I don't know her height. She gets 1 cup of food first thing and then another 1/2 cup about 10 minutes after she finishes...same routine at night. |
| She is 50pds, her height, if I am measuring right, is about 20 inches. From the top of her back to the bottom of her front paw. I feed her 1-1/2 cup in the morning and I feed her 1-1/2 cup in the evening. She never begs for more and seems to be full. She does get a few treats during the day, but same brands I have always given her. I can also feel her ribs, so she is not at all chunky!
So what brand foods would you recommend that are less fillers? I was told by a friend to try Wellness, which a local pet store sells around here. I am open to trying a different brand. |
| Izzie was on Pro Plan Sensitve Skin & Stomach...we are considering moving her to Solid Gold. |
| This was Bingley. We're currently switching to a raw food diet - BARF if you look it up online. He's only been on it about a week and a half and so far we've noticed improvement, although it will take about 2 months to completely tell. Before we switched him to raw we tried Flint River Ranch and we liked it alot, although it didn't work for him. There are a lot of good dog foods out there, I like the ones that are as organic and unprocessed as possible, one reason I liked Flint River. Good luck in your decision - I know every dog does differently on a different food. |
| We've used the bland diet the vet offers before and it's always gotten ours back on track.
You might consider Purina ProPlan for Sensitive Skin and Stomachs. Five of mine have been on it for several months and all are doing well. We haven't had loose poops in a long time. Jaci PS- The sixth one has a been on a prescription diet... she was just switched over to a different one, z/d ultra, to rule out food allergies. |
| I'm actually finding my dogs stools are not as firm on Pro Plan...
I'm really not happy with it actually, but it's not a good time to switch so we're stuck with it for now. |
| So does everyone agree, that the true reason to have firm stools is to keep the anal gland popped?? Is there really any other reason?
Wher can you purchase Purina proplan? Pet stores? Or is it grocery stores? |
| Hi Amanda! Be careful with the Solid Gold. That was one of the first foods we switched Oscar to when he had continuous soft stool, gurgling tummy, etc. I think it was called Wolf Cub? Anyway, his stool never improved, (it actually got worse) as the food was too rich for his tummy.
ccnwater, unfortunately this is such trial and error. Is softer stool her only symptom of digestive issues? If Allie's soft stool is caused by a sensitivity or food allergy to a particular ingredient, it can be very difficult to pin down. You might want to try a food that limits things she's been exposed to, as well as artificial ingredients or fillers. Currently, Oscar is doing well on Natural Balance Venison and Brown Rice. Also, the only way to truly narrow things is to give her just food for a few weeks, no treats, no table food, nothing. I had been giving Oscar raw apples, pears, carrots, etc., and my vet told me that they are very hard for a dog to digest, so I had to stop that, in addition to the treats. Now Oscar gets only kibble, even for his treats, and his stool has been solid since September (fingers crossed......). |
| We still have Edgar on Flint River and have not had any problems. We love it!! I do think that mostly it is just trial and error for finding the right food for your dog. Being in that every dog is different in what their bodies like. |
| We have only used Royal Canin with Chauncey. We started with lg. breed puppy and transitioned to the adult formula. We have never had GI problems with this. It has very little filler, in fact I'm surprised how small his stools are. The problem with this diet is you can't just pick it up at the local grocery, however most of the better or larger pet stores have it.
He tolerates most treats, but rarely wants one. This has made training more difficult. Kathy |
We get ProPlan from a local pet supply store but I agree with Oscar's Mom... there is no one food that will always be good for all dogs. I had called Purina to see what food they would recommend that might be good for a whole pack and they had recommended this one. Mine did not do well on Solid Gold either... we went through several brands of dog food before we found one that agreed with the whole pack. We also supplement their basic diet with fruits, vegetables, cooked meats and other foods BUT if your dog has soft stools you should probably consider what your vet's saying about a bland diet to get your dog back on track. Once things are "going good"  you can gradually try introducing a new food. If your dog doesn't do well, try a different one.
As for anal glands, we found that once ours were on the right food for them we didn't have many problems with unexpected release. Some dogs do need to have glands manually expressed once a month to keep them healthy no matter what food they're on, others don't. I think it's simply the make up of the individual dog. Jaci |
Willowsprite wrote: I'm actually finding my dogs stools are not as firm on Pro Plan...
I'm really not happy with it actually, but it's not a good time to switch so we're stuck with it for now. My dogs are on ProPlan Sensitive and I am THRILLED with it. No loose stool. Avalon gets 2 cups in the am and 1 1/2 cups in the pm, Merlin and Faith get 1 1/4 cups in the am and same for pm. As for treats,they only get 1 to 3 cookies per day..they are the Mother Nature puppy cookies. And other than the occasional piece of cheese. NO people food. |
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