I/D and water
 . She has now switched to I/D food from the vet and everything looks nice and stiff  but she is constantly drinking water.The vet doesn't seem concerned with my 2 concerns. 1. It is not a large breed puppy food and she is only 8 months old 2. her water intake has at least doubled. has anyone else seen this? |
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Hmmmmmmm.  Any other symptoms, or anything else amiss? A few thoughts. Has the weather been hot in your area? Does the new food have a higher salt content? It might be that simple. However, increased thirst can be an indicator of an underlying issue, like a UTI, or hyperthyroidism, so you were right to mention it to the vet. If it persists, or you start to notice other symptoms, I would keep after the vet on this issue. (Love the name Chowder!) Laurie and Oscar |
| Thank you! We are sitting here right now looking at the ingredients, it seems to be a mix of "junk" thrown together. Although it has fixed our problem I'm not nervous we are feeding her bad food. O the woes. |
| The I/D food formulas are not meant as a life long food. At least I don't think they are. The excessaive thirst can be a symptom of something but it can also be due to the salt in the food. And if its dry, dogs will drink more than when eating wet food. We have done very well on a food called Orijen. Its dry food but has good ingredients and never recalled, Difficult for me to get here in NY and it is expensive but my once loose pooping dogs are not doing well and poops are fine. If you do change foods, just remember to do so super slowly. I swear I spend more time reading my dog food labels than for my own human food  |
| We've gone through severe digestive issues with Oscar since he came home with us when he was 10 weeks old. Oscar has underlying medical issues though (Immune Mediated Disease) which were only diagnosed (at 10 months old) after multiple tests, and food switches. Finally, an endoscopy revealed that he has Lymphocytic Plasmacytic Inflammatory Bowel Disease, as a result of his crappy immune system. With Chowder though, you're more likely dealing with a food intolerance issue. With Oscar, we would slowly switch from one main protein source to another by reducing the current food by a few kibbles, and adding the new food. We would progress to 1/4 c, then 1/2 c, etc., veeeeerrrryyyyy slowly, until the new food was the primary source. It would literally take at least two weeks to switch, and then my vets wanted him on the new food for at least 6 - 8 weeks before deciding if it was working or not. (Apparently, if a pup's digestive system is severely inflamed from a food intolerance, it can take that long to calm down, even if the new food is better for them.) We looked for foods that have a single protein source, and no corn or wheat products, like fish and potato, or lamb and rice. By doing this, we discovered that Oscar cannot tolerate beef, bison, lamb, chicken, or fish, and we also avoid corn, wheat and soy. Finally, we found that he seems to do the best on venison and rice. We tried all of the different venison products (Blue, Wellness, Natural Balance, etc.) and we found that Nature's Recipe works the best for him. (I think the others are of higher quality, but as Oscar has solid stool with the NR, and no tummy rumblings, I'll take the junk food!) If you are going to try a food elimination, remember that treats and table food are a no-no, unless the treats contain the protein source you're trying. (To err on the side of caution, I would just use Oscar's current kibble as his treat, and that way there was no confusion as to what he was eating when it came time to evaluate his digestion.) Trial and error seems to be the only way to figure out what foods will work for each dog. You also asked about the large breed foods as opposed to regular foods. Some folks swear by them, and some folks never use them. As you can imagine, Oscar never ate the large breed formulas, and he has no joint or skeletal issues at all, not even arthritis, at 6 years old. (We did x-ray his hips and spine when he was five, and the vet said that he is not seeing any of the normal degeneration he would expect in a dog his age.) Oscar is a big boy, at 113 lbs., but he spent most of his first year underweight as a result of his food passing right through him. Personally, I think having solid stool and no tummy rumbles is more important than the possible gains of using a large breed formula. Last but not least, don't rule out canned food as an option. In my extensive hunt for the right food, I discovered that a kibble can claim to be a single source protein, but can still include other animal sources of "fat" or "digest". (Trust me, you don't even want to know what these things are.....) I have found that canned foods tend to truly have a single source of protein. After Oscar had a nasty bout of pancreatitis, we started him back on the canned version of his kibble, with the intention of switching over, but he did so well on the canned that he still eats it to this day. (He gets the kibble as a treat.) I hope some of this is helpful. Keep us posted on how Chowder is doing. Laurie and Oscar, the Digestively Challanged |
| Laurie Your advice is always so good! I just wanted to add that we had a foster dog that had severe bloody diarrhea. (We had her before going to her new home and all stools were normal) The family that brought her back said she would not eat the I/d After about 6 weeks of ONLY I/d and her meds she cleared up and is on our regular brand! I like you wasn't thrilled with the thoughts of all the "junk" in I/d BUT, if it works why chance it! Chowder can stay on I/d forever if it works. They also make canned that if you want you can slice it and microwave it to make treats too. |
| Thank you everyone. The advice is great. We are thinking in about 4 months we will try and slowly switch her to another brand and see how she does. Right now, it is working for our problem and like Donner's mom says, why chance it Thanks! |
Thanks Kathy! My hard earned knowledge comes from six years of personal experience with Oscar's delicate digestive system. I know more than I EVER needed to know about a dog's small intestine....  I must admit I was very spoiled by our first sheepdog, Quincy, who could eat anything, table scraps included, without so much as a burp. Laurie and Oscar |
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