[kikir]

Hi, I am new here. I have read some of the very informative information on this site...I am glad to have found you all! I do have a question that I am hoping that you guys can help me with. I have a beautiful Rotti that pup (6 months old) that seems to have a rather sensitive stomach. We have been to the vet and he suggested that I put her on a different food. I am feeding Solid Gold Mellinnia (sp?) in the blue bag. He suggested that I put her on Hills or Eukanuba. We have done several fecals on her to rule out worms and she has been clean every time. What is happening with her is that she has loose stool some of the time. Other times it is totally normal. For example, in the morning when I let her out, her stool is totally normal. Then she will eat and when I let her out again, some of the time, the first part of her stool will be normal and the last part will be loose. This does not happen all the time though. I have 2 other dogs (Corgi's) and have never encountered this before. I was under the impression the SG is a good quality food, but maybe she needs to have something less rich???? Any advice you guys can offer will be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

[CrzyBritNAmerica]

Originally Posted by kikir

Hi, I am new here. I have read some of the very informative information on this site...I am glad to have found you all! I do have a question that I am hoping that you guys can help me with. I have a beautiful Rotti that pup (6 months old) that seems to have a rather sensitive stomach. We have been to the vet and he suggested that I put her on a different food. I am feeding Solid Gold Mellinnia (sp?) in the blue bag. He suggested that I put her on Hills or Eukanuba. We have done several fecals on her to rule out worms and she has been clean every time. What is happening with her is that she has loose stool some of the time. Other times it is totally normal. For example, in the morning when I let her out, her stool is totally normal. Then she will eat and when I let her out again, some of the time, the first part of her stool will be normal and the last part will be loose. This does not happen all the time though. I have 2 other dogs (Corgi's) and have never encountered this before. I was under the impression the SG is a good quality food, but maybe she needs to have something less rich???? Any advice you guys can offer will be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

I think Solid Gold is a good food...but Natural Balance makes good food for sensitive stomachs. Definitely don't switch to Hills or Eukanuba...they're just no good. I'd recommend NB.

[diggitydog]

Our clinic has had a lot of success with Royal Canin's Sensitive Formula prescription diet for dogs that had symptoms similiar to yours. It may be a bit on the expensive side but many of our clients say it's worth the price after dealing with their dog's diarrhea and "gas" for so long. It's a maintenance diet for adult dogs though so you'd have to discuss with your vet whether he/she thinks she is ready for an adult diet. Is she spayed yet?

Are you giving her any other treats/food that may be causing the loose stool?

[Renoman]

I agree completely that SG is a great food, however the formula you are feeding might indeed be too rich for your pup's stomach. Natural Balance makes a fish and sweet potato formula that I have had great success with for one of my guys with the same problem- he actually has IBS. It goes without saying, you need to make the switch very slowly to avoid any additional upset. You might also want to switch to Nat. Bal. Fish and Sweet potato treats. It took a good 6-8 weeks for my guy to show improvement once totally switched over but he's been great ever since. If the problem persists, your pup needs to be seen by the vet and checked for other issues like colitis, which can be controlled with diet. Hills and Eukanuba are 2 foods to avoid at all cost. Just an FYI, when going to school to become a vet, Nutrition is not a required course. I'm going to apologize in advance to those that might take offense but most vets don't have a clue about nutrition unless they take it upon themselves to do the research.

[lee711]

I just wanted to thank all of you for the information. I have 4 puppies, two are 7month old labs and two are 2 month old Yorkies. One of my labs, after eating Science Diet for 5 months, developed diarrhea. Not the mild kind, the kind where she was jumping and crying every 20 minutes because she had to go so bad. After several visits to the vet, and a few x rays later, trying to see if there's something blocking her stomach, the vet said the only thing they could do is cut her open to see what the obstruction was. Needless to say, I took her to a different vet. He told me not to feed her for 48 hours and then gave Science Diet D/D venison and potato formula. He thought it was allergies to the food. HE WAS RIGHT!!! once she started eating the prescription stuff, she was solid in 3 days. The only problem is that the food is very blah and she wasn't too happy about eating, and she started to skip meals. And it also cost $30 for 8 pounds... She goes through that in about 3 days. So I went to the store and found a brand called By Nature. It says on the package that there's no soy, wheat or corn, which a lot of dogs are allergic to. So we tried that and it was ok. She would start out solid and finish a little loose. 2 days ago I found this forum, and took your advice. I purchased Nature's Balance Fish and Sweet potato. I put all 4 of my puppies on it, as I want them to feel equal, and they LOVE IT. Within 24 hours, they are all solid and no more tummy aches. Again, thank you so much for all the advice. My puppies are so happy and playful now and they eat their food in less than 2 minutes. Apparently they like the way it tastes Thank you to all!!!

[briteday]

I have one dog with several food sensitivities. We switched her to NB fish and sweet potato with good results. My only concern is to watchthings like the texture and shine of the dog's coat. NB fish and sweet potato only has 10% fat, which is very low for any food. Sinece my dog's allergie symptoms were related to itching and licking, not gi, I was able to add a bit of slamon oil to her food each day to increase the fat level. However, I don't know if I would try that with existing gi distress. So try the NB for a while and see if it works for your dog, just keep an eye on dry skin or coat issues.

Also I would be concerned about feeding such low fat content to a puppy who needs lots of energy and is growing at a very fast rate. Fat is critical for cell formation and proper brain development. I'm not sure that NB would be a good "all stages" food.

[HersheyPup]

Originally Posted by briteday

Also I would be concerned about feeding such low fat content to a puppy who needs lots of energy and is growing at a very fast rate. Fat is critical for cell formation and proper brain development. I'm not sure that NB would be a good "all stages" food.

I do agree that 10% fat seems like it would not be enough to call a food all life stages. But, I wanted to point out that some foods have a much higher fat percentage, but may not be digestable to the dog for whatever reason.

I've fed NB Duck & Potato to a German Shepherd youngster (started at 7 months) and he grew like a weed and had a glorious coat! Apparently, he was able to utilize most of the ingredients. Less fillers, I would presume.

I have a young Standard Schnauzer currently and she is eating Flint River Ranch. This food also has fairly low protein and fat content, 23% & 12%, 21% & 12% and the third formula has 23% & 10%. This kibble is baked and the company claims that the food his highly digestable.
DIGESTIBILITY / PALATABILITY: Flint River Ranch dog food scores in the high 90's for digestibility and palatability -while most extruded food is in the low to mid 80's on a scale of 100.

I can't say that I've had the food tested, but I CAN say that my dog looks and acts fantastic on this food! Even my Vet is impressed with her condition.
Considering how perfect her poops are on this food along with her condition, I am assuming that she is getting enough nutrients out of it, even with the lower protein and fat percentages.

Oh! In contrast..I've fed other brands of dog food with much higher percentages. Including some grain free foods that she just didn't seem to be able to digest properly. Evo was terrible for her, TOTW agreed well with her system, but she didn't seem to like it very much..refusing meals.

Then I look at the pictures of Urban Beagles dogs (on another thread) and her dogs are eating Purina Dog Chow, which has a pretty low 21% protein and 10% fat. Those are the best looking Beagles! They are so shiny...gotta wear shades!

[StellaLucyDesi]

Actually, the Millenia is probably too rich. I think it is made to be for working dogs, etc. Anyway, my daughter has a German Shorthair Pointer female that was started out on Solid Gold Wolfcub (their large breed puppy formula) and she then went to Solid Gold Wolfking (their large breed adult formula). She is quite a specimen of the breed! Beautiful coat, never has needed to go to the vet (except for shots). Vet is highly impressed. Maybe you could try the Wolfcub. I agree Natural Balance is a great food and you can't go wrong to try that either. Good luck!

[jennnej]

My dog has sensitive stomach, she was on Nutro Natural Choice Chicken Meal, Rice, and Oatmeal for about a year and she did great. I decided to switch her food a week ago to Canidae and she has been having diarrhea...even in the house because she couldn't hold it long. Has anyone have experience with feeding sensitive stomach dogs with Canidae?

[HersheyPup]

Did you switch her "cold turkey"? I had the same problem when switching to Blue Buffalo, I actually had to return the food, both of my dogs had terrible gas and diarrhea. Not at first, but after a week.

I was desperate to find a food in a hurry that I could switch them over to, quickly, with out digestive problems. I bought Purina Pro-Plan Select Beef and Barley. Now, I know that this isn't considered a high quality food, and I don't intend on keeping them on it for long term, however, they instantly had perfect, tiny poop! I was happily suprised by this!

Now, that everyone's back to normal, I am trying to switch them to a higher quality food...very slowly. I bought Canidae Beef and Ocean Fish. I am giving only 25% canidae with 75% Pro Plan Select. So far, and it's only been a couple of days, still doing great with no gas and small, perfect poop.

Whether or not they will do as well when the percentage of Canidae goes up, remains to be seen.

[Kina_A]

I have a dog who can not tollerate Chicken. I had the same problem as you do with your rotti. Loose stools and sometimes it would start out fine and the end was diarrhea.

The only food that I found helped her was California Naturals Lamb Meal and rice. She's now 6 months old and doing great on it.

Solid gold is a good food but again might be too rich for your dog. The food for Sensitive stomach that I have considered are Natural Balance, Wellness Simple and California natural.

You might want to try a food with a different protien in it. Since you're currently feeding your dog beef, try lamb, chicken or fish.

Just to inform you though, CN hearing and sweetpotato is not a life stages food, only their Chicken and Lamb is.

I would definately stay way from Eukanuba and Hills or any of those type of food.

Good luck to you.

OMG this thread is from 2007!!

[Katenka]

I started reading this post and also realized it was from 2007
Anyways, I have a doberman puppy whohas a very sensitive stomach as well. Thank you for your suggestions. I wll try NB food and see how he does on it. I hope it will help my pup.

[hawgpen]

If I didn't know better, I would say I was the one that wrote what kikir wrote! LOL. I have a 5mo old Bull Terrier. Previously I had a Rott and found that staying away from certain products, such as gluten, corn, soy & dairy, it made a big difference so when I got this puppy I wanted to try and do the same, especially has I heard heard from many they can have allergies... She was originally on Nature's Recipe but she had horrible gas and her stool was the same as kikir wrote. She is currently on Nutro Natural Choice for sensitive stomach (chicken meal, rice and oatmeal). She is no longer suffering from gas and her stool is a little better... but now she is a pooping machine. She was previously sleeping through the night but now, on occassion she is having to get up in the middle of the night. I hate to change her food again but I need a happy medium here.

[Seagirl]

I am currently at a loss. I used to feed my German Shepherd Pro Plan years ago. Then he had trouble expressing his anal glands a few years ago and it was due most likely to the fact that the Pro Plan "promise" for high digestion and less waste resulted in well...less poop and less expression. At the time, my dog was a bit overweight so my vet suggested Hill's Science Diet R/D with Chicken. That did the trick and we've never looked back. However, the price seems to go up every month and now at $55/bag every three weeks when you're not working gets real steep, real fast. He is 8 years old and I have tried practically every "high quality" food out there. It's getting to the point that I might have to continue with the Science Diet and I will if I have to but I was wondering if anyone out there can help me out with a food that he might be able to digest. My vet really doesn't know any more than I do about dog foods and there is so much info out there it's just more confusing. I've tried Wellness and another food by Harmony Farms because of their all natural ingredients but he didn't take to either of those very well and the poor thing has had on and off diarrhea for a while. I've been going on and off the chicken/rice thing for quite some time now! Perhaps I didn't switch over slowly enough but it would seem to me that I would dial in to a good food by now. Anyone have any suggestions that doesn't cost $55 for a 20lb bag? I got through a 20lb bag every 3 weeks.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[lucidity]

Originally Posted by Seagirl

I am currently at a loss. I used to feed my German Shepherd Pro Plan years ago. Then he had trouble expressing his anal glands a few years ago and it was due most likely to the fact that the Pro Plan "promise" for high digestion and less waste resulted in well...less poop and less expression. At the time, my dog was a bit overweight so my vet suggested Hill's Science Diet R/D with Chicken. That did the trick and we've never looked back. However, the price seems to go up every month and now at $55/bag every three weeks when you're not working gets real steep, real fast. He is 8 years old and I have tried practically every "high quality" food out there. It's getting to the point that I might have to continue with the Science Diet and I will if I have to but I was wondering if anyone out there can help me out with a food that he might be able to digest. My vet really doesn't know any more than I do about dog foods and there is so much info out there it's just more confusing. I've tried Wellness and another food by Harmony Farms because of their all natural ingredients but he didn't take to either of those very well and the poor thing has had on and off diarrhea for a while. I've been going on and off the chicken/rice thing for quite some time now! Perhaps I didn't switch over slowly enough but it would seem to me that I would dial in to a good food by now. Anyone have any suggestions that doesn't cost $55 for a 20lb bag? I got through a 20lb bag every 3 weeks.

Thanks in advance for your help!

My puppy has been getting poop that sounds alot like this too. He was fine on Eagle Pack (what the breeder was feeding him), and on Eukanuba (what I was feeding at first). After lots of research, I decided to put him on Innova puppy and it was horrible. He had dirrhea all day (I switched slowly too--over a period of 2 weeks), and so I started feeding him California Natural Lamb & Rice Puppy formula.. which is OK. Poop looks fine in the morning, but after that it's soft and yellowy. The only thing that gives him nice, firm stool is raw food! I give him beef patties (Pepperdogz brand--get it from the store) on some days and kibble on others. I would love to be able to feed raw 100% of the time, but it's just too expensive (I pay about $60 for 1 month's supply) and I don't have the time to buy raw meat myself.

So if you do have the time, you should try feeding raw... it might work for your dog. If not, maybe switch to a grain-free food like EVO or Orijen/Acana.. that might do the trick! It'll also help with the anal gland expression thing--from my experience, poop is firmer when on raw/grain-free diet.. which apparently helps with the expression (hard poop presses on the glands).

I'm planning to switch to EVO in a couple of months as well; once my puppy gets a little older (he's 4.5 months old now).

[ypperin]

In my experience.... foods with pumpkin meal, yucca, and oatmeal definitely aid in the tummy troubles, and to stay away from chicken and heavy red meats..... for those I'm helping with sensitive tummies I typically recommend a fish based easy to digest diet