Problems changing pups diet. Advice?

votejohn

Hiya,

Changing Bellas (5.5mth old husky) diet from Select Gold puppy to James Wellbeloved puppy but she's still having an upset tummy.

Bella was developing a skin allergy to the Select Gold, so the pet show advised me to change to JWB, so I have.

For the first 10 days ish I was mixing her food (select gold with JWB) and her stools have been between soft and diarrhoea, but now im out of select gold!! She is still getting diarrhoea.

Should I buy more select gold, or will she adjust to the JWB on its own soon?

She's in great form and very active, so she seems to be getting all the necessary nutrients from her food.

ISDW

Huskies are very bad eaters, well they're not, they're very efficient eaters, but are renowned for having tummy problems. There isn't even one food that all the breed thrive on, it depends on the individual dog so it is just a matter of trial and error until you find the one that your dog will have solid poos on. My sibe Sky was 7 months old before we found that, she was on JWB when we first got her, and had the runs every single day. Eventually it was Pedigree Chum that she firmed up and thrived on:(

I found that my lot loved Kronch that I used to get from someone in the north, but she doesn't sell it anymore. Its a salmon based food, and I guess with the sibe's background, that would make sense. So maybe try and get a fish based good quality food and see if that works.

cianer

What about a raw food diet? I have mine on it and they're doing fantastic, poos are very small and solid. Know people who's dog was in bits and no food would agree with her, now off all medication and poos are great. Think it's cos there's nothing processed in it, nothing for dogs system to react to.

jen_23

Oh I agree with Cianer about the BARF raw diet. I found it fabulous for my Samoyed Gunnar. He had a very dodgy tum and I tried countless good quality foods before finally trying a raw diet. It's worked wonders for him and decreased the output immensly as the food is almost completely digested

There is loads of advice on it here http://www.topdog.ie/index.php?pageid=raw-barf-faq
and here http://www.topdog.ie/showthread.php?t=7570&highlight=barf

Also you could try avipro - it's a prebiotic/probiotic blend which helps dogs tummys to adjust to new foods. I had Gunnar on that as well

votejohn

The JWB shes on is hypo-allergenic and is white fish and rice based, 9http://www.wellbeloved.com/products/dog_food/fish__rice_kibble/puppy.aspx)

Should I keep her on it for a few more days to see how it goes, or should I try another one now?

its a disaster, because she was more or less fully toilet trained, but now with her upset tummy she's had a good few accidents in the house, despite being brought outside regularly.

I cant find any site to buy Kronch

votejohn

The BARF diet confuses me!! And I was told (by someone here I think, or maybe over on topdog) that dogs cant eat raw food and dry food, as something about the bacteria in the dogs stomach reacting and making the dog sick. Bella's always stealing other dogs food so I would be worried she would get her teeth into someone elses dinner and making her sick.

Also, im a vegetarian, so the thought of chopping up raw food isnt very appealing!!!

Is there any company that sells frozen BARF meals? (unlikely, i guess!)

jen_23

There is a company who sell it but as far as I know it's in the uk.

Though here you can go into the english market and get your chicken wings, thighs, breast portions etc etc and just bag and freeze them. Since it's for a husky you wouldn't need to cut stuff up (I never have to anyway ) you can even give whole chickens
You can buy your mince/beef pieces in the quantities you want in how ever many bags and freeze as is!

The idea of not eating dry with the raw is the raw is in their system for about 6 hours (I think..) before it's all digested and waste excreted. It's why dogs don't get sick eating raw food as opposed to if humans ate it.

Dry food stays in their systems for about 18 hours so if they eat dry and raw in the same meal it keeps the raw in their system for longer which allows the bacteria on the raw food to proliferate and grow causing them to possibly become sick.

As long as dry and raw are fed on different days they should be fine. Even saying that Gunnar still gets his dry treats and dentasticks during the day but I make sure it's a few hours after he gets his raw

jen_23

votejohn wrote: »

The JWB shes on is hypo-allergenic and is white fish and rice based, 9http://www.wellbeloved.com/products/dog_food/fish__rice_kibble/puppy.aspx)

Should I keep her on it for a few more days to see how it goes, or should I try another one now?

its a disaster, because she was more or less fully toilet trained, but now with her upset tummy she's had a good few accidents in the house, despite being brought outside regularly.

I cant find any site to buy Kronch

How long is she on the JWB now ?

The thing about changing her too often is that can upset their systems an awful lot too. They never get a chance to get used to it. (though I had to change regularly with Gunnar)

votejohn

jen_23 wrote: »

How long is she on the JWB now ?

The thing about changing her too often is that can upset their systems an awful lot too. They never get a chance to get used to it. (though I had to change regularly with Gunnar)

Thats what I was thinking, I dont want to change her AGAIN, as I would like her to end up staying on the JWB as its good quality, and a lot easier!!! Also, she's getting spayed in 10 days so I want her tummy settled before that, im in two minds to go back to the Select Gold, but it was making her itchy. Urgh, dunno what to do!!!!

ISDW

It is a tough one, as you don't want to keep chopping and changing. I don't know anything about Select Gold, who is the maker of that? Do they do any other foods? Maybe they have a hypoallergenic one?

Raw is great, if I only had one or two dogs, thats what I would be feeding, but I kept running out of freezer space, so went back to dry, complete food.

votejohn

I was reccomended select gold at maxi zoo when I got bella (I since learned that its their 'old brand' :rolleyes:) http://www.maxizoo.ie/selectgold.html .

Thats a really good idea to see if they have a hypo allergenic food, i'll try maxi zoo tomorrow! If they dont, I think i'll keep her on the JWB for two more days, if theres no change I'll put her back on the original select gold to get her through the op, and then get her onto the BARF. I'll need that much time to research BARF!!!

jen_23

I agree with ISDW about the hypoallergenic food. Your vet should be able to recommend one for you. I know hills do a prescription one.

salmon oil might help with the skin by the way. I wouldn't put her back on the select gold ( the original you had her on) as she very obviously has an allergy to it but salmon oil might help her skin recover from that

votejohn

jen_23 wrote: »

I agree with ISDW about the hypoallergenic food. Your vet should be able to recommend one for you. I know hills do a prescription one.

salmon oil might help with the skin by the way. I wouldn't put her back on the select gold ( the original you had her on) as she very obviously has an allergy to it but salmon oil might help her skin recover from that

The JWB she's on now is hypo-allergenic, and the main ingredient is fish. Should I buy salmon oil and drizzle it on her food? Or capsules?

With the select gold, she was going fab on it, really healthy and seems to be great quality food. She didnt have any major reaction to it, she was on it for the last three months, and it was only for the last week(ish) that she seemed to have a skin allergy (basically, I thought she had fleas as she started scratching a bit and nibbling at her coat).

The girl in the pet shop said as some dogs get older they can no longer tollerate their food and excess salts are secreted through their skin, causing them to itch. It was only once or twice a day she was doing this scratching (she's with me 24/7).

I'll ask my vet, but to be honest he prob wont be much help, as ISDW said, its probably going to be trial and error.

jen_23

Oh okay... I would think (though perhaps i'm wrong so please someone correct me if i'm waaaay off) that allergies would develop either straight away or after prolonged use.

3 months is sort of neither. The itching could be down to loads of things! Perhaps she has matts? with the damp weather i've noticed Gunnar get a few lately. He was itching during the week and since he had just been deflead I went through his coat and he had developed a few matts (I line comb him once a week and brush him so they developed quite quickly)

Also again with the weather there could be annoying iritating grit in her coat causing her discomfort and to begin to itch.

Another thing could be if it's localized to 1-2 specific areas maybe hotspots? (check for any redness from itching and apply athletes foot powder if you see any )

The best salmon oil to get is Kronch. There is another one as well but I must check the bottle for the name so i'll get back to you!
Basically add it to their food. You put so many pumps for the weight of the dog. I've heard great stories about it for skin issues

ISDW

I agree with Jen on the skin allergy thing, I wouldn't be rushing to change her food because of that, it could be caused by any number of things. If she was doing well on it, maybe ask your vet about the itching when you pop in tomorrow.

Can't recommend the salmon oil highly enough, its great for their coats and general well being.

Mutz

Hey OP,

I had the same problem with our lad.

A Vet recommended not feeding him nuts/dog food for one day with the exception of a pot of probiotic natural yogurt. The next day revert back to dry nuts until the stool hardens up.

It cleared him up in no time.

Hth.

votejohn

Cool, Ill try the Kronch, can you get it in pet shops, or just online?

She's quite smooth coated and brushed one a week or so, so no matts.

I would have thought that it her stomachs tolerance could change quite a bit while she's young, as she's growing and developing?

Def gonna introduce the salmon oil into her diet anyway (though again, ill prob wait until after the op!).

Ill stick with the JWB for now anyway, and hope that her poops firm up over the next day or two.

votejohn

Thanks for the tips guys! Never had a dog with a sensitive tummy before so its great to be able to get advice (ESP AT THIS TIME!!!!!!)

If she doesnt settle with the JWB tomorrow or the next say, I'll go back to the select gold.


Mutz is your dog a husky too? My dad gives our other two natural yogurt too and its great for them (esp their stinky problem!) but with bella being so sensitive I might leave it as a last resort.


Tried to post up a pic of her but it didnt work! Some shots of here on my site towards the bottom half http://www.creedonsdoggiedaycare.com/index-6.html

lrushe

I posted recently about taking my dog off JWB which she'd been on for 10 weeks as it was starting to give her loose stools and gas and she doesn't have any stomach issues. It could be doing the same to your dogs if he does have a sensitive stomach. I'm going dog food shopping tomorrow to try and find a good replacement. There is a new pet shop opened up near us recently that is supposed to have a few aisles of different food so I'm gonna try there first.

jen_23

votejohn wrote: »

Cool, Ill try the Kronch, can you get it in pet shops, or just online?

She's quite smooth coated and brushed one a week or so, so no matts.

I would have thought that it her stomachs tolerance could change quite a bit while she's young, as she's growing and developing?

Def gonna introduce the salmon oil into her diet anyway (though again, ill prob wait until after the op!).

Ill stick with the JWB for now anyway, and hope that her poops firm up over the next day or two.

You can pick up Kronch at the champion dog shows or I have seen it on ebay as well. I'll ask about and see if I can find a number/email for the company that supplies it in Ireland for you.

It's not matts causing it so. Did you check through her skin carefully? Is it dry? flaky? Red?
It could also be being caused by a new treat, tit-bits, things you wouldn't even consider food. I would think when she was doing so well on it all along that it might be something else - not her food.


The salmon oil is fabulous. I have my fella on it a while now and his coat and skin is lovely on it.


If the poop is very bad for a long time try adding some pumkin seeds (just a few) or some shredded up carrot into the food. They firm up poop.

Pics are lovely! Is she the malamute?

lrushe wrote: »

I posted recently about taking my dog off JWB which she'd been on for 10 weeks as it was starting to give her loose stools and gas and she doesn't have any stomach issues. It could be doing the same to your dogs if he does have a sensitive stomach. I'm going dog food shopping tomorrow to try and find a good replacement. There is a new pet shop opened up near us recently that is supposed to have a few aisles of different food so I'm gonna try there first.

Did you introduce any new treats lately as well? Back when I got Gunnar (and found a food that agreed with him - Raw ) some treats would give him awful gas (it would clear a room!) but I only give him 1 type of treat now and he's perfect again.

votejohn

Things were a little bit firmer this morning !

Her skins in v.good nick, was searching her from nose to tail for any fleas or flea droppings so i'd say i would have come across any cuts or dry patches.

She's a Siberian Husky, with the personality of one too!

Had a look on ebay for Kronch, but only treats came up. If you could find a source for it Jen that would be great!

lorebringer

Wrt the dodgy poo - have you tried a probiotic, like ProKolin? I find it works well when they have had diarrhoea for a while.

jen_23

Woohoo! for the pooh

It could be something as simple as grit or the wet weather irritating her so

No problem i'll have a poke around and see what I can come up with for you

cianer

votejohn wrote: »

The BARF diet confuses me!!

Yeah it baffled me too when I was researching it, I spent a couple of years tossing up whether I'd change or not. Then I found this book "Raw Dog Food" by Carina Beth MacDonald, she makes it easy, I'd definatly recommend it.

votejohn wrote: »

And I was told (by someone here I think, or maybe over on topdog) that dogs cant eat raw food and dry food, as something about the bacteria in the dogs stomach reacting and making the dog sick. Bella's always stealing other dogs food so I would be worried she would get her teeth into someone elses dinner and making her sick.

I haven't heard this but my dogs are knackers and will eat anything else they get their mouths on too, including foster dogs dry dinner, they've never had any ill effect.

votejohn wrote: »

Also, im a vegetarian, so the thought of chopping up raw food isnt very appealing!!!

Is there any company that sells frozen BARF meals? (unlikely, i guess!)

I'm veggie too, so completely here that one!!! What got me through initially was constantly saying to myself that they're not veggie! And seeing the difference in them, they love dinner time now where as before they couldnt have really been bothered.

It does take a leap if you decide to do it because it's so different from conventional food so it has to be right for each person and their dog. I'm delighted with it and would recommend it to anyone whose dog has poo issues or skin issues

ha-ya-said-what

Don't have a husky ..... BF said I am not allowed a dog the size of a donkey lol


But the best food I've found out of the four dogs here for upset stomachs and improving skin and coat was Arden Grange. Origen is good too.

ISDW

ha-ya-said-what wrote: »

Don't have a husky ..... BF said I am not allowed a dog the size of a donkey lol


But the best food I've found out of the four dogs here for upset stomachs and improving skin and coat was Arden Grange. Origen is good too.

Siberian huskies are medium sized dogs, most people tend to think they're big, don't know where that comes from. Alaskan Malamutes are the ones that tend to be the size of a donkey:D

I've heard very good things about Orijen.

jen_23

Orijen is an excellent quality of food. I think it was the one that agreed with Gunnar the most out of them all before I switched him altogether to raw

ha-ya-said-what

ISDW wrote: »

Siberian huskies are medium sized dogs, most people tend to think they're big, don't know where that comes from. Alaskan Malamutes are the ones that tend to be the size of a donkey:D

I've heard very good things about Orijen.

Pmsl it was a full grown Alaskan male I showed him before, he face turned white at the size of him haha so I think he assumed from there the Siberians were the same size.


Origen I got before from zooplus.co.uk, 5% discount and free shipping. Usually takes 7 days to deliver and sometimes you can get 2 x 13.5kg bags at a very good price. They all loved it here for months then were like meehhh we want something different so have them on Arden Grange, fantastic smooth switch that was. And if you'd like tester samples of Arden Grange you can go to the website, email them & they'll post you out some, I did that before spending £30 on the 15kg bag!

lrushe

jen_23 wrote: »

Did you introduce any new treats lately as well? Back when I got Gunnar (and found a food that agreed with him - Raw ) some treats would give him awful gas (it would clear a room!) but I only give him 1 type of treat now and he's perfect again.

The only treats she really gets is her kong but thats filled with her kibble which I soak and freeze. She looks really well on JWB, her coat is fab but just not happy with the poop

tk123

lorebringer wrote: »

Wrt the dodgy poo - have you tried a probiotic, like ProKolin? I find it works well when they have had diarrhoea for a while.

Thats what we got from the vets when our guy had an upset tummy. We had the same prob with JWB - introduced it over a couple of weeks but it was always hit and miss - soft one day and hard the next so switched to Royal Canin and problem solved. The odd time he has an upset tummy we mix in a few tablespoons of rice with his food and it seems to firm it back up.