Food Suggestion for Labrador Puppy(4m) with Stomach issues

rejkin

Hi,

My Lab pup (4 months) seems to have some bad reactions from the food we have had her on.

When we brought her to the vet for the second injection we told her she seems to get bloated and gassy from the food she is on so she suggested either Burns or James Wellbeloved.

We tried the burns chicken and rice puppy which stopped her bloated stomach and gas but her coat got quite dry and her dandruff got worse so we moved to the puppy James Wellbeloved turkey and rice which fixed her coat problems but her bloated stomach and gassiness came back.

We are thinking of going back to the burns just for her stomach and I am going to get a slow feed bowl as she hoovers up the food when we give it to her three times a day. I have also booked in for the Vet tomorrow evening.

What I would like to know does anyone know from experience if there is any other alternatives to Burns and James Wellbeloved?

DBB

I'd be inclined to go totally cereal-free op... Whilst rice is a relatively benign grain, it does cause issues for some dogs. I think Burns is way, way too high in rice.
James Wellbeloved does a nice cereal-free version, though it seems harder to get it in shops (online shop Zooplus do it). Another fine cereal-free food is Taste of the Wild, which is also available on Zooplus but Petmania also stocks it, which means you can buy a small bag to try it out before committing to a big bag.
Zooplus also stock Purizon, another fine food which I feed my own dogs when they're in the mood for dry food, they're mostly raw fed. This latter might be something you'll need to consider if nothing else works!

rejkin

DBB wrote: »

I'd be inclined to go totally cereal-free op... Whilst rice is a relatively benign grain, it does cause issues for some dogs. I think Burns is way, way too high in rice.
James Wellbeloved does a nice cereal-free version, though it seems harder to get it in shops (online shop Zooplus do it). Another fine cereal-free food is Taste of the Wild, which is also available on Zooplus but Petmania also stocks it, which means you can buy a small bag to try it out before committing to a big bag.
Zooplus also stock Purizon, another fine food which I feed my own dogs when they're in the mood for dry food, they're mostly raw fed. This latter might be something you'll need to consider if nothing else works!

Thank you very much for this! I was looking through the main sites for alternatives but to be honest I didn't have a clue what to look for.

I will check them out and say it to the vet tomorrow.

muddypaws

If she's only 4 months old, you seem to have changed her food a lot in a short space of time, which in itself can cause issues. When you change, are you doing it gradually, and giving the food a chance to effect the changes you want?

jonnybravo

Might be worth getting puppy tested for food allergies. We had a lab cross pup with a lot of food issues so we got him tested. Turned out he was allergic to chicken (and a few other things) which we were giving him when he wouldn't eat his other food cause that's all he'd eat at times.

Test is expensive though (around €250) but our Insurance covered it.

rejkin

@Muddypaws: We followed the advice from the vet and gradually introduced the new food in mixed with the old and then increased it over a few days. From then it was pretty much around 2 - 3 weeks for each. Ended up around two 2Kg bags from each food.

@jonnybravo: You might be right, I'll see what the Vet suggests.

muddypaws

rejkin wrote: »

@Muddypaws: We followed the advice from the vet and gradually introduced the new food in mixed with the old and then increased it over a few days. From then it was pretty much around 2 - 3 weeks for each. Ended up around two 2Kg bags from each food.

@jonnybravo: You might be right, I'll see what the Vet suggests.

There are no blood tests for food allergies in dogs, the only thing that works is a total exclusion diet to rule out anything that is causing issues. Chicken does cause a lot of problems, which is why foods like Wellbeloved don't use it, just make sure that if you are trying to rule chicken out, that whichever food you use doesn't use chicken fat to coat the kibble, its very common for a food to say something like 'duck and potato' but then to use another animal fat as a coat around the nut.

rejkin

muddypaws wrote: »

There are no blood tests for food allergies in dogs, the only thing that works is a total exclusion diet to rule out anything that is causing issues. Chicken does cause a lot of problems, which is why foods like Wellbeloved don't use it, just make sure that if you are trying to rule chicken out, that whichever food you use doesn't use chicken fat to coat the kibble, its very common for a food to say something like 'duck and potato' but then to use another animal fat as a coat around the nut.

The Burns food was chicken and rice and the James Wellbeloved is Turkey and rice, maybe I should have stuck to the chicken and rice

Does anyone have any experience with the below one? It says it is grain free:
http://petstop.ie/dog-1/dog-food/puppy-dog-food/carnilove-salmon-turkey-for-large-breed-puppies

Might be worth trying?

muddypaws

rejkin wrote: »

The Burns food was chicken and rice and the James Wellbeloved is Turkey and rice, maybe I should have stuck to the chicken and rice

Does anyone have any experience with the below one? It says it is grain free:
http://petstop.ie/dog-1/dog-food/puppy-dog-food/carnilove-salmon-turkey-for-large-breed-puppies

Might be worth trying?

No, I would stay away from chicken and rice. Wellbeloved only use one protein source in their food, it's their 'thing', so there won't be anything but turkey in it.

Personally if there are issues, I would go for a single protein food, salmon and turkey wouldn't fit into that.

rejkin

Grand, thanks. I'll see what the Vet says tomorrow. Prob end up try the Taste of the Wild food.

aonb

let us know how you get on at the vet OP.
I hope you have insurance on your puppy?! Might be worth considering if hes having problems now at 4months... just a suggestion

Ive had a dog with bloating/gas problems AND skin problems. Turned out it was ALL food related. We finally got him sorted, and he managed really well on a home cooked diet.

Good luck sorting the issue

Cutie18Ireland

My dog has alot of issues with her Pancreas but she is thriving on Markus Muhle Naturnah. I get it from zooplus and she eats it all every day. Other foods she would leave for days at a time. The 15kg bag is around €40 and lasts ages

Knine

What was the breeder feeding her on? Did they give you a supply & how was she on that?

rejkin

The Vet called me last night about this and I told her about the bloating and the change in food.
She suggested that we give the food she is on another few weeks before moving to grain free food as she hasn't had any diarrhea or vomiting and her stools are fine. Also yesterday I got my partner to feed her small part of her food at her feeding time instead of putting a full 100ml of food in the bowl to see if it made any difference. When I got home her stomach was no where as bloated and she wasnt gassy all night. I also bought a slow feed bowl on the way home which slowed down her eating a bit (she's like a hoover!).

Considering the change in her yesterday with slowing down her food intake I am going to do that from now on, feed her the food over a half hour instead of in one gulp.

Here's hoping it works over the next few weeks, thanks for all the advice!

@aonb: Yeah I have already requested a few quotes and she is on 6 weeks free pet insurance with allianz which the vet gave us so we probably will get her on it long term.

@Knine: The breeder was feeding her Husse Velp puppy food which seemed good but just didn't seem to work for her, she would eat the supply we got no problem but she was quite bloated and thats when the vet suggested to move to another brand.

muddypaws

I was thinking of this last night, and wondered how much you were feeding at any one time. Small and often is the best way with puppies, so good luck with the new method, let us know how you get on. Any photos?

rejkin

muddypaws wrote: »

I was thinking of this last night, and wondered how much you were feeding at any one time. Small and often is the best way with puppies, so good luck with the new method, let us know how you get on. Any photos?

Yeah,the way she hoovers up her food I will definitely need to keep an eye on it !

I definitely will.

First pic was close to the time we got her:


Second pic is her now, she's grown a bit

Latatian

Red mills engage worked really well with our labrador (duck and rice or chicken and rice)- though she might not have the same response as your pup, she's elderly and has multiple health issues. She gets explosive diarrhoea and a painful swollen belly on just about any food except that and royal canin sensitive. She's lively and happy on it.

She has soft stools on it but she will get soft stools on any dog food that has a reasonable amount of fibre- the high-end ones that make it easier to pick up do so because they have more fat and less fibre, which isn't good for her. Try having a look at the fat content on the bag and see whether that is related to the dry coat.

A kong or similar might help: you can get these purple squirrel toys in pet shops that are like kongs but designed to put kibble in and have it come out slower (busy buddy squirrel dude). They're a little less than the kong too, or were when I bought them.

Nody

Latatian wrote: »

She has soft stools on it but she will get soft stools on any dog food that has a reasonable amount of fibre- the high-end ones that make it easier to pick up do so because they have more fat and less fibre, which isn't good for her. Try having a look at the fat content on the bag and see whether that is related to the dry coat.

You are feeding 75% rice with some meat on the side; of course it's going to be low fat but while a quality feed would go from 11% to 15% fat you'd also go from 25% meat to 80% meat. In regards to the fibre content Red Mills is at 2%; something like Taste of the Wild is twice as high. One thing you can try to firm things up however is to use Psyllis seeds (sprinkling a little bit over the kibble) as this will help add fibre and suck up water to bulk things up which a few boardsies are using as I recall.

As for the OP; slow eat bowl is probably the right direction considering the breed to see if that makes a difference or not.

tk123

I'll go against the grain (get it?! ) and recommend RAW as I have experience of feeding it to a puppy. The difference between her and other dogs her age was night and day - she was calm and had great poos compared to hyper and pooing non-stop. She was also nice and lean and grew slowly so as not to put pressure on her joints. It's not for everyone but suits my two really well.

Latatian

Rejkin- you can also freeze the food in the kong to make it a bit slower to eat, or for hot days.

Nody- this is a dog with a history of pancreatitis (so the fat content becomes more important), who gets explosive diarrhoea and a sore swollen belly if she gets a chicken breast or some ordinary beef or lamb. If 75% rice with some meat on the side keeps her happy, lively, well-muscled for her age, with a soft shiny coat, then bring on the rice.

I don't see any particular benefit to feeding her more meat when she doesn't do particularly well on higher-meat foods or on meat itself- I have to deal with the dog I have. I've yet to see anyone produce hard evidence that the 'quality' diets are actually better for health, just anecdotes of the same kind as the one that tells me the Red Mills is working for her.

The fibre was just the impression I got when I was comparing different brands of food on zooplus for her. I've tried her on a number of different foods, different compositions, different protein sources, grain free, home cooked, but the red mills and royal canin are what works so I will recommend them to people who have dogs that can't tolerate some foods since they worked like a charm for her. Will have a look out for the pysillis, thank you!

Tk123- I like your pun. It makes me happy.

rejkin

So It's been more than a month since she's been on the James Wellbeloved and seems that its had a good effect on her. Her coats a thousand times better and her stomachs not bloated anymore and she seems to be increasing in weight at a normal pace.
The slow feeder and spreading out the feeds has definitely helped.

Thought I would add an updated picture of her:

paconnors

A friend of mine has a lab and has the same issues he feeds him hills food and has no problems

LINK