Dog diets - grain sensitivity?

[Mouse19]

I’m trying to figure out if my spaniel is grain sensitive and what is the best diet for him.

Following on from his infected anal glands which have now cleared up following a course of antibiotics he is now scooting and still seems uncomfortable.

He’s also underweight. The vet advised it’s not chronic but he could do with a little more coverage and to add a mixer biscuit to his forthglade wet food. But his poo is still sloppy and he’s farty

What do people feed their sensitive dogs?

 

[Roxylola]

Raw. Although mine improved significantly going from a kibble with rice to one without (csj complete tripe iirc)
Also a spaniel, and she never held weight until she was about 7, even at 11 she's easy to keep slim

 

[pinkfluffy]

Almost 2 yr GSD is on James Welbeloved Free from anything and everything food because she has skin allergies. When she has a bad episode she won't eat and does lose weight. My neighbour's gluton intolerant dog is on this food and she very sensitive to lots of things - got some serious medical issues - but this food suits her so we're trying it. I think its turkey and rice flavoured.

 

[skinnydipper]

Adding biscuits to a food which he would appear to be sensitive to doesn't make much sense.

If you don't want to feed raw you could try a hydrolysed protein diet and give nothing else until his gut settles. When you find one that suits him you could continue on that only or introduce one protein at a time.

Don't confuse hypoallergenic (which means nothing if you don't know what the dog is allergic to) with hydrolysed. Hydrolosis breaks down the proteins making them less likely to provoke an allergic reaction.

Keep on top of anal gland issues and avoid infection or impaction by expressing them yourself at home.

 

[Andie02]

Forthglade Just Range, (not the complete range) and Orijen 6 fish, Orijen Tundra and Orijen Regional Red. Also a good dog probiotic daily and a good spoonful of plain greek yoghurt.
I have found that carbs in Forthglade complete upsets my dog.
ETA I have only used the 3 mentioned varieties of Orijen which all seem to be ok for her, alternated daily for variation.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

I'm afraid it really is trial and error but our Lab, whose digestive system improved no end after she was spayed, chose Harringtons after trialling goodness knows how many small bags of kibble. If I had another like her, I think I would try their 5 ingredients kibble first.

 

[sbloom]

Our sensitive Dane is on raw plus Wafcol Salmon and Potato kibble.

 

[AmyMay]

My little dog does fabulously on Orijen. I do occasionally feed Forthglade meat, but tbh her stools become less firm when I do.

The other food that she also did very well on was AVA sensitive skin and stomach (it has a Beagle on the packet) from Pets at Home. I only stopped using it because she needed a smaller bite kibble.

 

[IrishMilo]

Raw mixed with kibble. For the kibble I go for anything grain free with a high % of meat (not the same as meat meals) - Lily's Kitchen, Harrington's Grain Free, Scrumbles, Green Pantry and Arden Grange are most of the ones I cycle through. I like to keep it different for them but I'm lucky in that they don't have sensitive stomachs. If yours needs firming up I'd recommend adding in any type of bone matter - i.e. chicken thigh or wings a few times a week. I also feed offal.

 

[Teaselmeg]

Has Giardia and Campylobacter been ruled out ? If not, I would get his poop tested for that before any diet change.

Also have a look at Holly Barker's Sport Dog Nutrition FB page, lots of really good information on there.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

If he's an high energy type of spaniel, does his food contain enough energy for hime to both be energetic, and have a healthy weight, or is it possible that he's one of those energetic dogs that regardless which food you give, he will mainly use it to be energetic, and not to maintain a healthy weight?

Some years ago I had an old cat who we (me + vets) thought maybe had developed a food allergy, so we tried giving her whichever one of Royal Canin's Veterinary Anallergenic, and Hills Prescriptions Food Sensitive that contains Duck & peas, she quite liked eating it for some time, but it turned out her problem wasn't a food allergy/sensitivity, without with her B12 levels + other things going on in her body. I know we had talked about trying also the other type of "allergy" food, but I don't remember at the moment if we actually got around to doing it or not, before we found out that it wasn't the food that was her problem.
Anyhow, if it had been a food allergy, it was meant that we should re-introduce other food ingredients one at a time, to see which one she reacted on.

 

[Morwenna]

Mine is on Forthglade wet food as she doesn’t tolerate kibble. I will be moving her back to raw when I’ve finished the stockpile I have (slightly over-ordered when it was on sale and have a small mountain of it) as she did better on that than anything else. I was struggling for training treats so tried Ziwi Peak which is stupidly expensive but she loves and so I replaced some of her wet food allowance with it and use it for training with any that’s left as a topper on her dinner.

 

[Christmascinnamoncookie]

My spaniels are all on raw. They have the occasional handful of kibble on the grass which was the sensitive Fishmongers from Pets at Home but my OH recently bought the bog standard kibble that I took them off as babies due to endless diarrhoea. Weirdly, Bear (13) no longer has poo issues.

 

[SadKen]

I'm afraid it really is trial and error but our Lab, whose digestive system improved no end after she was spayed, chose Harringtons after trialling goodness knows how many small bags of kibble. If I had another like her, I think I would try their 5 ingredients kibble first.

This has been a game changer for my old boy. We have tried everything over the years, grain free, hypoallergenic, working dog food, raw… loads of brands, loads of types of food. He is allergic to everything except fish. Rock hard poop with a soft scoop finish, mucus, sloppy... Skin issues, ear infections, he is wired up on most kibble. He’s on Harrington just 6 and we finally have normal poo! He’s 11.5 fgs!

I think there is a lot of crap in kibble, and dogs have allergies to the preservatives etc. mine has clear autoimmune issues in general, but he seems very well on this. It has preservatives but they don’t seem to bother him like other brands.

 

[splashgirl45]

Had quite a bit of trouble with my young lurcher and he is now fine, I use burgess sensitive turkey and also use a probiotic . I would like to stop the probiotic to see if it’s that which is keeping his poo solid. I was feedin* wolfworthy but he didn’t seem to get on with it. It really suited my terriers and my old collie but my lurcher seemed to find it too rich…. My old lurcher did well on James well beloved turkey and rice

 

[marmalade76]

I've always thought that dogs aren't really supposed to eat grain, if they were wild, they'd eat much like foxes, scavenge and hunt. I've seen foxes eat apples in the orchard, I've never seen them eat grain

That said, my dog eats just about anything, one of her jobs us to clear up leftovers and drops & spills.

 

[Clodagh]

Dogs eat grain if they can. When we had an arable farm they ate so much wheat during harvest their poos were wheat sausages.
Ffee can have anal gland issues and I need to keep her poos very firm to stop them filling up. She has Millies wolf heart, as does Tawny my other special one allergies wise.
The most expensive food you can afford will help, imo. Less fillers, smaller firmer poo.

 

[Clodagh]

Keep on top of anal gland issues and avoid infection or impaction by expressing them yourself at home.

I’m interested in this, i am always loathe to interfere as I worry that me expressing them, or getting them done, will interfere with the natural emptying process. Is that not the case?

 

[tda]

I never liked the old style mixer biscuit, it never did our terriers any good.
Would probably try raw

 

[skinnydipper]

I’m interested in this, i am always loathe to interfere as I worry that me expressing them, or getting them done, will interfere with the natural emptying process. Is that not the case?

If they need expressing manually then there is already a problem with the natural emptying process.

It's better to express them than risk impaction, infection or abscess.

I found the internal method more effective.

 

[AmyMay]

Deleted

 

[leflynn]

Millies woflheart is a good grain free working dog kibble if you need something to mix in - most are also chicken free too - my grey is sesnsitive to chicken so great for her and a range of protein levels/options

 

[PurBee]

I went grainfree with my gsd in the end and that stopped her symptoms, which were mainly runny nose licking while itching skin. She also back then, even at 3yrs old, was very slim, so not sure if the grain allergy affected weight, but she fill-out/bulk-up more after going grain-free.
ETA - she also had sloppy poops on and off. Stopped when went grain-free

I use zooplus website as they have lots of grainfree wet and dry dog/cat food, and free delivery over 40quid.