Dog with sensitive stomach.... food suggestions?

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Hoover has had diarrhoea on and off for a few weeks now - the usual ‘starve 24 hours and give ProKolin’ worked initially then didn’t, I tried it again still no success.

So last week I took him to the vets & had the full works - more ProKolin, antibiotics in case of a bacterial infection and faecal sample test for parasitic infection. His temperature was normal and oddly he isn’t losing weight so the vet isn’t thinking lymphoma thank goodness!

He had 4 or 5 days on cooked chicken and pasta or rice, then I’ve put him back on his normal food - Skinners Duck & Rice - and the diarrhoea has come back :(

It seems it’s the food he is reacting to even though it’s hypoallergenic etc, so I need to try him on something else that won’t bankrupt me like feeding chicken was doing :D

Has anyone any suggestions? I know Chappie is quite mild but I guess that needs to be fed with a mixer as well?
 
My OH is very scathing about Skinners and Chappie - the polite version of his comments are that they are full of rubbish. (despite the marketing claims, but judging by the list of ingredients)

We used to feed Autarky which was really good for one of the cockers with a very very sensitive stomach. We struggled to get it at one point though, so have swapped to Royal Canin. We buy it online and it is nearly half price, with free postage. A big bag is £37.99 which would last you ages.

Might be worth getting a small (4kg) bag and seeing if he can cope with it - they do a sensitive digestion one.
 
tinned chappie doesn't have to be fed with a mixer-although I do feed with some Nature Menu crunchy stuff. both of mine are now on it (shoot me now!) and both look amazing on it.
 
Lévrier;13788192 said:
Does it still smell all fishy and horrible MoC? :D
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yes, its gross :D actually I find the chicken one worse than the fish one. they also do produce lots of poo with it but Quarrie hasn't had an anal gland issue since last December since I put him on it. Fitz I put on it because he started to look rubbish (bit thin, poor coat) on the kibble I had him on and I had it to hand- looks grand now. they get bones, eggs, NM stuff and sometimes a little Rocco sensitive mixed in as well.


as an aside-some interesting research showing domestic dogs have evolved to cope with grains (breed dependant) over the thousands of years they've been fed by us. also studies in the US whereby dogs are taurine deficient because they're being fed diets filled up with legumes used to replace grains and meat protein (to keep costs down. it seems as though the legumes might interfere with taurine uptake somehow-mostly in goldens)
 
my lurcher had a sensitive stomach as well. i nearly lost her when she was 2, she was in vet hosp on a drip.... i changed her to james wellbeloved turkey and rice and although she had the occasional tummy upset, normally due to eating decaying rabbit or similar, she stayed ok otherwise. they now do grain free as well although i didnt try it as she was settled on the jwb turkey and rice. i also never gave her any treats other than jwb ones....
 
I would take him off the skinners, which has beet pulp in it, which makes old lab loose and gives her a horrible coat. I always recommend millies, and if it was just him it might not be too expensive, they do a cheaper one now. https://www.millieswolfheart.co.uk/dog-food/40-meat-fish-recipes/forerunner-mix
I don't find it more expensive than Skinners, as they have less to eat than with cheaper food. I feed four on it, but greyhounds might eat an awful lot. Labs live on fresh air!
 
We feed Millie’s to our 2. As you know, Aled had a terrible upset tum last year, I did honestly think we might lose him at one point. Apparently Huskies can have sensitive tummy’s too, but Luna has been grand on it. One 14.5kg bag last a month for the 2 of them.
 
splashgirl45 said:
my lurcher had a sensitive stomach as well. i nearly lost her when she was 2, she was in vet hosp on a drip.... i changed her to james wellbeloved turkey and rice and although she had the occasional tummy upset, normally due to eating decaying rabbit or similar, she stayed ok otherwise. they now do grain free as well although i didnt try it as she was settled on the jwb turkey and rice. i also never gave her any treats other than jwb ones....
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The 14yo JRT is doing realiy well on JWB turkey and rice senior. He'd been on Orijen senior for years and was fine until he had a couple of nasty stomach upsets a few months ago. We noticed that he relapsed as soon as he came off the plain homecooked chicken and rice diet that the vets had recomended and went back on the Orijen. So after some internet research we tried him on the JWB turkey and rice and he's right back to his irrepressible naughty self.
 
Clodagh said:
I would take him off the skinners, which has beet pulp in it, which makes old lab loose and gives her a horrible coat. I always recommend millies, and if it was just him it might not be too expensive, they do a cheaper one now. https://www.millieswolfheart.co.uk/dog-food/40-meat-fish-recipes/forerunner-mix
I don't find it more expensive than Skinners, as they have less to eat than with cheaper food. I feed four on it, but greyhounds might eat an awful lot. Labs live on fresh air!
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How much do you have to feed per day Clodagh, as in how much weight of food? Hoov is 33kg now, just trying to work out how long a sack would last :)

I’ve got him some tinned Chappie as a stop gap so hopefully that will bring him back to normal!

I’m also wondering about putting him on raw again as they all did so well on it, but I think the girls would go on strike if he had raw and they didn’t :D
 
I'm a Millies Wolfheart fan (I converted Clodagh!) No beet pulp or cheap fillers. You get what you pay for. Yes it's a little more expensive but actually quite competitive if you buy in bulk. If you think the dog possibly has allergy problems then choose one with a single source of protein if possible until everything settles down. They have a great advice email/phone help line.
 
I don't weigh my food but feed a 30kg lab a good mugful twice a day, I'm feeding 4 or sometimes 5 dogs so no idea how long a bag lasts, sorry. There is a feeding guide on their website.
 
Ours have a lot less than the feeding guide. I will go weigh it.

OK, oldest lab, a spayed bitch, has 175g a day. If she has extras, sardines or whatever, she has less. She goes for a couple of decent walks but is not a speed merchant. In winter, when working, she has maybe half as much again.

How much does the feeding guide say a day?
 
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Oh my, feeding guide says 245g! (Upper limit for her age and weight).

Motherofchickens has found a new no filler food she likes, I think Chiffy was trying it as well. One didn't like it and one did. I can't remember which ! It was cheaper than MWH.
 
Clodagh said:
Oh my, feeding guide says 245g! (Upper limit for her age and weight).

Motherofchickens has found a new no filler food she likes, I think Chiffy was trying it as well. One didn't like it and one did. I can't remember which ! It was cheaper than MWH.
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Yeah, I had Fitz on it but couldn't keep weight on him with it which is odd-it was the Canine Choice Medium (salmon)-Chiffy rates it so worth a try and it looks good on paper. I didn't get on with MWH for Quarrie either although Fitz was good on it (I was using the endurance).
 
Canine choice is the same price as MWH interestingly - feeding quantities are also the same, 400g per day for a 30kg dog.

I want to stabilise him again before I try anything new, but I think I’ll try a sample bag of MWH and see how he does. 4kg will last 10 days for him, which should be enough of a test I hope

Thanks for all the suggestions, they are much appreciated
 
I’m another Millie’s wolfheart lover.
They have a big variety to try: I think I have the countryside mix that is quite high protein. Got 2 dogs about 20kg and bag seems to last ages. I did a lot of reading and experimenting as used to do raw but needed the ease with a baby and also faff when going on holiday with the dogs.

My GSD was very sensitive and things like chicken and rice actually made him worse. Some raw meat didn’t agree with him. Millie’s seemed to work and the giant bags work out as good value
 
Morning, just caught up with this discussion. I have taken mine off Canine Choice now as MOC put the fear of god into me that it wasn’t good! Levrier it’s much cheaper than MWH.
I just couldn’t get on with MWH, they tell you to adjust the amount according to consistency of poo! Mine were so constipated on it and I couldn’t up the amount or they would get too fat.
I have gone back to Barking Heads which is expensive but my dogs do well on it, I use some Forthglade too.
I agree about avoiding the ones with beet pulp and if you read the ingredients of Royal Canin it’s full of rubbish, I can’t understand why so many vets recommend it.
 
Chiffy said:
Morning, just caught up with this discussion. I have taken mine off Canine Choice now as MOC put the fear of god into me that it wasn’t good! .
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I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that-just because it didn't suit one of mine doesn't make it a bad food at all. christ, I am feeding Chappie for goodness sake :D and seem to be one of the select few who's dog didn't get on with MWH (and we tried several types of MWH). tbh I'd sooner feed Chappie than the likes of Royal Canin and some of the cheaper kibbles but whatever works for the dog-tinned food or raw is more digestible imo. I agree that the Canine Choice was a fair bit cheaper than MWH when I bought it.
I have two dogs that have fab coats (just as soft as they were on MWH and Eden), perfect weight, empty anal glands, not constipated (which they were on MWH) with great teeth and energy.
 
Isn't it odd that both you asnd Chiffy have had trouble with constipation with MWH? (Nothing sinister intended). I wonder if it is common. Bearing in mmind I never actually looked at my dogs poo, apaprt from noticing if it is squitty or not coming out at all!! I just fed the same MWH as Skinners, they got fat, I cut it back until they stablised at a happy weight.
I must admit I never did understand the poo assessment for how much to feed, surely it is ribs or not?
 
I must admit I feel really stupid - having been so worried about Hoover (I lost Talisker in 2008 with lymphoma, just the same symptoms) it never occurred to me that it could be his food? He has been on it for years!

Chappie as a temporary measure seems to be sorting him out quite quickly (touch wood!) so I reckon it’s a matter of testing out various food on him now. Quite honestly he is 12 in September so whatever makes him happy is fine with me, and if that turns out to be Chappie then so be it :D kibble is easier to feed but I realise laziness is not an excuse :p
 
Clodagh said:
Isn't it odd that both you asnd Chiffy have had trouble with constipation with MWH? (Nothing sinister intended). I wonder if it is common. Bearing in mmind I never actually looked at my dogs poo, apaprt from noticing if it is squitty or not coming out at all!! I just fed the same MWH as Skinners, they got fat, I cut it back until they stablised at a happy weight.
I must admit I never did understand the poo assessment for how much to feed, surely it is ribs or not?
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I think Quarrie is a slightly special case-he obviously needs a lot of bulk for his anal glands. but having spoken to a few people who have fed MWH its not that unusual. it obviously suits a lot of dogs though and is a good product.
 
It doesn't matter if the food is cheap, expensive or "hypoallergenic", what matters is whether it has an ingredient your dog is allergic to. Chicken and rice are common allergens. The term hypoallergenic is meaningless. Hydrolysed veterinary diets are an option but the dog might still react to them, as mine did.

An elimination diet is a good place to start - feed a novel protein, one that Hoover is unlikely to have eaten and feed only that until his stomach settles. Then add ONE ingredient, leave a couple of weeks before adding another ingredient. Done this way will you be able to identify which foods are culprits and exclude them permanently from his diet. Broadly speaking an allergy is an immediate reaction, a food intolerance can take a couple of weeks to produce a reaction but its effects to health are no less serious. When vets conduct the elimination diet they give the initial protein 6 weeks trial but usually results are seen before that but it can still take a matter of weeks before the problem food proteins are out of the system.

Blood tests for immunoglobulin reactions to food are useful and can instantly identify allergens and you then know not to add them to his diet. These tend to test for a limited number of allergens and my dog had two panels done with two different labs to cover a wider range of allergens. Although the tests are useful as a guide, they are not perfect and my dog tested negative for something that subsequently made him ill.

Some people think grain free is the answer but it is missing the point. Dogs can be allergic to any protein in any food. Pea and potato which are used as cheap fillers in dog food are both common allergens.

I wish you luck and lots of patience, there is no easy fix and it is a long road.

Did you manage to get a ramp to help your oldies access your vehicle more comfortably?
 
I know a lot of people who rate the csj k9 range, it's £22 for a 15kg bag of normal or £32 for the hypoallergenic so quite similar in price to skinners but doesn't have any wheat gluten.
 
I had awful problems with my poodle in his early years, terrible worm burden when I got him and had several bouts of severe colitis. Standard vet advice of steroids, starve then chicken and rice wasn't helping so he went on Chappie and any hint of the squits a couple of spoons of kaolin and morphine. Sorted him out within 24 hours. He is a healthy old boy of 12 now. I never identified what set him off, he could eat some truly vile things with no issues at all.
 
Are you sure it's the food he's reacting to (was he OK on it before?) His 'gut flora' could well still be whacked out from the metrobactin if you're not still covering with prokolin? Go back to the chicken and rice, take 2x as long to change back to normal feed with prokolin throughout and see what you're left with.
 
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