Runny Poos

[mrsbloggett]

I've just adopted an ex-racing greyhound - this is her 3rd week with me. She's the timid, nervy type of hound, who's frightened of her own shadow, but is growing in confidence very slowly.

The problem is she has very runny poos. I know this can be caused by nervousness and I am hoping it will improve once she has settled down with us, but in the meantime, is there anything I can add to her diet that will 'bung' her up a bit? She's currently fed on Skinner Field & Trial at the recommendation of the rehoming kennels.

 

[sloulou]

i have found with my dog that if he gets diarrhoea and I leave it a day or so to see if it's something he's eaten, then it carries on - but a day or two of feeding plain boiled chicken and rice (I just chuck them in the water together so he gets chicken flavour rice.) Plus a bit of live bio yoghurt to replace the bacteria is all he nedds to break the cycle and get him back to normal

Would suggest you try it and see? You can also add a small amount of plain raw porridge oats - that really seems to bind it all together

Then if no better on that I would go the the vet maybe

Although, as you say, it could be stress...

Anyway the Chicken/ Rice will do no harm

Oh yes - I also often use mashed potato instead of rice - which is also good.

 

[severnmiles]

Is the Field and Trial gluten free? I know some Skinners are and others aren't.

 

[KarynK]

Do you know what she was fed when racing? A lot of trainers feed raw and it might be a reaction to some of the ingredients in the cooked complete feed, probably cereals, had a quick look and sadly it looks like there is a lot of cereals and rice in the product for "stamina".

I don't really know what you would do on commercial feed but on raw I use lamb bones on the very rare occasions they get a bit loose, that does the trick in about 12 hrs.

 

[haycroft]

good on you getting a greyhound...i would agree that you could try chicken and rice...i feed my mainly raw and ive no problems
give her time to settle and be carful shes not getting too much protein if shes going to be a pet as she wont need the stamina feed ...could try redmills tracker if shes used to dry but always mix with water

 

[KarynK]

Please don't take this the wrong way as I used to think the same way. I just want to provoke some thought and get away from the company nutritionalist viewpoint.

I just want to ask how a carnivore can have too much protein? Stamina or energy in the wild or natural fed dog is provided principally in the form of fat and glycerol, being the principle energy source available to the carnivore. Protein in the dog is at best a secondary energy source.

If you avoid protein in a cooked commercial diet then there will be by default be more carbohydrate in it, something that the natural dog would never eat in anything but minute quantities. Yet sadly in many commercial feeds it is one of the main ingredients. As dog owners many of us are attracted to the claims of manufacturers towards a “natural” diet, they then go on to list rice and vegetables to appeal to the owners and they make it vegetable colours too in the dried food, but then I suppose they are getting away from wheat.

Dogs have not evolved to eat carbohydrates they do not produce necessary enzymes in their saliva to start the breakdown process so feeding them as humans taxes the pancreas and places extra strain on it, it has to work harder to digest the starch/carbohydrate instead of just producing normal amounts of enzymes required to digest proteins and fats which if fed raw will begin to self digest when crushed and torn in the mouth. Dogs also do not have the friendly bacteria herbivores and omnivores use to help break down plant cellulose hence they cannot get most of the nutrients in this feed, thus the need to add artificial vitamins and minerals in processed feed. Side effects result in the typical huge sloppy stools, suppressed immune system etc.

The trouble is that protein is expensive and most of the cheaper bag feeds need to be bulked in order to make them competitive and wheat is a cheap bulk. If you feed commercial feeds of any kind then start to study the labels, just like you would your own food.