Runny Dog Poo Question

I'm at a loss here. For the past 1-2 months Gabby's poo has been alternating between good and runny. Sometimes it is fine, sometimes it starts fine and goes runny half way through, and sometimes it is all runny.

She had a fecal float 2 weeks ago (from a good poo) and all was fine. She has had Giardia 3 times and I know it isn't that...there's no mistaking Giardia! :yuck:

Anyway...has anyone ever experienced this? Could it be a food problem? She was on Solid Gold WolfKing for a few months and everything was OK. However, that gave her terrible gas. So we switched her to Wellness Lamb (slowly over a couple weeks). The problem started around this time, so I then switched her to Wellness White Fish and Sweet Potato, thinking maybe all the fruits in the other Wellness were causing the problem (blackberries give her the runny poo). It has gotten a little better, but still isn't good. Does this sound like maybe Wellness puts something in all their foods that doesn't agree with her? :confused:

Switching to and between holistic foods is very hard on a doggy. My doggies took 4 months to have solid stools on the Wolf King. I'd say go with the food that she has done the best on so far and stick with it for a few months. Also, you can try feeding her 1/8 a cup less for a couple of days and see if that helps.

Aside from that, I have heard of some dogs who don't tolerate lamb, but since she was the same on other foods, I suspect it's not that. There might just be something in the wellness formulas that she doesn't agree with.

Thanks Prin. 4 months! :eek: I figured a couple weeks max. Geez.

I don't think it's the lamb. With the exception of WolfKing she has always been on Lamb formulas. She likes to eat Blackberries off the bushes in the summer and they give her loose stool, so I figured the berries were the cause in the Wellness. Maybe not though. :confused:

I'm considering going back to Nutro Ultra which she did fine on. WolfKing was good, but I think the high protein was giving her and Emma gas. What a pain! :p

Maybe the Nutro protein is not as useful? I say that because Wolf King is not that high for protein (22%)... Maybe they ate it too fast and sucked up too much air?

You're right...they're all about 22% protein. Hmmm. Supposedly Nutro Ultra is in the same class as Wellness, Solid Gold, etc., so I'd expect the protein to be similar. They have comparison charts on their website (if you believe their accuracy :p ).

Gabby took about 2 weeks to feel OK (except for the gas) on WolfKing. Maybe they are just eating it too fast like you suggested...they do like it a lot...same for the Wellness. Geez...I'm confused. :cool:

Last I checked, Nutro wasn't as good as Solid Gold.. It was up there, but not quite there... So maybe, being that it has way more easy to digest rice (they break it down into ground rice, rice bran, rice flour, etc depending on the formula, to hide all the rice in there) and stool hardeners (there's both beet pulp and tomato pomace in the ones I checked), it might actually be better for your babies because the food has these things in there to help them digest...

While you're dealing with soft stools, be careful of the anal glands, eh? Keep an eye out for any sign that they might be full.

I think the Nutro Ultra being referred to is their holistic brand, which they are comparing on their site to the holistics blends from the super premium labels (Solid Gold, Wellness).

Their ingredients look pretty good, but I couldn't find where they listed them in the same order as they appear in the food. They have this nifty little scrolling bar of ingredients that you can click on. So I think you'd need to see the listing as it would appear on the bag.

You can assume its a good food, but what if every grain is on the list before all those great protein sources, ya know?

Also, they listed "poultry fat", and you know how THAT can be interpreted. :yuck:

Yeah, poultry fat... ewwww....

I found the ingredient list, but they don't let you copy it... You have to go into Products and click on the kibble bag, don't go into "ingredients".
Nutro Ultra (http://www.ultraholistic.com/adult.shtml)

The ultra has a little bit less rice than the Natural choice that they make, but it still seems like a lot of rice...

You're right as usual, Prin. Looks like lots and lots of rice. And beet pulp. And tomato pomace. At least their first protein is a meal, rather than whole.

While you're dealing with soft stools, be careful of the anal glands, eh? Keep an eye out for any sign that they might be full.

uummmm...not sure I want to ask this, but how would I go about doing this? I know if they start dragging their butt it is a problem, but other than that...:confused:

Dragging or licking... If there's swelling, that's a really bad sign.