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Gassy dog?

zztopp
January 7th, 2008, 01:42 PM
We've noticed lately that my 5-year-old Golden Retriever is *very* gassy!! She'll let one rip and ... whew! Smelly!

It doesn't correlate with when we changed her kibble and she's been totally healthy. She had her annual checkup in early-December and is UTD on shots.

Her 'stool samples' are normal, as is her urine. There hasn't been any major stressors either.

We started feeding her some bakers yeast (I think its called that??) and she's been getting garlic on her kibble for a year now -- to discourage her from eating her poop!!

Could it be the fact that her kibble is quite high in protein? I'll post a copy of the dogfood ingredients when I get home, incase that helps! :)

Any insight would be great!

zztopp
January 7th, 2008, 01:46 PM
Found some information about the dog food online:

Waggles Waggles Platinum Chicken & Barley Formula
- Made with fresh chicken
- For adult dogs
- Only wholesome ingredients are used
- Contains Omega 3 & 6 for better skin and coat
- A blend of barley, corn and rice are used as carbohydrate source to enhance digestibility

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein 26.0% Min.
Crude Fat 15.0% Min.
Crude Fibre 3.0% Max.
Moisture 10.0% Max.

jessi76
January 7th, 2008, 02:03 PM
A blend of barley, corn and rice are used as carbohydrate source to enhance digestibility

I know it's much easier said than done, but corn is generally a filler, and I *try* to avoid foods that have alot of it. that said, I'm NOT familiar w/ the food you're posting about, sorry.

is she only eating kibble? no treats? no wet food? no scraps? no snacking (poo sampling)?

as a side note... my mom uses a great product for her dog, it eliminated her dog's "snacking" habit. here's the link: http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/products/showproduct.php?id=44&code=670

"S.E.P" = Stop Eating Poop.

SARAH
January 7th, 2008, 02:06 PM
Could be a Golden thing. Ours can let some go that'll make you pass out! Since the other dog eats the same foods, it can't be the diet in itself.

amatazes
January 7th, 2008, 02:33 PM
bruno the yorkie can easily clear a room. I changed his food and the extremely bad smells stopped. I went for a more expensive vet food. that was really rich in meats and veggies.

Ford Girl
January 7th, 2008, 02:57 PM
My golden is the same, they are lound and smelly!! Then she wags her tail just to share it around....LOL! I know for us, I add wet food to her kibble, and certain kinds of wet mkae it worse then others....in particular, the mixed protien kinda...where is has chicken, turkey, eggs and fish all together, man - that's bad news for us! But if the wet has one protien course then it's not as bad. Eggs, fresh slamon both add to the stink factor, I add those for breakfast anyways, cuz we are at work while she digests it...LOL!

I think ii has to do with protien, but that's just what I have noticed...even my cat "toots" more since he was switched to higher protien kibble. :laughing:

satchelp
January 7th, 2008, 08:31 PM
You may want to try food without corn as some dogs don't do well with it. I suspect this food is not the greatest, but it will be helpful when you post the ingredients. Digestive enzymes would be worth trying to get rid of the gas (specifically for dogs .. Prozyme for example).

rainbow
January 7th, 2008, 08:49 PM
Found some information about the dog food online:

Waggles Waggles Platinum Chicken & Barley Formula
- Made with fresh chicken
- For adult dogs
- Only wholesome ingredients are used
- Contains Omega 3 & 6 for better skin and coat
- A blend of barley, corn and rice are used as carbohydrate source to enhance digestibility

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein 26.0% Min.
Crude Fat 15.0% Min.
Crude Fibre 3.0% Max.
Moisture 10.0% Max.

I tried googling for an actual list of ingredients but the company itself doesn't have a website. :rolleyes:

Just from what they do list it seems to be too grainy and grains are a big cause of gassiness for dogs. If she were my dog I would switch her to one of the grain-free formulas like Orijen (my favourite), Wellness CORE, Go Natural Grain Free or Innova EVO.

The above companies also make other formulas that are not grain free but do not contain corn which is not the best ingredient as it's hard for dogs to digest.

zztopp
January 7th, 2008, 09:58 PM
I admit, I'm not very well versed on dog foods. Ask me anything about our horses dietary needs and I can name them off at the drop of a hat ... I originally had Kass on a very low quality kibble diet. I know, I know -- bad mommy! After doing a marathon search for the best grain for my wussy horse, I realized how little research I did for poor Kass! And the groomers mentioned that her coat wasn't very good/healthy -- that it was probably related to her diet.

I did some research on the internet and talked to some local pet shops. This kibble seemed to be the best (aside from the $50+++ kibble which I cannot afford!!!)

Ingredients for Waggles Platinum Chicken & Barley Formula:
Chicken, poultry by-product meal, barley, corn, brewers yeast, corn gluten meal, poultry fat (preserved with mixed tocpherols), beet pulp, liver digest, flaxseed, dried whole egg, brewers dried yeast, calsium carbonate, dicalcium phosphate, salt, potassium chloride, choline chloride, rice hulls, zinc oxide, vitamin supplements (A, D, E), ferrous sulphate, zinc proteinate, copper sulphate, mineral oil, niacin, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, managese oxide, biotin, menadione sodium bisulphite complex, cobalt carbonate, sodium selenite, calcium iodate, vit B12, folic acid.

Whew. How does that sound? Good, bad or otherwise? Her groomer has mentioned that her coat and skin have improved since being on this kibble, as well the vet said that she absoloutely glowed with health. Her teeth seem cleanier than when we bought her.

jessi76: She gets dry kibble twice daily, with brewers yeast (to help the gas) and garlic sprinkled on top. We don't feed our dogs wet food (unless special circumstances are needed) and we never feed table scraps (they tend to go to the chickens). Kass has also stopped eating her poo since adding the garlic :) She gets her 'natural' liver treats when we do any training too.

Ford Girl and SARAH ... we've had Goldens for over 20 years, so we are used to the 'normal' tooting associated with them ... but this is worse then any Golden we've ever had!!! Who knew it could get worse ... :rolleyes:

My grandmother developed her own recipe for feeding her big newfie dogs; including specified off cuts from the butcher and (cooked) oatmeal. The dogs did really, really well on it. We had a nutritionist and the vet tweak the recipe till it was practically perfect. Now, in two years time we'll have our first organic beef calves in the freezer, so I was going to look at feeding Kass a homemade diet. I wanted to put it off until we had our own calves back, but may talk to the butcher up the road and see if we can make a deal ... would that lower her gas I wonder? Opinions on that?

Thanks!

satchelp
January 7th, 2008, 11:20 PM
There are some ingredients in the Waggles food that are not the greatest. It's definitely a step up from the grocery store food, but you can do better for the money. If cost is an issue and you have access to a Costco, their Kirkland brand food is a really good bang for the buck .. no by-products, no corn or corn products etc. I alternate between this food and some more expensive foods, but it is in the rotation that I feed, and the dogs do well on it. I have a breeder friend that feeds this to her show dogs and they do wonderfully on it. It's only about $20.00 for a 40lb bag.

There's a lot of info on dog food ingredients on this site:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/

Home cooked would be even better if you can balance it properly.

rainbow
January 8th, 2008, 03:36 AM
If you read the "Ingredients to Avoid" link on the website that Satchelp posted you'll see quite a few of the Waggles ingredients listed there.

How much does Kass weigh and how much kibble do you feed her per day?

zztopp
January 8th, 2008, 08:38 AM
Okay. After reading a bunch of threads on the Pet Food forum, I agree that this kibble isn't really as good as I thought.

Kass weighs 52lbs and gets 1.5-cups of kibble, twice daily. Vet said that this is the highest weight she should be, without being considered 'fat' or 'obese' But I was cautioned that if she got much higher, that she would then be considered 'fat' on a body conditioning scale. She is a medium-build Golden (I'm used to the males that are in the large-build, 80-lb+!!!!) Since being on this kibble, she has gained weight (a good thing -- she was a bit light for my liking)

No Costcos located anywhere near here (unless I want to travel 1-1/2 hours!!) But I will check out some other brands and report back ... also checking out cost ;) Like I said, I'm on a student budget ... and supporting several animals, so I can't afford to buy super, duper expensive kibble!

TKW
January 8th, 2008, 02:45 PM
My 2 y.o. 95# lab was on Costco Pet Food as a puppy since it was what the breeder fed him. My trainer once told me it's good food for the money. He was eventually switched to Innova due to a series of mishaps (long story). But you know what, if you compare the recommended daily serving, you'll be surprised.
We are now feeding him 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cups a day on Innova. In comparison, he'd need 5+ cups for the other brands. Sure it is still a little bit more expensive, but he doesn't have gas problem.

rainbow
January 8th, 2008, 03:11 PM
I agree with TKW....you feed less with the premium holistic brands. Also, you end up with less trips to the vet because your dog is healthier.

My Siberian Husky is 59 lb. and gets 1 cup of Orijen twice a day. My yellow lab is 90 lb. and gets 1 3/4 cups of Orijen twice a day.

For their supper meal if I am adding any extra meat/veggies that are leftover I reduce the amount of kibble accordingly. They also get a little plain organic yogurt with their supper.

The large bag of Orijen costs me $51 per bag. It's a Canadian brand too :thumbs up and made at Champion Pet Foods own manufacturing plant which is an added bonus. :thumbs up

Champion Pet Foods (www.championpetfoods.com) also makes the Acana line of kibble which is also good. It does contain grains (rice & oatmeal) which "may" be contributing to Kass's gassiness but it is cheaper than Orijen by about $10 per bag. :)

Purpledomino
January 8th, 2008, 03:27 PM
$51.00 a bag? :eek: I feed Oijen....and live in Alberta within very close proximity to the manufacturing plant, and pay $57.00 per large bag of the adult formula. As a matter of fact, this is the cheapest I've found it in this area... I've seen it for $59.99. I'm kinda dissapointed that it's cheaper out of province...doesn't the shipping cost account for the final price? Where are you buying it if you don't mind me asking?

Ford Girl
January 8th, 2008, 03:31 PM
$51.00 a bag? :eek: I feed Oijen....and live in Alberta within very close proximity to the manufacturing plant, and pay $57.00 per large bag of the adult formula. As a matter of fact, this is the cheapest I've found it in this area... I've seen it for $59.99. I'm kinda dissapointed that it's cheaper out of province...doesn't the shipping cost account for the final price? Where are you buying it if you don't mind me asking?

Thats what I pay too, $57 per bag, I get mine at Pet Planet. They have a buy 12, get one free program, is that the case elsewhere too?

rainbow
January 8th, 2008, 03:45 PM
$51.00 a bag? :eek: I feed Oijen....and live in Alberta within very close proximity to the manufacturing plant, and pay $57.00 per large bag of the adult formula. As a matter of fact, this is the cheapest I've found it in this area... I've seen it for $59.99. I'm kinda dissapointed that it's cheaper out of province...doesn't the shipping cost account for the final price? Where are you buying it if you don't mind me asking?

Thats what I pay too, $57 per bag, I get mine at Pet Planet. They have a buy 12, get one free program, is that the case elsewhere too?


The pet store I buy it from is just a local independent one and they are cutting their profit margin to compete with the feed store in the town 40km from us. I don't think it will last much longer though. :D And, we don't get the buy 12 get one free offer. :o

I would still buy it at $57 a bag. That's still cheaper than the other premium/holistic brands that are available and it has better ingredients imo. :)

zztopp
January 8th, 2008, 04:41 PM
I'm not totally sold on the whole 'Holistic' idea (long story!!!) I will look into the other brands that my local pet stores carry, then compare them with the info provided on the pet food forum.

Interestingly, I found a dog food rating plan (not the basic one, its posted on another site -- can't remember what one!!) I rated and pinpointed what was 'wrong' with Kass's current dog food. Its not really all THAT bad when I look at the ingredient list, though I do realize that I could do better :)

So, off to the pet store to look up some more brands!! ;)

kylben
January 8th, 2008, 04:54 PM
We started feeding her some bakers yeast

I know you're looking for info on the food, but in the meantime, yogurt is a great antidote to the mighty wind. We give our 80 lb. lab/shar-pei mix one heaping spoonful of plain lowfat yogurt as "dessert" after dinner, and we rarely hear a peep out of him since we started. Plus, he absolutely loves it. He gets more excited at yogurt time than he does for regular meals or even treats.

Oh, and one spoon for the owner at the same time helps as well :eek:

--Kyle