loose stool

[Beetlecat]

My dog has quite a soft stool and way too much flatulence Would suplamenting his regular food (Kirklands) with pumpkin puree help this? I used to do that when he was a pup. I'd rather not have to switch to another food, but this doesn't seem to be reacting with his stomach very well.

[Trinitie]

If your dog isn't reacting well to the food you're currently feeding, then you have no choice but to switch to a different food.

How old is your dog? Kirkland is a basic dog food, one that isn't specific for age or breed. Why type of dog do you have?

[Dog Dancer]

Hi, my lab Halo has had chronic loose stool issues due to her food allergies. She has settled nicely on Wellness fish and sweet potato food, but it did result in the loose stool issue. Knowing I had tried (with my vet's help) many brands of food and this one works best to avoid the rash issues, I addressed the stool issue by feeding her pumpkin. It has very nicely solved the issue. She used to go five or six times a day and now goes twice and her stool is way firmer - still not hard, but much better. The pumpkin really helped with her. It was also suggested to me that I might have been feeding her too much, but I don't believe that was our issue as she was within the feeding guidelines. Anyhow, I'd try the pumpkin. PS Halo loves it and I don't have to put expensive canned food on top of her dry as a treat anymore - an added bonus!

[Prin]

I think the pumpkin might harden the stools, but it will just mask the problem. You have to figure out why the doggy is not digesting, don't just force the doggy's system to digest things he can't.

[jjgeonerd]

I agree...you should figure out what causes the problem. Do you give a lot of treats?

Gabby has a very sensitive stomach. She gets Nutro Ultra Adult dry and Nutro Natural Choice wet, and this works well for her, but we have to be careful with giving her new types of treats and/or bites of people food. New treats give her terrible gas and loose stools. Anything dairy is also really bad.

My parents gave her several treats she had never had before this past Saturday morning and she had epic gas all day!

[Beetlecat]

I have a 9 (almost 10) month old Australian cattle dog. The only treats I give are the training aid type (mostly cut up, dried out weiners) and I don't even give many of those, only when he's extra special. Otherwise he gets praise

Kirklands seems to have introduced a new puppy formula (I noticed the different packaging) but he's on the adult type.

His stool has always been a little softer than I'd like. And it's not always the same consistancy. The worst it gets is when we've been out running and he suddenly stops to poop. Maybe the exercise clears out his bowls or something. It wouldn't be a problem but when this happens and I pick it up, it always leaves a smear on the grass, which I dislike.

And I also don't want him to get impacted anal glands later in life.

[judilynn]

Originally Posted by Prin

I think the pumpkin might harden the stools, but it will just mask the problem. You have to figure out why the doggy is not digesting, don't just force the doggy's system to digest things he can't.

pumpkin is mostly given to dogs for constipation! so - bland diet 2-3 days then slowly introduce his/her regular food. a bland diet is - COTTAGE CHEESE, RICE, BOILED MEAT OR CHICKEN (boil off fat FAT OR MEAT BABY FOOD)
yOUR VET will have to tell you why your pets bowel is inflamed but the bland diet will give it time to heal. (might be a good time to change to a minimal ingrediant food. In most cases their is something in the food, which could also be in every food you"ve tried (like corn glueton), that is irratating the bowel.
Note: if your dog ate something that is stuck in the colon only the runny soft stuff can get by and its no doubt inflamed hopefully not infected! quick x-ray will tell. This is mostly for a very acute case.

[Dog Dancer]

Actually pumpkin works for both constipation and the runs. It's the fibre in it that helps. Like Prin said though, don't mask a medical issue with pumpkin. If you know it's just a one day irritation pumpkin is great for a day or two. Your pup has a medical issue that needs to be resolved. A bland diet will help to settle things down, but your vet needs to find the root problem. Diet is often a major contributor to these issues, and very hard to correct.

[gsmix]

new to this community. . .my dog, a german shepherd mix (w/ rotweiler? doberman? lab?) about 11 months old, 60 lbs--orig from a shelter but we got him from craigslist.com-- has loose stool, goes about 4x/day. we've had him now almost a month. he gets a good amount of exercise, runs at least 1 mile/day, and tends to go when he's exercising. we feed him flint river food (flintriver.com, 1st few ingredients: Chicken Meal, Whole Wheat Flour, Ground Rice, Lamb Meal, Poultry Fat (Preserved with Tocopherols and Ascorbic Acid), Ground Whole Wheat), lately with a little cooked rice. we've been switching treats for awhile, trying lots of different ones including string cheese and liver treats--might that be the problem? i've been reading these posts. . .very informative. vet recently said he's healthy. lots of energry and upbeat. not sure if i need to take him to the vet w/ stool sample to fix this, or if i can just try the pumpkin method or plain or no treats for awhile first? maybe should try other flint river food, trout and potato? ingredients: Trout, Potato, Course Ground Millet, Herring Meal, Oatmeal, Sweet Potatoes, Canola Oil, (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Flax Seed, Oat Bran. any thoughts greatly appreciated. . .

[Eleni]

could be a food sensativity, alo did you tke a fecal sample to the vet??

you need to do that to rule out parasites.

i had similar issues with my guy and the vet determined he was sensative to chicken.


Eleni

[doggy lover]

My last dog had a funny tummy and lamb was REALLY BAD, if you know what I mean. Now Tucker has a cast iron gut, nothing bothers him. I would try a different food.

[Prin]

With german sheps you have to be careful because their list of gastro intestinal genetic diseases is almost the longest of any breed. You'd have to do a full blood work up to be sure what the problem is, if it's not helped by changing foods. Usually the first stool of the day is firm and then every one after that is soft if there is a problem. (Makes sense since the colon works all night on the first stool and then a coupld hours on the subsequent ones)

I do notice that your food has a lot of wheat in it. That could be a cause too. Wheat is a common food allergen in doggies. I would give the trout and potato a try.

[sofapup]

Both my dogs, corgi and springer spaniel, have developed loose stools. That can be a very messy problem on a tailless corgi. At the same time, both have taken to eating the new spring grass. I've started adding pumpkin, with mixed results.

I wonder, is the grass causing the problem? In that case, is this just going to be a seasonal thing? There's no chemicals on the grass, and it usually browns out by late July here.

Julia

[mybestfriends]

I am new to this site so I hope you can help me. I have a 13 month old cocker spaniel that has had loose stools off and on for weeks. We've been to the vet twice and have had the stool tested. Everthing checked out OK. As long as she is on the meds, the stool is normal. We feed Blue Buffalo both kibble & dry along with yogurt and boiled chicken....occasionally. Her treats are BB too, plus some organic and some I dehydrate myself. The first stool in the morning is usually firm, then continues to get softer as the day goes on. She eats, drinks and plays normally and seems to be fine other than the loose stool. Nothing has changed in her diet except "bully sticks". Do you think this could be an issue? I've heard using pumpkin could help. How much and how often? Anyother ideas?

[Dog Dancer]

Welcome to the board mybestfriends. Sorry you pup is having these issues. I'm not sure about the protein content in BB, but I found when my two older dogs were on a very high protein diet this caused loose stools for them. Also anything that was too oily would cause this also. I've never given mine bully sticks so I can't comment on that, not sure how oily they are. Something else to consider even with good food is that if you are feeding too much food you will get soft stools. You may want to try just reducing her food by a small amount and see if it helps. Pumpkin (100% pure, not pumpkin pie filling) does work for loose stools or constipation. You can give a tablespoon with each meal. My lab will eat it plain though. That said, while it is a great tool for fixing up the occasional upset, it should not be used until you are certain there are no underlying issues causing the upset. You don't want to hide a medical condition with pumpkin. Good luck to you.

[mybestfriends]

Zoey, my cocker has been on Blue Buffalo for 10 months. We never had problems with the loose stool until the last few weeks. I just started giving her boiled/baked chicken with her kibble and canned. I wonder if the chicken could be to oily for her system? I'm going back to the start and use only kibble and canned. I will add the pumpkin if things don't improve in a couple of days. I'm taking the bully sticks away too. If the stool firms up, I'll try adding the chicken back into her diet. If Zoey does OK, I'll add the bully sticks. Hopefully, one of these are the problem. Always looking for help with my 4-legged friends.

[Dog Dancer]

It's not unusual for dogs to have problems with chicken. My lab is allergic to it, but it didn't cause loose stools. You never know though. Good luck.

[petlover84]

why don't your try to switch to some other food products. I have the same problem with my dog before the vet said that we can try to use other brands of dog food and that took care of the problem.

[hankers]

My dog has super loose stools but not every day, however atleast once or twice a week he will have it in his kennel. he is not a barker and he is a BIG boy he is a 90lb english cream retriever. we did take him in to the vet with stool sample it was negative for any parasites and what ever else they test it with... they gave us a pill for him to help stop the runs and gave is hills science diet i/d for a week... it worked we gave hime his food at teh end of the week and it started again.. the only thing that has changed since he was a puppy is we went from the puppy formula to the adult formula nothing else has change... he was on lamb and rice nutro natural large breed puppy and then simple went to the adult large breed form.

we are at our wits end as its a bit tiring that he has his accidents middle of the night.

help!

[lenlibby]

My dog had an infected anal gland so the vet injected an ampicilin based liquid into the gland, which is an anti biotic. a few weeks later she had bad poops, looked like oatmeal. Vet gave her Flagyl which cured this but gave her real loose poops. Tried chicken and rice, did not work. after a couple of weeks, tired a probiotic and seemd to help, then sulphasalazine, but poops got worse, so am now doing probiotic with her regular dog food. At least it seems consistent, loose, but formed. Vet has checked for parasites, but none. Do not want to change her again. How long should I keep her on probioic? Could the anal gland shot caused this?