Bloody diarrhea caused from food intolerance?

ORIGINAL: kelly_c

Cooked rice goes right through Charlie undigested, and no, it's not pretty!  I fed raw for about a year with no problems at all, I tried the Nature's Variety and it made both dogs poop too frequently.  It seemed like other problems started happening after I started on the NV like fleas, but I can't be possitive.  Anyway, after reading scary articles on feeding raw, I decided not to take any chances and I'm now joining the "What kibble should I feed my dog" group.  I will probably go to mostly cooked as soon as I can find a good formula to make sure they get a balanced diet.  For now, I'm giving the younger one TO Wild & Natural because he seems to be doing great on it and he loves it.  I'm thinking about trying the Natural Balance Duck and Potato for Charlie.

 
Wow, it seems to be fairly common for rice to go through  Shih Tzus undigested. Very interesting! I hope Natural Balance Duck & Potato works for Charlie. I've heard a lot of really good feedback about that food. It's grain free, so that's awesome and it has only 1 protein and 1 carbohydrate source so that should be really good for a dog with a sensitive digestive system. I don't want to jinx you, but I have a good feeling about it! []
 
Just curious which Nature's Variety food you fed them- was it the raw?
 
 

Haha yet another post by a shih tzu owner! [sm=clapping%20hands%20smiley.gif]I also have 2 shih tzus. My 7 month old puppy had soft stool with a bit of mucus the first couple of weeks when we got her. Turned out to be coccidia and Albon did the trick. My 19 month old shih tzu is the one with the problems now. She has soft mucousy diarrhea on and off. It started in May. The vet tested her stool twice for giardia and worms but it was all negative. At the time, most of her stool was firm and normal looking, but they were followed by a small bit of softer lighter stool covered in mucus. She has had 4 more episodes of it since July but her stool seems to be getting worse when it happens. Big volume, completely soft and is almost all mucus. [:'(](sorry for the graphic info) I notice that when this happens, she doesn't have a poop the following day. There is no blood in her stool or increase in frequency. I just have no idea what could be wrong with her. She was eating Natural Balance Ultra Premium dry but it seemed to make her poop a lot (nice firm stools though), so I switched to California Natural Lamb & Rice (also nice firm stools except when she has her mucus attack lol). I am waiting to finish another bag before I try Pinnacle Duck and Potato to see if  there's an improvement. If there is, I would conclude that it was the rice or the lamb that has been causing the problems. She doesnt seem to have digestive problems with rice though as I have fed it to her several times with no problems (never seen undigested rice in her stool). I am also going to try Eagle Pack Holistic Solutions which is a digestive aid for diarrhea, loose stool and stomach upsets. I am crossing my fingers. Good luck to you guys! [sm=happy.gif]

Just curious which Nature's Variety food you fed them- was it the raw?

I first started on the freeze dried for travelling.  After that, I used the raw for a while.
There's just so much stuff in their food.  It seems like overkill to me. 
 
Hi shihtzumummy, my vet mentioned the possibility of Inflamatory Bowel Desease.  Maybe that's fairly common in Shih Tzus.  She said the only way to really get a conclusive test is by doing an invasive surgery and that it's better to try and control it through diet.

Hi all--
 
Kelly, my vet also suspects IBD/IBS as the culprit for Oscar's issues.  Her thought is that it is caused by grain and high strarch foods that take a long time to digest, thus fermenting in the bowel and causing inflammation, i.e., mucous.  Believe me, we tried almost every kibble known to man, even grain free, to no avail.  He just does not digest the kibble effeciently, so we were very happy when the NV raw worked so well.  I agree that it seems like there are soo many ingredients, but it worked well for us.
 
As Sophia suggested, the best thing to do is to heal his intestinal system.  We also did this for my guy, by adding the enzyme and probiotic powder. I forgot to mention that  we also started him on salmon oil and L-glutamine to help in healing the gut.  Needless to say the combination of things seemed to do the trick.
 
He is stilll on NV raw and we also supplement with fresh meats---he generally won't touch ANY vagetables, but will occasionally eat some fruits.  He gets plenty of RMB's and bullies for chewing--these are the only things he can chew that do not give him diarrhea.  He LOVES the Zuke's bones, but he will always get mucousy poop afterwards--my vet suspects it's the potato starch.
 
Anyway, good luck with this--it's time-consuming and a lot of trial and error, but you will find what works best for Charlie.
 
By the way, all these shih tzu babies are adorable!!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Oh how I can relate!  I have 3 Shih Tzus.  "Charlie" is 13, Josie is 11 and Missy is 9.  They all have different intolerents.  We have to fix 3 totally different "plates" at feeding time.  Charlie and Josie are somewhat similar but Missy is allergic to everything, she can only eat prescription food.  I have to "cook" special for Charlie and Josie.  They can eat nothing that has been processed.  Chicken, sweet potato, eggs and carrots are pretty much all they get.  I try to differ it so that they don't get bored.  It is a chore but one that we do out of love to keep our little ones healthy.

Oddly enough, Oscar does not tolerate potato either

What kind of reaction did he get from potato?  How did you narrow it down to potato?  I'm giving Charlie potato because it's supposed to be an easily digestible carbohydrate.

ORIGINAL: kelly_c

Just curious which Nature's Variety food you fed them- was it the raw?

I first started on the freeze dried for travelling.  After that, I used the raw for a while.
There's just so much stuff in their food.  It seems like overkill to me. 

Hi shihtzumummy, my vet mentioned the possibility of Inflamatory Bowel Desease.  Maybe that's fairly common in Shih Tzus.  She said the only way to really get a conclusive test is by doing an invasive surgery and that it's better to try and control it through diet.

 
Kelly- I just have to say, Charlie is ADORABLE in that picture. [] That's exactly how I want Gingerbread groomed next time! I need to get that pic to my groomer! lol

Kelly--
After we had Oscar stabilized--no mucous for 30 days, we started to add fresh foods to his diet.  The first of which was white potato--boiled and chopped finely--he loved it, but that evening and next day, he had loud, gurgly stomach noises.  Two days later, he had samll chunks of potato in his stool, along with a bit of mucous.  Oddly enough, he had that same gurgly stomach and mucousy stool after chewing on the Zuke's chewie (which he also loved).  Vet suspects the potato starch, so we just don't give him potato anymore.  He has no problems with sweet potato, though.

Hello! I am new to this site and would like to just throw in my two cents if I may. Maya, my six year old boxer was diagnosed with colitis about four months ago. We have switched her and her Brother to TWO wild n natural. Maya hasn't had any problems since we have eliminated the grains. They are also fed a grain-free dog cookie made by Innova-Evo. I do hope your baby feels better

Shih Tzus shure seem to have digestive issues.  I hope Charlie can tolerate the Natural Balance Duck & Potato.  I've been mixing it with TO Wild & Natural.  I may go to mostly home cooked, I just need to find a good (& easy) recipe so I know they're getting all the nutrients they need.
 
Thanks Kim (Boxermom4) I appreciate your "two cents"
 
Has anyone tried the Solid Gold Seameal?  I just bought some and I'm starting to add it to their food. 
 
 

ORIGINAL: kelly_c

Oddly enough, Oscar does not tolerate potato either

What kind of reaction did he get from potato?  How did you narrow it down to potato?  I'm giving Charlie potato because it's supposed to be an easily digestible carbohydrate.

Just a thought but some dogs are allergic to white potato but do well with Sweet Potato. Sweet is from the morning Glory family and White is from the Night Shade, so two very different veggies. Yam has a family all it's own (Yam family).

The white contains alkanoids which can be allergenic  (though cooking reduces them).