Neverending Loose Stool

My best results have been on salmon based food.  I use Purina One Sensitive Skin and Stomach.  However, you might want to check out Flint River's salmon or trout options.  I think those meets all your requirements.

i no pretty much nothing about nutrition. but i have had the same issue with moca for a long time. she is now on purina pro plan salmon and brown rice formula since summer and FINALLY she has firm stools...

so yeah, i guess that goes with what mrv suggested...

good luck...

JD_Shelties

but his suggestion was no help since he supports Iams & Science Diet

Of course...a vets best source of revenue.

How much does your dog get fed on a daily basis...first thought that comes to mind is perhaps it could be cut back.  Sometimes too much food in a day can cause loose stools. 

I have 3 large dogs...and 1 of them requires about 1/3 less than the others.  If he gets the same amount...I have the same problem with loose stools.

Just a thought.  Good luck with your pooper.  And, welcome to the board.

First I would pick one food that you can use for a longer period of time (rather than rotating/switching between the ones listed).  Then I would put the dog on a bland, "elimination" diet for a week.  The elim diet contains one carb and one protein source.  There are different onces out there.  What I use is a 50/50 mix of plain white instant rice and boiled ground beef.  I boil the beef and strain it under hot water to rinse out all the grease.  The rice I do in the microwave.  I make several "casseroles" of this stuff and feed it to the dog the same as kibble (so if my dog eats 3 cups of kibble a day, he gets 3 cups of this mix, usually broken into 2-3 meals).  I do this for a week to clean out and rest the digestive system.  Then, I slowly starting mixing in my chosen kibble with this casserole over a period of a few days until the dog is back on all kibble.  I would try to feed the same kibble for at least a week or two to evaluate if the elim diet helped, before using other formulas.

If the vet has done stool samples and ruled out whips, giardia, etc. and there are still loose poops I'd ask about a round of metronidazole.  This has worked on two of my dogs once or twice each, when they had persistent poop issues not apparently caused by a common parasite.

We struggled through the same issues with River for over a year, he had ever test, sonograms etc he was found to be in good health.  The doctor finally said IBS.  I change foods with no different long lasting results.  I think began to give him Flint River Ranch and he does his best on there trout and potato formula.   I think that changing food on a regular basic for a dog with these issues only make it worse.  You do need to pick something and stick with it and always change gradually and not suddenly.  My dog would NOT do well with food rotation!  You can also look into adding missing link or Psyllim Husk (Fiber).  When we decided to stick with Flint River Ranch we began to add psyllium husk (gradually) and kept that in his diet for four months and then gradually removed it - he has been doing pretty well since them.  Psyllim is cheap and may cause gas at first that's why you need to add it slowly but it is a natural colon cleanser and natural fiber which helps absorb the water in the colon.  It helped us gets Rivers digestive system back on track.

Wow! Thank you so much to everyone for your timely replies and wonderful advice!!

After reading everyone's opinion I have a couple more questions...

Liesje - For a non-grain & beef alternative could I use Potato & Chicken/Fish? My concern is giving her grains after not feeding them to her in years. Any suggestions? I'm also going to keep in mine the metronidazole and look into more information about this.

CoH - She does get a lot less food than the rest, she's also the smallest. I do agree with your theory how over eating can cause the loose stools though.

What does everyone think about California Natural's Herring Formula? I'm not sure if my store carries Flint River... I'm going to look into that though based off of everyone's recommendation. Also, the dogs don't rotate food, each of them just eat a different Kibble. RAW here and there for the agility boys just for a fun mid-meal alternative, but that's it.

luvmys - I'm going to look into this colon cleaning idea too... the biggest the list of possible ideas the better that this point! I feel as if I've thrown my hands up in complete confusion...

Thanks again for everyones help. Happy to be a member.

 Welcome to the forum! 

How long have you had this rescue and where did she come from?  If she came from a shelter, I'd have the vet do a round of panacur, and then another in two weeks, even if stool samples are negative.  Coccidea (if she's young) and giardia (any age) are really hard to see sometimes in a stool sample.  If the vet is uncooperative, you can purchase Safeguard from any pet supply place and just follow the directions.  It's very effective and won't harm your dog at all if there's nothing in there after all.

Since you are having the best luck with a simple diet, try putting her on a super limited ingredient diet for the few weeks you'll be treating her with the safeguard/Panacur.  I'd suggest fish and sweet potato since they are not novel for her, but have not caused noticeable flareups.  There's a recipe here on Monica Segal's site if you are nervous about it being super balanced, or you can just give her, for the three weeks, an even simpler diet:

• Two cans salmon
• Three pounds white fish, steamed or lightly baked (weigh after cooking)
  
• One sweet potato, baked and pureed with skin
• One pound white potato, ditto
• One pound zucchini, steamed and pureed with skin
  
• Two eggs, processed with shell (cut this out first if she shows any signs of intolerance)
  

That should be a week's worth of food if your rescue is 25 to 30 pounds (I'm assuming sheltie so correct me if I'm wrong).  That's not balanced at all but will not harm her for the short time she'd be on it.  If you liked cooking and wanted to go longer term on it, check out the resources at Monica Segal's site for cooking for a dog with allergies, or do a consult with someone like Mordanna at Better Dog Care.  There's also plenty of resources to go it alone but I'm not that brave!  :)

Thank you brookcove for the warm welcome! We've had her for about two years now and the Vet says she's in great condition. We got her through a Sheltie Rescue. She's the smallest of my gang weighing about 13.6 lbs right now. [The rest of the Shelties I handle are between 15 - 24 lbs] But she is super runt tiny... for all we know we think she's a purebred but maybe not... I'm going to try the diet you suggested! It looks wonderful. Thank you very much for all of this information and links as well. I've been thinking about this all day because it must hurt to have loose stool all the time and I just feel bad for my little girl... =( And being a long haired dog... if it isn't 100% firm messy messy bum bum... I also am going to up her exercise a little bit more, just to keep her moving and healthy... she's really played "the family pet" right now which leads to less "activity" per say... she isn't fat by any means but probably out of shape for sure. Your dogs are beautiful! I am a sucker for the Herding breeds... I'd like to get them doing what they were born to do (herd) but I think I'll stick to getting better at Obedience & Agility for now. =)

 Welcome to the forum!

I know canned pumpkin (not the pie filling but just PLAIN pumpkin) helps firm things up, but as this seems to be a constant problem I'd definitely look into the food.  My dog does best on fish formulas (Orijen fish at the moment) and there are plenty of them out there.  If you're willing to go the homecooked route brookcove definitely knows her stuff.  I might be tempted, in your position, to TRY the pumpkin as a temporary measure just to give your girl some relief.

 

from what you are saying it sounds like she'll be on one food, be fine for a while, and then get diarrhea while on the same food?  I would suspect something other than the diet is causing this.

 Not to hijack your thread - but while we're on the topic my dog (6yrs) has always had soft stools and the furry bum to go along with it LOL! For many years I had him on Canidae(sp). He had the firmest stools on this, but not great. I more recently switched him to Origin with poor results so I have switched him back to Canidae. The stools were still soft and he would have small, numerous bowl movements instead of one larger one. 2 weeks ago I started adding Purina Pro to the Canidae and it has made a big difference. His stools are much more formed (but not hard) and he usually passes all in one movement. I am now wondering if the premium foods did not produce enough stool for him? Not enough ruffage? What do you guys think?

mudpuppy

from what you are saying it sounds like she'll be on one food, be fine for a while, and then get diarrhea while on the same food?  I would suspect something other than the diet is causing this.

 

  I agree; you may want to start another thread in the Health section. This could be something like IBD or IBS, and you would probably get some good suggestions from members with dogs with sensitive digestive systems. The only suggestion I have is to keep a record of which foods cause this, and their ingredients. Jessie has soft stools on foods with corn, so I've learned to avoid foods containing it. You said you prefer grain free foods, but perhaps your dog has an intolerance to potatoes?

  

 It sounds kind of silly, but is she on probiotics or digestive enzymes? My Crested has a weird tummy. She can eat anything she wants, but if she's stressed? Insta-diarrhea. Giving her half a human probiotic pill, daily (and she's 13 lbs, too), with digestive enzymes on her food (Dogzyme, specifically), has solved that, completely. Of course, right  now, she's stressed and on antibiotics, so... we have diarrhea. Silly Crested!

Thank you so much to everyone for all your help and suggestions. Dog owners are always so giving! =)

What do you all consider Diarrhea/Loose/Stool/Soft Stool...

I would say she's got a combination Soft Stool / Loose... It comes out as soft stool then at the very end it is drippy (so nasty I know, sorry for the graphic explanation...) =O

Just going to throw it out there... Ivermectin? This always happens around Heart Worm medication time... and my Breeder's Breeder (haha what a silly thing to call someone) told me that one of her dogs had a bad reaction with Ivermectin and it's fairly common in Shelties???

But my overall thoughts about it is the food... I feel like a pet store with all the kibble I have. I'm always trying a new one with her constantly because it just never firms up like the rest of the dogs.

I called the Vet again yesterday and he insisted that nothing was wrong it's just a food reaction (as if I have bad food or something... *sigh*) He said if it would make me feel better they could run furthers tests but recommended that before I run up a bill, for my family's sake, try a blan diet. And the Vet thinks my Ivermectin theory is not true but we can always switch HW medication if it would make me feel more comfortable.

Oh boy... it's tough being a Furry Dog Mother...