kellyms
Posted : 5/17/2006 2:28:57 PM
Oh boy do we have a problem. Our dog is about 19 lbs and is a beagle mix. He's almost a year old. He has anal sac issues on an ongoing basis, and we have problems getting him to eat the right thing so his poop is firm and helps his glands do what they're supposed to do. The vet wants him on a "lite" kibble mainly because of the grains involved---for the very same reason. He needs fiber.
Because he tends not to be crazy about kibble, we've mixed in stuff over time...yogurt, a little peanut butter, pumpkin, even a bit of leftover gravy to get him to eat. We've been feeding him Royal Canin lite, but we've been gradually trying to mix in some Innova to get him on some good food. His poop is soft, even when we add pumpkin in.
He had a bout of diarrhea earlier and was on antibiotics, and the vet gave us some Science Diet Prescription I/D to help calm his tummy a bit (which he wouldn't eat, of course). We're at our wit's end because he will only eat meat products or cheese and nothing is helping the soft stools.
I think we've caused this to some degree by adding in stuff to get him to eat, but we also want to make sure that somehow he ingests something to help with his anal sacs. Right now we've also got him on some omega fatty acid supplements that we put on his food at the vet's suggestion and the next step will either be antihistimines (they think some of his problems are allergy-related because he was chewing on his paws) and/or a hypoallergenic diet.
Any thoughts or suggestions? We're afraid of the diet because then he will get NO treats, only the "special" kibble (which I think is lamb and potato or duck and potato).