Ever since i got my Akita, Mia. I haven’t found a food that agrees with her yet. When she poops it’s not watery, it’s just not, you know.. solid. I keep her on each food for two months to see if one suits her but so far each just runs through her!! It’s not like she won’t eat the food, cause she will eat ANYTHING! Does anyone know any foods that are high in Fiber or Protein that they know are good… Maybe a higher fiber diet would be helpful?
Any suggestions would be great!!
Oh She’s Five months old if that helps and usually eats wet and dried food mixed. I’ve tried different combination’s but nothing works.
She’s already been wormed and checked by the vet … nothing
I only changer her food if after a month or so on the food it hasn’t changed ANYTHING at all … i’m not frivolously changing the dogs food for the laugh of it.
The food at the moment is called Red mill but it’s a working dog’s food.
Pedigree, Purina, and Almo nature dog food.
Two things stand out here 1) you have been feeding low quality, high grain foods & 2) she’s only 5 months old and you’ve already switched her food 3-4 times.
You need ot get her on a good quality high meat, low grain food and not a low quality high grain store brand and you need to stop switching her food so much. You aren’t giving her system enough time to even become adjusted ot a food before you switch again.
she might have worms or something.. i vote vet
ask your breeder what she feed her when she was a puppy and what she feeds her other dogs, she should know. or ask a vet like someone else said.
Try giving her rice with a little dry food.
It would help if you’d list what you’ve already tried.
The two dry foods I recommend are : Taste of the Wild, and Canidae. As for canned, if you have to mix some in, Canidae canned is wonderful.
Stop changing her foods. It takes dogs about a month for their body to adjust to a new food. It sounds like you change her diet every week or something. That’s why she has the trotts. Put her on some dry dog food and leave it alone.
It could be something other than the food, like a problem with the digestive system. I’d talk with your vet, and see if they can run some tests and see whats going on inside. If not, your vet can prescribe a special food, until she’s mature enough to use a different kind. Good luck!!
I do not know what brand of food you are feeding but very likely you are feeding a "large breed" food – which is higher in fibre. Higher fiber means large and softer stools. Change to a regular dog food for medium breed food – the only reason for the extra in large breed food is that many owners allow them to eat as much as they want and they end up too fat. So try feeding a high quality food with lower fiber (less than 4%) and with animal protein as the first ingredient NOT third or fourth!
Well WHAT foods have you been feeding her so far? I personally would nix the wet food completely and look for a HIGH quality kibble for sensitive systems. I’d recommend one of the Limited Ingredient Diets (LID) from Natural Balance, Wellness Puppy, or Fromm Four Star.
Add:
That helps a ton. Those three foods you listed are horrible quality foods, and if the wet food you’ve been feeding is of comparable value then it’s even worse. Take her OFF wet food completely. Go to a pet store near you and purchase a higher quality food. Stay AWAY from these: Purina, Eukanuba, Hill’s Science Diet, Pedigree, Beneful, Ol’ Roy, and Royal Canin. Good rule of thumb — if you can get it at a grocery store then it’s not good. And just stay away from the wet stuff.
I’d recommend this site to look up reviews on the foods you’ve been feeding, and also to find something new:
Here’s an alphabetical index of reviews:
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog-food-index-a.html
And reviews sorted by rating:
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/
I’ve never heard of Red Mill but did a quick internet search and the ingredients aren’t outstanding. Just because it’s made for "working dogs" doesn’t mean it’s of quality… it means that the company caters to clients who have LOTS of dogs, which means that the ingredients are more likely to be of lower quality. Take Black Gold for instance, it’s marketed for hunting dogs but it is CRAP food. I’d look for something with limited ingredients for now, then if she does well slowly begin to add more ingredients ONE at a time and see if there’s one that she doesn’t do well on.
Feed her on rice with white fish or chicken. If her bowels are still upset after a few days take Mia [and a stool sample] to the vet – she may have a gut infection and need medication. Your vet will advise on re-introducing processed food once you’re sure the problem has cleared up.
what type of foods have you tried? Have they been high-quality?
Watch out- you need to read the ingredients on the food labels- there are alot of "name brand" foods out there that claim to be high quality but are really bad… Basically you want to look for ingredient on the label that you would be willing to eat yourself such as- Chicken, beef, (but not their by-products) you want the main 5 ingredients or so to be healthy and nutritious. (Corn should not be one of them- it is okay as an ingredient but should NOT be one of the primary)
She may just have a sensitive stomach. When I worked at a kennel, we fed the dogs science Diet, sensitive stomach- (I am not a big fan of Science diet) but it seemed to do the job in terms of warding off diarrhea. But once you find a food- you need to stick to it. That could also be upsetting her stomach is all the changes in food.
High quality food may cost you a little more to begin with but it will save you money over time in vet bills and the health of your pet.
Go to your local pet shop like petsmart or petco and ask for help- they should be knowledgeable about the different foods, or at least help to teach you how to read the labels so you can pick one out yourself.
Of course, your vet would be a fabulous resource on this subject. Just be careful because some vets are "sponsored" by brands of pet food so they may try to sell you one based on that (IE– Banfield and science diet). Just read the labels and use common sense and you will have no trouble finding a good, high-quality food.
GL!
ADD- PS, try not to give her wet food- it’s bad for her teeth and could contribute to her little "problem". Rice is a good thing though- you can mix a little into her food and that could help.
orijen
1.)You need to quit switching the food so often that is really bad for a dog.
2.) You need to take your dog to the vet and see what they say.
It sounds like she may have a grain allergy. The foods you listed are very high in grain. I don’t know what Red Mill is. Find a grain free food, or a limited ingredient food. Corn, which is a popular ingredient in many foods is also a major problem in a lot of dogs. Stay away from grocery store foods. They are notoriously low quality. Though many dogs can live long lives on them, Many dogs, like yours cannot process them well. If the the higher quality foods scares you, keep in mind that in most cases, since the dogs are processing more of the food, you end up feeding less. So it works itself out in the end.
I would go with a limited ingredient food to get her stabilized, then try adding different things to try to pinpoint exactly what is causing the problems. If she does not stabilize on the limited ingredient food, a trip to the would be warrented.