This weekend, two of my dogs had diareah. The vet gave me some prescription Hills RD wet food that is high-fiber. It worked great, and my dogs had the most solid stool I had ever seen from them.
I have had them on both Innova and Canidae, and there stools have never been very solid (they have both been checked by the vet and are healthy). When I talked to my vet about this today, she said that a lot of the higher-quality foods (which she does recommend) don’t have enough fiber for some dogs, which seems to be the case with mine.
She recommended that I could add a fiber supplement (bran, rice, etc) to my dog’s food, or switch to a higher fiber food such as Purina or Iams formulas. I don’t want to switch to those, but I don’t want to cook rice for my dogs every day either.
Any ideas? Or does anyone know of a high quality food with a good amount of fiber in it?
ADDED: I have tried the plain pumpkin… adding about a tablespoon to each meal for about a month. It didn’t really make much of a difference.
Very common, and this is why a person needs to find the diet that THEIR dog does best on, and forget about all the creative marketing.
I’m sure you know the things to look out for and avoid, like corn, so don’t be afraid to read some labels. Most brands produce more than one formula, so don’t make the mistake of condemning a brand because one formula doesn’t suite your needs.
One of the things I run into on a regular bases is that many Labradors will not retain weight on a Lamb & rice formula, and many will have a loose stool on a Chicken & rice formula, but they all seem to do well on a Lamb & Chicken & rice formula (provided they do not have a food allergy which requires a completely different approach)
Diamond Lamb & Rice – you may have to go to a co-op or Tractor Supply to find
Try Pinnacle, or any high quality kibble that uses alternative fiber sources (ie- kale, pumpkin,sweet potatoe,quinoa) There are plenty of natural high quality alternatives that will keep you away from Sciene Diet and other low grade foods.
You can add canned pumpkin to the dogs’ food for fiber. Not the pie filling with the sugar, just plain canned pumpkin.
look for a food with a higher fiber content (comparable to the hills r/d). you could also try adding some canned pumpkin or metamucil to your dogs food for added fiber.
add- a tablespoon is the amount of pumpkin you would give to a cat. try adding more.
Instead of giving my dog treats like dog cookies I give her carrots, green beans( cooked) , squash or zucchini (cooked) I also throw some of the cooked veggies in her bowl with Kibble..that way she gets the Fiber she needs and she loves it..
Canned 100% pumpkin is also high in fiber and will firm up stools. So maybe you should just put a scoop of canned pumpkin in their food every day? Worth a shot!
ADDED: When I give canned pumpkin, I give more than a tablespoon. I give more like 1/2 a cup, and sometimes more. I don’t think you can overdo it. Maybe you didn’t give enough? Or maybe your dogs just don’t respond to it.
Nature’s Logic is higher in fiber (6%).
http://www.natureslogic.com/
I also ’second’ the adding canned pumpkin option as well.
You could ask your vet about adding a rice bran supplement to your dog’s food. I’m not sure about how much you would add, and it would probably have to be with canned food for the dog to eat it. I did a google search for high fiber dog food and found Royal Canin dog food that’s high in fiber, but it’s also for weight control so I’m not sure if that would work for you. I’ve also heard of people adding canned pumpkin to their dog’s food (not pumpkin pie filling, just canned pumpkin). Hope I helped a little.
We don’t use dog treats…they get frozen veggies (carrots, greenbeans, etc.) About three times a week, I throw some cooked, frozen greenbeans in their food. They also get apples, bananas, and occassionally pb for snacks. I don’t personally know of any higher fiber dog foods…and as was said, what works for one dog, might not work for yours. Good luck!
why not feed your dogs what they would eat in the wild? raw meat and vegetables blended with brown rice for bulk. Our dog had so many problems due to eating (artificial) "dog food". as soon as she went on this diet she lost weight and is as healthy as can be. More of the food is absorbed, thus the stools are a lot smaller, they lose less hair, etc. good luck!
Oatmeal soaked in a bit of water. Doesn’t need to be cooked and you can use the leftover water from your vegies etc.
Rice can be stored in the fridge for days.
I feed raw for the most part, and my dogs get moosh poop occassionally if I don’t have enough bone in their diet. Conversely, they get near dust poop if I feed too much bone for too many days in a row.
I add oatmeal to ground raw when I am trying to bulk a dog up.
Gee, I took my girl to the vet on Friday for Diarrhea (she’s a working girl and had problem poo since Wed). I actually, tried out a new vet (who is holistic) and he gave me some Gastriplex. It worked very well and is a herbal remedy. The website in my source information will tell you exactly how it works and what all is in it. I’m thinking about ordering some and giving it to my girls once a week or so.
Another option is try a bit of yogurt. I started giving my girls a spoonful of Organic, fat free plain yogurt every day because of gas, but it has also cut back on their soft stools as well.