[wendy w]

I sure need some help please! A little history first. I have a 5lb chihuahua who is 11 years old who developed chronic constipation. I have taken her to the vet and she put her on Hill’s prescription diet (digestive care i/d canned) plus the vet prescribed probiotics. I have been doing some research and learning Hill’s has caused many pets to become sicker over time. This does not sit well with me. I would like to make her food so I know what is going into it and she will be happy and healthy.

I came across a website that gave me a simple recipe of baked chicken with skin and fat but bones removed, boiled egg, egg shell finely grounded and white rice. At this website they said this is not a well balanced diet by itself and supplements will be needed to make it so. So I bought their supplement to add to her food. Their directions say to make sure to fast you dog for 24 hours and to feed half of what she normally eats after the fast and to only give a 1/4 of the supplement. Basically, wean her into it for a few days so her digestive tract will get used to her new diet this made sense to me. After a few days gradually increase both amounts of food as well as the supplement….and I did!

Well, it all went south there after. I did fast my baby and only gave her a 4 tablespoons twice a day for 2 days and then added on the 3rd day a sprinkle of the supplement. What a nightmare there after. She had diarrhea everywhere. I called the vet she said to add a little plain pumpkin( not the pie mix) I did, and that seemed to help but my baby hates pumpkin so after a few times she refused to eat. So I figured she was doing better so I removed the pumpkin and the diarrhea came back. I also just tried just giving her the chicken recipe without the supplement to see if it was that causing the diarrhea but no she got it just from eating 4 tablespoons of the chicken, rice, hard boiled egg, and egg shells.

My chi is a very finicky eater and does not like most things. Does any one have any suggestions on what I can feed her so she doesn’t get diarrhea as well as constipation.

Sorry this was so long!!!!
Thank you in advance, I appreciate everyone’s help!!

[anonymously]

I hope you will go back to your vet and see what he advises. There is a lot of inaccurate information on the internet.
There is nothing wrong with prescription dog food, it has helped many dogs. Ask the vet if you can add a bite of something tasty to it.

More Nonsense from Holistic Vets about Commercial Therapeutic Diets

[Bobby dog]

Hello wendy w:
I agree with anonymously’s post. I wouldn’t feel comfortable if my dog had digestive upset for any length of time and would want to rule out any other health issues.

I make balanced homemade meals for my dog using Balance IT Carnivore Blend. I am not sure how many recipes you can make with their recipe generator, but it must be hundreds. Check out the site and take a look at the ingredients you can use to make meals along with their supplements. Many of the ingredients that you can choose from are found in most grocery stores.

They do offer other supplements, but I have only used Carnivore Blend. I am very happy with it and my dog loves his meals. The recipes I make are very simple, but you can generate recipes using a variety of ingredients.

The Vet nutritionists at Balance IT will also work with your Vet to make a recipe specifically for your dog if necessary. Good luck!

https://secure.balanceit.com/

https://secure.balanceit.com/recipegenerator_ver4/index.php?

[wendy w]

anonymously, I agree with you about a lot of inaccurate information on the internet. Before, I changed my dogs diet I did consult my vet to see what I was going to give her was okay. She said it was fine and she liked the idea. Then again, I asked my vet when she started having diarrhea and my vet suggested adding pumpkin to settle her stomach down and it did work but my little one does not like pumpkin.

As far as prescription dog food maybe you are right and then again maybe you are wrong. I just want more of a natural approach without any additives, fillers, etc.

I came here to see if anyone else had similar problems when they started their furbabies on homemade food and what they did that helped them. My vet is very much involved in my babies condition.
Thank you for your help 🙂

[wendy w]

Hello, Bobby dog,
I understand your concern as I am also concerned that is why I am here. My little has been to the vet from the very beginning, she has been tested for obstruction, tumors, cancer, and so forth. According to the vet she is healthy just showing her age. As the vet put it her digestive track is slowing down so she needs some help!

Before, I changed my dogs diet I did consult my vet. She said it was fine and she liked the idea because she knew how finicky my little one is.

Thank you for the website link I really haven’t had a chance to get a good look at it but I love the idea that The vet nutritionists at Balance IT will also work with my Vet. That is important to me!
Thank you for your help 🙂

[Bobby dog]

Hello again wendy w:
Sounds like you are on top of your pups health!!

I understand the changing digestive systems of seniors all too well lately. I have a horse in his mid 30’s, two 18 year old kitties, my dog and other cats are considered seniors as well, but you would never know it so I won’t label them yet. I just recently sorted out a new feeding regimen for my sr. horse due to digestive issues.

If you don’t find what you are looking for at Balance IT another option would be to consult a Vet Nutritionist. Here’s the ACVN site for boarded nutritionists:
http://www.acvn.org/directory/

[wendy w]

A quick up date. I called my vet and she suggested to give my little one pepto bismol to get her belly calm down first. That worked like a charm!

She said then to introduce each of the foods separately for a few days and to add a little water. First, start her off with boiled non-seasoned white rice with a little water 1/2 cup in the a.m. and again in the p.m. for three days. If everything is working good then introduce her to just boiled chicken no skin or seasoning just plain chicken with a little water 1/2 cup in the a.m. and again in the p.m. for three days. She said to give her a call in a week and we will go from there. So far she is doing great no diarrhea or constipation!

Again, I would like to thank everyone for their help! I hope with the information I just added maybe I can help someone else’s baby who may be going through what my little one is!

• This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by wendy w.

[wendy w]

Hello again to you too Bobby dog,
Thank you again for another great site! I will be looking at this one as well! I knew this was a great place to come! There is so much wonderful information to be had from people like yourself who have experienced similar situations.

[Bobby dog]

You’re welcome. Several of the Vets on the ACVN site have their own websites as well. One in particular has a q & a section that you may find useful. I don’t recall any other boarded nutritionist that does, but not sure about that.

https://www.petdiets.com/Ask-the-Nutritionist

[SaltiDawg]

In a nutshell the Vet said feed her a bland diet of boiled rice and boiled chicken breast.

This is main stream advice for both diarrhea OR constipation. After a day or so, introduce some of her kibble and possibly additional fiber. (Pumpkin, or my favorite, a handful of All Bran Cereal.)

Note this does address the CAUSE, just addresses the SYMPTOMS! It’s worked for my dogs for many decades.

[SaltiDawg]

CORRECTION: Note this does NOT address the CAUSE, just addresses the SYMPTOMS! It’s worked for my dogs for many decades.

Added the word “NOT” to my post immediately above.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by SaltiDawg.

[Natalie C]

I’ve had the same problem! Except mine is doing the opposite of pooping less often. I’m going to assume that it’s the change in her diet taking time to adjust but I’m not sure as well. Always worried about my fur babies tho lol

[poodaddy]

Ahhh, it is the weekend again and time to post good stuff. A lot of the above sounds soooo familiar with our situation for our both dogs, plus we had many other simultaneous symptoms occurring with our dogs, inconsistent stools, anal gland flare-ups, tooth/gum issues, we had been “fighting” the symptoms for so long it seemed we were destined for either living with it or changing the outcome. We were at the 4-year mark with our two cockapoos and I had enough of the personal ignorance and following everyone’s prescriptions including our Vet’s. So,… the long road on research and learning began (and it still continues), discussions with our Vet at a far more informed level (or at least the level I could study to), lots of webinars listened to given by licensed Vets with pet nutrition specializations, and reading reading reading. Talking to senior GOV nutritionists including the USDA, talking with pet consultant business owners, etc – you get the idea now that this was a lot of figuring out stuff that I could find in one condensed place. The secret we eventually (over an intense investigation period of months) came to was that we needed to take charge of the food data and get it done (science-based input = good results/output). The bottom-line in our case is that until we went to a complete raw food diet (this means really knowing first-hand what we were doing), we were destined on a course of mediocrity or worse and chasing symptoms which I (we) had enough of. The addition of ground bones and connective tissue with the raw diet addressed many issues (but that is just the beginning of the solutions). The experience, learning, demystification of misinformation, disinformation, and anecdotal information that is “out there” is staggering. This whole experience of ours is one that is very enriching and I am on a quest to tell everyone I can about the lessons learned, the solutions put into practice, the observations and iterations to make tweeks to the raw diet, etc needed to take control. On the money side, we have avoided thousands of dollars and or lots of worrisome situations with our two dogs. Because cost comes up regularly, our food cost ranges from an average of $1.00-$1.25 per dog per day (13.5 lb and 15.5 lb) not including time to plan, design, iterate, shop, prepare, manufacture, bag, clean up. And our Vet just smiles at us when we go in for the check-ups and tells us congratulations, you have broken some barriers of ignorance and have the data to back up your “program”. So, we are on the quest to get this project done and share the nutrition model (and all that goes into it) with those who want or need to start where we are and not have to recreate it. The model is in the final phase of designing the menu analysis section for supplements needed (or not needed) but it is based on nutrition data. Disclaimer: the model does not address any aspect of diet for treating diagnosed disease(s). The model is about proper diet and maximizing probability of prevention of problems that can be avoided by applying nutrition science.

[Gary W]

Give the dog a small meal of boiled white meat chicken (no bones or skin) and white rice. This can be the dog’s diet until the stool consistency returns to normal. If the diarrhea continues for more than 24 hours or your dog’s condition worsens at any time, call your vet immediately.

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