[Nicole K]

I have been battling bad cases of diarrhea in my border collie pup since we got her. We’ve tried every quality food from TOW, BB, Wellness, and Acana. Nothing seemed to work. After ruling out food allergies, Maci was diagnosed with fiber responsive diarrhea and prescribed Royal Canin Gastro. Well….EVERYTHING cleared up and for the first time, our dog (now 11 months old) is having regular potty – no fountain anymore! However, I am not a fan of the ingredients! Has anyone tried anything else that is easily digestible, low fat, and high fiber that isn’t junk? I run her in agility and I’d love to have a quality dog food in her system that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg for chicken bi-product. Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks!

[Shasta220]

I wonder if it could be as simple as trying to add some pumpkin to her kibble? Pumpkin is an excellent source of fiber and is always my go-to. Or maybe probiotics to help out digestion.

I’m curious to see other peoples’ thoughts, as I’m taking care of a dog who has occasional loose stools….no fun.

[DogFoodie]

Hi Nicole,

I can understand your wanting to look for an alternate low residue food.

What is the fiber in the Royal Canin?

Have you ever tried adding digestive enzymes? Swanson has good human ones that are very budget friendly. I’ve used BioCore Optimum Complete Ultimate Full Spectrum Enzymes, Soil-Based Organisms, and Mercola Digestive Enzymes for pets.

I was looking to see if I could find some grain free, low fat foods that also had lower fiber. Annamaet GF Lean is listed as having 9% fat maximum and 3.5% fiber maximum. Nature’s Logic Sardine has 10% fat and 5% fiber. The Honest Kitchen Zeal has 8.5% fat and 5.8% fiber. Wysong Fundamentals and Wysong Epigen both have 15% fat and 4% fiber. Farmina’s GF Wild Herring has 18% fat minimum, which is likely higher than you want, with 2.6% fiber maximum. Nature’s Variety Instinct Healthy Weight Chicken has 12% fat and 5.5% fiber.

Do any of those foods sound like possibilities?

[crazy4cats]

Hi Nicole-
The vet once prescribed this food for my pups also. It is so expensive for what is in the bag. My dogs were having loose stools as well. Turns out they had a terrible long lasting case of giardia. I assume that you have had a fecal test checking for parasites. If the high fiber helps your dog, you could always add it to another high quality food. You could add a little psyllium, chia seed or pumpkin to add fiber. If you decide to do this, please transition very slowly. I am currently feeding Victor grain free kibble. It contains montmorillonite clay which is known to help with loose stools. I have used different supplements that also help. I often use Gastriplex made by Thorne, Fruitables digestive supplement, Perfect Form made by the Honest Kitchen and probiotics that also help. There is a lot of information on dogaware.com for dogs with loose stools and intermittent diarrhea. Please let me know what you decide to do and how it goes. Good luck!

[Susan]

Hi, the Royal Canin gastro is a low fiber kibble at -1.7% & dietary fiber- 8.6% & low fat-7% as my boy suffers from IBD & Pancreatitis, I could either pick the R/C gastro or the Eukanuba Intestinal.. I picked the Eukanuba as there’s was no by-products & the kibble breaks up real easy (low residue), the Eukanuba cleared his diarrhea up within 2 days.. the vets first tried a higher fiber kibble the Intestinal Plus at 4% fiber which made him worst…my vet wanted Patch on the Eukanuba Intestinal for 1 year to heal the bowel, dont rush these things as you can have a set back & ur girl may get her diarrhea back again, I know the vet prescription food has ingredients that no one likes but it has helped her, the vet prescription diets are made for a reason, Im not a fan but I too got all excited when Patch was pooing beautiful & I could go on a walk & pick it up, so I did the same thing after 3 months I went looking for a better kibble last Nov-Dec, 1 week into slowly changing Patches kibble he got his diarrhea real bad again as soon as he’d eat he’d run to the front door to have to go poo, it was water no blood thank god. I had to put him back on his Eukanuba Intestinal & then 2 days later he was all good again.. Im in the middle of changing is kibble again thats after Patch being on the Eukanuba for 9months now to the Holistic Select Senior he’s only 5years old Patch but the Holistic Select Kibbles are all Low Residue kibbles & they break up real easy… I do my hot water test.. I put a couple of kibbles in boiling hot water, I count to 40 then I pull out 1 kibble, I put the kibble inbetween 2 small teaspoon & crush if it crushes real easy after 40 sec without much pressure I know its a good kibble that will break up easy in his tummy, I’ve tried the Nutro Natural Choice Chicken & rice as this kibble is guaranteed that your dog will do firm poos, Patch did firm poos but he got stomach reflux from the kibble so I tried the lower fat Nutro kibble Lamb & rice he still got his acid reflux, when I did the hot water test the Nutro was a hard kibble it didnt crush easy very hard, so back to the Eukanuba Intestinal, now we are trying the Holistic Select as there’s a good range of flavours & the fiber is low 3.50%…Just take it so slow & its not that bad that she’s on a vet prescription just for now & Ive being soooo slowly changing Patches kibble, Ive been doing it for 1 month now just mixing about 1/4 of a cup to his Intestinal, I also give boiled 1/2 shreaded boiled chicken breast & 2 tablespoon of pumkin mashed together for breakfast his poo is a bit soft eating the chicken & pumkin, I know cause he does 2 poos a day the morning poo is brown/orange (pumkin) & a little softer then his lunch poo which is nice & firm that must be his kibble poo… Lol if you change find a kibble with the same % fat & fiber at first, but Im pretty sure the R/C gastro is a low fiber diet so is the Eukanuba Intestinal at 1.7% fiber..Good-Luck..also you can email the kibble companies for more info as some will say min fiber 3% or min fat% 10% I email them asking for maximum fiber % & fat %, Wellpet is very good they respond within 1 day, Holistic Select is ‘Well Pet’ so is Wellness range & Eagle Pack another low fat & low fiber kibble but I havnt done the test to see if the Eagle Pack breaks up easy..I know the Wellness complete health & Core kibbles are very hard that’s the one that gave Patch the runs again the White Fish & Sweet potato complete health kibble…

[DogFoodie]

Oh gosh, I misread… I was looking for low fat and low fiber. That’ll teach me to read without my contact lens.

Low fat and high fiber is easier!

Orijen Senior has 15% fat and 8% fiber. Wellness Core Reduced Fat has 10% fat and 12% fiber.

While neither are high fiber, a regular poster here has had great luck using Victor GF Ultra Pro with her Doberman that’s prone to diarrhea as well as Abady Granular.

Geesh! Sorry to throw you off! Stick a fork in me, I’m done for the night! ; )

[Susan]

Oh I forgot also look for a kibble with Beet pulp which Royal Canin has in its ingredients, a kibble with Beet Pulp seems to help with Diarrhea, greyhound breeders swear by Beet Pulp…try to get a kibble with similar ingredients to the R/C minues the bad ingredients as the R/C has helped ..

[Nicole K]

Sie66b: Thank you so very much for your info. I have tired the pumpkin and yogurt and that helps a little but not enough to where I can pick up her stools on our walk. Without the prescription we either have “pudding” or “water”. I am going to go very slowly transitioning when I do, but your info. has really given me some guidance of where to go. Thanks SO very much!

[crazy4cats]

Actually, Sue, the fiber response Royal Canin is high fiber, not low. Its analysis is: Protein-21.5%, Fat – 14.5%, Fiber 12.5%. The average kibble is about 4%. This food has three times that much.

[Susan]

Really C4C, The Australian R/C “Gastro low fat” must have a different make-up in ingredients to the American R/C “Gastro Low fat” I dont know why, they would make 2 different kibbles but use the same name.. weird…

[crazy4cats]

Well, now I’m confused. There is a veterinary royal canin formula actually called gastro fiber responsive that l have used. It was high fiber. But now that I re-read her post, she said my dog has fiber responsive diarrhea. So maybe fiber does cause her dog to have diarrhea and she is not using the fiber responsive food after all. My apologies. Hope she has it figured out! Lol!

[Nicole K]

Well…now I’m confused as well. The R/C Gastro that I am using is “Fiber Response”. From how the vet explained her condition to me, her body is unable to process foods that don’t have enough soluble fiber. Also, the extra fat in some foods won’t work with her digestive system either. So, the grain free high protein foods so highly recommended don’t work for my dog. I need low fat, high fiber (that is easily digested) that works like the R/C Gastro Fiber Response.

Sorry if my lack of clarity on the type of “Gastro” food caused overall confusion – I simply was unaware their were other “Gastro” options out there by R/C.

So….suggestions now?

[Susan]

I see, so you also would need a lower protein food aswell, as alot of the kibbles that are grainfree are high protein also.. The Holistic Select has the Weight Management ‘Chicken meal & peas” the fiber-9% & fat-7.50% & 10.50% Protein-21% Holistic Select is also money back guaranteed if it makes him poop or wont eat… http://www.holisticselect.com have a look at the Guaranted Analysis & see if its nilly the same in fat% Protein% & fiber% as the R/C….. you may have to email H/S to get the dietary fiber % as they only have to put certain % on their kibble bag.. Good-luck..

[Susan]

Hi again, have you gone to the “Reveiws” at the top of post o ur left u’ll see n the “SearchResults” type in low fat low protein & high fiber…. I just did & about 20 different brand foods have come up, dry, wet & 1 freeze Dried by Stella and Chewys….Just remember to do the spoon test/hot water with the new kibble to see if it breaks up easy..

[crazy4cats]

I think Betsy’s suggestion of Wellness Core reduced fat is a great recommendation. In my opinion, your dog cold use a little more protein while keeping the fat low and the fiber high. Just remember to transition slowly. Also remember my tips that I mentioned earlier about adding fiber with psyllium or chia. Good luck!

[DogFoodie]

I wonder if it could be anecdotal and that the higher protein foods you’ve tried in the past didn’t have the right kind / levels of fat and fiber for your pup; therefore leading you to believe that the higher protein contributed to the problem.

I have a pup with food intolerances that I’m constantly trying new foods for; but if his reaction was diarrhea as opposed to a red inflamed ear, I’d probably be less likely to experiment with him as much.

Do take a look at Wellness Core Reduced Fat and see what you think.

Edit: I wish Patty were around. She has a lot of experience with BC’ s and would likely have some thoughts and suggestions, too. She’s been busy taking care of an aging, infirm relative or she’d be here.

[crazy4cats]

Well, according to her response, the vet just told her low fat and high fiber. It seems that those two are more of an issue than the protein. But that being said, the food that I believe she is feeding now is low protein and she probably shouldn’t jump up too quick to a higher protein. As I mentioned earlier, I fed this food for a while prescribed by my previous vet. I just couldn’t believe the cost of it. Especially after looking at the ingredients. I didn’t even know half of what I do now and common sense told me that I was paying way too much for powdered cellulose, rice hulls, corn and wheat. I think it was over $3 per pound.

[LexiDog]

In addition to Wellness CORE Reduced Fat, you should also look at
Earthborn Weight Control:
Protein: 25% (Dry Matter 27.8%)
Fat: 7 (Dry Matter 7.8%)
Fiber: 9 (Dry Matter 10%)
DFA Rating: 4

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