[Caitlin H]

Hi there,

I adopted a border collie / great Pyrenees cross. She is apprx about 6 weeks ago. She is 2 yrs old and when we got her we think (foster said he was not sure..) she was eating Pure Balance. We fed that for a week or so and started to transition to a brand that was sold at our grocery store. She was doing great for 4 weeks and then got diarrhea for approx 4 days with a lot of mucon in the stool. We did a fecal at the vet and it came up free of parasites. We assumed she got into something even though we did not catch her doing it.

After she recovered she go another bout of diarrhea about 8 days later. This time just for a day.

We then noticed after picking up a poop there was a white worm in it. We though, must be worms! We took the sample with the worm in it to the vet. They told us they could not find the worm and fecal was still negative for parasites!!

Now the vet is recommending a life of Purina EN and I am not so happy about it! Mostly because there was no diagnosis of anything, just eliminating parasites being the likely cause.

I’d like to explore some store bought alternatives before we resort to a life of prescription food. I know I am not a vet, but their recommendation doesn’t sit right with me as she is otherwise healthy.

Curious if anyone has had similar problems with a dog and what they ended up doing, or if there are specific brands out there that we could try that might work if she has a sensitive stomach.

Thanks!

[Susan]

Hi, sounds like food sensitivity, she is sensitive to an ingredient in the kibble, have you read the ingredients in the super market food she’s eating, what are they?
My rescue Patch was doing the same, I couldn’t feed supermarket food, he was sensitive to the corn gluten meal, barley, chicken & I think the fiber was too high… After trying a heap of premium brand kibbles & vet diets, finally I feed Patch “Taste Of The Wild” Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb & he’s doing beautiful firm poos finally….. I seen on a Face Book group dogs with EPI & IBD were eating “Taste Of The Wild” & “Kirkland Signature Nature Domain” Salmon Meal & Sweet Potato kibble & doing really well so I tried the TOTW Pacific Stream Smoked Salmon first then the Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb, Patch likes the Roasted Lamb more…if you have a Costco close by buy a bag of their Kirkland Signature Nature Domain grain free kibbles are made by Taste Of The Wild & is cheaper then the TOTW kibbles…
What I noticed with the Taste Of The Wild & Kirkland Signature some of the formulas the fiber was only 3% so maybe the fiber plays a big part in making Patches poos firm he needs less fiber not more..
Look at ingredients in the kibble she’s eating & get a grain free kibble with a different protein & carbs….What happened with the Pure Balance she was eating in the beginning?? always pick a limited ingredient kibble, less ingredients are best when they are sensitive too certain ingredients…. You will slowly start to work out what she’s sensitive too as time goes by when you try a few different kibbles or if you do an elimination diet….
It’s best to rotate kibbles with different single protein, once you find a few kibbles she does well on, make sure there’s only have 1 protein in the kibble….
another really good kibble for dogs with sensitive stomachs & IBD do well on is “California Natural” Lamb & Rice it has just 3 ingredients..
http://www.californianaturalpet.com/products
http://www.kirklandsignaturepetsupplies.com/natures-domain-brand

[Caitlin H]

Thanks so much for all the info! We didn’t stick with the pure balance because it was sold in Walmart and I don’t shop there. She did fine on it. My mother in law gave us a couple servings of signature brand, and she did well again. We figured she was a dog that could eat anything and the vet said she could have any of the major labels.. so we tried pedigree. No illness but larger stinky poops.. so then we went to weld harvest, simply because the first ingredients looked alight (but I admit I am not an expert!). We Fed her that for a bit and then when we ran out my husband grabbed trader Joe’s. That’s where the tummy issues started. She’s in obedience so she is getting lots of treats as well and this started on fourth of July weekend and she is scared of fireworks… so honestly It could have been anything to set off. I told my vet all this and that is why I am not too happy they jumped right to a life time of prescription dog food.

Wild Harvest has a ton of ingredients, but the first few were deboned chicken, chicken meal, brown rice, rice flour, and chicken fat… Which is why I picked it. Since the last bout, we have stopped all treats, got rid of the trader Joe’s food and only doing the wild harvest and she is doing good so far. I am going to look into these other suggestions though as like you said, I have heard from lots of people it is good to switch the protein from time to time. I really hope we just did a little too much and little fast… we are going to slow it down and be a little more thoughtful with what we feed her

I have heard so much about TOTW, we might give that a go next. We don’t have a Costco membership unfortunately.

Thanks again! Glad that your pup found a diet that worked

[Author]

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