[CMZ]

The vet has my dog on the Royal Canin Venison & Potato. He wqs a stray who had chronic diarrhea, probably from parasites. It took us close to a year to resolve all his digestive issues. He has been doing great about 9 months now. My problem is he does not like the RC Venison and Potato, and quite frankly neither do I. I have tried Ziwi Peak, he loved it, but by the time I got him transferred over to it completely he would get soft stools, same thing with Natures Logic. I did the change over a 2 month period, I go very slow not to upset his digestive system.
Does anyone have any ideas???
I had one thought, which was the RC has potato the Ziwi and Natures logic did not. So I am currently trying Pure Vida Bison and sweet Potato, again I am going very slow. He is a 95 lb Great Pyr. so I am giving him about 3/4cup of Pure Vida and 1 cup RC twice a day, built up to that over a two week period.
Stools are pretty good, but he doesn’t seem to be wild about it.

Thanks for any thoughts

[Hound Dog Mom]

You could try adding a limited ingredient venison-based canned food, dehydrated food or raw food to make the dry more palatable.

Canned Options:
-EVO Grain-Free 95% Venison
-Canine Caviar Green Venison Tripe
-Natural Balance LID Venison & Sweet Potato
-Addiction Venison and Apple Entree
-Wysong Venison Au Jus

Dehydrated Options:
-Grandma Lucy’s Artisan Venison
-Addiction Fig’licious Venison Feast

Frozen Raw:
-Primal Canine Venison Formula

Also, another dry food that’s venison based and limited in ingredients to possible try would be Addiction’s Viva La Venison.

All of the formulas I mentioned contain venison as the only protein source and some of the canned formulas contain only venison and no other ingredients (aside from vitamins/minerals) so they shouldn’t trigger any sensitivities.

I would also recommend supplementing his diet with a high quality multi-strain probiotic supplement and digestive enzymes to help strengthen his digestive system. A spoonful of pumpkin with each meal during the transition may help as well.

[neezerfan]

Hi CMZ,

I just found this thread and was wondering how things are going with your dog? I have a rescue dog that is now eating the RC Potato and Venison and it is working very well for him, frankly, it’s a god-send! I am using a combo of the dry and canned. Did you try the canned? One thing I see is these foods seem to be very low in fat and I’m wondering if that has any bearing on the situation? I think the RC rx foods are a higher quality than what RC sells to the general public. But I would like to find some alternatives so he’s not eating the same thing day after day. We’re going to try the potato and rabbit but would also like alternatives of another brand.

[Susan]

Hi Neezefan, yes ur right, you need a low fat kibble, my boy was on the vet diet Eukanuba Intestinal, when I tried changing his kibble I had to stick to the same fat % as the Eukanuba Intestinal also if I increased the protein to much we’d have sloppy poos, the Wellness Simple limited ingredients is good….I really think the vet diets work cause their fat & protein is lower, so if you find a kibble with better ingredients then vet diets try to stick around same amount of fat% & protein%….

[DogFoodie]

I think without knowing her dog’s symptoms and history, we can’t know for sure that her dog necessarily “need[s] a low fat kibble.”

I believe every dog has thresholds for protein, fat and fiber; as well as those ingredients that are know to contribute to gastric symptoms; such as: legumes and flax.

Neezerfan, what were your dog’s symptoms before he started on the Royal Canin? Did your vet make a diagnosis? Why did the very choose the food that s/he did for your dog?

[CMZ]

Hi Neezerfan
I have since taken my dog off the Royal Canin Venison and Potato.
He did do well on it as far as his stools, but he really didn’t like it, and pretty much wouldn’t eat.
I have tried several foods for him. For him I don’t think it is the type of protein as was once thought.
As I had said in an earlier post, if he has something that has too much protein, or too rich he will get loose stools.
I keep him on a grain free diet but I think it has to have some form of potato, preferably sweet potato. I don’t know why or if this is really true, but it seems to work.
I tried Pure Vida Bison and Sweet Potato which he did well on. I would also top it with can food, I think it was Merrick Venison, or Buffalo. He did well on it, no loose stools,
but he seemed to get tired of that as well, and became very fussy.
I am currently feeding him Lotus Duck, which is a baked kibble and supposedly retains more nutrients because it is baked. I have found this frozen food My Perfect Pet, which he loves. This is cooked then frozen, so it is really fresh. This is why I don’t think my guy has any issues with the type of protein, because, these are made with beef, chicken, lamb. He loves them, and does very good on it, again no loose stools. He is a 95 lb pyrenees and I feed him twice a day, 1 cup of dry and 1 brick of my perfect pet. He has been on this for at 4-6 months and doing very well. And he still likes it! 🙂
As I said earlier, my guy was a stray, we found him at 3-4 months old. (he is now 3-1/2) Who knows what he ate. I personally think it did a number on his GI. He had SIBO, malnutrition, malabsorption etc. He was a sick little guy. We had him on the RC and antibiotics for quite some time. It took well over a year before we had his GI controlled, and I started to experiment with different foods. He still gets his B12 every month, takes probiotics every day, mostly as a precaution. He will still get stress diarrhea and probably always will.
I don’t know what your dogs symptoms are, hope this helps.

[neezerfan]

I got my dog from a rescue at age 2 1/2. At that time the vet said he was underweight. He was 12 lbs, she said she’d like to see him at 13 or 14 lbs. His ribs and hip bones were prominent. I started him on the rotational diet I’m feeding my other dog(different brands, proteins, raw, canned,dried). He developed large,loose stools(cow patty type). I tried to figure what was bothering him. Was it the lamb, carageenan? Couldn’t figure it out. When I clipped his hair down for the hot weather and saw how thin he still was, weighed him and saw he had actually lost a half a pound, to the vet we went. She tested him for EPI and that was negative, so suggested we start with the limited ingredient diet. It’s working wonderfully for him, his poops are normal, he’s holding steady at 14 lbs. But I’m a DFA dogfoodie! I want some alternatives for him. I asked the vet to try the potato and rabbit but she wants me to wait for that another 3 months. He does like the food, so that’s not a problem.

[CMZ]

Neezerfan
Our Marty was tested for EPI and it too was negative, but he was positive for SIBO.
He has been on B12 shots once a month, it helps with their digestion. I have not re tested him, we moved last year and our new vet says it won’t hurt him, and if and when I am ready just take him off and see how he does. (a lot cheaper than the test) But like I said he will get diarrhea still if he is stressed.
I too like DFA and try to feed him the good stuff. I wish I could be so disciplined with myself!

[Cindy L]

I have a 7 month old Lab that has loose stools and just had his 2nd UTI which was found when I took him in to be fixed (very early). First one was at 8 weeks old! Switched him over 10 days to Wellness core puppy, green mucus and smell to high heaven loose stools. Went to Nature Variety Instinct Rabbit, better but not good. Both have a Probiotic called Enterococcus Faecium which I have found others have a problem with! Found out Nature’s variety has removed it from new formula’s! Went to Annamaet Aqualuk which was good but still loose. Vet found in bloodwork he has the start of kidney disease which he hopes my puppy might grow out of but wants him on a under 30 protein, low phosphorus, around .7, low ash, low magnesium, grainfree, potato free, lower carb, 6-7 ph, diet. Only one I found is Zignature grainfree Duck w/ no Probiotics. 2nd choice Canine Caviar(much higher priced) Open sky or wilderness(vet doesnt’t want red meats right now though) or new formula Nature’s variety instinct LID Rabbit but the ash is higher. Just a thought for you…seems Probiotics can cause problems in some dogs! I am at my wits end over this and have spend alot of time researching foods and calling companies….will be starting him on Zignature this week.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 2 months ago by Cindy L.

[CMZ]

cindy L

Oh boy, my vet assured me the probiotic was good for him, I give him Proviable – DC made by Nutramax. It does have Enterococcus Faecium in it. I will have to check with the vet again on this. My boy may not even need it anymore. I just thought I was doing a good thing.
Thanks for the heads up.

[Author]

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