Help with puppy food choice

[Cookie69]

Hi Guys

My Cocker is 6 months old on the 27th of this month.

since I have had him (8wks) he has had loose stool.

we came home with skinners field and trial puppy food from the breeder, when he was about 14wks I contacted the breeder

to ask if this was normal? he said give it a week or two more because of settling into his new environment.

I did this and he was still the same.

 

I then changed his food to beta puppy chicken and rice, a further 3 weeks passed still no change.

the 1st visit to the vets was to re-worm him even though he was up to date.

another 2 or 3 weeks pass and still no change (loose stool) another vet visit this time with three stool samples

these samples came back normal.

the vet said they would like to see him on his current food for at least two months before exploring food intolerance

and prescribed

a course of antibiotics and a probiotic paste and the results were almost instant after the course finished his stool was

a lot firmer than previous.

this only lasted a week or so after the treatment.

now to top it all I noticed a little blood come from his bum while having a poo, the blood was not in the poo

but dripped after.

my 1st thoughts where he had eaten something he shouldn't have? he is always picking stuff up in his mouth

back up the vets, he has had a rectal examination vet said everything felt fine, however his glands were full and she said

they looked infected.

im half way through a further course of antibiotics for this.

 

considering all this he shows no signs of ill health,

he is full of beans, has a lovely coat and the vet said he was a fine specimen .

 

sorry for the long winded post to get to the question.

if this next course of medication doesn't sort him out

should I think about another food change before going to the vet again?

if so could anyone recommend a dog/puppy food for sensitive digestive system

 

Thanks

Paul

[Dirty Harry]

I'm no expert but I have noticed over the years that if fed too much the dog will become loose. I feed eukanuba and with the last 4 dogs this has resulted in very firm stools and no blocked glands. It's expensive but you feed less compared with the cheaper stuff. I think they do a sensitive range. If I were you I'd try and cut the food back a bit and feed a premium food and see if there is an improvement and of course change the feed very slowly.

 

Harry

[gazbev]

What food is he on now?

Six months with the ****s ain't good did the vet check for food intolerance?

If I were you I would go and get some no grain hypoallergenic food and see if that works,if he already has the ****s I wouldn't bother slowly introducing it.

This website can help you pick a decent food,the more expensive ones can be cheap to use because they don't contain so much filler so use the amount per day tool

 

http://www.whichdogfood.co.uk

 

It would be interesting to see how you get on,good luck.

[Cookie69]

I'm no expert but I have noticed over the years that if fed too much the dog will become loose. I feed eukanuba and with the last 4 dogs this has resulted in very firm stools and no blocked glands. It's expensive but you feed less compared with the cheaper stuff. I think they do a sensitive range. If I were you I'd try and cut the food back a bit and feed a premium food and see if there is an improvement and of course change the feed very slowly.

 

Harry

 

What food is he on now?

Six months with the ****s ain't good did the vet check for food intolerance?

If I were you I would go and get some no grain hypoallergenic food and see if that works,if he already has the ****s I wouldn't bother slowly introducing it.

This website can help you pick a decent food,the more expensive ones can be cheap to use because they don't contain so much filler so use the amount per day tool

 

http://www.whichdogfood.co.uk

 

It would be interesting to see how you get on,good luck.

Thanks guys

he is still on beta puppy at the moment.

hasn't been checked for food intolerance yet the vet wanted to see him on current food for at least 2 months 1st??

I have to go and mot the car now but will check out the web site on my return

Thanks again

Paul

Edited January 15, 2014 by Cookie69

[ian g]

id be trying raw meat and bone start off with minced chicken lamb or beef then introduce chicken wings/necks mine get everything straight from puppys they have never had any problems i buy all my food from http://www.daf-petfood.co.uk/ i have never used commercial dog food its full of **** that dog carnt digest and it causes problems giving them bones helps keep there teeth and glands clean never gived cooked bones and never give raw leg bones from any animal these splinter id put money on it that a raw meat and bone diet would solve the problems if you sugest this to ur vet though they will proberly tell you not to this is becasue the only nutrition traing they get tends to be from large pet food companys so your best researching it urself

[Cookie69]

id be trying raw meat and bone start off with minced chicken lamb or beef then introduce chicken wings/necks mine get everything straight from puppys they have never had any problems i buy all my food from http://www.daf-petfood.co.uk/ i have never used commercial dog food its full of **** that dog carnt digest and it causes problems giving them bones helps keep there teeth and glands clean never gived cooked bones and never give raw leg bones from any animal these splinter id put money on it that a raw meat and bone diet would solve the problems if you sugest this to ur vet though they will proberly tell you not to this is becasue the only nutrition traing they get tends to be from large pet food companys so your best researching it urself

Thanks

i'll keep that in mind I may try the hypoallergenic route 1st

other than this issue he seems fit as a fiddle

im watching him now and he is teasing the hell out of my 9yr old springer,,,owe hold on he is trying to mount her now

[Cookie69]

again thanks for the links

theses two have caught my eye.

would one or the other be a better one to try?

 

http://www.daf-petfood.co.uk/dry-dog-food/13-skinners-salmon-rice-hypoallergenic-15kg.html

 

http://www.daf-petfood.co.uk/dry-dog-food/9-skinners-duck-rice-hypoallergenic-15kg.html

 

as Gazbev says because of his current situation there would be no need for a gradual change just get him on it?

 

paul

[Cosd]

Try CSJ. Mine was on Arden Grange which is an excellent quality food, and was loose. Since change to CSJ (CP24), he is no longer loose and doing well on it.

 

If you call the company you can speak to their nutritionist and they will give good advice. Excellent company and quality foods, and cheaper than the high street quality brands.

[kent]

I just wont feed a growing puppy complete. To be frank its convienient but they are all full of junk and labelled with o dose of Bull.

Try getting cheap chickens, de-bone them boil the carcass's up to make a stock (sieve it to remove all bones then dice and boil the meat and in it with rice and vegies. You can also use game and rabbit etc.

Three for a tenner chickens will feed a large pup for a week easy like this (buy rice in bulk and cheap frozen veg without broccoli). Substitute the chicken for cheap frozen white fish occasionally.

Within a few feeds the stools will be just great I reckon

[Cookie69]

Thanks again

I have also been told some dogs can be sensitive to chicken.

im just off the phone to skinners nutritionist and they said the protein content in puppy food might be to much for him.

they have advised to put him on an adult hypoallergenic food skinners hypoallergenic has 22% protein.

to see how he goes?

must be worth a go

[cocker boy]

Eukanuba puppy. Job sorted.

[ian g]

What ever you do if you feed meat chicken carcasses or what ever don't cook it dogs don't need it cooked they get everything they need from it raw I get a big box of chicken carcasses every week from my local butcher 10kg for 11quid they get it all raw there teeth are clean coats are shiny and healthy and stools are solid and dry

[delburt0]

Started my cocker on James welbeloved till 8 months then onto purina beta with lamb and rice with no problems touch wood I personally believe it is important to give your dog the best start,

[washerboy]

Barf

Meat,pasta and veg

[rossymcg]

Thanks again

I have also been told some dogs can be sensitive to chicken.

im just off the phone to skinners nutritionist and they said the protein content in puppy food might be to much for him.

they have advised to put him on an adult hypoallergenic food skinners hypoallergenic has 22% protein.

to see how he goes?

must be worth a go

Don't take this the wrong way, but you don't seem to be listening regarding raw feeding, you need to forget about ****ty bagged whole complete kibble, it's rammel,

I'd bet my life if you were to feed your dog raw you'd have no problems, no bad breath, more energy,

I get all my meat and chicken carcasses and necks etc from tpms, its cheap enough i even give it my dogs frozen they seem to enjoy it more like that,

[delburt0]

Don't take this the wrong way, but you don't seem to be listening regarding raw feeding, you need to forget about ****ty bagged whole complete kibble, it's rammel,

I'd bet my life if you were to feed your dog raw you'd have no problems, no bad breath, more energy,

I get all my meat and chicken carcasses and necks etc from tpms, its cheap enough i even give it my dogs frozen they seem to enjoy it more like that,

its too rich you cannot give your dogs chicken mince meat all the time , it's ok on a Friday nt there called kebabs, u still need vitamins, and the the last time I looked chicken mince ain't the place to look for your greens, my dog loves a chicken mince every 2 weeks (cooked in the garage) coz it stinks as bad as it looks, owners that just feed this in my opinion shouldn't , it's not a diet it's just not right ,if you cannot afford to give your companion a healthy diet you should maybe think about not been a dog owner....can anyone give me a run down on all the vitamins that's in a 30p bag of offel ,

Beaks water and feathers don't count...(not forgetting necks)

Just re read he gives it frozen they like it Have they told him they like frozen chicken carcasses or does he just Leave it till there that hungry they will eat it, wonder if Heas left them a microwave just incase they would like to defrost,

Is beadle about, coz I'm confused.com ....

Wonder if he is a undercover anti....

His profile says he has a lab pup, (poor dog)...

Edited January 15, 2014 by delburt0

[ian g]

Dogs can get everything they need from a raw diet it's by far the healthiest diet to feed them they don't need greens or meat to be cooked you don't see wolfs grazing grass or lighting fires to cook there food a natural diet is by far better than any packet dry food if your worryed about greens feed tripe this is as close to eating greens in the wild a dog or wolf would come across

[postie]

Feed mine skinner puppy with tripe every day she loves the tripe and her stools are always firm hope you sort it out soon

[DannyNCC]

My pup had soft poo for ages I got worried

And took him off all good treats everything

Just fresh cooked chicken and plain rice

About 2-3 weeks was much better

Over a week moved back to

James well beloved and all ok soft now and then but the amount of rubbish he picks up off the floor

Not suprised

[gazbev]

Skinners isn't top draw food

[Fal]

I was feeding my pup on Beta, loose movements the same as you describe. If I added a little boiled rice it would firm him up a little but then back to normal. In the end I tried the following foods to no avail!

 

Skinners, this made him worse.

Trophy, this worked for a while and friends of mine use it and the dogs are in peak conition on it.

Eukanuba, or however you spell it. Same very loose movements.

 

I have had him on Burns original now for about 3-4 months and there has been a huge improvement, if you can describe a dog **** as very nice without sounding wired up wrong, well they are very nice! His coat is amazing on it and he is full of energy. The problem is no two dogs are the same, I'm not saying for a second any of the food he didn't agree with were rubbish, because some people swear by them, but mine seems to have settled down on this.

 

It's not cheap, I have found a store on the net that sells two 15k sacks for £75:00 but this lasts quite a while so I don't mind. You have to give the dog long enough on the food you try and get him onto it slowly, work start by giving him soemething like a 1/3 of the new food in with his existing food for a week, then 2/3 until he's fully swapped over, I mixed it over three weeks. Sometimes a straight swap of food can upset some dogs.

[kent]

The barf diet need not be served raw (as long as you don't loose stuff in the process the vitamins and minerals do not simply disappear) On top of that adding rice to the mix soaks up the fluid and makes for more convenient feeding from a sealed bag or box in your own fridge. I used to feed raw and you just never know when a bug will be in with all that butchers waste- it happened to me and I shouldn't do raw again as a result, it has no gain other than cost.

You cannot compare a wolf to a domestic dog. A domestic dog is more altered from its wolf ancestor than we are from that hairy hunchback thing in the books (actually we don't even have the type of large Canid that the domestic dog evolved from on our planet- it cannot be found by the scientists), we know it is certainly not the American timber wolf that the past comparisons were compared though. A dog can reproduce at an age that the average human is learning to walk and a litter might consist of a dozen pups - do the maths! That's a lot of time to alter a creature, in deed due to natural selection the Canid that originally linked itself to man will have split in type- wilder mistrustful types and human social types. If you doubt the dog has been altered I suggest you look at a wolf hound and a pug!

Man will not have been cooking much of his food either back in the stone age- suggesting you eat raw and rancid butchers waste now could be seen as crazy health wise though

[ian g]

the only chance of bugs from raw meat is from pork and if you freeze this for 4-5 weeks it kills it there are no other risks to dog from feeding raw

[kent]

the only chance of bugs from raw meat is from pork and if you freeze this for 4-5 weeks it kills it there are no other risks to dog from feeding raw

 

e-coli ? your talking worms not bugs. Chicken etc its all good for a nasty

[Cookie69]

Try CSJ. Mine was on Arden Grange which is an excellent quality food, and was loose. Since change to CSJ (CP24), he is no longer loose and doing well on it.

 

If you call the company you can speak to their nutritionist and they will give good advice. Excellent company and quality foods, and cheaper than the high street quality brands.

 

I checked this web site out and phoned the local stockists in Coventry.

was on the phone to the woman for nearly an hour, what a lovely helpful lady.

she could quite easily talked me in to one of the CSJ products she sells but was more concerned about my dogs well being.

I mentioned to her he was six months old and the problems he is having, and was considering skinners hypoallergenic adult food.

and she highly recommended getting puppies onto adult food as soon as you can .

she also endorsed skinners hypoallergenic adult along with a week on pro-kolin.

if the problem persists after a further 2-3 weeks she said to insist on a blood test from the vets for intolerances .

using the hypoallergenic will confirm a wheat and gluten intolerance if he gets better bowel movements .

failing that the blood test should show up any vitamin deficiency or other intolerances .

 

thanks to all for the advice, it is certainly a debate that splits opinion