When we rescued our million dollar puppy, she had major tummy issues. She went from a Animal Care and Control in Georgia, to the Humane Society, to Second Chance Rescue in NY, to foster home, to foster home. Having not stayed in more than one place for a long period of time during her first year of life, no one was able to tell that Havi's tummy was more than just the stress of switching foods.
When we rescued her she was perfectly potty trained. In fact, after two days of living in our apartment she was able to figure out she needed to hold it down the long hallway, in the elevator, and out the service entrance. However, she was pooping (for lack of a much more scientific word) four times a day, very loose bowel movements. Additionally, she would wake up around 1AM and relieve herself on the floor as she cried. I spoke about the details of this event here. After $2,000 and 3 months of the stress of not knowing waht was wrong, may of you suggested she just had a week stomach. Ximena over at Identity V suggested trying Evo, in lieu of our fear of going raw. Although it is still kibble, it is chicken and grain free. And, because its only 1 cup twice a day, it iss the same cost as all the other options we tried. About a month in we added the probiotic Missing Link for its fiber and acidophilus. Now, Havi only goes twice a day and never in the house!
Havi's BFF Jax's mom was shocked that after all that money and time, the blogging communtiy was what saved Havi's tummy! Lately, we have added one Milkbone a day for a snack, due to its mild nature. So when we took Havi to the vet last week for her puppy warts, and she hopped on the scale - we were shocked to learn she is now 65 pounds! Thats 20 pounds in the past 6 months! We have a happy, healthy, Havi!
So now we thought we'd ask you...what tummy problems have you had? Also, are there any viatmins you think we should add to her diet?
Yay! Happy to hear she's put on all that weight.
ReplyDeleteThe vet (my old vet, not my current fabulous one) wasn't much help with Bilbo's tummy problems either - the food he prescribed was total garbage. I wrote about my route to raw (http://bwpaws.blogspot.com/2011/04/all-about-raw.html) and I love it, but I totally understand why it's not for everyone. Sometimes, it's a total pain in the neck!
Billy officially eats better than me...
Thanks for stopping by http://www.allthingsdogblog.com. I enjoyed visiting your blog and meeting you all. Havi is adorable! Happy tails!
ReplyDeletewell, you know my whole feeding routine already:
ReplyDeletehttp://maisieme.blogspot.com/2011/06/pit-bull-fuel.html
I've found that as far as treats go, Maisie does best with either dried meat or (good for the tummy) sweet potato treats. I try to keep her as grain-free as possible (though one daycare does give her a milkbone when she leaves) and that seems to help.
Luna has always had an awesome stomach and outside of some farts never did poorly on any food really. We currently feed a fantastic food called Great Life, and both do well on it. I switched a couple kennel dogs to it too who had tummy issues and it cleared it and the itching up for them so it's a keeper IMO. Our lab puppy Wyatt sometimes will go soft on us over certain things so I now make a point to put a capsule of human probiotics in their food at least weekly to help offset anything. I think I have a thing about mixing something in the food so I also have Clovite which was from a tractor/southern states store which has various vitamins and minerals they occasionally will get that. Sometimes I sprinkle in some bee pollen... and sometimes I sprinkle in some nutritional yeast. I might have a problem ;-) they also love their kibble plain.
ReplyDeleteTreat wise I dry my own sweet potato treats as their go to treat since they are mild and rather fat free. Also dry some meats and I have made a couple treats too. You can find some of those recipes on Luna's blog.
So in short there doesn't seem to be any treats my dogs can't handle. I have found out I must use the raw treats the day of defrosting of we may have loose stools from the lab. Other than that his stomach has seemed to grow up a bit.
Anna
http://akgvizslainspiration.wordpress.com/
That's so funny that you call Havi your million dollar dog - we have one of those too! Melanie has cost us an arm and a leg since we got her, haha. It's a good thing they're so cute ;)
ReplyDeleteI don't really have too much experience with sensitive stomachs beyond what you've done. Simple grain free foods really go a long way. Maybe for a treat alternative you could do frozen pumpkin or yogurt in a kong? Pumpkin is a great source of fiber and I don't think it's too hard to tummies (although don't use a lot of it! Too much definitely gives dogs the big D...)
I am glad you found your answer. It can be frustrating when you don't have the answers and the people that are supposed to know don't.
ReplyDeleteI love that the blogging community helped solve the problem! We've been lucky that we haven't had these issues, though Miss M has bouts of allergies. We do like raw food, which they eat at dinnertime. P.S. Did you get your pet insurance? We find it our personal obligation to remind everyone to get it immediately after they get their dogs so they don't have 'pre-existing conditions'. It's saved us a ton!
ReplyDeleteHavi is doing so well - that is a nice amount of weight for her to put on and she is obviously thriving on her food now. reilly also went through a bad time with his time - he developed "jelly poops" which was like clear mucus and was losing weight so fast. We also spent thousands on trying to find to find out what was wrong (thank goodness for pet health insurance !) Eventually all his tests were sent to the big veterinary clinic at the University of Texas and he was found to have severe allergies to any poultry, beef, grain products and rice. We finally found a bison and venison food made with just fruits and vegetables and he does awesome on that. I have to be so careful though as even at pet stores I can't let them give him a treat. Sadly his allergies hasn't lessened at all.
ReplyDeleteMesa is on a fish based diet because of her tummy. Baily and Big Carl have iron tummies
ReplyDeleteKari
http://dogisgodinreverse.com/
Oh man, Soph is my million dollar pound puppy. She was one sick pup. Giardia 8 times, coccidia 2 times and mange. Not to mention she did well on food for 3-4weeks and then disaster! We tried tons of pet foods with the same results.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, she wasn't keeping weight on even when she was getting 4 cups of kibble a day. After consulting with a holistic pet store owner and our vet, we went raw. 2 years later and she is doing great! She has a high metabolism, according to the company's site she was eating enough food to be gaining weight but with Sophie's system it was only enough to maintain after the initial weight gain.
When she was a pup and so sick, she got probiotics, fish oil, vitamin e and vitamin c in her food. Now she sometimes gets fish oil and cranberry capsules (to stave off UTIs which she has a propensity towards).
Glad to hear Havi is doing well!
Congratulations Havi; we are so happy to hear she is doing better!! All of our pups have stomachs of steel. The only issue food wise that we have is with Pauley's allergies/skin problems.
ReplyDeleteLuckily we haven't had any stomach problems with Shiva. Other than the occasionaly upset when she eats something she isn't supposed to, like when she steals from the garbage, she has been really healthy in that regard.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you were able to help poor Havi's disgestion issues. It sounds like she is thriving on her new diet!
We've never had major tummy issues, but Koira used to pack away 4-6 cups of kibble per day to keep a good weight, and for a 40 pound dog, that is a lot of food. Since switching to raw, my dogs are super healthy, have great poops, and love their food a ton. Plus, they get a workout from eating, which no dog gets from kibble. While its not the answer for everyone, it sure was a great idea for us, and Koira is now eating a reasonable amount of food for her size.
ReplyDeleteMissing Link is amazing* isn't it? So glad everything worked out! It's supposed to be amazing for their coats, as well. But I like to give Elli a 1/2tsp of powdered kelp in each meal for extra nutrients and amino acids, which help enhance the immune system. Seaweed doesn't have cell walls, making it easy for dogs to digest. It's also extremely amazing for supporting thyroid function, which is something older dogs often struggle with and have to be put on meds for later in life.
ReplyDeleteHavi sounds about as expensive as the free cat I once had. He cost me a fortune from the day I brought him home until the day he died! He had major kidney and bladder issues though.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you were able to figure out the best food for Havi. I'm sure she feels much better now.
Two Pitties - I know I know...we really need insurance, sigh.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by our blog and so nice to meet you three! Enjoyed reading about Havi. So glad she's doing better.
ReplyDeleteDiane and Cosmo
Just love your blog! My golden, Dixie, has always had stomach issues since I adopted her four years ago. She's on Purina Sensitive stomach and it's a great dog food!
ReplyDelete