Poor Bella....up 3 times last night URGENTLY needing to go out.... Poor kid cant catch a break. :-[ Recovering from her spay fine - rowdy raving lunatic...incision looks great. Urine - culture came back negative, so discussed a food change with the vet, and in the mean time focusing on getting AS MUCH FLUID into her as possible to try and flush out the crystals. Tummy - very loose stool on Monday, so started her on boiled chicken and rice with a bit of pumpkin and probiotics - no kibble at all. Firmer on Tuesday and Wednesday, but still not firm and kickable. Wednesday night started her back on just a sprinkling of kibble - old brand and new brand, but less than 30% of total mix in the bowl. Thursday's 3 meals all had same mix of a bit of old and new kibble, and over 50% chicken & rice. Thursday poo was soft and pudding like. :-[ And last night she woke urgently 3 times to go out for a poo - pudding like again. She WANTS to eat, and is happy and go lucky...just having tummy trouble. :-[ Maybe I introduced kibble again too soon....maybe I should get her onto only her original kibble and none of the new... Trying to treat both her tummy AND worry about the struvite issue too is so hard.... And I just want my girl to feel good...long term tummy stuff is NO FUN... :-[
Re: tummy tum tum Oh no ;( poor girl It is horrible when they seem to get one thing after another Big hugs from me and tummy rubs for Bella
Re: tummy tum tum I would focus on sorting her tummy to be honest... You'll never get her over onto the new food unless you get that settled. If she was doing well on her old kibble get her on to that and then see if you can wean her over.
Re: tummy tum tum Oh dear! Poorly tummies and the worries that come with them are not nice! Nor is the disturbed sleep for either party! I do hope she gets better soon! Best wishes from Alfie and I!
Re: tummy tum tum Thanks! I think my new plan to be started tonight.... 1. Boil more chicken 2. Boil more rice 3. Giver her SMALL portion tonight with probiotic and NOT A DARN OTHER THING 4. Free Choice water 5. Wait and see how the night goes 6. Give her SMALL portion again with probiotic... less quantity in will be easier to digest 7. Continue until firm stool arrives - if unable - contact VET at this point 8. Achieve 24 hours of firm stool 9. Introduce 1/2 portion of chicken and rice and 1/2 portion of old kibble and probiotic 10. Monitor stools 11. Maintain 24 hours at 1/2 & 1/2 with firm stool 12. Increase to 1/4 C&R and 3/4 old kibble 13. If ok at 24 hours, do full portion old kibble times 2-3 days. THEN....and ONLY THEN....introduce new kibble. Sound about right??? :-\ :-\ :-\ :-\
Re: tummy tum tum That sounds okay to me, I'm not expert but we did something similar with Alfie. On the second day he was with us, despite being on the same food as the breeder he got a very upset little tum. We used the same method we had taken with our previous labs, and sorted out vet grade canned food, which is pretty much just chicken and rice, but with having a quick chat with the vet on the phone he advised us one can a day, in four small portions. We did that for about a week [till we had an appointment with him] but after 3 days he was pretty steady again, so we were able to give him some soaked kibble as a treat when he was good. We have continued adding rice to his kibble, adjusting the amount of food, of course, each day to help it stay balanced, along with some pro-biotic. It seems to be working well.
Re: tummy tum tum I'd suggest putting her on a wet veterinary diet for sensitive stomachs. I Don't know if you can get Royal Canin but I've always used their sensitivity control wet food if I've needed to put my dogs on a bland diet for tummy trouble. It's just chicken and rice. This will help with the struvite crystals as its wet and I know it sustains growth so is suitable to feed long term to a pup. As I've mentioned I contacted Royal Canin about their urine diet and they recommended using wet sensitivity instead as it sustains growth in puppies. Is there a reason your reluctant to use wet food ?
Re: tummy tum tum Chicken and rice, and then try getting her back on her old kibble (if she did ok on it) sounds right. And absolutely nothing else... If you can get Royal Canin SC, as Jen suggests, this has always done the trick for Charlie, no matter what (bar bugs requiring antibioctics). I'm not sure about how suitable it is in the long term, but as a short term fix....
Re: tummy tum tum Yes! It was royal canin I used from the vet as well when Alfie had some tummy troubles recently. The vet was fine with him being on it for nearly a week. It seemed to keep him nicely filled up as well, but we were able to confer with the vet about the amount that was suitable for his weight at the time.
Re: tummy tum tum Oh poor Bella - tummy rubs from me and big licks from Pongo! She's a lucky girl to have such a dedicated mum. Good luck with it, let us know how it goes...
Re: tummy tum tum Thanks everyone...and Pongo...you handsome devil you... ;D ;D ;D ;D and we have pretty firm poos today ;D ;D ;D ;D I'm not opposed to wet foods, and like to add canned to their kibble...pretty much usually do a moistened kibble with canned everyday anyway. I can have royal canin shipped...but its not in any local shops...At his point we've attempted 3 different kibbles and only the one original has been consistent and good for her tummy and stools...but apparently not for the struvite issue. if we still have firm poos overnight and into tomorrow...will add back in some moistened kibble that I know she tolerates well....and keep everything very sloppy and wet in her food bowl. Honestly, I think much of this episode of loose stools is the compounding factor of the stress of her spay, the attempt to change kibble again for the struvites - just too much for her little body to deal with all at once. So I did the chicken and rice with her, and then started introducing the new kibble along with the old...and it was just too much. When I picked her up last night from the winery, she had a fairly firm poo before we got in the car to come home, and then only C&R and probiotics for her dinner last night...and overnight no emergency wake ups....and morning poo was fairly firm too. So will continue through to tomorrow morning on C&R&probiotics and then start back towards kibble again. Thankfully my 8 year old anatolian has a rock solid tummy so she is eating up the kibble options that Bella hasn't tolerated well. My pantry looks like a pet shop shelf with 3 different bags of kibble in there at the moment...plus a selection of canned foods. : on the struvite side - her urine has been very pale the past week or so and I have seen no crystal residue on her girl bits....so fingers crossed we are making progress there. My vet wants to wait until she is on the new kibble 100% for a week before we check her urine again. I figure at this point she will be back to her regular kibble and canned by her suture removal on thursday and start to transition to the new kibble by the weekend...but i'm kind of thinking this run of C&R is maybe also helping with the struvite issue and helping keep her pH lower. We'll see...maybe I'll spot check her pH this week as we transition so I'll have at least that detail to share with the doc.
