Hey, at least I won't post pictures!! It's essentially a kibble question I'm looking for help with. Last week I got a sack of orijen large pup for jasper and due to diminished stock of his previous food (k9 optimum) I introduced just a little in the first couple of days then 50/50 for about 5 days since. Now his stomach has always been a bit sensitive and I expected the loose stool but I'm wondering how long it should last for. (Here's the nasty part) His poop is currently sloppy mousse like, but first thing in the morning it starts firmer followed by the mousse. I understand that this could be overfeeding but I carefully measured his meals and mix half a portion optimum and half portion of orijen. other than the poop he's happy and healthy (still lazy as ever!) And just to tag on, can he really be getting all he needs from just 3 small cupfuls of kibble a day (360g)? All opinions gratefully received!
Re: More graphic poop detail, I'm afraid! [quote author=jaspersdad link=topic=7266.msg100270#msg100270 date=1407501878] Hey, at least I won't post pictures!! [/quote] Is that an admission that you took some? Can't help on how long you might expect a dodgy tummy - Mira seems to be able to tolerate pretty much anything in the front end without much noticeable difference in what comes out the other She is 19 months, 27kg and lean and is on about 340g per day (just changed her on to new food). I know it can vary from brand to brand, but 360 seems within the 'normal' range to me. Better to slightly under-feed than go the other way, and it would be obvious if he really started to lose weight. Hope his tummy settles soon - for his sake and yours!
Re: More graphic poop detail, I'm afraid! I find the best thing to firm poops up is pro-fibre for dogs. It balances the gut bacteria and firms them up great I give less than a fifth of what it says on the pack - just a little sprinkle on each meal. http://tinyurl.com/o49x76o
Re: More graphic poop detail, I'm afraid! Hi there, I can't tell you how many poo photos I've had on my phone and the lovely occasion we were out at dinner and my friends husband who wanted to see our new car handed me the phone back horrified when he came across them.....note to self,delete once the vet has seen them! I've changed foods about 3 times and Dexter had a really sensitive tummy when he was younger so I always did it over a period of 2 weeks,he would be upset the whole time and for a little while after but then settled down Angela
Re: More graphic poop detail, I'm afraid! Thanks ladies, keep 'em coming! @ Mags. The fibre supplement sounds useful, ill look into it. @ Angela. Big LOL! My uncle had a similar expression when checking out my new camera and finding a topless pic of my wife ( in mitigation it wasn't THAT type of pic, she was 9 months gone with our 10lb daughter and she's petite so it was really an unobstructed snap of her massive babybump). Thankfully he's gay anyway!!! Back on topic, does the stool 'dry out' in their colon? It's odd that jasper will be almost normal at first as if he's reabsorbed the moisture while holding it...
Re: More graphic poop detail, I'm afraid! You can still be over feeding with a new food even if you are feeding the same amount as the old food, especially if the new food is better quality. Pretty much better quality food = less you need to feed. Try cutting back by a handful of kibble per meal and see if that makes any difference, if not try less again. My dog only gets about 75g per meal, twice a day. It sounds like nothing I know but that's all she needs to keep her going. In fact she actually may need less than that as she has now been speyed and is starting to look a bit tubby round the middle!! She's 18 months old and weighs 19kg. Edited to add: a sure sign of over feeding is that the stool is normal to begin with and then finished with a soft or runny bit, as you described.
Re: More graphic poop detail, I'm afraid! Water does get reabsorbed into the colon, so if food is passing through too quickly the water doesn't have time to be reabsorbed, hence runny poo!
Re: More graphic poop detail, I'm afraid! Thanks Clare, that explains the mixed consistency then. Lauren, I must admit I had to guesstimate his weight when working out quantities. I based by measurements on 20kg as last time I had him weighed at the vet he was 14 and he's grown quite a bit in the last couple of months but I may be overestimating by a kg or two. (We can't really weigh him at home as we have digital bathroom scales, he wriggles too much to get a reading when my wife picks him up and I weigh about 19 stone in old money, so if I try with him the scales read "GET OFF FATTY"!!!!) Do any of you have another method of weighing? Taking him to the vet is quite a hike and I dont think he'll go for my other idea of laying in an ikea blue bag while I dangle him from the luggage scales!! I knew he'd need less orijin but I was surprised as how much less. He was on almost 900g / day of the old stuff (3 decent sized bowls) and he'll only get 360g/day orijin. As I said I have him on 50/50 currently so thats 150 optimum and 60 origin for each of his 3 feeds. He gets little or nothing between, the odd slice of cooked meat from leftovers once or twice a week maybe and I use kibble from his meals for training. To think I took complete dry food as the simpler option, I'd hate to think how much work raw feeding must take !
Re: More graphic poop detail, I'm afraid! Ok if the recommendation for a 20kg dog is 360g per day on the packet I think personally that I would start by feeding 280-300g. For me there's no scientific measure. I just try to visualise the size of her stomach and then scoop up the amount of food that would fill it and one day I decided to measure it! I'm sure others have some much better methods than mine!!
Re: More graphic poop detail, I'm afraid! When I was using Orijin I thought Lilly's poops were more firm than normal, though with hindsight I would call them "less bulky". At around 3 years old and 25kg she was getting 110g twice a day. Obviously not the puppy one We had no problem. I think changing over we did 1/3 change for one meals for a couple of days, then both meals for a few days, then 2/3 new for one then both, then all new for one then both (did it over about 10 days). Same with any other feed changes.
Re: More graphic poop detail, I'm afraid! Hi, We had a similar problem with Ozzie (our chocolate puppy) are you sure its just food change that is the problem? We thought it was his kibble so we swapped to bob and lush, but shortly after swapping we had runny poo's so took a poo sample to the vets and it turned out he actually had giardia, which he had antibiotics for, and he was great afterwards but the last week or so ago, he's having a similar problem again, firm in the morning (first poo of the day) but then gets softer as the day goes on, so we have sent more poo samples off to the vets again for them to check them out, fingers crossed we get some sort of answer. I hope this helps a bit, might be worth checking with your vet to see what they think. When we swapped to Bob and Lush they told us to remember that our old Food (Royal Canin) is only 60% of the nutrition etc that B&L has so we had to take that into account when dividing his food, we did 70/30 60/40 50/50 40/60 30/70 then full bob and lush, I hope this is of some help.
Re: More graphic poop detail, I'm afraid! Just a little update, Jasper had the last of his old food at lunchtime yesterday so 2 meals of orijen only so far and his tummy seems to have settled quite well - I thought it would take a few more days at least so looking good. Hopefully the lack of bulk in his food will help me with training too as treats didn't have quite the same effect if he has a full tummy! I also wanted to thank everhone again for sharing experience. Its so useful to be able to pop in here and get a quick consensus. All the best, Andrew & Jasper. Xx
Re: More graphic poop detail, I'm afraid! Glad Jasper's tummy has settled hopefully it will continue x
Re: More graphic poop detail, I'm afraid! I honestly believe that sloppy poo's are mainly caused by overfeeding. Especially if they have been OK on a particular food and then there is a problem. OK there are going to be times when its a medical problem, but that is a another issue. My 2 older girls are 23kg (4yrs old)and 27kg (2yrs old), their food is measured for each meal, 135gms and 150gms respectively twice a day. If for some reason they are given slightly more (Treats) their poo's start off firm and then go sloppy with mucous. Pro-biotic Yogurt is a fine settler of tums, a few big dollops in with the food.
Re: More graphic poop detail, I'm afraid! I could be wrong but I think orijen has a high protein content. If that is higher than jaspers original food that's probably what has caused the slight upset. Also the higher protein means you can feed less. Bit pointless info now Jasper has improved. Glad it's sorted. ;D
Re: More graphic poop detail, I'm afraid! I was feeding my 5 month old pup Cooper a mix of Fromm Gold and Purina Pro Plan Sport and he was going to the bathroom at least five times a day. I now (2 days ago) have him on Fromm Gold 100% and he basically goes three times a day and the poo is a better color and solid. Big difference. I live in the USA so don't have what others have mentioned as to food. Fromm Gold has shown as a 4.5 star in an "independent" survey. Will keep you posted as to how he gets along with it long term.
Re: More graphic poop detail, I'm afraid! I have fed my Labs on Fromm Gold but have just changed to Simpsons Lamb and Rice. The only reason was that Fromm Gold was getting more difficult to purchase, I was getting it at a very reasonable price.
Re: More graphic poop detail, I'm afraid! Hi Yvonne, I live in Minnesota so probably have access to the same brands of food as do you. I've had good success with 4 Health, available through Tractor Supply Company, and Drs. Foster & Smith puppy food. The 4 Health was rated 4 stars and "highly recommended" by dogfoodadvisor.com, and the F&S puppy was 3.5 stars, and both are reasonably priced ($34 for 35 lbs of 4 health and $35 for 28 lbs for F&S). I will gradually move to all 4 Health (more highly rated and less expensive), which is what I feed my two adult dogs. I'm within driving distance of a Tractor Supply store so shipping is not an issue. Hi 46heritageway, My puppy is 4 months old now and went through a month (8 wks to about 13 weeks) of very soft and voluminous stools. Treated for giardia and coccidia - no help. I finally ignored the lab results (negative fecals) and dewormed her for a third time with a broad spectrum dewormer (rounds, tapes, hooks, whips). Did the trick and she's had firm stools ever since. I also had her on probiotics designed for dogs, but nothing helped until the deworming. She gets about 1.75 cups (about 379 Kcal per cup) split into three meals each day, soon to go to two meals of 1 cup each, and she poops 3 times each day. She looks good - has a distinct waist, ribs nicely covered but slightly visible when she's stretched, and has plenty of energy! Does anyone know how to compare mass with volume? All my dog food bags are labeled for measuring in cups, not grams. I used the label's indication for kcals to provide some comparison, but I suppose I'd have to get a food scale to find out the gram weight...
Re: More graphic poop detail, I'm afraid! I never weigh Penny's food - I just did it the once so I could post on here how much she gets! I just measured out the half a cup that she has and weighed it - found out she has 75g per meal twice a day so about 150g per day... The label says she should have like 280g... Just goes to show how wrong it can be.
