Hi all, we have an 11 week old black lab and over the last few days he has developed runny poos in the evening. We are feeding him a grain free product from Australia called Ivory Coat and he seems to love it. After going to the vet last week, she suggested that we increase his intake to double (we were feeding him 130g a day, now up to 275g). Since this time, he has developed runny stools. My wife and I were racking our brains as to why this is happening as he has been on this food since he was a pup. After looking at the Ivory Coat website, as they do not use grains, they have a much denser product and that is why you are to feed less. We have come to the conclusion that this is occuring due to overeating. Has anyone else had this problem with their pups?
Hunter is 12 weeks old, when I first upped his food a bit (he was getting really skinny being fed to the guidelines on his food and I was advised to not pay so much attention ) his poo went runny for a few days. I didn't double it though so I imagine it could definitely be that. He was totally fine in himself though. Hunter is fed Eden btw. Hope your puppy is doing ok. Andrea
over feeding certainly does cause runny poo. Why did your vet suggest upping the food? Is your pup looking too skinny?
It's a fine balance my 18 week old puppy starts to look a bit skinny so I up her food then she gets the runs she is growing so fast. I never double to food but increase it gradually
Goodness me, that sounds like a crazy suggestion. Even if your pup is underweight (which, by the way, is unlikely!) just suddenly doubling what the dog gets is not the best way to put weight on!! I can guarantee you would have runny poops yourself if you ate double your usual amount of food, multiple days in a row!! The best way to add weight, is by feeding a higher fat diet or adding fat to the diet - not adding more quantity of food. If you do want to increase the quantity, that should be done very gradually over a week or two, not suddenly. But really, please first assess - for yourselves - if your puppy is overweight, before deciding to feed more! See: https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Purina-Body-Condition-Score-Diagram.pdf
He is not overweight by any means! He weighed in at 10.5kgs at just under 11 weeks. It seemed odd when she told to double his food. I guess we are still paying for it (assuming this was the cause of his diarrhoea). Because the food is grain free you feed a smaller amount per day. I guess it has less filler in it. She found the suggestions odd and just told us to up his food to 275g per day from 130g
It would definitely be down to doubling his food. We used to feed Ivory Coat, and is a good food. We changed to Meals for Mutts because we like the short ingredient list, and Ivory Coat was sold to a Chinese company (the recipe is still the same at the moment, but keep an eye on it, and on where it is being made!). When I have increased my pup's food I do it by 20% at a time and leave it at 20% for at least 3 days. This slower way also gives you more time to assess your dog's condition by feeling ribs and having a good look.
