Puppy diet, problem with food

[AdoraBell]

We have a pair of German Shephard puppies, 11 weeks now. One has had the runs which progressed to passing blood. Vet said treat as gastroenteritis. After a week of boiled water, rice and chicken she's back to normal. So, I returned to the Euckanaba puppy food and the problem has returned.

How long can a limited diet sustain a growing puppy? I'm obviously going to talk to the vet about changing, but OH is bleating concerned about the cost of their food.

[toboldlygo]

Eukanuba is awful stuff. If pup's tum settled on a diet of chicken and rice then try a diet based on those - tinned Chappie is often recommended (horrible stuff but very bland and tends to do the trick) and things like Wainwrights, JWB, Skinners etc. have chicken and rice or turkey and rice formulations without too much other crap in. If cost is a worry then the turkey and rice Skinners is cheap and OK quality, £20/15kg.

I am a hardcore raw/BARF diet fan but haven't had a puppy in years so have never raised one on this diet, hopefully someone else could advise there.

[AdoraBell]

Sorry, forgot to say that I am abroad and can't get all the foods you get in UK. Vet recommended the Eukunaba, of course he's selling it so he won't tell me if it's crap.

Is Iams any better?

[Flatbread]

We give our puppy chicken and rice soupy mix a lot. Vet has added calcium tablets to his diet, and he is doing quite well, indeed. However, we do vary by adding sardines or eggs or organ meats (heart/liver/tripe)to his diet.

I wouldn't have thought it is more expensive than good quality dog food, but haven't really done a cost comparison.

Where are you? If in the US there are some sites that help you choose between different dog foods, based on goodness of ingredients

If you are in a place where it is difficult to get good dog food, do talk to your vet about calcium, if he is not getting enough bones in the diet. I have heard that crushed egg shells are a good source of calcium, but haven't tried that.

[AdoraBell]

I'm in Chile, South América, I can get dog food in the supermarket ( thing like Pedigree) or from the vet. I'll look into the US websites and see what I can find. Their brands are moré líkely to be sold here

Thanks for the sugestione, I may switch to a fresh food diet.

[Flatbread]

Adora,

Here is a site which rates American dog foods. You asked about Iams, and it gets three stars out of five www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/iams-healthy-naturals-dog-food/

There are plenty which get five stars, if you look through the list. You could do a mix of dog food and real food, depending on the combination that works for your puppy.

Best of luck!

[AdoraBell]

Thank you Flatbread

Vet doesn't think it's the food & said de-worm again. Have done that but I will look at the link when I next get a minute to myself-DCs are just coming out of school.

[daisydotandgertie]

Most puppies get the runs and it isn't necessarily anything to worry about. Changing food would be my last resort, I think.

Of course, all of what I'm about to say is no substitute for visiting a vet - it's just a process I've whittled down over a few puppies and lots of vets advice. If your pup is listless, or visibly poorly etc, disregard me entirely!

When did he get his jabs - and when was he last wormed? Often, if they're close together it causes an upset. I try to do wormer one week, jab the next, them wormer, then jab - all at a week apart. I wouldn't be panicked about a bit of blood in poo at that age - blood vessels are very delicate at that age and unsurprisingly burst with the force of the squinty ness.

Vets usually follow the same elimination process at the beginning of this sort of thing, and I no longer go to the vet with a pup until I've done the following (unless the poorly bit applies, as above).

Can you get him onto scrambled eggs with a pro biotic in it? Either some glucose powder or a couple of teaspoons of sugar in - maybe you can get hold of live yogurt or similar? Feed for a couple of meals, then start to mix in a tiny portion of really soaked kibble.

Slowly increase the proportion of kibble and see what happens. Keep the portions small though.

If there is an improvement, brilliant, keep going. If not, then I would do a concentrated worming using Panacur granules for puppies - not sure whether it's available for you though. Keep feeding a smaller portion of soaked food 4 times a day.

There may well be an improvement at this point. If not, then I would change food. There are some really good foods available in the US which the site Flatbread has linked to will help with. I'd change the food straight away too - not faff about with a slow introduction.

[AdoraBell]

Thanks Daisy

Vet saw her yesterday and is happy that she's healthy. Definitely not listless, they were chasing each other round the kitchen island at a rate of knots before settling down for a snooze. They did have shots and de-wormer together a few days before this started. Not sure if I can get probiotic here, unless I use the DD's tablets(Bion 3 mini, made by Merck) but I have no idea if that's suitable or not.

Why sugar though? What will that do?