Best food for puppy with sensitive stomach

[reup]

My 4 month old has been on arden grange puppy food as that is what the breeder used. His poo was normal but has got increasingly softer. It then got very runny and we had it tested and it came back positive for giardia. He was given expensive digestive support food from the vets and we were told we could start to mix it back with his normal food. We were given medicine for the giardia but hes still pretty bad. We are awaiting tests for other things including salmonella and something else. Hes absolutely fine in himself, hungry and it's not uncontrollable poo.

He's a terrible one for trying to eat anything on his walks and drink dirty water (hence the giardia) and we have got more vigilent with this. But I'm not sure if its the arden grange that is upsetting him as well as the parasite. Our dog trainer recommended Natural Instinct which is frozen raw food. (not sure what you do on holiday with that; not that we have any booked as hes such a chewer!) I wouldn't mind trying raw food but am not sure how to go about it and I don't really have masses of time to devote to makes different recipes so worry about him to having all the right vitamins and minerals etc.

So what does everyone else use if they have a dog with a runny tummy?

[TheBookThief]

We tend to feed rice & white fish or chicken to a dog with a dodgy tum & then gradually wean them back onto their normal food.

[reup]

Thanks. It's more that I think his current food maybe causing his on-going loose stools and was t sure what to try next.

[moosemama]

When Pip had campylobacter our vet said to take him off all commercial food and just feed cooked chicken (no rice) until his digestion had significantly recovered. He was on it, iirc, for 8/9 weeks in the end.

Giardia can be nasty for pups and can take a while for the drugs to conquer and them to get over. Mintchoc's pup has just recovered from a nasty bout and I believe had several courses of treatment to finally see it off.

I know your vet sold you food for 'digestive support' but honestly, I think that sounds like a bit of a money making scheme for them. My vet said they need to be on something simple and easy to digest to take the strain off them while they're being treated.

Has your vet suggested probiotics at all? They can be invaluable in supporting and recovering digestive health in poorly dogs. Pip was on Canikur which we bought from the vet at a ridiculous price the first time, then bought online after that. It really helped and we now keep some in, just in case either of our dogs have digestive upsets of any kind.

If you do want to change to a better kibble, have a look at the All About Dog Food website and compare brands. I would recommend looking for one that's gluten/grain free, as they are much easier on the digestion and lots of dogs can't tolerate grains, particularly gluten.

[francesdrake]

My puppy (who is now a gigantic five year old) had something very similar when he was young - some kind of giardia type thing that wasn't giardia but gave him the runs for ages while I slowly tried to wean him off Hills WD, the only thing that'd bung him up stop it. I tried all kinds of hypoallergenic foods, slowly obviously, but the only one that seemed to agree with him was Skinners Duck or Salmon & Rice. He now has CSJ CP18 which he's thriving on.

Both my dogs love Nature Diet Sensitive when they've got a dodgy tum; I keep a case of it in the garage for emergencies. It's what they'd have all the time if they wouldn't require 3 packs of it a day; it's a sort of halfway house between kibble and raw.

[minkersmum]

My pup does well on fishmongers for dogs stuff from Pets at Home. It is 70% white fish meal and has potatoe rather than a cereal. It stinks but it seems to produce a good firm stool.

Natures diet is also great as someone mentioned and i give pup some of the puppy one with his fishy kibble and big dog loves the adult varieties with his kibble (burgess sensitive Lamb/rice which has been great for his sensitive tum but is adult feed)

Probiotics also should help.

Hope he has some firm poops soon! Oh the joy of dog ownership!!

[reup]

Thanks for that, lots of things to think about! I forgot he was on a probiotic for a few days before we got the test results, maybe we need done more. I can't remember its name but it was that sort of syringe thing.

[reup]

Some more I meant.

We have a weeks more of the vets food (and a huge bag of Arden grange!) so I think I'll wait for the rest of the test results, see what the vets says. Then maybe do chicken and probiotics and see if he's firm then introduce a more long term food. I'll have a look at all yr suggestions.

Thanks everyone.

[francesdrake]

Chappie is also a good bland tinned food for upset stomachs - it calms things down, and my dogs will often eat that when they're otherwise not feeling so great. It must be like dog equivalent of Heinz tomato soup...

[reup]

That's the only soup I hate!!(it was the ones my brother like which really annoyed my mum!)

He's really hungry all the time, its just the loosed poo!

[mintchocchick]

Your poor pup. As Moose said, our puppy had this and his main symptom was awful runny, drippy poos and dreadful smell (he's long haired so I'm sure there was poo on his fur despite us washing and clipping round anus)

Our pup was poorly for about 4-5 weeks, lost a lot of weight but since getting rid of Giardia has put on weight, energy back and returned to naughty teenage behaviour!

He needed 3 courses of anti-b, and probiotic paste in that syringe which helped. He wouldn't touch his kibble so I gave him scrambled eggs in the mornings and chicken & rice for tea. I also didn't walk him much as he looked so sad and pitiful and sadly mooched around garden.

[mintchocchick]

I wouldn't switch food right now but that's just my gut instinct so I'm happy to be corrected.

I would get puppy back to where he was pre-Giardia then when infection has well cleared and he's built up his strength, then think about changing food.

[Snugglepiggy]

This post makes me feel less alone!Our two pups stating with vomiting and diarrhoea on Monday/Tuesday and thought things were on the mend after a couple of days of rice and chicken so served up their Arden Grange puppy kibble last night and this morning and their stools are loose again.Little fellas not too bad and he's much livelier and very hungry.But little miss had very runny stools and looks pretty miserable.Phoned the vets and they said fast again till tomorrow then back on rice and chicken for a couple of days and take them to surgery tomorrow if no better.Reading this makes me think a stool sample would be a good idea.I caught them drinking from the top of a manhole cover on our drive that had leaves in it the other day and cleaned it out and covered it over.Honestly.Bowls of lovely fresh water everywhere but now I'm convinced that's what's caused it.
I also have a huge bag of Arden Grange but perhaps stupidly don't feel like using it,but know its not the time to try new foods.All very confusing and worrying !

[minkersmum]

My dog had a bout of diarrhoea and needed meds from vet. He had rice with a tiny bit of chicken through it for a few days then i gave rice with a little natures diet through it and eventually added some kibble in. As soon as we got to more than 50% kibble he would run again.

Maybe you could try reintroducing the kibble really slowly.

[francesdrake]

I'm getting flashbacks now to the endless endless hosing down of the yard/scrubbing of carpets... It took a while to clear in my pup - I'm not sure the vets really got to the bottom (ho ho) of what was causing it, and I suspect the antibiotics might have left him with a sensitive gut that took a while to settle down.

I fed him poached chicken and rice, or steamed white fish and rice when things were bad. And make sure he doesn't get dehydrated; encourage him to drink plenty of clean water.

[Snugglepiggy]

Yes think I will stick with rice and chicken and rice and fish for at least the rest of this week.Was worried little miss not drinking enough this evening but had a flash of inspiration and put a tiny bit of rice in the bottom of a bowl of water and she drank the lot to get to it.Just hope it doesn't shoot out the other end overnight.Our last 3 dogs were rescues so we had no puppyhood to deal with and all had cast iron stomachs so this is new to me ,even though I have lots of experience of dogs.They just seem so small and vulnerable at this age don't they ?

[francesdrake]

I know! It's horrible when they're ill. One tip my dogsitter gave me for encouraging dogs to drink more water is to put a splash of milk in it - not if lactose sets off any irritation, obviously, but my older girl doesn't drink enough (I think she was crated a lot in her first home) and this always gets her lapping away. Or you can get a syringe from the vet and squirt water into their mouths.

[reup]

Thanks everyone. The thing is apart from runny poo, he's normal. Hungry lively, chewing everything. He was the naughtiest one at puppy training, barking, chewing his lead and desperate to get his paws up on every dog there! We are very lucky to have had no poo inside. It must be awful if they are miserable too.

[mintchocchick]

Giardia is contagious so I was told not to attend puppy class with dog until he was clear. I went alone for those weeks.

We were also told that if he was off lead with Giardia we should call other dog owners as their dog approached ours to warn them and keep our dog away so as to reduce passing on. I felt a bit silly calling out 'he's contagious' while holding him, but owners seemed pleased to have the warning.

Hopefully yours hasn't passed it on but I'm surprised your vet didn't say that to you.

[reup]

No they said nothing about that. I'm sure it was giardia or is there another parasite likely to be found in stagnant water that starts with a soft g?

Maybe I've got a crap vet? It's the first time we've used them except inoculations. They were recommended.

It's all very stressful this dog ownership!

[elmirador104]

Our boxer girl is now 13 months old, but suffered terribly from the giardia parasite. It wasn't an easy job to rid her of it and she did need several treatments. In the end we ordered dronal online as it is much cheaper and kept up the treatment as the vet had advised.

It did eventually clear up, but she still has a very sensitive stomach and is on Hills sensitivity diet, which we buy online at half the price of the vet, but still very expensive. Every time we try to wean her off it, however slowly, she suffers, so we are keeping her food stable for the time being and will try again to wean her off when she is 18 months.

[mintchocchick]

It sounds like Giardia Reup - our vet thought it was from dirty water in our local woods and I then met a woman whose two daughters drank water from the same stream, ended up really poorly and tests revealed they had Giardia!

But it took them ages to clear it even though GP had them tested straight away. So be careful yourself at home - we had a hand wash rule after every cuddle with dog and I washed dog bedding and towels every night. I was seriously fed up with the bug by the end of it!

[Rudi5Rebekah1]

Good Evening, I came across this thread whilst doing some research for my 4 month old puppy who is showing the exact same symptoms (full of energy, eating/drinking well, runny poo but not uncontrolled). He has tested positive for giardia and vet has given treatment twice but we have seen no difference in his poos. We put him on rice and chicken for a while and this made a big difference, but as soon as we return to kibble his poos go runny again. Did you find any solutions or foods that worked for you? Thanks very much.

[Sitdowncupoftea]

One of my dogs had Giardia when he was a pup. He had had diarrhoea since I brought him home. I got him to the vets he tested positive for Giardia and even though the breeder had apparently wormed him he was riddled. I got treatment from the vet and made sure when he went outside all runny poops were cleaned up and swilled with hot disinfectant. I can't remember how long it took for his poop to go back to normal but it was a few weeks.
For a sensitive stomach I recommend chappie definitely not any raw food.