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Original poster

Lab puppy- changed food now diarrhoea- everywhere!

35 replies

flipflopper · 12/02/2008 07:12

When we got our now 5mth old lab puppy, he was being fed on bakers complete, which we have now decided to change as it doesnt seem one of the best foods. So bought james wellbeloved complete and started weaning him on to it slowly about 5 days ago. He is now on the JW twice a day with just a bit of bakers mixed in.

But since adding in the JW his poos have been sloppy (sorry tmi!) and the past 2 days he had pooped himself in his cage overnight (which he has never done before).

So now i dont know what to do-
Go back to the bakers for now?
or just buy a completely different food and start straight away?

Also, i was thinking of starving him today to let his tummy settle, or is he too young for that?

Thanks for reading, hope someone can advise, he is currently in kitchen waiting to be fed and I cant decide what to do!

OP posts:
moonmother · 12/02/2008 07:26

I'd mix more bakers back in and until his tummy settles back down and then re-start changing it but even slwer than you did before.Try and make it so you change it gradually over a couple of weeks.

Hope his tummy settles down soon.

lilymolly · 12/02/2008 07:37

some labs have very sensitive stomachs.
My 4 year old bitch will poo everywhere if I give her anything that contains flakes that looks like a corn flake.
These swell up and cause her stomach to react.
I give my lab Dr John Gold food.
You do need to give your lab puppy food until he is 1` year old as he needs extra protein.

Good luck.

I have just sold 10 lab puppies this last week and just have mum and one pup left which we are keeping, so I know how much fun (and hard work) it can be!!

lilymolly · 12/02/2008 07:38

I would also starve him for 8/ 12 hours to let things settle down!
Hard I know, but be cruel to be kind......

Onlyaphase · 12/02/2008 07:44

Just to add to the confusion, in these circs I usually give a little plain boiled rice and maybe a bit of chicken to a dog. Vets advise this as recovery food after an op etc, and it is very easy to digest.

One of my labs has a very sensitive tum indeed, the other can eat anything. Both are happy on Chappie complete with no trouble.

WorzselMummage · 12/02/2008 10:20

when our lab had a dodgy tummy i'd just feed him plain rice and chicken and that seemed to bind it up again. thankfully he's never had a problem with food ( he'll eat anything ! ) though he just got a bit sqitty when he'd been eating plants from the garden. At the end of the day though if he's doing well on Bakers they you may aswell keep him on it ?

GeekBoy · 12/02/2008 13:30

Chappie complete or something like the Gilpa working dog food is good.. ...rice and chicken for getting back on track is a good bit of advice from the previous posts....

Alambil · 12/02/2008 14:11

you should try to change their food over a month - add 1/4 JW to bakers over week 1, add another 1/4 in week 2, another in week 3 and then by week 4 the food will be wholly JW (although that is one of the most expensive foods out there and there isn't much point to it... but it's your choice!)

I suggest you feed your dog a cup of rice with an egg whisked in (boil rice, whilst hot, add egg - egg will cook whilst rice cools down). Feed that for tonight then go back to the 3/4 1/4 ratio and start again with the change in diet.

beautifulgirls · 12/02/2008 16:35

JW is usually one of the better foods for sensitive tummies - though of course not all foods suit all individuals. Best plan
Chicken/rice/white fish/scrambled egg made without milk for a few days. Slowly re-introduce the Bakers food again after a few days of normal tummy and take about a week to get back onto that. Then very gradually start to introduce the JW into the Bakers over about a 2 week period, in very tiny amounts to start with. Don't bring in anything else new in that time (like new chews or treats) and see how it goes. If you get a repeat tummy incident then need to choose another food to use rather than JW. Personally though I think Bakers is quite a reasonably food anyway.

peanutbear · 12/02/2008 16:40

I do exactly what others hae stated chicken and rice and eggs until stomah has cleared

My dogs love bakers I have less problems with that than with others

Original poster
flipflopper · 12/02/2008 16:56

Thank you so much for your replies. I didnt give him any breakfast and this afternoon i gave him rice and chicken, and not going to give him anything else today.

The reason I wanted to get him off the bakers is that his poos werent always been proper solid poos, sometimes they are more loose than others, but looking back on that, i suppose it could be the treats i am giving him.
Also, i think bakers has colourings in, which i dont think is neccesary for dogs, and i had heard it wasnt one of the best foods.

I thought he would be fine on the JW as it says on the bags that it is good for digestion, all natural, no nasties added, etc

So now not sure what to do re going back to normal food, i suppose i will have to go back onto the bakers as i dont want to mess him up even more.

OP posts:
Original poster
flipflopper · 12/02/2008 16:59

Sorry beautifulgirls, hadnt read your post properly- so you think i should carry on trying with the JW?

Have been looking at the chappie, that seems to have some good reviews, but do they make a puppy version?

OP posts:
smartiejake · 12/02/2008 17:09

Another good puppy food you might like to try is Burns. I tried JWB but all it did was make her fart! and she didn't really seem to like it either

You are right to get her off the Bakers though- it's got lots of additives and is reported to send dogs hyperactive. My sheltie was a total nutter when she was on it.

boomie · 12/02/2008 17:10

Have you had a look at www.labradorforums.co.uk They have some great advice on there. Hope he's better soon.

beautifulgirls · 12/02/2008 20:02

The best thing to do is go back to the Bakers alone - no treats at all - once the tummy is settled on the light diet. You need to see what happens on that alone really for a couple of weeks. If that seems to suit it is always one you can go back to. Then you can restart the JW very slowly, but still no treats for the time being until you have had a couple of weeks on the JW to see what effects that has. Repeat above instructions with different diets until you find one that suits if the ones you try do not suit. Gradually then reintroduce the treats once you have found a diet that seems to suit. Meantime just use some of the complete food to give as treats when you need them, and that way you are not depriving him of something, but there is no doubt about what may suit his tummy and what does not.

If you have ongoing issues with this it may be best to talk to your vet too. They will have access to a larger range of diets made for sensitive tummies so if the pet store diets are not doing it they may be able to help more. Can also get him tested for one or two problems that may be causing it too - though dietary sensitivity is by far the most likely reason for all this.

dexter73 · 13/02/2008 17:57

I know this seems to disagree with other people but when my dog had an upset stomach the vet told me not to give her chicken as it sometimes can make it worse. He recommended white fish (I used coley), rice and scrambled egg.
I have tried a few foods for dogs with sensitive stomachs and one of the best is this one. I order a few bags at a time online.

bossybritches · 14/02/2008 07:34

Our Lab & goldie retriever both have JW mix & it really suits them. The lab seems to have a sensitive skin & anything else makes him really itchy after a while.

Having talked about sensible diets though I have to laugh-most labs I've ever met including mine, are such bloody scavengers that it's highly likely the diet is fine it's the other crap they eat from under hedges & in the garden that upset them!

chopster · 14/02/2008 07:50

labs are terrible for eating crap, I'd go back to the old food and check that he isn't eating rubbish while you are out or from the garden. Agree that white fish works wonders for upset stomaches. I've never heard of starving a dog all day. I grew up with labs, and ours have always been fed on dried food, which seems to digest a lot better, might be worth looking into.

BeauLocks · 14/02/2008 07:54

Bakers complete is cheap crap. It's full of bulking agents and makes labs fat. Get a really good food. We use Geneisis Ultra Premium.

LittleMissNorty · 14/02/2008 07:58

If you want a good food for your lab that isn't full of crap, bulking agents and is not tested on animals (I know!!), then try this. You can get it from PAH but we buy ours in bulk direct, for a LOT less and delivery is free. We changed our lab over at around 5 months from Skinners, and he LOVES it and get nice solid poos

oh, and I always starve for 24 hours with bad tummies and then cut out on treats etc for a few days

Good luck

bossybritches · 14/02/2008 10:15

LMN how many of those sachets does your lab have per day? Just trying to work out costings!

LittleMissNorty · 14/02/2008 11:25

We give ours a third of a pack, twice a day with some mixer, but as a pup IIRC he was getting a pack a day (in 2 meals) until 6 months then onto adult food. When you buy direct, it works out about 50p a pack.

HTH

bossybritches · 14/02/2008 13:56

Wow that's good! How much do you have to buy to get free delivery?

(sorry to be nosy but we spend a fortune on dog-food!!)

Original poster
flipflopper · 14/02/2008 15:11

I like the sound of that food LMN, looks like a decent food and not too expensive. cant work out if it's a wet or a dry food though?

Would it be worth putting him on the puppy one for a month or just starting straight on the next one up?

OP posts:
LittleMissNorty · 14/02/2008 15:22

Its a wet food. I buy 16 cases at a time - spend around £160 IIRC but that's 6 months or more for me. When you look at their charts for how much to feed, I should be giving him loads more - but he's overweight as it is. In the winter when he gets less exercise, we give him a third of a packet with 2 handfuls of cheap PAH mixer and in the summer, half a pack twice a day with a bit of mixer (we buy 15kg mixer from PAH for £4.99). It doesn't look muh in the bowl, but as he's a lab, he's always hungry and I have no idea whether its satisfies him or not - cos he would eat until he popped! So I can only go by his weight.

We buy chicken, chicken & tripe, original and lamb and mix them up for him - so get 4 cases of each. very occasionally I get a mouldy one (as there are no preservatives) and they have always replaced no problem.

My dog is in great nick - coat is lovely and shiny and this food made his poos more solid - and less of them....but what turned me was that purina / pedigree etc actually test their food on animals which I found a bit odd - this company don't.

Why don't you buy a few from PAH then you can gradually change over and get the puppy one and when you're happy, buy a load and have it delivered.

The first time I ordered direct, I told them I didn't have a car and would they mind delivering - and they said no problem!

LittleMissNorty · 14/02/2008 15:24

Have no idea about min delivery amount, but they always croak when I say I want 16 cases - most people order 4 apparently!

Not all flavours are always available - depends what's in stock and what is being made that week !! Having said that, I got exactly what I wanted last time.

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