How to firm up dog’s poo?

[Supermutt]

Hello all,
I’m looking for tips/ideas on above subject (apologise in advance for details). Late last year my dog had a coccidia (protozoa) intestinal infection/infestation. The vet gave her something to clear up the infection, something to ‘cut’ the diaorrhea, something called “fortiflora” or similar to reintroduce good gut bacteria, and recommended Hill’s biome science/prescription dry food. The coccidia actually cleared up quickly with treatment, but months later and she’s still not back to “normal”. She used to have such inoffensive, firm, dark poos. Now, they’re at best formed but yellow and squidgy (when on the Hill’s diet, which I don’t like because it’s such poor quality), more often formed at first and like custard towards the end (whenever I try to move her back, gradually, onto Orijen), and they smell bad. I’ve tried adding live yoghourt and/or oatmilk to her food, with little effect. Next stop I’m thinking of trying pumpkin added to her food. I know my vet will just say keep her on Hill’s, but I’m very reluctant to do this. Any and all tips gratefully received!

I add 100% pure canned pumpkin to my dogs kibble. Works a treat. Big spoonful mixed in twice a day. We use a 'sensitive limited ingredient' kibble (salmon, as ours is allergic to chicken/lamb).
Hope you find something that works for your girl!

Yumove digestive aid might help.
Also we give ours calcium bentonite clay with his food.

We changed foods to Butternut box mixed with kibble /- did the trick for us

Protexin/ prokolin paste works well

I would want her poos checked again to make sure she's not reinfected herself.

Pumpkin or sweet potato with every meal can help a lot.

@Supermutt sorry to ask, what were the poops like on the Hills?
My dogs poops are awful (we're booked into vets later this week) I've tried Butchers/Chappie/Orijen/Wainwrights ... (currently on Butchers simply gentle and Acana) nothing improves it
He's currently on Sustain from the vet which worked for the whole of January - until it stopped a week or so ago 😞

I can only put it down to Chronic collitis, (but I'm not a vet hence we're going to see them) as something is obviously stressing him (anxious boy anyway 😞)

I just want him happier 😭😭

Thanks everyone. Another sample has been delivered to the vet, as per advice, and I’ll be giving her plenty of pumpkin, sweet potato and live yoghourt with her kibble to see if that helps. I’ve also picked up some prokolin.

BruceLeTerror: with Hill’s, her poos were an ochre colour, and while formed, they were really soft, and squished and smeared when being picked up 🤮. It’s basically just expensive rice, and I think it would be cheaper and better quality just to cook the rice and chicken myself (which I haven’t ruled out doing either, should the above strategy fail).

I will be so happy when (if) I’m finally not waiting with bated breath to see what her next poo is like.

I have never heard of that infection so apologies if this isn't an option but can you raw feed?
Our (large) dog does tiny little hard poos that barely smell at all

@Supermutt thank you I was hoping you'd say it was good firm (sorry I know it's gross, but it's good indication)

My boy booked in for Weds

I hope your girl improves soon, they are such a worry 😞

Absent a medical cause, give bone

My terrier had an awful time after a triple infection of salmonella, giardia and campylobacter - he couldn't even keep the Hills diet down for a while.

Ultimately the only thing he could eat, keep down and have solid poo, was Purina HA which is hydrolysed soya. The others tend to be hydrolysed chicken, and with an apparently violent poultry allergy he couldn't even stomach those.

For a year I experimented with other meat and fish proteins to get him back onto "normal" food, but everything made him vomit blood or poo bloody mucus within 48 hrs. He's been on the Purina for 4 years - I don't like it as it contains sugar and it's effecting his teeth, but anything else either makes him poorly or violently itchy (I just tried again recently). 🤦‍♀️

Maybe try that - it could be the meat proteins still upsetting her? It takes times to settle. We also use Protexin sachets of powder to firm things up if he has a flare up, but all that really does is draw water out of the bowel...

Chicken is a really common allergen in dogs. My current dog always has yellow, soft poos after even a small amount of chicken. If the foods you are trying are chicken based, it’s definitely worth changing to fish based to see if that makes a difference.

And take with a pinch of salt your vet’s Hills recommendation - they are paid by Hills to recommend them.

You’re getting lots of advice on the thread but just be wary of chopping and changing the food too much. They need time to get accustomed to any change in their diet or that in itself can cause problems.

Raw diets produced very firm, pebble like poos. I use Luna and Me as I do t then have to weigh or add anything, it’s as simple as defrost and feed.

Have you tried adding some barks powder? It's amazing for settling tummies when they've been upset. You can buy it on Amazon here: amzn.eu/d/7NejWlT

Our dog has a very sensitive stomach. We use the pooch and mutt dry food in the blue packet for sensitive stomachs and it's amazing. It's the only thing we've found to keep her stools solid.

Hope you get it all sorted.

my dog loves rabbit ears (the ones with hair on)
Its a treat, but the hair is fairly indigestible and firms his poos up?

Feed raw. Make sure the bone content is at an appropriate level (chicken wings have the perfect meat:bone ratio). Poo will be firm, small and have no odour in days.

Prokolin 100% but get it from pets at home not the vets they will charge you twice the price. You have to ask for it at the counter

I'd stick him on a low fat, white fish-based, grain free diet.
And add supplements to help him over the short term.
Clay (especially good if he eats grass)
Charcoal
Tree barks
Dried pumpkin powder
can all help absorb toxins and firm up the poo.
Not an alternative for the vet of course but may very help in the short term.

Probiotics, prebiotics and digestive enzymes could help in the longer term too but do your research as some are rubbish.

I wouldn't put a dog with digestive issues on a raw diet, please ignore those comments. Cooked homemade food would probably help, but you need to add nutrients or you'll cause more problems, and you'll only start seeing them after a few years. Are you feeding him any chewy snacks made from hide, like ears or skin? They are hard to digest, so that would be the first thing I'd stop if you are

I would consult a vet specialising in nutrition. There aren't that many of them, so they often offer online consultations. Mind you, a vet, not some funny "holistic" nutritionist with an online diploma.

As for pro- and prebiotics, our dog's digestive system was shot to pieces after some aggressive treatments he needed. We gave him a course of Sivomixx, the vet told us to give him the whole box half a packet per day (he weights 15kg). Worked really well.

Mine has often had soft poo and associated anal gland issues……very yuk. I used Youmove probiotics for a while and that helped but since changing food to kibble half and half with butternut, her poos are immeasurably improved, and I rarely have to address the anal glands. It’s more expensive but worth it!

Don't do not need cooked food 🙄

Raw food. We had this issue unless we fed our dog on raw food. We just used the natures own stuff.

Raw was the only these that sorted out my dogs poo problems!
Bella and duke is good and is tested to make sure it's safe. Very good customer service, any concerns give them a call. They will also say if Bella and duke isn't the best option for whatever health reason.

Hey OP, my dog has Butternut in Winter & Raw from Paleo Ridge the remainder of the year & his poo is always firm because of his diet. I would never give him Kibble as that is known to give dogs health issues. He has Yumove Probiotics in the evening & he has ProbioMax Powder from PetLab to support his gut. Along with dental chews, rabbit ears etc. Get his diet right & he will thrive but pls avoid kibble and tinned dog food.