Poo - sorry minging topic

Jennifer · Master

Poo - sorry minging topic

FAJ · Enlightened One

We used to feed our two on Autarky and they were really healthy on it - shiny coats, loads of energy, fit and strong. They'd still be being fed on it to this day if they hadn't point blank refused to eat it - possible the recipe was changed. But it's a great food, so keep on feeding it!

Too much food can make them softer. Difficult to say. Maybe Willow's digestive system is a bit off? Is he quite well otherwise?

Harry is definitely sludgier than Pearly. Despite his laid-back demeanour, he's a bit more anxious than she is - he can be a bit clingy, had some SA issues when we first got him, and is generally more excitable in general than she is.

Maybe it's a girl/boy thing? With boys being poopier than girls. It's what us ladies have known all along! biggrin

Valerie · Guru

Hi - I can identify with Willow's bowels being related to excitement - or rather Biscuit can! At the start of an off-lead walk - good normal poo - running around seems to overheat him (or perhaps speed up metabolism) and he will do a couple of small runny ones. By bedtime walk - normal.

Dry food is Arden Grange, but we are having a battle of wills at the moment - and Biscuit is winning, but I'll stick with it. I just had mine delivered by Amazon, who are always reliable for delivery, and worst case is picking it up from the PO depot.

tootsmazza · Enlightened One

Jennifer, Mason is exactly the same - solid in the morning but sludgier and sludgier as the day goes on to liquid most nights. He is on Arden Grange at the moment, but I actually found he was more solid first thing if I mixed some Butcher's in with it.
Mason gets one feed at night mainly because circumstances don't allow time. We leave the house during the week at 7.10am and I have no chance of getting him out of bed to eat breakfast first

But as he's an only dog he gets to free feed and he only ever eats at night.
A raw bone certainly solidifies things but we have to be careful to limit it to one a week at most or it can be a little too solid.
I don't know if its just a boy thing or we just haven't found the perfect food but if anyone does please let me know smile

Marie

Indiana · Guru

My two have the runs whenever they are out on a run! If they are off lead and running about then I think it's the excitement that makes them this way. The rest of the time they are fine. However, they didn't always have hard poo. I raised this topic a while back on the forum and a wonderful person suggested giving them a spoonful of natural yoghurt with their dry dog food. With much experimentation I've discovered this works wonderfully if given to them in the morning feed but is not needed in the evening. I've had no soft poo problems since!

moptop · Master

I feed my Jack on Supa Greyhound. Cheap stuff at £ 7.50 (no vat on it) for a massive bag that lasts one month. He was on it when I adopted him, and before anyone says anything, he is fit and well, with no terrible farts and has never had diarrhorea or any other problems with it.
He gets a little bit of Asda smart price corned beef mixed in with with it,(lasts a week|) and a little bit of Bisto gravy. He is fed twice a day. Twice a week I alternate and give him a little tuna mixed in with the Supa Greyhound, he also gets Asda cheap sardines mixed in, once or twice a week for his coat. He costs me very little to feed per week. Also, Daddy gives him his favourite treat most mornings.... hot buttered toast!!!
Marian.

Sunny girl · Master

My two are on Wagg (Sunny wouldn't eat AG when we got her) they are both fit and healthy on it and have always had solid poo's. I mix a bit of left over vegetables in every night just because Sunny is so fussy and won't eat it otherwise.
The only thing that gives Sunny the runs is those dog chews that are kind of cereal based (can't think what they are called).

Maybe Willows is excitement, maybe someone can give you advice on some kind of calming supplement suitable for dogs.

Landess

feldandjack · Guru

I don't want to go on about Caras lack off interest in any food, but I have noticed that since I started feeding her 'just cooked meat' with no doggy additives, she does very small fairly solid poo. When feeding dog food (dry or meat) she would eat very little, but seemed to produce large amount of soft poo? I always felt there was more exiting her back end than she ever managed to eat. cry

Her diet now consists of pure meat (chicken, pork, lamb and steak) and she has gained some weight smile

(i have lost pounds from my purse)

Jax · Master

Sally has always had a soft poo problem. We now use Vennison Burns which seems to agree with them over other brands and flavours. Its quite expensive though compared to others but we only have 2.

flash · Old Hand

I have tried the natural yoghurt thing with Flash and it certainly helps with the smelly flatulence. She is usually quite soft in the poo department but gets very runny if stressed, (she was terrible after the thunder and lightning last week) the vet says she is very fit, healthy and happy, so I suppose soft poo isn't a lot to worry about.

Lorna · Merchandise Coordinator * Forum Moderator

I think like humans that no two dogs can be alike when it comes to food and what suits them.

I had similar problems with Harley and eventually took him for an allergy test after trying every dog food recommended, including Autarky, James Wellbeloved, Burns, Chappie. He had an e-coli infection which cleared up but still he had the odd upset tummy.

The results showed he was allergic to beef, lamb and white fish - so the beef Markies had to go!

I now use James WB turkey and rice and their turkey treats with very few side effects.

neeroz · Master

Millie usually has fairly solid poo's but Willow's is always soft. To be honest, he normally does a firm one first thing in morning but then gets softer/sludgier throughout day!

Willow is excactly like Kai not matter what he is fed he starts solid then sludge, other three are all always solid on the same food. Kai has to do two at once as well so maybe thats got something to do with it, but all this is a vast improvement on what he was like when he came to us. (Soup was probably a better description, but thats what stress does to him!)

Nice lunchtime topic!

haz25a · Old Hand

My dog has had soft poo/diaorhea since I got her 6 years ago. I put it down to her just having a sensitive stomach. I feed her on a variety of Hills/Pro Plan/James Belloved/ Eukanuba. ALL Lamb and rice or the "sensitive stomach" variety. Whatever's on special offer at Pets at Home to be honest. The change in food never seems to bother her and she gets bored with the same food all the time anyway and won't eat it after a while.

I give her charcoal biscuits on a daily basis. These are the only treats she's allowed apart from some tuna in her dinner sometimes.

I wish I could feed her greyhound maintenance as its VAT free and would cost me half the price to feed her, still at least its not so bad that she needs a prescription diet. I've already got a cat on that and it costs a fortune!

I'm sometimes tempted to buy her a pigs ear or something but I would only have to starve her for the next 24 hours so its not really a treat!

I've often wondered if this is a "greyhound" thing??

Hazel.

slimcilla · Old Hand

Speedy is a fussy eater and wouldn't eat any brand of dog food for longer than a week and even then it had to be mixed with yoghurt or gravy. The "end result" was always revolting bleh

I looked up the BARF diet after reading about it on this site and he's now on a raw food diet. He mostly eats cheep supermarket own-brand beef mince and raw chicken wings. I mix the mince with yoghurt or a raw egg and feed the chicken wings to a desperatly sitting-begging dog straight from the packet. biggrin

He crunches them with delight which my Veggie mate can't cope with.

It's not too expensive and usually costs less than £1 a day to feed and would cost much less if I got stuff from the butcher but I find that difficult to store as my freezer is tiny. I also search the bargin shelves at the local Co-op most days and hoover up the bargains.

Anyway, he loves it and has been doing really well on it. His poo is firm and there's very little of it. Ive also noticed that his skin is far better, his coat is shiney, his breath doesn't stink, his teeth are great, he isn't at all "windy" and he is much calmer.

Toast, sardines, PC dog treats, and cheese are now mostly banned from his diet but he does have the occasional pig ear or lump of bread as he adores them. Last week I visited a friend who gave him a jumbone - never again! bleh

Food for thought..

CC

feldandjack · Guru

I was glad to read your post cc, I've had a look at BARF and was going to give it a try. Did you start feeding it a wee bit at a time or did you go for a complete change in one go? Cara had the splats the other day and it's most unlike her, I'm not that happy with her 'only cooked chicken, or meat 'diet. I had tried introducing other stuff and I think that's what caused the splats doh

I'm not sure about leaving raw meat in her dish for any time, so I'm going to try wee bits of raw stuff to start with. My worry is that she carries so little weight that any loss leaves her looking like a cruelty case cry

Any tips would be most welcome, have you ever had any problems with the bones in chicken wings?

slimcilla · Old Hand

Hi Feldandjack

I started off mixing mince with dried food as I had stupidly bought a 15Kilo sack of the stuff. I had thought it best to change his diet slowly but all that happened was he ate the mince and left the dried food... Not a daftie!

I have discovered chicken wings make very solid poo so he tends to get mince as "starters" and. chicken as "main course" or vice versa to even things out. When he steals bread or eat too much carbs things get a bit runny, I used to starve him for 24 hours or give him imodium but I now give him more chicken wings and less mince, that sorts him out quickly and we are both happy.

No worries with the bones as they are quite soft when raw. Occasionally he swallows one whole and when it comes out you can see the bones but they are soft like cooked spagetti - sorry revolting I know! bleh

It took a day or so for him to work out how to eat them confused

but now he adores them and we frequently "share" a chicken - my bit gets cooked!

Today he is on Co-op "reduced" Tripe and Brisket, combined cost £3 and it will last 3-4 days.. His weight is good and everyone tells me how healthy he looks. I am wondering if he is getting a bit fat as I am not too sure how much to feed him so he is coming to the vet on Friday with the cats and getting weighed.

Speedy started this diet 4-5 months ago and when I move house I am going to get a bigger freezer! biggrin

Claire

feldandjack · Guru

Thanks Clair, I now know the last lot of splats was due to eating horse hoof (the blacksmith had been) I hope she does eat the raw stuff, it's not so much the poo that worries me, it's the fact she's just so fussy. I'm off to get some chicken wings for her and some mince, oh and some yoghurt. I'll keep you posted. It's good to speak to someone who's tried something first. The vets not concerned about her, but suggested I could try some of the specialist diets (I'm not keen on the vast expense, for her to leave it lying in her dish untouched) furious

Thanks again,
Anne

Jennifer · Master

slimcilla wrote:

Hi Feldandjack

I started off mixing mince with dried food as I had stupidly bought a 15Kilo sack of the stuff. I had thought it best to change his diet slowly

Hi Claire, if anyone else is reading this please don't do the above! This is the worst thing you can do as the dogs digestive system copes with these 2 foods in different ways and it can't digest the dry and wet food at the same time.

I have started Willow on the BARF diet as discussed it in great details with friends who have fed their dogs BARF for years. After a process of illimination, i am pretty certain is sensitive to wheat! If he has anything like pasta he has raging skits, and would explain why he has had runny poo since i got him in December. He started BARF diet a week ago and for the first time in 6th months he is passing firm poo

He was in quite crap condition and i reckon its because what he's been eating has been going straight through him and he's been getting no nutritional value from his food, so hoping now he picks up. Needless to say, the raw food is going down a treat. As well as the raw food, they should be given pulped veg at least twice a week to prevent constipation bleh

Its important the veg must be pulped as the dogs stomach cant digest the veg whole (something to do with the cell linings of the veg confused

).
Anyway, im no expert so correct me if i've said anything thats incorrect. Ive been reading up on it loads and taking advice from my friends.
Just makes you wonder if all these other loose greyhounds out there have food intolerances confused

feldandjack · Guru

Well here goes! Lucky for me the OH was out when I got home tonight (small splat on kitchen rug, I never liked that rug anyway) I was armed with a pack of nice minced steak, some yoghurt and a raw egg, oh and wee chicken wings. I put small portion of raw mince on one plate, small portion of raw mince mixed with yoghurt on another plate, wee bit mince mixed with raw egg on another plate and last of all a wee chicken wing on it's own wee plate wink

Now for the taste test, with a bit of prodding Cara wandered over to look at the plates. A half hearted sniff at all plates was followed by the eating of the raw mince, then she had the mince with yoghurt (not so keen) she made gagging motions at the mince with egg (she's never eaten raw egg) and picked up the chicken wing but spat it out when she crunched the bone, she covered it with one of the few remaining rugs and walked off. Cara then sicked up the wee blob of mince with yoghurt, I thought she might, she always sicks milk up as well ashamed

a while later I offered her some more raw mince, that was eaten no prob. smile

I offered a lamb rib (the butcher thought I was mad when I said what it was for) that was crunched down no bother biggrin

So far so good. I'll keep you posted of her progress, I've found a pet shop that stocks the BARF diet, I'll give it a look tomorrow.

feldandjack · Guru

Is this normal? weirdface

5am Cara wakes me up, I assume she needs out, no, she presents me with her toys and wants to play! this is unheard of, Cara sleeps until we are up and have had breakfast, she waits til I am brushing my teeth before she bothers to get out of bed.(We go up to farm after I've brushed my teeth) I was worried the new food had upset her stomach, but she seems fine, apart from the early morning puppy stuff.

slimcilla · Old Hand

Whats normal? Speedy is a lazy sod and hates waking up early. I have the occasional 5am wake up call but I put that down to him not being "empty" enough the previous night...

It took him a while to get the hang of chicken wings so I would keep trying. Chicken wings are supposed to be the perfect meal as there is a good mix of bones and meat. As for the yoghurt, if Cara doesn't like it then I wouldn't bother. Speedy loves the stuff and he won't eat Tripe without it - personally I wouldn't eat tripe at all!! He only gets 2 eggs a week as I read somewhere that too many isn't good for him.

Pets at home do frozen minced chicken, tripe etc which I occasionally buy and mix with yoghurt, egg or low salt gravy (to defrost it faster) and he loves that too. The problem is I am not there very often and my freezer is small..

I have read that lamb isn't perfect as it tends to be too fatty but as I tend to buy reduced stuff in the Co-op he does get it very occasionally. I am still learning what works and what doesn't. My Granny always used to say "a little of what you fancy does you good" and I quite agree.

His meals tend to be 3-4 chick wings twice a day or less if he has Co-op reduced stuff/scraps/pasta/rice/egg/mince/porrige oats thrown in. He won't eat raw veg but loves steamed or roast veggies, my mates English Bull Terrier loves raw broccoli and goes nuts at the sound of her breaking the stalk off. Her dogs skin problems have cleared up ten fold so she is also commited to BARF. They are all so different....

My advice would be to just have a go and see how you get on. Paste this site into your browser as it gives some good advice.. http://www.rawlearning.com/

Speedy has gone from 27Kilo to 28.5Kilo since I got him in September last year - I had to get the cats boosters done today so I took him along to be weighed. I am quite happy with his weight. You can't see his backbones like you can on his park mate Rico but he doesn't look fat either.

I have read that changing your dogs diet should be done slowly and I have also read conflicting advice saying raw food must not be mixed with dried dog food. There is masses on conflicting advice so you just have to make your own decision. I was at my wits end with a fussy dog that wouldn't eat commercial dog food and now I have a happy dog and thats all I needed.

good luck!

Claire

Jennifer · Master

slimcilla wrote:

I have read that changing your dogs diet should be done slowly and I have also read conflicting advice saying raw food must not be mixed with dried dog food. There is masses on conflicting advice so you just have to make your own decision. I was at my wits end with a fussy dog that wouldn't eat commercial dog food and now I have a happy dog and thats all I needed.

Hi Claire, i have also read loads of conflicting advice and agree with what your saying, you've got to do with what suits your dog. Although - i would say the bit about changing your dogs food gradually would be regards changing from one dry food to another smile

I have seen a real difference in Willow since i've changed to BARf and im glad i changed him. He is now passing hard poo's for the first time since i've had him last December biggrin

I think every dog is different and not all dogs will agree with it. It doesnt seem to be suiting Millie, she's lost weight, looking very skinny, moping about like she's no energy

so she's getting put back on her Autarky tonight.

Valerie · Guru

The food thing is such trial and error, and I'm going thru it really for the first time with Biscuit. He was always good with his dry food, now he is acting the goat with it - sometimes taking some AG from my hand, like a treat (I ask you- handfeeding ashamed

)

Tonight - some mince and a raw egg - hardly touched the sides! They really know how to get you jumping around trying to please them! blankstare

feldandjack · Guru

Liquidised veg and sardines ashamed

looked like sick and the smell was rank. Cara scoffed the lot. You are spot on Valerie, I spend way more time trying to tempt the big girl with food than I do with my own diet. The poo situation seems to be fine now, but she still turns in to a puppy about 5am. She has started muttering to herself around the house, if you remember the public information cartoons that used to be on the telly, with Charlie the cat, "Charlie says, don't talk to strangers etc" she makes those sort of noises while moving her toys about!
As Clair said "WHATS NORMAL" weirdface

Valerie · Guru

feldandjack wrote:

if you remember the public information cartoons that used to be on the telly, with Charlie the cat, "Charlie says, don't talk to strangers etc" she makes those sort of noises while moving her toys about!
As Clair said "WHATS NORMAL"

I loved Charlie the cat, and he was very sensible!
I reckon Biscuit's food pickiness must be the Deerhound genes coming out blankstare

I'm sure you have tried this - but do any of the Breed clubs or sites give any tips, or is Cara just unique in her dietry approach? aww

Michelle · Master

Well Jets just had some sort of tummy upset so poo is a subject now talked about freely with my other half and most of my family

His poo is was always a bit mixed, like many others firm in the morning and more watery from then on. He was put on Hills K-9 when he was ill and since then re-introduced to his normal Burns (Venison flavour) and they have been of much better quality consistantly, i think his tummy has been helped by a bit of a rest tbh - he got all sorts of food before he came to us and this has given it a good clear out.

tbh though, Jet will eat anything that's put down to him, within about thirty seconds of his dish hitting the floor. he's a greedy sod!

slimcilla · Old Hand

I thought Charlie the cat was fab! We even named a cat Charlie as he used to whitter away all the time.

Been swapping notes with my mate with the English Bull Terrier again... Her dog Minty has had dreadfull skin for 8 years but since swapping to barf 3 months ago she has seen a 70% improvement. The "special" diet she got from the vet just made things worse but then it contains just as much cereal as normal dog food and that seems to be what caused Minty's skin problems - and excess poo!
The only cereal she feeds is oats (porridge oats and oatcakes) - I think I am going to stop giving Speeds pasta and rice as he had a bit too much rice last night and he has produced 3 days worth of horrid poo today!! bleh

Got him some fish from Lidl today so I will see how that goes down - Sardines produced horrid poo so fingers crossed.. If he won't eat it the cats will biggrin

Feldandjack, how about feeding Cara later in the evening to try and cut out the 5am wake up calls? Just an idea..

CC (think I am gonna change my name - no-one can spell Claire)

feldandjack · Guru

Valerie wrote:

I'm sure you have tried this - but do any of the Breed clubs or sites give any tips, or is Cara just unique in her dietry approach?

Sorry about the 'e' in Claire cry

I think Breed Clubs try to distance themselves from Cara as much as pos! she's rubbish as a hunting dog and far too dwarfy for a show dog. 'unique' is a good word for her, I've certainly never known such a sensitive wee soul furious

Isla · Enlightened One

Although I've been reading this thread with interest, it's a real winner - barf and poo!!! bleh

I'm a bit squeamish about feeding raw meat and my three seem to be ok on their current diets. I try to keep all three on a similar sort of diet so there's no squabbles. Wills has prescription food so the girls will have to stick with things the way they are. hmm

If I ever do have any problem though, I'll think about coming back to this thread.

-- Edited by Isla at 16:52, 2007-06-17

Valerie · Guru

I agree Isla, these types of threads are invaluable for folk looking for ideas. I'm interested in Claire's comment about her friend's dog with the dodgy skin, cos I've put my post about Biscuit's skin in here under Health. His skin is improved on AG, and one Antarax per day, but he is playing the fool with the AG, and even starting spitting out the tiny tablet - even when I've wrapped it in chicken!! The tablet is now stuck inside a dairylea triangle, and it goes straight down.

His skin is still a bit itchy, so I may consider moving him over to BARF - even tho' it turns my stomach too bleh