Back to Puppy Food - same ol' problems!

okgrau8 · Dec 13, 2017

So our 1 yr 8 mo old frenchie Stanley has already seen the roundabout when it comes to trying foods. After showing itchiness, anal gland issues, and ear infections, we took him off Royal Canin and put him on Taste of the Wild High Prairie puppy and he was doing great! Then our vet said we should take him off puppy and switch to adult after 1 year. Since then, it's been anxiety and frustration. Taste of the Wild High Prairie Adult caused itchiness. So we tried the Sierra Mountain formulation, and it caused diarrhea, regurgitation, itchiness, etc...

We have reason to believe he's possibly allergic to chicken and salmon. So after a hefty vet bill during our wedding weekend, we resorted to just putting him back on the High Prairie Puppy, even as an adult. It's been now almost 2.5 months back on puppy food, and Stan is showing signs of gastrointestinal distress (a good morning poo but soft stools during the day, sometimes mucus-y, butt scooting, TERRIBLE sulfury gas recently). We've had to get his glands expressed in the past, but when he was on the puppy food before it was much more infrequent.

Could it really be after over 2 months he's showing allergic signs? I'm stumped, or where to move next.

Thanks!

southpaw1746 · Dec 14, 2017

May I suggest going to an all raw diet. You will be surprised how those issues go away. For something more informative please consider watching the documentary “Pet Fooled”. You can find it on Netflix.

Cbrugs · Dec 14, 2017

If you want to stick to kibble, some of the better brand would be Fromm, Acana, Orijen, Zignature. The Honest Kitchen and Grandma Lucy’s is a dehydrated raw that you just add water to. I would stick to a single protein food for whatever you feed. Finding the right food can be very frustrating as it’s a lot of trial and error.

Also, if you’re not already, try adding in a probiotic. That can help tremendously.

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2bullymama · Dec 14, 2017

okgrau8 said:
So our 1 yr 8 mo old frenchie Stanley has already seen the roundabout when it comes to trying foods. After showing itchiness, anal gland issues, and ear infections, we took him off Royal Canin and put him on Taste of the Wild High Prairie puppy and he was doing great! Then our vet said we should take him off puppy and switch to adult after 1 year. Since then, it's been anxiety and frustration. Taste of the Wild High Prairie Adult caused itchiness. So we tried the Sierra Mountain formulation, and it caused diarrhea, regurgitation, itchiness, etc...

We have reason to believe he's possibly allergic to chicken and salmon. So after a hefty vet bill during our wedding weekend, we resorted to just putting him back on the High Prairie Puppy, even as an adult. It's been now almost 2.5 months back on puppy food, and Stan is showing signs of gastrointestinal distress (a good morning poo but soft stools during the day, sometimes mucus-y, butt scooting, TERRIBLE sulfury gas recently). We've had to get his glands expressed in the past, but when he was on the puppy food before it was much more infrequent.

Could it really be after over 2 months he's showing allergic signs? I'm stumped, or where to move next.

Thanks!

Yes... allergies can show up even after years of feeding a food. Try a food with one protein... puppy food is too rich in protein and fat for adult systems. Acana , Orijen, Fromm are better kibbles if you are not interested in raw

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Honeys Owners · Dec 14, 2017

Cbrugs said:
If you want to stick to kibble, some of the better brand would be Fromm, Acana, Orijen, Zignature. The Honest Kitchen and Grandma Lucy’s is a dehydrated raw that you just add water to. I would stick to a single protein food for whatever you feed. Finding the right food can be very frustrating as it’s a lot of trial and error.

Also, if you’re not already, try adding in a probiotic. That can help tremendously.

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Other dehydrated raw brands include Spot Farms and EasyRaw. Or you can probably get raw frozen patties from local dog food store.
You also might want to add canned pumpkin (not the pie filling), about 2-3 tsps a day, to help with bulking up stool to prevent anal gland problems. If your new food is high in fibre (around 7%) you may not need that.
Some good doggie probiotics include Herbsmith Microflora Plus, Proviable DC, Probiotic Miracle etc.
Or, if you don't have access to those probiotics, you can try giving some green tripe, sauerkraut from refrigerator section of health food store, or kefir.

okgrau8 · Dec 15, 2017

Honeys Owners said:
Other dehydrated raw brands include Spot Farms and EasyRaw. Or you can probably get raw frozen patties from local dog food store.
You also might want to add canned pumpkin (not the pie filling), about 2-3 tsps a day, to help with bulking up stool to prevent anal gland problems. If your new food is high in fibre (around 7%) you may not need that.
Some good doggie probiotics include Herbsmith Microflora Plus, Proviable DC, Probiotic Miracle etc.
Or, if you don't have access to those probiotics, you can try giving some green tripe, sauerkraut from refrigerator section of health food store, or kefir.

Thanks! I picked up some probiotics yesterday, hopefully those will help him out. I've been adding a few teaspoons of pumpkin throughout the day to his food, but it doesn't seem to make much difference (even though he loves the treat!) Might get a stool sample checked for parasites too just to rule it out. He's had giardia in the past...

2bullymama · Dec 15, 2017

okgrau8 said:
Thanks! I picked up some probiotics yesterday, hopefully those will help him out. I've been adding a few teaspoons of pumpkin throughout the day to his food, but it doesn't seem to make much difference (even though he loves the treat!) Might get a stool sample checked for parasites too just to rule it out. He's had giardia in the past...

Definitely get stool checked... giardia is difficult to beat and can linger

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coolcat · Dec 15, 2017

Yes I recommend a probiotic...my Frenchie definitely benefitted and also for anal glands get Glandex...it really helps;;;also pumpkin added to the food. Not pie filling just pumpkin!!

davidh · Dec 16, 2017

We feed ours FROMM Hasen Duckenpfeffer and have had good luck with it.

Honeys Owners · Dec 17, 2017

davidh said:
We feed ours FROMM Hasen Duckenpfeffer and have had good luck with it.

I find Fromm a bit overpriced for a kibble in Canada- not sure if original poster is from Canada or USA. We have good Canadian kibble brands here like Acana, Orijen, Boreal, Performatrin, Petkind, Go! But if in USA I agree, Fromm is the forum favourite !