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I have a 2 year old German Shepherd that has bouts with ...

Sent to Pet Experts May 20 2006 at 2:21 AM
   

I have a 2 year old German Shepherd that has bouts with diarrhea. He has had blood work done and stool checked. Everything can back as normal. I feed him Wellness Simple Solutions, which is supposed to alleviate those with digestive problems, but he still gets diarrhea. This never happened when he was on Iams or Eukanuba. Any suggestions?

 

Optional Information:
Age: 2; Male; Breed: German Shepherd

Already Tried:
Changing his diet./p>

Customer (name blocked for privacy)
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May 20 2006 at 8:10 AM (5 hours and 49 minutes and 35 seconds later)
         
REPLIED to Info RequestCheck Mark
When the vet checked bloodwork what was it checked for?
Why did you swap foods?

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NancyH -- Pet Health Care, Rescue,Train,Breed -- 99% Positive Feedback on 7175 Pet Accepts
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May 20 2006 at 8:28 AM (17 minutes and 22 seconds later)
         
Reply to Nancy Holmes's Post: About a week ago, I was awoken my him vomitting, so I took him to the doggy ER around 1am. The vet on duty suggesting some blood work, as well as hydration fluids and a shot (I was told it was a dog version of Pepcid). I also provided a stool sample at the time, and it was found to be clear and his temp was normal.
I switched diets at the suggestion of a behavoralist, because my GSD was acting aggressive toward other dogs. She thought that a more balanced holistic diet, along with the training would make him more calm. It has worked except that he gets the bouts of diarrhea. My vet told me that it might just be something that he and I will have to deal with, but I was wondering if there was a more proven diet as I have found, through research, that many GSDs are suseptible to digestive and absorption troubles.
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Answer
May 20 2006 at 8:41 AM (12 minutes and 45 seconds later)
         
REPLIEDCheck Mark
Exactly I was wondering if the problem was a malabsorbtion issue.
Many shepherds do great on the Eukanuba products and its really the breed the diet was developed for originally I believe.
Usually when a trainer wants you to change foods its to drop protein and fat levels to reduce the energy fed to the dog as that will help make him less 'edgy'. While some dogs do have sensitivities to preservatives its usually a food ingredient that causes issues.
Eukanuba has among other things beet pulp for fiber which helps with stool being normal instead of loose.
You could see if adding some fiber to what you are feeding now helps. Plain canned pumpkin, cooked sweet potato, cooked winter squash such as butternut or acorn etc. all might help.
You may want to upgrade the version of Wellness you are using. It has a star rating in that brand and a 4 star allergy diet based on fish, rabbit, duck, or venison might work better than the cheaper versions.
You could also see if a 'lite' version of the old food you were feeding gets him feeling better but keeps his aggression levels lowered.
I've also found that increasing exercise helps with dog digestion and also with aggression issues.
Hope this helps you!


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NancyH -- Pet Health Care, Rescue,Train,Breed -- 99% Positive Feedback on 7175 Pet Accepts
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May 20 2006 at 9:13 AM (32 minutes and 27 seconds later)
         
Reply to Nancy Holmes's Post: Thanks for offering some suggestings. He is currently on the vension formula of Wellness' "Simple Food Solutions" formula. Would trying a grain-free diet be worth looking into, and also adding the fiber sources you suggested? A keenel I've worked with in the past has their Shepherds on the BARF diet along with "The Honest Kitchen's" dehydrated, grain free formulas ("Force" & "Embark"). Money isn't the issue here, I just want the little guy to feel good.
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May 20 2006 at 11:04 AM (1 hour and 51 minutes and 6 seconds later)
         
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Grain free is one possibility (Innova Evo is grain free as are the Wellness 4 star diets, Blue Buffalo is also a good diet for dogs that need really digestible foods).
I don't think of BARF as safe for dogs with gastric upset as usually the first things dogs do when put on BARF is to have weeks of diarrhea. They call it 'cleansing' and I call it getting sick on a new diet.
I do think that as he was used to a pretty high fiber diet and doing well on that before that adding fiber to his current diet might help.
If you were going to see a grain reaction the two previous foods you fed would have shown that to you.
You don't want to change diets suddenly or you will get upset.
He might do good on the Eagle venison diet too as they use a nice high fiber oatmeal as a grain base in their diets.
My feeling on dog food is you use what works for your dog never mind the 'holistic' labels etc. If the simple changes don't work I'd be tempted to go back to the brand he did well on only maybe use a 'lite' version to reduce calorie and protein levels he gets, or give him 75% the old diet and 25% veggies for fiber and bulk to make him feel full while reducing calories.
I think if you swap around too many things too quickly you will get worse diarrhea as that appears to be the way dog's systems work.
So go slow with changes you do. The fiber foods are both bland and not likely to cause an issue.


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NancyH -- Pet Health Care, Rescue,Train,Breed -- 99% Positive Feedback on 7175 Pet Accepts
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