Hi -

My 1 yr, 9 month old lab mix has been having an off and on problem with diarrhea for the past month. I had his stool checked and there was no parasites or anything funky in there. I think the trouble I'm having is in building him back up to normal because we've gotten back to normal several times, for a couple of days, and then he has a relapse and I haven't been able to figure out the cause. His normal diet is canidae kibble and Nature's Variety frozen raw, with some other raw things thrown in: eggs, chicken necks, etc. Since the diarrhea first occurred a month ago, I haven't actually been able to get him all the way back to his normal diet as he relapses before we get there. When the watery diarrhea first comes, following the instructions on Leerburg has been very helpful. That is, a day of just chicken broth, followed by soupy rice with chicken broth. Then I start adding in some yogurt or probiotic and maybe a little pumpkin. Then I start adding in some CA Natural chicken and rice canned food. Then we get up to the canned food plus some kibble. I've been able to get all the way there to that point and had him more or less ok (stools maybe a little hard, but everything seems to be functioning correctly). Then at this point, this past Fri, I gave him a smoked meaty bone because he was really hungry and he usually likes those. They are big beef bones and Dante just eats all the meat off - he doesn't really gnaw the bone. This was around 6 pm. At 1:30 am that night, I took him on a short walk and he pooped normally. I took him home and fed him, trying to get him back onto his raw food for the first time: 1/2 cup kibble, 1/2 can of the CA Natural, and about 3 oz of the NV frozen raw chicken. He was still hungry so I gave him another 1/2 cup of kibble. Well, by 10 am, he was back to mushy stool. I fed him chicken broth and rice with some pumpkin. By that night (Sat night - last night), he was back to watery diarrhea. I fed him just broth with a little yogurt. Today he is feeling better so I added back in a little rice to the broth. And we're starting all over *again*! I guess the meaty bone + the extra kibble + the re-introduction of the raw was too much for him on Fri.

I guess my question is how to better transition from the canned food + kibble, back to his normal diet without giving him too much too fast so we don't relapse again.

Thanks everybody -

The two biggest red flags there are (1) the mixtures of raw and kibble and (2) the smoked recreational bone.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

The two biggest red flags there are (1) the mixtures of raw and kibble and (2) the smoked recreational bone.

With all the raw/kibble mix diarrhea lately this seems very likely.

I'd suggest going with one or the other.

How long has he been eating THAT diet? No changes lately?

Could this possibly be due to Canidae's formula change?

Its been a while since the formula change, but you might look in to it.

My lab USED to eat Canidae - for about 1 year and during that year I had issues with his poop. His re-occurrence of diarrhea/normal poops sounds strikingly familiar.

I would chuck the Canidae and then make a decision to feed either one or the other (kibble or raw). Also, please stay away from the smoked bones they sell at the pet supermarkets - there are better bones available at your local butcher !

My dogs all had stomach issues on Candidae as well, even my two who have stomachs of steel!

Weird - he's been pretty good on the N.V. raw plus canidae for the past year. As a pup, I had him on Innova large breed puppy plus some raw for the first 8 months or so, but finally he seemed to just get tired of the flavor so I switched to Canidae b/c dogfoodanaysis.com gives it a good rating. (his poop doesn't stink as bad when he's on Canidae as opposed to the Innova too, which is a nice side benefit!)

The smoked meaty bone was actually really high quality. These particular ones are local, fresh, and only lightly smoked. They are also pretty greasy/fatty though, so I think that might've been the problem since fats are harder to digest when your digestive system is in recovery.

What is it specifically about the mixture of raw and kibble that's bad. Seems like that should be ok... Maybe it's better to do one meal raw and one meal kibble, but not mix the two?

Biggest question is: I've got Dante stabilized and doing pretty well right now on a mixture of chicken broth, white rice, cooked ground turkey, a little yogurt and a little pumpkin. My question is, what's the next step to getting him back to a normal diet? Should I start adding in some raw, or canned CA Natural chicken and rice, or kibble, or...??

Kibble has a much much longer digestion rate than raw so when you mix the two the raw spends a lot longer in the stomach and digestive track which exposes the dog to more of the bacteria and whatever other nasties are in the raw meat.

It is always best to at the very least split the raw and kibble up so one is fed morning and the other is fed at night.

 Quote: Matt Lang

Biggest question is: I've got Dante stabilized and doing pretty well right now on a mixture of chicken broth, white rice, cooked ground turkey, a little yogurt and a little pumpkin. My question is, what's the next step to getting him back to a normal diet? Should I start adding in some raw, or canned CA Natural chicken and rice, or kibble, or...??

If you are going to continue to feed raw and kibble (I do this, but they are separated by 12 hours), I would pick one or the other and stick with just one source for food for awhile.

So, for example, feed only kibble for both meals. I would continue to add the plain yogurt daily.

Once the dog is good with that (like for a couple of weeks), you could try again with the raw, but separate into morning and evening meals. Some dogs will tolerate this schedule, but I have seen many people post here that their dogs will not tolerate a diet of raw and kibble, even when fed at separate times.

Once you start with the raw again, pick one protein source and stick with it, until you see that the dog is tolerating it well. Chicken backs are a good one to start with...

I would tend to agree with Lynne. Raw has been a godsend for my dobe. I used to feed him Blue Buffalo - some of the highest rated kibble there is - with nothing but gut issues.

Since the switch he's been growing at a good rate - not too fast. He's poop volume has been reduced DRASTICALLY and there is NO SMELL or very little smell. Much easier clean up. His coat is SHINY and beautiful and his breath does not stink.

Kibble vs raw - or both. I would consider going raw. Your dog will appreciate it and really look forward to eating.

As Lynne stated - you can do both if you prefer just make sure to separate the meals by at last 12 hours to allow the kibble to get out of his system before you put the raw in there. If you don't he'll get all gasey and his stomach will make grumbling noises while he's trying to digest the mix of food. General stomach upset if mixed has been the usual case. There have been exceptions to this rule but why risk it.

Let us know how you are making out.