Finn after having the issues with Giardia which is now over, now has a "sensitive" stomach. Vet put him on Hill's Prescription Diet for gastrointestional issues. We bought him a 8.5 lb bag.

The ingrediants in this stuff is less desireable then some of the things I would eat. Vet said though that I couldnt keep him on cook ground round (drained of fat of course) and rice because he is a growing puppy.

I get all this. But after about a week of eating this stuff he refuses now. I have tried wetting the food down a little so its like a bit moist and alot so its like a mash. Wont touch the stuff. I have also knowticed that he goes into the position to poop and pushes and pushes nothing is coming out.

So now this stuff is constipating him and I finally had it. I mixed some TOTW Venison and Bison into the mix so its a 60-40 mixture. I know I shouldnt mix the foods but right now I am trying to work him over to the TOTW.

So I started with a puppy that had the runs, got him on to the Prescription dog food ( http://www.hillspet.com/products/pd-canine-id-canine-gastrointestinal-health-dry.html ) and now I have a constipated dog from the Prescription dog food. TOTW here I come. I know this is hard on him from me switching foods, but between what my vet is saying and what I am witnessing first hand with him I am lost.

I HOPE I did the right thing by getting him off that Prescription dog food. She wanted him on it for a month. Two weeks ( 3/4 cup x3 then 1/2 cup before bedtime. The vets feeding schedule. This worked because he was getting sick about 4-5 am because of an empty stomach.) of this feeding schedual on just the Hill's prescription brand then another two weeks weening him off of it and getting him on TOTW.

(Btw he is drinking and is very well hydrated. He is also getting two - three one hour walks, 30 min play time in the house about every two hours. We are not training because he hasn't gotten to the point in it where I can ditch the treats. So I haven't even been able to work with him!!! )

Please let me know if I did the right thing. If not I will by hand pick out ALL of the TOTW from the prescription brand dog food and go back to trying to get him to that stuff. *big sigh*

Thanks in advance for the advice.

mary

Why aren't you suppose to mix the 2 foods?

I was told they are hard on his stomach??? *sigh* I guess i was told the wrong thing then now that I think about it. Because the vet said that it would cause loose stools. But if I have to swtich him later on.. wouldnt he get them anyways?

This was the only way I could even get him to eat the stuff the vet put him on. He hasnt touched the stuff in atleast a day and a half now. Should I just get him on taste of the wild and easy him over to that? Or just give him taste of the wild and say skip the middle vet prescription food?

i am so lost.

Edited by Mary McKeever (08/15/2010 12:42 AM)
Edit reason: words mixed up

The script food is hard on his stomach, or mixing 2 kibbles is hard on them?

Unless I am missing some special rule with script foods, I don't see a problem with mixing the 2 and gradually going to another food.

Still constipated, right? No diarrhea anymore?

A healthy pup I would have no problem just switching foods without mixing, but since there is a recent history or problems I wouldn't want to do anything drastic.

Honestly, I don't have any experience with giardia, so I'm going to refrain from any specific recommendations here.

If your question doesn't get much attention tomorrow morning just be patient. More people will be on here Monday to help.

Sorry I'm of no help.

I am not sure the best course of action for you, but I do remember years ago when the vet prescribed Science Diet for my dog. Not only did he become constipated, but his anal glands impacted as well.
Talk about unpleasant, a dobe with anal gland issues and gas!
I will not EVER use SD for any of my animals, and I work for a vet part time. (read the ingredients on any brand of prescription diet, you can do way better yourself with a little common sense.)
I have recently refused the prscription diet suggested for my AIHA dog, she is doing much better on a mostly raw diet.
Follow your intuition, I think you know Finn best and you are able to make good judgement calls.
hugs to little Finn, he's sooo cute!

Michael- No really its nice to in a way vent the frustations at the situation. The prescription food was supposed to be "easy" on his stomach and bowels. Only one carb and one protein. When I bulked at the idea of giving him this food because its made by science diet and the price (not even going there) she admitted she had no other options.

So I spoke with her co-worker who feeds her dog RAW and knows more about non-mainline brands of dog food. She said TOTW is really good to get him started on but because of all the "extras" proteins and carbs she thought it might be a bit to rich for his stomach and bowels to handle right now.

So thats why we went with the prescription stuff. The bowel problem happened about a week after he got a clean bill of health. They did another fecal float and cytology (5th in 5 weeks) and came up with a food sensitivity. We donated our the previous food we had him on and the company is sending us a refund check.

I tried the samples of TOTW on him and they were still a bit runny but had formed stool in them. The prescription formed the stools right now but now I am thinking maybe to much? I feel bad for him because where a normal bowel takes a dog few mins, he pushes for atleast 5mins. Not a darn thing comes out.

I am not in to much of a hurry to find an answer to this. I will be sleeping on the couch tonight so if he wakes up and has to go .. we are bee lining it out the door at a dead stumbling run. lol

Lisa, Thanks I think I am going to go with my gut on this one and ween him off that crap, pardon me, as quickly as possible. Take the left overs to the vet *evil grin* and get my money back for the food.

I hate seeing my kids constipated and watching him is even worse. Poor little pooper heh no pun in tended.

Both of you thank you for being on this late and basicly letting me talking this out while I got it straight in my head what I am going to do.

I am wide awake now.. time to tackle that dog food and seperate it. YAY! lol

Poor little Finn. I wish him a quick, full recovery.

My Dom had loose stool issues for the first few months that I had him. Its a horrible feeling to be so helpless. With everyone's help here, I was able to weed through the issues and safely switch him until I found the right combination. There's a lot of pressure to get the food thing right, especially when I had a large breed pup who needed to grow. Sometimes I had to fast him in order to settle down his gut. Hated to do that because he was so young, but it really helped. I ended up fasting him for 24 hours, then switching to tiny portions of soupy overcooked rice and boiled chicken, with a tablespoon of yogurt. When I struck good stools with that, I increased the portion till I got to a normal looking sized portion for him. After 2 days of good poop, I started mixing in the new food. In my case it was THK. I mixed in just about 1/4 cup of that into his soupy rice mixture. After every normal poop, we added more THK and less rice mix till we were on pure dog food. It was hard for me to do the rice so long because I knew he needed more than that. But regardless of what the pup is eating, if he's having loose stools then his body isn't getting much out of it. If he's constipated then he's probably pretty uncomfortable.I would try pumpkin for that. -km not telling you to do any of this- you need to decide what is best for your pup but I hope my story helps boost your confidence (if I didn't bore you to death!). I know what its like to be in such a frustrating miserable position. It will all work out. I'm sure Finn will be feeling better in no time!

Prescription dog food ( http://www.hillspet.com/products/pd-canine-id-canine-gastrointestinal-health-dry.html

Ingredient list:

 Quote:

Ingredients

Whole Grain Corn, Brewers Rice, Dried Egg Product, Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Pork Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Powdered Cellulose, Dicalcium Phosphate, Chicken Liver Flavor, Iodized Salt, Potassium Citrate, Choline Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Dried Beet Pulp, Soybean Oil, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Taurine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Phosphoric Acid, preserved with Mixed Tocopherols & Citric Acid, Rosemary Extract.

Hi Mary,
You know, ironically, the top ingredients being corn and brewer's rice I would suspect some issues with digestion.

Many Vet's like to prescribe Science Diet, but honestly with corn and corn gluten, I would actually stay away from this food.

If it were me, I would get my dog back over to a grain free food as soon as possible.
I would also try to see if Finn would consume a little canned plain pumpkin to see if it would help him to go.
Pumpkin is loaded with fiber and has a nice balancing effect on the bowels.
You wouldn't have to give much, I would start with maybe a teaspoon or so.
Also, I would give Finn some very high quality yogurt like Nancy's brand which I believe has like 8 different strains of active cultures. If you can't find Nancy's, I have used Stoney Field Farms, as it has 5 strains.
I have have also used plain Kefir which is really good, and has 10 strains of active cultures, and that brand is called Lifeway.
It will help his digestion and also help to put back that positive bacteria in his gut after his episode with the Giardia.
You could start with a healthy teaspoon of the yogurt morning and night. If he has no issues with that, I would consider giving it to him regularly.

Whenever my dogs have had intestinal issues, I have fed probiotics to them, and it usually helps clear the situation up really fast. I believe this should help his digestion get back to normal again.
Let us know how he continues to do.