Loose Stools

[The Chipmunk's Mom]

I have a dilemma. Everytime we feed Dale, he poops soft and a rather large pile for a small boy. I am feeding him Natures Recipe and he has been on it since I brought him home. Now I am thinking of changing his dog food but what do I change it too. With all the dogfood recalls, I am nervous about it. Any ideas.

[Dillydoodle]

There are still a good variety of quality foods out there not effected by the recall... Canidae is one that Linda posted a link to on another thread ( cant remember which one) but they make all their foods with ingredients from the USA, no wheat glutens ( or rice gluten either I believe) and they manufacture all their foods right here in the USA. I am still using Timberwolf and liking it for my guys... some of the other brands that others have liked is Eaglepack HOLISTIC ( the regular eaglepack has corn in it and is not quite the same quality) There are a lot of great brands out there... I have tried different ones with my two to see what they seem to do best on- I tried eaglepack holistic on my two and they didnt process it as well, the canidae lamb and rice canned for Gus gives him really stinky gas ( smells like really bad beer) . Wellness canned is what Gus needs to be more "normal" and Dillon can have either or with no ill effects... so i rotate more with Dillon than with Gus.... I think just trying something different and seeing what effect it has becuase every dog is different ... you might find one that works great for Dale and not so good with Chip. Also the other question is - do you use canned pumpkin? that really does help a lot to firm things up.... remember Dillon was kind of soft and runny most of the time before we discovered the majic of pumpkin... now we never have runny poops...


Emilie

[corgimom]

Bonnie,

If you go to Diet and Nutrition and go to the second page, there is a thread called " Pet Food company Links" that you can go to and check out most of the available foods out there and read the ingredients. Most seem to have a statement as to whether or not their foods are involved in the recall and what they would be. Emilie named some good choices, and there is also Merrick, Fromms, Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers Soul and California Natural as a few others that come to mind. Cody is on Fromms and his stools are good.

[Jespah]

Bonnie - try the canned pumpkin and yogurt route before changing his diet - Jemma was never a great pooper and is usually fine now - the odd realy soft one.

[mtoy]

Yes, pumpkin is great for that. I have to give some to Link. last night was his puppy school graduation, he planted himself next to the treat table so everyone coming by gave him treats. They were not the best quality treats and today his poop is soft and a very strange color. Eeeew.

As for kibble, I think Canidae is very good and reasonably priced. But I agree with the previous posters, try a little pumpkin in each meal first.

[Dillydoodle]

beware of chicken soup - that had several recalled varieties... i would stay away from it for now. The other one that i heard some good things about was newman's organic ( newmans own?) and i dont believe his food made the recall list... Just anything you want to try out, i would say to just check that recall list to make sure they are not on it....


Fromms is great but is super super expensive, more than timberwolf or eaglepack, wellness or solid gold ( another good brand) - at least around here it is.
Emilie

[The Chipmunk's Mom]

Thanks everyone. I do remember seeing some chicken soup varieties on the recall list. I am going to pick up some pumpkin and yogurt tonight and try that first and go from there. This has just started since Sunday night so maybe he ate something that threw his system off. I am also going to try the canidae if I can locate a store that sells it in this area. I haven't looked for that yet. Poor Lil Dale, has one accident everyday this week.+SAD+

[corgimom]

beware of chicken soup - that had several recalled varieties... i would stay away from it for now. The other one that i heard some good things about was newman's organic ( newmans own?) and i dont believe his food made the recall list... Just anything you want to try out, i would say to just check that recall list to make sure they are not on it....


Fromms is great but is super super expensive, more than timberwolf or eaglepack, wellness or solid gold ( another good brand) - at least around here it is.
Emilie

I just checked on the Chicken Soup one and it looks like it is 3 canned varieties. I had forgotten about the Newmans brand and added that to the links(they are not involved in the recall) I know you can get Newmans Organics treats at Petco - but I did not look for the food there.

Not sure what stores you have available there Bonnie, but I would also try the pumpkin and yogurt first.

And Emilie, I know Fromms is expensive(at least the canned stuff) but the bagged here in Wi is really the same price as the Timberwolf and some of the other better brands - It is made in Wisconsin so that is one of the benefits of living here, must cost more to ship it out to you out East.:WINK:

[MissGambler's+Mojo'sMommy]

I would love to get hold of Newman's Own, but it looks like the only way is to have it shipped to me every month. I did find the snacks, and I did what his daughter said to do, I ate one, and it was decent. It's actually her company, her Dad's face just helps sell the products. As for dry kibble, my two eat Nutro Natural Choice Chicken Meal Oatmeal and Rice Formula, its' great for sensitive tummies(Miss Gambler has one) and has no wheat gluten, unlike the majority of other bagged kibbles. The majority of their food is now home cooked, lots of baked chicken and beef with rice. My cats eat Nutro Indoor Complete Care bagged kibble, no wheat gluten, and the cat treats have drastically been cut down, with no wheat gluten. The cats do not care for human food at all.

[mtoy]

I found Newman's at Walmart of all places. I haven't tried the dog food but I do buy the treats.

[dcole]

Poor Dale! I have also used the canned pumpkin with Trevor when his stools were, shall we say, "less than firm". Works like a charm! :WINK:

The only commercial kibble I will let them have now is from Natura - they make the EVO, Innova and California Natural brands. They're one of the few manufacturer's that have their own plant, so no chance of any "cross-contamination". They also send out their food to an independant lab for testing (as per their website.)

I would probably try Fromms, too, but I no one in this area seems to carry it.

[MissGambler's+Mojo'sMommy]

DCOLE: Does the kibble you mentioned have wheat gluten in it? The majority, if not all, wheat gluten that is put in pet food comes from Asian countries, it's just not something that is produced in the US. I would love to know of alternatives, and I like it that the company you mentioned has their own plant. We've all discovered that our pet's food seems to be all over the place before it gets poured in the bag.

As for Newman's Own being in Wal-Mart, you were just referring to the treats, and not the food, right? I would love to try the food, love what I have read and heard about it.

[mtoy]

Walmart had both the food (canned and kibble) and the treats. I was surprised. It's in a nice area, maybe that's why? it could be they're competing with Whole Foods down the street. It's a regular Walmart - not the grocery or super one.

[MissGambler's+Mojo'sMommy]

Wouldn't you know, the one place I didn't think to look! Thanks, I can't wait to see if I can find it. Thanks again!

[corgimom]

I would love to get hold of Newman's Own, but it looks like the only way is to have it shipped to me every month. I did find the snacks, and I did what his daughter said to do, I ate one, and it was decent. It's actually her company, her Dad's face just helps sell the products.


MGM

Here is the Newman Store locator link. There are some places in Las Vegas other than Walmart. Possibly you know someone living in CA that could bring you some:WINK: Maybe Paul Newman would deliver it himself:LAUGH:

http://www.newmansownorganics.com/pet/stores/

[MissGambler's+Mojo'sMommy]

And there are two locations right down the street from me! Thanks Linda. (I looked up the food on the net and never was on a page with that store search locator!!!)

[Sizzledog]

I feed Canidae - the price is right, and the dogs love it and d great on it. But, every dog is different.

I'm never without a bottle of Kaolin and a can of pumpkin to battle the Soft Stools!!!

[Jespah]

My dogs were eating a canned food throughout this whole mess that I was quite happily feeding as it had no wheat or rice gluten - then it was recalled due to potential cross contamination. I was more than upset.

Mine are now on the holistic Eagle Pack canned - our dry was fine, so I didn't change that.

Also, noted last week reading the label of my Campbell's Healthy Choice soup - the ingredient - wheat gluten - where do you suppose that comes from?? Yeah, that's what I figure too.

[MissGambler's+Mojo'sMommy]

There was just another recall just announced, dog nuggett treats, I caught the word Canada, and Nutra. Was busy working at the computer, but it's a new alert. Has melamine in it, and only sold in the western states, CA, NV, AZ(and maybe one more). I did catch that.

[MissGambler's+Mojo'sMommy]

And it's like you're screwed one way or the other, either it has wheat gluten, or it was cross-contaminated. With this recall, you just can't win.

[Fluffypants]

Bonnie - since I switched Jackie to Nature's Variety Venison & Millet kibble, Jackie's poops have been much better! I feed that with pumpkin & yogurt, no canned, and she is almost like a normal dog now! No glutens or by-products of any kind, no corn or wheat. You might want to add it to the "To Try" list. :CUTE:
www.naturesvariety.com

[dcole]

DCOLE: Does the kibble you mentioned have wheat gluten in it? The majority, if not all, wheat gluten that is put in pet food comes from Asian countries, it's just not something that is produced in the US. I would love to know of alternatives, and I like it that the company you mentioned has their own plant. We've all discovered that our pet's food seems to be all over the place before it gets poured in the bag.

MGMM, Natura does not use wheat gluten in any of their dry products. They do use certified organic rice protein in the Kharma Organic food, but it does not come from China. Here's their site:

http://www.naturapet.com/

I also see posted just today on the site (under About Us/News) that they have added Cyanuric Acid testing to their QA protocols. That is great, because it's that + the melamine that is suspected to cause the crystal formation in the kidneys.

[MissGambler's+Mojo'sMommy]

Thanks a million DCOLE, I really like what I see so far, looks like a great product.