# Is there a natural additive to dog food that can...



## BusyBees2 (Dec 10, 2004)

...harden his stool? 

Here's the thing. For 8 weeks or so now, my almost 1yo husky has had really loose stools. It's not diahrea, and we've been to the vet and ruled out bacteria, worms, virus, etc. 

She gave us an Rx, metonidazole 500mg, to help with anything bacterial ....this made things much, much worse, so with her permission we stopped giving that. She also gave us a nutritional supplement, Purina FortiFlora, one packet on food daily.

The nutritional supplement works only as long as he doesn't eat anything else. For example, I'll feed him in the morning with the supplement. Things are solid all day, but if I feed him more in the evening without the supplement....forget it! Things get messy.

I've tried changing, gradually, from old food. He's been on Pedigree (yellow bag) for awhile now. Changes in dry food hasn't made a difference. I can't/won't do wet food. 

Since I'm almost out of the supplement, I'm here asking for help. Is there anything natural that I can give him to help? He doesn't get any table food...normally, but if there's something that might make a difference, I'm willing to try it.

He'll be 1 on Dec. 20, Siberian husky, weighs 68-70 lbs. He's crated in the house, leashed to the deck outside (until we can get our fence), thus the problem with cleaning....he does not realiably let me know when he needs to go out in the yard.(I know...separate issue.)

Thanks for any suggestions.


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## cricket (Dec 15, 2004)

Your major problem is the food. I know it's "cheap" but it's obviously NOT working for your dog. Also, it's a really bad choice for a husky and their rather unique nutritional needs. Get a better grade food, period. In the long run, you can't afford to feed this food. It may "save" you a few pennies (literally - if you do the math) now but later it will have devastating effects on his long term health. 

Second, you will most likely have to feed pro-biotics forever, especially if you don't change foods. You can use yogurt (not from the grocery store) or raw goat's milk in small quantities. However, the best is going to be the supplement that you're already using. It has a high concentration of the biotics that he needs in a small enough dose. He apparently doesn't have enough gut flora to properly digest, coupled with a food that is really bad for him.

You can get foods that aren't expensive like Pro-One or Diamond or Exclusive. They aren't wonderful but they're lightyears above Pedigree or OlRoy. Ideally with a dog that has digestive issues, a food such as Solid Gold or Nutro or Evo would be best. If possible I would pull him off of grains entirely and see how he reacts.

Sorry...This really sounds like slamming and I promise it's not. I just haven't had enough coffee this morning.


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## BusyBees2 (Dec 10, 2004)

The only food that you listed that I have ever heard of is Pro-One...I think. Where does a person find these foods? I'm willing to try something else..but wouldn't know where to begin looking for these.

Also, just as a note, he did the same thing on Purina...why would Purina food not work, if Purina supplements will? Just another way for them to make money?

Does this also mean he shouldn't have Milkbones, and other dog treats? Is that aggravating the problem?

Should I be giving the supplement with every meal since it seems to only work on that meal, and not tide over for the whole day? I'd pretty much taken him off 2 meals a day since he's really just a grazer, but last night he seemed hungry so I gave him more (without the supplement) and it wasn't pretty.

Thanks for the advice...I'm willing to try anything...


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

Are Milk Bones a Purina product? If so I would stop feeding them for a while and see if that helps.
I get Acidolphilus pills for my dogs. They are pretty cheap, and I give them when ever their tummys are off.
Is there itching with the tummy problems? If so it could be a alergy to the food.


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## pancho (Oct 23, 2006)

It would probably help to leave off the milkbones and any other treats. It may be the treats that is causing the problem. Pick a good quality food and stick with it. The food you pick does not have to be the highest priced food available. The majority of dogs are pets only and do not require the high performance feed.
If none of this works, try feeding raw. It will usually cure most problems.


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## wendle (Feb 22, 2006)

What kind of purina did you try? The cheap purina doesn't really look any better than the other cheap foods if you check the ingredients. I agree totally with Cricket on this. I've had great results with purina one, Pro Plan, solid gold, and nutro max. I know there are some other good quality foods out there I haven't listed.


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## cricket (Dec 15, 2004)

I wouldn't give him anything other than his regular food until you KNOW what is causing this. Of the foods listed, any can be found at good feedstores or any of the mega-pet stores. I'm not sure where you are though so I can't sy for certain. Flint River is also good and is popular in the west more than here. If you tell me where you are (you can pm me) I can tell you where to get food. One of the benefits to belonging to a gazillion dog sites is knowing people (primarily big dog owners) all over the globe and where they get "stuff". One general rule of thumb is "if you can get it in the grocery store, you shouldn't be feeding it". I say that sort of tongue in cheek since many stores are now carrying better brands. 

As for the supplements...Pro-biotics are what they are regardless of name. That's why they work.

Purina makes some really high end stuff that is similar to Solid Gold. That's why the breeder's and showers can honestly say they feed it during commercials and shows. I promise they aren't feeding the commonly available Purina.

Raw is wonderful as long as you are diligent in providing ALL nutrients they require. It's not a matter of thawing out 3# of chicken every day. It requires a tremendous amount of research to do properly. It is probably the best feeding program but many don't do what they should and the dogs suffer. BARF is also a wonderful program but also requires a lot of research. Neither are for everyone. 

Whatever food you switch to, you have to give it a full 14-30 days to do anything. Often people switch too fast and thus have no idea what really works and what doesn't. It takes about 14 days for the other food to completely get out of the system and another 14 for there to be any real indication of improvement. 

One of the side effects of feeding a better food is the general smell of the dog. They simply smell better. I can just about smell a dog and tell you what you're feeding or at least what grade it is. I can REALLY smell a Pedigree/etc fed dog. It's weird because otherwise I can't smell a danged thing.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Check out every label in your grocery store. Never buy these. Go to a pet supply store, or even a feed and seed. Do not buy any of the products that you also saw in your grocery store. Upgrade. The first ingredient should be meat, poultry, or fish, not meat by products or a vegetable. I know you will get sticker shock, but you will feed your dog much less, probably half as much as you are feeding now.

Raw meaty bones. Get him bones that are too big for him to swallow, but big enough that he can carry them around. Every three days, replace the bone with a new one. They keep fine in the freezer. The calcium in the bones will help to firm up his stool, clean his teeth, and keep his mouth off inappropriate items. My own personal preferance: bones are outside toys.


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## BusyBees2 (Dec 10, 2004)

Maura,
I already do beef marrow bones with my dogs. Kept frozen and yes, given outside!! Keeps them busy for hours.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I understand what you're saying about not shopping at the grocery store, but what's confusing is that many of the brands are in both kinds of stores (grocery & pet). I think I will look for the Nutro brand since I can find it in a number of locations around here.

Should I still plan a slow transition to the new food? Or should I just make a straight cut over? 
Thanks


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## hisenthlay (Feb 23, 2005)

One of my dogs (not the husky) has a sensitive stomach, and had soft stools for years--most of the vets did nothing, and one eventually gave him probiotics, which helped a little, but not much. We finally figured out that his main problem was a wheat allergy. He also seems to be sensitive to fatty foods. We ended up putting him on Flint River's Fish & Chips kibble product, and that has been the best thing for him. No probiotics or anything needed--and he has solid stools. Before Flint River, we had used Nutro Max, and Iams. You have to order Flint River off the internet--there are several sources, but we use FlintRiver.com. It won't work for everyone, of course. One of my neighbors was having digestive problems with their dog, and they put him on the same formula, and he started vomiting a lot, for some reason. :shrug: But it has done wonders for my boy, so it might be worth a try. He used to _lose_ weight eating EIGHT cups a day of Iams, but he gained weight back when we put him on only 4 cups of Flint River a day. It looks expensive, but you use less of it, and it's certainly saved us in vet bills and ruined carpeting, cleaning solution, etc. after his messy accidents.

ETA: He does NOT do well with meaty bones--they're too fatty. If I run out of his food, I give him rice and light tuna, and he does fine with that. But once I gave him tuna packed in oil, and watch out! 

Also, you have to watch if he's having soft stools, his anal glands may get impacted more easily, and cause him discomfort. They usually express my dog's anal glands at the vet--I'm sure I could do it myself, but I'm honestly not that brave (unless I had to be, I guess)!


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## AlaOutlaw (Sep 3, 2006)

A couple of spoon fulls of canned pumpkin in his feed will help harden his stool. I agree though that cheap dog food will cost you more in the long run than good feed.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Just switch over. You can mix the two foods together until the Pedigree is gone, if you want, but I wouldn't mix them for more than three days.

You will also want to moisten the kibble for a few minutes to let it soften a little. As a scientific experiment, you can moisten a few pieces of Pedigree and a few pieces of Nutro. Compare the bloated kibble with the dry. This is what happens to the kibble in the dog's stomach.


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## southerngurl (May 11, 2003)

Canned pumpkin.


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## longshadowfarms (Nov 27, 2002)

I have similar problems with our Lab pup. He was on Purina at the breeder so we bought some to start him on when he first came home. He had the runs so we kept that to try to reduce stomach upset. It never worked. Canned pumpkin helped a little, but not much. Pepto Bismol didn't even help at times. We ended up switching him to Nutro Lamb and Rice and he was fine. I went with L&R because all the lab tests came back negative and the L&R was what I had around at that time (had 3 other dogs on it). When I tried to switch him to a beef based Nutro product the runs came back. I guess I'm trying to warn you to be prepared to try more than one product within a line of food if you've got one with a sensitive tummy. I've been pretty happy with the Nutro. I'd consider something better if I could find something close enough to home that didn't put me in the poorhouse. My Pyr eats 6 c of food a day  The two Labs together only eat 6 c a day.


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## belladulcinea (Jun 21, 2006)

We use yogurt, Dannon's plain yogurt works great, for all of our dogs. The collie had parvo and as long as we fed him the yogurt he did wonderful. We feed and have always fed Pedigree with no problems. With the collie's stomach problems we found this to be the right combination of food for him. Bella gets yogurt every night with her food.  About a 1/4 cup or a little less.


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## Hank - Narita (Aug 12, 2002)

We also feed lamb and rice. One dog has loose stools but he is fine and very healthy. Personally, I think some dogs eat things in the yard, etc. that can effect their stomachs. Stay away from cheap foods of any kind and you should be fine. Also feed only once a day to avoid giving too much(no snacks at all period) JMO


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