Barney's not well!

[Mudmagnets]

Interesting article on the news yesterday about the meat content of dog food often not being the same as the label.  The quote was a beef meal that contained 70% chicken - on being challenged the manufacturer stated that "it was still animal product and was considered meat!" No consideration to dogs that are intolerant of chicken!

Glad you seem to be getting to the bottom  of Barneys issues - hope he starts to put with on soon

I had this issue with Forthglade Lifestage foods and their statement was we put in a small amount of chicken as a binding agent instead of using bulking material & nasties' hmm

[barnfind]

Just getting back to answer my own question............................!!

Dorwest and Naturvet are different products with Naturvet containing some sort of fungii......................there is also Bionic Biotic to consider that seem to have a large number of supporters?

Good grief, when did dog ownership get this complicated???

[Ernies mum]

Bless you , there are lots of people on here that can sympathise and have been through similar experiences with their cockers .
Ernie struggled to gain weight and had bouts of upset tummies and colitis . I tried several different foods til I found something that helped him gain and  maintain weight and that didn't upset his tummy .It came down to trial and error til I tried Millie's wolfheart gundog mix which suits him well . I still have to be very careful what treats to give him as the majority of things contain grain or chicken which don't agree with him at all .
As for the poo eating it maybe that barney is lacking something and that's why he does it or maybe he's hungry still or maybe it's a habit . Ernie is a poo eater , not his own but other dogs which has led to more upset tummies , he's improving on leaving it but it's taken a hwhile so if you can prevent barney doing it before it comes too much of a habit it makes life easier . Im in the process of trying digestive enzymes to see if they help with poo eating as someone on here recommended it but it's early days yet.
As for the weight loss as  the others mentioned you could give 3 meals a day and increase the amount .
Hope you get barney sorted soon as I can really relate to how stressful it can be, my husband often jokes that we spent a lot of time discussing ernies toileting habits and that I'm very happy that his poos are now solid 

[Ernies mum]

Forgot to mention that I give ernie a probiotic too , I used to use bionic biotic but noticed it contained wheat so now he has yum pro bioactiv 

[Vixter]

I dont know if this helps but I recently had a very similar problem with my 1yr old cocker.  I did the same as you and sent a stool specimin (which came back negative) but luckily my vet gave us Anti b's anyway.  Im not normally a fan of random courses of antibiotics without a proven infection, but I am so glad I listened to my vet on this one and it literally cleared up by about 2 doses in.  The vet said that often they may have a bug but it just doesnt show up in the sample as they only test for 2 or 3 of the main ones.  She also had blood in her poo and the vet said, the infection had caused a mild colitis.

  I also switched her diet to Eukanuba dermatosis FP, again on the recomendation of the vet as its very hypoallergenic (fish and potato based).  It was a bit of a revelation to be honest, and I have never looked back.  Her poos are vastly improved, skin less itchy and dry, and fantastic coat.  She also put back on all the weight she lost.  Dont get me wrong its not a fantastic food and doesnt rate well on the all about dog food website, but she cannot tolerate a food that is higher in protein, just gives her the squits again.  Initially I was going to switch her back to something else once the colitis settled but decided to leave her on it as she is doing so well.  The other bonus is that because her main food source is very hypoallergenic, i dont need to be so careful with treats and have been able to reintroduce most stuff with no problems.

I also use a pro biotic (yumpro bioactive) and have found this to be very helpful as well.

[barnfind]

Thanks Vixter for your comments. I have had the same result with antib's in fact, Barney proudly presented me with a perfect sample for Good Friday only trouble was he thought I was so keen to see it he left it on the kitchen floor!

Interesting that you are also using Yumpro Biotic and I wonder if this is your long term solution or are you intending to stop adding it after a while??

[Vixter]

I was planning to keep giving it for a while as it does her no harm and hopefully improves her digestive health.  Certainly her breath is a lot less stinky 
May eventually reduce down to a month on, month off and see if I notice a difference.   I also use yumpro oil as well for coat and skin.  Makes me feel better about not feeding her a top notch kibble.