Author Topic: 8 years old - Tummy Issues - Change from Hills?  (Read 1975 times)

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Offline Sprinkles

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8 years old - Tummy Issues - Change from Hills?
« on: December 09, 2017, 10:42:06 AM »
Sorry....I'm going to talk poo!!

Brody is now 8 and for the last 6-8 months has been having either a solid poo and we think all is well.....or about 6/7 small slimey poos a day!! No sickness.

He's not so desperate that he goes in the house, but he just scratches to go out whenever we are around.

He has been to the vets countless times and has had 2 courses of antibiotics, a blood test, a stool test, probiotic supplements, vets dietary food, is up to date with all his injections and worming and seems very happy in himself. The vet feels it now may be irritable bowel. He is a typical cocker and will eat anything he finds on the floor which really doesn't help.

I realise we have tried the vets food (2 bags) which didn't make a huge amount of difference other than to my pocket!! His bowels are so intermittent it was difficult to tell at times if it helped or not. But I am wondering if we should look at another food. He is currently on and has been on Hills since he was a puppy and I wondered if he has developed an intolerance to something in it! We did change to Hills for older dogs earlier in the year and this was around the time his problems started so we reverted back to the 'normal' one. I have tried a table spoon of natural yoghurt on his food which he really wasn't impressed with!!

Slightly desperate to find a solution as I'm not sure there is much more the vet can suggest. Can anyone recommend a food brand (Kibble based preferably) that we can try to introduce? I know to do this slowly.

Thank you for any suggestions.

Jo

Jo slave to the Cocker! ;)

Offline Archie bean

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Re: 8 years old - Tummy Issues - Change from Hills?
« Reply #1 on: December 09, 2017, 11:20:57 AM »
I had this with Archie. As well as what you describe, he also had the odd day of obviously feeling poorly so he wouldn’t eat. Literally out of the blue, one poorly day and then fine for months. Poos were always up and down. We too had a miriad of tests done. The Vet eventually decided it was chronic colitis. I had an allergy blood test done which flagged up quite a few mild issues and put him on a strict salmon and potato ONLY diet. I used a wet food (fishmongers finest) so I cant advise re kibble I’m afraid. He can now have some different treats occasionally with no ill effects but I am sticking to the fish/potato diet as he hasn’t had an issue since he’s been on it. One of the main allergy triggers was peas and they are in a surprising number of dg foods and treats. I avoid them at all costs! Dorwest Tree Barks powder is very good for dodgy tums. I also have liquid ranitidine in the cupboard which I give him if I hear a slight gurgle tum - usually that idicates things are not 100% so it calms things down before it gets to be a problem. x

Offline its.sme

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Re: 8 years old - Tummy Issues - Change from Hills?
« Reply #2 on: December 09, 2017, 12:03:22 PM »
I'm another fan of Dorwest Tree Barks powders, I put Bea's on cold mashed sweet potato which she loves   :luv: it's also good for an upset tummy.

Maybe a few days of a bland diet and then go back to his original food, his tummy might just need some rest from kibble for a while.

Hope Archie feels better soon.

Sharon.

Offline ejp

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Re: 8 years old - Tummy Issues - Change from Hills?
« Reply #3 on: December 09, 2017, 01:07:56 PM »
Not a lot to add to the advice given about settling things down. Regarding a kibbleit is worth noting that Burns do two sensitive tum kibbles
http://burnspet.co.uk/pork-potato-food-for-dogs.html
http://burnspet.co.uk/sensitive-brown-rice-dog-food.html
They are also happy to send some sample packs, so maybe worth a look.

Offline Andrea Ellie

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Re: 8 years old - Tummy Issues - Change from Hills?
« Reply #4 on: December 09, 2017, 07:01:36 PM »
I've also used Dorwest Tree Barks powder when Ellie had an upset tum and we have also used prokolin paste which I got from the vets. I used it after Ellie had antibiotics for a water infection and she ended up with an upset tum as a result.

Offline Patp

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Re: 8 years old - Tummy Issues - Change from Hills?
« Reply #5 on: December 09, 2017, 08:13:52 PM »
The only thing I would add is to watch the fat content of kibble.  My friend put her dog on prescription diet from the vets due to kidney problems and within a matter of weeks it has affected her liver.  Now on wet and home cooked food liver is slowly returning to normal.



Offline Sprinkles

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Re: 8 years old - Tummy Issues - Change from Hills?
« Reply #6 on: December 10, 2017, 09:33:04 PM »
Thank you very much for everyone’s help and advice.

Much appreciated.
Jo slave to the Cocker! ;)