10 month old cocker with 'possible stomach problems'

[lolsim]

Sparkie is 10 months old and has had many different food brands since we got him.
Started with beta puppy (breeder supplied), had ver runny stools, changed to James Well Beloved (Vets advice) and it didn't improve. He caught a tumme bug and the vet put him on HA Purina soya diet for 9 wks. He's now off this and although his runny stool is now solid he is still going up to 6 timer per day. Iv tried him on grain free also and its not improved. Not sure whether to mow try sensitive stomach diet or persevere until I find a 'normal' food that suits.
My pet food supplier who is brilliant spoke about possibly going down the route of raw food but I'm really not keen.
Any advice or experiences would be appreciated x

[lolsim]

Oh, and he's losing weight

[Mudmagnets]

Hi there, sorry to read you are having problems. If you are not keen on raw, you could try one of the wet foods, like Wainwrights or Naturediet.....there are many others.

It is hard to recommend anything specific as would not like to suggest something that might disagree with his tum.

You could try this website which has been useful for quite a few  owners, I believe. It will give you an idea what is in the food, (or perhaps more importantly what is left out)

http://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/the-dog-food-directory

[elaine.e]

Has he been tested for Giardia and Campylobacter? I suspect he would still have diarrhoea if he had either, but as he's passing so many stools every day and is losing weight I'd be inclined to go back to the vet and have him checked again. Does he have any other symptoms such as itchy skin or ears?

I'm a raw feeder, so that would be my personal recommendation, but whatever you decide I think it's worth going back to the vet again because of the weight loss. If you don't like the food the vet prescribes or tries to prescribe have a look on the allaboutdogfood website as already suggested. Sometimes it's a case of trial and error to find the right food.

[Geordietyke]

Hi, my Archie (nearly a year old) has been on various foods - all he loved but his system didn't.  He was also going 4/5 times a day, very large, soft splats and very stinky at times so I wasn't very happy with any of them (Royal Canin/Simpsons/Simpsons Grain Free). 

After lots of consideration (I too, am not keen on raw), I started him on Wainwrights Grain Free wet food just over a week ago and what a difference!  He now goes twice a day and stools are very small, firm and not smelly at all, I am one happy bunny!   Of course, it may take some time to find just the right food for Sparkie, good luck!

[Sue E]

Hi, Ozzy had similar symptoms when he was younger (he's 5 now) and eventually the vet tested for campylobacter.  He had to have some probiotic stuff (can't remember the name) and it worked a treat.  However he reverted back to runny poos whenever he had chicken or chicken flavoured food.  Since then we've stayed away from it and he's been fine for the past 3 years even managed to put on some weight this year much to the vets surprise when he went for his vaccination 

So definitely worth going back to the vet for the test as its easily cleared up and then watching what he eats and seeing if you can spot what irritates him most.

Good luck x

[fiona2]

I to am a raw feeder but think I would be going back to vets to get tested for what Elaine said as losing weight is not a norm.

Out of curiosity do they endoscope dogs to see possible gut or bowel problems?

[Catty_G]

Has he been tested for Giardia and Campylobacter?

That was my exact thoughts, my Bessie had Giardia when I first got her but it was soon treated and she is fine now.  It's is easy done with a stool test and so no distressing blood tests for your Sparkie.

[*MaryG*]

we have had pepper on royal canine sensative since a puppy and this works. we have to be very careful with anything in the way of treats, he cannot tolerate dentastiks, rawhide, cheese or liver.
we went through a long patch when nothing seemed to work and then found he was drinking out of our pond that was really upsetting him, he can no longer get to it. when he has a very upset tummy from eating something out the first thing i try is plain rice and cooked chicken. however the testing suggested above may be a good idea , pepper never seemed to loose weight despite lots of upset tummies.good luck,

[Eddiesmum]

Have you tried Chappie? My vet got me on to it, coz my Eds had v. bad stomach when I first got him, don't know if it was stress or what, but he's been great on it, even after we had a hemorrhagic diarrhea episode which was just awful and he definitely would have died if I hadn't taken to the 24Vets emergency on Sunday nite! We never found out what caused it either virus or ingested something but anyway Chappie works for us!