Problems with millie

Hi as the title suggest I've had problems with my puppy. I have a King charles cavalier puppy 4 months old. We've had problems with her since we had her, she had a bug in the intestines which needed treatment. We now have changed her over to a puppy food as advised by the vets. We are using the right amounts as it says on the packet for her age group but we are noticing that she is having a loose stools frequently. This problem is hindering housetraining as you can imagine. Has anyone out there got any ideas that can help? please get in touch asap

Could you have switched over too quickly ??? Add some canned pumpkin ....not spiced .

Hi thanks for replying so quickly but I took my time, it took me nearly 3 weeks to get her over to the puppy food. Any more ideas please?

What food are you feeding her?

My dog has a lot of stomach issues which result in loose stools as well. We went through a half dozen different foods before we found one that worked for her. (Chicken/lamb/beef are bad for her--salmon has made a remarkable difference!) I know the bag has feeding suggestions for young puppies, so even though it's not a puppy food, you could still get the right quantity in her. FWIW, I'm feeding Taste of the Wild.

Like mentioned before, adding canned pumpkin (just strait pumpkin, not the pumpkin pie filling) will help solidify stools, but it just masks the problem. I definitely did it for a while though, when it was really bad for Lucy.

tried different foods

Hi thanks again for your quick reply.

The first foods was recommended by the vets Royal Cannin after trying 4 small bisucits she ended up with a watery stool. We tried Iams puppy foods that didn't work either. Now we are giving her Pedigree puppy and growth biscuits chicken and rice flavour, she was ok for awhile and now its gone loose again. Ive even started putting brown rice with her food to bulk her stool up.

ANy ideas, what about if I reduced the amount I was giving her. Could I be over feeding her?

All those foods are pretty crummy foods, actually. It's hard, because it seems really logical to trust a vet's recommendations on food, but the truth is vets are rarely trained in nutrition (and what training they do receive is sponsored by the pet food manufacturers)

The foods you mentioned are all really high in fillers. A large portion of your dog's food needs to be meat, but those foods are mostly corn and wheat and other things that don't help your dog in any way.

I would recommend heading over to Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble Read the reviews, and pick a high star food for your puppy. Most of them are only going to be available at smaller specialty pet stores, but even the big box store Petco sells a few of the top brands. Don't get sticker shock--the higher quality food will cost more up front, but it will save you in vet bills (and you'll be able to feed less of a higher quality food, so the bag will last significantly longer)

All the foods you mentioned are of very, very low quality (don't worry, most of us had no idea what was god food before coming here), Pedigree being the worst of the three, it has more corn than meat, in fact it (the puppy foods I looked at one their site) does not contain any actual meat, only the non-meat parts of the animal (by-products like feet, beaks, bones, organs, etc.). It's important to remember that dogs have different nutritional needs than humans so things like grains which are great for people are not good at all for dogs which should have a diet consisting primarily of meat, if not entirely of animal products.

It's possible that the grains corn and/or wheat are upsetting your dog's tummy because they are so unnatural for a dog's intestines. wheat is also one of the most common allergens for dogs. So my first step for you would be transitioning to a healthy food, one with lots of meat, but no corn or wheat. The less grains the better, in fact many foods have no grains at all.

It is possible this will not solve your problem. Chicken also happens to be a common allergen among dogs and that, along with any other ingredient in the pet food, could be causing the problem. Or it could be something else altogether. BUT even if the corn/wheat in the food is not the problem you would be doing your pet a huge favor to get him off of low quality foods.

Over feeding could also result in loose stool, how much are you feeding?

And from now on, don't take nutritional advice from the vet, vets don't read up on that sort of thing and it's not really taught in vet school.

Here are some good foods to look into getting:
CANIDAE® All Natural Holistic Dog Food - Grain Free All Life Stages dry formula
Meat-Based Pet Food – Premium Dog Food, Cat Food, Ferret Food, Dog Treats – EVO Pet Products
Meat-Based Pet Food – Premium Dog Food, Cat Food, Ferret Food, Dog Treats – EVO Pet Products
Eliminate Pet Food Allergies – Hypoallergenic Dog Food & Cat Food – California Natural Pet Food
Eliminate Pet Food Allergies – Hypoallergenic Dog Food & Cat Food – California Natural Pet Food
Eliminate Pet Food Allergies – Hypoallergenic Dog Food & Cat Food – California Natural Pet Food
Instinct: Chicken Meal Formula: Grain-Free Kibble for Dogs | Nature's Variety
Instinct: Rabbit Meal Formula: Grain-Free Kibble for Dogs | Nature's Variety
Instinct: Duck Meal & Turkey Meal Formula: Grain-Free Kibble for Dogs | Nature's Variety
By Natureâ„¢ Puppy Formula
Go Natural Grain Free Dog Food
Merrick Pet Foods - Pet Foods
Merrick Pet Foods - Dry Dog Food
Taste of the Wild : Products
Pet Products - Healthy Dog Food, Natural Cat Food, Gourmet Dog Biscuits ? Innova Holistic Pet Food


Some of those are grain free and some are not, some have chicken and some don't. None have corn, wheat or soy and are pretty good or really good foods so I hope this helps with choosing a better food that will hopefully help you with your puppy's problem.

I do agree with the others, most likely when you switch to a higher quality food the stools will become more firm.

But, it's also possible that you're over feeding her. Over feeding will cause loose stools, and if you're following the instructions on the bag it's most likely you are overfeeding. It's pretty logical that the manufacturer is going to suggest that you feed more than your dog actually needs.

Sometimes a food with a single source protein helps with loose stools or sensative tummies. I had that problem with my Dobe when he was a pup and I put him on Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance. (venison and brown rice) It may not be the #1 food out there, but it's pretty darn good and it helped with the loose stool. Eventually, Lyric over came that sensative tummy and he could eat just about any food.

You might be overfeeding her or the bug might not be totally gone. Depending on where your puppy came from, she could have picked up giardia, which is kind of hard to get rid of. I would take her back to the vet and get another stool check done.

Either way, I do suggest following the recommendations above about switching to a better quality food.

Switch to raw. Seriously

What was the intestinal "bug"? It may, as posted earlier not be all the way gone yet. Coccidia is common, and takes some persistance to get rid of. Be sure to finnish the treatment all the way, then look into a quality food, free of corn, wheat, soy and by-products. You may need to look at some like Natural Balance for sensitive stomaches.

I would look for a food with a single protein source.. try a food with Duck as the protein source it is very good for dogs with sensitive stomachs... FROMM makes one, so does Eagle Pack and Natural Balance.

I would want to be sure the intestinal problem/bug isn't back or maybe never completely went away.

Agreed. If the intestinal problem is still there, NO food will make a difference.

I haven't read through all of the posts, but...

Have you considered switching to a raw diet? This has completely eliminated loose stools in my dogs and puppies (I breed dachshunds). Also, they poop about 60% less, which is amazing!

As a PP mentioned, try a tablespoon of pumpkin - just the regular canned pumpkin, no sweetener or spices in it.

It could also be worms or coccidia. Try worming her with Safeguard:

Safeguard Goat Wormer, 100 mL - 2226898 | Tractor Supply Company

(I use 1ml per 10 pounds - VERY safe to use and will kill a lot of different types)

If it's coccidia you'll have to get an oral medicine from the vet called albon. It may take up to 2 weeks of this medicine to get rid of it.

Our vet uses Amprolium 9.6%. It is slightly more potent than Albon, and also used for horses. We had a coccidia problem with a puppy a few years ago, and was "ify" when he put her on Amprolium. But it knocked it out really quick.