stinky farts, soft poo, but good food.

[lindsayanng]

I dont get it. We have had our beagle for about a month now, and ever since he came to us, he has had soft stool, but now he has started farting A LOT!

The odd thing is, he was on science diet at the shelter, and we switched him over to Solid Gold which is a VERY high quality food.

When he came to us, he would barely eat what we put out, which is why we switched.. For the past three weeks he has been eating Solid Gold puppy formula and he has been cleaning his plate!! We are very happy with the food..

but i can not figure out this soft stool and farting issue!! The farting is really bad, he farts atleast once every hour or so.. and the soft stool is not diarrhea, but its more like soft serve icecream (sorry for being graphic) and the stool its self is VERY smelly (i read if they are healthy it shouldnt be that smelly) I can smell it standing 15 feet from him when he goes.

We have ruled out illness, there is no giardia, or other parasites.

Also, we THOUGHT it was from the pig ears that we were giving him (before we knew how bad they were) but he has only gotten Milkbones for treats and rawhide bones.

It just doesn't make sense. Otherwise he i VERY VERY healthy and active. Any suggestions or ideas?

[MandyPug]

How long has it been since you switched to Solid Gold?
Some dogs have a longer transitioning period than others and it may take him a month or 2 to get his body used to the new food. Try adding some probiotics to his food [tablespoon of plain probiotic yogurt or a half tablet of acidophilus] the enzymes are good for digestion.

[Misty Fox]

Sounds like my husband :D

I agree with the probotic, Mandy Pug beat me to it!

[Julia423]

When my guys had the soft/smelly poo/farty problem, I increased the fiber in their diets and problem solved!


Misty Fox, maybe it'd work for your hubby ;)

[PatchO'Pits]

I would stay away from raw hides . They do not digest properly from everything I've read & can cause obstructions

Also just because you are feeding a high quality food it doesn't mean that the food is the right one for your pup. His system could be senative to one or more of the ingred in that food or possibly he hasn't had enough time to adjust to it.

I agree with adding probiotics or some plain yogurt with live active cultures

[Macawpower58]

Solid Gold is a good food. It does not agree with every dog though. Mine did not do well on it. Gas......just like you're experiencing. You may need to keep looking until you find a food that works as you'd like.

I also vote for probiotics. Adding these could make a world of difference.
Veggie based enzymes are also another additive that helps with the digestion problems. Prozyme is a good one.

[lindsayanng]

we actually have been adding plain yogurt to his food every other night.. And the farts and stuff were there before the Solid Gold brand food, and the soft poo was worse when we were feeding him ProPac, a slightly less expensive good food.. AND when he was on the food from the shelter, he STILL had the issues..

He has been on it about 3 weeks now, maybe i will give it another week or so before i go changing it again, you're all right, he could still need more time getting used to it.

If i do change, i am thinking of trying Innova, its th eonly food with the probiotics already in it, and my cats seem to be doing VERY well on that!

[PatchO'Pits]

Innova is a great food and better than Solid Gold IMO

[roxy]

You say he had these issues before, too? Have you had him checked out by a vet? He might have something wrong. When my dog had the runs, I cut out every treat and snack and added brown rice and bland chicken to his diet. So why not try just brown rice and bland chicken (no seasoning, oil... nothing but chicken) and see how he does over a couple of days. If that solves his problem at least you know there's nothing wrong with his stomach. Then try the food without the snacks and see what happens. THEN introduce one snack a week at a time and see what happens. Good luck.

[lindsayanng]

yes, he was checkedd out by the shelter vet and then our vet a week or so after he came home.

We did cut out all treats but we NEED to rawhide becauase at this point, it is the only thing he will chew, and he is teething. I dont really want to take those away - but i have been trying to find a better quality chew bone.. He doesnt like the greenies, or nylabones..

[MandyPug]

have you tried a regular old raw soup bone for teething? you can go to the butcher and get one with meat still on then deep freeze it and give it to the pup... the meat gives them that want to get ever bit off so they chew and chew and chew... frozen carrots also work pretty good, although more messy IMO

[lindsayanng]

Well, we are going out to the butcher for our easter ham so i might just have to get a big ol soup bone if they have them.. that sounds like a GREAT idea.

[Husky06]

Sounds like my husband :D

I agree with the probotic, Mandy Pug beat me to it!

I couldn't help but laugh when I read your comment, lol

[lindsayanng]

well, cappy got a Lamb Bone for easter which he loved.. but easter did wreak havoc on his little tummy.. we have a LOT of kids in my family, so bringing him to easter, i KNEW he was going to get fed.. he got some potato chip crumbs, a lick of a lolly pop, and who knows what else. BUT he did well.. not throw up and no diarrhea.. But he's still FARTING like crazy

we just ran out of the Solid Gold brand food, so i have to go to the store today, i think i am going to try Innova - its workingg VERY well for my kitties

[roxy]

Even though it's a really good brand, there might be something in it that just doesn't agree with him. Try Wellness or Innova and see what happens. Also try the chicken version or lamb versions since they are easiest to digest.

Sometimes it just takes awhile for a new dog to relax too. Also, i am curious if you're just doing wet food or dry and wet? There's more fiber in the kibble than canned food so that may be a factor. Innova kibble is a 5 star dry food and it comes in small bites size which my dog loves. But he didn't love it right away. It took him awhile to get to love it. Now he eats more of it than canned food which is unusual, I think.

It can take awhile to figure it out. But once you do you'll be soooo happy!

[lindsayanng]

We are feeding him mostly dry with a little wet mixed in. I know there is more nutrition in dry food than most wet foods. The wet food we feed him is just pedigree because it literally is just to make it more palatable.

We do have some progress though. The farts have not stopped, but his poo is definitely getting better, its not ideal, but it is not nearly as soft or stinky - now it is mostly normal but the last bit that comes out is soft. Does anyone know what that means?

We also stopped giving him Bully Sticks and Pigs Ears as we recently found out how bad they can be for digestion, We TRIED rawhide, but he hates them, but he does like this greenie peanut butter flavored bone that we got for him. The pet store people told us that its easier on the digestive system because there isnt nearly as much fat in it

We have actually ran out of the Solid Gold brand and were slowly mixing in ProPac which he has been eating very well.. I think it was the combination of the Solid Gold brand AND the wrong treats.. HOPEFULLY..

But the farts are still there..

[Julia423]

We do have some progress though. The farts have not stopped, but his poo is definitely getting better, its not ideal, but it is not nearly as soft or stinky - now it is mostly normal but the last bit that comes out is soft. Does anyone know what that means?



Sometimes if digestion is a bit too rapid...or the colon a bit irritated...part of the waste will be soft. I had that problem with Max. I mentioned before about increasing the fiber a bit. That is what stopped the partial softness and the gas. The extra fiber can be just a higher fiber food or an additive...doesn't need to be much. As for adding something to make dry food more "palatable", they really don't need it, but I know what you mean. I add a small amount of boiled chicken to my guys' dry food. It's a really, really small amount just sort of sprinkled on...probably only 1/4 ounce each if that...and I mush it between my fingers for sprinkling.

[lindsayanng]

i tried the chicken, it kinda worked, but the rest would go bad before we went through it all.. i would alternate from wet food to scrambled eggs and chicken.. he's a picky eater, but he is eating better now

[Julia423]

I buy bags of frozen chicken tenders...just plain white meat chicken cut into little "tenders" and flash-frozen. That way I can only boil up a couple of pieces at a time and keep them in the refrigerator, the rest of the bag goes back into the freezer. Seems to work for us. :)

[5kidsnadog]

Don't know if you're doing it all the time, but I noticed that while raw egg seems fine, scrambled egg causes gas and soft poop for Finn...

[lindsayanng]

well, our scrambled egg is ONLY egg in the microwave, i use no butter, milk, or anything added.. But if thats the case, i will see if some raw egg would change things.

[roxy]

I would stop feeding him pedigree. After Alpo, it's one of the lowest rated dog foods out there. The ratings have to do with ingredients: more cheap fillers, the lower the rating. That may be part of his problem, too.

I love that you're adding bland, easy to digest human food like chicken, egg etc. because every dog loves that and usually digests those things well.

here's a link that rates dry and wet dog food. it's one most people use when trying to decide what to buy. and you don't need to purchase 6 star foods but I wouldn't feed my pet 1 or 2 star pet foods.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/index.php

[lindsayanng]

well, the alpo was phased out. We were just using it because it was the ONLY thing that would get him to eat his wet food. NOW he will eat his wet food without anything, but i still add the occasionally egg, chicken, veggies, ect to it as a treat. He gets those things in small amounts every other day or so..