food for dogs with sensitive stomachs

[alexis]

So, it turns out that Zane has a sensitive stomach and isn't doing well on commercial dog foods, so I need some help!

We started him out on merrick kibble and a science diet wet food (what the rescue organization was feeding him). At the recommendation of our vet, we got him off the science diet and moved on to merrick kibble plus newman's own wet food. He had lots of gross poops, but we figured it was him getting over the worms he had when we got him. When it didn't clear up once the worms were gone, we started trying to find a food that suited him better.

We've tried several kibbles and none of sat well with him. We always transition him super gradually. We tried: Nature's Recipe grain free chicken & sweet potato (made him very sick), Canidae protein plus single grain (works ok up to 1/2 cup), Simply Nourish chicken and rice (made him sick), and the aforementioned merrick kibble (and sick again). We've worked out that he's allergic/sensitive to wheat, slightly sensitive to barley and oatmeal, and can't eat sweet potatoes at all. He seems good with rice, chicken, venison, most veggies and apples.

Now, we've moved on to home cooked food - various chicken parts, brown & white rice, peas, carrots, greens, pumpkin, and doggie supplements designed to augment home cooked food - mixed with about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the canidae kibble. His digestion is totally perfect and he looks healthier & shinier now, but I need to find a commercial dog food that works for him. I don't feel good about buying supermarket meat for him (I've been a vegetarian for a long time), but feel fine about meat dog food since it's made with leftovers from animals killed for people's consumption (sorry! not trying to be provocative here, just stating my preferences). I've been buying the non-factory farmed meat for Zane , but it's expensive and I don't have the storage space to buy in bulk. I don't mind continuing to make some of his food, but it would be really nice and convenient to have a commercial food that works too.

Does anyone have any suggestions for kibbles and/or canned foods that have worked well for your dogs?

[leih merigian]

good luck. I mean that. Wish I could help...

[Sugars Mom]

I really think you have to try stuff and see what works for your Zane. What works for one dog won't for another, so getting ideas about different foods from people will probably still end up with your having to go through trial and error. Mine has some allergies and I have not been able to figure out what. I have found the limited ingredient grain free Natural Balance sweet potato and fish work for her. I have gone through quite a few brands. Sugar gets really itchy and it will show up right away, and has gone away fairly quickly with the right food for her.

All the best and good luck finding the right food!

[Dutchringgirl]

I dont think I can offer you any help either All of our bassets ate Purina and all were healthy and lived long lives. All of my own dogs also ate Purina until I just switched to raw.

[alexis]

Thanks all, I know it's got to be trial and error, but it's nice to have some commiseration!

We're going to try the CA Natural chicken and rice only formula next, so cross your fingers for us!

[GSDNanny]

Have you tried lamb and rice? That is what I have fed since when I first had a problem many years ago with a couple of my dogs that had food issues with chicken kibbles. When you read a dog food bag label that has chicken in it and it says chicken by-products you are getting just that, the feet, beaks, organs, etc, not the meat part. The commercial chicken producers use a derivative of arsenic to produce a large chicken in a very short time span, quicker to market means more $$$. From what I was taught, that derivative ends up in the by-products of the chicken; ie, ground up for pet food. And we wonder why so many of our dogs end up with cancer. Hummm???

Anyway, you might give lamb and rice a try. Just sayin'.

[Schlussdibusti]

The Honest Kitchen is a great product. Raw dehydrated, just add water and it comes back alive. I think it might be the best compromise between raw/home prepared and commercial.

[alexis]

Thanks for the honest kitchen recommendation, if what we're trying now doesn't work, I'll give it a shot!

We have tried lamb and rice wet foods and those haven't worked too well. Haven't tried a lamb and rice kibble yet though -- is there one you recommend?

[Jenifer22]

Dogs have a very simple, sensitive digestive system. When they eat foods that have ingredients they can't process, it makes them sick because their body is filled with foods that can't be broken down and absorbed into their bodies. Natural dog food is very easy for them to digest. The natural ingredients that are put into these foods are quickly absorbed and distributed into different functions.so keep natural food for your dogs.

adequan equine

[Sugars Mom]

Haven't tried a lamb and rice kibble yet though -- is there one you recommend?

I've just tried the Natural Balance lamb and rice (grain free limited ingredient), trying an alternative to the limited ingredient sweet potato and fish, it seems to be doing well for Sugar.

[Lauren]

I don't feel good about buying supermarket meat for him (I've been a vegetarian for a long time), but feel fine about meat dog food since it's made with leftovers from animals killed for people's consumption (sorry! not trying to be provocative here, just stating my preferences).

Hence the age old problem of owning a carnivore with a sensitive stomach. But, TECHNICALLY the grocery store meat (especially on sale almost out of date meat) is also a by-product of animals killed for human consumption. You are a vegetarian, but your boy is a carnivore... It sounds like meat sets well with his delicate system. Maybe you can feel better about it realizing that he would be hunting and killing his own animals if he weren't a domesticated good boy who doesn't eat the neighbors cats?

I do realize that handling raw meat is disgusting even for an omnivore like myself and probably much more so for vegetarians, I do hope that you can find a kibble that works for him...I recently inquired about adopting a belgian Mal. who had explosive diarrhea with most kibbles and finally has leveled out on a Hills Science diet ( I can't remember which one). Not great nutrition, but it works for him!!!

[alspyce]

I dont think I can offer you any help either All of our bassets ate Purina and all were healthy and lived long lives. All of my own dogs also ate Purina until I just switched to raw.

I general/not directed at you Lisa.

I have come to believe that we can no longer choose brands that once worked for our parents, or even ourselves years ago, based on past performance. (When I was young, my parents also fed Purina, and our dogs also lived very long lives compared to life expectancies now.(18 yr old GSP/19 yr old Beagle) But, they also got table scrapes--including veggies, or whatever else got left over.)

Back to the point---
Some of those food companies have sold out to other companies, who didn't change the name, but probably did change the formula.
We now have cancer causing preservatives that didn't even exist as Food Additives back then. They way foods are made and the ingredients allowed to be used, have changed. My friends Cattle Dog died at 1YEAR, of cancer, eating a food with ethoxyquin when they first started adding it and folks didn't know much about it. (Thanks Monsanto) Food companies even have an out---they don't have to list it IF it is already in a portion of their ingredients that they buy from someone else. (Fish/fish meal, as an example.)
Carnivores are expected to live on Corn/Soy based(GM) foods with low quality, or even indigestible protein.(Hair and feathers do count as protein in the total analysis.)
Some of the GM foods even have a "pesticide gene" to kill the bugs that eat them,and we (and our dogs) eat these foods!
Whatever you choose to feed, you need to find what works for your own dog, but that choice should be made by what is available now and not what was available or worked in the past.

Next Rant could be Vaccinations