# Puppy with soft stools



## hotmischief

Hi, I have a 10 week old wire haired Vizsla. Boris is my first Vizsla and I am having a few problems with his diet. Diets for a pups/dogs are a mine field(especially as I am used to feeding Gt Danes). Boris came home on a very good holistic puppy food call Healthy Paws. However, within a few days the puppy had very loose stools. I appreciate that this is often quite normal with a change of environment, added to which this puppy eats everything in site!! My vet suggested changing him to chicken and fish with egg and brown rice. His stools are reasonably normal most of the time, although the rice seems to pass through undigested - is this normal. As soon as I started to add a little of the kibble to his food the stools get a little softer.

I am now of the opinion that the Health Paws kibble is not for him. Someone suggested a kibble called Orijen, that has no grain in it. The reviews on the website are good - have any of you tried this food??? Suggestions would be gratefully received.


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## datacan

Most vets are not knowledgeable when it comes to feeding pets, we would have been on Science Diet if we listen to ours.

Bacterial culture in the intestines is low when they are puppies and especially with this kind of dog, eating everything in site. 
If puppy vaccination is not causing the loose stools, we found LID NO GRAIN (limited ingredients) diet kibble to do the trick. I would really stay away from high protein diets as those were linked to liver problems later in life.

You fed a Great Dane than you will have no problems with the Vizsla's sensitive stomach... 

Ours is now 1 year old an totally RAW fed (thanks to my neighbor who started it). And the dog loves it. Funny, I have to hold the drumstick otherwise he will just whine and lick the meat until I do.


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## born36

Our pup tried Orjin and had horrible diarrhea due to the high protein. So even though no grains he still didn't on with it. I would try a hypoallergenic food. We feed ours arden Grange. We are in the UK not sure where you are. Also we give him a spoon of mashed sweet potato in every meal. This slows down digestion which also helps harden up stool.


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## SerCopper

Orijen had the same effect on our Pup...liquid poops. He is on Taste of the Wild (Another grain free option) and he has had solid stools since the day we switched. Not sure weather there was an ingredient in the Orijen that didn't agree with him or like Born36 mentioned the protien levels were just too much for him.


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## hotmischief

Thank you all so much for your helpful advise. I called the Orijen UK stockists and they said the food was too high in protein for this guy. As I have also found that when I have fed him brown rice with his fish or chicken it has past through undigested it would seem that he is very grain intolerant. The stockist suggested Acana Pacifica as this is for sensitive stomachs totally grain free, just fish/meat, vegetables and herbs. I was quite imporessed with the reviews on it so will give this a try. 

Has anyone tried this - ????


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## LaVidaLoca

I've read in a book about Vizslas that a handful of blended blackberries (brambleberries) works really well against soft stool and diarrhoea! Or even black tea or camomille tea instead of water. (But always the second brew of the tea)


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## born36

Don't do tea. It has caffeine and acidic!


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## threefsh

We feed Riley "Taste of the Wild" (grain-free) and she has done really well on it. She gets compliments on her gorgeous coat all the time. I actually had a guy at the park with a doberman ask me what we feed her. He was really impressed with her coat and muscular build.


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## finch

We also feed Taste of the Wild. Sometimes we give them some Honest Kitchen (raw) and sometimes we get a different brand of grain-free kibble like Before Grain or Candidae. We used to mainly feed Orijen to our 2 labs, but when we got Finch, she had a lot of gas on it, so we switched to Taste of the Wild.


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## pippa31

+2 for Taste of the Wild. I especially like that it comes in 4 varieties...we have a picky eater on our hands and switching up the varieties every now and again keeps Pips more interested in her food. And no issues with soft stools, although I do slip in some pumpkin a couple of times a week


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## OttosMama

Otto eats Taste of the Wild and loves it! He was originally on blue buffalo but his stools were soft as well. He also never finished the entire bowl. Half way through we'd have to scoop it into our hands and prompt him to have a little more. Now with taste of the wild Otto cleans his bowl EVERY SINGLE TIME. We use it as treats because he's crazy for it. His stools definitely firmed up. We also started giving him a tsp of acidophilus a day and have noticed a big improvement. However, the more active he is, the more he goes, the less firm it becomes.


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## Ozkar

Just supporting the others comments. I cannot recommend any dry food as the Australian market has a lot of different brands. I use a locally made, home made mum and dad brand called Beletsi. I doubt it is available in the US. However, whatever you end up using, try to add corn or maize to other grains. Dogs generally don't get on well with Maize either.

As for firming up stools, if mine ever get a little soft, I just add some cooked pumpkin to their next few meals and voila, firm stools again. But, I do find they get a little loose when the dogs are either excited, stressed or have been exercising a lot. So I watch their behaviour and work out when they really do need the pumpkin.


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## hotmischief

Just wanted to thank you all for your helpful suggestions. I am delighted to say that his stools are now normal. We were so excited this morning as there were no puddles or poo on our kitchen floor. What a clever boy. 

I am now hoping that having sorted his diet out he will begin to put on weight as he is very ribby.


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## datacan

You may try some raw meats, if you are up to it. Will put on weight for sure. We gave Sam ground chicken, turkey, lean beef now and then. Now he polishes off 1/4 chicken raw (no weight bearing bones!)

Personally, I don't like the skinny dog look. I like to see the outline of the ribs only when he turns, not when standing. I also look for a well defined waistline (unless the dog is a small puppy and the waist is less defined due to puppy fat)

High protein kibble is a bit too much for dogs unlike cats dogs eat veggies and some fruits as well. I read 30% range is good.
Be warned of what the industry the industry calls balanced. It is not necessarily meaningful to the dog's digestion. Kibble is sprayed with fats and other aromatic chemicals to make it palatable.

Glad your V is doing well


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