MissLotus Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 (edited) Hi, I am curious if anyone feeds there dogs All Bran? I took Annie (she is 6 months) to get desexed on Friday and they notice that her poo was smaller than what it should be. I would say her poo was the width of an average finger size.. so not big at all. They advise to give her a dessert spoon of all brand because she needed some fibre in her diet to make it slightly larger. So for the next three nights I've given her some all bran, which I think may have made her poo a bit runny, however this morning... she went out for her morning toilet and she squealed while trying to do her thing. She looked like she was in pain trying to squeeze it out. But my god there was a difference in sizes, when I checked again, I thought it was her brothers poo. I think I will now cut back on the fiber and only give a dessert twice a week. This is going to sound like a very stupid question, but is it possible that the poo may be too big to squeeze out? I don't understand why she squealed... Edited August 19, 2009 by MissLotus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 All Bran, is fibre from wheat. if you feed this to your puppy, you will need to give her more liquid..otherwise , yes she will have LOT of bulky matter to try & squeeze out, and it may hurt This is NOT A GOOD IDEA just after surgery..straining could do damage hey... when the vets saw her..and she obviously went to the toilet..remember she had not had lots to eat the night before... or that morning... so there may not have been much to come out! If a dog is fed a diet with not a lot of cereal in it.. the droppings/poo will certainly be smaller and a bit harder. This is not really a bad thing... Also remember she is only a little dog. Ask the vet (or maybe not, if all they can suggest is allbran) and try adding a dessertspoon of mashed cooked pumpkin instead of the bran. My Dog Hamlet, one old cat, and some humans take PSYLLIUM husks (from health food shop or pharmacy) This , when soaked, forms a gel.. which is much kinder on the gut than bran...but increases bulk, and lubricates the gut as well... hamlet weighs about 24 kgs and only has not quitye a 1/2 a teaspoonful..soaked in water for a few minutes, then mixed in his food. sorry for the long post... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissLotus Posted August 19, 2009 Author Share Posted August 19, 2009 Thanks Persephone. Is PSYLLIUM husks a different source of fibre? Is there any other vegetables that can be used for fibre other than pumpkin? I guess she was in pain this morning. Hopefully she will not have the same issue tonight/tomorrow. She generally does have smaller/sloppier poo... not as solid as it should be. We try to give her a variety of food. She is on puppy food in the morning and raw mince for dinner. Once in awhile I will give her raw egg for the protein and some heart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Is it just me or is this a completely bizare thing for a Vet to reccomend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretel Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Did the vet maybe recommend bran? It does sound odd suggesting All Bran :p I have a friend who gives her dogs lots of veggies cause she reckons it's good that they do 'nice big poos'. So long as the dog is not constipated I wouldn't worry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissLotus Posted August 19, 2009 Author Share Posted August 19, 2009 No - they definitely said All-bran. When I asked them what All-bran was (not realizing they meant the cereal), they said the breakfast cereal. I was a bit taken back by their suggestion and asked them so it is OK to give them the cereal. I guess it has done the job, but not really a fan of giving Annie fibre if it's going to give her pain while going to the toilet. Is there a difference in giving your dog raw, steam, boil, mashed veggies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff'n'Toller Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Is it just me or is this a completely bizare thing for a Vet to reccomend? Yep, bizarro...little dogs do little poo. We would only recommend a small amount of bran if major anal gland issues. :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 (edited) Until her stitches are out and she is back to normal exercise etc... don't worry about giving her anything different She does NOT need an upset tummy while her body is healing :p if she always has soft/sloppy poo... you may need to change something in her diet. But not now. Let her recover from her operation first! What exactly is she fed, and how much? What brand of puppy food, what treats, what sort of mince? How often each day is she fed? what bones does she get? I would agree again that the vet sounds like one you do NOT talk to about dietary matters A dessertspoonful of allbran for a little pup is a lot of fibre! Edited August 19, 2009 by persephone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 QUOTE OF THE WEEK!! little dogs do little poo. :p Too TRUE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Anne~ Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 I think the all bran is actually a good idea, just maybe wait until she has recovered from the op and feed alittle less of it. One thing that seems to be fashionable these days is to squeeze anal sacs. If a dog has good sized feaces and of a nice firmness, then the sacs will squeez naturally and you will not have any issues with them or need to do them yourself. In this modern day, many little dogs are fed inappropriate diets, hence why teeth problems are a big issue for little dogs...too much soft soggy food. It is hard sometime to feed little fussy dogs the right balance of foods for teeth, health and firm droppings. Bran is just another way of helping a good overall diet be complete, much the same as feeding fish oil caps and similar. Many additives help in my view...although there are some that do more harm than good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissLotus Posted August 19, 2009 Author Share Posted August 19, 2009 Morning all :p We had her anal sac squeezed out at the same time, just to make sure everything was nice and clean. She is a CKC of 6 months of age, but she is tinier than most at this age. For the last month, I have given her half a cup of Optimum dry puppy food in the morning (easier to scatter that in the garden and entertain herself while I am at work) then for dinner we are feeding her roughly 100-150g of mince beef, sometimes pork or lamb, but majority of the time it is beef. I haven't given her any bones as yet, as she still looks tiny to be eating any bones withing choking on it. However the other day I was at the meat store and they are now selling the tips of the chicken wings, which looks like she can eat. So will start introducing those types of bones when I purchase them next. But when she is eating bones, it will mainly be chicken necks and carcasses. As for treats - we use variety treats that you can purchase at your local supermarket and also we have purchase some treats at happypawstreats which she loves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretel Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 She's not too little to have bones. If you are worried you could do what I do with young pups. I attack the chicken necks with the meat cleaver so they get sort of smashed up. I don't cut them into pieces but it just sort of mashes them a bit so they can't swallow them whole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 (edited) Puppies can eat bones at any age :p whole chicken wings would be better than tips- they need to chew on bones ..not just crunch&swallow! I agree- with necks..just sort of 'flatten ' them a bit... but don't cut them smaller! Edited August 19, 2009 by persephone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissLotus Posted August 19, 2009 Author Share Posted August 19, 2009 I think I am just being a bit of a worried wart. The first time I gave her brother chicken wings smashed up, he chocked on it and vomited and it was a trip to the emergency ward..$140 later and it was nothing.. argghh.. Thanks for the advice :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puggy_puggy Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 If she needs more fiber in her diet give her raw food processed veggies and fruit. Get her a half a lamb flap or a kangaroo tail as bones. I'm not a fan of feeding whole chicken necks to smaller dogs because they can't seem to understand or are not able to to rip and chew them up so end up swallowing them whole. I do feed them but up chop them up into pieces first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwynwen Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 No - they definitely said All-bran. When I asked them what All-bran was (not realizing they meant the cereal), they said the breakfast cereal. I was a bit taken back by their suggestion and asked them so it is OK to give them the cereal. Last time I checked, that stuff had way too much sugar in it for ME to eat... let alone the dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Anne~ Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 Nurtional info of AllBran Per 52g (3/4 cup) Calories 171 ( Kilojoules 712 ) Total Fat 1.6 g -Saturated Fat 0.3g Cholesterol - 0 Sodium 198 mg Total Carbohydrates 23.6 g -Dietary Fibre 15.3 g -Sugars 7.1 g Protein 7.8 g Potassium 486.2 mg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 if you have a look at the back of the optimum packet it is already full of wheat, sorghum, rice, corn and cereal proteins so a little all bran will not hurt. I would not be feeding mince, give your dog meat with bone. 100gm of meat only mince every day is not balanced by the calcium in the food. instead of all bran why dont you try just a tiny pinch of wheat bran (it's in the supermarket usually in the health food/cereal isle) fiber and bran increases the water into the gut hence the bigger poo, she needs much less then that especially if she is not used to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissLotus Posted August 22, 2009 Author Share Posted August 22, 2009 if you have a look at the back of the optimum packet it is already full of wheat, sorghum, rice, corn and cereal proteins so a little all bran will not hurt.I would not be feeding mince, give your dog meat with bone. 100gm of meat only mince every day is not balanced by the calcium in the food. instead of all bran why dont you try just a tiny pinch of wheat bran (it's in the supermarket usually in the health food/cereal isle) fiber and bran increases the water into the gut hence the bigger poo, she needs much less then that especially if she is not used to it. Thanks, next time I'm at the supermarket I will have a look at wheat bran. Is there any harm in feeding them mince beef? Both dogs dinner normally consist of mince beef, chicken bones and sometimes offals and an egg (for the little one, she is getting a mix of raw + optimum). Does this sound like a balance diet? Sorry, now I am getting a bit worried that I haven't been giving them a balance diet. I have thought about giving her bones with meat, however her brother has a food guarding issue, especially with bones. So I'm not 100% comfortable giving her bones, just in case if I turn my back and he lunges to get the bone or whatever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretel Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 What do you mean by chicken bones? I always seperate my dogs at meal times so they don't have to worry about someone else taking their food so they don't have to guard and gobble Three are in crates and one in the laundry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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