Puppy Poo Consistency?!?

[SalTheGal]

We have a 10wk old CS puppy who has been having quite runny consistency poo..... I wouldn't say its diarrhea, not quite that sloppy- but definitely not the firm stool that I would presume is desirable... its messy to pick up at any rate!! And it can vary through the day in its consistency. She is also doing a LOT of bowel motions- eg she has already done 3 this morning since 5am (which have gottten progressively sloppier), and has had one meal at 8am.

I have been feeding her rehydrated kibble (Advance brand), 3 times a day. She was on Eukanaba with the breeder, but I wasn't able to get that when I needed to- so I had to find an alternative- I did the change over gradually the week we got her- she has been in the Advance brand for well over a week now.

She does SCOFF her meals- they are gone within seconds, and I am probably feeding her *slightly* more than recommended (she was quite small when we collected her), but not a heap more.

I am wondering if I should stop rehydrating it (or atleast lessen the amount of water I am adding)?

Any other suggestions of what could be causing it- or if it is even cause for concern?

Thanks!

[Danois]

Could be that the food is not the best one for the dog - I thought the rehydratable food was for weaning. Otherwise cut the food back to the recommended amounts - weight gain should be slow and steady - you may be simply feeding too much and the dog's system can't cope hence lots of bowel motions.

All that aside - if it has been going on a week then you should take the pup to the vet for a check up. They can dehydrate easily at that age.

[sheree_e4]

Id say it is the Advance ... I know many people use it with no problems,but it went straight through my guys so I switched back to Hills science diet and they no longer have the problem.

Also Advance is a premium food so maybe cut down the amount you are feeding per feed (unfortunatly this did not work for my dogs)

[aussielover]

My pup is also on advance (dry) and used to have those sort of sloppy poos. We are given the food though, so I can't really change brands.

I've started adding chicken and eggs into her diet though and some tuckertime for treats which has really helped.

[Cockerlover]

stop soaking the kibble reduce the amount u r feeding & add a tspn of yogurt with aphidoficus to each meal till stools firm up ,

also it is not a good idear to keep change the brands of kibble ,this in itself can cause upset tummy ,

if the *runs * continue ,I personally would be seeking vets advise ,

[GoldenGirl85]

My pup is also on advance (dry) and used to have those sort of sloppy poos. We are given the food though, so I can't really change brands.

I've started adding chicken and eggs into her diet though and some tuckertime for treats which has really helped.

OT, but guide dogs QLD no longer use Advance for their dogs and puppies, they have slowly converted all their dogs onto a RAW diet they have had specially formulated for their dogs, its called 'Leading RAW' Im guessing NSW could follow suit.

I bought a couple of boxes at their open day, the guy who sold it to me was telling me that Advance used to supply the kibble free of charge, but they tried a RAW diet on their dogs in training and were so impressed with the results they decided they would rather pay for the food and have better results

[Genabee]

I use Advance... we had issues early on, but now she is fine. I would stop putting water with it, just give it to her dry. My vet also suggested a little bit of grated cheese with it.

I found that when I cut her back to two meals a day (which I did at about 10 weeks), it virtually stopped. If you continue with three meals a day, I would cut back the serve sizes. It just may be that she is consuming too much for her little body to process.

If it keeps up, definitely go to the vet, it could be worms or her anal glands In which case, keep an eye on her that she isn't sliding around on her bottom.

[Archerlove]

Just out of interest when would one stop adding water to the kibble? My puppy is 9 weeks today and when we collected her( a week ago the breeder suggested we soften the kibble . We have continued to do so this week. Could she manage now without our softening it?

[Stitch]

Salthegal - It may be the Advance, I have found that some dogs don't tolerate it as well as others.

Or it may be that your pup has picked up a mild gut bug - you can tell this by stopping feeding the dry food and put the pup on chicken & rice for a few days.

If you see an improvement then try the Advance again and see what happens.

Archerlove - try it without water and see!!

Edited July 24, 2010 by STITCH

[aussielover]

Just out of interest when would one stop adding water to the kibble? My puppy is 9 weeks today and when we collected her( a week ago the breeder suggested we soften the kibble . We have continued to do so this week. Could she manage now without our softening it?

Your puppy is a labrador correct?

I fed Mindy dry biscuits from 8 weeks old and she did fine with them.

I'm sure she would manage fine, after all she is a labrador!

I sometimes mix an egg with the kibble because i've heard eggs are good for them.

[maddijryan]

I think it's something that you have to just stick with with a new pup. Saskia was having runnyish poos for a little while but I just stopped giving her wet food and gave her only kibble and some dog roll. They're gradually turning into something not so bad to pick up

[Archerlove]

Just out of interest when would one stop adding water to the kibble? My puppy is 9 weeks today and when we collected her( a week ago the breeder suggested we soften the kibble . We have continued to do so this week. Could she manage now without our softening it?

Your puppy is a labrador correct?

I fed Mindy dry biscuits from 8 weeks old and she did fine with them.

I'm sure she would manage fine, after all she is a labrador!

I sometimes mix an egg with the kibble because i've heard eggs are good for them.

Lab is correct. Actually her kibble is enriched with egg according to the package.I`ll stop adding water now as she probabaly needs to crunch a bit to stop her crunching` us!

[SalTheGal]

Thank you all so much for your advice!!

OK based on the comments here I am going to stop soaking it, and will cut back the portions and see if this makes a difference... she has been scoffing it down so quickly, I think I have slightly upped the portions thinking the poor thing must be *so* hungry!! I gave it to her dry this morning, and atleast it took her a bit longer to eat!

I am going back to work 3days a week next week- so she will have to start missing the midday meal anyway, so as of this week we will be cutting down to two meals, I will porbably leave her kong stuffed with some extra treats for the day time.

If this doesn't improve things I will switch brands, I will need to buy a new bag later this week anyway!

She is off to the vet for vax next fri too, so if its still sloppy I will mention to them then.

Gosh all this puppy business is hard!!!

[SalTheGal]

Just thought I'd add an update here for anyone reading along at home!!!

Have stopped soaking the kibble- and within the same day his stools have firmed up considerably, also dropped the portions a bit, and we aren't having so many poos either!!!! So all in all a success!

Thanks for the advice!

[Genabee]

Just thought I'd add an update here for anyone reading along at home!!!

Have stopped soaking the kibble- and within the same day his stools have firmed up considerably, also dropped the portions a bit, and we aren't having so many poos either!!!! So all in all a success!

Thanks for the advice!

That is what we wanted to hear!!!!

Excellent news!