Daisy has a bit of tummy trouble

When we got Daisy back in August her poos were absolutely fine, about the length and width of a pencil, which we took to be normal for her size.

We have kept her on the Nature Diet food as it was the closest to the Forthglade food that the breeder had been giving her and the only other change we made at the time was to cut out the Royal Canin as I don't like giving Daisy anything with so much cereal in it. So she is basically only having the Nature Diet and we don't feed her any table scraps and keep an eye on what she picks up when out.

However over the months I have noticed sometimes she seems to take a long time going for a poo, although when she is like that her poos are normal. When she goes a lot quicker they tend to have a bit of mucous on them, although not every time.

A couple of nights ago she started whimpering in the early hours so we put her out in the garden and she did quite a big poo with a fair bit of mucous, bit like a thin sausage skin covering on it, if that makes sense.

I didn't feed her last night and am going to cook up some fresh chicken with rice for her this morning and see how she gets on with that.

However all this is very reminiscent of how things were with our labrador over 13yrs ago and she ended up being diagnosed with Colitis and has been on Hills Science WD her whole adult life. At the time we had no idea how bad Hills Science food is and I have no doubt that if we take her to our vet he will recommend swapping her to that food and I really don't want to go down that road again.

I don't know whether I should be as worried as I am about Daisy, I guess I am just a worrier by nature and I keep stressing myself out about what could be wrong with her. I know Colitis can be diet related or stress related and I can't believe she has either of those problems. The Nature Diet food is supposed to be holistic and although it's obviously not as good as giving her a raw food diet I felt it was the best food that I could find. There is no way Daisy is stressed either, she is a very relaxed and happy little dog and if either of our dogs is stressed in our house it's our labrador, not her

Lyn

She could be picking up on the stress from your lab, but I would try keeping a diary of what you are feeding and what her poo's are like for a week to see if there is any correlation between food and poo's as a start. Also note any unusual behaviour or reactions to anything. Does Daisy have any herbal products on her food at all, as there are several you can use to settle the tummy and gut which are brilliant?

Mucous is often associated with bacterial infection so you need to keep an eye on her and maybe take her to the vet if you are worried.

You can do one of two things to maybe help things a little - the first is to add a teaspoon of bran to her food to help with bowel movement. The second is to add a probiotic to her food to help with digestion (something that would probably be beneficial to your lab also).

Puppies tend to have bouts of tummy problems simply because they are into everything and also pick up things when you are not looking so I should not worry unduly. The diet is fine Below is the probiotic I use but there are many on the market.

http://www.aviform.co.uk/?shop=shopitems/top.dog.products.tdp/tdp.prebiotics.digestive.supplement.for.dogs.2974.aspx

simbalove wrote:Mucous is often associated with bacterial infection so you need to keep an eye on her and maybe take her to the vet if you are worried.

You can do one of two things to maybe help things a little - the first is to add a teaspoon of bran to her food to help with bowel movement. The second is to add a probiotic to her food to help with digestion (something that would probably be beneficial to your lab also).

Puppies tend to have bouts of tummy problems simply because they are into everything and also pick up things when you are not looking so I should not worry unduly. The diet is fine Below is the probiotic I use but there are many on the market.

http://www.aviform.co.uk/?shop=shopitems/top.dog.products.tdp/tdp.prebiotics.digestive.supplement.for.dogs.2974.aspx

Thanks Lesley, I have ordered some of that and hopefully it will help both of them

Lyn

This is one of the reasons I changed Mali and Tasha from Burns Mini Bites to Trophy pet food , (I know I harp on about Trophy foods) but in the almost nine months of them changing over to Trophy and they do have Natures Menu either Traditional or Banquet Nuggets with it, they have never had Mucous or runny poo's or anything other than good solid poo's. Mali very frequently had this Mucous stuff on her poo's and often having to get her to the garden when she had an emergency for a runny poo. Tasha on the other hand often had trouble getting a poo out and also runny poos in the middle of the night. I can honestly say both of my two girls have NEVER had any of these symptoms since, and I definitely wouldn't go back to Burns I am not saying you were using Burns Lyn I know you are using Royal Cannin. But for me I often look back and think those symptoms were down to Burns food not agreeing with them. Of course it may not have been that but it is strange that I don't see those symptoms in either of them now. For some Burns suits them but not mine. I know I have found a food they like and enjoy and above all suits them.

Well until the past couple of months I've had no problems at all with Daisy, her poos have been fine. I even recommended the Nature Diet to a friend who has a cockerpoo and she is amazed at how different her dog's poos are since going onto Nature Diet. It's such a difficult thing to get their food right. I will see how I get on with the chicken and rice and I should get the prebiotic powder soon and will see if that helps.

Lyn

Mercedes55 wrote:Well until the past couple of months I've had no problems at all with Daisy, her poos have been fine. I even recommended the Nature Diet to a friend who has a cockerpoo and she is amazed at how different her dog's poos are since going onto Nature Diet. It's such a difficult thing to get their food right. I will see how I get on with the chicken and rice and I should get the prebiotic powder soon and will see if that helps.

Lyn

I would be surprised if it was the Nature Diet that was upsetting Daisy, as it is has natural ingredients like Natures Menu the only difference being it is cooked unlike the latter which is raw. Mali and Tasha have Natures Menu with the Trophy and with no problem at all..

U have to be v careful with Nuture diet I have so many that have gone off or ba and that before I have opened it mags had the same sort of thing had. I have some that have swelled up I the packet ( not opened) and not out of date some that have not smelt right on opening and have sent mags to have a bad Tum I change her food to forth glade because of this

I don't think there is anything wrong with the Nature Diet food, I always check the pouches when I open them and have never noticed anything different. We buy a whole box of them from the wholesaler rather than buy them from the shelves in Pets@Home, not sure if that makes any difference but I know it says to not drop them and of course if they are on display in a shop for ages it's possible they can get dropped, who knows.

Daisy did no poos yesterday, which I would imagine is normal as she hadn't eaten for 24hrs. This morning she whimpered at about 6.30am so we got up and dressed and took her out for a walk. She got herself in quite a faff doing a poo, she was dancing around trying to find a comfortable position and when she eventually did one it was quite big and squishy, which I really hadn't expected. As it was dark and the poo wasn't as formed as it could have been it was hard to say if there was any mucous in it. I was ready to make an appt at the vets but OH has said to wait and see how she is tomorrow. I never used to worry this much with our labrador, I'm such a wuss this time round.

Lyn

Mercedes55 wrote:I don't think there is anything wrong with the Nature Diet food, I always check the pouches when I open them and have never noticed anything different. We buy a whole box of them from the wholesaler rather than buy them from the shelves in Pets@Home, not sure if that makes any difference but I know it says to not drop them and of course if they are on display in a shop for ages it's possible they can get dropped, who knows.

Daisy did no poos yesterday, which I would imagine is normal as she hadn't eaten for 24hrs. This morning she whimpered at about 6.30am so we got up and dressed and took her out for a walk. She got herself in quite a faff doing a poo, she was dancing around trying to find a comfortable position and when she eventually did one it was quite big and squishy, which I really hadn't expected. As it was dark and the poo wasn't as formed as it could have been it was hard to say if there was any mucous in it. I was ready to make an appt at the vets but OH has said to wait and see how she is tomorrow. I never used to worry this much with our labrador, I'm such a wuss this time round.

Lyn

Lyn just a thought have you checked her bottom is the poo stuck to her at all. Tasha used to have this problem and it was getting stuck to her fur and that is why she was crying and not able to do her poo. That is one reason I decided to keep her clipped short. Only way to solve it if it is stuck is put her in the bath and get her to sit in the water to soften it. Sorry to be so graphic. Hope this isn't the reason but could be.

Mercedes55 wrote:I don't think there is anything wrong with the Nature Diet food, I always check the pouches when I open them and have never noticed anything different. We buy a whole box of them from the wholesaler rather than buy them from the shelves in Pets@Home, not sure if that makes any difference but I know it says to not drop them and of course if they are on display in a shop for ages it's possible they can get dropped, who knows.

Daisy did no poos yesterday, which I would imagine is normal as she hadn't eaten for 24hrs. This morning she whimpered at about 6.30am so we got up and dressed and took her out for a walk. She got herself in quite a faff doing a poo, she was dancing around trying to find a comfortable position and when she eventually did one it was quite big and squishy, which I really hadn't expected. As it was dark and the poo wasn't as formed as it could have been it was hard to say if there was any mucous in it. I was ready to make an appt at the vets but OH has said to wait and see how she is tomorrow. I never used to worry this much with our labrador, I'm such a wuss this time round.

Lyn

I would get her to the vet as she quite possibly needs some antibiotics...

I've got an appt for this evening. I let Daisy out after she had eaten this morning and she did 2 lots of horrible poo, one with a lot of mucous and the next one with a tiny bit of blood. I am just hoping it's nothing serious.

Lyn

Don't worry too much - she probably just needs a few antibiotics... it is quite normal to need a vet appointment for something like this with a puppy... let me know how you get on xx

Thanks Lesley, hopefully it will just be something simple. I'm just plain worn out with everything lately as our other dog wakes us up at about 2am and then between 5am and 6am every morning, so we are pretty sleep deprived with it all

Lyn

Hope the visit to the vet isn't too bad for Daisy or too expensive for you. I would recommend the probiotic powder, we use it for Simba as he used to have horrendous problems as a puppy and they did all sorts of investigations to no avail. He still gets problems occasionally, but we usually know when they are going to be as he will have a spoonful of bile up on a bad morning.

He also eats no end of leaves and chews branches he find in the garden which doesn't help! His favourite chew is holly leaves with all the horrible spikes on them!!!

sujay wrote:Hope the visit to the vet isn't too bad for Daisy or too expensive for you. I would recommend the probiotic powder, we use it for Simba as he used to have horrendous problems as a puppy and they did all sorts of investigations to no avail. He still gets problems occasionally, but we usually know when they are going to be as he will have a spoonful of bile up on a bad morning.

He also eats no end of leaves and chews branches he find in the garden which doesn't help! His favourite chew is holly leaves with all the horrible spikes on them!!!

I did order some of the probiotic powder yesterday and it's on it's way so hopefully can start to give her that soon. Was also considering getting some slippery elm as I hear that is good, but obviously don't want to overload her system with lots of stuff.

Totally hear you about the leaves and branches. Daisy only goes onto the patio to stop her eating our lab's poos so the stuff she can pick up off there is limited. However we get a lot of magnolia leaves which are a pain to get rid of as they don't seem to decompose like other leaves. Daisy also loves twigs and sometimes we let her keep one to keep in her mouth when we are out walking to stop her picking up other stuff. We never allow her to start chewing the twigs but now I am wondering if even just allowing her to have one in her mouth is just as bad? She also likes gravel and keeps picking up bits of gravel from inbetween the slabs on the patio and brings them in the house and tries to eat them

Lyn

We took Daisy to the vet last night but he wasn't really sure what could be wrong with her. She has no temperature and he couldn't feel anything wrong with her tummy either. He thought it could possibly be a number of things, from hormonal, something she has picked up, to food intolerance. He prescribed her 5 tins of Purina EN and something called Promax which is either a prebiotic or probiotic. Today her poo was small but firm but no mucous so we will see how it goes. He wasn't impressed with us feeding her Nature Diet food and said that Hills Science or Purina are better, but I don't agree

Lyn

Mercedes55 wrote:We took Daisy to the vet last night but he wasn't really sure what could be wrong with her. She has no temperature and he couldn't feel anything wrong with her tummy either. He thought it could possibly be a number of things, from hormonal, something she has picked up, to food intolerance. He prescribed her 5 tins of Purina EN and something called Promax which is either a prebiotic or probiotic. Today her poo was small but firm but no mucous so we will see how it goes. He wasn't impressed with us feeding her Nature Diet food and said that Hills Science or Purina are better, but I don't agree

Lyn

I am glad they didn't find anything un-toward wrong with Daisy . But I am with you on the Nature Diet although I prefer the Natures Menu ones myself. I am not surprised by him suggesting Hills Science as it seems most Vets sell it so I would be fairly certain they are on some sort of commission. Mali was on brought up on Purina when we got her as a puppy but soon realised it was no good for her. It still sounds to me like daisy has the same problem that Mali had when she was on Burns Mini Bites. You will have to see how she goes on the tins of Purina. Did he give her any medication while you were there? Thanks for letting us know I was thinking about you all the time.

Vets do very little nutritional study in their long training and what they do is usually provided by pet food companies so I would not take too m uch notice of what he is recommending particularly as he probably sells the stuff himself! Keep on with the diet she already is on and give her the probiotic/prebiotic. It was just important to make sure she did not have an infection which is why you neeeded to take her to the vet... haiving ruled that out you can put your mind at rest. If the mucous reappears for any length of time while on pro/prebiotics then it could be something to do with the rice in Nature Menu (my boy Josh can't tolerate rice) but as she has been fine up until now I don't think it is likely to be that!

Thanks so much Lesley and Carol, honestly at times I really think I worry excessively about Daisy. The vet didn't think she needed any other treatment but said to take her back if she is sick or her symptoms return once she is back on her normal food. In an ideal world I'd really like to feed her raw food but I have got a bit stuck with it. I have got a bag of Orijen dry food as I have heard that's a very high quality food but when I tried a bit with Daisy some months ago she couldn't chew it. I might give her some again once she settles back to normal on her Nature Diet as I have a whole box of 22 pouches to get through

Lyn

Lyn just keep her on the Nature Diet... changing her food around is not going to help things. If she still has mucous and problems thent hink about it but not at the moment xxxx

Glad there is nothing wrong with Daisy. It is better to make sure rather than worry there is a problem. As for her diet, I totally agree with Lesley, keep her to her normal diet, the vets are trying to push a food they know little about nutritionally.

My daughters shih tzu had numerous problems with an upset tummy, lots of visits to vets over a period of about 18 months and vet never found anything wrong, she was put on prescription food which was very expensive and made no difference, anyway I told them to try Hilton Herbs she has been having the one for nervous dogs and the digestive herbs for six months now and not one upset tum or runny poo x

Yes I will keep her on the Nature Diet once we have finished the Purina EN. It's odd as her poo first thing was quite normal but she's done another 3 lots today and all have been squishy and had mucous on them. I can't remember how long the vet said it would take for her to get back to normal, for some reason I thought it would be right away but I guess not

Lyn

sands-62 wrote:This is one of the reasons I changed Mali and Tasha from Burns Mini Bites to Trophy pet food , (I know I harp on about Trophy foods) but in the almost nine months of them changing over to Trophy and they do have Natures Menu either Traditional or Banquet Nuggets with it, they have never had Mucous or runny poo's or anything other than good solid poo's. Mali very frequently had this Mucous stuff on her poo's and often having to get her to the garden when she had an emergency for a runny poo. Tasha on the other hand often had trouble getting a poo out and also runny poos in the middle of the night. I can honestly say both of my two girls have NEVER had any of these symptoms since, and I definitely wouldn't go back to Burns I am not saying you were using Burns Lyn I know you are using Royal Cannin. But for me I often look back and think those symptoms were down to Burns food not agreeing with them. Of course it may not have been that but it is strange that I don't see those symptoms in either of them now. For some Burns suits them but not mine. I know I have found a food they like and enjoy and above all suits them.

I am with u on this one Carol! Trophy foods has really improved my three toilets!

I give my three aloe vera gel with their breakfast which helps with all sorts issues in particular less itching and regular bowel movement.