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Malka
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06-07-2011, 04:33 PM

Change of diet, change of poos

Pereg is now on, hopefully, the most suitable diet for her. She has either a turkey "tail" [with excess fat trimmed off], a turkey gizzard or two chicken gizzards, or two chicken wings [all three joints] all frozen, for a morning meal, and her evening meal is one third raw meat, one third lightly steamed diced and still frozen vegetables, and one third fat-reduced kibble.

She has three tiny biscuits as a treat in mid evening, which she has to work for, and if she really is hungry then I will sometimes give her an extra chicken gizzard or wing.

No other treats apart from perhaps a tiny one when we are out and she is on the long lead and comes straight back on recall, but usually she does not even get that.

So far so good.

The thing is that prior to this diet she was producing large amounts of soft smelly poo, and now she is producing far less, firmer and not smelly. She is not constipated and has no problem "going" - just not so frequently and in such vast quantities as before.

Is this normal?
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Trouble
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06-07-2011, 04:57 PM
Perfectly normal for a mainly raw fed dog
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tyr
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06-07-2011, 05:05 PM
Absolutely. One of the benefits of feeding raw! I noticed a similar change in my collie - she was on kibble that didn't agree with her - 4 massive soft yucky poos a day and lots of wind. She's now on raw breakfast + Fish4Dogs at dinner and has 2-3 tiny poos a day. Lovely!
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Malka
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06-07-2011, 05:30 PM
I have to admit that the kibble is probably not top quality but it is not rubbish either, as I got it from the dog Pension where she goes for daycare, and they will not sell rubbish. Not sure of the make as they gave me a huge lidded bucket and I emptied the sacks into it without making a note of the make - just that it was a low-fat one for senior dogs. Not that she is senior but she had gained weight due to excessive hunger from the Pb and never being satiated.

And I think that low fat is better for an epi dog in case of pancreatitis.

So. She seems happy and is eating far less and not constantly nagging for more. I am also giving her supplements because the kibble is probably not the best, but it all seems to suit her - her coat is now gleaming and she has been having far fewer restless evenings.

Early days yet with this new diet, but I did wonder about the poos.

Oh, and even though she is still drinking plenty of water and pee'ing well, I am not having to keep refilling her water bowl as much as I did before I changed her from a 100% kibble diet.

I am doing the best I can for her and can only hope that my best is good enough.

[my neighbour has just been in with my mail and said Oh, she has lost a bit of weight - yes, I think she is getting her waist back again!]
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greyhoundk
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06-07-2011, 05:51 PM
Hi Malka, i read recently that EPI dogs do good on a grain free kibble but maybe see how she goes on the raw. I tried my two on raw, one was one but the other one who gets colitis was not good on it so i had to go back to kibble.
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lozzibear
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06-07-2011, 05:56 PM
Perfectly normal

I was walking a friends (kibble fed) dog today, and she did 3 of the most smelliest, sloppiest poos ever! Jake (raw fed) never does 3 poos in a day, never mind 3 on an hour long walk!
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Malka
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06-07-2011, 06:07 PM
Originally Posted by greyhoundk View Post
Hi Malka, i read recently that EPI dogs do good on a grain free kibble but maybe see how she goes on the raw. I tried my two on raw, one was one but the other one who gets colitis was not good on it so i had to go back to kibble.
The problem with epi dogs is that the only certain thing about canine epilepsy is the uncertainty. And what is fine for one is a seizure trigger for another.

When I originally changed Pereg's diet is was because the Pb was making her think that she was always hungry, which she really was not, but the pacing, whining, want this, want that - and yes, I did give in and give her more food, but that really did not work as she was never really satiated and from the look of her put on weight rather quickly.

I did try bulking her kibble with various grains and that did not seem to affect her epilepsy but did not do anything to really satiate her. And the vegetables I originally tried were fine, until she decided thanks but no thanks, and being such a newcomer to canine epilepsy I just did not know what to do for the best.

So much information but so confusing, and there is no "one size fits all" is there. So it has and still is being trial and error, and this one third the new low fat kibble, one third vegetables, one third raw seems to be suiting her so far.

But who knows what tomorrow will bring? She went 7 weeks and 2 days seizure free before having another Grand Mal, and I had partly changed her diet before then, and is now on day 24 and on the new diet. Tomorrow we could be back to day 1, that is the horrible uncertainty.

I will not be able to have her weighed until she goes for a blood work-up in October, but I really do think that she is beginning to slowly lose the weight she initially put on due to wanting food all the time.

And it is definitely A Good Thing not to have her corner of the front yard full of massive soft stinky poos!
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tyr
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06-07-2011, 08:16 PM
It's not necessarily low quality kibble that causes smelly, loose poos - some types of food just don't agree with some dogs.

I did think, though, that you shouldn't feed raw and kibble together as they're digested at different rates, and that could cause stomach trouble. Do you mix the kibble in to make her food more palatable?

As for checking her weight - how about taking weekly photos? Might help you to tell the difference - it's hard to judge by eye if you see her every day!
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Malka
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06-07-2011, 08:35 PM
tyr - the kibble she was previously fed on she had had since she was 5 months old, and my late Little One had it from about 6 months until she was getting older and was then changed to a kibble for Senior Dogs.

Pereg is only just over 2½ years old and was fine on that kibble until the epilepsy hit her, and since then I have done all I can to try and stop the insatiable hunger that the Phenobarbitone caused. It was very difficult and I ended up giving her more and more food to try and satisfy her and keep her calm.

The new low-fat kibble she now has is mixed with the raw meat and vegetables, with some hot water to soften the kibble, not to make it more palatable but to bulk it out and help her feel satiated. I also add various supplements to her food, and as she only has one main meal a day - her choice as she will not eat if she is not hungry - tried that and it did not work - that is what I am currently doing.

She is eating far less than she was and is not demanding more and more. So I reckon I must be doing something right.

It is now gone 11.30pm my time. She had her proper meal around 7.30-8pm, had her three tiny biscuit treats maybe an hour later, and had not asked for anything since. This morning she had a couple of frozen chicken gizzards and a small chicken wing - and she is content.

And she is happy.

And I love her so very very much.
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greyhoundk
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07-07-2011, 10:43 AM
Originally Posted by Malka View Post
The problem with epi dogs is that the only certain thing about canine epilepsy is the uncertainty. And what is fine for one is a seizure trigger for another.

When I originally changed Pereg's diet is was because the Pb was making her think that she was always hungry, which she really was not, but the pacing, whining, want this, want that - and yes, I did give in and give her more food, but that really did not work as she was never really satiated and from the look of her put on weight rather quickly.

I did try bulking her kibble with various grains and that did not seem to affect her epilepsy but did not do anything to really satiate her. And the vegetables I originally tried were fine, until she decided thanks but no thanks, and being such a newcomer to canine epilepsy I just did not know what to do for the best.

So much information but so confusing, and there is no "one size fits all" is there. So it has and still is being trial and error, and this one third the new low fat kibble, one third vegetables, one third raw seems to be suiting her so far.

But who knows what tomorrow will bring? She went 7 weeks and 2 days seizure free before having another Grand Mal, and I had partly changed her diet before then, and is now on day 24 and on the new diet. Tomorrow we could be back to day 1, that is the horrible uncertainty.

I will not be able to have her weighed until she goes for a blood work-up in October, but I really do think that she is beginning to slowly lose the weight she initially put on due to wanting food all the time.

And it is definitely A Good Thing not to have her corner of the front yard full of massive soft stinky poos!
I hope the raw works out ok for her and it stabilises her a bit, that must be awful not knowing whats going to trigger her off
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