Hi Pidge I have to say I am a little shocked at the suggestion of surgery

I am unsure what is in dentastix but they are not some a thing I would consider feeding (I am not a fan of Pedigree products and prefer something natural to clean the teeth like dried fish or carrot ).

Have you tried Wafcol Potato and Salmon, it is good for dogs with funny tummies and produces nice firm poos.

Me too, I am afriad,

Selkie is fat and gluten intolerant. I feed her Skinners salmon and rice kibble, but I have to be really careful about her treats.

Dentastix are just gluten held together with Fat so they are a real no no for her. She really suffers on them... just one will make her unsettled for a week and will build up to a masty bum the next week... (It never seems to be straight away afterwards)

I would cut them out for now and see how he gets on without them.. Go to just the kibble and offer bits of kibble as treats (mine for some reason don't seem to notice if I give them kibble rewards)...

Saying that.. Jackjack all his life would get runnier and runnier to the end of the day... it was just the way he was.. he was never in any distress, he was never ill on it... He refused to go toilet in the garden and would save it all up for walks then poop till he could not poop any more. ... By the end of the walk there would be nothing I could pick up and I just got into the habit of carrying a squirty bottle of water... ... It was just his way... He lived to a reasonable age and died of a blood disorder nothing to do with his tummy. It may be nothing particularly to worry about.

i'd be looking for a new vet as well, for them to suggest opening him up for a dose of the squits even if it is prolonged is a bit extreme. I would be asking for bacterial stool sampling as well. On the treat front, have you tried making your own?? liver or tuna bread is dead quick and easy even if it does stink the house out

Guys, thanks so much for the advice. I am starting to get a little confused by it all that's for sure! First thing to happen though is no more Dentastix. We have loads of healthy treats but held off on them because the dentastix are his absolute fav (he goes nuts for the smell). Still, he'll get over it I'm sure ;o)

Hey Dorky. She didn't say she would open him up now, just said it was one of the two options. Still, not good enough I think but we've already changed vets to them because of this and other things so I don't really want to change again or I'll start to get a rep' ;o)

He's had a faecal sample that came back completely negative.

I agree, I do not like Hills and am sure it's the fact that we fed him it from day one that he now has this problem!

What is this Claire, can you fill me in abit more?

Well, that's what we were told before by the first vet but then a few people told me it was bollocks (friend at work, vet friend and new vet) and that his stools should not be the way they are. She said that as he exercises his (forgotten the name but it's the bit at the end of his digestive tract) becomes smaller and that's why the last poos appear squirtier and that the frequency might be because he's too excited to sit still and get it all out in one go.

OK, will try him on just the JWB treats for now.

OK, good point. Not sure about Chappie but will consider it in the future. I think the trouble is that I have no idea what is causing the intolerance, if indeed there is one.

Yes, I'm certain beef is no good for him (do Dentastix contain Beef?) as hooves and rawhide and anything like that make his stools very soft and smelly.

Forgot to mention as well that sometimes they look frothy?????

Sounds like my best bet is to get rid of the Dentastix (I know a certain rescue centre that would love a box of these) and try his normal food and one healthier treat choice (without beef) for now. Agreed?

The amount of food can also have an affect. Soft/runny poos are a sign that the food is going through too quickly and the intestines don't have time to remove the excess liquid to make the poo solid.

Do you feed twice a day and if so, how much does he get at each meal?

It may be that you need to look at giving him a food where the feeding guidelines are lower than your existing food so that he gets the same quantity of 'goodness' but in a smaller quantity.

Ironically adding warm water to dried food can also help the digestion system process kibble better than when it is dry.

PS I agree with the others re dentastix - I have found that they are not good for dogs with sensitive tums.

Pidge have you tried fish4dogs treats, if he's doing ok on a fish kibble he should be ok with them, they're only dried fish skins made into cubes.

Mini, see prev post. No idea what Wafcol is but will try if everyone thinks it will work.

Dentastix are out! Vet said no to carrots as hard to digest???

See prev', would be hard to change now.

That's exactly what Woody's are like!! So it may well just be nothing (she says hopefully).

Do you have a recipe for tuna bread? I'd be more willing to make that than the liver thing ;o)

This may seem a bit off the wall.. But the frothy thing made me think.. Kismet gets frothy poo, (that foams up when I hose it down in the garden)..

It took me a while to work it out, but the other day I had a eureka moment!.. I noticed the patch of patio I had hosed had gone all sparkly! Closer inspection showed the little glittery bits to be bits of crushed snail shell!!!

Sure enough watching Kismet in the day... She hunts down all the pots and eats snails! Mystery solved!

I have asked the neighbour to make sure he doesn't put slug pellets down and left her to it!

What a load of old tosh your vet is spouting, talk about trying to make money out of you.
Firstly ditch the dentastix they are well known for giving dogs squitty bums. I have only tried them once and never again.
Try a tripe stick instead.
I think it may well be allergy related, and the ZD diet range may be ok IF Woody is not sensitive to any of its ingredients.
I would start with trying some good old Chappie as its brilliant for tummys and also for bladder problems, not that woody has them.
If Woody is still loose a week after using Chappie and NO OTHER TREATS then try something like Nature diet or wafcol Salmon and potatoe.
As you know I have been through endless problems with Milo. So I would suggest if either Chappie, wafcol or ND don't help then, get some allergy tests done.
Woody does not need to be opened up though definetly not at this stage.
An endoscopy can always be done, if not by your vet by a referral vet.
It was the endoscopy that revealed Milos problems, but even so we still had to find the food he could tolerate the best.
Go down the food route first, but you must be very strict and make sure not one morsel of anything else passes his lips.
The only thing I would say regarding Chappie is it is not Wheat/Gluten free and its the wheat/gluten that many dogs are intolerant of.
Good luck its not an easy thing to sort, but if I can be of any help at all then please don't hesitate to pm me or just shout.