Help Needed! Input needed on stomach issue/food

[Deestar]

I switched her over from Wellness to the NVI really, really slowly. Just when I thought I was home free. Now this!

 

[Deestar]

I just read on another thread that giving the meals too close together can cause loose stools. Currently I feed her at 7:30 AM and 2:30 PM. Could it be as simple as that? Needless to say I'm going to start tomorrow giving the second meal later in the day to see what happens. Would it be ok to give her a few green beans in between to take the edge off until she gets used to the new schedule? As it is, she starts pacing and whining to eat around 1:00. Sometimes she whines so much that I give in and feed her at 2:15. I really, really, really hope that this is the answer.

 

[anatess]

I just read on another thread that giving the meals too close together can cause loose stools. Currently I feed her at 7:30 AM and 2:30 PM. Could it be as simple as that? Needless to say I'm going to start tomorrow giving the second meal later in the day to see what happens. Would it be ok to give her a few green beans in between to take the edge off until she gets used to the new schedule? As it is, she starts pacing and whining to eat around 1:00. Sometimes she whines so much that I give in and feed her at 2:15. I really, really, really hope that this is the answer.

Yes, this could be too close together. I wouldn't change his food - not even to go bland - unless I'm pretty certain it is an allergy. Allergies usually don't vascillate from firm to loose like that. Put the feedings 12 hours apart and observe. And no, I wouldn't add veggie treats or anything until she gets over this hump. We want to get her consistent stools without adding another mystery cause to the mix. She'll be fine waiting until 7:30PM. Or you can give her a nylabone or something to keep her occupied until then.

 

[kazzy220]

I just read on another thread that giving the meals too close together can cause loose stools. Currently I feed her at 7:30 AM and 2:30 PM. Could it be as simple as that? Needless to say I'm going to start tomorrow giving the second meal later in the day to see what happens. Would it be ok to give her a few green beans in between to take the edge off until she gets used to the new schedule? As it is, she starts pacing and whining to eat around 1:00. Sometimes she whines so much that I give in and feed her at 2:15. I really, really, really hope that this is the answer.

How many times are you feeding her per day?? Twice or three times?

 

[Deestar]

Thanks, anatess! Now that I think about it, it makes sense because the morning stool is almost always firm, I guess because it's been such a long time since the last meal. The afternoon and evening stools are the softest.

Tomorrow I will start feeding her later. Do I go right to 12 hours or should I make it gradually later every day? Either way, she's not gonna like it. Lol.

 

[Deestar]

I feed her twice a day. One cup per feeding. She's on Wellness Super5mix Chicken. I transitioned her back to the Wellness from the NVI and the stools have gotten firmer but are still pretty soft. I haven't given her any snacks while I've been trying to sort this all out.

 

[kazzy220]

I feed her twice a day. One cup per feeding. She's on Wellness Super5mix Chicken. I transitioned her back to the Wellness from the NVI and the stools have gotten firmer but are still pretty soft. I haven't given her any snacks while I've been trying to sort this all out.

We feed all our dogs twice a day too but it is spaced out pretty evenly. On average it's 6am and 6pm. If you are feeding her at 7.30am and then at 2.30pm then maybe you could space it out a bit more evenly. To me 2.30pm all the way round to 7.30 the next morning seems a long time ... but maybe I'm just talking about me!!!

 

[Deestar]

Lol, me too. I can't seem to go 30 minutes without eating.

 

[anatess]

Dee, how old is your dog? Is he under 6 months? If he's under 6 months, it's better to divide the meals into thirds and feed the dog every 4-6 hours. If he's well over 6 months, then every 12 hours is okay but you can still do the 3-meals deal if it's comfortable for you. Or, you can even do only half a cup for his morning meal and then the rest of the food at 2:30.

And no, you don't have to slowly reach the 12-hour spacing. You can just go on straight to 12 hours because my prediction is, at 2:30 your dog is still digesting his morning meal which is why he has issues. If the dog is truly "empty" then you may experience that the dog will spit out bile. Don't panic. It's just that the dog is "scheduled" to start digestion at 2:30 so he starts producing the enzymes to start the digestion process. If he's spitting out bile, you can go ahead and feed him his next meal earlier than the 12 hours but at least an hour after 2:30. Then the next day try to space out to 12 hours.

Because of the opportunistic nature of dogs, they easily fall into a predictable routine and their physiology starts to expect that routine to remain the same so that when something changes, they can possibly go through a phase of confusion. Because of this, I don't feed my dogs in a specific consistent schedule. They get fed once a day and sometimes it's early afternoon, sometimes, early evening, etc. This makes it easier for when the dogs go to the sitter and they have to get fed with the sitter's schedule because the dogs don't always know when the food is coming so they are not stuck to a specific schedule. It also makes it easier for when they have to fast for the vet or if I go numbskull and forget to buy the food (or in the case of my transition to raw, when I forget to defrost the stuff!)...

 

[Deestar]

She's 16 months. I think I'm going to stick with the twice a day feedings. It's kinda nice to know that, if I'm out, I don't have to rush home by 2:30. I'll try the 12 hour spacing tonight and keep an eye out for the bile. Thanks for the good advice! I have a strong feeling that this is going to turn out to be my solution.


Speaking of raw. I tried it for a week when it seemed that the NVI wasn't working for her. She got awful diahrreah and by the end of the week she looked so skinny. That really freaked me out because she was on the thin side to begin with. She's gained the weight back since we returned to kibble, plus another pound or two. I used to have a Cairn Terrier that tended to gain too much weight. Back then I thought that was a struggle but I think trying to get a dog to maintain weight is even more stressful.

 

[Deestar]

Do you guys think I should be noticing an improvement by now, or is it too soon? After 3 days of 12 hour spacing of the meals there is no change.

I took her to the vet today. She had a fecal exam and blood work done. Everything was negative. He put her on 3 days of Panacur and 1 week of Metronidazole just on the off chance that she has something that wasn't detected in the lab work. If there is no change after the meds are done I will be back to square one. It's so discouraging and I feel so bad for her.

 

[Sherry]

Just a thought, maybe a mix of home made food with her kibble will stiffen her up, kind of like a bland diet mix.

 

[Deestar]

Thanks, Sherry. I'm so nervous about changing anything right now. Do you think I should give it the week to see if the meds do anything first?

It's such a confusing process. When you know something is not working your instinct is to change it but then changing too often can make things worse. I wonder what's worse.....changing too much, or keeping them on something that's bothering them. Such a conundrum. :-/

 

[HrsDiva]

Thanks, Sherry. I'm so nervous about changing anything right now. Do you think I should give it the week to see if the meds do anything first?

It's such a confusing process. When you know something is not working your instinct is to change it but then changing too often can make things worse. I wonder what's worse.....changing too much, or keeping them on something that's bothering them. Such a conundrum. :-/

It's okay! Trust your gut
Maybe a little homecooking would be fine.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Deestar]

My gut is definitely telling me to try something besides this which is not working. Thanks!