Need dog food recommendations for an older bulldog.

[californiarufio]

Hi Everyone,

I haven't posted in this forum in forever but I am excited to read everyone's responses. My English Bulldog (Rufio) is about 7 years old. We have tried many different foods in hopes to help his allergies and yeast infections. We finally arrived on human grade food and have been using a company that delivers it fresh to our door for about a year now. Initially, it seemed to help his skin but now he is getting diarrhea about once a month. We took him to the vet and he said it might just be because he is getting older.

I guess my question is, should we try in switch his food up again? Does anyone have any food recommendations for an older bulldog? Also, we have been giving him a probiotic once a day.

I would appreciate any help!

Thanks!

 

[helsonwheels]

Hi Everyone,

I haven't posted in this forum in forever but I am excited to read everyone's responses. My English Bulldog (Rufio) is about 7 years old. We have tried many different foods in hopes to help his allergies and yeast infections. We finally arrived on human grade food and have been using a company that delivers it fresh to our door for about a year now. Initially, it seemed to help his skin but now he is getting diarrhea about once a month. We took him to the vet and he said it might just be because he is getting older.

I guess my question is, should we try in switch his food up again? Does anyone have any food recommendations for an older bulldog? Also, we have been giving him a probiotic once a day.

I would appreciate any help! Thanks!

What brand is the food or their website?

After a year of quality food n just now having diarrhea, I doubt very much is the food. I would start with that. Is there some different you are giving him that’s new since you mentioned once a month of diarrhea only or did the food company changed an ingredient or added a new ingredient? If nothing was changed I would have the poop analyzed.

 

[californiarufio]

I started giving him a probiotic after his first initial bout with the diarrhea. I will have to contact the company that makes his food. Thanks!

 

[Dollys Owner]

Good suggestions above !! There's a lot of causes of diarrhea. Is he having regular stools at normal intervals? If not I would add some canned pumpkin ( not pie filling type ) to his diet. And I would recommend frozen raw food over fresh cooked human grade food. You can also try an empiric course of fenbendazole 50 mg/kg daily
for 3 days and repeated in two weeks, since it's very well tolerated.

 

[helsonwheels]

I started giving him a probiotic after his first initial bout with the diarrhea. I will have to contact the company that makes his food. Thanks!

Adding probiotic as pill form/powder? Probiotics will/can give some diarrhea if it’s newly introduced. The gut is making adjustments. One reason why I like giving probiotics in food form like fermented sauerkraut or fermented veggies. Your food you order isis raw or cooked?

 

[californiarufio]

Good suggestions above !! There's a lot of causes of diarrhea. Is he having regular stools at normal intervals? If not I would add some canned pumpkin ( not pie filling type ) to his diet. And I would recommend frozen raw food over fresh cooked human grade food. You can also try an empiric course of fenbendazole 50 mg/kg daily
for 3 days and repeated in two weeks, since it's very well tolerated.

He is having normal stools, twice a day. It seems like this happens about once a month or so. Why would you recommend frozen raw food or fresh cooked food. To clarify, it's cooked food that comes frozen.

 

[californiarufio]

Adding probiotic as pill form/powder? Probiotics will/can give some diarrhea if it’s newly introduced. The gut is making adjustments. One reason why I like giving probiotics in food form like fermented sauerkraut or fermented veggies. Your food you order isis raw or cooked?

I give him Zesty Paws Probiotic Bites. The food is cooked but comes frozen.

 

[Dollys Owner]

I'd recommend raw food over cooked food for dogs with allergies, since the freezing process doesn't denature proteins or kill bacteria, just kills any parasitic worms. Dogs who eat raw food have less allergies, at least for most of the bulldogs who have tried it on this web site. The probiotic bites you are giving should be fine, but you don't need to give it all the time, maybe a week on week off would be better.

Are you feeding him any marrow bones? Those give my dog a loose bm after usually. If you give more often than twice a week they can cause pancreatitis since they are so fatty.

 

[helsonwheels]

I give him Zesty Paws Probiotic Bites. The food is cooked but comes frozen.

Like mentioned, give organic pumpkin purée n not the one for pies. Pumpkin acts as a prebiotic booster for these probiotics so you can also give it as a daily topper on one meal. It’s great source of fiber n diarrhea will turn to normal stools.

https://blog.homesalive.ca/how-much-raw-food-for-dogs

 

[Dollys Owner]

I looked at the formulation of the Probiotic bites, and one thing worries me - they have some ingredients which could cause an allergy in your dog. eg. rosemary extract and natural chicken flavouring.

 

[helsonwheels]

I looked at the formulation of the Probiotic bites, and one thing worries me - they have some ingredients which could cause an allergy in your dog. eg. rosemary extract and natural chicken flavouring.

I would be more worried about the Palm oil. Yes chicken flavouring is simply chemicals. Anything that has the word “flavour” is a no no. Goes for humans too. Rosemary Extract is ok but not on daily basis or if you have a dog that does seizures. There’s really no scientific proof for seizures in dogs but does on humans. My motto is a dog do actually have the same health issues as humans so why I would avoid daily consumption of rosemary extra. Fresh is better.

 

[2BullyMama]

Great info from the gang.... my question is what protein are you using ?