Very soft stool, other than that - perfect pup!

[Amber Martinez]

Good morning! This is my first post and after reading and comparing multiple types of dry dog food I have no CLUE what to do!

Background:
I've got a 16 month old Old English Bulldog. 65lbs, white and brindled, healthy weight and skin (now). Breeder started him on Eukanuba large breed puppy. We had him on large breed puppy for close to a year. The Eukanuba dog food seemed to give him VERY dry and itchy skin however; he had normal stool. I did research on Eukanuba and did not like what I found. Chicken by-product is gross and not okay with me. We then switched to Blue Buffalo - puppy formula (large breed) - he had snuck a couple bites from my mothers dog food bowl and seemed to really like it. After we switched his food we noticed his skin improving however his stool got loose. I bought the wrong flavor last time I went and the problems began imminently with the loose stool again. I just don't know what to do! I spoke with the vet and he found that he had had an increase in a certain kind of bacteria. Put him on Metronidazole 250 mg's. Still no improvement. We stopped with the salmon oil and vitamins and have narrowed it down to the food.

ANYONE HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS?!?!

I'm about to loose my mind! Gonna switch foods AGAIN - possibly to Innova, Nurtro Natural Choice or back to Eukanuba....

Please tell me I'm not the only one with these kinds of issues with my bully pup!

 

[RescueMe]

Dont go back to Eukanuba. He probably needs grain free for the itching. Check out the food ratings on this site.

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

.. You've come to the right place..but it's not an easy answer! We have a lot of people that can help you with food ..much more than me! I will tag a few and hang in there..we will help! Your bully is beautiful! [MENTION=2]desertskybulldogs[/MENTION] ..[MENTION=2291]cowsmom[/MENTION]....they and others will be here soon! In the meantime..check out the food ratings forum!

 

[bullmama]

You are certainly not the only one, and welcome. You are going to find out that you ate already a part of our group- because most bullys suffer from allergic reactions to their diet.

I would stay away from the 3 dog foods you are considering switching to however, check out the dog food ratings from the home page to find a better choice.

 

[cowsmom]

well first of all was wondering at 16 months why still on puppy food? we got sarah at one year and gave her regular dog food from the start. also not sure bulldog qualifies as a large breed. now you can try the blue buffalo wilderness that some are having great success with. also wellness has a grain free called core that is also good. its honestly all trial and error as to what your bully can eat. sarah is doing very well on the go natural salmon and oatmeal and so are some others on this forum. you will get many answers as to what to feed really. id try blue wilderness or wellness core see if they help with the stool.

 

[Amber Martinez]

Vet said due to his possible weight/size when adult, he will be large breed. 65 lbs now, possibly up to 85lbs when full grown. He's a beefy dude. My vet said feed puppy formula until 2 years old due to the breed?? Not sure if that's correct or not. He gets two feedings of Blue Buffalo (am and pm) 1 1/2-2 cups per feeding. Would rice and chicken (boiled chicken and brown rice) diet for a couple days help?

 

[cali~jenn]

You could add in a tbsp a day of canned PURE pumpkin. (Found on the veggie isle usually vs the baking isle being already seasoned etc for pies.) That should help firm him up a bit for sure. The chicken and rice helps when their tummys are messed up also but if not sick I would go with the pumpkin. I agree with changing your food choice. My breeder had Cutty on eukanuba also and I thought it was he best stuff. (having no clue, just going by how expensive it was) He too had dry flaky skin and fish oil pills even didnt help much. Once we finally realized we needed a good food and that was just bad we switched and his fur is beautiful now. Any good quality food will help I am sure. They say 4 star or better in general but not all are the best for every pup tho. Welcome to the never ending world of searching for the perfect food. I think this is the biggest thing we all do have in common actually! Welcome too by the way.

 

[BruceP]

to EBN. Glad you came here. Here is a good place to start: http://www.englishbulldognews.com/forums/list.php?r=category/60-Dog-Food-Information. The food rating chart was assembled with bullies in mind, not other breeds. Perhaps a grain free food would help. Also, puppy formula is probably too rich for your guy at 16 months. An all stages food will work out better at this point. There is no one answer for your question. ALL bullies are different and what works for one may not work at all for another. Princess Gracie does wonderfully on Fromm Beef Frittata which is both grain free and chicken free. But that doesn't mean a thing too you, unless you are just looking for someone to offer a place for you to start with the realization that it may or may not be the right one for your bully. Switch them slowly when making a change. Bullies have tender tummies and get the runs if switched too fast. Normally you use 1/4 new food mixed with 3/4 old food for several days. They change the ratio to 1/2 and 1/2 for several. Finally, before going to all New brand food you do aa 3/4 new food to 1/4 old food for several days. Once switched it may take a while to get the affects of the old food out of his system to tell if the new food is the right one. It may take several food changes before you hit on the right one. Bullies are very food sensitive so keep at it and keep asking questions. We love bullies here and we also LOVE PIX so please post some more of your fantastic baby bully.

 

[anatess]

Old English Bulldogs are Large Breed dogs. Our modern English Bulldogs (basically and Old English Bulldog bred with Pug characteristics) are smaller.

But yeah, he should be good to move to the non-puppy formula when you're ready.

Now, the trick with food changes, especially with breeds like english bulldogs (old or modern) the switch needs to be done very slowly because their digestive systems cannot cope with the change and the first sign to that is the runny poop. Usually, the switch is done slowly in a period of 3 to 4 weeks.

If you've been through the slow switch and his poop is still runny, then yeah, you might want to look at other food options - but same thing - switch very slowly in a period of 3 to 4 weeks.

My dogs are on Blue Buffalo Wilderness Salmon aternating with Duck. They have no problems switching back and forth between the two protein sources. But, each bulldog is different and what works for my dogs may not work for yours.

One thing that a lot of EBN experts mention is to give the dog pumpkin (there's a lot of them around at this time of year!) to firm up his stool. I've never tried this, but it is worth looking into.

Hope this helps.

 

[JeannieCO]

We have been feeding Blue Buffalo for quite a while now. Wilson was on the Puppy version but I switched him to the Large Breed Natural Fish and Oatmeal due to soft stools (he was also teething back then too). His stools were always soft on the puppy BB, as well as when he was on the puppy Wellness. We switched between the Adult Fish & Sweet Potato and the Adult Lamb & Rice and his stools firm up to normal and have been ever since. Right now I'm in the process of switching him back to Wellness Super5Mix Complete to see if it helps with his constant runny eyes. I have noticed that his stools are soft again though. If that doesn't work I'll put him back on Blue Buffalo and I may consider Nature Variety Instinct since it's available at PetCo now. I would do Fromm but I want to be able to get his food locally or anywhere I go. Fromm is excellent from what others here say.

Your boy is beautiful!! Good luck.

 

[BruceP]

Another thought.... he may be getting TOO MUCH food per serving now. A good quality food digests more thoroughly so less is used... 3/4 cup to 1 cup, twice a day of a QUALITY food is all he probably needs.
Just a random question: Does this vet see a lot of bullies? There are vets that specialize in them because they are so much different than other breeds.

 

[JeannieCO]

Another thought.... he may be getting TOO MUCH food per serving now. A good quality food digests more thoroughly so less is used... 3/4 cup to 1 cup, twice a day of a QUALITY food is all he probably needs.

You know I may have to reduce Wilson's food intake to see if his loose stools are from overfeeding on the two mixes of food.

 

[BruceP]

That can be an issue [MENTION=2014]JeannieCO[/MENTION].... wouldn't hurt him to try.... YOU on the other had may get the stink EYE!! LOL

 

[Amber Martinez]

yes, I found a good vet that owns several. He reccommends Proplan and to switch the protein from chicken to fish or lamb. I mean, I still have close to a half a bag left. Should I try to just reduce to cups or buy the Proplan and implement?

 

[Jack Daniels]

You know I may have to reduce Wilson's food intake to see if his loose stools are from overfeeding on the two mixes of food.

Oh my... Wilson with runny stool.....



So is he using a straw ?