5 year old adopted mastiff gas & diarrhea

[suzyQ]

Any advice on food for this breed? We adopted a sweetheart 5 year old English mastiff. She's on 'taste of the wild ' buffalo. Has been for 2 months. Her gas has our neighbors thinking our septic had exploded. Her poo's are uncleanable piles of pudding. Mostly we feel bad for her and want to make sure its not what we are feeding her and she is getting the nutrients she needs.

 

[TWW]

Boiled Hamburger or chicken with rice will reset her system. Make sure to get all the fat out if you use hamburger.

 

[musicdeb]

Welcome aboard and thank you for adopting your 5 year old pup~ Pics are necessary. Taste of the Wild is good food but not all foods will benefit every pup. The reset is great to get her system back on track. Add 1 tablespoon of pumpkin (not the pie filling) to the boiled white rice and boiled meat. Usually 1 cup of boiled rice with 1 cup of meat + 1 tablespoon of pumpkin for 4-5 days will reset the system so you start the new food that you choose to feed your pup. If you do not go the reset way, then do a slow transition to the new food (see below).

Check out Acana Regionals, Wellness Core, Earthborn Holistics, Fromm*s, Innova Natures Table or Taste of the Wild grain free. Chewy.com is a great place to order dog food and they offer free shipping.

Slow transition to the new food is as follows to prevent diarrhea. If at any time during the transition, the pup has diarrhea return to previous amounts of food per feeding. If you are switching flavors made by the same manufacturer, you should not have to do a slow transition.

Amount per feeding:

Day 1-4 ¾ cup of old food and ¼ cup of new food.

Day 5-9 ½ cup of old food and ½ cup of new food.

Day 10-14 ¾ cup of new food and ¼ cup of old food

Day 15 Start 100% of new food

Generally, mastiffs are allergic to grain and chicken found in kibble. You can check www.dogfoodadvisor.com for dog food ratings and customer feedback. Mastiff puppies should eat Large Breed adult food because puppy food has too much calcium which causes fast growth. Slow and steady growth for a healthy mastiff. Protein in the food is not an issue unless the pup has kidney issues.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+1659&aid=652

Dog Food FAQs: Protein

You may want to check out the raw diet for your pup. Raw diet can be fed to young pups. Check out the sub forum on raw diet that has a wealth of information. It is not recommended to feed the pup kibble (one with grains) and raw food. Do your research re: raw diet and form your own opinion.

 

[saxorrm]

A cup of boiled white rice worked for my pup when he was having diarrhea.

 

[DennasMom]

I agree - do the reset diet for a day or two (instead of the kibble). Get things "lined up" again, then slowly add in your food of choice.

I'd also add in a probiotic of some sort (probably avoid yogurt, though, as dairy can cause problems, too). Human probiotic capsules or pet-varieties both can be good options.

While on the reset diet, avoid any treats, too... very hard with a new dog in the house, but you want to get the GI system back on track asap, I'm sure!