Poorly tummy

[Nicky Vangalis]

Hello all,

Dan and I just got back from our wedding in Rhodes - thanks to all of you for our well wishes.

Ollie has been with his home boarders for the last ten days and before he left we had been feeding him rice and mince because the biscuits we had been feeding him had been upsetting him and making him vomit.  We followed this diet for a week and immediately he was 100% better.

The boarders said he has been good as gold, been eating normally, happy, playful - but he's had a very runny tummy.  She said she was feeding him what we said and then sought advice of other owners and someone who owned an English Setter told her to feed him on scrambled egg and rice.  She said he has been a little better on it but obviously we are a little concerned that his tummy has not been right.

Because of the issues we were having with his shop bought food before we left we decided to go with what others told us and feed him a natural cooked diet which he was absolutely fine on, so we are a bit bewildered as to why he is getting the runs.  She said it could just be stress of the change of environment - he has no signs of illness at all, no vomiting, no sickness, lethargy, anything else that would indicate being ill.

Just wondered if anyone else has experience of the same, and also what do you guys all feed your setters who have sensitive tums?  He was a nightmare as a pup to get something which he could eat but eventually he settled and it seems to be he's going through one of those stages again.

Thanks

Nicky 

[Rhonda Fisher]

You should be able to get it from a health food shop or chemist. I use it as a preventative daily with his evening meal. 1/4 teaspoon with the same amount of a probiotic powder. A little water to make a paste ball and then down by popping it on the back of his tongue. I usually wait 15mins till he has his dinner. At first I used it as needed but you could tell when he did not have it. Reluctant to eat, gas, loose stools and very thin. Met a breeder of Clumbers who used it daily and have done the same ever for over a year now. He is slowly putting weight on but he eats readily, firm stools and gas and tummy rumbles have eased greatly. He seems a lot happier. Spent a lot of money at specialists who could not find anything wrong with him. This is working so far. 

[Howard Glansfield]

One thing that has really helped Fred's digestive system and was suggested by my vet,is two desertspoons of natural plain yoghourt with every meal(in a seperate dish!).Fred chooses to eat his yoghourt before his dinner and loves it). 

 

[Rhonda Fisher]

What is it with tissues! Murphy hunts them down and looks miffed when they go in the pedal bin.

[Andy Benstead]

Hi Finn. I totally agree with everything you said.

[Andy Benstead]

Hi Finn. Fran does know what she is talking about. Kind regards.

[Nicky Vangalis]

thank you to everyone so far who has made suggestions.  Dan and I are going to try and contact Ollie's breeder although I know she is away at the moment - invariably she would know what has worked for her dogs in the past as well and given that he would be of the same genetic make up it would be a good place for us to start.  In the meantime, he is chasing the cats around the house as I speak and being his usual gorgeous self.  I hope his tummy settles soon because NO ONE, dog or adult, wants to have the trots.  Please keep your fingers crossed for our little buddy that we can get him better soon x

[Rhonda Fisher]

Fingers and paws crossed Nicky

[Fran Griffin]

I agree with you Finn. I work very closely with a wolf society who have a pack of wolves, and who are considered to be a real authority on the subject, and no wolves do not eat plenty of grains, and nor do they immediately go for the stomach contents first which 'always consist of grains' (do they just - sighs). Another urban myth that is  often trotted out "dogs have evolved in recent years" . Oh the greatest miracle of modern times - confirmed by the pet food industry no less........  except that the first stages of evolution takes millions of years, not 50 years as the myth suggerst.  My goodness how on earth did dogs survive before kibble became widely available. Its a wonder they have made it to 2012 if raw feeding is so dangerous and kibble is best. 

Dogs are c-a-r-n-i-v-o-r-e-s. Their jaws move up and down.

Vet surgeries are full of Hills Science Diet maintenance - a species inappropriate food and the varieties which are MARKETED as 'prescription diets'.  YES MARKETED-  WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!!  The score goes rather like this "oh your dog has Addison's disease, therefore requires this wonderful diet to help it with its condition". Yes, I have heard this one rather too often and yes people fall for it - hook line and sinker.  I have Addison's Disease.  Is there a special prescription diet for me to help me with my daily living and to obtain the correct 'balance' of nutrients??????? On your flipping life there isn't !!!! Soooooo if you are a dog there is. If you are a human there isn't, Oh right.... before anyone says anything, I suppose I do not understand my dogs nutritional requirements therefore I cannot possibility work out what is the correct balance,.  yeah yeah heard it all before, I need the wise initiates of the pet food industry to do all the thinking for me.... yeah right.

Finn - I totally understand why you want to give up with this forum.  On the subject of nutrition - you are wasting your time. Banging your head up against a brick wall. Fortunately, there are people out there who are willing to have the marketing padlocks removed from their minds and who like you are seeing great results, so keep on speaking about it Finn - but to those who want to know, and who have a gut feeling that something isn't quite right with all the clever, hypnotic marketing which these companies spend millions on each year.

Kibble and cans kill. Fact.  Dead ingredients, dry extruded = all natural water content and enzymes destroyed. My goodness IF I fed my girl with her malabsorption problems dry food, she would have been dead long ago, as her poor body would have had to work soooooo much harder to digest dry food, Why force an engine to run much harder, when with the correct fuel and oil would help it to run so much smoother and for much longer. 

Oh for all of you who still think dry is best...... I have a lovely seafront property just outside of Birmingham in the UK. Perhaps you would like to make me an offer to buy it?  it's very very nice and very cosy and going to sleep at night with the sound of the waves crashing on the beach is just magical.

[Nicky Vangalis]

That's great - but can I just say I think this discussion has moved away from trying to help my dog to people having a row about what food type is best.  That's not what I asked for and certainly I would expect people to have debates elsewhere and not start a slanging match with each other when I ASKED FOR HELP!! 

Please, unless you are actually trying to give some advice and not start trying to malfoot each other then do not post on this forum as the amount of notifications I'm getting, me thinking brilliant, another idea, and then finding it's just another counter argument is frankly disappointing and now becoming annoying.  

[Fran Griffin]

A direct reply was given earlier. To help your dog, Eliminate everything you can, with the help of a vet if necessary, There is nothing much else anyone can say because there are a multitude of causes. A friend of mine has just discovered her poorly Setter has a liver shunt, which in all honesty should have been picked up on a long time ago, that's why I say even if you go to the vets, ask to see the blood test results for abnormal peaks and troughs in the results. They do ignore those, to the dogs peril. Been there, done that, got the medals, as my friend has now discovered to her horror. Stomach problems should never be ignored if you cannot iron them out yourself..

[Fran Griffin]

yep ,,,,,, way to go ;-)

[Nicky Vangalis]

Barbara and Tracy, thank you for actually listening to my request to stop 'big upping' or 'yapping' at each other and to actually give me some useful words.

The rest of you - whilst your advice is equally valued, you are being bloody disrespectful to Ollie now by continually carrying on against each other rather than helping him

so please do not post on here any more unless it is a direct piece of help and not some sideline to push your point of view forward.  I'm actually getting really peed that some of you have completely forgotten the original post and I'm really disappointed to see that this kind of behaviour exists amongst adults.  I'm a primary school teacher and see better behaviour and levels of respect and decorum towards someone asking for help.