Puppy Poop question? Help!

1477 Views 10 Replies 4 Participants Last post by LindaH, Nov 19, 2011

justduff3324

Discussion Starter · Sep 30, 2011

I have a question about my puppy poop

. I have a 4 month old boy who weighs between 35-40 pounds. I believe he is at the "perfect" weight ratio as he has that "ribs are not seen but easily felt" and you can see them when he's moving around a lot. I did just switch his food from Purina Pro Performance to Innova Large Breed Puppy. I did this slowly over a week starting with 3/4 Purina 1/4 Innova and eventually having the reverse ratio. Lately his poop has been doing a weird 1/2 and 1/2.

What I mean is he normally uses the bathroom and has a normal solid poop (good amount) and then a few minutes later he has a softer stool, its not watery runny diarrea but more like a "pudding" or at least that is what I have seen it called. Again there is a good amount. It seems to be a 50/50 split where 1/2 of his poo is normal and 1/2 is soft.

My first guess is over feeding. I'm currently giving him about 6 cups a day. 3 in am and 3 in pm. I was worried about underfeeding as I believe I underfed for a week or two early on. He seems to self regulate eating as he doesn't always eat the entire bowl all at once. But I also don't take it away if he doesn't finish and he will eventually go back and finish it off.

Also he does get some table scraps (IE if i eat a pizza i will give him 2-3 pieces of meat). Not enough for me to think it makes a difference.

I'm wondering if anyone has any input as I can't find anything about a puppy having 1/2 and 1/2 poop. Sorry if I provided to much info just want to get it all out there.

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justduff3324

Discussion Starter · #2 · Sep 30, 2011

also i should mention he really only poops when exercising. IE half way into a walk or while playing with other puppies.

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LindaH

· #3 · Oct 1, 2011

Your overfeeding which can be a contributing factor in causing pano. Two clues are he is not finishing up his food quickly and the soft second stool. Innova LBP is higher quality than Pro Plan so you dont need to feed as much. Give him 10/15 minutes to eat and take up whatever is left. Dont feed him anything, including treats, till his next regular mealtime. You are feeding him exactly the same amount I was giving Parker when he came down with pano at around that age. Overfefing, too many calories is not good for a pup. It wouldnt hurt for him to loose weight to where you can see his last two ribs at all times.

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justduff3324

Discussion Starter · #4 · Oct 1, 2011

LindaH said:
Your overfeeding which can be a contributing factor in causing pano. Two clues are he is not finishing up his food quickly and the soft second stool. Innova LBP is higher quality than Pro Plan so you dont need to feed as much. Give him 10/15 minutes to eat and take up whatever is left. Dont feed him anything, including treats, till his next regular mealtime. You are feeding him exactly the same amount I was giving Parker when he came down with pano at around that age. Overfefing, too many calories is not good for a pup. It wouldnt hurt for him to loose weight to where you can see his last two ribs at all times.

Thanks for getting back to me. That's what I thought after reading some things but just wanted to see if there was any other input. I'm planning on cutting him back to about 4 1/2 cups a day.

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LindaH

· #5 · Oct 1, 2011

That sounds okay. Then just watch his weight and go from there. If reducing food doesnt work, you might be feeding a food that is not going to agree with him. That does happen sometimes.

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JoshG

· #6 · Oct 1, 2011

Here is a feeding formula I have learned as a tech:

weight (kg) x 30 + 70 x lifestyle factor (puppy, intact, neutered, low/high exercise, etc)

35lb/2.2 = 16kg
16kg x 30 + 70 x 2 (puppy growth) = 1100kcal/day

40lb/2.2 = 18kg
18kg x 30 + 70 x 2 = 1220kcal/day

Innova Large Breed Puppy formula has about 367kcal/cup

1100/367 = 3cup/day
1220/367 = 3 1/3 cup/day

Innova's large breed kibble contains 48% carbohydrates, which is a bit higher than I like to see for a dog food, but the protein is a good level. So many people feed high-protein diets to large breed pups, and it just reeks havoc on their systems and is a major contributor to many osteo disorders. At 27% (the bag says 24%, but you need to account for the 10% moisture), it is enough under 30% that you shouldn't encounter any problems, unless of course you have bad genetics, or are feeding unnecessary supplements.

Switching to a nutrient dense foods can be difficult for some dogs, as they require substantially less food per meal. Going from 6 cups to 3 cups will make your poor pup feel like he's starving. You do want to bring him down, but I wouldn't do it any faster than half a cup per week.
If you have the time to do it, I would suggest feeding him more than two meals a day, as that may help settle his belly during the transition.

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Herculoid

· #7 · Nov 17, 2011

I seem to have the exact same problem with Apollo! I too am feeding about 4.5 cups divided into 3 meals a day. I am currently transitioning him into a kibble that has no corn or soy, as the previous one I was feeding him had both ingredients. I can't feed him the kibble that I would like as high quality dog food is not found in the country where we live.

My question is, if things don't clear up with this new food is it possible it might be giardia (or anything else for that matter)? Or are we doomed to having to pick up pudding poops forever?

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LindaH

· #8 · Nov 18, 2011 (Edited)

Watch the calorie count. If the new food has more calories then you will need to reduce the amount fed. It is not uncommon for there to be a soft small second poop with a puppy and I dont worry about it. They will eventually grow out of it. You also have to consider the food you have been feeding, being lower quality, will produce larger and sometimes softer stools due to the large amounts of by products(fillers) in them. If you are switching to a more nutrient dense food(more caloriers per cup) you will need to reduce the amount fed. Giardia or coccidiosis will cause a more liquid stool, no pudding quality there.

To what brand formula are you switching?

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LindaH

· #9 · Nov 18, 2011

Something else, if you dont have access to good quality foods, you can always add some raw or home cooked extras to help your pup, and then grown dog, out. Try adding a boiled egg two or three times a week. Eggs are one of the best sources of proteins you can add. You can feed raw, but boiled is easier to digest and they get more out of the white if it is cooked. Other days you could give chicken, beef, pork or fish. You wouldnt have to addmuch to give him a big boost. If you can afford it, you could learn how and go totally cooked or raw. Just make sure you know how BEFORE you do it as a growing large breed puppy is not to learn on. Dont forget you will have to cut back some on his kibble when adding extras. You can check out the dogaware.com site below as it has more information on food and suppliments than you could ever remember. Really, really educational site.

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Herculoid

· #10 · Nov 18, 2011

LindaH said:
Something else, if you dont have access to good quality foods, you can always add some raw or home cooked extras to help your pup, and then grown dog, out. Try adding a boiled egg two or three times a week. Eggs are one of the best sources of proteins you can add. You can feed raw, but boiled is easier to digest and they get more out of the white if it is cooked. Other days you could give chicken, beef, pork or fish. You wouldnt have to addmuch to give him a big boost. If you can afford it, you could learn how and go totally cooked or raw. Just make sure you know how BEFORE you do it as a growing large breed puppy is not to learn on. Dont forget you will have to cut back some on his kibble when adding extras. You can check out the dogaware.com site below as it has more information on food and suppliments than you could ever remember. Really, really educational site.

Wow, awesome feedback thanks so much! Right now I'm feeding a kibble that is considered 'grocery store quality'. Yep, all the great brands like lowest grade Eukanuba, Purina, Pedigree and some locally made stuff which is actually of poorer quality (I know, hard to believe possible). ALL contain fillers/grains, no exceptions. I'm pretty much going with what I can, in this case it's more a case of the lesser of two evils. So I always look at all the ingredients and base my decision on that. There's also Pro Plan for puppies but it's considered the only "premium" (lol) food in the country so theres a ridiculous mark up on it for a product that in my mind is not that much better than everything else mentioned. Right now, I'm currently in talks with Canidae as it seems it might be possible for them to send some of their ALS formula to my country from a distributor in a neighbouring country. The only downside is it might get expensive with all the import, customs bs.

If it's not a feasible option I will turn to learning as much as I can about going RAW and then make the switch. I have been hesitant with that scenario as I have the notion it might get pretty expensive, but once again it may turn out costing the same or less as the importing food option. Glad it doesn't sound like giardia or coccidia. I will no doubt look into the calorie count I'm feeding and turn around and try some of the suggestions you have made and will report back on how it went.

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LindaH

· #11 · Nov 19, 2011

Herculoid said:
Wow, awesome feedback thanks so much! Right now I'm feeding a kibble that is considered 'grocery store quality'. Yep, all the great brands like lowest grade Eukanuba, Purina, Pedigree and some locally made stuff which is actually of poorer quality (I know, hard to believe possible). ALL contain fillers/grains, no exceptions. I'm pretty much going with what I can, in this case it's more a case of the lesser of two evils. So I always look at all the ingredients and base my decision on that. There's also Pro Plan for puppies but it's considered the only "premium" (lol) food in the country so theres a ridiculous mark up on it for a product that in my mind is not that much better than everything else mentioned. Right now, I'm currently in talks with Canidae as it seems it might be possible for them to send some of their ALS formula to my country from a distributor in a neighbouring country. The only downside is it might get expensive with all the import, customs bs.

If it's not a feasible option I will turn to learning as much as I can about going RAW and then make the switch. I have been hesitant with that scenario as I have the notion it might get pretty expensive, but once again it may turn out costing the same or less as the importing food option. Glad it doesn't sound like giardia or coccidia. I will no doubt look into the calorie count I'm feeding and turn around and try some of the suggestions you have made and will report back on how it went.

Be sure to freeze you meats for at least three days to kill off parasites. I am GUESSING a week or two would be best. It depends, you should know your meat situation there.

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