emma
I'm New Here
Posts: 1
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Post by emma on Nov 24, 2012 2:20:01 GMT -5
Hi everyone, I'm Emma, new to the site, my husband and I adopted Billy, our first rescue greyhound 2 weeks ago and we are having a few settling in problems (reading the advice on the forum has been so helpful!). The biggest problem is that Billy's poos are nearly all soft. We are feeding him twice a day, cereal with milk in the morning and a maintenance food with half a can of dog food in the evening. This is what he was fed at the rescue centre. We're not sure whether the messy poos are a result of settling in nerves or what we're feeding him. Any advice would be appreciated!! Thanks. Emma
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Post by nataliesian on Nov 24, 2012 2:34:59 GMT -5
Hi Emma and welcome, have you wormed him and what kind of milk are you giving ?
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Post by samburns on Nov 24, 2012 5:11:09 GMT -5
Hi Emma and welcome to Gap  What is the maintenance food you are feeding Billy? When we homed our first greyhound we gave him what what he was given at the kennels, Dr Johns, which is one of the cheapest greyhound kibbles available (hence why the kennels were feeding it - not Gap by the way!) but later learned there are much better foods on the market. The kibble should be the main part of their diet, fed twice a day and it's optional to add a little tinned dog food or tinned fish to make it a bit more interesting and tasty. It's madness that kennels still advise feeding weetabix and milk for breakfast, it has no nutritional value at all and might well be the main cause of the diarrhoea so I'd stop feeding him that straight away. To get Billy firm you could feed him something really bland for a few days (two meals as you are doing now) such as boiled potatos or rice with some white fish then reintroduce kibble. Hope that helps, let is know how you get on Sam x |
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Post by nataliesian on Nov 24, 2012 7:35:09 GMT -5
Hi Emma yes I'd agree about the weetabix and a bland diet mak ate mashed potatoe boiled chicken rice etc when we first got him. He had really terrible doorway and was very underweight. The kennels had wormed him but we did it again- never seen such big/ large amount of worms. After that his tummy settled down. But he still has potatoe based diet.
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Post by Nettie on Nov 24, 2012 7:55:25 GMT -5
Cow's milk could certainly be giving him a soft stools, dogs and cats don't tolerate cow's milk very well. I just don't know why people still advise feeding milk and weetabix. I'd stop that straight away and feed him kibble both in the morning and evening, jazz it up with a bit of wet dog food if necessary. Kibble is a complete food and shouldn't need any additions at all, its made to provide a balanced diet for a dog. See how he gets on with just the kibble, if this doesn't work for him then you need to think about using a different brand of kibble. If you are feeding Bakers kibble then stop that straight away, its full of Es. Others will be along to recommend a good kibble, I'm afraid I can't as I feed a raw diet.
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Post by Flaperoo on Nov 24, 2012 8:43:31 GMT -5
I agree about the diet of weetabix and milk = it does them no good at all  Redge arrived 6 days ago straight from kennels and had runny stools. I do believe this was in part a nervous tummy because we began feeding him what all the others' have and they have no problems. Oafy arrived with diarrhea so bad he was tested for all sorts at the vets. Lisa then advised Fish4dogs complete food 95% fish. It worked almost instantly. I always keep a bag in the larder just in case and when I changed Redge over to the Fish4dogs there was an immediate improvement. Nice firm stools now  Oh and welcome to you and Billy. Maryx |
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james
I'm New Here
Posts: 42
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Post by james on Nov 24, 2012 18:42:22 GMT -5
Ditto re milk. It is completely unnatural for any adult to have milk. If you have the opposite problem then warm milk with sugar gets things moving. I stumbled across a large US greyhound rescue which recommends using a child's dosage of Bisodol which you can get from Boots and other chemists. This chimes with advice from a very good friend who breeds Arab horses. Foals tend to scour badly when the mare comes into season, especially the first season after foaling(approx 7-10) days and she swears by Bisodol.
I feed my lurcher Red Mills Tracker which is a quality complete kibble for resting greyhounds and at 20% protein is just about right for greys kept as pets. Like most of us I feed a little tinned meat mixed in. For my 20Kg lurcher I feed 220gms of Tracker plus half a tin of Chum (in loaf) a day and she does very well. I don't add any liquid to her meals and this helps to keep her teeth clean as well. The Red Mills website will give you the correct amount to feed for your hounds weight. I have found that the half tin of Chum equates to about 100gms of Tracker so you should be able to adjust the amount on that basis. I have found that most feed suppliers to not keep Tracker in stock but most will get it for you. I pay about £13.50 for a 15Kg bag so it is also much cheaper than Bakers (which I don't like) and massively cheaper than the over hyped a la carte mixes which I don't need and I hope you don't need either. Don't make the mistake of starting out with the £60 a bag mixtures as there is probably no going back.
Good luck.
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Post by jodav on Nov 25, 2012 14:38:07 GMT -5
Emma - my advice is to try some different brands of kibble, introduce slowly, put 25% in at a time and see how it goes. One of our dogs has a more sensitive digestion, some brands are no good whatsoever. He seems to have settled down on Wainwrights, any upsets are ironed out with fish and potatoes and less kibble I would also say do your research - there really is a reason why some foods are cheaper! John Fisher's book "Think Dog" has a very good chapter on what goes into dog food!! James - if your dog does well on Red Mills Tracker that's good for you but for a dog that suffering from diarrhoea I would have doubts. Some of the ingredients listed are meat byproducts and unidentified cereals - have a look at www.dogfoodanalysis.com. As for over-hyped a la carte mixes, you have to look at the ingredients overall - as John Fisher says 20%protein sources could be dried nettles or old boot leather .... or white meat - which would you prefer your dog to have? It's all a matter of balance - dog stomach and bank balances ;D Jo |
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james
I'm New Here
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Post by james on Nov 25, 2012 17:12:49 GMT -5
Jo - I agree with a lot of what you say. I have no idea why you have your doubts if Tracker would be no good. The problem is probably the milk and the dog settling in and is probably all but solved. I am suggesting not going over the top in attempting to solve a problem that is not too serious and may be easily solved. Of course you are right that it is up to you how much you spend on dog food but I meet a lot of people out and about that are spending much more money than they can afford on Vet supplied and recommended complete foods.
My dog is happy and healthy on the diet she has .I have no idea who John Fisher is and would be interested to know what he recommends.
James
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Post by Sian on Nov 26, 2012 5:36:39 GMT -5
Jo - I agree with a lot of what you say. I have no idea why you have your doubts if Tracker would be no good. The problem is probably the milk and the dog settling in and is probably all but solved. I am suggesting not going over the top in attempting to solve a problem that is not too serious and may be easily solved. Of course you are right that it is up to you how much you spend on dog food but I meet a lot of people out and about that are spending much more money than they can afford on Vet supplied and recommended complete foods. My dog is happy and healthy on the diet she has .I have no idea who John Fisher is and would be interested to know what he recommends. James John Fisher is a well known canine behaviourist and his books are worth a read. I agree with Jo, it really is worth looking at feeding the best we can afford for our dogs as many of the cheap foods are cheap for a reason. Like you say, it is not worth going over the top but it is worth double checking the ingredients of our dog's food. I think what Jo was trying to suggest is that the Tracker food has a lot of derivatives and its first ingredient is cereals which is a known problem for many dogs with a sensitive stomach. Not all and I certainly have one of my own who could eat a bin of rotting food and suffer no problems.  I think it is just worth highlighting to someone looking to change food to just have a good look at the ingredients. |
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Post by just jackie on Nov 26, 2012 6:23:08 GMT -5
Personally I would cut out the cereal and milk, and feed a good kibble with something added for variety.
I've always fed Burgess Supadog Sensitive kibble and have never had a problem with it. Some people think it means larger amounts of poo, I don't find that with our dogs though.
Use the guide on the kibble bag for the daily amount he should have, reduce it slightly to allow for the additions, then split the answer into two feeds. (I feed slightly less than half in the morning, and slightly more at teatime.) Add a little water to the kibble a few minutes before mixing.
If he is very loose you might want to try him on chicken and rice, or white fish and rice or boiled potato for a day or two until he firms up a bit.
Good luck
Jackie
x
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ritab
Ironing Piling Up
Posts: 218
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Post by ritab on Nov 26, 2012 11:22:31 GMT -5
I have had a rather nervous greyhound for 15 months now and it took months to settle her stomach. I now feed one of those expensive brands (Burns Pork & Potato) which is recommended by many greyhound owners and things are much better. However many people get good results with Chappie and as already mentioned Fish4Dogs. I just needed to cut out all the main culprits, i.e. wheat, dairy, beef, rice. Remember to do any changeover gradually, and I agree with everyone else - no milk/cereal brekkers. I just split the daily allowance into 3 meals, feeding just a small amount for breakfast.
Good luck!
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