Boiled chicken and rice to CORE

[bkv123]

I have been feeding boiled chicken and rice for 6 days now and am about ready to introduce kibble back in. Even though this is the 6th day on this our guys poop still has been runny and a yellowish color. He actually had an accident in the house last week when he was on the boiled chicken and rice which surprised me. Is 7 days long enough before introducing back in kibble? Also I think I am going to give Wellness Core a try. We were doing Wellness Super5 Mix Whitefish and Sweet Potato...I went through half a 26 pound bag but it never agreed with his tummy. I am thinking maybe there was not enough fiber in it for him...anyone else have issues with this food? I know he has a sensitve tummy and some skin allergies but I have read great things about Core and want to give it a shot. If I introduce it gradually over the next 5 days with the boiled chicken and rice mixed in are the chances for a smooth transition pretty good? I am starting to feel like such a bad mom, he is getting so skinny I feel awful. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[kathysboxer]

I don't have much of a suggestion other than, could he be allergic to the rice or chicken? I would try cooking some rice and sweet potato. See if that may work better. Not sure about the CORE, though. I'm sure someone with more experience will chime in. You could also try giving him a tablespoon of pumpkin, not more or it makes them have loose poops, once a day. That may also help.

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

You're not supposed to introduce kibble back into the diet until the loose stool issue is resolved with the bland diet first. I agree could he have a chicken or rice allergy? Maybe try chicken and potato and see if he has a grain allergy if that doesn't work then maybe beef and rice to see if the chicken was the problem, but you should get the stomach issue under control before introducing kibble back into the diet. I would also fast for 24 hours before trying one of the 2 things I mentioned above to help the stomach calm down a bit.

 

[kayboxer]

You could try oatmeal instead of the rice and see if that helps.

 

[bkv123]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I will keep doing the boiled chicken and maybe do the sweet potato with it. He is still pretty itchy and has eye boogers on the boiled chicken and rice even after a week. Now this has me thinking maybe he does have a grain allergy? I guess I can try the sweet potato and find out? If this is the case it would explain a lot!

 

[kathysboxer]

As BXRMOM said, try fasting him for a day first (I didn't think of that part, sorry). Then do the chicken and potato. If it clears up, you'll know it's a grain allergy. If not, then fast again and do the beef and rice. Hope this helps. Keep us informed.

 

[bkv123]

I fasted him for 24 hours then did beef and rice...not good. We went to the dog park today and he didnt even want to play because he kept using teh bathroom, I felt so bad. So we came hime nad had 2 pepto. He has had so much gas and yucky runny poops. So tonight we are back to chicken and rice. I am going to watch him the next few days and see. In the meantime I have been researching a new kibble for him to get back on once this is cleared up. I feel like I haven't found anything. I picked up a small bag of Natural Balance Lamb and Rice last night but just realized its only rated a 3 star food on dog food analysis. I do want something with a higher fiber content to help his poop yet it needs to be something for a very sensitive tummy and skin allergies. The Wellness Fish and Sweet Potato and Calif Natural Herring and Sweet Potato are not going to work as the fiber is to low and the sweet potato's do not agree with him. Both of these foods were a disaster for us. Anyone have any suggestions? I am so frustrated! Also once I get his stools firm again on the chicken and rice I just introduce the kibble in slow correct? Since its been almost 2 weeks on the chicken and rice I feel like he isn't getting the vitatmins he needs and his coat isn't shiny anymore and he is loosing weight. I feel so bad!

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

Honestly Dog food analysis is only a guide, it isn't the end all be all. I personally feed Natural Balance Lamb Meal and Brown Rice (which used to be listed as a 4 star on DFA so not sure why they changed it) and both of my dogs are doing FABULOUS. I have used I can't tell you how many foods, Blue Buffalo, Canidae, Wellness, Solid Gold, Nature's Variety, California Natural, Innova, to name just a few of the ones I have tried and they all either gave my dogs gas, or my allergy dog is allergic to them, gave them runny stools, or whatever they all gave them some kind of problem. Since switching, my female's gas has completely gone away (which she has had gas since we got her 2 1/2 years ago we just thought that was her!), her stools are great, my male who has allergies no more rashes, open sores, itching, ear problems, breathe problems, it has been fabulous. I rotate between the Lamb Meal and Brown Rice and the Duck and Potato and have had great luck with both of them. I'm not going to apologize for feeding what a site considers to be a 3 star food. Personally the only reason I think they rate it as such is because of the protein content, but IMO if it works for my dog, and doesn't contain any yuckies/nasties (which it does not it contains good quality ingredients) then I'm sticking with it. I use DFA as a very LOOSE guide, but I chose to learn the definitions of the common dog food ingredients and what was considered bad and good so I could form my own opinion and not 100% rely on the sites (which is written by a regular person like you and me so essentially it's someone's opinion which like every opinion is relative).

IMO if the Lamb Meal and Brown Rice works for your dog, then there is nothing wrong with it. If you want to add some meat to it you could do that, but I wouldn't dismiss a potential food that could work for him over a website's review when ingredient wise there is nothing nasty about the food.

Yes introduce the food in slowly, over a 7-10 day period to see how he does. You may want to pick up a dog multi-vitamin in the mean time just to make sure he's getting some extra vitamins/minerals and possibly some bone meal if you are not grinding up the chicken bones so that he's getting calcium and phosphorus.

Good luck.

 

[bkv123]

Thanks so much. I have had a lot of people recommend the NB Lamb and Rice so I think I am going to give it a shot, something has to work! I would give anything for his diarreha to go away, it makes me feel so bad and like I am doing something wrong. I will introduce the NB slowly in a few days. One last question....I have never done any kind of dog vitamins before...any specific ones and do I just get them at Petco? I just dont want anything to upset his tummy anymore than it already has been. Thanks again for all the help!

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

Thanks so much. I have had a lot of people recommend the NB Lamb and Rice so I think I am going to give it a shot, something has to work! I would give anything for his diarreha to go away, it makes me feel so bad and like I am doing something wrong. I will introduce the NB slowly in a few days. One last question....I have never done any kind of dog vitamins before...any specific ones and do I just get them at Petco? I just dont want anything to upset his tummy anymore than it already has been. Thanks again for all the help!

Just make sure he isn't allergic to grains prior to using the Lamb and Rice otherwise it obviously won't work and you'd probably have better luck with the Duck and potato in that case.

Oh I used to use Pet Tabs plus and yeah you can get them at PetSmart/PetCo, I don't know what they run there as I always got mine online, but I've seen them there. Short term I don't see anything wrong with those. I switched to a higher quality one but I've never seen it in the stores. We give them daily all of the time at the recommendation of our vet but that's for medical reasons in my state. My boy has colitis and a very sensative stomach and they never bothered him.