# Inconsistent Stool question



## amac_zeus (Jun 7, 2011)

I have a 5 month old male GSD and have noticed his stool is consistently inconsistent. I do most of the poop scooping and in the mornings I pick up 2 - 3 solid stools and 1-2 pudding like drops. Also concerning, the color has turned a light brownish/yellowish. Should I be concerned?

I am feeding him twice daily - 1-1/2 cups each time. The food is puppy Blue Buffalo mixed with Nutro Max adult. The mixture is about 50/50. They are both chicken and rice formula's. Advice?

Thanks


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

can't say the cause, but once I fed Nutro MAX, and it definately gave all my dogs diarhea Again, can't say it's 'that', but just my experience with that food.


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## amac_zeus (Jun 7, 2011)

JakodaCD OA said:


> can't say the cause, but once I fed Nutro MAX, and it definately gave all my dogs diarhea Again, can't say it's 'that', but just my experience with that food.


 
Can he have diahrea and have solid stool at the same time? I'm guessing the oily nature of the food causes the diahrea? The discolorization recently occured and I recently introduced the "adult" Max. Maybe there is a connection.


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## Tbarrios333 (May 31, 2009)

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/health-issues/88644-straight-poop-poop.html


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## amac_zeus (Jun 7, 2011)

can't say the poop thread did anything for me. but i did return / exchange the Max 35lb bag for more BB puppy. i am a food mixer and the Max was about 30% of the mix. it's down to probably 15%. i will slowly weed it out.

additionally, anyone use a probiotic / digestive pill for their GSD's. the petco guy recommended one to me. just wondering?

thanks


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## ChancetheGSD (Dec 19, 2007)

I wouldn't feed Nutro to my enemies dog....Or a starving stray on the street. It nearly killed my dog during a NON-Recalled time and the company wasn't at all helpful. She became lethargic (to the point of not even wanting to go outside to potty much less do anything else), she was vomiting blood and she had bloody diarrhea because of it. Sadly, I wasn't the only person. I know of at least 1 other member who had the same problems on Nutro with their GSD. And if you google the reviews you'll see that MANY people had these problems. Not to mention all the cases of kidney/liver damage/failure caused by feeding Nutro. Good idea to return it!


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i've never fed puppy food to my dogs.
i do mix brands of kibble and can. plus
i add all sorts of things to my dogs food.
as for as probiotics i give my dog organic yogurt
and home-made yogurt. i might give him some miso.


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## kmarti32 (Mar 28, 2011)

amac_zeus said:


> can't say the poop thread did anything for me. but i did return / exchange the Max 35lb bag for more BB puppy. i am a food mixer and the Max was about 30% of the mix. it's down to probably 15%. i will slowly weed it out.
> 
> additionally, anyone use a probiotic / digestive pill for their GSD's. the petco guy recommended one to me. just wondering?
> 
> thanks


Can I ask why you mix the food? Also, I started my puppy on BB LBP and not only did he ALWAYS have loose stools he didn't like the taste. I switched to Solid Gold Wolf King and haven't had a problem since. His stools are normal and he LOVES the taste.


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## amac_zeus (Jun 7, 2011)

kmarti32 said:


> Can I ask why you mix the food? Also, I started my puppy on BB LBP and not only did he ALWAYS have loose stools he didn't like the taste. I switched to Solid Gold Wolf King and haven't had a problem since. His stools are normal and he LOVES the taste.


 
The reviews I've read on BB are pretty solid. They use real ingredients in their food. Only problem is a 35lb bag cost $50! So, I buy a 18lb bag of BB and mix it with a mid-tier food. Preferably something with little to no by-product, corn and other harmful ingredients. The Nutro Max is a step above the regular Nutro, but I'm going to leave it behind. Gonna look for another filler.

As my pup reaches one, I will be on one food only. In his young, developmental stages, I want to make sure he receives "some" good stuff. I had a rotty that did fine on large breed Pro Plan. This is my first GSD and I need to learn more about their digestive systems. Seems pretty finicky. I'm shopping at a Petco, so their inventory is what I'm reviewing. Any suggestions?


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## xArsAmatoria (Jan 9, 2011)

Honestly, a good quality food for your pup is going to cost some money, unfortunately. I personally think that at this age, it is MOST important for puppies to receive the best nutrition you can provide, not just "some". But I definitely understand budget constraints. I feed Wellness Super5Mix Large Breed Puppy, which I do get at Petco, and my pup is doing great on it (despite possible allergies, which I'm looking into). A 30lb bag costs me $60. I've heard Kirkland brand is a great low-cost food, though I have not tried it, myself. It's found at Costco, if you have one near you. Perhaps you could try it as your "filler", or maybe even switch completely to it? I'm not positive on how BB and Kirkland rate against each other, however. But there's quite a few threads on here about it.

For what it's worth, my mom feeds her boxer pup Blue Buffalo and Chloe has pretty firm stools. No issues with diarhea.


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## Paul_R (May 8, 2011)

We started CC on Wellness LBP. She loved the taste but her stools never did firm up consistently. I did some research and was leaning toward switching to Orijen LBP so I called Orijen support. The lady suggested adding a tablespoon of canned pumpkin with her food. Plain pumpkin with no added anything, not the pie filling. After a couple of days it worked! I changed to Origen anyway (they have a customer for life) and things are still nice and solid. Unless she gets into my wife's plants but that's a different issue.


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## shets114 (Dec 31, 2006)

I would feed a straight ration of one product that you can afford. If stools are an issue you can mix a tablespoon of pumpkin and that should help. If you want to rotate the diet than feed one for a month or so and switch to another. If the dogs continues to have issue than I would just feed the food the dog does best on.


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## kr16 (Apr 30, 2011)

Pumpkin can also do the reverse, which it did for my dog.


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## Stellae (May 13, 2011)

I'm having the same issue with my 5.5 month old. In the evenings when we're at the park, he has a reasonable sized, healthy poop and about 20 minutes later has a bunch of pudding poop. Both bowel movements are the same brown/yellow color. I don't do the morning feed/poop routine (housemate does), but I haven't noticed pudding poops in the backyard (doesn't mean much as one of the other dogs "helps" with clean up, and puppy poop is best). 

Like yours, my guy gets 1.5 cups twice a day, but we do only BB lamb & oatmeal puppy. Training treats are primarily about half a cup of holistic select anchovies, sardines and salmon (what my older dogs eat due to allergies). 

So maybe it's not because you're mixing Nutro, maybe it's actually the BB?

My older dogs get 1Tbsp of pumpkin with their meals because they needed more fiber (constipation). Does it really work to firm up stools as well as loosen them?


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## Paul_R (May 8, 2011)

Stellae said:


> My older dogs get 1Tbsp of pumpkin with their meals because they needed more fiber (constipation). Does it really work to firm up stools as well as loosen them?


According to all the info I read when I googled it, yes it can. It worked for me anyway but others (like Kr16) have had different results. It takes a few days to stabilize. 

FWIW according to the lady I talked to at Orijen, overfeeding is the #1 cause of diarrhea and loose stools in dogs. When my CC is looking skinny and I'm following the guidlines that's the last thing I want to hear. I worry too much.


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## Mom2Shaman (Jun 17, 2011)

First, has the dog had a recent fecal? Coccidia and giardia can produced inconsistent diarrhea/soft stool. Don't know if you have any risk of either of those, but if you haven't run a fecal it might be good to consider.

Second, have you tried a different meat source? My new pup is ridiculously intolerant of chicken -- in food, in treats, actual meat. I had him on BB and switched over to TOTW lamb and he firmed up within 12 hours with nary a softie since. If you find that the problem continues, try another type of meat like lamb, vension/buffalo, etc. I even had one in the past that couldn't take the preservatives and had to be on a low preservative diet AND be not chicken.

We think it is worth it to feed the dogs well. The cats get a good solid mid-grade food but nothing cheapie.


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