# food or fish oil ?



## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

Hi,

I increased Jake's food to 4 cups a day, I have been adding small amount of pure sweet potato and right around the same time I increased his food I added fish oil to his food. His stools are pudding. Is it the combo, the oil or increasing his food?


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## unloader (Feb 16, 2010)

Only really one way to find out for sure in my mind. 

You need a baseline, go back to exactly what you were doing when he had normal BMs.

1.Go back to the quantity he was used to, and remove the fish oil. 
2.Wait for stools normalize
3.Increase food
4.Wait and monitor(few days i would guess)
5.Normal Stools? If yes, proceed
6.Add fish oil, and monitor


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## Relayer (Apr 29, 2010)

I doubt it's the food increase. I'm not sure that would change the stool quality so much as the quantity. I'd guess it's the oil, sweet potato or, maybe just a nervous stomach. Have you tried (I know, I've mentioned this on the board a lot) sardines instead of pure oil? Max does way better on them than with oil added... poop consistency-wise.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

unloader said:


> Only really one way to find out for sure in my mind.
> 
> You need a baseline, go back to exactly what you were doing when he had normal BMs.
> 
> ...



^^^^^ This!!!

Overfeeding can cause loose stool. Sweet Potatoes are fiber and could cause looser stool but really shouldn't. Intolerance to fat (fish oil) could cause loose stool.

When you add the fish oil back in, do it in increments.


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

ok, I was adding sweet potato (pumpkin hard to find) because I have read it helps firm up the stool.

The fish oil is human grade soft caps, I was poking a hole and squeezing it on his kibble.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Was he having problems with his stool before that you added the sweet potatoes?

Sweet potatoes have alot of sugar in them as well. They are good to feed but it might be a combination of everything added at once. 

Stock up on pumpkin this fall! There was a freeze or something last year. This year, I'll buy them whole and process it myself!

Pumpkin works both ways. The fiber should even out their system whether it's diarrhea or constipation.

btw..I use a thumb tack to break a hole in the caps...works like a charm and then I stick the tack in the bottle.


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

no I added sweet potato when I increased food. 

Should I add a bit of rice?

Great idea with thumb tack!!!!


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## Relayer (Apr 29, 2010)

Jax08 said:


> ^^^^^ This!!!
> 
> Overfeeding can cause loose stool.


Yes, possibly, but... 4 cups of kibble a day for a dog that age is not over feeding by any stretch.


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

vet had me increase from 3 cups to 4...teething started and she explained that the next several months there will be huge growth....so two in am two in pm.


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## Relayer (Apr 29, 2010)

jakeandrenee said:


> vet had me increase from 3 cups to 4...teething started and she explained that the next several months there will be huge growth....so two in am two in pm.


Well, not saying that the recommended quantities on the food bags aren't a bit high... maybe they wish to sell more? However, the better foods generally recommend 6-6 1/2 cups a day at Jakes age and size, so 4 cups is 25% less than that. All I was trying to convey is that 4 cups is not at all excessive.


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

I don't think so either....I'm such a dumb *ss doing to many things at once...will take a long time to figure it out now....
He is on BB adult fish/sweet potato...


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## GSDSunshine (Sep 7, 2009)

How much was he eating before? If you went from 3 cups to 4 cups, plus sweet potato, then that is a pretty big increase in the amount of food he is eating at one time. So over feeding could definitely be the cause. 

Whoever said start from square one is right. There is no way to know what the culprit was unless you add each thing one at a time. And when you increase his kibble amount try doing so a small amount at a time, (like 1/4 more per meal) that way there isn't too much of a strain on his digestive tract.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Well...don't know about dogs but in kids, teething can cause diarrhea also.

Follow Unloader's advice. When you change several things at once you have to start over to find the problem. So take him back to 3 cups per day for a week. If it's ok, then add the next item.

I can't remember what I fed Jax at that age but I think it was 3 cups of TOTW. 4 cups sounds about right, depending on what you are feeding. Better food generally have a higher caloric per cup so you can feed less, not more. Cheaper food have a lot of filler material in them so you have to feed more.


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## Relayer (Apr 29, 2010)

Jax08 said:


> Well...don't know about dogs but in kids, teething can cause diarrhea also.
> 
> Follow Unloader's advice. When you change several things at once you have to start over to find the problem. So take him back to 3 cups per day for a week. If it's ok, then add the next item.
> 
> I can't remember what I fed Jax at that age but I think it was 3 cups of TOTW. 4 cups sounds about right, depending on what you are feeding. Better food generally have a higher caloric per cup so you can feed less, not more. Cheaper food have a lot of filler material in them so you have to feed more.


Agree on the teething, but 3 cups a day is practically starving the little guy. That is really not enough.


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

the sweet potato was used in substitute for pumpkin to help with food increase....so I will ease back to 3 cups wait for normal stools and try again.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Relayer said:


> Agree on the teething, but 3 cups a day is practically starving the little guy. That is really not enough.


I'm not on here to argue with you. That isn't what the thread is about. It depends on what food you are feeding. I certainly didn't starve my puppy on 3 cups per day. His is a higher quality so 4 cups is about right...as I stated in my post had you read the entire thing.


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## Relayer (Apr 29, 2010)

jakeandrenee said:


> the sweet potato was used in substitute for pumpkin to help with food increase....so I will ease back to 3 cups wait for normal stools and try again.


LOL.. I agree with your earlier post... think you change things up too often. 3 cups is not enough for an active pup the age of yours. I'd keep it strictly to the BB kibble you feed and let him eat up to 5-6 cups if he'll eat that much.  Then just let that settle in for a week or more before you change anything again.


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

I did Jax08, and thank you for the info...he is on BB adult fish/sweet potato...so it's good kibble.


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## Relayer (Apr 29, 2010)

Jax08 said:


> I'm not on here to argue with you. That isn't what the thread is about. It depends on what food you are feeding. I certainly didn't starve my puppy on 3 cups per day. His is a higher quality so 4 cups is about right...as I stated in my post had you read the entire thing.


I'm not here to argue either, but calories and nutrition are pretty well studied. So, you advocate half or less than the best brands recommend... you're entitled to your opinion.


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

I should add that it seems that teething and this age he is sleeping a lot...very lazy! And mouthy when awake...


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Relayer said:


> I'm not here to argue either, but calories and nutrition are pretty well studied. So, you advocate half or less than the best brands recommend... you're entitled to your opinion.


I'm not advocating anything..the point was that overfeeding, or in this case..a sudden increase in food, COULD cause loose stool. 

You need to go read some labels if you think 3-4 cups is half of what a high quality food recommends. I've done quite a bit of research into calories, nutrition and amounts also. If I fed my active girl 6 cups of kibble a day I would be able to roll her down the street.


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## roxy84 (Jun 23, 2007)

i dont get all this talk about 3-4 cups being too minimal an amount for a gsd pup. my pup was very active and never needed more than 4 cups/day of orijen. in fact during some periods she only needed 3-3 1/2 cups. ive seen plenty of other gsd owners have the same experience.

4 cups of orijen comes out to 1800 calories per day, plus any treats that were given during the day. i dont know what the OP is feeding, but 3-4 cups may be plenty depending on the food.

any dog food that requires 5-6 cups/day of feeding for a gsd doesnt seem like a good value unless it is very inexpensive.


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

I am feeding BB adult fish/sweet potato
He is 4 months old.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Jake - I'm glad you could get some answers! If I have problems adding any food I always start from scratch. I have one dog that can tolerate chicken but for the most part my dogs are pretty easy. 

You are using a good food. I try to stay away from carbs. We have one dog with cancer and another with HD. In both cases, carbs can add to the problem while fish oil helps. Please make sure to add Vt. E to his diet with the added fish oil. The oil uses Vt. E to process so you need to replenish it.


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

interesting about extra carbs....


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## Relayer (Apr 29, 2010)

I was mainly trying to say that 3 cups was under feeding, 4-6 may be appropriate depending on the food and the size/age of the puppy. Not trying to ruffle feathers.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

jakeandrenee said:


> interesting about extra carbs....


I thought so too. I"m going to assume that complex carbs are a good thing. I try to stay away from white potatoes but my dogs don't get carbs anymore except in yogurt, some fruit (they love blueberries) and some veges. I'm starting them on tripe. I haven't had the courage to thaw out the package yet. LOL

Just try to stay away from grains, rice as a staple in their food and corn! They have no need for them at all!


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

GOOD LUCK, I hear it stinks through the package!!! LOL


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

I hope they gobble it right up! I just bought 10# of it!


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

do you feed RAW or is the tripe a treat Jax08?


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Jax is on RAW. I fed her TOTW till about November of last year. Banshee has always been in kibble until her mast cell came back. Sierra is still on kibble..why...I don't know..cuz DH can't use a calculator and figure out cost. LOL


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