I was hoping somebody could recommend a good fiber supplement for my pup. She has been diagnosed with clostiridim perfringens enterotoxemia. She is 7 months, 60 lbs and I feed her California Natural chx and rice and she is on tylan powder for the above. My vet tells me that she will probably have to be on tylan powder for the rest of her life because she most likely does not have the ability to fight the bacteria. (She has had intermittent diarrhea since I got her, but I'm not really excited about being on an antibiotic for the long term.) He hasn't prescribed fiber but I have been doing a little researching and found that high fiber often helps clear out the bacteria. Anyway, is there a good natural fiber supplement or is it best to go with a commercial fiber supplement? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.

Well, I know that Missing Link is high in fiber, it's what we give Calvin. BUt - I'm just a humble dog owner, certainly not an expert. Here's there info:

http://www.designinghealth.com/

Black as Night, ZenCat and others are sure to be able to help you...

Poor Zoey :(

I found this fairly indepth article about Clostridium Perfringens Enterotoxicosis
http://www.cah.com/dr_library/clost.html

I haven't seen anything about tylan being indicated for the rest of a dog's life, though?

If I were faced with the possibility of a lifelong bacterial illness in my dog, I myself would consult a holistic vet to craft a diet specifically designed to increase immune response.

I read in the article that psyllium is one of the fiber supplements recommended. I use psyllium myself with good results but I ONLY use natural psyllium (Trader Joes & health food stores sell it) rather than Metamucil or others that contain artificial flavors, sweeteners (like aspartame) etc. I'm not sure what the dosage would be for a 7 month old puppy.

I wish you the best of luck, and please keep us posted on how Zoey's doing?

Thanks for the info. There is a holistic vet about 50 mins away that I have been wanting to go see, especially with help switching to a raw diet. I think there are only five or so holistic vets in MT. I have blood work out also testing for malabsorbtion in her colon, so I will wait to see the holisitic vet until I get those test results back.

Anyway, I found that 1/4 tsp of metamucil per 20 lbs body weight, that would probably work for psyllium, right? I also read that 1/3 to 1/2 of the human dosage should be safe.

http://www.vetinfo.com/dogmed.html#Metamucil

Is there enough fiber in greenbeans, or would I get more out of psyllium?

I'm not sure if its the same kind of fiber. I have to run out now so I can't research it but I'm pretty sure they would be different.

I myself would not use Metamucil, though. I'd try to find some plain psyllium with nothing added (I seem to remember that all the metamucil products either contain sugar, or aspartame, plus some have artificial colors, flavors and maltodextrin).

Woops, I worded that wrong, I was going to use the psyllium. I was asking if the same dosage for metamucil would work for psyllium?

Ah, gotcha.

The thing is, I see such wildly differing dosage suggestions for psyllium. Some say use a teaspoon in 8oz of water, others a tablespoon in 8oz of water. I would think less is much better if you're just starting out, but I couldn't find a dosage for puppies :( I would imagine the dosing would be the same as the metamucil if you found that for puppies.

Another thing you might want to consider is Slippery Elm, which is one of my favorite herbs. There's a sticky about it in the Natural Diets section of the board (info, dosage, etc.). That's my "drug of choice" for diarrhea and hasn't failed me yet.