Results 1 to 10 of 10
  1. #1
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Eastern Ontario Canada
    Posts
    3,336
    Thanked: 2070

    Bland Diet Ideas/Alternatives to Pumpkin?/Probiotics

    Clearly not a thread about Rocky

    Both pups have had on and off diarhea/bad poops over the last week. We dropped off a sample at the vet and we had started a new food so I dtiched that and going back to one I know works for them (and they have eaten often).

    In order to help their stomach's I was doing rice and pumpkin with some kibble. Pen ate two meals of the rice/pumpkin but now refuses to eat it. She has done this in the past as well. Other than the meat (beef or chicken) any ideas on making a bland diet palatable?

    Are there alternatives to pumpkin?

    Also, what types of probiotics do you use to help the gutt (more generally not just when there are issues)?

  2. #2
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Carolina in my mind..
    Posts
    6,391
    Thanked: 4178
    I think sweet potato has been mentioned as an alternative to pumpkin, maybe even has more fiber than pumpkin, but has a higher sugar content. Didn't Oban get turkey and sweet potato only while he was going through his GI issues, and that's what seemed to work best for him? I've used baby food meat or canned chicken in a pinch- my dogs love the baby food. Cooking the rice with a little low sodium chicken broth might help, too.

    In fact, Snowshoe posted a chart comparing pumpkin to sweet potatoes in Woody's anal glands query: Anal Glands - Page 2

    I used FortiFLora in my pup with diarrhea. I only use it with longer term diarrhea or while getting antibiotics, otherwise I don't use any. My breeder suggested ProViable as an alternative when Lark had diarrhea as a 3-4 month old. It says it's only available through a vet but I'm sure I just ordered it online. I never used it though, by the time it came things were under control, and now it's expired. It has a paste that you can give when the diarrhea starts that contains kaolin and pectin and other stuff found in kaopectate, to slow the diarrhea, and probiotic caps to give for about 10 days.

  3. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to smartrock For This Useful Post:

    Snowshoe (09-02-2015), Tanya (09-02-2015)

  4. #3
    Senior Dog shellbell's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    St. Louis area
    Posts
    836
    Thanked: 497
    I give mine each a capsule of Primal Defense Ultra by Garden of Life for a probiotic, daily. I take it myself too.

    To help digestive upset, I also use Slippery Elm capsules. It is a wonder and helps both loose stools and constipation. I usually give two in the morning and the evening for a couple days, until things clear up (which usually does not take long). I have also taken this for myself when I've had digestive issues and it helps. It kind of acts like a soothing bandage for the digestive tract.

  5. #4
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Eastern Ontario Canada
    Posts
    3,336
    Thanked: 2070
    thanks guys

    Just human slippery elm capules? what is the dosage you buy? I may see if I can find some.

  6. #5
    Senior Dog shellbell's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    St. Louis area
    Posts
    836
    Thanked: 497
    Quote Originally Posted by Tanya View Post
    thanks guys

    Just human slippery elm capules? what is the dosage you buy? I may see if I can find some.
    Yep, just human slippery elm capsules. I just looked and they are 400 mg capsules. I usually get them at Whole Foods, most health food or vitamin type stores should have them.

  7. The Following User Says Thank You to shellbell For This Useful Post:

    Tanya (09-02-2015)

  8. #6
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    8,136
    Thanked: 5108
    Yes, when Oban had that month and a half long diarrhoea and lost so much weight the new Holistic, Integrative Vet put him on a novel single protein and a novel single carb, both cooked. For us those were turkey and sweet potato. She also put him on TCM. Up till then neither Flagyl nor large doses of Prednisone had worked. Nor special Vet food.

    There is a feeling among some, this Vet included, that rice is not good in these cases. Rice apparently is more likely to ferment and cause problems rather than solve them. Certainly rice was not working for us.

    Pet Diarrhea Causes, Symptoms and Treatment


    Oban had lost a lot of weight, over 20% of his body weight. The calories from the sugar in the sweet potato were needed, especially as turkey is one of the lower fat meats.

    ETA: Our regular Vet had put Oban on Rxzymes digestive enzymes and the new Vet said to continue with them. Some kind of digestive addtitive is something to look into as well.

  9. The Following User Says Thank You to Snowshoe For This Useful Post:

    Tanya (09-02-2015)

  10. #7
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    3,947
    Thanked: 2421
    Green tripe is a natural probiotic. But it's gross. Not sure if cooked counts and if it does, Canine Caviar has a good canned trip (99% tripe).

    I feed mine a probiotic pearl (the generic version from Whole Foods) whenever they have a bout of diarrhea or were on antibiotics and during stressful events (like moving). They have always worked for me and are less expensive and easier to get than Fortiflora.

  11. The Following User Says Thank You to Labradorks For This Useful Post:

    Tanya (09-03-2015)

  12. #8
    Senior Dog
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Ellicott City, MD
    Posts
    6,626
    Thanked: 3641
    You can use cottage cheese instead of any meat product as long as there's no lactose-intolerance. A big plus is that cottage cheese tends to be binding.

    For probiotics, I use plain non-fat yogurt (1 Tbsp./daily)

    I've found that pumpkin/sweet potato is definitely something I need to stay away from with these two.

  13. The Following User Says Thank You to SunDance For This Useful Post:

    Tanya (09-03-2015)

  14. #9
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    New England
    Posts
    5,095
    Thanked: 1922
    We're using Nutri-West Total Probiotics. If I put sardines packed in water in their food, my dogs will eat anything.

  15. The Following User Says Thank You to janedoe For This Useful Post:

    Tanya (09-03-2015)

  16. #10
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Eastern Ontario Canada
    Posts
    3,336
    Thanked: 2070
    thanks for the recommendation of probiotics

    didn't realize trip could help, that is definately something i buy for the pups but didn't think that would help here! good to know The pups really love that. I usually buy Trippett.

    Pen does eat the pumpkin when it's on her kibble (we've transitionned back to kibble). I think it's the rice she doesn't like so sweet potatoes could work in the future. Honestly sometimes I find it easier to buy the vet food for stomach issues for a few days haha. Interesting to note that rice/beef isn't ideal, will definately try something else next time

 



Not a Member of the Labrador Retriever Chat Forums Yet?
Register for Free and Share Your Labrador Retriever Photos

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •