not sure why diarrhea

[greagre]

We have been trying to feed Dudu some homemade food occasionally. About 10 days ago, we fed her a bowl of blended white rice, a whole boiled egg, some boiled chicken and some carrot as her dinner with another 3/4 cup of her dry dog food. But we fed the dry dog food about more than 1 hour ahead. She did pretty well and the poop was normal. Then two days ago, we fed her the same thing but the portion of the homemade was 30% more than the last time. Then yesterday afternoon she started diarrhea. We did not feed her anything afterwards except some pumpkin cookies. Now todays afternoon after one cup of dry dog food, her poop went back to normal (thank God!). We just do not understand why she did well the first time of having the homemade but she developed diarrhea the second time. Was it because the amount of food was too much for her? And actually a few months ago, we bought two of boxes of chicken stew from Whole Foods. She did well with the first box, but after two days, when she finished the second box she had bad diarrhea. So why does she do badly always on the second time? Any suggestions here?

[arentspowell]

I can't recall how old Dudu is, is she a puppy? If so, puppies get diarrhea for all kinds of reasons, one of which can be overfeeding.

I understand wanting to feed home cooked and fresh ingredients but if Dudu is a puppy, I would avoid replacing meals with home cooked. You don't want to throw off the balance of the kibble while she is still growing. I would stick to the occasional fresh food "topper" instead.

I would also do some research into home cooked recipes. It's not as simple and just cooking some food and putting it in the dog's bowl, especially if you plan on going the home cooked route in the future instead of kibble. Dr. Pitcairn's book is a good resource and has some recipes you can follow.

[arentspowell]

Actually just went back and reread your post and noticed that you did add it as a topper. To me it sounds like a lot, hence the diarrhea.

[Jeff]

Yeah that sounds like a lot of food. Labs will eat even way past being full. As said I wouldn't add a whole lot of food to the dry stuff especially for puppies. Puppies do not have fully formed digestive systems yet, not until about 5-6 months old so they can't handle a lot of different things and also sudden swings in types of foods.

As said I understand wanting to give some wholesome good food, however for my adult dog. 1 single egg is enough. A half a cup of cooked skinless chicken is more than enough. Make sure it is skinless because the skin can cause other issues. It's really best not to mess with puppies diet much. Once you throw the gut bacteria out of whack by giving them something they are not used to it can be very hard to get it back.

[smartrock]

Dudu is 11 months old, according to the ticker factory thing across the bottom of the post.

That combination of foods is probably not the problem, it's pretty similar to the boiled rice and boiled chicken that pups get when recovering from stomach issues. As others have suggested, it may just be too much food for her at once, even though you fed it an hour after her dry food. You didn't say how much of the home cooked food you gave her, just that you gave her a bowl of the food. And you mentioned giving her pumpkin cookies. Were those also homemade? Maybe between the carrots and the pumpkin cookies it was just enough extra fiber to tip her over the edge to loose stools or too much extra food for her to handle.

Also, as arentspowell said, if you want to cook food for her more than just adding a few tablespoons of something on top of her dry food, you should read more info on providing a balanced meal. Commercially prepared food is supplemented with the right mix of vitamins and minerals to keep the dog healthy. If you home cook totally or a large proportion of her meals, you need to know how to be certain she is getting the right balance of nutrients, including vitamins and minerals. At eleven months she is still growing and filling out. Her skeletal development may not be complete for another 4-6 months.

Some pups just need more time for their system to adjust to changes in their diet, so that's why people recommend a very gradual change from one brand to another the first time you introduce the new food, even when changing brands of dry food. Lots of people with new puppies think they are going to put their puppies on a "better" brand of food than the one they came home from their breeder eating and they end up with a puppy with diarrhea that gets better when they go back to the original food. What seems better to the owner isn't always better for the dog.

[greagre]

Yes, she is 11.5 months old now. I still cannot believe just a bit more food can make such bad diarrhea. It was not just soft stool. It was watery. We do not plan to use homemade to complete replace commercial dry dog food. We know we do not have enough nutrition knowledge to cook balanced meal. We are just doing this occasionally.

[arentspowell]

Yes, she is 11.5 months old now. I still cannot believe just a bit more food can make such bad diarrhea. It was not just soft stool. It was watery. We do not plan to use homemade to complete replace commercial dry dog food. We know we do not have enough nutrition knowledge to cook balanced meal. We are just doing this occasionally.

Labs seem to have pretty sensitive stomachs as a breed. My dachshund, who weighs only ten pounds has an IRON gut. I can recall only one time that she has ever had diarrhea and it was when she ate a huge hunk of melted Brie and crescent roll that fell on the floor. She also had an attack of pancreatitis one time after my husband gave her a piece of steak that was too fatty but believe it or not the poop was still solid. I've done food switches with her cold turkey every time with out a single loose stool whereas my lab is much more sensitive and requires transitioning. This weekend they got into a pizza and the only one that got some loose stools was the lab. Funny how that works.

[ZoeysMommy]

Generally when you start introducing human foods you do it one food at a time. Thats alot for a young dog to digest all at once. Start with easier veggies like carrots, green beans, then try some easier fruits like bananas, watermelon and apples. Boiled chicken breast and rice should easy as well. Oatmeal is also easy on the tummy. Go slower, you are overwhelming his whole digestive system

You really cant tell whats giving him the diarrhea if you mix a bunch of food together and also possibly over feed

[barry581]

An increase in food can definitley cause runny poo. You also mentioned pumpkin cookie. Pumpkin is very high in fiber and can cause runny poo.