Indoor Diarrhea

Question
QUESTION: I have a 2 yr. old Irish Setter/Black Lab mix who has suddenly developed a chronic diarrhea problem: during the day while my husband and I are at work, he leaves 2 -3 very large stool piles, some solid, some "cowpie" consistency, on the rug in front of the door where we take him out.  This has gone on now for a couple weeks, and this morning I woke up to find he'd done it during the night while we were sleeping. (I'm a light sleeper, so I don't think he tried to wake me). He has no lethargy, normal appetite, plays like a wildman with his mate ( 2 1/2 yr. Lab/something mix - she has no diarrhea) and other dogs in our doggie "social group".  He has always been wonderfully housetrained and has no history of "going" indoors.  I fed him Purina One Large Breed formula all his life (first Puppy, then Adult when appropriate) but a few months ago switched to Iams Proactive Health Large Breed at the suggestion of the vet, who said it was better quality. Ari never had any problems with the gradual switch, so I didn't feel this was food-related.  The only factor that changed around the time this started was that we fed both of the dogs some Foster and Smith chicken-wrapped cookies as an occasional treat.  I stopped those as soon as I saw a problem with Ari (Sydney's fine) and fed him boiled chicken and white rice for a meal.  

We exercise both dogs for at least an hour daily, during which time Ari usually defecates at least once if not 2 or 3 times.  Sometimes these are large & normal, others rather mud-consistency and maybe one very small bit at a time.They're taken out mornings before we go to work, then several times over the course of the evenings when we get home, including around 30 minutes after once-daily feeding and before bed. Both dogs are on Revolution and Ari has been treated for tapeworms in the past, but I don't see any in his stools now (I know doesn't necessarily mean not present).  What are your thoughts?

ANSWER: Hi Christa,

 I'm suspecting a bowel issue, have you discussed this with your vet?
It amazes me a company can actually get away with calling this a premium food:


"Ingredients
Chicken, Corn Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Chicken By-Product Meal (Natural source of Glucosamine), Ground Whole Grain Barley, Dried Beet Pulp, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Dried Egg Product, Fish Meal, Chicken Flavor, Potassium Chloride, Brewers Dried Yeast, Dicalcium Phosphate, Salt, Flax Meal, Caramel, Choline Chloride, Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate), Dried Chicken Cartilage (Natural source of Glucosamine), Calcium Carbonate, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin, Riboflavin Supplement (source of vitamin B2), Inositol, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), DL-Methionine, L-Tryptophan, Rosemary Extract. "

I'm wondering if feeding all this grain and gluten might be stressing his GI tract. It might well be Irritable Bowel; although I ma not a vet I've worked with many, many cases of both IBS and the more challenging Inflammatory Bowel Disease. These conditions can be hard to diagnose and even more difficult to manage. I would suggest trying a bland diet for a week or two, using half white and half brown rice, plus a lower fat meat such as chicken breast (turkey is better if possible, less likely to be an allergen) - and see if his system settles down. If you want to go this route I can help you with a more precise recipe - it won't be nutritionally complete, but it's purpose is to see if bowel irritation is part of the reason for the inability to hold stool. A bland diet can help things settle down and give us insight as well. That might well be worth a try and then you can either move to home prepared food as a fulltime thing, or we can start him on a premium quality food, one that isn't composed of mainly corn, sorghum, by products and barley. Some supplements may be helful in the case of IBS/IBD as well but before we start on on those it's essenital to have a clearer picture of what's going on.
This *oculd* be behavioural, but I've seen so many cases like this one, I have a strong feeling we have a physiological basis for the problem.


Let me know if I can help more.
Catherine

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Catherine,
Thanks for your prompt reply.  I did take Ari to the vet yesterday where a stool sample ruled out whipworms and giardia. Since he is otherwise healthy as a horse per her physical exam, she sent us home with metronidazole to see if he might just have a virus/bug of some sort.  If that doesn't work the plan is to move on to bloodwork.  I think I may try your suggestions before that point so that perhaps we can avoid expensive/unnecessary investigation.  He has always had a sensitive tummy, i.e. he tolerates some "people food" in small amounts, but certain kinds can really upset his system, whereas Sydney is unaffected. (I know dogs can't have anything containing tomatoes or onions, grapes, and spicy stuff).  Your guess of IBS makes sense to me, so I will let you know how the metronidazole regimen goes and we'll go from there...

Thanks so much,
Christa

Answer
You're most welcome Christa. Metronidazole often clears up symptoms but as soon as it is stopped, they start up again. Blood work is  avery good idea I would think.  The more you know, the more precisely you can handle the problem.

In my worldview, there is no such thing as "people food" versus dogfood, although of course I know what you mean. Until the mid 20th century dogs ate table scraps, mainly, because there was no such thing as kibble. Kibble was developed to use up waste products and make a profit, so hence the infamous low quality ingredients in the old fahsioned foods. Many companies such as Proctor and Gamble (IAMs) have conducted great research, in order that the foods provide adequate nutrient content, but they have notoriously used very poor quality ingredients such as brewer's rice and corn by products (and much worse) in their end products; the leading researchers in canine nutrition in the world concur that ingredients need to be improved. What I look for in a dog food is the research to support nutrtient content (but this is widely available and any company would be veyr foolish to ignore it) PLUS the benefit of fresh and wholesome ingredients; lamb, turkey, venison, beef etc, whole brown rice, quality minerals and so on. High protein derived from animal sources, quality fiber, no watse products. When I develop a home amde diet, as I do on a daily basis, I use the same foods, pretty much; meat, poultry, rice, vegetables - same things in the premium kibble exept not so processed, same things I eat myself. I see amazing improvement in health simply when a dog is switched from a low quality kibble to a premium version. It will cost more bag to bag, but over the span of the dog's life we most often see fewer vet bills, so cost is made up in the long run.

Please do let me know how you make out with Ari; if I am on "vacation" as I may be soon due to work pressures, please email me at home and fill me in.
catlane@thepossiblecanine.com
Best of luck!
Catherine