Opinions on California Natural..

[MaryJane238]

I have 2 boxers with pretty sensitive stomachs.  I tried several foods but was still battling soft stools.  I had tried Canidae with no help but recently switched to the new Canidae chicken/rice.  My dogs are doing great on it!  Trinity has finally started to put on some much needed weight and no soft stools since I started them about 4 weeks ago!

[Lyn]

Ok it looks like I spoke too soon. We had a 'severe booty blowout' yesterday. Luckily Bubba is amazing at holding it until he gets outside. Phew! As of this morning though his poop is back to being soft.

It may be that I'm feeding him too much. This stuff has way more calories per cup than the Eagle Pack. I'm going to reduce the amount and bit more and see if he firms up.

I'm going to keep Lola on the California Natural regardless. But I may try Innova with Bubba if this ends up to be not the food for him.

[Kiahpyr]

Poor Bubba!! This must be so frustrating for you. Someone may have mentioned this to you before, but have you thought about feeding raw to Bubba? I'm really thinking about it with Kiah. I just need to find a place to get decently priced meat from.

[Lyn]

We have tried raw in the past (twice actually). The first attempt went ok, but it was too expensive. I couldn't find any good deals at all. The second attempt was horrible. At first his poop was just soft.. after 3 weeks it turned to basically bloody water. We went to the vet and discovered Bubba's bowel was extremely ticked off and inflamed. My vet recommended going back to kibble so we did. After that I'm not too sure I want to try it again. 

His poop wasn't 100% firm with the Eagle Pack either.. But I think it's the beet pulp in it that was helping firm it up. So technically that food was just masking the problem. It may be something that I just have to deal with since there is nothing medically wrong with him. He just has a sensitive tummy. 

I'm going to give it until this bag of CN is gone and hope for the best. I'm hoping he's just adjusting to it still.

[Kiahpyr]

Have you tried slippery elm yet? It coats the digestive track and is all natural. You can get it in pill form or powder and sprinkle it on his food. Dogs seem to like it.

[Lyn]

No I haven't tried the slippery elm yet. I have seen it in the drug store. I think it's pill form though. I'll have to pick some up the next time I'm in there.

Currently, I've been using Pepto. Bubba loves it, so it's easy to give to him, messy though. I just gave him some this morning. He's going on 2 days now of just 'cow pies'.    Lola's poop is loose too.. although not as bad a Bubba's. Bubba is more sensitive to change than she is.

I think I might take another stool sample into the vet. Ok this is gross but Bubba's poop looks a little slimy. He may have picked something up. Although this didn't start until I started adding the CN.

[shangrila]

I think I might take another stool sample into the vet. Ok this is gross but Bubba's poop looks a little slimy. He may have picked something up. Although this didn't start until I started adding the CN.

I just had that same problem with Zoey, so I know exactly what you are talking about! The slime doesn't mean he picked anything up, it just means that something is upsetting his tummy/intestines.

[Lyn]

LOL shangrila, my vet just said the same thing. He said it's from the food switch. But I don't recall the slimy poop happening before and we have changed foods alot.

Maybe he is intolerant of chicken after all. But Lola is having 'slimy cow pies' too now.

I wonder if it could be a combination of the food switch and the heat.. it's damn hot and humid here. I have to drag them both outside since they want to stay in the air conditioning.

UGH I don't know but this is starting to frustrate me.

[Anakalia]

Koby kind of has the same issues as Bubba!  Lately (since the heatwave) Koby's had slimey icky poo and I was thinking it was the food.  He wasn't eating his tummy was making horrible sounds and he was mopey, BUT it has also been anywhere from 100-110 degrees here so I beleive that could have been why.  It's now in the 80's again and just last night he ate 2 cups of food and this morning another 2 cups and finally his poo's are back to normal.  If you can just wait it out, it might be the heat making him sick.

[Lyn]

Thanks Anakalia, I am going to try and wait it out. It's just so hard to keep weight on Bubba and I'm worried he's going to start dropping weight again if I let the cow patties continue.

I'm picking up some slippery elm tomorrow and I added white rice to their dinner tonight. I have oatmeal I can add also. But I thought about picking up some of that digestive aid stuff for dogs too if I can find any. It's suppose to help when switching foods. So hey it can't hurt right..