# Stomach issues with our Golden



## rkcl61111 (Jun 16, 2014)

Hi all - First off, this is my first thread on this forum. My husband and I are new parents to a 1 year and 9 month old golden named Cory. We adopted her from a shelter in Chicago about two months ago. She's been a great addition to our family and she couldn't be any sweeter. We are her third family; she was was bought from a pet store by her first family, given up for adoption a little over a year after they had her and then spent three-months with a foster family before we brought her into our home. She's jumped around quite a bit in her short little life. 

I'm hoping someone can help me with an issue we're having with her. About a month ago, she somehow got giardia. It took us a while to figure this out, she had been having soft stools for a while and we thought it was just her transitioning to a new home. She at one point also got into a bag of marshmallows, so that was another issue. She then one day had diarrhea in the house about four times (she is otherwise completely housebroken) so we finally took a stool sample to the vet. We had her on two antibiotics for about a week. She is giardia-free now but the stools are still very inconsistent. We have had her on and off a bland diet for a few weeks now, boiled chicken, rice and some pumpkin puree. We started doing this when we found out she had giardia. She'll go a couple days with good, firm stools but once we transition her back to her regular food, she gets diarrhea and/or very soft stools all over again. This last time I did very very little of her kibble and still, within a few hours, her stools were very watery. And she strains when trying to poop. 

We had been feeding her Innova grain-free farm-raised chicken and savory turkey. Has anyone had any issues with this food? I am beginning to think she is allergic to it but it's hard for us to tell because she got giardia pretty soon after we started feeding it to her. We were feeding her the Innova salmon and wild herring and didn't really have any issues besides her not really liking the food too much. I was also thinking that maybe she has grown used to this bland diet that she is having a hard time transitioning back to normal food? We are new dog owners and are still trying to figure this whole thing out. Perhaps the Innova food is too rich for her and we should switch? 

Any guidance anyone can provide is much appreciated. I've called the vet several times in the last month and they have been very helpful but I thought I'd give this forum a try.


----------



## Brads035 (Apr 1, 2014)

Has your vet prescribed pro-biotics to restore a healthy gut? My puppy suffered from Giardia when I first got him. After treatment I gave him pro-biotics and yogurt to restore healthy bacteria. We were also trying different food brands to varying degrees of success and eventually settled on Fromm Duck and Sweet Potato as working best for him.


----------



## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Rkcl*



rkcl61111 said:


> Hi all - First off, this is my first thread on this forum. My husband and I are new parents to a 1 year and 9 month old golden named Cory. We adopted her from a shelter in Chicago about two months ago. She's been a great addition to our family and she couldn't be any sweeter. We are her third family; she was was bought from a pet store by her first family, given up for adoption a little over a year after they had her and then spent three-months with a foster family before we brought her into our home. She's jumped around quite a bit in her short little life.
> 
> I'm hoping someone can help me with an issue we're having with her. About a month ago, she somehow got giardia. It took us a while to figure this out, she had been having soft stools for a while and we thought it was just her transitioning to a new home. She at one point also got into a bag of marshmallows, so that was another issue. She then one day had diarrhea in the house about four times (she is otherwise completely housebroken) so we finally took a stool sample to the vet. We had her on two antibiotics for about a week. She is giardia-free now but the stools are still very inconsistent. We have had her on and off a bland diet for a few weeks now, boiled chicken, rice and some pumpkin puree. We started doing this when we found out she had giardia. She'll go a couple days with good, firm stools but once we transition her back to her regular food, she gets diarrhea and/or very soft stools all over again. This last time I did very very little of her kibble and still, within a few hours, her stools were very watery. And she strains when trying to poop.
> 
> ...


RKCL

Thank you for adopting CORY. Many years ago my hubby and I adopted a stray Golden from a Chicago shelter and she was just about the same age. We named her Smooch and she was the most wonderful, loving, and sweet girl!!

I would call and ask your vet, but it could be the food. I've also heard on this forum that giardia can take a long time to get rid of, so it wouldn't hurt to have her stool tested, again. We feed Purina Pro Plan and it has worked wonderfully for our dogs. We used to feed Purina Pro Plan Shredded Chicken and now they are on Purina Pro Plan Weight Management. (they gained too much weight over the winter)

P.S. Our Smooch was a COUNTER SURFER, too. We had to put all food on the counter away and out of her reach.


----------



## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

*rkcl61111*, Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your Adoption of Cory.
Would love to see some pictures of your her. 

Both of my Goldens are adopted, my girl is from a GR Rescue and I found my boy from my County H.S. He was 15-20 lbs. underweight when I adopted him, had stomach issues from the day I brought him home. He had been de-wormed by the shelter, took him to my Vet the next morning after I adopted him for a thorough exam, shots, had him microchipped, etc. His stool was checked and it was clear for any parasites. He was given an antibiotic and some stomach meds not once but twice for his stomach issues. 
He needed to gain at least 5-10 lbs. before the Vet would neuter him.

I was previously feeding my guys BB, tried several different formulas of it, even their Sensitive Stomach and it still didn't help. The BB was too rich for my two, my Vet said several of the clients dogs were having problems with BB. My two also do not do well on Chicken, food containing corn, Lamb or Beef. 

After several forum members recommended Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach, I finally decided to give it a try. I felt at this point, I had nothing to lose. Within two days of feeding the PPP SSS, his stools started firming up and I also started seeing a difference in his coat right away. 

The PPP SSS is salmon, it does not contain corn, wheat or soy. It has rice and oatmeal in it which is easy on the digestive system and is easily digested by dogs. 

Here's a link to it for more information-
Sensitive Skin & Stomach - Dry Dog Food - SELECT - Purina® Pro Plan®

You may want to consider trying it, however, some dogs will do great on a particular brand and food while others will not. My boy is doing great on it, I feed this to my girl, she has a sensitive stomach also.


Hope you'll let us know how Cory is doing after you find a food that works for her.


----------



## Rob S. (Feb 2, 2014)

Pro Plan SSS is preserved with Ethoxyquin. You don't see it listed because the fish ingredients come preserved with it so they don't have to put that on the label.

Also, the Canola Meal is a GMO product and increasingly Bt Toxin crops are being used.

Look for a better option.

Farmina Wild Cod is a better food with just 4 ingredients, no chicken or poultry of any kind, or Annamaet Option, but this food is very low in protein.


----------



## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

My guys happen to be doing very well on the PPP SSS, I have no plans of switching them off of it to something else because it's working for them.


----------



## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

Rob S. said:


> Pro Plan SSS is preserved with Ethoxyquin. You don't see it listed because the fish ingredients come preserved with it so they don't have to put that on the label.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Would you mind linking proof of these claims you are making. Please don't use dogfoodadvisor.com to authenticate this either. I would like a better source. Thank you.


----------



## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

> *Stomach issues with our Golden*


When your dog had Giardia the good bacteria in the gut was lost along with the giardia. until you re-develop the good bacteria in the gut, no kibble is going to agree with her. 

Step one. Stop feeding kibble.

Step two. Feed a mixture of boiled chicken and rice (or boiled hamburger and rice). Feed it exclusively until you are seeing firm solid stools for at least three days. 

Step three. After you're seeing the firm stools for three days add a tablespoon of plain yogurt to the chicken and rice mixture. It will help to foster establishment of good bacteria in the gut. Do this for at least a week. Watch to see that the stools are staying firm.

Step four. Add a small bit of kibble to the mix. Start with a kibble that is easy to digest. Regular Pro Plan, Eukanuba, Nutro etc. (Grain free kibble is still too rich for her at this point.) 

Step five. continue to add a little more kibble each day to the mix. If things go well, back off on the amount of the chicken and rice mixture. Continue to transition over to kibble.

After the dogs digestive tract is working normally for at least a month you can start to think about transitioning back to a grain free food. (Although I can not think of a good reason to do so.) 

It takes time and patience for the dog to return to normal. If you push too fast and the dog develops the squirts, you're back to square one and starting over again. Take small steps and you'll get there.


----------



## rkcl61111 (Jun 16, 2014)

*Thank you!!*

Hi all - Thanks so much for the feedback! Our little pup is doing much better. I started feeding her plain yogurt with her food and we are slowly adding her kibble back to her diet and she's responding well. You guys have been so much help with this! She's been doing much better and we couldn't be happier to have our energetic, happy and healthy pooch back. =)


----------



## T&T (Feb 28, 2008)

Originally Posted by *Rob S.*  
_Pro Plan SSS is preserved with Ethoxyquin. You don't see it listed because the fish ingredients come preserved with it so they don't have to put that on the label._
_Also, the Canola Meal is a *GMO* product and increasingly Bt Toxin crops are being used._




[B said:


> Dallas Gold[/B];4912562]Would you mind linking proof of these claims you are making. Please don't use dogfoodadvisor.com to authenticate this either. I would like a better source. Thank you.


90% of the canola grown in the US is GM canola,
Canola meal being a by-product of canola seed oil production. 
http://www.responsibletechnology.org/gmo-basics/gmos-in-food


----------

