# MPoo Tummy Troubles (sorry it's long)



## Comet (Jul 22, 2014)

I'm new here because I'm having a problem with my 2 year old mini poo's tummy. 

After my husband passed away I got my little Comet for companionship and he's the second dog I've ever had. My first was a silver toy girl and she was the best little dog I could ever have. I did everything wrong with her. I got her from a pet store and fed her grocery store kibble. She never needed her teeth cleaned, was perfectly behaved, didn't chew things, a real comedienne. She lived to be 14. 

He's 12 pounds now. He came from the breeder on Pro Plan kibble and I slowly changed him to TOTW salmon kibble. At a year he seemed to not love this food so I slowly changed him to the TOTW lamb based kibble. He's always had good output and no problems with vomiting except once in a great while a small foamy bile vomit. Other than that everything has been going along well. 

Suddenly one day I woke to find his kennel covered in vomit. Got him outside and he threw up more, had loose poop. Through the day more of the same. Called the vet and they suggested cooked ground beef and rice. Fed that for 2 days, he did well. The diarrhea stopped and I was concerned that he wasn't going at all. I gave him a tablespoon of pumpkin mixed with his food. When he finally went it was well formed but it was coated in mucus. I began slowly adding in his kibble once again but after a couple days it started all over again. This time I woke to his kennel covered in poop, formed and not and an odd light color.

So the vet wanted to see him. He did blood tests for liver, pancreas, CBC and parasite check. Everything came back negative. We discussed blockage as I have to be vigilant with everything on the floor with him. He could see black fibers which I suspected was from his stuffy toy he had played with that morning...that I also monitor quite closely. So into the trash that went. At that point he put him on Purina EN. He did well. After a week I slowly added in the kibble until it was all kibble. 

I had been busy in another room for about 10 minutes and I came out to my living room where Comet had pooped all across the carpet. He's never done that since his training days, and certainly not this loose mess. I got him outside and he promptly threw up. This continued and I called the vet back. We had a long conversation and I asked about blockage possibilities as I know how he likes to scout the floors. But he said in his experience and with the good days he's had with good poops and no vomiting it doesn't indicate that.

Right now he's on the Purina EN and a half tablet sucralfate twice daily. He had been doing well. This morning....another bout of diarrhea and vomiting. 

Please help. I don't know what to do. :alien2:

Jeanne


----------



## Manxcat (May 6, 2013)

First of all - poor you!! It's awful trying to deal with digestive problems.

Bit more info if you could - how long between bouts of diarrhoea/vomiting? Days? Weeks? Also, was it worse when he was just on kibble? A bit of a time line might help us help you.

Doesn't sound like the usual blockage symptoms so maybe go with your vet on that one. 

Don't get too down - I'm sure you will get lots of helpful info from here!


----------



## Shamrockmommy (Aug 16, 2013)

Oh man, I hate loose poops indoors  

He sounds very sensitive like my Jack. 
In this case, something much more simple than TOTW (never liked that food) might help him. 
Jack will HAPPILY eat Purina Beyond chicken/rice. His belly does the best on this one. I know, Purina! :S Another food he does well on is Precise Naturals Foundation, which is also chicken/rice. Very simple, no fancy herbs or tons of veggies or such. 

If I feel like I need to put him on something "better" then we get cannon-butt and vomiting again, usually in his crate overnight, poor thing. 

Better to feed them something simple than to let the internet influence you with all the expensive fancy foods being "superior" when they don't actually work for your particular dog. Definitely have learned this lesson with Jack. 

Hope this helps. 

Oh, and I don't think blockage- I had a dog that had a blockage. After a couple days, nothing comes out, and everything they eat comes right back up, undigested not long after eating.


----------



## Comet (Jul 22, 2014)

Manxcat said:


> A bit of a time line might help us help you.


Thank you for the responses. I'm getting quite frustrated and feel so badly for my little buddy. And sorry to be so graphic in my descriptions. ugh. 

As to timeline, his first bout was July 14th. That's when I put him on ground beef and rice which helped a lot for a while. 

On July 21st I took him to the vet and we got the first round of canned Purina EN, a spray probiotic to add to the food, and we had the blood tests done. We had been getting along for a while after that. Then one morning a huge mess in his kennel. Lots of mucus. He was on fully normal diet for about 4 days after slowly adding it in. 

Then on August 5th he streaked it across the rug and had thrown up, too. Since then he's been on that EN and the sucralfate. Yesterday it was a little loose, but this morning, another bout of it and vomiting. 

It's like I just begin thinking he's coming around and he surprises me again.


----------



## Comet (Jul 22, 2014)

Shamrockmommy said:


> Better to feed them something simple than to let the internet influence you with all the expensive fancy foods being "superior" when they don't actually work for your particular dog. Definitely have learned this lesson with Jack.


Before I brought Comet home I did a lot of research on what to feed him and it was a really hard decision. It's so confusing. But I felt so badly having fed my first dog the crummy stuff. I'm pretty busy so I knew I couldn't do the home cooked and do a good job with it. So I chose something I thought would work. He's been so healthy, vibrant and active. It was like a slam to have this happen. That's why I wonder about a blockage but do feel with all the time that's past it can't be that. Nearly a month now. At this point, any solution would be good.


----------



## Manxcat (May 6, 2013)

Doubt it's a blockage after all this time.

It's interesting that there are a few of us on here that find the "good" quality foods actually don't suit our dogs.

Mine are on "absolutely slated by the experts" food - Hill's Science Diet I/D for gastro problems. They now get half a portion of this wet stuff and half a portion of a grain free kibble (again not the super-duper stuff) James Wellbeloved. Our toy cannot tolerate just kibble but half and half seems to be okay.

I have tried lots of top notch foods - Acana, Ziwi, you name it - mostly because I was guilted into it by "the experts"!! It resulted in exactly the symptoms you are describing, especially with Pippin my nearly 3 year old toy.

Neither of them can tolerate lamb or beef in any quantity - the lamb food we tried Pippin on now goes through her - so we stick to chicken and turkey. Chicken can apparently be an allergy-causing protein but mine are fine on it. Also I discovered too much probiotic actually made things worse.

Apart from the odd upset - Pushkin has a dodgy tum at the mo but he's a scavenger - we don't have anything like the same problems as we were. Pippin will sometimes do a mucous-y poo and she often follows a firm stool with a pretty soft one (immediately) but doesn't have the consistently runny bum that she did. We also pop a little bit of boiled chicken breast on their dinner, and they get some diluted chicken stock every day (home made stock).

Most of our probs were the rear end rather than vomiting, but these days I can pretty much tell you what's set things off - too many rich treats, scavenging dead things, too many rabbit droppings...

So my advice would be keep it bland! And really watch what you are using for treats. A lot of it is trial and error (and smelly heaps) unfortunately!

Good luck and keep us posted


----------



## LEUllman (Feb 1, 2010)

Our mini boy, Beau, did well on TOTW at first, but I guess he became reactive to it and began to have loose stools. We did a food allergy blood test, and switched him to one off the recommended kibbles, Canidae Chicken and Rice. It's not rated as "highly" as TOTW, but what a difference! He's been perfectly regular ever since.

Bottom line for me is that while ratings are useful as a starting point, what really matters is how your individual pup reacts to the ingredients in a particular food.


----------



## Feelingdoc (Feb 18, 2014)

I'd offer to come with my handy-dandy carpet cleaner...but it is almost worn out from Noel's puking. She has always been a pucker..but since she has been sick it has gotten worse. I think if it was one (pooping) or the other (puking) it would be easier to sort though. One thing that really helps Noel was to slow the eating down...with small meals and rest after eating. 

If it continues perhaps an allergist?


----------



## Streetcar (Apr 13, 2014)

*A bit against the grain*

And I have to say that post title with a bit of a giggle since my Oliver did not do well at all on grain-free food, so he's on Nature's Variety Prairie (lamb & oatmeal) for meals and Great Life salmon for training treats. Solid Gold Small Bites was also great for his tummy.

Oliver came to me on Canidae, but it clearly wasn't a match made in heaven, given the quality of his output. I finally decided to avoid chicken.

The thing I do not like about TOTW is it's manufactured by Diamond, which has had a number of recalls. Please forgive me as I know many hold TOTW in high esteem, but as long as I'm able I will avoid Diamond-manufactured foods. Hopefully so far I've achieved that, at least in the last two years. It's so hard to know who makes a particular food, especially when one is struggling to keep a roof over the head, provide proper vetting, exercise, recreation, food, training, and whatnot, so I get it.

I fully admit I fail to 100% fulfill all my dog's needs and make do in some cases, so I'm the last person to criticize on food. The only reason I bring it up is it occurred to me perchance the issue at hand isn't the Poodle, but the food. Years ago I thought I was doing a great job feeding Nutro to my Toy Manchester since it wasn't grocery store food, but it tore up her stomach for the rest of her life, even long after we quit it. As someone with chronic and probably inherited digestive issues, I very much sympathize (good thing I didn't 'whelp' ).

Diamond is not a guarantee of problems, but as an organization they have demonstrated what appears to me a poor quality history, and many times, not just once. Perhaps consider trying a product from someone like Fromm or Nature's Variety with a different protein from the usual standby?


----------



## Comet (Jul 22, 2014)

Thank you so much everyone for your heartfelt responses. *Streetcar*I hope so much that this past month doesn't mess up his digestion permanently. It's rather a nightmare when they aren't well both in worrying about their little selves, but also the drudgery of cleaning up. 

I've decided I'm definitely making a change in his food and went out to the pet place yesterday and looked around. He's had this change on to Purina already so I'm just going to keep going and slowly integrate another simpler food choice. 

He's been playing this morning, which I'm so glad to see. Praying he will be his old self here before long. Will keep you updated. 

Once again, thank you all so much for taking the time to post. Jeanne


----------



## georgiapeach (Oct 9, 2009)

Not all dogs can eat the premium foods, because they're too rich for their systems. I have a friend who used to raise German Shepherds, and the only kibble her dogs could stomach was Purina Pro Plan. Another person on a dog food forum has found that the only kibble her sensitive dog can handle is Purina One Sensitive. You may want to try a grain inclusive kibble like one of these, even though everything in you screams NOOOOO! Whatever works, at this point, is better than what you and your dog are going through now.

Whatever you choose, I'd make sure it's got low to moderate protein and lower levels of fat. Have you tried Fromm Gold? It's a good food, with lower protein/fat levels.


----------



## Critterluvr (Jul 28, 2014)

When my Standard Poo cross started having problems as a pup - soft stools, eye/ear infections etc. I made the decision to switch him to a raw diet. I did loads of research on it and started with chicken.... I must admit it was abit strange and scarey at first but boy did it improve his health. He's been on it now for 4 years and no health problems whatsoever.
With a raw diet you know exactly what they are eating, it's all natural.
Just a thought.


----------



## Raven's Mom (Mar 18, 2014)

georgiapeach said:


> Not all dogs can eat the premium foods, because they're too rich for their systems. I have a friend who used to raise German Shepherds, and the only kibble her dogs could stomach was Purina Pro Plan. Another person on a dog food forum has found that the only kibble her sensitive dog can handle is Purina One Sensitive.
> 
> I have been feeding Raven Blue Buffalo Large Breed Puppy and she has had a lot of loose stools which the vet has always attributed to "extras" like treats and rawhide so I had to stop all those. However the collies I had prior to Raven, could never handle the richer foods. I had to keep them on Purina or I was cleaning up a mess. If this continues for Raven without the extras I will switch her when we can give up the puppy formula.


----------



## SAS (Jun 16, 2013)

Our standard poodle had problems off and on from the time we got her. Mostly soft poop but occasional vomiting, refusing to eat and diarrhea. Many trips to the vet for xray, other treatments and bloodwork, numerous foods, all high quality, got us nowhere. The only test out of the ordinary was low normal b12 which apparently goes along with gastric problems. Long story short, after 6+ months of this, we discovered somewhat accidentally, when i subbed boiled chicken breast for ground meat and rice, and she had explosive diarrhea, that the problem is chicken ( and duck, any fowl). I read labels carefully and do not allow trainers, clerks and other well meaning people to give her any treats. Give it a try. Read the whole ingredient list, do not be fooled by things like peanut flavored pill pockets which in fact have chicken as do many bison flavored etc etc foods. It turns out our spoo had a great uncle with the same issue. Good luck. Hope you find the problem.


----------



## Streetcar (Apr 13, 2014)

Comet said:


> Thank you so much everyone for your heartfelt responses. *Streetcar*I hope so much that this past month doesn't mess up his digestion permanently. It's rather a nightmare when they aren't well both in worrying about their little selves, but also the drudgery of cleaning up.
> 
> I've decided I'm definitely making a change in his food and went out to the pet place yesterday and looked around. He's had this change on to Purina already so I'm just going to keep going and slowly integrate another simpler food choice.
> 
> ...


Comet, I'm sure your sweet little guy will be just fine and perfect in a very short time. Sorry to have scared you.


----------



## PoodlePaws (May 28, 2013)

I would stop feeding TOTW. Try a different grain free kibble.


----------



## Comet (Jul 22, 2014)

*Update on Comet*

I thank each and every one of you for your heartfelt comments. I changed him to a simpler food...Precise chicken and rice. I was a little worried about the chicken because I know it seems to be an allergen for many. But it was in the vet's prescription food and he cleared up on that. 

He's much better today! No vomiting and only once a looser stool. Another interesting thing I've just realized this past few days. His eye discharge has REDUCED AMAZINGLY!! He still has some but nothing like the mess he had prior to dietary simplification. I used to have to carefully wash his face, letting it soak to get the gunk off. So there was definitely something in TOTW that he is sensitive to. 

I can't be happier! and I know he is too. Once again, thank you all.


----------



## Shamrockmommy (Aug 16, 2013)

That is happy news for your little guy! Precise is a good food. It's high quality and the company has great customer service if you have any questions. I really like it for my guys and I use the Senior permanently for my bichon, since it's helped both her chronically yeasty skin/tear stains. (also gone!)

So happy his tummy's better!


----------

