# trouble with grain free



## Mkd2009 (Jan 21, 2009)

I recently started my very pick lab mix *she seriously prefer kibble N bits* on Instinct Rabbit dry food. She seems to really enjoy it but it is giving her the worst gas I think I'v ever smelled. So bad that I actually had to kick her out of the living room last night. Prior to the transition to Instinct she was on Prairie and never had this problem. Is this pretty common with grain free foods? Anything to out there to counter act the gasiness?


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

When I first started my puppy on Orijen puppy he was really gassy. I had to switch him very slowly and mix it half and half with his Innova puppy for quite awhile. He also had a bit of runny stools for awhile with it. Now that he has been eating it for about 6 months he does great on it and I won't switch him off of it. But he doesn't do well on all of the grain free. He didnt' do well on Natures Variety that I had left over from my Lhasa. Both dogs had terrible diarrhea and gas on it and I think one of the ingredients in it just didnt' agree with them. It has a TON of ingredients that they hadn't been exposed to before and I'm not sure which one it was that upset them but I never tried it again. You may want to try a different grain free if the gas doesnt' stop after a slower introduction.


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## Mkd2009 (Jan 21, 2009)

I took a week and half to trasition from the Prairie to the Instinct. Her stools have been fine but then they have always been fine no matter whats going on. I didn't get her till she was 7..the first 7 years of her life she lived in a guys back yard with very little positive human interaction and was fed kibbles N bits out of a trash bag. Its taken me 2 years to get her on a decent food. She gets NV's raw medalions as a treat and I'm thinking of just switching her to all raw food if this problem persists. She doesn't seem uncomfortable or unhappy but she sure is smelly.


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## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

I have one of my labs the chocolate one on Merrick BG before grain buffalo. At first pewie! But she his 1/2 way thru the bag now and shes getting better not as stinky as she was! And I also have EVO the trukey one and that is grainless also my other 2 eat this where one of mine eats wellness super5mix. Seems to me your right the grainless is a bit more gassy but I have again gone thru 1/2 a bag of each of the grainless and it is getting better not so bad as it was, plus the one on wellness super5mix which he loves is fine! So I think you hit on something here! Maybe could it be the more protien in the food? Hmmmm Now I have to see about that! Well hopefully things wil get better! Gee Yankee candle time!:biggrin:


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## AMonkey (Mar 14, 2009)

We have our pups (12 & 13) on grain free and they have never been happier or healthier. And no gas! The cocker's itchy eyes and ears complaints are gone too.

My sister's dogs are on a combination of high-quality dry and wet food, and raw meats. She started giving them a quarter cup of plain yogurt in the morning and the stinky gas stopped.




Mkd2009 said:


> I recently started my very pick lab mix *she seriously prefer kibble N bits* on Instinct Rabbit dry food. She seems to really enjoy it but it is giving her the worst gas I think I'v ever smelled. So bad that I actually had to kick her out of the living room last night. Prior to the transition to Instinct she was on Prairie and never had this problem. Is this pretty common with grain free foods? Anything to out there to counter act the gasiness?


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## ImWithThePyr (Apr 8, 2009)

Maxwell eats NV Rabbit for breakfast sometimes. It gives him BAD gas as well. 

All dogs are different, but Orijen, EVO and TOTW do not give him gas.


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## Doc (Jan 17, 2009)

Well apples gib old Tater and Lucy bad air but Mutt he got bad air all da time. It so bad youins got ta get out da hous ifn you gonna live.


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## Mkd2009 (Jan 21, 2009)

Problem solved.. Kayla is now on raw food only. She never really liked dry food unless it was kibble and bits and she seems to really enjoy the raw. I'm doing the NV raw and all her gasiness has stopped. Thanks for all your responses


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

Awesome! any pre-made raw is better than kibble, but still a far cry from prey model raw, which is better for the teeth and less expensive with less veggie/fruit fillers :biggrin:

I'm glad Kayla's gassiness has stopped, I'm sure that's made both of you happier.


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## Doc (Jan 17, 2009)

Mutt still got bad gas. Tater and Lucy is a hidin.


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

I had issues with my Shepherd mix on grain free for TWO YEARS. When I rescued him I put him on Evo, which is a great food and I'll never deny that, but he never had a single solid stool in a whole year of being on it. I felt awful every time he went. Poor guy. Then I switched him to Wellness Core, and he did a little better, stools weren't totally solid, but weren't total mush like it was on Evo. His coat was actually much healthier on the Wellness than the Evo, and I liked the effects it had on his beath better, too. but the constant gas and still less-than-solid stools weren't working for me. 
Anyway, I switched him over to the Wellness superfivemix whitefish formula in January, and he's doing worlds better. Solid stools, no gas whatsoever. I was supplementing him with raw as well, but he didn't take to it very well, so I've recently stopped with the raw for him. (though my other dog eats about 50% raw and does absolutely fantastic with it)
Anyway, the Wellness Superfivemix was the answer for him. I know it's not considered absolutely top shelf because it's not grain-free, but it's still great quality, and was definately the answer for my boy.:biggrin:


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## ImWithThePyr (Apr 8, 2009)

Most grain free foods are pretty rich (not all though.. TOTW comes to mind, it isn't nearly as rich) 

There are some dogs who simply cannot handle these grain free foods. Some dogs benefit from having grains in their foods.. kind of acts as a binding agent.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

To begin, let me state that I have never fed my dogs a grain free kibble. They haven't eaten any grain (or kibble) for 7 years. I have watched people talk about their dogs having problems with grain free kibble or the high protein kibbles for several years.

My theory is not that some dogs need grain in their diets. Thats just silly. No dog NEEDS grain in his diet. People say, "every dog is different". Yes, but every dog is still a dog with the same digestive system and no dog needs grain. Grain is used in kibble for two reasons. It is VERY cheap and it binds the ingredients together into the little nuggets we are so familiar with. There is no nutritional reason to put grain in kibble.

I think the people whose dogs have digestive problems when they switch to the kibbles such as EVO or Orijen is because they feed their dogs those kibbles just like they did the old stuff. These two particular kibbles contain a lot of protein and fat and dogs don't need to eat nearly as much volume. 

If you over feed a raw fed dog, it will cause digestive upset. I think the same goes for kibble fed dogs. Feed less and I suspect the problem will go away. I think a dog would need about half as much EVO or Orijen than the lower quality kibbles. If I were a kibble feeder switching to one of those two, I would start at half the volume then adjust according to whether the dog looses or gains weight.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

I still don't think that is the only issue still, there yet is stuff in grain free diets that can cause stomach upset so people assume that it is bad and that they should go back to a kibble with grains in them. I really think it lies in how to cleanse a system like we do when switching a dog to a raw diet. Do we not know that the dog simply is not trying
to rid it self of all the crap it's built up in it's system and it just takes some time to get out.


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## Doc (Jan 17, 2009)

who dat giten dair colon cleansed? Ifn Tater, Lucy, and old Mutt drank to much frem da paster creek, day al gonna get cleaned out. Day ortta no dat muddy stanky weter aint no goodt fer dem by naw.


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## beachgirl (Dec 3, 2008)

Always make a switch to a new food slowly................stay away from corn, wheat, soy and dairy...............gas isn't a bad thing but once you get them switched to a healthy food, the gas should let up:wink:


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