# Seeking reccomendations for dog with sensitive stomach



## joannes0 (Mar 21, 2012)

Hi! I'm new, and I hope I'm posting this in the right place. I have a Shepherd/lab mix and she's just over year old now. We've been trying to transition her to an adult food. The problem is she has a sensitive stomach and we're having problems finding a food she can tolerate. 

A bit of history: We got her when she was around 10 weeks old from a shelter, and she was on pedigree. So I wanted to switch her to a higher quality food. I tried four different brands before I finally found one she could tolerate. Everything else gave her diarrhea. I switched her slowly, and we couldn't make it past a 50/50 ratio. So she's on Iams pro health puppy formula. 

We've tried five different adult foods now, including three "sensitive stomach" formulas, and we're finding the same thing. We're switching slowly, over a period of two weeks, and we can't get her past a 50/50 ratio. The minute we hit that 50/50, she gets diarrhea. I tried the adult version of the food she's on, and that was the worst. Gave her what my husband lovingly terms "rocket poo." Frankly, I'm afraid to try the more expensive stuff, because there's no telling if she can tolerate it. I did buy a bag of Blue Buffalo dog treats, to see if she could tolerate their products (I noticed the ingredients are comparable to what's in their food). It gives her horrible gas and poo that resembles pudding. 

We even find the same thing with treats. The only dog biscuit she can tolerate are the Iams biscuits and this one particular peanut butter biscuit (the name eludes me). 

So far, I've tried Iams adult pro health formula (the adult version of what she's on). Nature's recipe for sensitive stomachs. Natural Choice (Nutro) for sensitive stomachs. Iams Naturals for sensitive stomachs. Beneful (just b/c you never know). I recall we tried Pro Plan puppy formula, so I didn't bother trying the sensitive stomach formula. 

The vet just says keep trying them until we find one she can handle (I'd rather not have to put her on the prescription formula). Right now I'm giving her poor stomach a break, but I don't know what direction to go in next. We're collecting dog food over here. lol Anybody with dogs with sensitive stomachs possibly have any recommendations? 

Thank you very much!!


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## biancaDB (Nov 3, 2011)

Most of the foods you tried are not of better quality than the Iams you're feeding now or the Pedigree that was being fed before. I recommend trying Natures Variety Instinct limited ingredient diets or just their salmon formula. I'm not sure what the pricing is like where you live but I'd look for it and see if it's within your price point. Another food you could try is Taste of the Wild. It's not a L.I.D but it is grain free and a good quality food that kibble feeders here do use in their rotation. It is an affordable, quality kibble in comparison to Iams, Pedigree etc...

Another food you can try is Fromm. That is another popular food among the people on this board and people I know personally. Very trusted family company, fresh quality ingredients etc. I'd even suggest Natural Balance since they have limited ingredient diets.

Your transitioning sounds fine though, I think it's just the foods you are trying. They're all grain inclusive and stuffed with fillers. 

Good luck on your search, let me know if any of those brands are available/ affordable for you! It's surprising how many quality foods are much more affordable than some of the over priced garbage out there.


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## joannes0 (Mar 21, 2012)

I've read so many articles, I'm no longer sure what's good and what's bad, dog food wise, to be honest. But I tried them all for different reasons. I wish I knew what it was she objected to. I'm giving her sweet potato treats at the moment, and that's the ONLY ingredient, no additives or anything, and they're already giving her gas. I didn't think to try no grain varieties. 

Will look into those. I've heard about Taste of the Wild and have gotten recommendations for Natural Balance, and I see Petco carries the Natures Variety (which for me just means I don't have to go hunting a store). Fromm seems a bit over my price range, according to amazon.com at least, but will save it for the last resort. 

thank you. I appreciate that.


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## biancaDB (Nov 3, 2011)

Natures Variety is good because they have a high meat content and then I think lentils or chickpeas and then that's the end of the ingredient list and it goes into vitamins, minerals and the freeze dried meats at the end. I would definitely try this brand first, maybe try the limited ingredient turkey formula and then see where it goes from there! 

I think I speak for most of the people here when I say none of us at one point knew much about dog food either until we starting doing our own extensive research. There's a lot to learn here even by browsing around the threads, you'll see what you want to see in a kibble and what you don't want to see.

dogfoodadvisor.com has pretty good reviews on foods, I'd take a look at the 5 star foods listed as well.

Dry Dog Food Reviews | Dog Food Advisor


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## lovemydogsalways (Mar 4, 2012)

I would try Califrornia Natural lamb and rice puppy food. It is an all life stages food so it is fine for all ages. It has a very limited ingredient diet. Helped my lab puppy with loose stools she was having. You could even try the grain free formulas if you wanted.


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## joannes0 (Mar 21, 2012)

I've heard of California natural too, and I did find a place around here that sells it. Thanks for the link as well. I've seen that before. Will have a look around this forum, most definitely. 

Thank you!!


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

have you tried grain free food? A lot of dogs cant tolerate grains and once switched, they digestive issue disappear. Give taste of the wild a try, maybe start off with lower protein like pacific stream or sierra mountain and if your dog tolerates that well, I'd alternate with higher protein formulas (high prarie and wetlands)


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

I would try Natural Balance, Nature's Variety LID or California Natural.


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

From another forum.

"
All of our poultry, pork, bison, and beef come from the U.S. and our lamb and venison are imported from Australia and New Zealand. Our vegetables and fruits are sourced from the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East, depending on the ingredients. Our grains and starches are sourced from the U.S., Canada, and Brazil - herbs and spices from North America, Europe, and the Middle East. Our pharmaceutical grade vitamins and minerals are from North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The rabbit protein we use in our raw diet is from China. The rabbit in our canned is sourced from Italy and China, while the rabbit in our kibble is from France. We employ a U.S. educated food scientist in China to oversee our rabbit sourcing. All rabbit protein is tested before shipment from China and again after it arrives in the U.S. for processing into our raw diet. We are very confident in how we handle our sourcing from China. We source most of our ingredients from the U.S. and turn to other locations only as needed. We are very stringent on our sourcing and have good relationships built with our vendors for quality ingredients.

Thanks for supporting Nature's Variety!

Sincerely,
Shannon

Consumer Relations
Nature's Variety
"


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## biancaDB (Nov 3, 2011)

Has Natures Variety ever had a recall? I'm actually curious because I'm not sure. I haven't heard anything bad about them as a company and I've seen a lot of people feed their products with much success. Weird that they source from China though but I guess they're as careful as they say they are.


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## dustinshaw98 (Feb 22, 2012)

joannes0 said:


> Hi! I'm new, and I hope I'm posting this in the right place. I have a Shepherd/lab mix and she's just over year old now. We've been trying to transition her to an adult food. The problem is she has a sensitive stomach and we're having problems finding a food she can tolerate.
> 
> A bit of history: We got her when she was around 10 weeks old from a shelter, and she was on pedigree. So I wanted to switch her to a higher quality food. I tried four different brands before I finally found one she could tolerate. Everything else gave her diarrhea. I switched her slowly, and we couldn't make it past a 50/50 ratio. So she's on Iams pro health puppy formula.
> 
> ...



Hi... Can you, perhaps, try anything that isn't grain-based?


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

I think they had a voluntary recall on their raw food due to suspicion of salmonella, but thats pretty common with raw, so I wouldnt dismiss the company because of that.


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## Jack Monzon (Jul 25, 2010)

lovemydogsalways said:


> I would try Califrornia Natural lamb and rice puppy food. It is an all life stages food so it is fine for all ages. It has a very limited ingredient diet. Helped my lab puppy with loose stools she was having. You could even try the grain free formulas if you wanted.


I agree with this. My dog has a sensitive tummy too and did very well on CN Lamb & Rice.


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

I've heard really great things about the LID Nature's Variety formulas. I love that they are higher protein & fat. Wish Natural Balance would follow suit...


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## Jacksons Mom (Jun 13, 2010)

Heard good things about California Natural for sensitive tummies. VERY simple ingredient lists.

Fromm, TOTW, etc, are great foods but I _definitely_ wouldn't call them limited ingredient and probably not the right choice for your pooch.

California Natural has grain-free foods as well (with unique proteins - like kangaroo). Chicken is a common allergen, do all the foods you're feeding have chicken in them?

Acana also has a "singles" line now out in the States and I've had fantastic luck feeding Jackson it (duck & pear, and lamb & apple).


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

biancaDB said:


> Has Natures Variety ever had a recall? I'm actually curious because I'm not sure. I haven't heard anything bad about them as a company and I've seen a lot of people feed their products with much success. Weird that they source from China though but I guess they're as careful as they say they are.


Multiple sourcing from right across the globe is not only a food safety concern but also environmentally irresponsible.


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## joannes0 (Mar 21, 2012)

Jacksons Mom said:


> Heard good things about California Natural for sensitive tummies. VERY simple ingredient lists.
> 
> Fromm, TOTW, etc, are great foods but I _definitely_ wouldn't call them limited ingredient and probably not the right choice for your pooch.
> 
> ...


Hi, 

I did stick to chicken, because the Iam's she's on now is chicken. She's sensitive to just about everything, so I wasn't sure how far I should go to experiment. 



> Hi... Can you, perhaps, try anything that isn't grain-based?


Do you mean grain free? Haven't thought about it up until this point, because the food she's on now HAS grains in them and she's doing just fine on it. At this point, it's really difficult to tell what, exactly, is aggravating her tummy. And the more I read, the more confused I get. I've been told that the only difference b/w adult and puppy food is fat content, but some of the foods I've seen are actually HIGHER in fat content than the one she's on. I understand that with higher quality you don't feel as much, but still. 

Anyway, thanks to everyone for the responses. I've got a few to try and I've found a store in the area sells them.


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

I don't really know all that much about the different LID, never seen one that I would feed. However with your dog's issues I would highly suggest a grain-free and chicken free food. I would go with a totally new protein, and grain free for sure!:thumb:


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## PDXdogmom (Jun 30, 2010)

The most simple formula on the market and one that has a decent amount of protein and fat (26/16) is: California Natural Lamb Meal & Rice Puppy

It has 4 ingredients plus the vitamins and minerals: lamb meal, brown rice, sunflower oil, and rice. So many dogs that have intolerances to other foods seem to do well with this one. The next most simple is the California Natural Chicken Meal & Rice Puppy. It has the addition of flax seed in it. I have never heard of a dog being sensitive to rice; so don't see that these two formulas should be problematic in that regard.

I would not choose to feed the Nature's Variety Instinct Limited Ingredients formulas because they have a very high ash content of 10-12%. Anything at 10% and above for daily feeding is something I'd personally steer clear of.


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

PDXdogmom said:


> I would not choose to feed the Nature's Variety Instinct Limited Ingredients formulas because they have a very high ash content of 10-12%. Anything at 10% and above for daily feeding is something I'd personally steer clear of.


I agree, 10 to 12% is way high. Can potentially be very taxing on the body.

Personally I do not like the overall profile of Nature's Variety. When the details come out there are too many things that doesn't exactly scream quality.


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## bridget246 (Oct 26, 2011)

meggels said:


> I've heard really great things about the LID Nature's Variety formulas. I love that they are higher protein & fat. Wish Natural Balance would follow suit...


I've heard great things about them too. Wouldn't hurt to give them a try if you can afford it. If you write to the company they might be willing to send you out enough free samples to get an idea of it is working or not. 



Jacksons Mom said:


> Acana also has a "singles" line now out in the States and I've had fantastic luck feeding Jackson it (duck & pear, and lamb & apple).


Acana singles aren't on par with their normal kibble imo.

Everyone asked some great questions already but your going to get a few more . 

1) Name all brands you've tried in the past if you can and how long you tried them before switching. 

2) Did you add in any treats, home cooked food or anything else while trying out different kibbles? I would stop the blue buffalo treats until you get this problem solved. 

3) Are you open to the raw diet? Helped out my dog with a sensitive stomach. We have a lot of info here to help get you started.

4) Do you know what the siblings are feeding? What about the breeder? Normally shelters don't release or have this info but it doesn't hurt to try.

My advice to you is that this problem isn't easy. Sounds like you and your vet have already checked out the common problems. Now your going to have a lot of work on your hands trying to get the balance right. It isn't going to be a fast result either. Your going to have a lot of work coming your way but you've came to the right place for help.

Silly me I forgot to add the most important part. Thank you for taking care of that rescue. Your puppy is lucky to have someone like you.


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## joannes0 (Mar 21, 2012)

> Everyone asked some great questions already but your going to get a few more .


Okay, answering your questions. 

1) All the foods I’ve tried. I should note that none of them was a full switch. We’ve never made it past ½ and ½ for any of them. 

Puppy food: 

I’m going completely by memory. I know we tried Ol’ Roy’s, Pro Plan and Puppy Chow. Oh, also tried Purina One. Started out giving her ¼ new food (to ¾ old). And at this time, I wasn’t sure how to do it, but I’d read more than one article that said do it over a week’s time, so that’s what I did. So about every three days (again, going by memory, but I remember waiting several days for each “shift”), I’d give her the next increase. And each food either gave her outright diarrhea or “pudding” and we never made it past a week.

And then I did a bit more research and read you want to give a food that starts with meat as the first ingredient. Iams happened to be the first one I tried, because they’re one of the only ones Walmart carries that had this. I’ll be honest, I wanted something inexpensive if I could get away with it. 

Once I hit the Iams (pro health puppy formula, yellow bag), the change was immediate. Her stool got nice and firm and with each increase, it stayed that way and the horrible gas stopped. So I stopped looking. 

I should note that throughout all of this, we weren’t giving her any treats. She only had a compressed raw-hide bone the shelter had given us with her adoption. But she did get de-wormed. She’d had all kinds of worms. She was still being de-wormed when we finally switched to Iams. 

Adult foods:

I gave each of them two weeks. So ¼ new to ¾ old for an entire week. Then I went up to ½ and ½ for an entire week. We never made it past ½ and ½ for any of them.

FWIW, I stuck to Iams adult foods at first thinking that if she could tolerate their puppy food, then maybe I ought to stick that brand. These are the ones I tried (not in any particular order):

--Iams Proactive Health (green bag, chicken flavored)—this one was the worst. This one gave her “rocket poo.” I’ll admit I don’t understand this one. The ingredients are darn near exactly the same as what’s in the puppy formula.

--Iams Healthy Naturals 

--Iams Sensitive Naturals, the Oceanfish flavor. 

--Nature’s Recipe Easy-to-digest, the chicken flavor (I’d looked started looking for sensitive foods in my price range and this one got good reviews)

--Nutro Natural Choice, Chicken Meal, rice & Oatmeal (for sensitive stomachs). This one came recommended by several people at Petsmart (an employee suggested it and several customers standing around agreed. So, I looked it up and it got great reviews). 

--Beneful—tried this one because our other dog, who we had put down about a year and a half ago, was on this, and she thrived on it. And again, it got great reviews from people who’d tried it. 

2) no. I knew enough to know not to feed her any treats while I was switching, and we don’t feed from the table (made that mistake with our last dog). With the exception of the Iams Prohealth, the rest of them gave her various degrees of pudding, which always started with really horrible gas. Some of them made her poo smell really rank. 

But again, the minute I stop feeding her the new food and go back to the Iams…she clears right up. No more gas and the poo becomes nice and solid and smells like, well, poo again. 

3) I’d prefer not to do a raw diet. 

4) She was one of nine puppies, but no, I don’t know what the others are eating. That’s a good point. I’ll have to see if I can find their contact info. 

Shelter dogs—we ended up adopting another shelter puppy, as a companion. If it was up to me, I’d take them all home. 

I really appreciate all the time and energy. I don't expect it to be easy. I'm just really confused as to which way to go next. I do have one question...other than the obvious quality, what's the difference between puppy food and adult food? The vet told me that puppy food has higher fat content and adult dogs don't need that much. But I've seen some adult foods with way higher fat ratios than the puppy food she's on. I'm really beginning to wonder, if that's the only difference, do I even NEED to switch? 

BTW...for whatever it's worth. I've grown up with dogs, but this one is my first time actually raising a puppy, and one with a sensitive tummy to boot. We got our other dog fully grown (and she had an iron stomach, she could eat anything and not blink an eye). 

thanks again.


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