# Constipation. How to adjust diet accordingly?



## Bessie7o7 (Jan 1, 2010)

My dog has been suffering from constipation due to lack of mobility. Her hips are in pretty bad shape from being a large dog and 11years old. The Vet said theres a few other contributing factors also. Such as nerve damage. Before this became a problem she ate Innova Adult dry kibble. She did well on this food. She had normal firm poop and did her business regularly. So now im looking for a food to help her out a little better.

I had read somewhere that a high fiber diet does work well for constipation but after a while the body will adjust to it and the high amounts of fiber wont be as effective. Instead they suggest feeding a more digestable diet. But what does that mean exactly? Higher protien? Less Fat? More Fat?

I was thinking about switching to large breed senior dog food By Innova becuase it has a higher protien level (not a lot higher) and it also contains glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate 

Another option was EVO Weight Management Dry Dog Food, It has alot more protien. She hasnt gained any wieght though, accually she has lost some wieght but i think thats becuase where we used to live a person in the house always fed her crap (pretty much used her as a garbage dispossel). With her joint problems, a keeping her at a lighter wieght would be better anyways, right? Her lack of activity is sure to end up packing on some wieght soon. 

Also what about canned food. Would the moisture in the wet food help out? Right now she only gets dry food and more recently she has been getting some pumpkin mixed in. 

I was thinking about staying with innova or evo mostly becuase i know its availible where i live but if something else would work better im sure i could find it or order it. 

Sorry if this is a little scatter brained but her Hip problems and constipation only started to effect her daily life just recently. (With in the last 2 months). Before that she really showed very little signs of a problem. So right now im reading everything i can to try and help her out. 

Thank you
Jeremy


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## Todd (Jan 13, 2010)

Have you ever considered switching her to a raw prey model diet? This diet digests very easily and quickly because it is the most natural diet a dog can be on. I really think a raw diet would do wonders for your dog, not only for the constipation problem, but her hip issues as well. I have heard off dogs who have had immobilizing arthritis in their legs, and were running around like a puppy again after switching to a raw diet. In the wild, wolves don't have a lot of these kind of problems that we see in dogs today, and the only thing I can think of to attribute that to is diet. For one, the calcium found in the bones of a prey model diet will do more than ever imaginable to cure arthritis. Just don't get carried away with the bone, for this could induce more constipation. Again, I honestly can tell you that a raw prey model diet could very well be the answer to ALL of your dog's problems. It's very economical too. For instance, you can purchase an entire 10 pound bag of chicken quarters for around 5 bucks! That's only 50 cents per pound! To be quite frank, that a hell of a lot cheaper than most kibble. I'd defiantly try and give it a shot. Good luck!:smile: 

Below are a few very helpful websites on raw feeding for you;

Jane Anderson's Raw Learning Site 

Raw Fed Dogs

Skylar, Zack, and Abby on the WEB


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

My 13 year old Lhasa is in almost the same situation as your dog. She had back surgery at 3 years old because she was completely paralyzed. As she got older she had a harder and harder time with bowel movements.

She has been on Innova Senior PLUS which helped the nerve damage in her back a lot because it has the extra B vitamins that are reported to help. But she still needs to be forced to walk in order to have a bowel movement. Recently I switched her to Evo. After an initial period of gassiness, she has done really well on it. Her BM's are smaller so I think maybe they are easier for her to have, although sometimes she will go in her sleep and not notice it but she did that before. At least now it is really tiny and well formed! 

So, I think she is doing better on the EVO as far as the bowel movements. She still needs to be taken on as much of a walk as I can make her. One thing that has helped her a lot is a senior vitamin that I get from Dr.s Foster and Smith. It is their Senior Plus formula and has the extra B vitamins that the Innova Senior PLus had in it. It really seemed to help her back and mobility. She went from not walking even out to the mailbox to making it almost a quarter of a mile some days. 

Hope this helps you. It's hard with a senior dog. I had a ten year old Lab before I started researching nuirition and didn't know there was anything I could do for her and her poor hips. 

Oh, my 75 pound youngster is on EVO also so I have no problem with a big dog on it.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

What you can do is add something that is pretty darn rich to her diet that will cause her to have looser stools. This can be something that is a bit fattier or higher protein. This can be something like ground beef or eggs (either raw or cooked) added to her kibble diet, but in separate meals. 

Since she is on the older side, the added nutrition will definitely be beneficial to her. But you want to be careful with adding things in that will loosen her stools because it might work TOO well, and that is another problem all together! But if softer poo is what you're after I would do this than change her food.

The only thing that you have to worry about with perpetually soft serve poo is you might have to get her anal sacs expressed since that wont happen naturally during a bowel movement.

Good luck and keep us posted :wink:



Todd said:


> Have you ever considered switching her to a raw prey model diet? This diet digests very easily and quickly because it is the most natural diet a dog can be on. I really think a raw diet would do wonders for your dog, not only for the constipation problem, but her hip issues as well. I have heard off dogs who have had immobilizing arthritis in their legs, and were running around like a puppy again after switching to a raw diet. In the wild, wolves don't have a lot of these kind of problems that we see in dogs today, and the only thing I can think of to attribute that to is diet. For one, the calcium found in the bones of a prey model diet will do more than ever imaginable to cure arthritis. Just don't get carried away with the bone, for this could induce more constipation. Again, I honestly can tell you that a raw prey model diet could very well be the answer to ALL of your dog's problems. It's very economical too. For instance, you can purchase an entire 10 pound bag of chicken quarters for around 5 bucks! That's only 50 cents per pound! To be quite frank, that a hell of a lot cheaper than most kibble. I'd defiantly try and give it a shot. Good luck!:smile:
> 
> Below are a few very helpful websites on raw feeding for you;
> 
> ...


Todd, there is an unspoken rule that we don't push raw in the kibble/canned section. You can give all the advice you want here as long as it's not geared towards anything to do with raw or switching others to raw diet. Just FYI.


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## malluver1005 (Nov 15, 2009)

I agree with everything danemama has said. If I were you, I would just supplement her kibble with a glucosamine/chondroitin capsule. What kibbles have isn't enough to make a difference because most of it is lost in the cooking process. Especially for an Irish Wolfhound mix! :smile:

Oh, and thinner is definitely better...


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## Todd (Jan 13, 2010)

danemama08 said:


> What you can do is add something that is pretty darn rich to her diet that will cause her to have looser stools. This can be something that is a bit fattier or higher protein. This can be something like ground beef or eggs (either raw or cooked) added to her kibble diet, but in separate meals.
> 
> Since she is on the older side, the added nutrition will definitely be beneficial to her. But you want to be careful with adding things in that will loosen her stools because it might work TOO well, and that is another problem all together! But if softer poo is what you're after I would do this than change her food.
> 
> ...


Oh, OK. Sorry about that. I'll make sure not to post raw tips in the kibble area next time. Thanks for letting me know.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Todd said:


> Oh, OK. Sorry about that. I'll make sure not to post raw tips in the kibble area next time. Thanks for letting me know.


Gotta keep ya in line dude :wink:

Its just something that we need to do out of respect for those that want to feed kibble because they don't come into the raw section and spread the word about kibble, at least most of the time LOL.

Unless someone actually asks about raw and it happens to be in this forum, stay away from mentioning it. If you feel that it would be best for their dog, feel free to send a PM to them about it so we can all stay as respectful as possible.


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## Bessie7o7 (Jan 1, 2010)

Hey Todd. Thiers no hard feelings from me about the Raw diet advice. I posted here becuase she is eating kibble not becuase im against the raw diet. I have though about switching to a raw diet but i think at her age and condition, the accual physical active of eating the raw food might be a chalange for her. 

"In the wild, wolves don't have a lot of these kind of problems that we see in dogs today, and the only thing I can think of to attribute that to is diet." 
Todd.

I would say yes there diet may have a big impact on these problems. A much more likely scenario would be the way humans have breed the dogs for diffenrent jobs and to suit different needs. Alot of dogs are mutated versions of there ancestors.

DaneMama,

If i gave her the ground beef or eggs, you say i should do it in seperate meals. Do you mean i should give the ground meat or eggs for like say breakfast and then feed her regular kibble for dinner?

Thank you 
Jeremy


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Bessie7o7 said:


> Hey Todd. Thiers no hard feelings from me about the Raw diet advice. I posted here becuase she is eating kibble not becuase im against the raw diet. I have though about switching to a raw diet but i think at her age and condition, the accual physical active of eating the raw food might be a chalange for her.


I wasn't trying to be mean to Todd, but there have been quite a few people put off by the fact that raw feeders post up in the kibble forum talking about raw. Its more of a respect thing than anything else. And since he's new he didn't know, so I thought I would give him the warning before someone might get upset about it :wink: 




> DaneMama,
> 
> If i gave her the ground beef or eggs, you say i should do it in seperate meals. Do you mean i should give the ground meat or eggs for like say breakfast and then feed her regular kibble for dinner?
> 
> ...


Yup, separate meals like morning and night. Either one fed in the morning, and the opposite later in the evening. I say this because sometimes feeding the two in the same meal, fresh meat/eggs with kibble, can cause their system to get upset because they both digest differently. Some dogs seem to do just fine with eating them both at the same time, but I always advise people to take precaution when doing so just to prevent upset from happening in the first place.


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## Bessie7o7 (Jan 1, 2010)

Thank you Danemama, I will give that try this week and see how it goes.


Jeremy


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Bessie7o7 said:


> Thank you Danemama, I will give that try this week and see how it goes.
> 
> 
> Jeremy


Let me know how things go for her...I would start out on the lighter side of adding stuff in. Gradually add the beef or eggs in so she doesn't get a huge shock to her system!


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## Bessie7o7 (Jan 1, 2010)

Today Star went to the Vet (again...lol). The vet gave her Multiple Enemas and got a lot of stool flushed from her system. He there was quite a bit in there. Very dry and hard. He has given me a stool softener call Lactulose Syrup. Hopefully this helps. He also said to try and feed some food that holds water in them. So maybe we'll keep adding some meat for meals. Guess its time to head over to the raw section and get to reading. 

Thank you Everyone for Helping my Best Friend. 

Jeremy


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