The runs, the runs, the runs!!

Hello there,

Just registered with the forum, and I intend to introduce myself properly (and my beloved Stanley of course!!) in the newbie section over the next day or so:)

Right off the bat, I was looking for some of your thoughts on the above matter. I had a look through some previous posts regarding upset tummies, loose stools etc.

After reading online about how bad this Bakers dry food is with all the additives, preservatives, and potential carcinogenics etc. surely it has to be that I think? Confusingly, is that besides him having the runs, he appears to be perfectly healthy - glossy coat, wet nose, sleeping well, tons of energy and chomping at the bit when it comes to exercise and getting outdoors.

I want to get him off the Bakers pronto but my dad insists it's a quality dog food - because the vet said so apparently!!

I read with interest the dry food recommendations and I am familiar with Arden Grange and Burns brands. To be entirely honest here, cost is a bit of an issue with some of these higher quality foods (without sounding tight).

I was curious to know some of the dry food options you guys are using? We did the rice and chicken for couple of days without much improvement I should add.

I should mention that his dry food gets supplemented with rotisserie chicken that we buy whole and then strip the down to the carcass, and then divide and bag up for each of his meals. Just to make his dry food a bit more palatable.

Should we try arrowroot or the Pro-Kolin? Would that be a waste of time if we're still feeding him the bakers?

I'd appreciate any thoughts on the matter.

Many thanks, Martin

We have to use a prescription food for Suki because she has allergies. The upset stomach can often be helped by starving for a day unless it's a pup and than it's different. It helps settle their stomach down.

Well, of all the cheaper dog foods, Bakers is probably the worst by a long way! If a vet recommended it then that vet should be struck off! You say your dog has plenty of energy? It's almost certainly hyperactivity! And although it might not be Bakers that's causing the runs it's a good bet that it isn't helping.

Do you have a Pets at Home store near you? Their own brand is quite good quality & a lot cheaper than other quality feed. If you do change, do it gradually, over about a week. Choose a hyper allergenic one if possible, or a fish based one.

The pro-kolin will help the symptoms, but not the cause.

Are the runs constant, or occasional?

Hello there Jstaff,

Stanley is 4 years old now, and I'm ashamed to say that he's been on this Bakers complete his whole adult life. As someone on another forum commented:

"Agreed. It's one of the worst foods you can possibly feed - along with Pedigree Chum. He's eating it because it's been designed to taste good (with all those nasty chemical additives and colourings etc), and it's what he's used to. If I ate meat, I'd probably live on McDonalds or Burger King because they, too, have been designed to taste good, but they wouldn't do you any good over long periods if they were all you ate".

I'm no vet or nutritionist, but I wonder if he's reached a tipping point in terms of a build of chemicals in his system. If that's the case, a 24 fast isn't going to rid his system of an accumulation of food additives. Perhaps I'm wrong!

I'm pretty confident he has no allergies to speak of.

Regards.

You really do need to change his food. Not all of the better quality food is expensive.

I meant to add this link:

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=424&cat=7

Granted, it's a fairly old analysis and review and doesn't necessarily constitute an objective viewpoint but still.....

Thanks for your input Caryll

Cheers mate.

Whatever food you change to, make sure that the first ingredient listed is meat or fish. Also, try to choose one with a fairly high meat high intent & low cereal content with as few additives as possible & no colours.

If you see a food that you like but it's a bit outside your price range, shop around online to see if you can get it cheaper. Amazon often have good deals, so do sites like chemist direct.

Dexter was on some Wagg food I think when we got him, and he had the runs with every poo. I stopped the cheap stuff and gave him brown rice and boiled chicken for a couple of days then switched him to wainwrights, plus a dollop of natural yoghurt for a few feeds until he settled. Since then his poos are nice and firm. Well not nice but you know what I mean...

Some good mid-range foods are fish4dogs and wainwrights (bought from pets at home)

Rocky has Barking Heads which we switched him onto a few months ago from JWB.

He is great with the Barking Heads, as far as price goes it costs about £9 for a 2k bag. As for amounts the pack guideline amount is 250g per day for a 20 K dog. Rocky has about 160g per day on average.