Pro- and pre-biotics for dog

Have you tried one of the sport or high activity foods? Pro Plan makes several higher calorie sport foods.

Oof. Yes, Princess Pumpernickle over does NOT have your same caloric needs.

I just looked at the Lamb + Oat Meal version of ProPlan’s Sensitive Skin & Stomach. Looks like 528 cal/cup? Feel free to fact check me here: https://www.chewy.com/purina-pro-plan-sensitive-skin/dp/129809

Wanting a higher calorie per cup, check out Zingnature. I get it from Chewy. I have feed the kangaroo that has 395 KCals per cup and I currently feed a half ration of pork half raw to my girls. The pork is 405Kcals per cup. Its not at the calorie mark you want, but it may be a good stop gap for you. Its a quality limited ingredient brand.

I too had a sensitive tummy dog. He would vomit bile if he did not eat on time. Kangaroo, pork and white fish foods where best for him.

Thank you both. :slight_smile: I feel funny admitting that I have a hard time giving dog food with lamb. I know it may sound silly, but… lamb. I can’t do it. For some reason I don’t feel as bad with salmon.

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This is so relatable. I have my girls (Shepherds) on a beef and pork formula because it makes me less sad. I’ve heard wonderful things about Zignature Kangaroo but I’ve always loved Kangaroo’s so…

I use Probios for my crew. Our eldest is on Fortiflora Pro - she’s 13 and gets special treatment because it makes me feel better.

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If it makes you feel better, the lambs that go to slaughter aren’t the little cute ones. They’re usually around a year old. Wouldn’t surprise me if the “lamb” in dog food was actually mutton.

I give a heaping tsp of psyllium to my dogs every day, on the advice of a veterinary nutritionist. Total game changer.
I also feed with water. Makes food more digestible.

Interesting, thanks!

A few thoughts:

  1. Have her tested for allergies to find out what foods result in positive antibody titers. We learned that our “sensitive stomach” dog had high positive allergies/intolerances to beef, lamb, goat meat, casein (a dairy protein), also to corn, so we had to eliminate those foods from her diet.

  2. Discuss the possibility of pancreatitis with your vet. Some vets don’t want to believe that a young dog may have pancreatitis but it does occur in dogs of all ages. If she does have elevated amylase and lipase enzymes, get her on a low fat diet and absolutely no meat-based people food such as table scraps, deli meats, etc. Pancreatitis is painful and the attacks tend to worsen as the dog gets older so the sooner you start on mitigation measures, the better off your dog will be. (Our dog has had to be hospitalized multiple times due to vomiting/diarrhea and one episode was so severe that she ended up having an endoscopic biopsy of her stomach wall to rule out stomach cancer.)

  3. Prebiotics feed probiotics, so don’t give just prebiotics without consulting with your vet (who is hopefully knowledgeable about such stuff). If your dog’s gut health isn’t great, prebiotics can cause even more GI distress. We were advised to start with probiotics alone and supplement as needed with prebiotics only if there were indications the probiotics needed more support.

  4. No rawhide based chew toys and be very cautious about meat based bully sticks, etc. Also, treats that are based on cellulose/potato starch (such as Greenies dental treats) can cause GI issues ranging from mild to severe.

We learned the hard way about all the above, including having to change vets in order to start getting a handle on our dog’s issues. :frowning_face:

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She is lovely! Like @ClearDonkey mentioned, my last dog required a veterinary diet for his entire life to address his gastrointestinal issues, which also manifested as hunger strikes, vomiting bile and diarrhea.

For my current dog, who is easier but still sensitive, I use Purina Pro Fortiflora and Purina Sensitive Skin and Stomach.

Another thing I would consider if possible, is smaller, more frequent meals. Both of my dogs are/were very deep chested and going long stretches without food can contribute to the vomiting/not eating cycle. I’m lucky enough that I work from home, so current dog’s meals are split into 3, with a small treat in there mid day.

And like others mentioned, no rawhide or other rich treats that are prone to cause gastric distress.

Thanks. :slight_smile:

We used to feed her twice a day, but just recently switched to putting her food out in the morning and letting her graze. As a pup she was a voracious eater, but now just picks at it here and there.

We don’t feed her table food at all and no rawhide ever. A couple milk-bone minis when she comes in from outside. They are the super small ones – maybe less than an inch long.

Thanks, all. I appreciate the comments and suggestions.

My lug was very similar with the food and pukes. He would eat for a week or so and then barely pick at anything for a period, even as a pup. He also went through various long stages of puking his food right back up from about 6 months through about 2 years old. When he’d be on a pukey run I’d give him the Pepcid before his food and that basically took care of it. Now, at a little over 3 years, he’s pretty steady in eating his bowl of food (provided he can have it in the living room with us, not by himself outside :laughing: ) and doesn’t tend to puke without a trigger. Recently we’ve had a couple episodes: a new brand of green dental chew from Aldi’s which he was VERY excited about, came right back up, and it seems that pieces of pretzels will also make him upchuck, for some odd reason. He and my dad share “chip time” every evening and I’ve had to ban pretzels now. :woman_shrugging:

Meant to add, he had a lot of pica-type stuff as a pup and adolescent. Lots of grass eating, plucking the rose hips off the bush, and most notably eating his own poop in an absolutely obsessive manner. That one drove me absolutely NUTS. I can’t really nail it down but at some point the poop eating just eventually…stopped. He still was doing it last winter because he would freeze me to death playing with his frozen contributions rather than actually going :angry: And I raised him on ProPlan, it wasn’t like he was missing key nutrients.

I’d try the Pepcid for awhile, long story short.

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