Jann in TX Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 My 3mo old White German Shepherd pup has some tummy issues. 2 weeks ago he spent the day at the vet due to tummy issues (both ends). We watch him pretty closely... vet did x-rays ('possibly' a small piece of plastic in tummy OR just a bit of air...) nothing conclusive. Puppy (his name is Trip) was put on meds for a week. He seemed better. Last night it started all over again! He has been playing today--and he ate quite a bit of grass (any time he goes outside he grabs a mouthful). He is eating a high quality grain-free food (chicken based). He has been itching a bit (legs) and scratching at his ears so I'm thinking he may be allergic to the food-- we were half-way through the first bag when this started (I moved him over a 2 week period from the food the breeder was using). I'm thinking about moving him to a lamb based food. I know I want to go grain free (white GSD's do not do well with grains). My female (6yrs old) is sensitive to chicken-- but Trip has been on a chicken based food for the past 2 months (since he started solids). Is it true that food allergies can take weeks/months/years to show up? I considered a RAW diet--but I would not have our vets support. Anyone else been through this? Did you find something that helped? We go back to vet tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon--- I don't want to spend $$$$ on more x-rays but I want to make sure he is OK... TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denisemomof4 Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 I have no experience with thus. Sorry. :sad: I thhink many/most vets don't support a raw diet. I would recommend a holistic vet if issues continue. I would also give raw a try. The current food isn't helping! I would imagine allergies in dogs can come on slowly since they do in humans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jujsky Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 I have no experience with allergies, but one of our GSDs has always had digestive issues. We switched her food to Taste of the Wild (it's grain-free) a year ago when we got our puppy. We buy the salmon flavor. She's had a lot less tummy-upset since then. The tummy troubles were especially bad the first year we had her. I think she was even on prescription food for awhile that first year. It's hard to remember back that far as she's 11 now. Whenever she does have those issues, we feed her a bland diet (boiled hamburger and rice) for a few days and slowly mix her food back in. I hope your puppy feels better soon. GSDs are the best dogs :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 For diarrhea, we've had good luck adding a spoonful of canned pumpkin to the kibble. It helps firm things up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 (edited) I have a cat who has a sensitive tummy. We had a lot of food issues until we switched to Evo. http://www.evopet.com/ My cat would eat quite a bit of grass whenever he had eaten something he shouldn't have (like string or rubber band, both which became banned substances in my house). It did help move the thing that didn't belong through. I've heard of dogs being allergic to grass before. That would be a pain! Also, itching could mean little varmits--they never fully died off in my neck of the woods with the mild winter. Edited April 5, 2012 by Pippen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooooom Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 We got him at 12 weeks and pretty much immediately his tummy went south. We switched him immed to a hamburg & rice diet and added a little pumpkin and banana. This diet made his symptoms go away, but any time we tried to wean him from it, they would come back. Our vet gave him probiotics to try. This also made the symptoms go away, but they came back when he got off. Vet wanted him to switch off chicken based food in case he had a sensitivity to it (common apparently) but Guiding Eyes said no (if he has a food allergy he is out of the program) so he went on a prescription food. Finally added antibiotics - that and being really careful about diet - I know your food is good but what are you using for treats? We used only bits of chicken breast. And it gradually went away - we were also told it could be a maturity thing and some lab puppies just had sensitive stomachs, and that 8-9 months was the charm. At 15 months he went back in for training, and apparently started with the stomach issues again. We don't know if it was the stress of a major change in environment or they started feeding him something he couldn't handle. So there you have our story, I would put him on hamburg and rice first, and slowly wean him onto a lamb & rice food - you can reintroduce chicken when he is older. I know my dd was exhausted taking him out 3 times in the middle of the night and lost all perspective, I can commiserate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeteranMom Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 We had a German Shep with stomach issues. He improved when we switched him to a lamb and rice dog food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rose in BC Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Chicken was an allergen for our bernese mountain dog (peas were bad too). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rose in BC Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 For diarrhea, we've had good luck adding a spoonful of canned pumpkin to the kibble. It helps firm things up. This works for our dogs too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorMom Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 We got him at 12 weeks and pretty much immediately his tummy went south. We switched him immed to a hamburg & rice diet and added a little pumpkin and banana. This diet made his symptoms go away, but any time we tried to wean him from it, they would come back. Our vet gave him probiotics to try. This also made the symptoms go away, but they came back when he got off. Vet wanted him to switch off chicken based food in case he had a sensitivity to it (common apparently) but Guiding Eyes said no (if he has a food allergy he is out of the program) so he went on a prescription food. Finally added antibiotics - that and being really careful about diet - I know your food is good but what are you using for treats? We used only bits of chicken breast. And it gradually went away - we were also told it could be a maturity thing and some lab puppies just had sensitive stomachs, and that 8-9 months was the charm. At 15 months he went back in for training, and apparently started with the stomach issues again. We don't know if it was the stress of a major change in environment or they started feeding him something he couldn't handle. So there you have our story, I would put him on hamburg and rice first, and slowly wean him onto a lamb & rice food - you can reintroduce chicken when he is older. I know my dd was exhausted taking him out 3 times in the middle of the night and lost all perspective, I can commiserate. This is what happened with our Great Dane. It wasn't until she was bout 10 months old that we could wean her off the ground beef and brown rice diet she was on. It was very time consuming and expensive.... She's now on lamb and rice hard kibble (a good brand ), and has been for years and is doing great. But boy - those first 10 months I never thought it was going to end..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 My sisters uses this for her gs; during times of tummy trouble she makes her own rice/broth mix. We had a German Shep with stomach issues. He improved when we switched him to a lamb and rice dog food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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