Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi everyone,
I've been feeding a home cooked dog food based on Dr. Pitcairn's book for 3 years now with fantastic results (see http://www.that.....gs-health/)
In the last 3 weeks I switched from white rice to brown rice (slowly) because of Bear's cancer and reading about never feeding white rice in Dr. Dressler's Dog Cancer Survival Guide .
Barret has one of those super sensitive bellies.. He gets diarrhea with any change I make in diet (always has). This switch to brown rice, even though I did it slowly, has caused loose stool at best for 2 weeks. He never has really firm ones though (is that TMI?)
I've already tried pumpkin... That causes him to get very runny orange poo. Anyone have suggestions for firming up his poo?
Or, anyone know how to introduce new foods so they don't cause digestive upset? I used to feed raw bones and would love to again, but last time I had a poo-pocolypse on my hands 
Barret was diagnosed with Hemangiopericytoma May 16, 2013. Front left leg/scapula/pectoral muscle was amputated on June 11, 2013 and we've never looked back. Follow our story on http://barret.t.....pawds.com/ and read my column on That Pet Blog
We feed home made food to the Oaktown Pack, and we gave up on brown rice because it is not as easily digested. From what I have learned, brown rice needs more cooking that you think it needs to allow it to be digested. We found it coming out in whole grain form just like it went in. We do not have the same problem with white rice. White rice is the great intestinal stabilizer when dogs are having digestive problems. I would try cooking the brown rice more, maybe in a pressure cooker to totally break it down and see if that helps.
We are not dealing with cancer dogs, and I understand why you would prefer to use the brown rice, but to get things stabilized nothing we have used works as well as white rice. From our experience, when pumpkin fails, the white rice will stabilize the GI tract. The other thing you might try is FortiFlora, a probiotic that can help get through tough patches.
Ralph
Our 4 legged dog, Ruby, has a very sensitive tummy. We got her allergy tested and found out she is allergic to a lot of different foods (all grains, fish, rabbit, venison.... the list goes on). Once I eliminated them from her diet her stools firmed up nicely. There have been occasional relapses, usually when she scavenges something she shouldn't like a potato chip or biscuits (she is allergic to both wheat and potato). Pumpkin and white rice don't work for her either because she is allergic to them as well. If she has a bad relapse I give her a Flagyl tablet and that usually has her back to normal.
I also thought that basmati rice had the highest GI index of the white rices? So maybe try that as a compromise? Or as Ralph suggests, try cooking the brown rice for longer?? Although maybe the extra roughage is too much? So maybe oatmeal might be better instead of the brown rice. It might be gentler on his GI system.
Ruby is also taking some probiotics with every meal as well. And she can even eat raw bones again (as long as I don't leave too much fat on them)!
Good luck! I hope you can avoid a poo-pocolypse!
Karen
Magnum: 30th May 2002 to 5th May 2012. Lost her back left leg to osteosarcoma on 5th Sep 2011. Lung mets found on 20th Mar 2012 but it was bone mets in the hip that ended her brave battle. Magnum's motto - "Dream as if you'll live for ever, live as if you'll die today" (James Dean). Loyal, loving, courageous and spirited to the end. My beloved heart dog, see her memoirs from Rainbow Bridge ...... http://princess.....pawds.com/
Thanks for the replies. Yesterday I did cook the rice in the slow cooker for about 8 hours until it was absolute goopy mush. It certainly didn't look appetizing, but they ate it just the same. I will wait and see if that improves things.
If it doesn't I may try oatmeal as the main starch, or just go back to my old recipe which was working well (white rice).
I will have to investigate the probiotics. I give digestive enzymes that I think have probiotics in them, but I will have the check the labels.
Karen, no one wants a repeat of the poo-pocolypse. My house will never be the same... haha
Heather
Barret was diagnosed with Hemangiopericytoma May 16, 2013. Front left leg/scapula/pectoral muscle was amputated on June 11, 2013 and we've never looked back. Follow our story on http://barret.t.....pawds.com/ and read my column on That Pet Blog
TMI about poop, here? Hahaha, never!
We wrote a blog post about how we solved Wyatt Ray 's sensitive belly issues with Edible Green Clay. It's miraculous!
Also, I would try the oatmeal, it works better for Wyatt too.
Check these out:
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thanks for the tip... I'm very intrigued by the clay 
Going to have to buy some!
Barret was diagnosed with Hemangiopericytoma May 16, 2013. Front left leg/scapula/pectoral muscle was amputated on June 11, 2013 and we've never looked back. Follow our story on http://barret.t.....pawds.com/ and read my column on That Pet Blog
Update: We're doing much better after cooking the brown rice to an indistinguishable mush. I recently started using my crock pot to prepare food and I love it! It is much easier and less messy, and the veggies and grains get cooked to the point where they are nearly unrecognizable! No more whole peas and carrots showing up when I've got doggy dooty duty!
I went with a 1/2 and 1/2 mixture of brown rice and oatmeal this week, maybe we can even get a FIRM poo out of Barret (might be the first in his lifetime, haha). My vet never heard of the clay, I sent them the site so they could register if they thought it was good.
Thanks for the tips everyone!
Heather and Barret
Barret was diagnosed with Hemangiopericytoma May 16, 2013. Front left leg/scapula/pectoral muscle was amputated on June 11, 2013 and we've never looked back. Follow our story on http://barret.t.....pawds.com/ and read my column on That Pet Blog
This is really great to know, thank you for the update.
I'm glad your vet read about the Clay. Kelly (aka Wookie) our fairy vet mother, hadn't heard of it either. When she did, she looked at the study cited and realized it was written by one of her former colleagues. She used it for Wookie's GI issues and it worked great for him. I hope it works for Barret too! Keep us posted.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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