Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi All,
So Mika is still doing great 3 months post-amputation, but my husband and I are having a disagreement about her food. I have switched her over to grain-free kibble for the past 3.5 months, but DH (who is charge of poop scooping) thinks that we need to add some high-quality kibble with grain because the consistancy of her poo is weird ever since we made the change. Do any of your pups have black, sticky poops that are way smaller than pre-grain-free diets? DH thinks she needs more roughage.
So sorry for the gross question. The questions we awrents ask each other! Oh my!
Thanks,
Mari (Mika's mom)
Hi,
I can only tell you what I feed my girl, and she has great poop–medium brown and solid (but not hard). When she was diagnosed with cancer, I downloaded an e-book by Dr. Dressler, a veterinarian in Hawaii. He has diet recommendations that I followed, and that means I cook for my girl. She gets turkey burger, brown rice, and LOTS of broccoli and red peppers. There are other ingredients, but these are the key ones. If you don't want to go to that bother, perhaps you could try adding cooked broccoli and red or yellow peppers to your dog's diet; cook them til they are quite soft. That would certainly add some quality roughage.
Lexi
Daisy, 12 years young, had left forelimb amp on 5/19/2010 due to osteosarcoma. She left her body behind and joined the other spirit tripawds on 7/16/2010.
So grateful for each day with her!
Lexi (Daisy's momma)
I use Honest Kitchen premixes and also another premix called Urban Wolf. Urban Wolf makes the most consistent poops 😉 Honest Kitchen does too but on Urban Wolf the poops tend to be more solid and less in amount. FWIW, Urban Wolf is also the highest in protein added.
You didn't mention what type of grain free kibble you're using but I have used Orijen as training treats and didn't see any poop issues when using it, at least as treats..
Tracy, Maggie's Mom
Maggie was amputated for soft tissue sarcoma 10-20-09
Maggie lost her battle with kidney disease on 8-24-13
Catie and Riley are fed a high-protein, low-carbohydrate & grain-free kibble. They've been on Orijen for the last several years and have done very well on it.
No poop issues 🙂
Catie -
Birthday – November 4 2003
Amputation – January 13 2010
Crossed the Bridge – June 2 2011
When we switched Harley to grain-free
after cancer was suspected, the first brand we tried caused serious gas (Taste of the Wild) and the second cause soft poo (Evo) … so I ended up doing lots of research on side-effects and I do remember some people complaining of black, tarry poo. Some people seemed to think it was the body getting rid of the toxins/build-up/side-effects from years of eating grain. Other people seemed to think stopping the food was best and to consult a Vet. We never dealt with this side-effect, so I have no direct experience, just what I have read. I also remember reading that smaller poo was to be expected, as well. (We ended up switching to Blue Buffalo Wilderness, which works well for Harley, and we now have perfect poo. 
)
I mentioned this product on a topic for Magic …
Organic Pet Superfood Digestion Powder. I don't have experience with the product, but it may help?? (Maybe whoever added those nice links to purchase this product under Magic's topic {Magic – lung mets – showing of blood – advice appreciated}, can do that here?? I'm so not computer savvy and have no idea how to do that.)
Organic Pet Superfood Digestion Powder
Good luck!
Amputation on 11/10/09, due to Histiocytic Sarcoma in left elbow. Angel Harley earned his wings on 06/24/10.
Nasty poo is usually a side effect of diet changes because your dog's system has to get used to the new stuff. But it seems to me the adjustment should have been made by 3 1/2 months into the new diet. We did the same thing when our dog Max got cancer, and he handled the switch to Orijen fairly well. All dogs are different, though, so if he keeps having the nasty poo you might want to try some other low-grain alternative.
But are you feeding him nothing but the dry food? We gave Max a mix of dry and wet food, often consisting of a homemade blend of shredded beef or chicken combined with shredded steamed veggies. My wife has the actual recipe if you're interested. She made the mix in huge batches, then froze it and thawed it out as needed so it wasn't a hassle to feed him day-to-day. I'm thinking maybe adding some non-grain fiber and roughage to his diet might help straighten things out.
Maxidad said:
My wife has the actual recipe if you're interested.
Maxidad, we are interested, can you email it to us and we'll publish it in our Nutrition Blog? Thanks!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hopalong Harley said:
(Maybe whoever added those nice links to purchase this product under Magic's topic {Magic – lung mets – showing of blood – advice appreciated}, can do that here??
Guilty as charged! Just our way to direct people to the best sources where they can purchase recommended products like this, and help Tripawds out as well. We are always so glad to hear about what pawrents out there are using, so thank you.
Mari, it's so great to hear that Mika is doing well! And always remember that no questions are off limits here, all of us have been through the gross out challenges. When considering her poo formations, ask yourself, what makes your poo weird? The same factors may be the reasons why hers are.
As for black sticky poo, is she taking any Non-Steroidals like Metacam? I think I recall your saying she is? Forgive me if I spaced on that. If so, stools like that can be a sign that the NSAID is causing issues with her gut. I would talk to your vet immediately, they will probably recommend stopping it and trying something else.
Hubby may be right, she may need more roughage, but there are ways to bulk up her stools without going out and buying a new bag of food. Remember, grains feed cancer. If you don't have time to make homemade food, you can just steam some veggies and add them to her meal, with some meats as well (cooked or raw, your preference as long as the cooked doesn't have bones).
In The Dog Cancer Survival Guide, Dr. Dressler does say that if you're concerned about the cost, "Try well-cooked, softened brown rice. The bran in the rice contains pollysacharides, that have some evidience for cancer-fighting abilities. Oatmeal is another good option for a wholesome grain."
Good luck, let us know what happens OK?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Mari & Mika,
We feed our dogs "Taste of the Wild" grain free poultry blend. Chuy, Gretchen & Anka all do quite well on it. They say if the quantity of the stool goes down, the dog is actually absorbing more of the nutrients. All of our dogs have normal stools on this diet. I do agree with everyone else though, adding cooked veggies to Mika's diet may help. Keep us posted.
Eleanor & Chuy
Chuy, showing everyone that Tripawds do everything 3 times better than regular dogs!
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