Loose Stool and Wellness Small Breed

[BentleyMarck]

Hi Everyone - I am sorry to say that I am not much of a poster here - but I do pop into the forum often to see what you all experienced Yorkie parents have to say... and now I could use some more specific help.

Our little guy, Bentley, just turned a year old. We got him when he was about five months and he is a funny, lovable, energetic joy.

When we first got him, we had him on Blue Buffalo puppy formula and he did fine on it... but after reading some posts about food quality, I wanted to take it up a notch, so I switched him to Wellness Small Breed formula. We mix it with a bit of Wellness canned (either Beef, Chicken or Turkey Stew) and at he seemed to be doing great on it.

About two weeks ago though, I happened to be outside when he had to "go" and I noticed he had really loose stools. I took away the canned Turkey thinking maybe that didn't agree with him (he mostly had Beef and Chicken before) ... and then I started him on boiled rice and chicken.

After a few days of that not helping anything, I called the vet and brought in a stool sample... which came back negative for parasites, Ghiardia and whatever else they check for.

Other than the loose stools, he is acting normally. Still very active and playful. Eats and drinks just fine.

The vet put him on Metronidazole twice a day. They said it should help firm things up... and it sort of has - but not entirely, if you know what I mean.

Vet says that if after he is done the meds, he goes back to loose stool, we need to consider a diet change. I called them to ask for a new food recommendation, but have not heard back yet.

So...I wrote all of this to ask

a) if anyone has had similar experiences and what happened in your case? (ie - is there anything else we should be considering that we may not have discussed with the vet?)

and

b) if I do want to look at switching him over to a new food, what would you suggest? (I am about to the point where I would need to buy something new if I am going to transition)

Thank you for reading this long post and thank you in advance for your input.

Thanks!!!

[Britster]

While I think Wellness is a high quality food, I've heard this a few times from other people about loose stool. I know it caused major eye boogers with Jackson. Loose stool can also come from over-feeding, so be sure you are not. The bag recommendations are often WAY too much. For example the most I feed my 16lb Yorkie is 3/4 cup per day. But generally speaking he gets 1/2 cup per day of kibble mixed with some wet food and he is very active. Also, know that the vet is probably going to recommend to Science Diet, Iams, or something of the like... which are a downgrade!! lol. Check out Dog Food Reviews | Dog Food Ratings

[Patti]

I was switching mine to Wellness weight management a couple of weeks ago. I had one who had loose stools and one throw up and one who had a hard time eating it because of the shape of the kibble. Not sure if it was because of the Wellness but I stopped it and put them back on their old food until I find something else.

[bchgirl]

I fed wellness until we got a new family member who had chronic diarehea. I would get it cleared up with a bland diet...slowly add back the wellness and it would return. After eliminating all the other possibilities health wise and diet wise....I changed foods and it immediately cleared up and he's had no more issues.

I presently feed taste of the wild.

[xoxodoglover89]

It could be that you're overfeeding as that sometimes tends to cause loose stool or it could just be that he can't tolerate the Wellness. If he continues experiencing loose stool, I'd look into a different food. Taste of the Wild seems to be pretty popular. I've given it to Sasha in the past. Currently I'm giving Sasha Acana, but since your guy seems to be getting loose stools on Wellness, Acana might even be too rich for him, but then again you never know until you try!

[BentleyMarck]

Hi everyone - thank you for your input. I feed him most of the time and he gets about a 1/4 cup of dry with a little wet mixed in twice a day... When certain other members of our family feed him, I suspect he gets more than that But that only happens every once in a while...

He is about 11 pounds so I am pretty sure we are feeding him the right amount.

He does get a couple of treats throughout the day - especially the Kong stuffin' cookies. I am wondering if those might be part of the problem as well.

But anyway - I think I will look to switch his food and see how he does. I will post his progress.

Thank you again for your help!

[Justin]

Chris is on Wellness Small Breed and he does have the occasional loose stool. I might switch him over to something else this week. I will let you know which food we decide to switch to. I am debating on switching to Wellness Core

[mscat]

MIne eat the Wellness super 5 , and my yorkie does great with it. However, i have a shih tzu that I am worried about, she looks like she needs to put on weight. So I bought a small bag of Evo to mix in. But, my Yorkie does not need to put on any more weight, and I free feed them. The Evo was expensive too, but, I want to at least try it for my shih tzu. Neither of them have had problems with loose stools.

[Jellybears]

I bought the Wellness (which is also sold up here in Canada!) wet food for Darcy, and he wouldn't even touch it! and at over $3 a can, I took the 2 unopened cans back!

[MochaBoyMom]

Mocha had loose stool while on BB so I switched him to Orijen and problem went away. However, I was speaking to a BB rep at a pet fair and she said they have this formula called "Blue Basics" that will not cause loose stool. If you want to stay with BB, give the Basics a try. The rep did caution me about Wilderness, saying that only very active dogs should be on that. If your baby does not exercise everyday, stay away from Wilderness. She tole me Mocha is fine since he runs with me every other day. Hope this gives you a good reference point to decide whether to stay with Wilderness.

If you want to give Orijen a try, this video tells you everything you need to know about the food. Champion Petfoods | Home


Oops...just realized that you said "Wellness", not "Wilderness"...sorry, please ignore my post.

[lovelylf1]

I had Scooter on Wellness and then Wellness Core. I was happy with it but I kept exploring my options. Long story short, I tried Kirkland Brand (Costco) Small Dog formula. A friend told me that it was very similar to Wellness and some of the food rating scales prove it. We love it!!

It comes in 20 lbs bags which takes forever for us to go through but the bag is roughly $12 plus tax. I break the big bag into smaller food storage bags (I have a air vac system) to keep it fresh. Considering he eats so little each day, that takes up a ton of space but I have never seen him chow down and run for a bowl of food like he does with the Kirkland food. We are now in the middle of our second huge bag. His coat seems just as soft. His stools are normal.

I do not mix any canned food in with it, I make my own "food topper". He has never really liked canned food, I think he likes to munch on it and canned isn't very crunchy.

If you are willing to store the food, try it. Costco has a great return policy so even if you open the bag and your dog hates it, they will let you return it.