Lab with Dodgy Tum being Picky 14 May at 1:20PM in Pets & Pet Care 3 replies 61 views

RolandFlagg

When we got our Lab he was 5 years old, and had been feed on left overs, which left him with IBS/IBD.
Vet suggested Purina HA. For a long time he was happy with that, and his stools which had basically been cow pats improved greatly.
Earlier this year after turning 11, he needed an Op to remove a tumour.
Since then he's become very picky about his food. At first he would eat the Purina HA if it had "tastys" on (bits of chicken etc). Now he just picks out the Purina and spits it out.
To make him eat something I got my Naturo, which is wet food from our local Sainsburys. He will eat this by itself, but not mixed with the Purina. But it's not having a good effect on this stools. To make matters more complicated he throws up yellow Bile almost every night since the Op. None of the medicine has worked.
So can anyone recommend a dry/wet food that will be good for his belly and tasty enough that he will eat it. Apart from lean chicken he will not touch any bland food.
Thanks.

sheramber

if he is bringing up bile then the food is not agreeing with him.  Purina HA is made with soya and used for dogs who react to unknown protein sources in food. Because it uses soya  it eliminates the usual protein sources from the diet.
  Have you discussed an alternative with your vet? There are other makes  of HA foods.
What suits one dog will not suit another . 
You can only try and see what agrees  with him. 
Have you tried tinned Chappie?- not the dried food.  It is often recommended by vets  for dodgy tums. 

elsien

Do you think he could be training you to just give him the nice stuff?
I only ask because I have to be careful what mine has, due to colitis, and he does get very bored with it so I have a list of things that I know won't upset him that I stick on to make his kibble more interesting. He does go through stages of overturning his bowl in disgust once he's picked out the nice bits, but I work on the "if he's hungry enough he'll eat it eventually" theory. Works for us.
I do also find that if you mix in wet stuff (he can tolerate a spoonful of plain yoghurt or raw egg) that coats what he's got and that he can't pick out, once he's started eating it he just carries on and scoffs the lot.

HampshireH

We use james welbeloved.

Ive tried changing my labs food to a cheaper brand but it was a no go.

I found grain free give firmer poos but smaller bags and more expensive.

Normal JWB gives our lab normal and regular stools.