# Soft poo and over feeding?



## Beau-a-saurus (Jan 26, 2011)

Hello,

I will try to keep this post short and sweet as I have a habit of writing essays and there is lots of history here about food types etc.

Basically, if Beaus soft poo problem (only 2nd or 3rd not the first of the day) is caused by over feeding but he is perfect weight and I don't want him to lose any more could breaking his meals into 3 meals a day from 2 meals help? 

Many thanks for your thoughts


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## Born2BWild (Jun 6, 2012)

Yes  It'll make the meals smaller, making it easier to digest and process. More nutrients will be absorbed instead of going right through the dog resulting in less, hopefully firmer, poos. I take it you've eliminated any medical causes and that you are sure it's because of over feeding ? Simply stop over feeding, cut feeding amounts by 20-25% and gradually build up if necessary, monitoring the poos, if they start getting loose again you know your feeding too much  Good luck!


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## Beau-a-saurus (Jan 26, 2011)

Yep, vets have been involved, he had a few issues which were treated when we initially rescued him, worms, bacterial infections and a few bouts of colitus but these are all under control. They have also tested at different times but all clear and as his first poo is perfect their opinion is that it is to do with him usually toileting on walks so the exercise/excitement makes him looser. 

As you know from other threads I have been looking at changing foods but I have only recently changed to fishmongers and take it very slowly so would only swap after a good trial time of 4-16 weeks depending on the food and how he does on it. 

I would love to just cut down his food but he has some old behavioral problems which can surface if he is over hungry and also his weight is at about the lowest I would like to see it, hence I was wondering if I can feed the same amount but in more meals and still see a benefit? 

This is also why I am considering the MWH as it means I could feed less volume for the same calories, however this didn't work for Orijen as I think it was too rich for him.................:confused1:

I think we will try the 3 meals a day and keep on his current food and see how that goes. He will be happy to get an extra meal in!

Edit: I am not 100% sure that it is over feeding but the indications all seem to point to that, I guess time will tell


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

Perhaps the bit that's scooting thro more quickly hence being softer, isnt having all the nutrients absorbed in the first place. The food that goes thro slowly is maintaining his weight and the surplus (that you would cut back) is money in a pooh bag and not being utilised.

I tried putting Heidi on an extra meal a day and still had the sloppy pooh because I think the overall daily amount was too much regardless of how many meals it was spread over.

I would try cutting his food back, only by a small amount (you may be surprised how little it takes). If his pooh improves, keep at that rate and keep an eye on his weight.

Sorry, I've done an essay but I hope it helps


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## Beau-a-saurus (Jan 26, 2011)

Mum2Heidi said:


> Perhaps the bit that's scooting thro more quickly hence being softer, isnt having all the nutrients absorbed in the first place. The food that goes thro slowly is maintaining his weight and the surplus (that you would cut back) is money in a pooh bag and not being utilised.
> 
> I tried putting Heidi on an extra meal a day and still had the sloppy pooh because I think the overall daily amount was too much regardless of how many meals it was spread over.
> 
> ...


Great essay :thumbup: Very helpful, I hadn't thought of the fact that if he is not processing all of the food it would also cause weight loss!

Right, gonna try a small reduction and the 3 meals see if we see an improvement. If he also loses weight I will just have to find something to top the food up with.

Many thanks to both of you


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## IncaThePup (May 30, 2011)

ahh..found you..thought you were calling it 'splitting meals'..lol!

What I've always done with Inca is work out her kibble allowance some will go in dinner usually with some fresh added depends what I'm having for dinner the other is split into treat toys/interactive puzzles. If I add a different type of treat I reduce the kibble unless its just a chew I'm adding that has very few calories. 

Putting it into treat toys might slow him down if he's taking longer to eat it, as he might also choose to have some then have a rest and go back for rest later, it's a good mental exercise too for them. Inca has quite an impressive collection after 12 yrs but very kindly shares them with her little bro to save me buying them all again!


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## totallypets (Dec 30, 2011)

I had the same problem with Poppy on Fishmongers, one solid poo on her morning walk and then 2 or 3 more sloppy ones on that walk. We'd have 2 more on her afternoon walk, both sloppy. She was underweight by about 3kg when I got her and despite feeding for her desired weight she was losing more. I switched to Applaws thinking it might help her poo, but there was no difference in the poo at all. I then tried raw which has solved all the problems, nice firm poo and now up to her correct weight. I do feed the odd kibble meal as I still had a bag and a half of Applaws left when we switched, and then got given a bag of James Wellbeloved Turkey and Rice so have used that too occasionally. It has to be said that the JWB doesn't cause the same issues with sloppy poo for Poppy. When I was ill recently Poppy ended up being fed JWB for about 5 days and her poos were perfect.

Sorry for the ramble, I hope that maybe something I said is helpful!


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## Beau-a-saurus (Jan 26, 2011)

Thanks for the further experience  the other (or one of) issue I have with Beau is that he has food security issues which are the trigger to pretty severe guarding behavior, we are not able to use treat balls for his proper meals as they just frustrate him and can cause probs. 

Interesting that you have also had issues keeping weight on with Fishmongers........I am still going to persevere with it as the eye and skin issues seem to have decreased so I think this was just due to change over. I am trying to reduce it a small amount and see how it goes, I am going very slowly though and hope he won't notice 

Re: JWB and Applaws we have tried both, the Applaws first which he did really badly on to the point I only kept him on for 4 weeks including nearly 2 weeks swap over, then had to go straight on to JWB grain free with a resting diet in between. He was a bit better on this but defo not as good as the Wafcol and more recently the Fishmongers. 

I will also mention raw, when we got Beau he had been on raw and burns but was not solid then, he had had a great deal of stress as he was a rescue who had had a lot of upset and was due to be PTS because or his resource guarding, fear agression, no bite inhibition and he had had his growl suppressed (he had been pushed and pushed until he bit) 

I put his tummy probs mostly down to the stress so we worked on the behavioral stuff, we decided to feed raw, with a fairly high proportion of RMB as we were recommended that chewing was good for his stress relief. un-fortunately with Beau we have had a number of issues with raw and him not eating but guarding his RMB, basically he has to be hungry to eat it but to allow him to get hungry means he is dangerous and to keep him full was dangerous as he then carried the food round with him and would attack if anyone moved. I decided it was not worth the risk to us or the stress it was giving him.

Oops I knew I would write an essay! sorry but all background info I suppose!


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## Beau-a-saurus (Jan 26, 2011)

Oh I just wanted to say he is now a happy little dog and very secure in his place, he is still a terrier so pushes boundaries and can be challenging but 99% of the time he the perfect dog  

Just want to totally sort his tum out


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## IncaThePup (May 30, 2011)

awwh it's a shame he can't play with the treat toys due to his issues, mine get so much enjoyment out of theirs and dinner lasts longer than 5 seconds..lol!

I've just bought them the green interactive feeder to share. I'm surprised the bumps are further apart than I thought so they both find it quite easy, (using small dry kibble) still it did take them nearly 10 mins the first time (they take turns to use it) 

It may get more challenging if added wet to it, it looks like it would be easy to clean, but I think a frozen kong would be more challenging. 

I'm looking at the spiral maze one as that could be more challenging with them having to work a bit of sausage from centre right to the end and the 'path' is narrow enough that they can't just pick it up. It's Inca's 12th Birthday in March so I'll see if I can pick one up cheap if I don't get any more Amazon vouchers before then! 

back to topic..(sorry I'm a terrible waffler!  ) I had to take JJ off the Wafcol altogether it was just running right through him and when a neighbour meeting him for first time described him as a 'bag of bones' (as they were stroking down his sides) I knew I had find something else whilst I researched dog food more carefully. 

So he's been having home cooked everyday with rice or sweet potato, veg and chicken or fish and his poo's have firmed up and he's starting to feel heavier. He also not had as much exercise with us been snowed in and when could get scooter out he had to stay on footplate till I got to some grass as I had to go in middle of main road due to icy pavements and snowdrifts along kerbs (Inca will trot alongside on pavement off lead reliably). 

Still waiting for his Eden to arrive and the wet trays off [email protected] as delivery was cancelled due to adverse weather but hoping it would be here by the weekend as I'm running out of fresh and can't get a food delivery till next Wednesday!


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## Beau-a-saurus (Jan 26, 2011)

Oooooh shame about the wafcol! and glad he is doing well on the home cooked, and I hope you can get out to stock up or get friend to do some shopping for you 

you will have to let us know how he goes on the new food when it arrives.


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## IncaThePup (May 30, 2011)

yes the plus is I'm eating healthier too as too lazy to cook different meal for me..lol.. so I also had sweet potato, fish and peas when I cooked him that..though I'm dying for pizza and chips. so can't wait for the Eden and/or wet trays to turn up. lol! 

I'll do an update when I had him on it about a month unless I see a really drastic improvement in first week or so that is worth mentioning. 

Hope you find something that works for Beau.


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## Beau-a-saurus (Jan 26, 2011)

Well, I am still trying the reduced feeding and for his tum it does seem to help as his stools have been firmer and yesterday he only did one firm poo while out on a walk.

The only problem is (as feared) he is noticeably more grumpy, less active/playful and even had an argument with a dog he is normally really happy with, His eyes are not as clean and bright as normal and his coat feels harsher and he is more itchy.

I think although his tum is better these other issues are not an acceptable payoff, so I have decided to give the Milllies a try and continue a reduced feeding amount hoping the higher quality and calorie food will mean he can eat less and still feel happy and healthy.

I have just ordered a bag to see how we go - fingers crossed this one suits him :thumbup1: 

Thanks to all those who have given advice - I really appreciate it


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## IncaThePup (May 30, 2011)

good luck.. I still have that fishmongers coming I ordered from [email protected] but Inca will have the dry kibble though JJ can have some of the trays (trout with peas and gravy I think). 

The Bob & Lush taster box came but I only just started him on Eden today so I gave the kibble to Inca and they shared the wet food (lamb with carrots) it had the consistency of the F4D salmon mouse which I wasn't keen on though they both polished it all off!! 

I got some Natures diet to try too I got it off Ebay for just under a tenner for 8 including delivery (It was £14.99 on Petplanet). I'm hoping the trays maybe resemble meat in gravy more! .. though its probably easier to fill a kong with if its more like a mousse!

Keep us posted!


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