Re: Help! gassy puppy

[Guest guest]

>

> Ack, cough, breath holding... I've had a 5-6 month old miniature

> schnauzer puppy for about 2 weeks. The folks who owned him 'said' that

> they were moving and couldn't keep him. My dh thinks they just

> couldn't stand his gas anymore. I immediately changed his diet to

> cooked meat/vegetables and raw meat. When I added Bromelain as a

> digestive enzyme it helped tremendously. But it's not gone yet. Can I

> do anything else, besides just wait a little longer? I've ordered

> diatomaceous earth in case he has parasites - it should get here

> tomorrow. The puppy is cute and energetic and everything he should be,

> except for the gas. Interestingly, one of my kids literally can't

> smell the problem. The rest of us are running for cover, and she just

> says 'what?'...

>

> BTW I have another miniature schnauzer who is almost 13 years old, and

> he eats basically the same food, and he doesn't have gas (unless he

> gets in the neighbors trash or something).

Jan,

What an interesting experiment! I'd say if you have any spare kefir

grains to give him one now and again and a little kimchee/sauerkraut

juice with meals but hopefully Suze/Christy will have some more

specific ideas.

I'm thinking of your kid--maybe test the that one's zinc level.

B.

[Guest guest]

Jan, chlorella is supposed to do wonders for stinky breath, poo, and

gas. And perhaps a bit of bentonite/ pascalite in his food?

Christa

>

> Ack, cough, breath holding... I've had a 5-6 month old miniature

> schnauzer puppy for about 2 weeks. The folks who owned him 'said' that

> they were moving and couldn't keep him. My dh thinks they just

> couldn't stand his gas anymore. >

> Jan

>

[Guest guest]

> What an interesting experiment! I'd say if you have any spare kefir

> grains to give him one now and again and a little kimchee/sauerkraut

> juice with meals but hopefully Suze/Christy will have some more

> specific ideas.

I gave him just a little gingered carrots & whey on the 2nd or 3rd

day, and it made it worse. I think maybe it was too much too soon. I

will give him a kefir grain and see what happens.

> I'm thinking of your kid--maybe test the that one's zinc level.

I'll look into that, but it might just be genetic. My MIL had a very

poor sense of smell, though I never thought much about it til now. And

with all the laughing we've had here lately about the puppy's problem,

I just found out that dd1 (age 9) didn't realize til today that 'gas'

smelled bad. I had no idea her sense of smell was so poor!

Jan

[Guest guest]

Christa

> Jan, chlorella is supposed to do wonders for stinky breath, poo, and

> gas. And perhaps a bit of bentonite/ pascalite in his food?

I have some Redmond Clay. I'll give that and the kefir grain a try. I

don't have any chlorella, but if those don't work, I'll get some.

thanks for the suggestions!

Jan

[Guest guest]

>-----Original Message-----

>From:

>[mailto: ]On Behalf Of Jan B.

>

>Ack, cough, breath holding... I've had a 5-6 month old miniature

>schnauzer puppy for about 2 weeks. The folks who owned him 'said' that

>they were moving and couldn't keep him. My dh thinks they just

>couldn't stand his gas anymore. I immediately changed his diet to

>cooked meat/vegetables and raw meat. When I added Bromelain as a

>digestive enzyme it helped tremendously. But it's not gone yet. Can I

>do anything else, besides just wait a little longer? I've ordered

>diatomaceous earth in case he has parasites - it should get here

>tomorrow. The puppy is cute and energetic and everything he should be,

>except for the gas. Interestingly, one of my kids literally can't

>smell the problem. The rest of us are running for cover, and she just

>says 'what?'...

If the bromelain is helping then that would suggest that additional

digestive enzymes would be helpful. Which I would've suggested anyway, for

gas. Pancreatin would be my first suggestion for the type of enzyme to give.

Exactly what meats/veggies are you feeding him? What's his calcium source?

Is he getting organ meats?

It's possible he might have pancreatic insufficiency. At that age, if he's

being fed a digestible diet, he should be digesting his food fine. The gas

means he's not.

Re the diatomaceous earth - be careful with that. Some forms are very

stressful to the lungs. I've read of cases where cats in particular

developed respiratory issues when they were exposed to diatomaceous earth.

I'm not really familiar with the different types though, so can't offer any

assistance on what to look out for.

Suze Fisher

Web Design and Development

http://www.allurecreative.com

Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leader, Mid Coast Maine

http://www.westonaprice.org

----------------------------

“The diet-heart idea (the idea that saturated fats and cholesterol cause

heart disease) is the greatest scientific deception of our times.” --

Mann, MD, former Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at Vanderbilt

University, Tennessee; heart disease researcher.

The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics

<http://www.thincs.org>

----------------------------

[Guest guest]

> >Ack, cough, breath holding... I've had a 5-6 month old miniature

> >schnauzer puppy for about 2 weeks. The folks who owned him 'said'

> > that

> >they were moving and couldn't keep him. My dh thinks they just

> >couldn't stand his gas anymore. I immediately changed his diet to

> >cooked meat/vegetables and raw meat.

> If the bromelain is helping then that would suggest that additional

> digestive enzymes would be helpful. Which I would've suggested

> anyway, for

> gas. Pancreatin would be my first suggestion for the type of enzyme

> to give.

Suze,

Is any one brand/kind better than another? I gave him the bromelain

because I already had it.

> Exactly what meats/veggies are you feeding him?

Homemade soup (mostly chicken with some corn & misc. veggies), meat

scraps leftover from meals, scrambled eggs. (He had a little

rice/black eyed peas/ham soup, but feeding beans to a gassy puppy

didn't seem like a good idea, though it didn't make him worse.)

> What's his calcium source?

So far, homemade broth. I don't have any good bones right now.

> Is he getting organ meats?

a small amount of raw free range turkey liver, gizzards or hearts with

each meal until I ran out a couple of days ago. Too much of that (esp.

liver) at one time made him worse.

I have also fed him some Purina One Puppy food (lamb & rice). The

previous owners were feeding him Purina Puppy Chow. (They gave me

almost a full bag. I hesitate to even dump it in the woods for the

wild critters.)

> It's possible he might have pancreatic insufficiency. At that age,

> if he's

> being fed a digestible diet, he should be digesting his food fine.

> The gas means he's not.

I'm afraid you might be right. I would think it would be better by now

if it was caused purely by bad diet. When we got our other schnauzer 5

years ago (when he was 8 years old), he had a very mild version of the

same problem. Feeding him good table scraps and Purina One when that

wasn't enough, fixed it easily. Fortunately the old dog is so spoiled

by the good food that he won't eat kibble unless he has to.

Also, the puppy eats very, very fast, even for a dog. He looks to be a

normal size and weight (about 12 lbs), though the other owners said

that he was very fat when they got him. He slimmed down when they fed

him meals, instead of leaving the food dish out all day long.

> Re the diatomaceous earth - be careful with that. Some forms are

> very

> stressful to the lungs. I've read of cases where cats in particular

> developed respiratory issues when they were exposed to diatomaceous

> earth.

I ordered food grade DE, and will be careful not to let it get air borne.

Thanks for the info!

Jan

[Guest guest]

>> If the bromelain is helping then that would suggest that additional

>> digestive enzymes would be helpful. Which I would've suggested

>> anyway, for

>> gas. Pancreatin would be my first suggestion for the type of enzyme

>> to give.

>Suze,

>Is any one brand/kind better than another? I gave him the bromelain

>because I already had it.

I use Thorne's Dipan 9 for my dogs. I usually get it here:

http://www.centerofhealth.com/catalog/

>

>> Exactly what meats/veggies are you feeding him?

>Homemade soup (mostly chicken with some corn & misc. veggies), meat

>scraps leftover from meals, scrambled eggs. (He had a little

>rice/black eyed peas/ham soup, but feeding beans to a gassy puppy

>didn't seem like a good idea, though it didn't make him worse.)

>> What's his calcium source?

>So far, homemade broth. I don't have any good bones right now.

I strongly suggest you get on one of the canine home feeding lists to get

some guidance on how to feed a puppy. You really need to become familiar

with the basics of the nutrtitional requirements of puppies and adult dogs,

which are somewhat different. It's not uncommon for some dogs to develop

health problems when owners are not familar with some of the basics of

canine nutrition and feed a home made diet of scraps and such. Growing

puppies have a particularly high need for calcium and I can't imagine

there's enough in bone broth to fulfill that need unless you're feeding a

pretty high amount. OTOH, it's not uncommon for puppies to develop skeletal

problems as a result of owners feeding excess calcium such as adding Ca

supps to commercial foods. There are also books on the subject, but I think

some of the lists are the best place to start. Here's one where you can get

very experienced guidance in how to home feed puppies:

K9Nutrition

I can't emphasize enough how important it is to get some guidance in this

from folks who are very experienced at raising puppies on homemade diets.

>

>> It's possible he might have pancreatic insufficiency. At that age,

>> if he's

>> being fed a digestible diet, he should be digesting his food fine.

>> The gas means he's not.

>I'm afraid you might be right. I would think it would be better by now

>if it was caused purely by bad diet. When we got our other schnauzer 5

>years ago (when he was 8 years old), he had a very mild version of the

>same problem. Feeding him good table scraps and Purina One when that

>wasn't enough, fixed it easily. Fortunately the old dog is so spoiled

>by the good food that he won't eat kibble unless he has to.

The gas could be caused by other things too. No matter, I'm sure the folks

on the K9 Nutrition list could help you figure out what's going on. I can

recommend other lists too if that one's too busy for you (although the

second one I'd recommend is pretty busy too).

Suze Fisher

Web Design and Development

http://www.allurecreative.com

Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leader, Mid Coast Maine

http://www.westonaprice.org

----------------------------

“The diet-heart idea (the idea that saturated fats and cholesterol cause

heart disease) is the greatest scientific deception of our times.” --

Mann, MD, former Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at Vanderbilt

University, Tennessee; heart disease researcher.

The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics

<http://www.thincs.org>

----------------------------