Diet for irritable bowel syndrome....with venison as the protein

So now that this is likely issue.... am looking at long-term diet. It appears that she may not do well on her existing food and I sooooo dread the idea of changing her diet since she already has had so many issues!!

We are going to stay the course for now, but starting to look at other options to consider. It wil be hard for me to cook a venison diet for her but I did find this raw frozen option: http://www.naturesvariety.com/InstinctRaw/dog/venison

California Natural and Natural Balance do make a sweet potato/venison, but I know that processed food also may be an issue. Any thoughts?

If I decide to try the frozen raw with no additives... any suggestions on possible negative reactions as she has never had raw food? How would you transition her?

There is a brand called Addiction that makes a venison diet as well (it's dehydrated raw), They also make lamb, brushtail, and, I believe, pheasant based diets.
The Honest Kitchen makes a grain free, vegetable mix that you add your own meat to, it is semi-custom balanced nutrition without having to do the hard work yourself.

I would transition quickly, or just switch "cold turkey". If her current diet is making her sick, why delay getting off it? Diarrhea? She already has that.

Another important thing to point out. Since you will likely not be feeding kibble, gracie's teeth will need more attention so plaque doesn't build up. Guinness was on a raw diet for about 3 months and his vet pointed out how bad his teeth got in that time.

Thanks... I will check into The Addiction food

Gracie is stablized now with help of meds. Diarrhea at bay I think the Evo 95% venison is okay for now but not long-term. It is not the cause of it but does not help. Too rich. So probably will transition slowly as I would like to give her a rest and avoid pancreatitis which would be even worse.

I'm glad she's stable. I don't know much about diets. I know Cathy moon (one of the moderators) lives in USA and is very knowledgeable regarding diet

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ZiwiPeak does an air dried raw venison

GraciesMom said:

. . . . . but I did find this raw frozen option: http://www.naturesvariety.com/InstinctRaw/dog/venison

California Natural and Natural Balance do make a sweet potato/venison, but I know that processed food also may be an issue. Any thoughts? her?

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IMO, avoid the NV frozen raw because it has such a long list of ingredients. Any one of those could be an existing -- or new -- IBS trigger. Same with Primal Pets frozen raw diet. Too much stuff for a quirky G.I. tract. Read ingredients lists. Keep it simple.

I hate to cook, avoid it like the plague at home although in truth, I do cook out of necessity if I want to eat. I won't cook for a dog, if I can avoid it. Instead, I use the prepared frozen raw diets and finally(!) found one that serves us very well.

I feed Sophie Oma's Pride http://www.omaspride.com/index.php along with good vitamin & Omega supplements. I can't say enough good things about it, if you want to try a frozen pre-mixed raw diet.

The Oma's Pride ingredients list is very, very simple and this brand has had no food recalls (yet). Sophie does not have IBS, but her G.I. tract is touchy, and other foods caused skin allergies: scratching, biting, literally tearing out the fur on her rump. Her ears stay clean on their own, too. I rarely remember to look in there. A lot of raw-diet fans say it has to do with grain/carb-free diets, so perhaps they are right. Either that, or good genetics, is what I say.

There are two kibbles that don't give Sophie problems and I feed them to her occasionally (once or twice a week) just to keep mealtimes interesting, or when I haven't thawed out her frozen raw:

Wellness company has their "Simple" line of Allergy foods. One protein source, one carbohydrate (rice) source. Sophie's G.I. tract does well but the rice (or something) make her eyes run & tear stain more than normal) Just our experience.

Natural Balance - "L.I.D." Limited Ingredient Diet is a similar type kibble, one protein source, one carbohydrate (sweet potatoes) source. Sophie does well on it, too.

The thing about kibble is the carbohydrate that is needed to 'glom' or hold the food together (similar to meatloaf) makes for large poops. I've gotten so spoiled to the smaller poops from the carb-free Oma's Pride, that I really don't like to feed much kibble, in spite of the ease, because of the size of the poops. We don't have a pick-up rule here, and the smaller poops are smaller (like, half the size/volume), and disappear much faster.

Oma's has a couple dozen distributors in NC, where you live, so accessing it shouldn't be a problem. We have limited availability in my area. After two years, I've gotten rather accustomed to the partial thawing of the 2-lb brick, cutting up & placing in zip-loc type bags, and re-freezing routine. The 1-lb brick is easier & faster to thaw, but the 2-lb brick is, IMO, more efficient.

Putting Gracie on a raw diet is definitely worth a try, but bear in mind that there are raw-fed dogs who have problems with IBS as well, so it is not a cure-all diet. Definitely worth a try, though.

Every dog is different. For me, OP is the best for Sophie and she is well worth the little bit of bother. And I have the NB-L.I.D. and Wellness-SIMPLE as backups in a pinch.

Thanks so much Waldor!

I was worried about all the ingredients in the Nature's Variety. Some seem problematic and you have underscored that. I was already leaning toward Nature's Balance as a kibble or soft food too. They do have several combinations with sweet potato so that if venison appears to be an issue too, we can try another option. I will check out Oma's Pride as that sure seems to be a better option than Nature's Variety. Thank you thank you

Waldor...one question

if I can use the Oma's Pride mixes because they are meats she can't eat and have to use the 100% venison or bison... what do I mix with it that would be good for her IBS? Should I just do pumpkin or sweet potato with a supplement?

GraciesMom said:

if I can use the Oma's Pride mixes because they are meats she can't eat and have to use the 100% venison or bison... what do I mix with it that would be good for her IBS? Should I just do pumpkin or sweet potato with a supplement?

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You can, and you can also use cooked veggies like broccoli, squash, green beans, carrots, peas. Sweet potato is popular in dry kibble because it holds the kibble together. It is a carbohydrate and will make the poops larger.

If you are prone to reading and research, this web site is where I buy my supplements and have learned a lot about raw feeding, and the owner has a Yahoo Group http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/K9Nutrition/?yguid=252675358 that I read voraciously, the first year we had Sophie. It is not The Last Word on the topic , as there are a plethora of opinions, so one finds a web site or group they feel comfortable with and read up. A lot of the K9Nutrition Yahoo Group people feed raw meaty bones diets, but that won't work for a CKCS lap dog and our flooring, but the group's emphasis is to respect all forms of dog diets and good nutrition. There is where I learned that even a raw fed dog can have IBS. There is a public archive from the Yahoo Group here: http://onibasu.com/ be sure to check K9Nutrition and uncheck any of the other topics.

Just my opinion, but I would feed home cooked because of all the issues. I would work with a nutritionist to make sure it is balanced though. Cavaliers are small enough that cooking for them shouldn't be a big issue.

Many people swear by raw though. I have not had good experiences with raw and my IBD kitty though. Diarrhea should be under control before you switch to a novel diet. If not, the gut can be leaky and the dog could then become allergic to the novel protein. The other alternative would be to switch to novel protein 1 and then novel protein 2 once issues start to resolve.

All this is sooooo complicated

Did not know about novel protein 1 and then novel protein 2.... so maybe do venison and then bison. Wow... so much to figure out. And yes, so many opinions about this, including dog dietiticians, vets, and researchers. Raw... home cooked... freeze dried... limited ingredient quality commercial food, etc.

Hardly know where to start......
We did add a tsp of pureed fresh organic pumpkin tonight. She was not crazy about it but ate it. And slowing backing down the current canned food, which everyone seems to agree is too rich for her. So guess we will start there... and adding very slowly the Venison & Sweet Potato by Natural Balance first. No grains and very few ingredients. If that does not work well, will try their Bison & Sweet Potato or a raw process or home cooked diet.

Thanks all!

and tossed all the Nylabones today...

Concerned that she somehow got little bits of in her digestive system.... she is soooo tough on anything like that. So they are now allllll gone!

Poor little Gracie! So much going on in such a little girl.

Debra, you are handling it well. Lots to learn and experiment with. I don't know anything about IBS, so I can't be of any help. I do know that with those who have allergies, going simple in the diet is a key to help (have a friend whose dog is on rabbit and something, shoot, maybe sweet potatoe). I wonder why the vension or bison?

Hope this works for you.

mommytoClaire said:

Poor little Gracie! So much going on in such a little girl.

Debra, you are handling it well. Lots to learn and experiment with. I don't know anything about IBS, so I can't be of any help. I do know that with those who have allergies, going simple in the diet is a key to help (have a friend whose dog is on rabbit and something, shoot, maybe sweet potatoe). I wonder why the vension or bison?

Hope this works for you.

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Venison and bison are both lower fat and fairly easy to digest. Lower fat is best for dogs with on-going digestion issues. Also, she does NOT digest chicken well at all and HATES anything with a fishy smell. You should see her face when she smells fish! Dog version of "bleck!"