Sensitivity to chicken?

I'm wondering if Cavaliers have tummy sensitivities to chicken? Lyra has been on 3 types of food since I've had her. Lamb based, duck based, and now chicken based. She's been on this current chicken based food for almost 2 weeks and her poop has been consistently soft. I don't know if I should change her food right away. Is it too soon to know whether it's because it's only been 2 weeks or if chicken is just not agreeing with her?

The lamb based food that she was first on has grains, like this current chicken food. The duck based food was completely grain free, and she did really well on that. Don't know if I should tough it out till this bag ends or if I should just switch her food right away.

Oz seems to have a sensitivity to chicken, but it makes him have really smelly gas, not soft poop. His stools are always fine no matter what he eats, but when he eats chicken, he can clear a room with his gas. He is now on a limited ingredient venison and sweet potato diet and is doing really well - no gas!!

Well, just like people, it is possible some dogs are sensitive to certain things though chicken is usually pretty bland. However, I wonder why you're switching the food so much. Also did you just switched the food or did you slowly incorporate the new food into the old? Whenever I switched food, it did it over a period of a week to 10 days.

Chicken is bland and hence usually good for tummy upsets but it is also one of the most frequent proteins that dogs are sensitive too (along with beef). Grains also can cause upsets in some dogs. Also have found that dogs under one tend to have issues with food that disappear when they get older (just like kids with food allergies). If all you are seeing is soft-ish stools I'd just finish the bag unless it is huge, or else donate to a shelter/rescue. There's info on food intolerances in the Library section.

Some dogs need a slow switchover between foods, but I have never found that to be the case. Have never understood why omnivores that can eat rotting food from the trash or cat poop need extra sensitive tummy treatment on changing foods! :lol: But this is the case sometimes wi6th sensitive dogs or ones I think when dogs have been fed one thing only for ages. I give different things nearly every day, from raw to homecooked to tinned to kibble plus extras; rarely just kibble. Stool consistency varies but who cares? I mean the same happens with humans, depending on what one eats :lol: and we don't consider it a major issue. Only really matters for dogs if they are runny or always very soft (as firmer stools help express anal glands -- but they needn't be hard every single day).

Love my Cavaliers said:

Oz seems to have a sensitivity to chicken, but it makes him have really smelly gas, not soft poop. His stools are always fine no matter what he eats, but when he eats chicken, he can clear a room with his gas. He is now on a limited ingredient venison and sweet potato diet and is doing really well - no gas!!

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Hmm, Lyra doesn't really have bad gas, just the soft poop. Is the venison and sweet potato diet Natural Balance? I am thinking of just going 100% grain free after this bag of food.. I bought it because all the usual foods that I feed were sold out.

Sydneys Mom said:

Well, just like people, it is possible some dogs are sensitive to certain things though chicken is usually pretty bland. However, I wonder why you're switching the food so much. Also did you just switched the food or did you slowly incorporate the new food into the old? Whenever I switched food, it did it over a period of a week to 10 days.

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I rotate food every bag--just something I've done since I had my first dog. From the time he was a young puppy, he was fed a combo of kibble, canned food, raw, dehydrated raw, etc. I find that switching often helps the dogs' tummies adjust and so when they grow up, they are less likely to have food sensitivities. Nope, I didn't transition the food at all; what I do is I give the dogs 2-3 days of raw food in between each bag of kibble. The food that Lyra's breeder was feeding her was pretty icky and something I'd never ever feed my dogs (full of corn etc.), so I threw everything out and put her straight on whatever Cadence was eating. No problems there, until I started feeding her this chicken based kibble.

Also, I buy small bags of food--usually 4-6lb bags, so they go pretty quickly. I think one bag usually lasts something like 3 weeks to a month around here, lol.

Karlin said:

Chicken is bland and hence usually good for tummy upsets but it is also one of the most frequent proteins that dogs are sensitive too (along with beef). Grains also can cause upsets in some dogs. Also have found that dogs under one tend to have issues with food that disappear when they get older (just like kids with food allergies). If all you are seeing is soft-ish stools I'd just finish the bag unless it is huge, or else donate to a shelter/rescue. There's info on food intolerances in the Library section.

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Thanks Karlin, I'll go and scour the library section. Yeah, you're right! When my Cadence was a pup, he had the most sensitive tummy ever. I could never overfeed him (that's usually what set him off), or he would have explosive diarrhea all over the house. He was fine with different protein sources, but not with fresh veggies like carrots. He has an iron tummy now though! I can pretty much feed him anything; so that's what I'm trying to do with Lyra... just giving her plenty of different types of food so that her tummy gets used to it when she grows up.

Her stools are soft, but formed. It doesn't bother her at all, really. We're about halfway through a 6lb bag, so I think I'll just tough it out.. maybe I'll add some canned pumpkin into her diet just to get the stool to firm up a bit. At first I thought she might have worms, because she was butt scooting a lot, but we went to the vet's last week and he gave her a wormer... no difference in her stool, so I think it's the food.

Yes, the venison and sweet potato is Natural Balance and Oz absolutely loves it. By the way, I know it's chicken that gives him gas, because when I do make chicken and give the dogs pieces of it, Oz's tummy is back to it's old tricks. He can handle all kinds of vegetables and fruits, raw and cooked without a problem. I don't know about other meats because I don't eat them or cook them at home.

My little guy hates any chicken based wet dog food. Even the crunchy chicken bones, they obviously just don't have enough flavour
for him. We tried him on the fresh puppy loaf food that is made from chicken, rice, turkey necks and egg, and he gobbles it down.
Even fresh chicken breast doesn't interest him.

I found that beef wet food gave him an upset tummy, even though he seemed to really enjoy it.

I have had dogs in the past who could not tolerate chicken based foods. James Wellbeloved have been making a food which is fish based and has suited these perfectly. The only problem with it was that what came out the other end smelled a bit fishy to say the least

Sometimes what starts as a food based allergy in a puppy can disappear by the time the dog has it's first birthday, so it's wise to try again with that food later by adding a small quantity of it to the normal meal, then gradually adding more over a few days to see whether the dog can tolerate the chicken.

Love my Cavaliers said:

Yes, the venison and sweet potato is Natural Balance and Oz absolutely loves it. By the way, I know it's chicken that gives him gas, because when I do make chicken and give the dogs pieces of it, Oz's tummy is back to it's old tricks. He can handle all kinds of vegetables and fruits, raw and cooked without a problem. I don't know about other meats because I don't eat them or cook them at home.

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Ah, that's good to know. I'll keep the NB in mind for the next bag of food. Thanks!

JessieAndMe said:

My little guy hates any chicken based wet dog food. Even the crunchy chicken bones, they obviously just don't have enough flavour
for him. We tried him on the fresh puppy loaf food that is made from chicken, rice, turkey necks and egg, and he gobbles it down.
Even fresh chicken breast doesn't interest him.

I found that beef wet food gave him an upset tummy, even though he seemed to really enjoy it.

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Wow, really? That's interesting! Lyra likes ANYTHING. She's a monster--she will eat anything and everything she can find, LOL. I haven't tried feeding her any fresh chicken yet though, maybe I'll do that one of these days and see if it's the chicken that's causing the problem or if it's something else...

ByFloSin said:

I have had dogs in the past who could not tolerate chicken based foods. James Wellbeloved have been making a food which is fish based and has suited these perfectly. The only problem with it was that what came out the other end smelled a bit fishy to say the least

Sometimes what starts as a food based allergy in a puppy can disappear by the time the dog has it's first birthday, so it's wise to try again with that food later by adding a small quantity of it to the normal meal, then gradually adding more over a few days to see whether the dog can tolerate the chicken.

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Lol, I actually like fish based foods because I find that it really, really helps with the coat and shedding. Too bad Cadence doesn't really like fish--he will tolerate kibble but not canned fish food or fresh fish.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Lyra will outgrow her chicken allergy! It's really hard to find treats that have no chicken in them. Dehydrated chicken is one of my favourite treats to give because it's easy to make and not too expensive. I think I'll go back to a duck/turkey based kibble after this and try chicken again when she turns one.