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A Gasbag


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Dear Doggers,

 

With 4 Border Collies in the house we are not too fastidious. I am familiar with modest "Baps" as dogs leap to the couch and the "hiss" as sleeping dogs pass gas.

 

But my new five year old bitch has more gas than the Hindenburg. It isn't mere methane; she flavors hers with essence of poultry litter and eau de Bombay sewer.

 

It is winter. Our screens are in the attic and our doors closed against blowing snow. We are entirely at her mercy.

 

Like our other dogs, she eats Exclusive lamb and rice and sometimes a few scraps from last night's human dinner.

 

I won't start smoking again or prepare a raw diet but other suggestions are welcome. Its hard to eat in a gas mask.

 

Donald McCaig

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Dear Doggers,

 

With 4 Border Collies in the house we are not too fastidious. I am familiar with modest "Baps" as dogs leap to the couch and the "hiss" as sleeping dogs pass gas.

 

But my new five year old bitch has more gas than the Hindenburg. It isn't mere methane; she flavors hers with essence of poultry litter and eau de Bombay sewer.

 

It is winter. Our screens are in the attic and our doors closed against blowing snow. We are entirely at her mercy.

 

Like our other dogs, she eats Exclusive lamb and rice and sometimes a few scraps from last night's human dinner.

 

I won't start smoking again or prepare a raw diet but other suggestions are welcome. Its hard to eat in a gas mask.

 

Donald McCaig

 

Try a different food - I have heard many times before someone has a bunch of dogs and just one or two will react badly to a particular food but be fine on something similar - either different flavor from the same manufacturer or same flavor/protein type from another manufacturer. If it's a grain issue, there are plenty of foods out there with no grain. I have one dog who used to get real gassy on anything with chicken but does well on fish based food.

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"eau de Bombay sewer"

 

You owe me a new monitor.

 

 

One thing we tried to settle one of our foster's guts down is "Activia". Gave her a cup once a day for ~4 days. She got better...although N=1 and we can't discern causation/correlation.

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You might want to give Dogzymes Digestive Enhancer a try with her. It's a pretty cost effective product, even in a household with 4 or 5 dogs. I put a scoop on every meal, but if any of them get any kind of stomach rumble, I give the dog scoop separate from food and it almost always clears things right up.

 

It can be ordered from Nature's Farmacy and it is very good stuff. I get the one with the brown lid.

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I'd try another kibble. A foster of mine who I ended up adopting had such terrible and constant gas that I actually considered not adopting her for that reason! She was eating Wellness Core, then Taste of the Wild, but Orijen did the trick for her. No more gas!

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My dog sometimes gets musical when she has scavenged something disgusting while out on a run - dead seagull bits, unidentified poop, etc. It sometimes gives her a case of the collywobbles too. A small handful of shredded coconut gets rid of it in two or three hours. My local store only has the sweetened kind, but Sugarfoot loves it. Dries up the collywobbles double quick, too. If I give it to her as a treat when she's not having digestive issues it doesn't seem to change her normal stools.

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My dog sometimes gets musical when she has scavenged something disgusting while out on a run - dead seagull bits, unidentified poop, etc. It sometimes gives her a case of the collywobbles too. A small handful of shredded coconut gets rid of it in two or three hours. My local store only has the sweetened kind, but Sugarfoot loves it. Dries up the collywobbles double quick, too. If I give it to her as a treat when she's not having digestive issues it doesn't seem to change her normal stools.

 

This is good to know, so you can give shredded Coconut just like pumpkin?

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Well my dog just loves it, so I just put a handful on the floor and she doesn't leave a crumb. She does have rather exotic tastes in food - bananas, cherries, cole slaw, and the aforementioned lettuce. Some dogs may look at you like you're nuts and walk away.

 

If I remember correctly, I got the idea of offering her some after reading something here on the Boards about a horse having a long-standing case of the runs cured in two days by eating macaroons. But it makes sense that a horse would happily eat macaroons - they're sweet. Dogs? Well, I already knew Sugar had odd tastes so I offered her some Baker's coconut once when she got the drizzles. It worked. And has worked twice since then.

 

I've been told you can get unsweetened shredded coconut at health food stores. It works when she gets "musical fog" too. In my dog that's the warning shot that means "I've eaten something that disagreed with me - drizzle to follow."

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Oh, poor Donald, you have my sympathy. Sometimes our old dogs, here, can just about peel the paint! :P

 

I'm learning good stuff as I read this thread, but I'll also second what Debbie said about trying something without Lamb. I've known a few other folks whose dogs didn't do well on it. Maybe it's a bit rich for some? Anyhow, worth a try.

 

I also add a little plain or vanilla yogurt, and pumpkin if their stool is loose. I just learned about the shredded coconut thing a week or so ago. Haven't tried it, yet, but some folks swear by it and I'm willing to give it a go, when comes need.

 

Good luck. Gas masks are really hard to sleep in, too. B)

 

~ Gloria

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Yep

I'll chime in on the the lamb deal too.

All the dogs here are suffering with the dry skin wood heat winter itchies. Poor Raven is driving herself and me crazy. I went to a holistic pet store looking for a spray on topical moisturizer as giving her a bath sets her off to have seizures.

We were chatting about what I feed them. I mentioned TOTW and the guy quickly told me if I feed the yellowbag of taste of the wild the main meat ingredient is lamb. I hadn't bothered to read the label of that particular flavor, since we've been on this food for so long and it's working great I just switch around the flavors within that feed.

 

I remember long ago figuring out that Raven had issues with lamb. So I bought a different bag and what do you know, she's less gassy, and her itchies have subsided to a less that crazy driving point. All that in less than 4 days of the new flavor.

Oh and I give acidophilus (human grade) to all of them, I take it to and don't suffer near the heartburn that I used to have.

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