How Big of a Deal is Food?

Maybe it's just something about Stella & Chewy's food. Have you tried any other type of raw food? Has the vet checked bloodwork and a stool sample?

Her flaky skin could be from malnutrition. See the diarrhea means food is moving very fast through her body, too fast for it to absorb enough nutrients.

You can try Slippery Elm (a supplement in any store that sells vitamins, even supermarkets can carry it) that will help make her feel better inside, but it won't stop the diarrhea at all.

I'd do some medical tests (blood, stool) even check for things like colitis or IBS, SIBO, should be easy with bloodwork.

But I don't get why it has to be bad quality food or Stella's and Chewys? There's other foods besides those... like homecooked, or do it yourself raw, Nature's Variety, Honest Kitchen, etc.

EDIT: how long do you keep her on the new food? And what is the blood like (I know this gets gross..but it helps to figure out..) is the stool actually all colored red or is it like a red streak?

If I may recommend joining this yahoo group: K9Nutrition

It's real helpful, and run by Lew Olsen (author of "Raw and Natural nutrition for dogs")

There are a host of wonderful holistic and natural things you can try, including raw foods. But if your dog has chronic colitis, sometimes even the best food, probiotics or supplements will not be enough to damp down the inflammation that waxes and wanes, but it always there.. Colitis is not always a result of allergies or poor quality food. As in people, it can be an idiopathic autoimmune disorder that is difficult to control and makes the person or animal feel awful. When you have been through all the alternative routes and are just plain tired of trying things that don't work for very long, I suggest you try Tylan (Tylosin) powder. Except in CA, this is available OTC on Amazon or other websites without Rx. Tylan is an antibiotic used in farm and feed animals, and has been around forever. It is a very safe drug to use, has no side effects, and is known to effectively halt colitis very fast in many dogs that have not responded to any other treatments. Not all urban and city vets know about it...but if you were to take your dog to a farm or large animal vet, they would be familiar with it and probably prescribe it right away. Any vet can look it up in their standard care databases. The dose you give a dog is small, although the dosing amounts can vary widely. You can start with a small dose and work up until you get a solid, sustained response. For a 40 pound dog you would give 1/8 tsp. twice a day. Mix it with a small amount of something soft such as pumpkin or you can even just stir it into a food like Stella and Chewy's frozen raw that has been thawed. The amount is so tiny, it's very easy to use. If your dog balks at the taste or is a picky eater (the powder is bitter), you can get empty capsules and put the powder into those and then hide it in something tasty. A dog who has chronic colitis does not feel well during the attacks, does not absorb nutrients well, may become anemic, and tends to have less energy, along with poorer coat and skin condition. Besides, you may have to get up multiple times a night to let your poor pup out to poop. Colitis is synonymous with bowel urgency. They can't wait very long or you will be cleaning up the mess.

WIth so many episodes of colitis under so many different circumstances and dietary offerings, it's probably NOT something you are doing or not doing. If you try the Tylan powder you should see results within a few days. Tylan can be given for the life of the animal and is designed for long term use.

Dietary management and natural remedies are always a good way to go IF they work...but if there are repeated relapses regardless of your efforts, you might want to consider a different approach. Sometimes you have to go for the bigger guns to keep your animal happy and healthy.

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I know how you are feeling. My dog went though a year of misery while dealing with horrible digestive issues, chronic skin infections, horrible itchiness, lost tons of hair and had bad odor. I tried so many dog foods and they all made her sick. Out of desperation I started homemaking her food and all her symptoms stopped within a month on the new diet. Turns out the problem was a damaged digestive tract. The reason why ZD is working is because the proteins are hydrolyzed, which means broken down into amino acids. When the digestive tract is damaged, to avoid malnutrition, the body thins the intestinal walls to allow nutrients to leak directly into the blood stream. But this allows undigested proteins to leak as well, which causes allergic reactions throughout the body. This eventually overstimulates and weakens the immune system and allows bacteria and yeast to grow out of control, and infections occur easily. ZD will help with the symptoms but it will never cure the problem and you will have to keep her on it indefinitely, if you go that route. ZD has pretty low quality ingredients that contribute to the damage of the intestinal tract. The key is to feed a highly digestible food without damaging ingredients that will allow the digestive tract to heal itself. I am a raw feeder but the problem I have with Stella & Chewy's is it has a very high fat content. That much fat is difficult to digest and overloads the pancreas and can cause bloody stool. I am not sure if that is what is causing the bloody stool but its something you might want to look into. Some dogs can tolerate a higher fat food and some can't. If you want to stick with a commercial raw, Bravo or Primal are a more balanced option. Definitely consider adding a good digestive enzyme with every meal. This will help make the food as digestible as possible. You can also add apple cider vinegar which will lower the ph of the stomach, which helps digestion greatly, especially if you are going to feed a cooked processed dog food. The main ingredients that cause damage to the digestive tract are grains, soy, potatoes, tomatoes, legumes/peas and dairy. They contain a type of lectin that sticks to the intestinal wall and villi and damage it. A yeast infection of the digestive tract can also do this by the way. It is impossible to find a dry food that doesn't contain these ingredients, so I don't recommend them. Plus dry foods are very difficult to digest because of their lack of moisture. Personally I have had amazing success with a well balanced homemade diet. I was afraid to try it but I really didn't have a choice. I will never go back to feeding dog food again. Here is the recipe book I follow. It can be a raw or cooked diet and meets AAFCO's standards so you know your dog is getting everything she needs.

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/r...

Also research leaky gut syndrome for more info.

I have never had an issue with bloody diarrhea but I do have some advice with the food. If you go back to the one that makes the coat slightly brittle, add a small amount of bacon grease mixed in with the food. (small dog like a tsp... large dog maybe a tablespoon- 1.5 tablesoon). The grease gets absorbed into the blood stream and actually adds a nice shine to the coat. Another thing you can do is use a little vinegar on the coat. vinegar is a natural conditioner. Just spray it on in one of those empty spray bottles you can get about anywhere.

If you want to help with diarrhea and stool quality, try adding some rice to the food. Rice is really good for a dog's digestive system and helps the quality of the stool. I'm not sure about the bleeding, though.

I just feed my dogs pedigree... it's not gourmet or completely natural, but they are in good shape. If natural foods are giving you issues, just try the regular cheap brands (maybe mix them in, half and half so they are still getting some of the natural stuff). I have a friend who uses natural stuff and she says they always have stool problems. My mom taught me this when I was little. I just got my first 2 puppies (on my own) and they are doing great! They both have beautiful, shiny coats, and it doesn't take much, just a little extra bacon grease every once in a while and some rice. Good luck! I hope she gets better soon and will be healthier. :D

Because IAMS agreed to monitor the research labs they were using and make immediate changes in the protocol. I don't believe just one person was responsible for the horrible acts of cruelty IAMS research labs were allowed to practice. If so, IAMS should have done extensive research on the individual before they hired him/her. IAMS knew very well what was going on in their labs, they condoned it. IAMS lied and very little has changed to this day over their treatment of the dogs IAMS uses in testing. Why would you patronize a company that has so little compassion? Why would you patronize any company that insists animal testing is necessary when it's been proven alternatives are available and in most cases documented to be more reliable? Remember that the next time you open a bag or can of IAMS that some dog gave his life so your dogs could have beautiful coats, pearly white teeth and high energy levels, something the test animals would never experience.

You didn't say where you got her. If it was from a breeder, try what the breeder was feeding even if it was Old Roy. I have never had a puppy that didn't do will on the common brand it was eating before.

Several things cause blood in the stool - has she been checked for worms?

Does she have IBD?