# help.., stinky soft poo on new food



## Curious_Ein (Dec 4, 2012)

I recently ran out on Nature's balance LID foods(wet), and thought i'd mix up some flavor for them.. so I ordered Fromm Wild game birds and also three variety of Beef, chicken and duck/goose of Stella& Chewy freeze dried food. I wanted to try Fromm first, so yesterday morning, they had little bit of their old food mixed with Fromm kibbles, topped with goose/duck sprinkled up top, and they ate them really well. The problem I have is their poop(both Ein and Ami)!! The Fromm kibble color is slightly yellowish brown, and their poop today, looks just like that color, and is soft and very stinky! Their old food gave them nice dark brown, and firm poop that was not very stinky, and I am wondering if this soft poop that is stinky is from switching the food, rather than the Fromm itself? 

Is this something I should wait it out to see if their digestive system get 'used' to the poop? Ugh, I am using grate top potty, and soft poop is NOT something I'd rather have on(they stick between the grate holes, and I've been washing them out since the feeding from soft poo). If this is going to get better, how long should I wait to see an improvement? Fromm bag states that this has about 29% protein.. is this TOO high? if its not Fromm, is this from Freeze dried food that I sprinkled on top? I think Stella& Chewy is about 23% protein.

I have several of these Stella&Chewy bags, and one almost brand new Fromm that I was about to toss today, but before I do that- I'd thought I'd ask here to see if someone can enlighten me.

If this IS the food, I wont mind donating this food to some place... I suppose I can always go back to Nature's balance LID duck/potatoe but Ein's been on that for several months, and I want them to have some variety.


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## Kathleen (Aug 4, 2011)

Hi Candice!
How did you make out with the snow? Did Ami go outside?

I think there are two issues here. First, I think you are trying to switch their food a little too quickly. To switch, you should feed 25% new food with 75% old food for three days. If they do okay, go to 50-50 for three days. If still ok, go to 75% new and 25% old for three days. Then go to 100% new food. This gives their little tummies time to adjust. Second, Stella & Chewys is a very "rich" food, especially the Duck Duck Goose, which has lots of fat. My dogs love it. Because it is raw, you need to be very careful about adding it gradually too. I think I would transition them to the Fromms first. Then once they have adjusted to that, you could start adding in just a little of the raw at a time, very gradually.
Do you have any of the old food left?


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## Curious_Ein (Dec 4, 2012)

Kathleen said:


> Hi Candice!
> How did you make out with the snow? Did Ami go outside?
> 
> I think there are two issues here. First, I think you are trying to switch their food a little too quickly. To switch, you should feed 25% new food with 75% old food for three days. If they do okay, go to 50-50 for three days. If still ok, go to 75% new and 25% old for three days. Then go to 100% new food. This gives their little tummies time to adjust. Second, Stella & Chewys is a very "rich" food, especially the Duck Duck Goose, which has lots of fat. My dogs love it. Because it is raw, you need to be very careful about adding it gradually too. I think I would transition them to the Fromms first. Then once they have adjusted to that, you could start adding in just a little of the raw at a time, very gradually.
> Do you have any of the old food left?


Yes we did!! I put on four layers of sweaters and with DH holding Ami(she isnt leash trained yet and was scared of all that snow, lol), walked Ein along the street where the snow was cleaned out(it had maybe an inch or less.....) it really was SOO much snow though.. but ALOT of folks walking their fluffs for potty(a lot of pee spots in the snow). We had a blast!

ehhh- back to poopie question!! I didn't know that I had to change the food gradually.. I had maybe a half can left over and I used that up in their first feeding of new food....... I could get more of their Duck/potato so that I can make changes more gradually. I add probiotics in their food which I thought it was supposed to help with digestion.. but it didnt! Also for Stella& Chewy, is that supposed to be a kibble replacement or to be used as a small topping? I was under impression that they were dog food(can be used as a stand alone food, in place of kibbles)? I was getting so worried from their super soft stool(and with so many bags of food I bought) that I might have to toss them. I am willing to give it a try though. So three days of transition? I have lots of cans of Nature's balance venison(bc they didn't like them), but they did have solid poop from that, so I can use that to transition to Fromm. Fromm is reputable, right?
can I eventually switch between Fromm and Raw food? I would like to feed them some days raw food, and some days Fromm.. but not sure if this is possible if they need a transition time between two foods though 

how much snow did you guys end up having? Its crazy how it snowed soo much I saw several folks who was shoveling to dig out their cars before they iced up!


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## Bailey&Me (Mar 8, 2010)

Glad you are doing okay through this crazy storm! 

I also think the issue here is transitioning to the new food way too quickly. Especially with Ami, since you just got her...too many changes too quickly can be rough on her little system. When I first adopted Bailey, I kept him on his old food for month...I waited until he settled in to our home and then started transitioning to a new food. 

Both Fromm and S&C are great foods - I have fed both to Bailey before without any problems and would not have an issue feeding him these in the future. Whenever switching to a new food, you should always introduce it very gradually, as Kathleen said. You should start out with mostly their old food, with a tiny bit of the new food mixed in...and slowly increase that amount over several days. 

If you can, get another bag of their old food and feed it to them until it's half gone and then start mixing it with the Fromm to transition them. I would hold off on introducing the S&C until later. It is a very rich, high protein food - some fluffs do well on it but some may find it to be too rich. Yes, it is balanced and can be fed by itself if your fluffs do well on it. I would start by giving tiny bits of it as treats and if they handle it well, you can sprinkle some on their meals. But again, I would only introduce one new food at a time.


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## Zoe's Mom88 (Apr 25, 2011)

Yes, you should switch food slowly. This will happen when you do it too fast. I would wait it out.


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## Kathleen (Aug 4, 2011)

Your walk sounds like so much fun! Isn't the city beautiful when it is snowy and quiet! Kinda magical!
Were the four sweaters for you or for the puppies?! Ha ha!
I think Fromms is a good food too. Max's breeder recommended it and that is what he was eating when we got him.
Since both had the same reaction, I would definitely take it very slow, over at least a week. Once they are used to a food, you can switch back and forth without having to do this. It is just at first to give them time to get used to new ingredients.Especially for puppies.
I feed S&C as a meal, with warm water added. I know some people also use it as a topper. We alternate between that and two other foods.
I really think that the bad reaction was just the switch and/or the richness of S&C. It also has organ meat in it. I dont think it is the foods themselves, but you will know for sure if you try it slowly and they still can't digest it well.

I can't even see the road in the view from your window. I know there is one there, but cant see it at all!


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## Curious_Ein (Dec 4, 2012)

thanks everyone! I did more reading around the forum, sure enough, a matter in regards to food/switching food/protein% for maltese has been discussed many many times! I feel silly for jumping into a panic without doing a bit of research.... I was just so excited to switch to Fromm and S&C as I heard so much about it before around the forum.... I did order couple other brands(Royal canin? and also something called Taste of wild(with Wolf picture on it), just to try it out(good to have few variety, right?) and we will see... in the mean time, I am def out of their usual food, which is Duck&potato, I will have to see if I can order that also from Amazon. 

Kathleen, those four layers were for me!! Shame on me!! I just hate the cold, and still recovering from my Flu  My DH did look at me funny when I put a lot of layers on, and did not put anything on Ein and Ami(Ami was inside DH's sweater,, so she didnt need anything), but Ein, had an awkward cone, and also doesn't like coat so much, so I didn't put it on to add extra discomfort. lol He seemed ok, but I was sure he was cold bc he refused to walk back home, so I carried him inside my coat. I wonder when the snow truck is going to clean out all that snow- but they mustve been up all night removing all that snow from highways.. My brother told me his maltese pooped white poo from eating beef broth, so I am going to try that also :w00t: what do you feed Daisy and Max?


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## Kathleen (Aug 4, 2011)

Curious_Ein said:


> thanks everyone! I did more reading around the forum, sure enough, a matter in regards to food/switching food/protein% for maltese has been discussed many many times! I feel silly for jumping into a panic without doing a bit of research.... I was just so excited to switch to Fromm and S&C as I heard so much about it before around the forum.... I did order couple other brands(Royal canin? and also something called Taste of wild(with Wolf picture on it), just to try it out(good to have few variety, right?) and we will see... in the mean time, I am def out of their usual food, which is Duck&potato, I will have to see if I can order that also from Amazon.
> 
> Kathleen, those four layers were for me!! Shame on me!! I just hate the cold, and still recovering from my Flu  My DH did look at me funny when I put a lot of layers on, and did not put anything on Ein and Ami(Ami was inside DH's sweater,, so she didnt need anything), but Ein, had an awkward cone, and also doesn't like coat so much, so I didn't put it on to add extra discomfort. lol He seemed ok, but I was sure he was cold bc he refused to walk back home, so I carried him inside my coat. I wonder when the snow truck is going to clean out all that snow- but they mustve been up all night removing all that snow from highways.. My brother told me his maltese pooped white poo from eating beef broth, so I am going to try that also :w00t: what do you feed Daisy and Max?


I dont blame you at all for the four layers -if ever there was a night for it, it was last night! I hope you are feeling better. That flu is awful.
I alternate between S&C freeze dried, Sojos (also a raw freeze dried mix that you add water to), and Dr. Harveys Veg to Bowl, with cooked beef or chicken added. It took some trial and error to find foods they all would eat. I wanted to feed them frozen raw (S&C or Bravo) but they didnt like it.
If Ein and Ami are still having poop issues, you can try adding a little spoon of canned pumpkin (just plain pumpkin, not the pie kind with sugar). It helps firm things up.


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## Curious_Ein (Dec 4, 2012)

oo I didnt know Dogs can eat pumpkin! I just ordered myself some canned pumpkin, and I can't wait to test them out  I love pumpkin cookies, and pies, and soup.. I love anything pumpkin! I will def update on their soft poop and see if pumpkin helps.. at the least, they will prob love it for the taste B) i actually have a sample bag of sojou food that i have yet to test it- do your fluffs like them? i actually received two little baggies to try, and I soaked them with water(but I remember it took awhile to soften), and while I was waiting them to soften, I completely forgot to feed them LOL. def not for someone as lazy as myself. I really DO hope the weather lightens up- and hope that summer is here already(I am also the same person who had wished winter to be here because summers were soo hot).. go figure lol I wonder how many people from MA are here...? I only see very large dogs, or very small (and happy) ones here, and would love to have some awesome maltese meet ups once weather warms up!!


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## Kathleen (Aug 4, 2011)

For the Sojos, I add water to a few servings worth of mix and put it in the fridge so I wont forget. That way it is ready to go. It is good for a few days. I add less water than the package says, otherwise it is too soupy. They love it. It smells really good. I just heat it in the microwave for 15 seconds before feeding. Other similar ones are The Honest Kitchen and Grandma Lucys. They are all good foods, it just depends on what your dogs like. I have Daisy and Max, plus Buddy (Lhasa), so I had to find foods the whole gang would eat. Didnt want to be making different foods for each dog! Have to draw the line somewhere!

I dont know many people with small dogs either. Everyone seems to have big dogs. When the weather is better, we will have to start a thread to find other members who might be interested too. Sounds like fun!


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