Orijen Dog Food Poohs

[budgrrl]

I switched Kiila to Orijen about a month ago now - she loves it! She just finished her first bag, and now on to the second bag.

Her poohs are very different now and not sure if it is normal or not. The first few days she had diarrhea, but that is normal for her when switching foods - she has a pretty sensitive tummy.
She no longer has diarrhea, but her poohs are quite soft and not very dense like they were before with her old food. Her old poohs were quite dense, firm, and solid. Maybe its just something I am not used to.
They certainly are not so pleasant to clean up!

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

[Winston]

Well if were gonna talk to poop its gonna be gross! Winstons poops improved 100% on Orijen. They are solid, formed and much less in quantity! However there are days when it is formed but soft...its also much easier to clean up after them on the grass..its like it doesnt stick because they are formed?

How long has it been? I know you have one bag but that could be a small one? I would say they should be good after at least a month?

[rainbow]

What were you feeding her before Orijen? If it was a poor quality brand it can take more than a month for her body to adjust especially if the old food had a stool hardener (i.e. beet pulp) as an ingredient.

[budgrrl]

she was on science diet, natures best before....so not an ideal food, however, not a cheapie store brand either.
the bag of orijen she has already consumed is the 7kg bag (the medium sized one).
they are formed...but quite soft. her poop before was formed, but much denser and harder - making them much more easy to pick up, rather than kind of scrape up.

[Bailey_]

As was suggested, she may need a bit longer on it to decide whether or not this food is good for her.

What was she on before? (Sorry, didn't realize you had already written Science Diet.) There is certainly more protien in Orijen than Science Diet which has a lot of filler.

You mentioned she has a sensitive stomach? Is she allergic to something?

[rainbow]

Sure glad you got her off those other brands.

Do you add yogurt to her food? It must be the plain organic yogurt with only milk ingredients and active bacterial cultures as ingredients. If that is not enough to help then I would add probiotics to help her digestive system as well.

I see that Kiila is 10 yr old and since Science Diet and Nature's Best were the only brands she was eating before then it will take a couple of months for her system to adjust to better quality.

[budgrrl]

she doesnt have any allergies - i did have her tested a few years ago as she was having a hard time with any food i gave her. i had settled on the natures best by science diet as that seemed to be the best quality of food that did not upset her tummy (and my pet store only just got orijen in a little while ago).
in the past she has also had the opposite problem - not pooping. so i have become accustomed to giving her canned pumpkin and also yogourt on her food.

i will continue with orijen through this next bag - that would give her about 2.5 months on it and see what happens.
like i said, its not diarrhea...just not solid poops and rather soft...but i guess that is better than it being too hard (maybe the science diet with the corn and whatnot made her poop more binding - thus making it more solid?).

[Bailey_]

but i guess that is better than it being too hard (maybe the science diet with the corn and whatnot made her poop more binding - thus making it more solid?).

Exactly. That is what is known as 'filler' in a lot of crappy dog food brands. They put a lot of unneccessary things in dog kibble, and therefore you can certainly notice a change in her stool once she is off of it.

[Marcha]

Not the most eloquent solution, but when Bo had softer stools, we'd 'catch' the poo before it hit the grass. So we'd have a baggie at hand, already unfolded and ready to slip on our hand. When she'd start to circle, or hunch her back to prepare for a bowel movement, we'd squat beside her, catch the poo, and voila. No mess left in the grass, no twigs that get caught in the baggie that could puncture the baggie from inside, nada. Not even any 'sit, wait' until we've cleaned up after her.

And Bo went from Science Diet to Medical to Orijen, then to raw. Her transition to Orijen was the first where she didn't have the runs, but like with you, it stayed at a toothpaste consistency for a while. The raw food seemed to help her get her digestive tract back on track best, and now, when she does get biologically appropriate kibble (we alternate between Orijen, Acana and Now), she continues to have good, solid poop.

[kandy]

You might also try cutting back on the amount you are feeding. Because the Orijen doesn't have all the fillers, she doesn't need near as much as she did of the old food. The 'Nature's Best' is quite grainy and it will take some time for her to adjust to the Orijen. The chicken & brown rice formula says to feed 4-6 cups a day for a 100 lb dog. My 120 lb newfie girl gets 2 cups of kibble a day and about 1/2 can of wet food (split into 2 meals). If you are still trying to feed as much of the Orijen as you did the Science Diet, you will have soft poops.

[budgrrl]

the natures best i free-fed her. she was never a piggie with food and has never had a weight problem.
the orijen is different - she seems to love it sooo much that she would gobble up half the bag if i let her. so on the orijen, i had been feeding her what the bag says. she is 42lbs - so 2.5 cups, split into 2 meals...although it does give a range of 22-44lbs, 1.25-2.25 cups. maybe i ought to knock her down to 2 cups, split into 2 meals??

i also put wet on her food in the evening, but not a lot - perhaps maybe 1/4 cup....and thats only so she doesnt eat the kittens wet food! more of a distraction than a meal

[rainbow]

I would cut the amount of kibble you are giving her. I feed my dogs either Orijen or Acana Provincial which is also grain free and made by the same company.

My siberian husky is 60lb and he gets 1 1/2 to 2 cups per day split into morning and evening meals and my 90 lb lab gets 3 cups split into the two meals. They also get a bit of whatever leftover meat/veggies I have sprinkled over top for their supper meal just cuz they're spoiled.

Good luck and let us know the outcome.

[budgrrl]

thanks all!!
i will knock her down to 1.75-2c a day, split into 2 meals, and see how she does
its funny i never had to ration her food for her ever, and she is nearly 11yrs old! but she just LOVES orijen and gobbles it up! in fact, i have a hard time keeping the kitten out of her food dish too!

[Etown_Chick]

budgirl
Scruff's been on Origen, then Acana (same company, less protein). His stool always seems softer than other dogs, but he's healthy and happy so I don't worry about it.
He also gets raw and bones. Punkin if he gets diarreah (sp?).

[budgrrl]

she seems to be doing much better now that i have cut back on portions she is getting 1.75c a day and has made a world of difference!
she must be also used to getting this food too - as she has stopped scarfing it down so fast and often leaves some behind for a midnight snack
it was probably harder for me to ration her food than it was for her! i was soooo used to filling her bowl and not worrying about quantity as she has never overeaten before - in fact, it was often the opposite and i'd have to add some yummy treats to her bowl to encourage her to eat! so rationing her food, i was afraid she was going to go hungry but she is doing great! and no more mushy poops!!

her coat has dramatically improved too!! and waaaaay less shedding! many friends are actually asking if she just had a b-a-t-h as her fur looks so amazing! (sorry, have to spell it, or kiila will high tail it under the bed - she thinks she is allergic to water! ha!)

thanks for all the tips guys! xoxox

[kandy]

So glad that cutting back on the amount helped. I have found that the feeding guidelines on the bags are generally overstated - the better the food, the more overstated they are. My 45 lb mutt gets 1 1/3 cup per day (split into 2 meals) and a couple of tablespoons of canned food mixed in each meal.

[Spatx]

Glad she is doing better! I began to wonder in the summer as Nova's poops became quite soft and she was having diarrhea on and off. I wondered if it was the Orijen (but that didn't really make sense since she'd been on it for quite some time already), but when I went to the vet it turned out she had hookworms She's been on meds for them for about 3 months now, and her poops are back to normal.

Reading the weight and amount of food everyone feeds makes me realize how much Nova burns through... She's 26lbs and I have to feed her 2 cups a day to keep her weight up. The vet even recommended giving her a bit extra as she is right at the line between being underweight/correct. Cody is 40lb and he gets 1.75 cups, we had to increase it because he was becoming a bit too light.

Finding the right amount of food definitely takes some trial and error, but once you get it figured out you can really tell.