Recommendations with Bad Gas and Dog food

[Cash08]

Hello! My 2 year old Cash has absolutely the worst gas problem I’ve ever seen. No joke he farts every few minutes whether or not they are audible or not the smell alone lets you know he did it. It’s horrendous and not something I’ve seen to this extent before. We’ve spoken to our vet about it before and they recommended changing his food. For the longest time he was on Victor’s High Pro Plus and then I switched him to Open Farms Ancient Grain Recipe but the farts have not stopped or gotten better. His stomach doesn’t do too good with change as when I switched his food or try a new treat or whatever it may be he has a very sensitive stomach and will get soft stool. So we try to keep him on a routine food diet. This is something we’ve been dealing with probably since he was maybe a year and a half roughly?? Since it hasn’t changed or gone away we took him to the vet today and they said again that he looks good and aren’t worried about much but they have 2 recommendations: 1. (Which they are really leaning towards) Put him on prescription Hill’s Science Gastrointestinal Biome Dry dog food. And/Or 2. Start giving probiotics and see if it helps.

Option 2 is something they also want us to do while giving him the prescription food. While we don’t mind spending money on ensuring he’s healthy the food is crazy expensive to only be a week’s worth of supply… Also I don’t know how big of a fan I am of Hills but if it’s what will help I won’t be opposed.

So I’m coming on here to see what your thoughts are on this and to also see what your recommendations are on good probiotics for excessive gas and a poor digestive system. There are so many out there and I want to get one that will actually help the poor guy. This is our first Doberman so I thought I’d see what others who are more experienced with the breed think and if there is anything else you may think could help us! Thanks.

 

[MichiH]

Hello! My 2 year old Cash has absolutely the worst gas problem I’ve ever seen. No joke he farts every few minutes whether or not they are audible or not the smell alone lets you know he did it. It’s horrendous and not something I’ve seen to this extent before. We’ve spoken to our vet about it before and they recommended changing his food. For the longest time he was on Victor’s High Pro Plus and then I switched him to Open Farms Ancient Grain Recipe but the farts have not stopped or gotten better. His stomach doesn’t do too good with change as when I switched his food or try a new treat or whatever it may be he has a very sensitive stomach and will get soft stool. So we try to keep him on a routine food diet. This is something we’ve been dealing with probably since he was maybe a year and a half roughly?? Since it hasn’t changed or gone away we took him to the vet today and they said again that he looks good and aren’t worried about much but they have 2 recommendations: 1. (Which they are really leaning towards) Put him on prescription Hill’s Science Gastrointestinal Biome Dry dog food. And/Or 2. Start giving probiotics and see if it helps.

Option 2 is something they also want us to do while giving him the prescription food. While we don’t mind spending money on ensuring he’s healthy the food is crazy expensive to only be a week’s worth of supply… Also I don’t know how big of a fan I am of Hills but if it’s what will help I won’t be opposed.

So I’m coming on here to see what your thoughts are on this and to also see what your recommendations are on good probiotics for excessive gas and a poor digestive system. There are so many out there and I want to get one that will actually help the poor guy. This is our first Doberman so I thought I’d see what others who are more experienced with the breed think and if there is anything else you may think could help us! Thanks.

I’m sorry you’re going through this with your Doberman. We have also had issues with our girl and her stools. It’s stressful.

I can’t help with the food as we use purina pro plan sensitive and she is now doing well with it. It’s purina though. Vet had Pepper, our Doberman on biome as well and it’s pricey. I ended up getting a new vet- due to issues with previous vet- new vet recommend we start PPP sensitive and stick to it. Recently, we just did kibble for a few weeks, the PPP only with probiotics to give her GI tract time to heal.

Maybe that would work for Cash too?

As for probiotics, we did Keifer, but just changed over to Dogzymes probiotic max and after a few weeks she has normal stools. I believe it will also help with the issues your Cash. - link below for probiotics.

I know others can recommend more, but wanted to share what we went through as it seems similar and what we are doing to resolve it. Good luck!

Amazon.com

 

[Ravenbird]

You can try what @MichiH suggested - PPP sensitive and probiotics. Grains and fillers seem to be the major cause of gas, so if you can find a food with more meat protein sources the better off you should be. I feed a raw meat topper once a day to cut the kibble ration a little bit.

Also, I'm assuming you know your dog is not eating other things besides what you feed. We had a huge crop of juniper berries this year and the dogs love them. And the resulting gas is unreal. Also, if you have cats, or neighbor cats that may use your yard for a potty area, dogs that eat poop also have gag-worthy farts. Just something to think about.

I don't recommend Hills at all. Mostly cheap ingredients at inflated prescription prices.

 

[Kswoodssue]

Bunny poop (dog crack) does it for Sasha. Try one thing at a time, or you won’t know which works.

 

[Ddski5]

1. You have to rule out him eating anything else but the Open Farms to determine it’s that. Anything else the monster is eating can absolutely do it- ANYTHING- cat/squirrel/duck/chicken poop, etc…, grass, mulch, table food, etc… they are sneaky shits and he is most likely eating something else.
2. Victor just had a big recall so need to be off that anyways.
3. No Hill food….just crap.
4. Get a good probiotic, it does wonders for a Dobermans GI tract. Many kinds but this is what I use.
5. PPP salmon and sens is known to be good for these issues.
6. Anytime mine eats something else…she has smelly gas- bank on it.
7. If I change foods, she will have smelly gas for first 3-4weeks and then it goes away.

Good luck.

 

[Cash08]

I’m sorry you’re going through this with your Doberman. We have also had issues with our girl and her stools. It’s stressful.

I can’t help with the food as we use purina pro plan sensitive and she is now doing well with it. It’s purina though. Vet had Pepper, our Doberman on biome as well and it’s pricey. I ended up getting a new vet- due to issues with previous vet- new vet recommend we start PPP sensitive and stick to it. Recently, we just did kibble for a few weeks, the PPP only with probiotics to give her GI tract time to heal.

Maybe that would work for Cash too?

As for probiotics, we did Keifer, but just changed over to Dogzymes probiotic max and after a few weeks she has normal stools. I believe it will also help with the issues your Cash. - link below for probiotics.

I know others can recommend more, but wanted to share what we went through as it seems similar and what we are doing to resolve it. Good luck!

Amazon.com

Glad to know someone else experienced something very similar. Our vet really didn't have much more to say and made a comment that she hasn't had much experience with Dobermans having such GI issues. I think we will try the PPP sensitive and a good probiotic. I had made a comment to the vet about the price for a week's supply and my hesitation with Hills and her response was that its science and to stick with it. She also told us to get a bag, which, like I said, is one week's worth, to help his GI heal and then possibly try a different food. I just don't see how one week of a new food will benefit him. His stomach is SO sensitive to change and I believe it would take much longer than a week for his stomach to even start to tolerate a new food let alone start healing with it. As typically I do a slow transition. As you can see I am so up in the air about what to do. Maybe I'll try PPP sensitive with a probiotic first give him some time to see if there is improvements before just jumping to the Hill's Biome. Thanks for your input!!

 

[Cash08]

You can try what @MichiH suggested - PPP sensitive and probiotics. Grains and fillers seem to be the major cause of gas, so if you can find a food with more meat protein sources the better off you should be. I feed a raw meat topper once a day to cut the kibble ration a little bit.

Also, I'm assuming you know your dog is not eating other things besides what you feed. We had a huge crop of juniper berries this year and the dogs love them. And the resulting gas is unreal. Also, if you have cats, or neighbor cats that may use your yard for a potty area, dogs that eat poop also have gag-worthy farts. Just something to think about.

I don't recommend Hills at all. Mostly cheap ingredients at inflated prescription prices.

I think I will give PPP sensitive and probiotics a try! Like I just responded to @MichiH, I am so up in the air with what to do to help the poor guy and our noses lol. The Biome is so expensive as the biggest bag they make is only a week's supply for his size and I am not a big fan of Hill's. I made these comments to our vet and she said its science and to stick with it. She wants us to get a bag of the Biome and give his GI time to heal and then possibly try switching his food to something else if we must. I just don't think a week on a new dog food will help him as his stomach is SO sensitive to change and as a result I transition to new stuff slowly and believe he would need longer to adapt let alone "heal".

And to answer your question, I monitor him pretty well and from what I can tell he doesn't get into anything nor do I ever see him eat poop but I guess there could always be a chance something happens when I don't see!

 

[Cash08]

1. You have to rule out him eating anything else but the Open Farms to determine it’s that. Anything else the monster is eating can absolutely do it- ANYTHING- cat/squirrel/duck/chicken poop, etc…, grass, mulch, table food, etc… they are sneaky shits and he is most likely eating something else.
2. Victor just had a big recall so need to be off that anyways.
3. No Hill food….just crap.
4. Get a good probiotic, it does wonders for a Dobermans GI tract. Many kinds but this is what I use. View attachment 145247
5. PPP salmon and sens is known to be good for these issues.
6. Anytime mine eats something else…she has smelly gas- bank on it.
7. If I change foods, she will have smelly gas for first 3-4weeks and then it goes away.

Good luck.

Thanks for your input! We've been dealing with this for a little while now and I've tried narrowing it down, aka watching him like a hawk I don't notice him getting into anything, including while being outside. But I mean I wouldn't rule anything out, like you said they can be sneaky lol. I really like Open Farms, I've tried different protein sources to see if that would help and yet there is no change. I feel pretty much the same about Hill's but when I voiced my concerned to my vet, her response was that its science and to stick with it and that the stuff I am feeding him is boutique foods and that it is what can cause things like this and others such as cardiomyopathy. From the comments I am definitely going to try a probiotic, this is something my vet also is suggesting. I think I am going to give PPP sensitive a try as well.

 

[Kaiser2016]

I agree with the advice given. Probiotics are necessary to help build their gut flora so that the intestines can become more stable. I also agree that Hills is expensive crap. It’s not “science” as much as it is a cash grab. For certain health conditions maybe it does have a purpose but I wouldn’t resort to that for gas. Could also try raw goat milk from a pet store and bone broth (homemade, no salt or onions).

 

[MichiH]

I think I will give PPP sensitive and probiotics a try! Like I just responded to @MichiH, I am so up in the air with what to do to help the poor guy and our noses lol. The Biome is so expensive as the biggest bag they make is only a week's supply for his size and I am not a big fan of Hill's. I made these comments to our vet and she said its science and to stick with it. She wants us to get a bag of the Biome and give his GI time to heal and then possibly try switching his food to something else if we must. I just don't think a week on a new dog food will help him as his stomach is SO sensitive to change and as a result I transition to new stuff slowly and believe he would need longer to adapt let alone "heal".

And to answer your question, I monitor him pretty well and from what I can tell he doesn't get into anything nor do I ever see him eat poop but I guess there could always be a chance something happens when I don't see!

I’m not thrilled to use PPP, but I was at the end of my rope when we first got her. She’d be ok and then diarrhea again. I watched her and still do like you said - a hawk.

I would also skip the biome, I did it for a few days when she was really small, but like others said on here not worth it. Just stick to PPP only with a good probiotic and give it time. I say this because we have been dealing with it also and because DCF also supported me through it- what felt like never ending and stress all the time worrying if Pepper was ok.

You’re in the right place for excellent advice and support!

Wish you luck and if you stick to something simple, it’ll give him time to heal and get his gut biome back in order.

Hang in there!

 

[MichiH]

Glad to know someone else experienced something very similar. Our vet really didn't have much more to say and made a comment that she hasn't had much experience with Dobermans having such GI issues. I think we will try the PPP sensitive and a good probiotic. I had made a comment to the vet about the price for a week's supply and my hesitation with Hills and her response was that its science and to stick with it. She also told us to get a bag, which, like I said, is one week's worth, to help his GI heal and then possibly try a different food. I just don't see how one week of a new food will benefit him. His stomach is SO sensitive to change and I believe it would take much longer than a week for his stomach to even start to tolerate a new food let alone start healing with it. As typically I do a slow transition. As you can see I am so up in the air about what to do. Maybe I'll try PPP sensitive with a probiotic first give him some time to see if there is improvements before just jumping to the Hill's Biome. Thanks for your input!!

Agree, from my recent experience it will take time to heal and build his gut flora back up to healthy levels.

I wasn’t thinking before, DCF brought my attention to all the diet changes Pepper had gone though. I did chicken and rice, her breeders kibble, royal canin, biome, and PPP I was making matters worse - thinking I was helping her DCF members suggested I stick to a kibble and a probiotic and I will say Pepper is now after a few weeks, back to regular.

 

[Ravenbird]

she said its science and to stick with it. She wants us to get a bag

I really hate when they start pushing it... sorry you had to deal with that situation. All these answers above speak truth. None of us get a bonus for advising you either, unless you post a picture of him. That's the best kind of reward around here: Puppy Pictures!

Anyhow, best to you and your puppy, let us know how it goes.