Hi everyone.

One of my GSD's has a very sensitive digestive system and has recently been through a bout of really bad diarrhoea!!  The vet recommends putting him on a hypoallergenic diet.  Can anybody recommend anything?

Thankyou.

Vets have been recommending Chappie for, literally, decades and I must say it helped my dog with colitis.  I used the tinned variety though and have never tried the dried one.  When I could stand the smell of opened tins in my fridge no longer I tried Beta which also suited her very well, but with your larger dog maybe you will not have the problem of half used tins :)

Hi.

It tends to be meat that gives him the runs!  I was thinking about trying the James Well Beloved hypoallergenic complete food but not sure what this is like.

Chappie is fish based, not sure if that would also be an issue.  JWB did not have enough fibre for my dog but again that may not be an issue with your dog.  The are many different types of sensitive tummies :)

Thanks Isabel.

Have been reading back over the boards to get some ideas.  JWB doesn't seem too popular, but going to ring Wafcol and they have one which is hypoallergenic, gluten and wheat free. 

Hi Fiona,

I've used JWB previously and found it didn't agree with my youngster (frequent large & soft bowel motions).  I switched all my dogs onto Wafcol Salmon & Potato - which is also a hypoallergenic food  that is also soya free (an irritant to many dogs with recurrent tummy problems).   They do a Salmon & Corn  version but I personally would not feed a maize/corn based diet to a dog presenting wheat intolerances- especially not a Shepherd. 
GSDs are renowned for suffering a variety of GI problems :(  Has your vet done blood and faecal samples on your dog?  I realise these can be quite expensive and switching to a novel protein diet is certainly a good course of action as first base, (please also remember to eliminate ALLother foods from his diet including treats, chews, table scraps).  However if you find that he is not improving on this diet change I would strongly recommend having the tests done - there are numerous complaints presenting as runny stools or vomitting which genuinely require meds along with diet monitoring but food intolerances can rapidly develop to multiple sources so messing around with diet too long inhibits potential choices in the future.

Good luck with him, HTH, regards Teri :)    

Hi Teri

Thanks for the message.  Tyler has been on the Eukanuba vet diet for about three weeks now and things seem to be going well, except when he managed to get some of my other dogs biscuits which gave him the runs for two days.  Things are now back on track.  If the diet does not work then the vet said to take him back for faecal and blood tests. 

Fiona.

Hi again Fiona,

Glad Tyler is improving :)  Hope all goes well for him and that the diet change is all that's required.   Please keep us updated on his progress.

Regards, Teri

I have 2 GSD's one is on Hill's ZD prescription hypo-allergenic diet which is about £34 for 7.5kg (only available from the vets). I have just bought James Well Beloved kibble from pets at home yesterday for my other german shepherd simply to reduce the risk of my other dog eating normal food. So far she is still turning her nose up at it and refusing to eat it, this is £18.99 for 7.5kg bag. Only time will tell if she will give in and eat it.

How long has your dog been on the Hill's ZD? My dog is on a trial of it at the moment as the vet considers his recent ear infection was due to an underlying allergy. It is difficult with another dog, isn't it? We're having to give them both kongs filled with ZD when we go out, so Luke doesn't pinch Maggie's food. Having said that, they're both perfectly happy, it's OH and I who miss giving them the odd tasty treat! ;-)