We have a 12 week Cocker spaniel. We hav had her 4 weeks, Since she came we have had trouble with loose stools tried prescription dog food, then when she went back on Pedigree Puppy complete it started again although she never really was clear. She has been diagnosed with puppy colitis, given a 5 day course of tablets, back on prescription dog food...any assistance for the future would be a great help. This is our first dog and we want to do best we can for her. Thank you

Sorry to read about your puppy.  Was she reared on Pedigree puppy complete by the breeder?

None of my dogs over the years have been able to eat Pedigree - tinned or dry - it just seems to be too erm, ....  strong for them ;)

She really ought not to need a prescription food, a bland home made diet of say chicken or white fish mixed with either  rice or potato would give her system time to settle.  Perhaps you should check with your breeder that the food your using is the exact same ingredients as she was on before. 

JWB and Wafcol do good puppy complete diets which are gentle on sensitive tums and Nature Diet do a puppy food now I think too (moist but still complete diet in plastic trays).  All these and more are readily available at Pets At Home.   A good stand-by to have in the kitchen cabinet is tinned Chappie - although not a puppy food it's been used for many years on pups and adults recovering from tummy troubles and is a good bridge between changing over from a bland diet onto the final diet you want her to eat regularly.

HTH, best wishes, Teri 

I agree with Teri and would consider changing her diet.

I'd recommend JWB: www.wellbeloved.co.uk

Thanks for help and advice. She was on JWB when we got her, but as she wouldn't eat it, we thought to change it, but realise now she probably was strange at being away from rest of litter, also she probably had colitis problem then, so it wouldn't havemattered what we were feeding. All seems to be okay now, so will gradually introduce her back to JWB..hoping all will be well and see how things are especially after medication has stopped. Thanks again

Happy to report, all seems to be well at the moment. Medication stops tomorrow, so it will then be  a case of trying to get her back on to normal diet. Have decided to go back and try JWB Lamb and Rice, hopefully with no ill effects..don't want to keep her on prscription food too long..will do it gradually, think this will be best????Again any advice will be appreciated. Thanks

Good news :)

Yep - gradually change her bland diet (don't use any more Pedigree - I'd ditch it!) by adding a little of the JWB over a few days - probably making a total change over at the earliest after a week.  If done too quickly you could irritate her GI tract which is probably still quite sensitive after all her troubles so could easily flare up.

I'm sure she's well on the way to improvement - good luck and please keep us posted.

Best wishes, Teri :)

Hi Niamh
My border collie suffered several severe bouts of colitis over a short period of time, I took him to the vets and was prescribed tablets each time but although it treated the flare ups it was not actually eliminating the cause which in my collie appeared to be his diet. I thought about raw feeding but, as most people are to begin with, I was worried about the bones especially chicken bones so I fed him cooked chicken (minus the bones) and brown rice but the colitis continued. I researched raw feeding, did a little reading up on commercial dog food and decided to take the plunge.  I have'nt looked back since, colitis seems to be a thing of the past. I think he is definitely allergic to cereal which is the main ingredient of kibble. Reading several books on the subject, great support from other members of Champdogs and a very friendly helpful local butcher has made the transition from feeding commercial dog food to the natural canine way of eating, a painfree experience. It has actually halved the cost (thanks to my lovely butcher) who provides chicken and lamb carcasses pigs trotters and any loose meat that he does'nt require, for nothing. All my dogs look great on it, are full of energy and vitality and as an added bonus my collie who also suffered from periodontal disease (plaque and bleeding gums) now has shiny white teeth, healthy gums and no more dog breath, all in five months. I know I must sound like one of the advertisments on tv but I can't sing it's praises enough and I wish I'd done it years ago.