Grainfree question

Do all grain free dogfoods make your dog stink? I started Tilly on grain free Nature's Variety a couple months ago. It just seems to get worse every day. Doesn't matter which protein I buy. She is stinking up the whole house! I really hate to change her food because she is doing well on this allergy-wise. She is ruining the good smell of my cinnamon popcorn balls I just made.

Stinky is what way? Gas? Or stinky skin and fur?

Any other symptoms?

Honestly, I have not noticed a worse smell on grain free - but, I can smell a science diet dog a mile away! Why do they all have that distinct smell?

Gidget has the worst gas on grain-free food!!! We thought it was just her!

GAS! It's terrible. No other symptoms. Well a too soft stool is that is a symptom. Living here, we have to pick up after our dogs right away and trying to pick up a pile of mush is not fun.

When Penny started on grain-free, she knocked a few buzzards off dump trucks with her gas. It did even out after a while, though. She's been on TOW for about a year or so, switching formulas every few months, and her gas is minimal. Hoping that the lovely Miss Tilly becomes less, shall we say, aromatic.

Sally, it may be that the protein is too high and rich. Nature's Variety is a very good kibble, but it is one of the higher in protein and fat. Are you adding pumpkin? That may help. The increased gas and the softer poops could be a reaction to the high protein / fat level.

You might consider going with a lower fat / protein grain-free kibble. Just something not quite as high, because if I recall, NV is somewhere in the 30's for protein levels. Tilly would probably be just fine on something closer to 25.

My pugs always get terrible gas if they get something very rich and high in fat.

I'm not giving her pumpkin right now, but I sure can start. Anything to "clear the air".

Not all 'grain-frees' are equal. As Reneé suggested, maybe try a different grain-free food and see how she does on that?

I had Rocky Sr. on grain-free TOW- Roasted Bison & Roasted Venison, and he ended up with daily diarrhea and horrible gas. I switched him back to 'Chicken Soup for Senior dogs' (I know, not grain-free), and his poop is back to normal, and his gas is ...well... about as well as can be expected from a 13-yr-old pug.

But Bozlee & Odie Gus Gus do just fine on TOW.

My two have been on GF Natures Variety for a while now and no problem at all.

I'd give another one a try, maybe it's just not agreeing with her.

My foster pug has horrible allergies so we went grain free. At first, his gas was horrible!!!! But, it has since tapered out, so maybe Tilly's will too. He's on Pinnacle.

Speaking of grain free, I found grain free treats and he seemed to be doing well, but now is all itchy again when I added baby carrots - how can that be? He gets really bad ear infections when his allergies flair up.

Brenda wrote:My foster pug has horrible allergies so we went grain free. At first, his gas was horrible!!!! But, it has since tapered out, so maybe Tilly's will too. He's on Pinnacle.

Speaking of grain free, I found grain free treats and he seemed to be doing well, but now is all itchy again when I added baby carrots - how can that be? He gets really bad ear infections when his allergies flair up.

It could be something that is on the carrots or put on them as they are grown if they aren't organic. Tilly is sensitive to chemicals of any type, but she can eat lots of stuff if it is all natural or organic.

Or it can be an allergy to carrots. That is on gidget's allergy list. So are peas, alfalfa, potatoes and a list of other foods.

Carrots are high in complex carbs and that can tigger some allergies especially in yeasty dogs. Try green beans for a treat instead.

My guys don't get gassy on all grain-free foods, buy Sammy gets gassy on some. He got gas that would kill a horse on a fish-based Solid Gold food and Innova EVO red meat, but did fine on the EVO poultry-based version.

Now that I'm using Honest Kitchen, the only one he' had been gassy on was the fish-based Zeal (which didn't make me sad, because that one costs an arm and a leg!) The weird thing is that this box of Force, which is chicken-based has him gassing the house out. He's had it many times before and never reacted to it, but this time it's just killing him! Interestingly, his Force farts, although long, frequent, and sometimes almost tuneful, don't actually smell all that bad (well, for farts, anyway.) I've always thought that Force smells a lot like chicken-flavored ramen noodles, and the resulting poop and his farts actually smell similar. Go figure.

I went grainfree BECAUSE of loose poops (in tigger my jack russell), and it cured them!! (And no gas!)

We happen to have chosen the FROMM Family brand - the beef "frittata" - and now that I hear not all GF are created equal (i.e. that it seems the protein balance on this one works for him), I am not switching without caution!

(Ohna, it seems can eat ANYTHING and put out nice firm poops... Gotta love that dopey girl for somethin'!

Good luck de-bugging the pug!

Two Crazy Pugs wrote:Or it can be an allergy to carrots. That is on gidget's allergy list. So are peas, alfalfa, potatoes and a list of other foods.

Izzy has trouble with carrots also. And sweet potatoes.

No personal experience but I asked the vet about feeding my pugs grainfree (she's homeopathic as well as does traditional medicine) and she said since my dogs were older and not used to grain free they would need some type of probiotic so they could digest it. Maybe that's her problem.

Hadn't thought of probiotics, but Penny's new dogtor agreed with the advice that I got here on her latest bout of pancreatitis - add a probiotic supplement to her diet. I did. She is doing very well, and loves the supplement.