My Oreo is having problems with pudding poo...I wrote a few weeks back regarding it, but now need more advice.  I have her on California Naturals Chicken/Rice puppy.  She liked it at first, but now seems to only eat about 1/2 cup a day and she is still have pudding poops.  I took a stool sample in today to test it for giardia or something else.  Haven't heard back yet.  The vet seems to think that she should be having normal poops after being on the food for two weeks.  She may be having trouble digesting it.  He said to wait for the test to come back, if it's normal I should switch food.

So, here's where I am overwhelmed.  We have Petco, Petsmart and a feed store that has some specialized foods.  I have read many threads and lots of people use Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance.  I don't want to spend a whole lot of money, but I definitely want to give her quality food.  I've gotten on rateitall.com and dogfoodanalysis.com, but I'm still overwhelmed.  I don't want to give her anything that is too rich for her tummy.  Also, she seems to prefer smaller kibble...she was on Eukanuba small bites when we got her from the foster home, and she had no trouble chewing, except for excessive itching...

Does anyone have any advice?  I'd rather get it from rattie owners than my vet or people from the stores...Thanks

I can't find an ingredient list for the California Naturals...I see where they list a few ingredients but I can't find the usual list in order of amount....maybe they have it somewhere and I just can't find it but I don't like a food that won't tell me exactly what is in it.

Anyway, Natural Balance is at Petco and they have a small bite version.  Hopefully the vet will check out other possibilities though...it does sound odd for her stool to be so soft this long after switching foods. 

CN is supposed to be all natural, made my Natura products..they make EVO, Innova.  I also tried pumpkin, yogurt, and kaopectate.  Nothing has seemd to really help in any great way.  It may firm up a bit, but then goes right back.  That's kind of why I think it is probably the food and not something else.  She also has great energy.  There are just oo many choices out there.  I forget to mention that I saw on Rate it all that some people received Natural Balance bags that were moldy.....something to worry about? 

As far the mold in NB - it doesn't have any preservatives in it so I would guess this may happen, especially if the store keeps it too long, etc.  I've been buying it for a long time (months) and never got any mold but I poor each bag of dog food out into a Rubbermaid container so I would see mold if any was there....just be careful.

Yeah, the EVO, Innova products are high quality.  Maybe something in the exact food you're feeding just doesn't agree with your pup.  At this point I would try another food....and persue any other tests, etc.  Maybe try Canidae or some very plain food?

Thanks for your advice Mary Beth.  I will look into Canidae.  I also pour the food into a container, makes it easier to put in the pantry!

That could be a concern for a puppy.  Natural Balance also has the Ultra Premium version which has meat as the main ingredient, here's the link (says it's fine for puppies): http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dogformulas/UltDog.html

And Canidae is for all life stages (including puppies).: http://www.canidae.com/dogs/all_life_stages/dry.html I fed this for a while but my dogs just weren't enthusiastic about eating it....also I have a little girl with allergies and I wanted a single source of meat in the food.

Oh no!! Oreo has Giardia!! (sp?)  I thought for sure it was the food!  The vet is giving me antibiodics for her.  She said it is usually caused from a water source...I thought they got it from eating wildlife poo...which she does.  We haven't had her near any water that would be iffy.  She also said poor hygiene and since she was rescued from a puppy mill she could have gotten it there.

I went and bought the NB duck/potato today.  I may still switch her, but not sure yet.  It has a small bites formula now, which may be better for her....what to do what to do!  Hopefully we'll see some solid poo soon!

My 7 year old Ratter named Rowdy has a very sensitive tummy. I had to really watch what I gave him to eat. I also have a 6 year old Shar Pei that is having major skin problems. I switched him to Taste of the Wild- Pacific Stream and he really liked it so I started giving Rowdy a little of it and he loves it!! It has never upset his tummy no runny poo at all. I was really shocked over it!! I didnt think he would eat it. I also give them a can of sardines they love them!!!

as are mine... we just switched to red m,eat flavor from chicken and they like it better.... they were runny and then hard and now like soft snakes... rich in color... almost dark chocolatey!!! lmao YUM!