The Rewards of Poop Inspection

For about eight months, we had no idea what this was. Our standard would have two perfect weeks with no digestive problems, then throw everything up at 4:00 am. He would eat grass for a few days too. He would poop normally for weeks, but then have diarrhea for a day or two. And he would scoot across the floor, something I thought was due to full anal sacs.

His low-fat diet was not the problem, we had observed that the diarrhea and vomiting was not food-specific. Like many standard schnauzers, Kafka had always had excellent appetite, even during these bouts. Neither was he ingesting anything other than food... since various x-rays had shown nothing, and I had been supervising his play.

So the mystery deepened as he matured. Over time I stopped taking him to the vet as this happened, it was simply too expensive and they were about to diagnose irritable bowel syndrome. One day I saw him straining and had to help him poop since I had noticed it was not falling off. As I used a bag to literally pull it out, I noticed some strange fibers, and even strings coming out. They were too short to cause a surgical intervention, but long enough to cause distress. We went home and I started looking for the source of these fibers.

Half of his toys were made of rubber. He also had a Wubba Kong, but after four months it was still basically intact. I would ocassionally bring him stuffed toys from the drugstore, but he ripped these in pieces and I threw away the stuffing. The rope toys did not degrade in this way. And then I found it. It was an extra tough toy made of reinforced ballistic nylon that he had tried to rip. Somehow, he was swallowing these fibers, and only a few at a time could cause this distress.

I made an experiment and removed the extra-tough toy. For the next few weeks his digestion was normal. Then a couple of months passed and no more vomiting, scooting, or diarrhea. I no longer let him play with toys made of this material, and give him bully sticks so that he can chew himself to sleep. And the best part...I have not had to help him poop anymore!

I've Been Cooking

I've been cooking every afternoon for our standard schnauzer. I should say that perhaps a more appropriate term is "preparing food." Right now our feeding policy is an amalgam of philosophies, in the hope that he reaps the benefits of each:

Philosophy #1: What's wrong with dry food? He eats a high quality dry food in the morning, when we are too asleep to com up with anything more complex. It has the supplements he needs for the day. It does not contain wheat. And if he goes to day care, we pack a portion for the afternoon , but this is rather infrequent.

Philosophy #2: The BARF diet. He eats raw food half of the time. We buy a bag of raw chicken medallions that we defrost inside the fridge until feeding time, because we do not give him raw chicken or turkey parts to eat. He does also eat raw meaty beef bones about twice a week, but no pork bones and very little bone marrow (too fatty). Now that he's a year old, he digests these raw foods a lot better. No more gas! We do not feed him dairy or human food like sweets.

Philosophy #3: The anti-cancer diet. Kafka has loved fruits and vegetables since he was a small puppy. He eats these separate from his meals, as snacks. Very seldom do we give him biscuits or processed dog treats. because we want to equip him as best as possble to fight infections, cancer and other diseases with a variety of fresh food. We also feed him cooked proteins such as eggs, sardines, organ meats, and hamburger, mixed with barley, rice or potatoes.

Philosophy #4: The anti-obesity diet. Kafka is 22.5 inches at the withers, and 58 lbs. He is a big SS who would like you to think he's starving all the time. But with the snacks we give him, it's hard for his weight to exceed the 60 lb mark. We also measure his food with dishes made to hold exactly the amount of food he's supposed to have at each meal. When we want to do something special for him, we don't feed him treats, we take him to the beach.

I would have liked to completely follow one or another, but the tweaks have happened because of my experience with Kafka, and my realization that lots of breeders are actually paid to promote one or another brand. The good news is that he has a great appetite. This is not a breed that refuses anything edible, and that's why it's up to us humans to be careful.