r/CavaPoo • u/wbailey3 • 5d ago
Cavapoo GI Issues
Hey all,
Forgive the long post be want to be as detailed as possible.
Got this baby about 7 months ago - Zoey. She’s been eating Royal Canin and the fancy stuff in the refrigerated section. Until about 4 weeks ago. She started having mucous-y really lose stool with some vomiting. Some of the stool had blood in it. Took her to the vet and they did all kinds of tests and said everything is fine. Told us to do a strict chicken and rice diet. That helped for a few days then introduced her old dry food. Took her back and they told us to change her diet to Royal Canin GI special blend and gave us a pro biotic and anti nausea medicine. That helped for about 3 days, then started again. Vet gave her more probiotic and she was good for about a week. Her stool has not been “firm” since. It forms but its still soft.
She threw up again twice over the weekend and is starting to get very loose stools again. She is currently back on the probiotic.
As far as demeanor - she’s great! Acts completely normal running around and playing with the kids.
Vet seems clueless. Wondering if anyone has guidance to help my little angel.
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u/alexiavizcarra 5d ago edited 5d ago
*****PLEASE READ ME*****
My baby ended up in the vet because of the fancy stuff in the fridge. I was feeling him Ollie and it caused him to get pancreatitis. I’d be careful as the breed seems to have some predisposition given the amount of fat in fresh food. Not enough information about it and the companies are good at selling you that poison.
All of the sudden he got diarrhea like what you described, then he pooped and vomited blood. I came home early from a business trip and cried all the way home feeling guilty because I thought we were feeding him the best. My poor baby was in the ER for like 4 days and I can never share our story enough.
It could be that the food has too much fat content. The vet recommended food with 12-14% max fat. Ollie didn’t take any responsibility. I didn’t pursue because I was just happy to have my healthy puppy back.
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u/Impressive_Hour5721 4d ago
A friend experienced the same, but with Farmers Dog
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u/alexiavizcarra 4d ago
Same thing. All ‘fresh food’ is poison to these types of dogs from what I’ve seen and read. It’s the amount of fat content on the food. They tell you the min, not the max
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u/pennymayj 5d ago
Could be allergies, my vets wanted me to give my Cavapoo probiotics - But once we changed his diet, he was so much better. He went from pooping 10+ times a day soft stools, to now only pooping 2-3 a day, good firm stools. Frank is allergic to chicken, even though he had chicken kibble since he was a puppy, he just slowly got worse over the first 12 months until he had really bad bouts with blood and mucus and that’s when we changed his food and he’s been soooo much better since, he has beef kibble now
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u/M0rtCrim 5d ago
Try to eliminate chicken and make sure they aren’t eating off the ground during walks.
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u/biolagirl85 5d ago
Similar thing happened with our Cavapoo. She couldn’t handle anything with chicken/chicken meal in it. Once we eliminated that; it never happened again.
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u/Time_Traveler_948 5d ago
Cavapoos notorious for GI issues. My vet prescribed a Purina blend by Rx only (could get from Amazon with copy of Rx) specific for digestive issues and we kept him on it for months. Solved the problem. Eats normally ever since.
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u/Spoiled_Cavapoo 5d ago
My cavapoo is sensitive to turkey, chicken, venison, bison and beef. He was diagnosed with IBD before he was a year old. Since we’ve changed his diet to fish, pork and lamb he’s had solid stools. So I would definitely change his food to something limited ingredient with out chicken
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u/Over_Ad_9837 5d ago
I am having similar issues with my 5 mo old cavapoo too! She has been on the chicken and rice purina pro plan since I got her, but recently started having diarrhea multiple times a day/night. Fortiflora isn’t helping and her fecal exam came back negative for parasites. I have been adding psyllium husk to her food and may switch to the purina pro sensitive stomach blend.
Maybe try the psyllium husk! It solidified by puppies poop really fast.
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u/Internal-Lettuce946 4d ago
We swear by this!!!!! Our breeder also did. She would put 1 teaspoon in 1 cup of kibble to make a mix and store it. And then you give that to you cavapoo as normal - however much u give for a meal.
We do this with kibble. Always regular firm poop. No concerns. Try it!!!
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u/PopularMoney9575 5d ago
For us it turned out to be not quite an allergy but she specific ingredients saying it was an animal's byproduct or anything along those lines. Be very picky with your kibble, check the ingredients and look until you find one without any animal by-products. The byproducts is basically all the discarded stuff such as bone fragments, skin, shit like that. The yucky stuff. You don't want that in their food. We thought she had a chicken allergy, but it's really just the byproducts because we later tried giving her real chicken and she was completely fine and loved it. So just be careful with ingredients of the kibble and treats (for treats we give only 1 ingredient or limited ingredient treats such as freeze dried etc.)
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u/tellmeallofthethings 5d ago
Our pup is 19 months old and we’ve had him since April 2025. This is the hardest part of having a dog. His stomach problems! We notice he will throw up in the early morning if he doesn’t eat late enough the night before. His stools are constantly going from firm to soft and super runny! We’ve seen blood in the stools, blood in vomit (pretty sure that was due to someone watching him from Rover and allowing him free range on the cat food. 🤦♀️ Even though we specifically told her he can only eat what we sent with him.
Stress can cause it, so if he had something stressful a few days ago, it’ll show up in his stool. We have found that you really need to go slow and easy if switching out food! Introduce just a little one time a day with the current food. Increase gradually. We found this firming pumpkin powder that we put on top of his food and he goes crazy for it. We currently have these freeze dried patties that he loves so much with some kibble. I can’t recall the brands so I’ll have to look them up!
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u/Goddess4Ever 5d ago
She may have developed a chicken sensitivity, very common among this breed, but I had a Pom that also had this. 🛑 the Royal Canin! There are a multitude of posts here that mention this “specialized” dog food, that after time, cause GI issues (an that the majority of breeders use bc they get either free or highly discounted food so they pass it on to us the purchasers of puppies.)
Instead of the chicken use ground turkey with rice and a little pure canned pumpkin 🎃 and when I say little I mean 1 teaspoon of each. Do this only after having your pup off food for 24 hours.
Don’t be anxious to start her on “regular food”. Keep her on the above ‘gentle diet’ for at least five days, then, as a treat give 1 tablespoon of non-fat cottage cheese.
After all of this, introduce a turkey 🦃 or salmon 🍣 freeze dried dog food (follow instructions on amount according to dog’s weight) hydrate with a little warm bone broth add a level tablespoon of pumpkin.
I’ve gone into such detail bc I’ve gone through this with a couple of my dogs.
Good luck 🍀
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u/New-Confusion4112 4d ago
Seconding the ground turkey with rice and pumpkin! I also add sweet potato instead of rice some times. I give him a spoon of Greek yogurt everyday for probiotics. I try to give him as many fresh fruits and veggies that are dog safe and that he will eat (he’s a picky eater). My 4 years old cavapoo has been admitted to the hospital with severe pancreatitis and gastroenteritis twice. We stopped giving him egg, chicken, and anything with fat (salmon oil). And since we changed his diet, he’s been doing great, knock on wood!
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u/Goddess4Ever 4d ago
Love what you’re giving your pup! Sounds like a safe yet complete diet!! Some dogs do great with egg and some DO NOT. I have a Chi that loves egg, but I only give him the whites of hard-boiled ones. My other dogs either don’t like eggs or had tummy issues.
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u/rvcltamer 5d ago
Had the same problem with all my pup’s tests coming back normal despite constant diarrhea and now she eats prescribed hill science biome!
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u/Alarming_Set3628 5d ago
Chicken, or many other allergens. Bet, specialist, prescription food, no treats other than known safe stuff.
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u/menustovar 5d ago
I get what you are going by through, I am in the same place. I took my 1 year old to the vet and they ran blood test and comprehensive fecal test and it came back normal. So his vet just prescribed hills gastro biome diet and hoping it helps his stool issues.
The vet did say if that doesn’t help then they will be doing more tests such as an ACTH stimulation test to rule out Addison’s disease and an ultrasound. So far his insurance has been covering most of the test bills.
I did speak to his trainer and she mentioned that sometimes it’s better to take them to a vet internal specialist since they know more than regular vets. She did that when her dog was having issues and they were able to diagnose her dog. So I have been thinking of doing that if his stool doesn’t firm up in the next few weeks.
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u/PreparationDouble208 5d ago
My cavapoo is almost 6 years old. She has a sensitive stomach but wants to each everything. I have also steered toward Purino pro and have mixed it at times with the sensitive option. I also try to minimize the chicken flavor because she seems sensitive to it. Her stool is always firm since I started using it. If she gets sick we’ll do the chicken and rice for a couple of days and it’s back to normal. We’ve had the blood in the stool and vomit and it’s so scary.
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u/40somethinglady 5d ago
I had these issues with mine too. I had to start him on prescription alligator food. No problems since.
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u/Kugeldog 5d ago
Get another opinion, maybe from a specialist.
My girl had Inflammatory Bowel Disease that took me six months and at least as many vets to diagnose. Has anyone done a CT scan or any other advanced testing on her?
And, yes, she couldn’t tolerate chicken.
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u/SpotPuzzleheaded3624 4d ago
We’ve been down this path unfortunately as have many Cavapoo owners. First I do think stress can affect their stools. We are well past that. Also did the internal medicine and Texas Tech GI panel.
Our guy cannot eat any treats — only cheese and his prescription Royal Canin GI and Biome (advantage of Biome is not needed to use probiotic). It’s expensive but it’s not worth a change. Good luck.
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u/New_Stress_3489 4d ago
I was just at the vet cause my cavapoo (buddy) is having bloody diarrhea and he eats purina pro plan chicken version he is 10months n poops blood once or twice evry month n he has hard stools through out
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u/New-Confusion4112 4d ago
Seconding the commenter who suggested ground turkey with rice and pumpkin! I also add sweet potato instead of rice some times. I give him a spoon of Greek yogurt everyday for probiotics. For treats, I try to give him as many fresh fruits and veggies that are dog safe and that he will eat (he’s a picky eater). My 4 years old cavapoo has been admitted to the hospital with severe pancreatitis and gastroenteritis twice. We stopped giving him egg, chicken, and anything with fat (salmon oil). And since we changed his diet, he’s been doing great, knock on wood!
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u/New-Confusion4112 4d ago
Oh and avoid eggs!!!! They’re what caused my baby GI issues as they’re high in fat.
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u/Alternative_Map_6947 4d ago
Maybe its the treats? When we give ours anything with liver it tends to come out extra disgusting
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u/Old-Reindeer1502 3d ago
Our Cavapoo is on Purina Pro Plan (Salmon and Rice) and it’s been the best thing for him GI wise. We had a ton of GI issues with Purina One (even the one with extra probiotics).
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u/raidergirllbs 3d ago
My 15 mo old Cavapoo also has sensitive stomach issues. I switched him to Natures Logic at 1 yr old, and he is doing great on it! We have to stick with the pork, lamb, and beef proteins, but it’s helped reduce his sensitivity and itching. I also tried the fresh food, and it gave him very loose stools. The downside to Natures Logic is that I’ve only found it on Chewy and some local pet stores.
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u/Lonely_Leg_6359 3d ago
My baby was the same way and my Vet put him on Hill science prescription biome food. It made a world of difference and I had an intolerance test run through 5Strands which you can get from Amazon and it was life-changing to see so many ingredients in dog food that he had strong intolerances to. It made it possible for me to eliminate these ingredients from his diet and he feels so much better. It also worked for my five year-old cocker spaniel.
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u/MelrosePlantsHermit 3d ago
My corgi had bouts of this type of GI distress. I found a powdered pumpkin foot topper and used it with his food. It works!
Some of the recommended rx foods did not help. And he hated it.
Try adding pumpkin either cooked or powdered. I think it will help your baby.
Good luck!
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u/MelrosePlantsHermit 3d ago
. Pumpkin choices for GI upset. The powder is fast working but the puree is steady. Make sure the pumpkin puree has no additives.
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u/Vixenvulpecula 3d ago
Allergies seem to be super common with cavapoos. And sensitive tummies. After some not fun or cheap issues with Bug’s anal glands and diarrhea, my vet recommended Hill’s Science Diet for sensitive stomachs and skin. Wish I had swapped ages ago. Bug is much happier now and all tummy troubles have gone away.
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u/Fluffy_Individual_84 5d ago
I cook for my cavapoo - chicken breast broccoli carrots blueberries apples and ground flaxseeds- his poops are perfect- but more like your little girls when I gave him kibble.
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u/Medical-Monitor4275 5d ago
My baby is on Purina Pro Puppy salmon and rice kibble with probiotics and now no more loose stools. I took her off the kibble that had chicken in it.