[Bobby dog]

Hi Sheltie Pom:
I recommend you check out DFA’s canned food list for 3.5 – 5 star canned foods to start with and for the DFA ratings of the brands I have listed below to help with your decision. If you are looking to purchase food from Wal-Mart I suggest you look at Pure Balance stews & 95% canned selections, Rachael Ray Nutrish tubs, Freshpet, Newman’s, Variety, Natural Life, and Evolve. Not all Wal-Marts carry all of these brands.

If you are looking for budget friendly canned foods also look into Kirkland Cuts and Gravy from Costco (you have to buy a case, they are about 75 cents/can) or 4Health from Tractor Supply $1.00/can.

Since you are feeding a puppy, look for puppy or all life stages to be listed on any brand you decide to feed; not adult only food. I am not sure which brands meet the puppy/all life stages criteria out of the brands I have listed.

I also recommend you look into rotational feeding for your pup. Here’s a link to a DFA article about rotational feeding:
/frequently-asked-questions/diet-rotation-for-dogs/

I feed Pure Balance along with some of the brands I listed above to my dog; he loves the taste, and does well on both Pure Balance varieties and all flavors.

[Bobby dog]

I don’t have a guess on the carbs in EVO but they are there. I couldn’t tell you if he has a blockage or not, but I can say I believe you are ahead of the game with this possible UTI! My cat was not feeling well late one afternoon and I made an appointment to see our Vet the next morning. When I came home from work after midnight that night there was no mistaking the pain he was in. He could not move and he was crying out in pain; a really horrible cry. You are not at that point yet and taking him to the Vet first thing in the morning is the very best you can do for him. Make sure your vet knows you need to bring him in ASAP because of a suspected UTI issue. I am a little distracted by the Walking Dead, it looks extra creepy tonight. Anyway, I barely got him to the ER after finding him in that condition. He had a blockage and the Vet who operated on him said if I had gotten him their one second later, his kidneys would have exploded. Since his condition was so critical and required a hospital stay, it cost me close to $2,000 (if not more). So I am sure catching this condition early and adjusting your kitty’s diet is a step in the right direction.

[Akari_32]

Well, I mean, he was going anyways, but I just can’t afford to get it all done at once. Shots can be put off, but a UTI can’t.

Since the topic is up, do you think he could have a crystal blockage? He’s got about 1/2 normal sized pee and half little blood tinted pee when I clean the box out every day (there’s usually about three pees and one poop). I would guess that since he’s still having decent sized pee some of the time, a blockage is unlikely (at least not large one).

Does anyone have a carb percentage on the EVO (or want to take a guess)? I don’t recall seeing it on the website.

[Akari_32]

EVO isn’t very starchy, though, I wouldn’t think. It’s like 2 billion % protein (ok, more like 50-something, but still). Then again, I’m no cat expert, so, you know…. Lol

I’ve been looking around online, and it seems my cheapest options for all canned are Friskies (cheapest at PetCo in cases of 12 13.2 oz cans with $2 off $10 Pet Supermarket coupon), Grreat Choice (PetSmarts version of Friskes), and Authority (maybe, once I figure out how much of it you feed). I’ll obviously keep an eye out for sales and coupons on better foods, but if all wet is the route I have take, these are going to be the bulk of his diet. I’ve still got my Wellness Signature Selects BOGO coupons I’ll be using after vet bills are taken care of.

I’ve decided I’ll be putting off shots for now, and getting them done when I can take a day off and get them done at the humane society (or they do a mobile shot clinic sooner, since those are done on weekends), and take him to the vet tomorrow for a health check and to get this UTI taken care of. I’ve got all day tomorrow, so I’ll be up first thing in the morning, call the vet and get going. He’ll probably take us right away, since the only early patiences they tend have are surgeries, and it’s not like those happen often around here.

[Akari_32]

I’m going to call around tomorrow (who ever will answer for a Sunday) and I’ve been looking around online for places that may be able to help with it, and I’ve got a few on my list. If this was planned I would have had no problem affording it, after having saved up for it. But since it was like “oh by the way here’s a cat” I’ve got some working out to do with money. Unfortunately, I’m now dealing with something that needs to be done right away, and not whenever I can get it done. I’ve only got Monday and most of Friday this week that I have off during vet hours, so I’ve got to get going.

He’s not *bad* really, but several times a day he just paces the house meowing and meowing, and seems like he’s looking for trouble, which is what I was associating with a UTI. Otherwise, he’s just a cat. He likes to “help” with making his food, or making your food, or doing things around the house, likes to play in the blinds. Normal cat stuff lol

I’ve been watching him the last few days, and he’s got a slight limp. Is this something that could be caused by a UTI? We’ve got all tile in the main areas of the house, too, so he could have just landed wrong during one of his adventures. It doesn’t seem to bother him at all, otherwise. He plays and jumps and does cat things.

In the mean time, is there anything I can do to at least contain this? He’s on all wet food (half dry mixed in than canned, with water added), so that’s covered. His dry EVO is almost gone, so I could buy a urinary tract health food if they really work. Any recommendations on those?

[Akari_32]

Oh my god kill me.

This cat needs to learn some serious manners and house etiquette. He’s a sweet boy, but he sure is naughty! He tries to get in the blinds (they’re horizontal blinds, rather than vertical ones, so he all but tears them off the wall -_-), gets on the counter in hopes of food, plays with random things all night, tries to get into a closed off room all day, and thinks it’s time to eat EVERY time you go into the kitchen (I’ve tripped over him at least 4 times in the last week…). I’ve started spraying him with a spray bottle when he does bad things, mainly pulling on the blinds. That’s not even the worse part though…

Mom caught him scratching on the furniture the other day, and told me I had till Thursday (tomorrow, at this point) to get rid of him, before she came home from out of town. This is AFTER she told to get rid of him when she first saw him, then said I could keep him, and then went back and forth another few times, all since last Wednesday. I don’t even know what the crap to think any more. It’s ticking me off. Make your freaking mind up and tell me what you want me to do (before I get rid of you!!!)! Now she’s back to me keeping him, but making feel like the biggest dick ever for it, telling me to get him declawed, and that she hates cats, and all this other crap. And then she just texted me saying to buy him a scratching post (I haven’t bought one yet because why the crap am I going to spend the money on a scratching post for a cat I’m not keeping, or apparently now, declawing???). Just, whatever. I’m not over exaggerating at all when I say all this. At least when she first found out about him, she didn’t want him simply because she’s allergic to cats, which I can respect and understand, now she’s saying to get rid of him because she is mad that the cat is being a CAT.

I’m making an appointment for the vet tomorrow to get his shots and health check, and possibly neutered (we really aren’t sure if he is or not, he’s very fluffy and it’s hard to tell). I may actually call the humane society and see what they can do. Pull the “you guys are full of cats and I don’t want to give you another, can you just give me cheap vet care” thing. They do shots and fixing, but I don’t know if they do exams for the public. Won’t know until I ask, I guess.

My sister is giving me an old scratching post, and I may look into nail caps (thoughts on those?). I will not get him declawed. I’d sooner give him to the only people who apparently want this cat other than me, the nasty indoor smoker neighbors. Their house is so gross I want to shower every time I have to go in there. They do have a cat over there, though. They had two, but one ran away. Go figure. And they feed dry only, whatever’s cheap (I’ve seen versions flavors of Friskies and 9Lives over there). But yeah, they’re the only ones to say they want him. I may be able to get them to feed him wet/mostly wet, even if it is something like the huge $1 cans of Friskies from Dollar Tree, if they were to take him.

Anyways, I got a good deal on some lesser wet foods (Purina One, Sheba, and Fancy Feast) so we’ve got about 60 cans of these. It’s better than nothing right now. I’ve got coupons for BOGO Wellness Select-whatever, which I’ll get before they expire. He’s still got some EVO dry left, but I’ll need some more soon. It was just a teeny baby bag (2.2 pounds) and he’s just a big fatty (11.4 pounds). I’ve got his mix pretty well figured out, I think. I’ve been mixing half wet and half dry, according to how much he should be eating according to the can and bag, and feeding him 2-3 times a day, about 2 tablespoons. It seems about every other day he wants an extra snack, which is when he gets fed a third time. Mom said he was so hungry the other day when I was at work that he was just walking around the house meowing and meowing. Granted I had fed him at about 10 and she said she finally broke down around 7 and fed him, so I could understand him being hungry. He also won’t take treats unless he’s starving. Kind of a weird cat lol

So anyways, all this drama is why I haven’t updated you guys. Moms given me one month to try him out, and if she’s still pissy about him, he has to go :/ If that happens, and if I have no other takers, I’d think I’d rather see him go to my neighbors rather than a shelter. What do you guys think about that? I’m honestly not so sure, either way…

[Akari_32]

Check out the Weight Management EVO and Wellness CORE Reduced Fat. Those are the only two that I can think of that fit what you’re looking for.

[Akari_32]

All of Natura’s line was effected by last years recall (EVO, Innova, California Naturals). It looks to me that Natures Table is just Prime, but with a fancy new name. The dog food still looks pretty much the same, but I’ve not investigated the cat (didn’t have a need until now LOL). I would imagine it’s a pretty good food, if that’s the case.

PetSmart seems to have some good foods on the clearance rack every now and then. Usually is Science Diet, Royal Canin and Pro Plan, though. But I will keep an eye out! They also put individual bags expiring in 3 months on sale 20% off (I actually just picked up a 15 pound bag of Natures Recipe for the dogs for 17 bucks after the foods sale, the bags discount, a $4 off any bag coupon, and a $4 off $20 order coupon!).

I forgot about merrick! I’ll have to give that a try, too! 🙂

[Akari_32]

Thanks guys! I just weighed him myself, and– even under weight– he weighs 11.2 pounds!!! Omg lol Talk about food bills!

Just curious on the dry subject, can I add water to his dry food? He doesn’t seem to have had much water today, even though he ate all his dry food. He did drink some yesterday, though, and I refilled his bowl once (it’s not a large bowl).

Also, I ditched the Nutro Max. I traded it for EVO. But I just realized that the EVO has herring meal in it! It’s like the 4th ingredient, though. It’s only a small bag, so that’s not much of a problem (2.2 pounds). I think next I will the Simply Nourish from PetSmart. I did see that Innova Natures Table had a cat food. Anyone have thoughts on that?

[Bobby dog]

Hi, congrats and he is gorgeous! As far as how much to feed your kitty, if you are going to feed wet and dry food I would suggest you check out the feeding guide on the dry food you are feeding him. For example, Wellness has a guide on their bag suggesting how much to feed your cats if you are feeding only dry or a combo of wet and dry according to your cat’s weight. When you decide on an amount just observe your cat’s body condition and adjust your food amounts accordingly.
I have had cats ever since I can remember and still have lots to learn. I have two 15 yrs, one 14 yrs, one 11 yrs, and one 6 yrs, all stray cats. I wish I never fed them wheat, corn, soy, fish, or dry food. I lost two that were 15 years old about four years ago to illnesses that bad nutrition surely contributed to; digestion problems, obesity, and the male had urinary tract issues throughout his life. I have one cat that was diagnosed about five years ago with a hyperthyroid; he requires daily meds now. I have slowly changed their diets over the past five months, but at their ages change is difficult so they still need their fish and dry food fixes. Most importantly I have weaned them off of Friskies. I might not ever be able to completely ween them off of fish or dry food. If I paid more attention to their diets I truly believe I would not have had the vet bills I had over the years. About four years ago an emergency room visit in the middle of the night for my male cat’s urinary tract infection cost me about $2,000 to get him well.
My advice is to feed them the best wet diet that fits your budget. Avoid soy, wheat, corn, and fish. Stick to poultry, lamb, rabbit or beef if possible. If you are going to feed dry find a good quality GF dry.
I am with Crazy4cats, my go to website is catinfo.org. My other favorite is the naturalcatcareblog.com. They have a great list of dry and dehydrated foods and the reason they recommend them. I feed wet three times a day (totalling about 3-5 oz./cat) and give them a small scoop of dry once a day. I am on a very tight budget as well so I only buy food that I either have coupons for, on sale, or on the 50% off shelf. I feed Natures Variety raw (when they e-mail coupons), 4Health from Tractor Supply, Merrick, Wellness, Tiki Cat, Weruva, Soulistic (chic only, K3 is in the other varieties), Blue Buffalo, and Evo. I am always trying new canned foods using the information I learned about food from catinfo as a guide. I also feed them boiled chicken two or three days a week as one of their meals to help keep costs down. For dry I have been feeding Wellness GF Turkey & Duck meal (bought with the $5 coupon from their site of course) because there is no fish meal in the recipe. I just bought a bag of Merrick GF chic on sale which they seem to like.
Sorry for the long post, maybe something I have written will be helpful for you. Good luck, he’s one lucky kitty!

[Akari_32]

He seems to like both (well, I’m not sure if he likes both, or if he just likes to eat. He checks his bowls often, so I’m voting more for he just likes to eat LOL) so we’ll continue on with both for now. I think I’ll go for the Simply Nourish Source for our next bag of dry. Either that or EVO. I’m not sure lol

[Akari_32]

He doesn’t seem at all like the type to bolt out an open door. Someone dumped this cat, I’m sure of it. He’s shy and skittish, but boy can be get in to trouble! He escaped from the bathroom, then after a while jumped the step-over gate in the hallway. I figured I’d just let him roam the house. He’s already been climbing all over the kitchen table, tried to jump on both reptile tanks in the living room, found the blinds on the back door… Lol

He seems very healthy. I checked his teeth, and they looks great, his coat is solid, he’s super soft. So I’m really worried about him giving the dogs anything. I’ve got him locked in the bathroom for the night, though, and I’ll lock him in there when I go to work tomorrow. He can’t be trusted alone just yet, it seems LOL

The good news is, he knows what to do in the litter box! Thank god lol that would be terrible if he didn’t.

He’s starving, it seems, so I think at this point he’ll anything. He did end up going back for that dry food. And he got into moms room and under black hole of a bed, so I had to lure him out with even more canned food. He’s eaten two tablespoons of Friskies and about 1/8 cup (less, really) of the Max Cat. And I saw poop and pee in his litter box when I went In the bathroom to get him to stop clawing on the door lol Turns out, the litter I bought is NOT clumping. I flushed the poop down the toilet, but can’t do anything about the pee. That’s ok, I guess. I’ll buy better litter later. I bought everything but the Innova, EVO and Max Cat at the dollar store. Can’t expect much from dollar store cat litter LOL But his bowls are really cute! :p

Another friend of mine and I have decided that if I can’t keep the cat (it’s up to mom, in the end, after all), that she will take him. They’ve got another cat, and they should get along great.

[Akari_32]

HE’S SO FLUFFY! And very sweet. He’s already taken to me. And eating lol I bought him a huge can of Friskies at the dollar store, expecting much if it to go to waste while I figured out what he liked and got him eating. I put down three bowls, water, canned food, and dry food. Made a mess of the water, ignored the dry, and inhaled the Friskies. Good thing also bought a can of Innova and a can of EVO! If he doesn’t eat the dry (which, whatever) I’ll give it to my friend (It’s just the Nutro Max Kitten, nothing special).

[aimee]

Hi losul,

First I’m so sorry for what you and your dog are going through. I myself have nightmares that I get that dreaded call in which I’m told my dog has heartworms. I know that giving less of the pill and less frequently than recommended is likely playing heavily on your mind. In actuality we don’t know what role that played as sometimes dogs on full prevention protocols come up positive too.

I’m sure this is scarey. I’ll try an answer your questions to the best of my ability.

Do you need a second opinion? If you want to look further, have a different type of test done vs a different vet who may be using the same brand test. There can be false positives on a heartworm test, but they are rare.

The fact that they saw microfilaria kinda clinches the diagnosis. There are other microfilaria that can be seen in blood, Dipetalonema comes to mind and a parasitologist can likely identify them for you. The sample may need to be sent to a university vet school. But really the chance you have both a false positive and a different type of microfilaria seems unlikely …I think you would be grasping at straws …

Should you consider slow kill? I’ll give you my opinion for what it is worth, I wouldn’t. I can’t put my hand on it at this moment. Will look for it if you want but as I remember in dogs treated with slow kill considerable ongoing lung damage occurred UNLESS the dogs were on complete exercise restriction for the entire duration. Your dog is young, I’m guessing active, and would be difficult to keep continually crated for nearly a year plus(?) of his life. There also is some speculation that slow kill may be contributing to resistance. Unless your dog is clear of microfilaria during a slow kill treatment ( meaning your dog has microfilaria because of your dosing and not strain) your dog will be infecting others with a resistant strain and spreading resistance.

Should you use moxidectin? So far as I know of only one study that compared efficacy head to head and moxidectin was more effective when given as a single dose. Time will tell if that holds: one study one strain. The moxidectin treated dogs didn’t develop heartworm with only one dose post exposure whereas dogs given 1 dose ivermectin or milbemycin did develop worms. Dogs given 3 monthly doses of milbemycin post exposure were also clear. As I recall this test was done with a strain thought to have resistance.

Moxidectin is also the drug in Pro Heart injections. Is a continuous yet decreasing amount of moxidectin as effective as monthly peak doses? I don’t have any answers for you, I think though it has failed whereas the monthly topical has not due to higher blood concentrations with monthly pulse doses.

I’ve noted on Trifexis (milbemycin) commercials it states to give for 3 months post exposure whereas Sentinal Spectum (milbemycin) has upped that to 6 monthly doses post exposure. For now my dogs get milbemycin, same day each month year round. If I lived in heartworm land… southern states where resistance is being seen I’d choose moxidectin. Likely if my vet was saying moxidectin topical I’d go with it trusting that he/she understands the local strains. I don’t mess around with heartworm prevention.

The preventatives I can think of are ivermectin ( heartgard and others), selamectin( Revolution) milbemycin( sentinal, trifexis,) moxidectin( advantage multi, proheart) diethylcarbamazine (daily still available???)

Should you vaccinate? This is beyond my ability to answer. I think your vet is the best person to answer this one.

Trembling/ fearful…. two things come to mind: pain and fear unrelated to pain. Fears can be to unusual scents, sounds (electrical equipment, ultrasonic, rodents etc ) Pain… any lip licking swallowing drooling that might help you pinpoint it?
.
Again I’m so sorry you are going through this…your vet is the best one to help you through this. The American Heartworm Society guidelines are written as they are for a reason…. If it was me I’d make use of them: 3 injections and doxy. Best of luck

[Akari_32]

Thanks! I’ve been scooting around the websites for all the stores here and picking out some foods to try. Wet and dry together sounds cheaper than just wet, and obviously healthier than just dry.

Wet:

Newmans own
Rachael Ray
Natural Life 95% (the dry is disgusting, but I don’t think the wet looks at all)
EVO
Wellness Core
Natural balance (some of them)
Nutro Natural Choice
Wellness
Blue buffalo

For dry, I’m kind of just leaning toward EVO, for the price. Given the good selection of canned foods I’ve got going, that’d be alright, right? Obviously, if another brand I like the looks of goes on sale I can get a few bags of that, too. It’s hard to find a good, affordable (for me) grain free dry cat food around here! :/ I’ve still got a local shop to check in person, and two more websites to check (PetSmart and PetCo).

What do you guys think so far?

[Akari_32]

Hey guys! A girl at work told me she found a kitten (says he’s maybe a year old or so) living in the woods of her apartment complex. She can’t take him, but she does feed him a few times a week. She said if she could catch him, she’d call me and I could have him. She thinks he used to be someone’s pet, and looks to be neutered.

I need some cat tips (last time I had a cat, I was 5, so I don’t think that really counts… Lol), and some recommendations on food. I do know that too high in carbs and fat isn’t good, and that wet is much preferable over dry. I’d like him to eat both if there is ever some sort of emergency that there would only be one or the other available, but he will eat mainly wet otherwise.

The only brand wet that I’ve found that looks best is the chicken Wellness. Others have high fat, are corn/ rice/soy based, or are overall just terrible. I also don’t want to be spending much more than $0.50-1.00 a day on food. This can obviously be taken rather lightly, but don’t go crazy with $3 single serve cans of food LOL If anyone has a few brands and flavors they use, let me know!

For dry, I’ll be starting with Nutro Max Cat Kitten (hey, it’s $3 with a coupon, and I don’t want to buy an expensive bag of food to start him out on and him not eat it), and then the chicken EVO. Common sense tells me I could just do the same I do with the dogs, and soak the food in some water before offering it. That’d be ok, right?

And what all do you guys use for litter, and what brands should I stay away from. My sister uses tidy cats, and that stuff is so dusty and gross. I wouldn’t mind one of those one-bag-a-month deals. It seems to work out about the same for cost anyways. And if I can pay $8 for a 2 pound, one month supply, rather than pay $6 for a 20 pound, one month supply, I’m all for that!

I also been some tips on keeping the dog out of the cats food, and the other way around :p

[DogFoodie]

I would agree with Patty. It may be chicken issue. I recently discovered my dog has a fish issue. I switched to a fish-free food, but it still contained fish oil, which in theory should’ve been OK (fat and oils are clarified and should have the offending protein removed); but he still reacted. Now I only feed foods that are completely fish free. For your dog, I would try a chicken free food. If that food contains chicken fat, see how he does. If he reacts, move to a chicken free food, one without chicken or chicken fat.

The best advice I can give you is what helped me the most. Start now and keep detailed notes about each food you use. I started a spreadsheet and keep detailed notes about each food I’ve used. Detail the ingredients (keep the label from the bag ~ ingredients change and what you find online in six months may be different that what your dog are and reacted to. I note the date I start the food, when I observe reactions, nutrient analysis, etc. My only regret is not having started my spreadsheet sooner. Some foods that my pup once did well on, aren’t working any longer so even when I’ve found several that do work, I’ll continue to keep notes and look for other foods. I once had an idea that I loved certain foods / brand, but I’ve had to think outside of my original box, but never outside of my comfort zone; ie: I pay I never have to try a Diamond food. I know my sensitive dog will always be a sensitive dog and his current reaction may evoke into other reactions.

Good luck!

[ticman]

I too would like to see more discussion on the above topic.

I have a 14 year old 9 lb poodle whose bloodwork is good for her age but she does have a slight reduction in kidney function along with slight heart murmur. I have been feeding her Orijen Regional Red, Acana grain free, Merrick grain free and Evo small red bite grain free. All of these foods are high quality but also very high in protein.

My vet was concerned about protein levels in lieu of kidney function. She gave me two cans of Hill’s g/d early cardiac healthy aging. In reading the ingredients, I literally gagged.

Long story short I’d like some advice on a grain free food that might reduce the strain on the kidneys as well as being heart friendly. I am assuming reduced protein might be appropriate.

Thoughts and comments are most appreciated.

Mike

[Sharon Buchanan]

Lablubber, I hope you don’t think I was inferring that you were lazy. Certainly if you were, you wouldn’t have found this forum. I know that at this point in my life, I just happen to have a little more time to spend on reading and researching that I didn’t have before (though I have been ignoring the tumblefurs rolling all over my house lately).

My point is, that how ever busy you may be, that last decision – which food you’ll choose to feed your pup, must be your own. While I’m happy to tell you what works for me and what I know, I would not want to make that decision for you.

Devoting a little extra time, even if just an hour, to compare the brands that have been suggested by folks here will pay off in puppy years. And, as Duke said, all the foods on HDM’s list are appropriate for LBPs, we each just have differences as to which is appropriate for OUR puppy. You’ll find the right fit for yours.

Let us know what finally works for you.

[Sharon Buchanan]

Sue ~
I purchased the book by Dr. Becker that Patty mentioned, but we’re going to have a setback here in one day – and a rather expensive one at that. We finally got our winter snow which means delayed freezer delivery, delayed food delivery from MPC – it’s been sent but UPS won’t be able to make it up the mountain until it stops snowing and someone decides to clear the road. Mystery has just two servings of chicken that will get us through Friday morning. I wonder if I should just thaw a flank steak and cut it up for him. Hmmm…

Other than the coming food shortage, everything seems to be going well. When I cut the chicken up, I weighed it out and put it baggies. When I finally get going with larger amounts of meat, I’ll use the vacuum sealer to create a variety of single portions. I’ve found that if I pull out portions two days ahead of time, they’re completely thawed when I’m ready for them.

As for clean up… that’s getting a little easier. At first, Mystery was a bit put off by the one paw out to be cleaned at a time. I use an old soapy rag to wipe his paws as he comes out and then use the same rag – washed and soaped up a second time, to clean inside the crate. He’s getting used to the routine.

The one with the biggest problem is Falkon, my little Maine Coon carnivore. I had been giving him some of the raw chicken but then read that feeding raw and kibble can create digestive problems so I stopped. He now spends dinner time slipping his big polydactyl paws between the crate bars and into Mystery’s bowl. Because he’s poly – he has the usual four “fingers” and an additional two “thumbs”, it doesn’t matter that his claws are clipped, he uses those opposable thumbs to snatch some food and even grabbed a bone that Mystery dropped yesterday. Mr. Mischievous!

I appreciate the list of meat to bone percentages you posted from the FB group. When I cut the whole chicken up for Mystery, I didn’t worry too much about the ratio, I just figured, if he found the chicken himself he’d eventually get around to eating the whole thing, skin and all. Using the calculation given, Mystery’s chicken was a little over 8 lbs., multiplied by 31% means there was 2.48 lbs. of bone. So now what do we do? I guess we are supposed to strip the meat from the excess bone. Next time. I can’t wait for the raw conference.

I took a look at the photos and videos you posted on phanfare. A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E!!!

Edit: I just took Mystery outside and the steps from the porch to the sidewalk are missing. Our footprints from when we went out two hours ago – gone. My boots sank upward of my ankles. Pulling out whatever red meat I have in the freezer.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 10 months ago by Sharon Buchanan.

[Akari_32]

He isn’t going for soaking (he hate baths, too lol), so I bought him some anti-bacterial baby wipes (used regular baby wipes before winter and they worked pretty good but the poor package design made it hard to seal it back up and their dried out pretty quickly).

I also went to get him some new food today. I went in for EVO, I was still kinda sketchy about it, and proceeded to look again at the Wild Game CORE, and after so many back and forth’s, the manager asked if I needed help (he’s the nicer of the two managers. The other one is a cranky butt face, to put it nicely, though she wasn’t too bad today LOL), i explained my problem to him (found out today that any purchases after 12 months do not count toward their b10g1 deal, so I had to re-do my math and such to decide the cheapest option) and after talking for a bit, he directed me to the Nature’s Variety vendor who just happen to be there today.

The vendor and I got to talking about what Bentley needs, and he told me that most of the formulas the store carried had no chicken at all (meat, fat, or otherwise). We eventually got on the topic of coupons (with how I usually go to PetSmart and get wellness for $2 a bag), and he gave me a coupon for $3 off any size bag of Nature’s Variety. So I got a 4 lb bag of Beef and Lamb Meal Instinct, and I’m very happy. Got out for $15. He should even eat about the same amount that I calculated on the EVO. So it shouldn’t be much more expensive, and I’m not worried at all about the brand, and I’m corfortable sending mom out on her own to buy this (with coupons, of course :p). And once his skin is cleared back up, she can go between any flavors she wants, as well as the Nutrisca (once I try him on that). Yay!

[Akari_32]

Good news! I dug up a coupon for the Nutrisca that good for the rest of our lives (ok, 2015, but close enough), and after some calculation, both the EVO and Nutrisca will last about 2.5 months for the 13.2 pound bag (EVO) and the 15 pound bag (Nutrisca), and after coupons are applied to each food ($4 off $20 for the EVO and $3 off any bag of Nutrisca and $4 off $20 for the Nutrisca), it would cost the same to feed him each. So we have two foods that I’m comfortable with mom feeding him, and mom is actually happy with the price after doing the math. Does anyone know if EVO puts out coupons?

I used this website to help me figure the over all costs, using the price per bag as tax and coupons applied. http://www.goldendoodles.com/care/food_calculator.htm It’s not perfect– it has the other dogs eating TWO TIMES as much as they actually eat, but its a start, and Bentley does actually eat what the bag says, given his activity and young age.

Also forgot to add earlier, the reason I’m putting this off on mom (I’m in charge of the dog food for a reason– she figures dogs do fine on corn based foods and expensive food is a waste of money) is because she is sick of watching Bentley scratch himself raw, and I don’t have the money to buy Haley special food AND Bentley special food, and still feed my 130 pound beast that is Dweezle. I told her she’d have to pay for his food, and she ok, what ever it took to get him to stop scratching. As I said earlier, I took her to the store today to scout out prices and whatnot, and she was very put off by the price of good dog food. Me doing the math just now for her actually seemed to lighten her up, and she seemed pleased about how long the food would last, given the price. I told her she could go back and forth between the EVO and Nutrisca and she didn’t make a fuss, and sounded ok with it. I’d still like to try him on the Pure Balance as a just in case food.

The good news for me is, I no longer have to feed her dog (why am I, a 20 year old college student, feeding my 40 year old mother’s dog?? I’d rather be broke than see him on dog chow.). Not feeding him means once I’m done with the Purina ONE Dweezle is on (long story short, coupons got me paid $7 for every 3 of the 3.5 pound bags I hauled out of the store), he too can go on grain free like Haley. With coupons, as high calorie food as I can find (and afford), and some major budgeting, I can make it work.

Anyways, with a little work, I’ve made mom see how its actually really cheap to feed a better food. Now if only it was that “cheap” to feed such large dogs on a college budget…

[Akari_32]

So I’m thinking of just going with the EVO. Given the red meat aspect of the food, and higher calories, it seems like the best choice for the money, and the dogs needs and flavor preferences. I think next week we will buy a medium sized bag of it, see how long it lasts, and how well he does on it, and then if it works out well, we’ll use that for a while until his skin clears up.

As much as I hate to do it, he may have to be a one-food-only dog. He gets several treats a day, though, given his small size, a treat is like half a meal for him, so he’d still be getting a variety in his diet. Besides that, I can’t control what my mom does. She had the dogs (not Bentley, as we got him after I took over the dog food) on dog chow for…. 9-10 years? And they did “just fine.” I will try him on some other foods once he settles, though, and bother her about keeping him on 2-3 different brands, given we find that many that he does well on.

Does anyone have any info on the Pure Balance Salmon grain free? Like feeding guide lines, or a website? I think she’d feel better about the price of the EVO if we could squeeze in something a bit cheaper every now and then. It’d also be a good emergency food, since WalMart it always open.

I was looking at Chewy and PetFlow, and I might set her up for automatic delivery once we figure out how long a bag of EVO will last him. But she won’t get the buy 10 and get one free Pet Supermarket offers on all their foods.

[Akari_32]

I’ve tried all the other flavors of Wellness CORE for the other dogs, and the mix he’s currently on right now has CORE Puppy and Ocean Fish (and Purina One Beyond Lamb), and as far as the dogs doing good on, I’m happy with them, and it is my go-to brand. I’d love to see a red meat based CORE that has the protein profile that the other formulas do, with no plant protein boosters, which is my reservation about the Wild Game one. However, it still does look like its got a good protein level when you factor those out. I don’t think chicken flavors and fats are supposed to bother allergies, because theres none of the protein that causes the problems. Thats the way I understand it, anyways. I could be wrong.

I took mom in Pet Supermarket today to look at the foods, and the she was having a heart attack about the prices. She wants to put him back on the Innova Prime, despite it being more expensive than the Wellness, because she knows he does good on it. Has anyone used it (or EVO) since the recall last year? I have her leaning more toward the Wellness, though, because with coupons, I can get $9 off any size bag ($5 off any bag, and $4 off $20 purchase). If she wants to put him on Innova Prime, I’d rather her spend the extra $3 and put him on the EVO, though. They’re pretty much the same, just EVO is better.

She liked the price of Nature’s Recipe (thats the orange bag, right?) Grain Free Salmon ($14 for a 4 pound bag), but potato is the second ingredient, and its only like 25% protein. I’m wondering since he gets soooo bad on grains, if I should avoid anything that is so starchy? And if she wants that, she’d have to go all the way out to PetSmart for the larger bag, as 4 pounds wouldn’t last long.

On the Diamond note, I was looking at the Canidae PURE or whatever their new grain free line is called, and he could have two of three formulas. Again, they are low in protein (25ish %), but the price isn’t bad, about the same as the Nature’s Recipe, and it looks better than the NR does. Has anyone quite figured out which of Canidae’s foods are made by Diamond? I know they don’t like to let that information out. She also asked about TOTW.

Mom was asking about what she could get at WalMart that would work for him. I’m sure we all know that only grain and chicken free food at WalMart is the Pure Balance Salmon and Pea. It is a good price, and its not too bad, but given his food issues, I wonder if it’d be ok. I guess we wouldn’t really know if never tried. Thoughts on that?

[Harpers Mom]

I haven’t tried the wellness, but It is on my list to try. My girl has a grain, chicken, turkey allergy. The only reason we haven’t tried the wild game is because it has chicken fat as the fourth ingredient I believe. I’m hesitant that it might flare up her chicken allergy. But I have had my lab mix on it and he did fine, but then again he could eat a house and still be perfectly fine. I swear he has a lead stomach, before we got him he was on beneful and did fine. But I refuse to feed him something so low quality. He once at a cake and was perfectly fine. Sorry for the ramble! Long story short, the wellness is great, but if your boy has a chicken allergy is might bother him, but it might not. I agree with patty though, I would go evo then innova. I thought about innova but haven’t gotten around to it. But I like the ingredients of evo better. I also live in Florida and the SC diamond plant is too close for comfort. TOTW is tempting, but I can’t bring myself to try it. But who knows, the plant hasn’t had a recall in about a year, so they may have finally done something about it.

[theBCnut]

Wellness, Evo, Innova would be my picks, in that order.

Fire ant bites always leave a pustule, not a welt, so I’m assuming he has a flea allergy, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t also allergic to grass. Put a kitty litter pan by the back door and rinse his feet/lower legs off before coming back inside.

[Akari_32]

Hey guys! Bentley is once again having itching problems as the weather stars to warm back up. We aren’t sure if it’s chicken, grains, grass, fleas or a combination of any of these. He’s constantly chewing his feet and tummy, and scratching his neck and chest, and his skin is bright red all over his body.

We’ve got a little (really little) problem with fleas in the yard, and he gets maybe 3 or so a day just from going out side. I wouldn’t think it’s enough to cause a problem unless he’s allergic to them. He’s on Trifexis, which kills the fleas after they bite. We have stuff to treat the yard, as well that we are going to try. He does get pretty decent sized welts, but that could be from fire ants (the dog is pretty stupid– he likes to play with ants), so it’s hard to say.

As for food, he used to be on the red meat Innova Prime before the recall. And before that we tried just about every brand and meat/grain combination all sorts of brands there is in the area, ending with chicken without grain, and non-chicken with grain, just to be sure. We finally settled on no chicken and no grain as it caused him to itch less and his skin looked better, and used $10 off any size bag Innova coupons, which is the only way we could have afforded it at the time. He’s been doing good since then so I figured I’d try him back on chicken, and he did good for a month or so, so I tried him back on grain. For the last 3 weeks maybe, he’s been on half and half, grain free and grain inclusive, with mixed protein sources, and it doesn’t seem to help much, but it has helped some.

We aren’t really sure on the grass allergy either, as it all started to die off for the winter when it occurred to us it could be grass/weed pollen and started taking precautions for that as well (wiping him down with a baby wipe after going outside). But now the grass is starting to grow back, so I’ll have to see about that.

So basically, we have all of these possible irritants back all at once, and we are back to where we were last year: he’s chewed his back legs almost bald, he’s scratching himself raw on his chest and neck, and his sole purpose in life is to chew the bottom of his feet.

Since fleas and grass are easy to take care of (sort of), I need some help on picking a food. The only catch is, it has to come from Pet Supermarket. It’s the only place close that isn’t a grocery store. AND…. Around here it’s pretty much either Natura or Diamond for (“good”) grain free. Lucky me. Being so close to the South Carolina plant (I live in Florida), I have my reserves about feeding Diamond products, but he’s been on most of the TOTW formulas and my other dogs have been on Kirkland with no issues. Here’s my list:

Wellness CORE Wildgame
Taste of the Wild High Prairie PUPPY
Taste of the Wild Sierra Mountain
EVO Red Meat Small Bites
Innova Natures Table Beef and Red Lentils (doesn’t appear to be available here yet, but I’d like to hear thoughts on it)

He doesn’t like fish, and it makes his breath smell nasty, or else I’d be able to add the CORE Ocean Fish in there, too. I was looking at Blue Buffalo, despite what ever they’re going through right now, but I’m fairly sure all their grain free foods have chicken, don’t they? Any thing else to add that Pet Supermarket carries?

If you could just pick one, because the chances of mom rotating are slim, which would you pick? And what are your top three, if I can get her to? And thoughts or concerns about any of these? Any other tips as far as natural flea treatments, itching relief, and whatever else goes are also greatly appreciated!

[Tucker]

Hi Patty, RDM, and everyone who has been so helpful. Hope everyone is having a wonderful day wherever you hail from. I think Tucker’s OCD is making me OCD…lol

After reading everything here, following the links, talking to my breeder, my ortho surgeon who is the Pioneer of reconstructive surgery, and a bunch of stores, and an AKC trainer and show people I have finally come to a conclusion. To all of you newbies out there as overwhelmed as I am wanting to do the very very best for our kids I hope this helps you on your journey for perfection. I understand the madness 🙂

First anyone who is considering food from Costco… DONT! My Dr. was adamant about not using there food for all of the reasons that are listed in the thread. So if it helps anyone, that is what I got from the doctor’s mouth and he is old school conservative. As a side note, I asked about the antlers and he said he wasn’t as concerned about the calcium as the little horns or pieces breaking off and getting stuck in the gums and causing abscesses. he has gotten a couple. Who would of thought? just wanted to share the 411.

As for the food I am starting off with Earthborn Meadow Feast. You get grain free, perfect calcium balance and a slightly higher protein percentage than most of the standard stuff with grain. There seems to be a lot of problems with soft stool ramping the protein in such a jump so this should help for a smooth transition and eliminate both the chicken and grain as potential itchy causers.

Then jump to Earthborn Coastal Catch with 32% protein – same family of foods with a moderate protein jump. Best chance of easy transition.

If all goes well with the protein the we jump to the Wellness Core Puppy with 36%. Get a blend of meats and see how the itchies hold up. I’m guessing not an issue since his diet will be so well balanced he will be GLOWING by that point!

If there are any issues with soft poop from protein I will slide a bag of Dr. Tim’s Kenesis in there to stay at 26%.

Tucker is 4 months now so that rotation will take him to 8 months. Should I do another round to a year old or does the debate start all over again at that point lol 🙂 If all is good I would guess we head to the higher proteins for the 8-12 months and beyond? I am in Los Angeles so fortunately I can get just about anything.

As for toppers the store gave me samples of THK zeal, embark, and love. Now I see what you are talking about. That is quite expensive. But as a topper just a little here and there not bad at all. I also got a can of PetKind wild salmon and Lamb Tripe. Is anyone familiar with these? Are they OK?

I didn’t focus as much on the toppers reading, but figured that was the next step in the evolution here so I bought a few to get ready 🙂

I have small bags of other 5 star foods on the list that I am not going to use in the rotation. Is it OK to use those as training treats or best to stick with what he is eating.

Also if there are a few magic toppers or daily doses you all swear by I would love to know.

Thank you again for helping me figure this all out. It feels right and makes sense.

After speaking to everyone else out there I can confidently say there is no better place for nutritional advice than right here! Thanks

ps. how do we get a photo up there like some of you have? I would love for you all to meet Tuk

[pugmomsandy]

You might look into Smack Salmon Fusion, Canidae Pure Sea, Horizon Legacy Fish, Horizon Pulsar Fish, Hi-Tek Naturals grain free fish, Zignature trout and salmon, Avoderm Revolving Menu trout, Core Ocean, Holistic Select grain free sardine, Nature’s Logic sardine. Not sure if they contain egg or not. There are a couple canned food options, too: Nature’s Logic, Hound & Gatos, Wellness Core and Wellness Simple, Weruva Cirque de la Mer and Marbella Paella.

[DogFoodie]

I’d say give it a chance.

Nestle Purina seems to be making more of an entry into the higher end food / treat market. They purchased Natura and everyone thought there would be changes to EVO and so far, that hasn’t happened. The EVO recall probably would’ve happened regardless.

Zuke’s is a quality product that they may very well not mess with.

[Blue8091]

I would be so grateful for some feedback. I have an 8.5 yr Shih Tzu. Allergic to poultry. For the last 2 years I’ve been feeding Urban Wolf. I have no complaints (just got a perfect health review from vet on annual check up) except for the expense and it’s labor intensive to make – I was doing 6 week batches at a time (bagging/freezing). Looking to reduce cost and time. So, I transitioned him into Bravo Beef Blend. I miscalculated the amount to feed (my bad) and even at just less than 3oz per serving 2x a day, I’m at around $70 a month (Urban Wolf was slightly less). I work a lot of hours and so defrosting has been trying and when totally thawed – GAG. Blood everywhere and I’m having a hard time hanging in there. I re-freeze (1 5lb chub was about 12 days worth) once bagged into indv servings. Weirdly this morning he threw up – (prior to being fed and after his walk). A lil scary since he never throws up. I also note that the amount of his poo has decreased by half since on Bravo, and it’s super soft- on the edge of runny. His whole life he’s been very consistent in the poo area and never super soft – I’m really nervous about this now. He may be a perfect candidate for Bravo, it might turn out that I’m not the perfect dog owner for Bravo (lol). Is all this unthawing and refreezing bad?

Once upon a time we did the Innova EVO Red kibble. So, this morning was reviewing here because I have a lot of respect for the opinions. I see Innova has a fairly new product (maybe a year or sold old) Innova Prime Beef/Bison and Salmon Herring kibble and also Innova Farmhouse stews (wet). I was thinking about topping kibble off with a spoonful of the stew. I’ve talked to a few locally owned pet retailers and they are all thumbing their noses at Innova (Natura) because of the pet food recalls. I understand that, but I’m also thinking that Natura is hopefully addressing what went wrong and are back to producing good dog kibble and food. I’m not going to be making the money I have been and I have to get Loki moved to a food which is both good, not so expensive and in terms of time – not labor intensive.

Innova gets good reviews here and I’ve not seen where this has changed due to the recalls. I’m wondering if anyone has some advice for me. I’d be truly grateful!

[Shasta220]

I use peanut butter usually. It’s tasty, and it does stiffen up in the freezer, but won’t completely harden like I hope it would. I even added a little corn starch, hoping it might stiffen up a bit more, still didn’t work. I will try the kibble definitely, and look into yogurt.

Normally, i wouldn’t care what How messy Loki’s chews are, but he needs something to do when he comes inside. He’s quite mischievous (to say the least). Luckily, it’s not in a bad way LOL! He is good enough to stay out of the dry cat food, but he steals the other cat’s raw chicken bones… (It’s actually nice sometimes, because he finds the little remains that the cat dragged under the table or in a corner.) Then he tries to chew up my favorite stuffed animals -_- it’s so adorable though. He trots off, finds a stuffie, then brings it over to me and looks at me like “Mama, can I pleeeeease tear this one’s head off?” I’m so glad he asks before he destroys…

Sorry about the ramble 😉 like I say, this isn’t a /huge/ issue, but thanks for the helpful tips so far.

[Shasta220]

Thanks for the help, guys! We have one super picky eater (like I say, the cats have always been on super cheap food)… He only eats Cat Chow so far, but it’s pretty much garbage. So far, a really affordable dry food (that’s also quality) is Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover’s Soul. I also wonder if I could find Diamond Naturals for cats (some people HATE the dog food for it, others love it. All of my dogs are on it and they’re doing great).

I’m planning on finding some quality canned food for my older kitty (I really want to try Evo 95% chicken and turkey). I’m not sure if the other one would eat it, he’s refused other organic canned foods, haha. I’m not worried about him though, because he nibbles on some of our cat’s raw food (just to clarify. We have 3. Maddy is a senior…she just eats the dry and maybe canned. Panda ONLY eats dry…then Millie is too sophisticated for cat food, she eats only raw…)

[Rabbinator]

Why are there some bags of dog food that have the air removed and others that don’t? I know Solid Gold does this on purpose, but some of the Horizon Legacy/Pulsar/Amicus bags come completely devoid of air (and are therefore a solid brick of dog food until you open the bag) while others come with air in them and more flexible. The expiration date on both are the same for the batch.

Are the ‘shrink-wrapped” bags fresher, or better in any way to your knowledge? I often have my customers ask me about this.

I know Horizon uses a special UV-proof type of material for their bags. I have not noticed any other brand besides Horizon that has both shrink-wrapped and non-shrink-wrapped bags in each batch.

[foodle]

I want to get my dog back on Evo which she ate for seven years until the recall last April. On Evo she had tight small stools, produced without straining. All the foods I’ve tried since cause large, frequent, soft stool with a lot of straining. I have tried to reintroduce the Evo by giving her 1/3 of it and 2/3 of something she’s been eating for months and twice she has thrown it up 9 to 12 hours later. She has not thrown up anything else. Should I try again?

[AT]

New here…We are bringing an 8 week old Labrador puppy home next Saturday and I am trying to narrow in on food options. I have spent the last few days reading every single post in this thread and it has been quite an education – thank you to all of you who spend time here to help educate others!
My questions:
1. Our puppy will be coming home on Purina Pro Plan Focus Puppy Large Breed Formula and I want to transition him to something better as soon as possible. Would a few days after he is home and settled in be too soon to start a transition, provided he is not showing any signs of GI distress?
2. If price/cost is not a constraint, what off the shelf product would you feed a lab puppy? I am not up to a homemade diet at this point (might consider this in the future, but don’t trust myself to get up to speed in one week and to get it right during this crucial growth period). Most of the discussions I’ve read here involve rotating quality dry foods (with added toppers/supplements). Would this be the best way to start since our puppy will be coming home on a dry food?
It has also been stated that raw, canned or reconstituted is even better. I can see the raw recommendations in the document linked to several times throughout this thread. What do you consider to be the best of these brands? Would transitioning directly to raw be ok for our puppy; or should we go first to canned, then to raw?
Can anyone offer recommendations for the “best of the best” of canned foods for a large breed puppy? I figure I can call companies to calculate exact calcium/kcal, but could anyone offer the best brands/formulas to start my efforts? The fives stars listed in the library are:
By Nature 95% Meat (Canned)
Castor and Pollux Natural Ultramix (Canned)
Dogswell Dog Food (Canned)
EVO Dog Food (Canned)
Fromm Gold Nutritionals (Canned)
Go! Fit and Free (Canned)
Great Life Essentials (Canned)
Kirkland Cuts in Gravy (Canned)
Life’s Abundance (Canned)
Merrick Dog Food (Canned)
Merrick Grain Free Dog Food (Canned)
Nature’s Variety Instinct (Canned)
Pet-Tao Dog Food (Canned)
Pure Balance Dog Food (Canned)
Tiki Dog Food (Canned)
Wellness Core Dog Food (Canned)
Wellness Stews (Canned)
Weruva Kobe (Canned)
Weruva Kurobuta (Canned)
ZiwiPeak Daily Dog Cuisine (Canned)

Thank you so much for any advice!
AT

• This reply was modified 11 years, 11 months ago by AT.

[Tambourineman]

It’s OK, I don’t expect any helpful info on this forum. I had pretty much decided to go another route: stay with my EVO senior formula and seek supplements that I can somehow get un my dog. I have found a glucosamine and MSM powder (K-10+) that is to be mixed with water – which he rejected more or less as expected, but then I added some chicken broth to some hot water and added that to the powder/water mix and he drank it. I have ordered some omega oil (Welactin) and I will try that.

So I’ll leave you guys to your turkey necks.

[foodle]

Speaking of bowel problems, my dog became issue-free when I started her on Evo ckn about 7 yrs ago and did very well until the Evo recall last April. I have tried about 10 foods since then for various lengths of time and nothing works like Evo to produce a small, fairly dry stool without straining. I bot a bag of Evo and waited 6 weeks, called the company and it had not been recalled so I gave her 1 Tablespoon of it with 3 T of another dry she has been eating. About 12 hours later she threw up the whole serving, looked about like it did when it went in except moist. I waited two days and the third day I gave her the same combination and about 9 hours later she threw that up. She has not thrown up anything in all the months this has been going on. What can be causing this? I really want to get her back on Evo. Maybe this is coincidence and I should try again?

[newmom]

I just gave Charlie a ham bone from a sprial ham. All the excess gloppy fat was trimmed off leaving a bit of the ham stuck to the bone. I watched him as he eats it and he seems to be devouring it. When I try to get close to him he picks it up and goes somewhere else (outside). Is a ham bone okay, not a danger if he eats it all? He is careful as he eats but I can tell that this is heaven on earth to hime. I had no idea that he would devour this bone as he loves to just gnaw on the marrow bones, and slowly chewing the rims. I hope that I haven’t given him a harmful treat. Thanks for the help. Bev aka Charlies Mom

[Tambourineman]

I have a 14 year old lab with bad arthritis. An xray disclosed he also has a lesion on his vertebrae. So he has a lot of trouble getting up and around.

Due to his age we have not opted for surgery for his spine as we think it would be too much for him.

We give him EVO Senior which does have some calcium (2.10%). I regret to say he also gets a strip and a half of bacon which is used to hide the many meds he takes (Gabapentin, 3 tramadol, Rimadyl, and Amantadine) He now rejects pill pockets which he used to gulp like dog treats (we have tried peanut butter, cream cheese, bread, swedish meatballs, turkey hot dogs, a pill popper tool, etc., etc.) Bacon is the only thing that works and at his age not getting his meds would be worse than having some bacon.

Anyway, I am wondering if some more calcium would help with respect to building the bone in his vertebrae back up. As an experiment I ground up some Citrical and put it in his food and unlike when other meds are mixed with food he will eat it. (He no longer chews bones so he does not get any calcium that way.) I’ve read that some add ground up egg shells.

the dog food project says this about calcium: “. . . The correct ratio of calcium to phosphorus and magnesium is very important for a dog’s health and needs to be carefully balanced – this is not something you would want to do without doing your research on the topic!” . . .

“Excess intake of calcium results in growth retardation and severe bone and joint abnormalities. [Presumably this applies to puppies] When feeding a quality pet food, supplementation of calcium *** during growth *** is unnecessary, and potentially very dangerous.
Note: Excess calcium causes decreased phosphorus absorption (and vice versa!). Lack of magnesium in the diet renders calcium useless, because the body needs magnesium to properly absorb calcium. If adequate amounts of all 3 of these minerals are present int he diet, the body can regulate the balance according to its needs.”

Citrical includes 20% magnesium (80 mg) and also Vitamin D

Any thoughts?

[DogFoodie]

Hi everyone!

This afternoon, Sam devoured a big lovely beef trachea. MPC packages an entire trachea cut into two pieces. He ate one piece while laying in the backyard in a foot of snow. He was so cute and that snuggly warm coat of his does an amazing job of keeping him warm in our cold snowy weather, which he loves to be outside in.

I was wondering if anyone might have a guess as to how many calories there might be in a piece of trachea that is approximately eight inches in length; and a chicken foot too for that matter.

Not knowing the GA of recreational bones (etc.) is the hardest part of feeding them. I don’t want to ooverfeed him, but I also know he’ll be expecting something for dinner when Bella gets hers.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 11 months ago by DogFoodie.

[mellowmutt]

Well, the food’s already mixed… I’ve read this advice a lot, but the only links I’ve come across are to those marketing rotational feeding. Maybe one in ten dogs I’ve ever known had food allergies (mostly to “bad” grains); most of the rest lived long, happy lives on the same food day in and day out, mostly dry kibble of dubious quality by today’s standards. I have two very good, related reasons for mixing rather than rotating.

First, the different kibble sizes, and one kibble being “preferred” really slows down Amiga’s feeding rate. I don’t want her “inhaling” her food, which she does when all the kibbles are the same size/smell. Mixed, she’ll try picking out the Orijen kibbles! Of course she winds up eating most of the other kibbles along with, at which point I guess she figures she may as well finish the meal. But it does take her twice as long to eat, this way, and gives me control of what she’s eating with no fuss because…

Second, she’s one of those picky mals who drive their owners to despair with hunger strikes, this being a well-known feature-bug of many individuals of most arctic breeds — which evolved to be headstrong, independent, and require less food than other dogs of similar size. If I rotate the food, which I did try, she’ll just ignore the food dish until what she wants gets put in it — which turns into a battle of wills the human usually loses (I know I’m a sucker for those sad puppy-dog eyes with whimpering), best not let it start if I want her growth rate to be steady not spurty, though.

http://wildpaw.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=8333
http://wildpaw.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=4462
(list goes on)

I also think Amiga’s spoiled enough without letting her choose her own menu, but it’s a real challenge to get her to eat what I want her to eat, regardless of when she eats it. For instance, when she was protesting NVI Rabbit she got away from me, into a neighbor’s house, and chowed down a whole bowl of Kibbles ‘n’ Bits. Came when called, after a short delay, licking her chops and grinning while the neighbor shooed her out of her house… pinned her ears back and rolled over on her back at my feet in a typical-malamute show of faux-submissiveness (neither hind leg straight), then ignored her own food for two more days. Which turned into four when she figured out how to raid the cat food for a few seconds before I caught her at it, then ate the rest of my sandwich off the countertop while I relocated the cat dish. 🙂

This can also be an issue when using toppers, but I’ve figured out how to train around this. I’m redirecting Amiga’s prey drive into SAR training (informally, can’t train with other dog/handler teams until she’s more mature about working when other dogs are present, there’s a reason so many SAR dogs are Goldens). Aside from disliking all forms of transport (no rhyme or reason for it I can figure, which I also hope she matures out of), all the aptitude for SAR work is there, her kibble OCD really shines through in “re-find” work. Her name is well-chosen, especially where kids are concerned; if the scent she’s on is animal she pricks her ears forward, but pins ’em back submissively for any and all humans… excellent potential despite being a malamute, even on tracking work.

She knows the difference between “food” and “umm-umms” and has figured out what I mean when I say “umm-umms on your dinner-food” — a big reward delayed until dinnertime instead of little treats over the course of a long, physically-demanding training session (which she sees as playing hide-and-seek in the forest for a few hours, at this stage). She’s very treat-motivated. Oh, she’ll still skip a meal here and there, but that just lets me know she isn’t getting enough exercise — that and the zoomie circles around the yard. Both of which I’m currently chalking up to being in season, total psycho malamute puppy on my hands atm.

Some Amiga videos here, the one running next to the bike was taken a month ago while the ones playing with the neighbor Husky are from last week, and aren’t mally pups just adorable before they become terrors?

http://www.veoh.com/list/u/bikefat

What worries me is topping kibble with raw/freeze-dried due to the different rates of digestion. If I just feed the toppers as a meal, I’m worried she’ll lose the correlation with it as a treat, and hold out for it as a regular meal by again spurning her kibble — perhaps even the Orijen. With the mix, when she’s hungry she’s really quite excited about being fed, with none of the malamute games we played when I tried rotating five foods and she’d only eat one of ’em.

YMalMV. 😉

[polkadott]

Thanks Patty! I think I’m going to give Evo, or Orijen a try…I noticed there was a recall on the first, but will make sure the date of manufacture is not within that recall. 🙂 Deb

[theBCnut]

Brother’s Complete, Orijen, Nature’s Variety Instinct,Evo.

[Akari_32]

Proctor and Gamble is a chemical company, also known as P&G. You may also know them as the makers of Iam’s.

[PetClubEmployee]

Thank you for the response. I kee seeing in the responses about proctor and gamble is there something wrong with that company?

I know a lot of customers steer away from our taste of the wild just cause its the same company as diamond but personally id always recommend totw as a cheaper alternative to a grainfree diet.

[InkedMarie]

I think it’s good food, except for Healthwise but the fact they’re owned by Proctor & Gamble. That is enough for me to steer clear of them but that’s jmo.

[PetClubEmployee]

I appreciate your time to respond and will look into what others prefer. Unfortunately we are limited to certain brands and most people come in here looking for natures variety or natural balance or for our opinion which I try to make educated and personalized options for each pet parent but that’s why I’m here to get some more info as you can never know everything!

[Akari_32]

I’m personally still mad at them. The recall lasted for months and covered so many products that I can’t bring my self to go back to them. Plus, it just happened to be recalled right after their contract to keep the formula the same expired.

That’s just me, though. Perhaps ask around to your patrons and see what brands they’d like to see you start carrying. Don’t mention any brand in particular, and just see what they say.

[PetClubEmployee]

Great thanks!
I just didn’t want to sell the food cause it benefitted me. I wanted to hear others opinions.