[arwyru24]

I know from my experience at the cat shelter that there are some cats that I guess must have been raised on dry food and so just will not touch wet food. No way, no how, no kind. Now I do have to add in a caveat that because the cats were kept free roaming in cat rooms we had to free feed dry food, so that would definitely be my first step in transitioning a cat once getting them out of the shelter environment

[Zach M]

Can I give my dog active dry yeast, or yeast culture, for her dog food? The product Dinovite uses it to cure ear infections so I was wondering on it.

[Susan B]

I have 10 week old chi pups and have had them on Earth born holistic puppy dry kibble since I got them at 5 weeks. They’ve been wormed and had shots vet checked and spay/neutured. My ongoing challenge is loose stools. At the beginning they had diarrhea and we did chicken rice and sweet potato; fixed them up. After worming they had very close to diarrhea and I added rice/sweet Po to their food, which firmed them up. They’re good eaters but it seems as if there is too much water in their stools. I’m thinking a food change is in order. Ideas?

[Vilma M]

Nature’s Variety Instinct – Raw, Dry & Canned. I was surprised this food did not make the Editor’s Choice List!

[theBCnut]

Dehydrated is neither kibble or canned, usually it is somewhat powdered, though it may have chunks in it. They use a dehydrator(low heat) and forced air to dry the food. Think beef jerky, herbs, dried fruit, all of these are different forms of dehydrated, but they are not raw.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Saig –

Sorry I missed your question from a few days ago. Whether the percent calcium is on a dry-matter or as-fed basis isn’t relevant because it’s being reported on a per unit of energy basis. The moisture doesn’t contribute to the caloric content of the food, therefore a food will have the same amount of calcium per unit of energy regardless of whether the calculation uses the as-fed or dry-matter calcium level. Remember – if using the dry-matter calcium percentage caloric content would need to be corrected (for example, if a food reports 3,500 kcal. per kg this is as fed, if the moisture were removed the food would be more energy dense). I hope that makes sense!

[aquariangt]

So, my cat has always been terrible about eating any wet food. I kinda just bought high protein dry food and called it good. After reading catinfo a while ago I started hunting some wet food she would eat, with no success. I think after three month or so, I may have found one, the wellness pouches. That said, they’re a bit messy… Does anyone know of a canned food with a similar consistency?

[zcRiley]

Thanks, guys. Sorry I wasn’t more specific. I have two 1 yr 2 mo old AmStaff mixes. They’ve been great on Orijen Dry Puppy Food (adding NutraMax Lab’s Cosequin DS for glucosamine much later). I used to mix in Horizon, Merricks or Acana for some zing; that was until I started doing major research on ingredients/hi end fillers, recalls etc. The Giardia & Campi was diagnosed with only 1 of my pups (the one that always had a digestive issue). At that point, I started mixing in Orijen 6 Fish with a crumble of Dr Foster & Smith’s Omega 3 chews. After the Giardia was taken care of, his behavior went down the tubes, I cried during that time thinking was it me, was it his brother, is he dying of something? After $600 doing the full bloodwork panel, fecal float, fecal ELISA & the fecal culture, it was the culture that found the Campi bacteria. 2 shots later & a slew of antibiotics per dog, it was time to add some “help” to their tummies. I got the Purina Veterinary Diets FortiFlora (not knowing that animal digest & Enteroccoccus faecium was bad) & Nzymes (which has soy sprouts). I stopped immediately after four days of small doses/horrifying results, thus initiating the deeper ingredient research I should have done before. I’m now waiting for my new order of Nusentia’s Probiotic Miracle & Enzyme Miracle. During this wait, the pups are switched to Nature’s Balance Synergy Dry Dog Food (has prebiotic & more fiber). AND ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE ADDED & no treats. The rice & boiled chicken routine doesn’t sit well with them either. I DO add tons of kisses & hugs as to how sorry I am for making them worse.

[arwyru24]

So I decided to go ahead and try out feeding one of the Authority Chef’s Entrees stew style wet foods last night. As soon as I opened it up and saw what the chunks in a creamy looking sauce looked like I thought to myself “this is probably going to make Aaron barf I shouldn’t feed this” but then the urge to not waste the cat food overwhelmed me and I decided to give it a try. Bad idea. Barf-o-rama last night. It seems like, once he eats something that makes him barf, then he throws up everything he eats for up to 24 hours sometimes. So I pulled up all the rest of the wet food, and just put down dry food which he did puke up but is much easier to clean up then wet food. This morning I fed a couple of teaspoons of Natures Variety Chicken and that seemed to stay down.

[Patti W]

I have two dogs both of which are female mixed breed rescues. Molly, lab mix, had all sorts of digestive issues with Iams. Switched her to Costco’s dry lamb and rice mixed with their canned cuts in gravy. All of her issues disappeared so we have been really happy with their food and the costs of it. Just found out that they have discontinued the canned cuts in gravy. Wish they would have given notice they were discontinuing so I could have phased it out slowly while introducing a new brand. Upon contacting the company they told me they are bringing on a new can with turkey stew. It is Natures Domain. Not sure how it will compare. Anybody have any info on this new product?

[Tina]

Anyone own a Cocker Spaniel If so what do you feed yours?
My Cocker Spaniel American Cocker Spaniel is 9 years old and has these problems;
*Colitis
*dry skin
*itchy skin
*Very gassy
*cataracts
She is on Nutro Natural Choice Senior and Hill’s Ideal Balance Mature Adult mixed. She has only had chicken her entire life. These are the brands that she has tried as a puppy and a adult;
*Purina Pro Plan Puppy
*Purina One Adult
*Hill’s Science Diet Mature Adult Small Bites
*Hill’s Ideal Balance Mature Adult
*Nutro Natural Choice Senior
*Hill’s Prescription Diet I/D

None of these I was happy with and none of them did the trick except Hill’s Prescription Diet I/D. What can you suggest? I’m open to ANY suggestions, including all life stages dog food. She will eat anything and I mean anything at all. My only stipulation is that I can find the brand in multiple stores. She never gets bored of the same brand or flavor. My Cocker Spaniel has colitis so any food that she goes on must be easy on a dog’s stomach and good for digestion. She does well on chicken but definitely no beef. The kibble must be small because she had bad teeth. She’s no longer on Hill’s Prescription Diet I/D.

[arwyru24]

I have a friend with a golden that has a lot of the same food intolerance issues that you described. She has had a lot of luck with this food: http://www.nutro.com/natural-dog-food/natural-choice-dog-food/dry/adult-grain-free-venison-and-potato.aspx She says its the only thing she has found that controls the itching, scabbing, hairloss etc.

[pearl i]

Hi,

Our 10 month old puppy has had continuous itchy skin since we brought him home: licks/ sometimes bites the inside of both groin areas, and his front paws, one more than the other. When we got him from the breeder he was IAMS (chicken protein), then has switched to Orijen LBP (chicken protein), and is currently on Acana Pacifica (fish protein.) He started Acana about a month or so ago, and is still itchy. This week was his second time visiting the vet for antibiotics, antihistamines, cream, etc (not prednisone this time, as he was prescribed that in April for the same issue.) Our vet believes it to be a food allergy as per his age, she wants him to continue on Acana Pacifica and give it some more time. However, she mentioned possibly trying venison or rabbit if Acana Pacifica doesn’t work out.

I researched a bit and found Natural Balance LID, it has high reviews in regards to relieving allergies, but the ingredients are listed to average- below average according to this website. I would like to switch him over to another dry food that is highly ranked with a different protein that he has not tried: venison, rabbit.

Anyone have any feedback related to this? Recommendations for a dry food?

Thank you in advance!

[theBCnut]

My suggestion is to get her off chicken and maybe switch up her carb source too. Dry, itchy, scabby, red skin and gas point to food intolerances to me.

[Tina]

Anyone own a Golden Retriever? If so what do you feed yours?
My Golden Retriever Angel is 8 years old and has these problems;
*dry skin
*itchy skin
*red skin
*scabs all over back, chest and tail
*weak hip and joints
*Gains weight really quick
*eats very fast
*Very gassy
She is on Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Senior along with Hill’s Science Diet Large Breed Adult and Wellness Simple Salmon and Potato mixed in. She has only had chicken her entire life. These are the brands that she has tried as a puppy and a adult;
*Eukanuba Puppy
*Purina Pro Plan Puppy
*Purina One Adult
*Hill’s Science Diet Large Breed Adult
*Royal Canine Golden Retriever
*Blue Buffalo Large Breed Senior
*Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Senior
*Wellness Simple Salmon and Potato
None of these I was happy with and none of them did the trick except for Royal Canine (kinda). What can you suggest? I’m open to ANY suggestions, including all life stages dog food. She will eat anything and I mean anything at all. My only stipulation is that I can find the brand in multiple stores. She never gets bored of the same brand or flavor.

Thank You All

[Akari_32]

Do you remember what the threads are called?

We have baby spoons that I use to give him coconut oil with. Not sure if that’s too much or what. He likes it though lol I don’t think likes honey. I have him some in his food last night, and he picked at it, then tried to bury it *rolls eyes* I haven’t checked to see if he ate it yet.

He’s licking more like his upper thigh/hip than his actual butt. Though it’s level with (at risk of sounding like a preteen boy) his butt hole (I’m gross, I know :p ). He never did that with his previous UIT. I’ve decided, after a few words with the vet, that he just doesn’t make very much pee (because he doesn’t drink). My guess is right now, the area hurts from the blockage, and he’s trying to relieve the pain. It just started yesterday, so I’ll watch it.

Have you tried brushing this cat?? He needs a double dose of benedryl before you can do anything with him LOL I do try though.

[ladyquixote]

Hi all, first want to thank ya’ll for all the great info you supply here. Have been gathering nutrition info for about a year now and have some major budgeting concerns regarding planning cooked meals for my two dogs. Background: Eldest dog, Gracie is 12 y.o./55# (she is much bigger than standard Aussie) and has major yeast and anxiety problems. Found an alt vet last March who prescribed a variety of chinese herb powders which have significantly helped both problems but still a work in progress. Second dog, Tonto is about 3-1/2 (turned up at my front door emaciated last year and ended up part of our family). He weighs about 60 and is experiencing airborne allergies, due for vet check tomorrow for further input. Both are Aussie mixes.

Foodwise, they were on a mix of the 5-star dry no-grain dog foods since beginning of last year, then began adding the usual recommended toppers plus supplements and then transitioned to all-cooked meals over the last three months. It’s quickly begun taking a lot of my time to prepare meals, so this evening I sat down to figure out my monthly cost. Until now I would go out and buy enough food for a week so the cost bite wasn’t so noticeable.

I knew it was getting too costly but the final tally ended up being $15/day for two dogs! Way, way too much. In addition to the food, there are the supplemental herbs and now monthly visits to the alt vet to check progress which should end once both dogs level off with their itchies.

I’ve removed cottage cheese, carrots and rice which make great fillers because both dogs’ itchies worsened. So more meat takes the place.

My question to you is this, if I switch back to at least level 4-star dry dog food and toppers what would you suggest would be the right ratio between the both?

Gracie’s daily calorie target: 1037, Tonto’s daily calorie target: 1280
Here is a sample 1-day meal divided into two meals for Gracie:
— Chicken Liver pate, (chicken liver smothered then pureed): 2 TBSP 47 Cal
— Chicken Hearts, (lightly smothered then chopped fine): 1-1/2C 402 Cal
— Turkey, Ground; 93% Lean: 1-1/4C 425 Cal
— Mixed Veggies, 1 Cup Cooked then pureed: 40 Cal
— Pumpkin, Canned; 2 TBSP: 13 Cal
— Berries, 1/2 C: 36 Cal
— Alternate Every Day: Either 1-Egg or 1/2 tin Sardines in Water: 65-72 Cal
— Supplements include, Probiotics, 1/2 tsp finely ground eggshells, 1-multi, fish oil or coconut oil.

I’d be interested in your input as well as hearing what your average cost per day is for two medium sized dogs! Thanks so much.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Bobby dog-
I think that I recall you saying that you use Merrick dry food. If yes, are you concerned at all over the latest issues with the dog kibble? I just started transitioning my cats from their Wellness Core duck to the weight mgmt Merrick. It smells and looks ok. The cats are eating with no issues so far. I guess I’ll just keep an eye out for any problems. Any thoughts?

[Mom2Cavs]

I love Victor food. I get mine when I use it from http://www.sportdogfood.com. Please go there and check it out. They do only dry, though. For cans I love Wellness Stews, but others that are good and reasonably priced are Pure Balance (Walmart’s brand), 4Health Stews (Tractor Supply’s brand). I am trying lately to use cans without carrageenan, which is a controversial ingredient these days. I also love Dr. Tim’s and Annamaet’s dry….neither make a canned food. I also love Wellness dry, of course. Other cans I like (price not taken into consideration) are Weruva, Simply Nourish, Mulligan Stew, Instinct and Prairie.

[Tina]

I want to find a food for at least three of my four dogs. If I can find a good food for all that would be great. I have two large breed and two medium breed. One large breed is a senior and one medium is also a senior. I want a brand that offers many different types of protein sources. My one large breed adult gets bored with the flavor of protein. I’m looking for both dry and wet.

[arwyru24]

The Authority dry food is going in my donations box, but I haven’t decided about the wet food yet.

[arwyru24]

So I went down to PetSmart today for the first time in a very long time, over a year I would say just to see what they have going on down there and to pick up a bag of that Authority cat food. I saw that the Simply Nourish Source is onsale for $8.99 for the 3lb bag and I can use a $5 off coupon so I will probably go back and pick up a bag of that for 3.99 because when I looked at the nutritional information they were all low in calories which is an important factor to me. I am thinking the Fish and Chicken (I know, I know fish) variety because the cats didn’t like the Wellness Core indoor which is all Turkey and Chicken, and also I got a sample packet of the Nature’s Variety Rabbit Formula and they don’t seem to care for that one much either. What do you guys think?

Anyway the 4lb Authority Cat food was indeed onsale for $5.99, and there was also a PetSmart coupon hanging on the shelf for 2 free 3.5oz tubs of Authority cat food with the purchase of any size authority dry food. So I got the 4lb bag of dry, I got the Turkey Sensitive Systems variety because it looked like the best ingredients to me, and I got 2 tubs of Authority wet food and my total including tax was $1.04. Can’t beat that.

[Candice S]

one more note, i suppose my vet’s information linking Wellness to Diamond was not out of the blue. i read on DFA that on May 4, 2012, “WellPet announced a voluntary recall of one recipe of Wellness dry dog food after being notified by Diamond Pet Foods regarding the presence of Salmonella in Diamond Pet Foods’ Gaston, South Carolina facility.” this would reasonably be taken to suggest that there was some kind of affiliation between Diamond and Wellness in 2012. after that, Wellness announced it no longer “purchases any products from Diamond Pet Foods.”
. . . phew . . it does take some legwork to follow the info trail, doesn’t it!

[Lynn J]

I’ve been using Wellness Core wet food to fill my dog’s Kongs. Both dogs love it. I haven’t used the Wellness dry yet, they are on Orijen/Acana/Fromm.

[arwyru24]

I am not sure how much the Divine Duos are going to be when they are full price, they only just came out, my local pet store just got them in for the first time and they are offering them at 99 cents this month per 2.75oz cup. Literally identical in size and form to the Meow Mix cups, made in Thailand and all. Even 99 cents isn’t worth it, but since I got to try them for less than 50cents each I decided to give them a go. I am not really impressed. I gave my cats the Chicken/Salmon one for their lunchtime snack today and they seemed to like it a lot more than the Chicken/Duck. I think it would be good for people that mostly feed their cats dry food …like free feed dry food and just like to give them a little bit of wet once a day or something but not if you feed mostly or all wet food. It isn’t a thick or firm pate like the regular grain free wellness it seems to be a lot more gelatinous and you will notice that the first two ingredients are liquid I think its Chicken broth and water if my memory serves me correctly so I dont think this will feed like a 3oz can of the regular wellness. I like to give my cats variety though so it was worth checking out.

[Tina]

My dog was recently on Wellness Simple Salmon and Potato both dry and wet but what I found shocked me. There were pieces of bone in both the dry and wet food, some of the pieces were really big. In the past my dog has tried Wellness Complete Health Adult Whitefish and Sweet Potato dry and wet. As I went through the bag, after my dogs major vet bill, I found pieces of bone in there as well. I called the company and they denied the whole thing and told me to just switch flavors if my dog didn’t like it. No I don’t have any photographic evidence as of now but here is a video that I found;

[Corey K]

Thank you for all of the feedback. Think I still need help so will give more specifics in hopes that there might be some easy answers but I fear not cause things at my house are far too crazy! I live with my husband and adult daughter and between us we have 4 dogs. 3 of them have food issues that cause me questions:

Missy – 12 year old bearded collie – Would eat nothing but frozen Bil Jac her entire life until she got acid reflux issues 6 wks ago and changing her food was extremely tough. She is now eating (begrudgingly) one cup of natures’ recipe easy to digest chicken dry food, one half cup of rice and one half cup of either boiled ground chicken or boiled ground beef per day.

Max – 11 year old bearded collie – no health issues – will eat ANYTHING including what he finds in the back yard when he beats me to it. He is currently, happily eating two cups per day of the natures’ recipe easy to digest chicken dry food.

Frankie – 3 year old dane mix – he is currently eating IAMS large breed proactive years 1-5. Many days he wants nothing to do with it. Also concerned about what I am reading about IAMS testing on animals, but the plus is they do sell it in 50 lb bags at my Costco. I tried mixing in canned with the dry and he wants nothing to do with the wet food. He is having some teeth issues, with mild gingivitis and we are working on that so not sure if that is factoring in.

Last but not least my daughter’s new puppy Rerun – he is 4 mos old. Rerun is half beagle and half siberian husky – now 30 lbs – vet estimates will be around 60. She is currently feeding him Kirkland signature puppy. He does not seem to like it. He eats very little of it and wants no more.

I feel like 60% of my life right now revolves around feeding dogs and it is becoming more difficult to manage than I can handle. Of course with the 4 of them in the house, feeding is an event, not just an all day graze – you eat what you are given or you dont get any – but now that everyone but Max has decided to become picky – it now involves each of us coralled to a designated space with our charge for the better part of an hour to hour and a half while we coax whichever dog we have to eat so that we can go on with life.

I know that most might want to provide the advice that we just have too many dogs, and I’ve talked way long enough without going into why we have this many dogs at this time in our lives lol! I think I’ve read enough to have learned that the better the quality of food the less tasty. Do I need to find a middle of the road senior food that is palliative enough for my older dogs to eat and wont bother their stomachs? (is there such a thing?) If I can coax my dane to eat the IAMS for awhile longer, what happens when he gets to 6 years old – the bag says 1-5 and he’s almost 4 and weighs 100 lbs. What about this puppy – do we start trying other puppy foods to find one he likes? We tried adding canned (have only found adult canned where I shop) and he then eats the canned and spits out the dry. Very sorry for such a long post – and look forward to any suggestions!!

[Fabienne L]

Freeze-dried and Dehydrated pet food are NOT the same as raw non-hpp pet food. You may consider raw hpp, freeze-dried and dehydrated pet food as processed pet food. Yes, it is better than dry pet food, but it is still processed. Supplements should be added to this food! Recommended supplements include: vitamins, minerals, probiotics, milk thistle to name a few. Non HPP raw pet food is truly species appropriate pet food. Small Batch and Halshan are true species appropriate pet food. When comparing pet food you can see the differences in the ingredients. HPP raw and freeze-dried, such as Stella and Chewys and other pet food contain many added supplements in them. The list of ingredients is long! When you look at Small Batch the ingredients are simply simple, no added supplements. Pets gets the nutrition they need from the meat, organ meat and fruit and vegetable. I always suggest that pet owners (guardians) add probiotics and milk thistle to their non hpp raw pet food.

[arwyru24]

That is exactly what I was searching to find out, but I don’t believe that is the case. It looks to me as though they are no longer going to carry any of their lower end products. They seem to have most of their reset done at this point. It looks like they got rid of all the friskies and meow mix dry food, also cat chow and really cut down on the Purina one I think theyre only offering 2 varieties of ONE now and they reduced their Iams section. Maybe they do this every year, cause they were liquidating some of the Wellness pouches (these were all sold out by the time I got there and not even at a great discount) all the canned solid gold, they were getting rid of the Halo Shredded (I bought some, cats hate it so I understand why) also the Canidae lifestages cans the regular green, and purple indoor ones they were clearing out as well as the jumbo bag of the green Canidae Lifestages dry cat food, but they are keeping different sizes and varieties of these brands so I am not exactly sure. It definitely looks like it varies from store to store as far as when they start doing the sale cause at my store the dog stuff has been long done. So to answer your question….I have no clue….lol 🙂

[arwyru24]

Thanks guys, for some reason I don’t think I got mine, or I cant find it anyway and with gmail usually I can just use the search feature and find anything buried really easily. 🙁

Here is a link to PetSmarts store coupon for $5 off natural or specialty dry pet foods. If you don’t happen to need anything at the moment, they do have 4lb bags of Authority on sale for $5.99 so after the store coupon it comes to 99 cents which makes for a nice donation item. Personally, I am planning to stack this coupon with my wellness coupon if I can ever find it.

http://pets.petsmart.com/food-center/index.shtml

[tracy b]

hello every one I am a new member here and love that there is a discussion on large/giant breed food. I have 2 great dane males who are little mates (siblings) . they are 1 and 1/2 years old now. we have always fed them Royal Canine giant breed stages right now they are on the giant junior and will soon be transitioning over to adult food. I just had them to the vet yesterday to get their rabies shots and heath exam in preparation for neutering. my vet also owns a great dane so I feel lucky that my vet knows specifically about the breed and their potential heath problems. I always thought I had made good choices in their food and yesterdays appointment had them scoring perfectly on coat, growth, teeth, heart, etc. I feel a bit dismayed about some of the negative reports on the brand of food I have chosen its score of 2.5 stars and the comments on the ingredients leave me wondering if I have made a poor choice. we did try to switch twice once at 4 months and again at 8 months to other brands (blue and arcana) each time we tried they were not happy seemed to not like the flavor had bad gas and diarrhea although not too bad with the blue brand and I did switch very slow mixing the existing brand with the new gradually. it cost me $86.00 every 6 days to feed the boys a bag of dry food plus $9.00 in toppers. I just need to know I have made the right decision
thank you

• This topic was modified 11 years, 6 months ago by tracy b.

[William N]

HELP – we switched our 9 week old lab from the PPchow to WEF dry – did it over a week or so transitioning a little more each day. Been on WEF about 3 weeks and now have diarrhea. Used pumpkin, firmed her up, mixed WEF (grain inclusive)back in – stool getting soft again – soooo I am guessing she is sensitive to this food. (Stool free of worms etc.) Any other recommendations to try – at about same cost for food? Thanks.

[Tina]

So as an experiment I purchased a small bag of Wellness Simple Salmon and Potato and a matching can of wet food. Shadow, my finicky eater, loved the dry food but recently I added some wet food he completely turned his nose up. I offered the plain dry food again and he ate it up with some hesitation but not much (I think he thought the wet food was mixed in). On another occasion I purchased a can of Wellness Core Grain Free Turkey, Chicken Liver and Turkey Liver Formula. The very first time I gave him some of the wet food he loved it but the second time he turned his nose. Has anyone else tried Wellness wet food and if so do you have the same problem? Is the dry food better then the wet?

[Karen B]

Has anyone used products by Wondercide.com? My lab got fleas last month (Jax beaches) and then got tape worms. I had to put Advantix II on her to stop the fleas. I was waiting for my order from wondercide. After I sprayed the yard with the natural cedar, I used the indoor spray around the doors in my house but did not put any on my pup as she was on Advantix. Two days after spraying my yard (I did do it with full strength) my Lab’s eyes and whole face swelled up. Benedryl and a steroid shot later finally took the swelling down. In the meantime we had rotated to a different boost food from NV and gone swimming in the ocean. Not sure which of these things caused the swelling but the vet thought she possibly had gotten bite by something. Anyone ever go through this?

[Shawna]

I think maybe they just don’t know what to say to help but they want to try to make you feel better!! As I noted in my first post Dr. Dressler says tcbc is very treatable.

You also can’t beat yourself up over choices you’ve made up to this point or from this point forward. Everything we do, we do with our pups best interest in mind.. If you weren’t treating and she got heartworm you would have been kicking yourself for not giving her the preventatives. We all do the best we can with the information we have at the time. You simply can’t do better than that!!!

I definitely would hold off starting too many supplements (unless made from food) to make sure one doesn’t counter or have a negative reaction with another etc. My dad is a Master Herbalist and I know he would give me some guidance if needed — if some of the supps are herbal that is. The food ones (if therapeutic) I would introduce slowly so as not to initiate to fast of a healing. I also think it is VERY important for you to read Dr. Goldsteins chapter on the healing crisis in his book. Do you have a library close?

You can reach me any time tomorrow from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm Central time. Tomorrow is house cleaning / laundry day. We may go out for lunch or dinner but otherwise I’ll just be cleaning. Try to get some restful sleep tonight.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 6 months ago by Shawna.

[Akari_32]

Here’s a pic of the Beyer Shampoo and conditioner.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx294/Akari53/CA1154BC-DD2C-40EA-9C0B-9A64DAD19FB6_zpsqr72vruz.jpg

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx294/Akari53/E2293B99-6B82-4F82-B2B5-B90729E10C5E_zpsdm63bdqf.jpg

Sorry about the glare in the second picture. The bathroom has overhead lights lol

As for food, I’ve decided to ditch kibble right now (Pure Balance Salmon lol), and stick with just THK. Right now I have Force open, so I’ll use that. At a half cup a day, dry, the three grain free sample boxes won’t last long. I don’t think I’ll use the grain inclusive one (oatmeal). I’ll use it for the other dogs. They don’t care, they just like to eat :p

I’ll look into those shampoos, and bother mom about getting him a vet appointment.

Forgot to add, I’d like to get him on Pure Balance 95% canned, but in order to do that, I have to sell mom on the idea, and make room by getting rid of the THK taking up space in the cabinet lol

• This reply was modified 11 years, 6 months ago by Akari_32.

[Susan]

With food allergies dogs can have hive like lumps over their body, red itchy skin & diarrhea & other symtoms, it doesnt happen straight after eating, can take a couple of days for the reaction to show, maybe he needs his fur trimmed as summer is coming up if ur in America..vets normally have real good shampoos & conditioners for dry skin, I found shampoos & matching conditioner with oatmeal have helped my boys skin..

[Omayra R]

Yeah, we gave him baths. I do need to get conditioner bc his hair gets so dry after washing. I figured it was the food bc I notice the scratch right after eating. He has so much hair. Hard to see his skin. I’ll try to look again.

[Omayra R]

Hello all.

My sister adopted a puppy last month and he is the first dog to be our family member. He will be 3 months old tomorrow (June 8th).

We were told to feed him dry mixed with wet 4 times a day, up until July 19th. After that, 3 times a day dry.

His dry is the Blue Buffalo holistic life protection brand, and his wet is Wellness for puppies. For training treats we have Organix peanut butter cookies and Fruitables pumpkin and apple flavor.

Now his poop is finally coming out solid, but at the end it’s a little mushy. From my understanding, poop must be solid and not that smelly. At first he was pooping diarrhea, but that was before he got his deworming shot. After the shot, no more diarrhea but would like it his poop to be more solid and a tad bit smelly. This morning he pooped a lot! He hasn’t pooped since. I asked my sister how often does he poop now and she hasn’t been paying attention, so bare with me. As I don’t live with my family and the dog. I stay over the weekends to watch over him. Since I have a more flexible schedule, I can take him to the vet etc.

I notice after he eats, he gets itchy. I’m wondering if he has any food allergies? I know this mix is prone to skin sensitivity. I want that itching to stop. Also read that tear stains are more proned to his food, not breed. We clean his eyes often but would to see that decrease. It’s not excessive though.

Can anyone here suggest me a new diet, please? I’m looking into the raw brand route but i’m not sure how many times a day with these foods. Sorry, this all so new to me.

I’m also in the process of looking for a well reputable holistic vet. I’m just do terrified of all the horror stories with vets and diets I’ve been reading online.

We want the very best for our little guy.

Thank you 🙂

[Susan]

Yes, Shasta 220 is right.. treating the outside is just as importatnt with dry itchy skin, you need a real good medicated shampoo that kills bacteria (yeast) I use Medicated Malaseb shampoo & bath every 5-7 days as soon as Patch starts his scratching its bath time…His feet are real bad at the moment cause we are having heaps of rain so I fill a shallow bath & put a couple of caps of Detol Antiseptic lotion in water & soak his feet they smell awful like corn, you can smell him when he sits next to me like a bad yeasty bread shop a real yukky yeasty smell, after I soaked his feet, then I washed his feet in some Medicated Malaseb shampoo the reddness has gone & he has stopped licking… so we’ll sleep tonight..try to get a medicated shampoo that kills bacteria of the skin.. with food low carbs no potatoes, sweet potatoes, any foods that converts to sugar are NO good as they make yeast… scratching can start the bacteria breeding & spreading, so bath weekly…. If you cant find Malaseb look for Paws (Pure Animal Wellbeing) Nutriderm Replenishing Shampoo & Conditioner for dry itchy skin.. I bath in the Malaseb shampoo then the Paws Conditioner, the conditioner u leave on their skin to moisturise & soften the skin..u’ll need to do this routine probably for the rest of his life even though they start to look real good & stop scratching you can then maybe bath fornightly, in winter Patches itch slows down, then when summer is back so is his seasonal allergies..

[Susan]

When I first rescued Patch he was having the rumbling bowel & blood in his stools vet said he had Colitis & I had to cut back on the fat % Patch was put on the Eukanuba Intestinal it has only 10% fat & 1.75% fiber the Eukanuba has helped, we’ve had no more rumbling bowel only when I tried mince meat he was up early hours of the morning & I could hear him coming he sounded like a car engine rumbling & grumbling.. so now I boil chicken breast & add some pumkin for breakfast, I put the cooked chicken & pumkin in a blender & munch up as Patch gulps his food this way Ive digested the chicken a bit for him. I also cant give any treats that are liver jerky treats this gives him diarrhea & the rumbling tummy… Ive been slowly trying Holistic Select Senior Chicken meal this kibble has oatmeal rice & pumkin so far so good.. I add water just to soften the kibble a bit so if he gulps & swollows the kibble whole its softer, just make sure u look at the fat% & the least ingredients the better, pumkin & oatmeal are really good on the stomach & bowel also the Eukanuba is a Low residue kibble that breaks up easy so is the Holistic Select kibbles easier on their digestion…..Chocolate would be high in fat hard fats….Also the Holistic Select Senior is high in Gluosamine supports healthy hips & joints. http://www.holisticselect.com/senior-dry-dog-food-chicken-meal-and-rice

[Kay G]

I am currently feeding Fromm GF dry & rotate the proteins. I also had in raw toppers once or twice a day. I have 3 Springers and 1 Cavalier. My oldest Springer (7) has numerous health issues which I have been told are immune related, one being bad allergies/yeast. He has had double ACL surgery, sees a chiropractor regularly and on supplements for his joints, immune system etc. but he just doesn’t seem “right”. After doing research, Nature’s Logic was suggested to me because it does not have the starchy carbs that feeds the yeast (potatoes, peas etc.) that is in the Fromm food. My only concern is the millet in the Nature’s Logic. I bought a bag of Chicken to try, so we will see how he handles it. I am also leaning toward switching the other three dogs over to Nature’s Logic mainly because it is easier for me to feed all four dogs the same thing….. does anyone have feed back on this they could share with me?

[Darryl C]

Hello,

I’ve been wondering if anyone could really explain the difference between dry dog food (kibble) and wet dog food (canned).
Is the wet dog food intended to be served one can at a time with nothing else? Or are you supposed to mix it with the dry?
Is that (not) recommended?
Thank you.

[Tina]

Anyone own a Golden Retriever? If so what do you feed yours? My Golden Retriever Angel is 8 years old and has these problems;
*dry skin
*itchy skin
*red skin
*weak hip and joints (she is on cohesion for this)
*sometimes over weight
*eats very fast
She is on Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Senior along with other small bags of stuff mixed in. She has only had chicken her entire life and as a younger puppy/adult was on;
*Eukanuba Puppy
*Purina Pro Plan Puppy
*Purina One Adult
*Hill’s Science Diet Large Breed Adult
*Royal Canine Golden Retriever
*Blue Buffalo Large Breed Senior
*Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Senior
None of these I was happy with and none of them did the trick except for Royal Canine (kinda). What can you suggest? I’m open to ANY suggestions, including all life stages dog food. My only thing is that I need it to be inexpensive, not cheap but not like $80 for a 24lb bag.

[Shasta220]

I only just skimmed through the posts, so I might be a replaying record – but if you’re not able to track a food suspect, it might be environmental allergies. I heard you mention mosquitoes – that’s very possible, also some dogs are sensitive to grass, pollen, etc.

Maybe try adding a little spoonful of raw organic LOCAL honey to his food daily and see if that eventually helps. I’ve heard of honey working miracles on itchy allergy dogs. If you want a “quick fix”, then you could try Benadryl (or the equivalent for dogs, I’m assuming you can find allergy tabs)

[Bobby dog]

Some signs of food intolerances are itchiness, dry skin, skin irritations (ex: hot spots), digestive issues, yeast infections in the ear, but there are many more signs as each dog is different.

[Terri P]

I have a precious 2 year old Rott male that has an overbite. I have been looking for a 5 star dry dog food that is smaller in size. Any ideas?

[Bobby dog]

Hey Akari:
That’s really good to read!!! Poor little guy. It is so nerve wracking when your fur baby is sick especially when you don’t really know the cause.

I suggest checking in with the Vet; it wouldn’t hurt to keep them up to date. They might give you some more instructions/suggestions to try no matter if he is the same or better. That way, if there is a need to take him in they know more about how he has been doing.

That’s great he likes coco oil. Mine don’t particularily care for it all the time. Archie eats it okay, the others sometimes. When they don’t eat it I just rub it on their fur. I am sure I have written this before, but any cats I get in the future will like and eat (with no issues, lol) pumpkin puree’, coco oil, never eat dry food, and never know the taste of fish. Pumpkin puree’ would be good for my kitty with hariball issues, but he smells it a mile away and would probably starve himself for a week rather than eat it. He is doing well with coco oil and daily brushings though, no hairballs since I began this routine. Oh well, like Jakes mom wrote, “when you know better, you do better.”

[lana S]

what about vital? It is a soft food that is not full of marketed ingredients and is a good source to use as a rotation or adding it to the dry your dog is already eating.

[pugmomsandy]

It depends on the size of the pug. They come in so many sizes now. I don’t have “standard” sized pugs, lol! My “normal size” pugs at age 6 eat 2/3 cup a day and weigh 22-24 lbs. My 10 yr old large pug eats a rounded 2/3 cup a day with treats and weighs 28-29 lbs. I’ve fed my “standard” sized fosters 2/3 cups a day. My 15 yr old xlarge (and I mean tall and long – showing some Mastiff traits) pug eats 1 cup day. I had a large female who looked optimal at 27-28 lbs as she was wideset – big head, chest and hips and short legs like a bulldog. And sometimes they get a little wet food on top of the kibble. If they were only eating kibble and canned regulary, they would get 1/3 can and 1/4 cup kibble. The younger ones I might feed 1 cup a day. For my personal ones, they eat such a variety. Dry and wet, raw and wet, just raw, just RMB.

This is one of my standard ones: looks great, but technically overweight (that’s why I don’t go by weight, I use body condition)

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u651/pugmomsandy/pictures%20for%20posting/plutoharness2_zps6d5c006c.jpg

This is a regular and large pug:

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u651/pugmomsandy/pictures%20for%20posting/0bd6f2d9-225c-454e-9521-122834da060d_zps44b288af.jpg

Here’s what I mean when I say they aren’t just “standard” size anymore! These are both adults:

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u651/pugmomsandy/pictures%20for%20posting/dooceyboss_zps22223e38.jpg

I’ve had obese ones here. And guess what – I fed them 2/3 cup of kibble to get them down. I’ve had a 43 lb pug before too. Down here in my area, it’s too hot now for outdoor fun. No walking or dog parks until October.