[Angeldogs]

Thanks, Patty. I didn’t realize that. He is getting a couple of tablespoons mixed in for taste/smell. I think that maybe the enzyme supplement has a sour taste. He only ate a partial meal without the addition of the canned food. It’s working and packing meat on his bones really fast.

[A.Sandy]

Hi anniearies,
I have a great dane, and I give him joint rescue or joint jerky tr, forget harsh pills! your pup will think this is a treat! they love this stuff and it is extremely effective! and on top of that the crème of le crème, NZYMES!! it prevents cancer and rebuilds muscle tissue and so much more try it I loved it for my dane and recommended to all my customers!

-Ana
pet nutrition expert/advisor
pupcatnutrition.com
@pupcatfacts

[Angeldogs]

Has your vet tested for EPI? that would cause low B12. (Enzyme Pancreatic Insufficiency)

Have a little guy here that just went thru something very similar. His labs came back positive for EPI, and just a few short weeks later, he’s gaining weight, no runs, no stomach issues. We’re adding pancreatic supplement to his kibble.

[Angeldogs]

I use Superflex, which is a velvet antler supplement. The glucosamine and condrointin are naturally occurring. I also have been taking it myself since 2005. It’s GREAT for senior dogs, skin issues, musculoskeletal issues/injuries, and really helps with the pain from arthritis and hip dysplasia. http://www.natraflex.com

[Angeldogs]

Losul just gave you some GREAT advice. Just went thru this with one of our deaf rescue dogs. I fed him some raw organ mix from http://www.greentripe.com, and we had a normal poop for the first time in months. Off to the vet to confirm by labs, and we knew we had a case of EPI.

He’s now back to high quality kibble easily available at the store with a bit of canned mixed in for taste. With a half tablespoon of added pancreatic supplement, let it sit for 25 min, and he snarfs it up.

After just a few weeks, he’s almost back to normal weight, no poop-eating, no counter surfing for food.

I have done the research. EnzymeDiane is the cheapest place to find the supplement, by far. You can also add raw pancreas to his kibble, available at http://www.greentripe.com.

[Mom2Cavs]

Hmmm….this is a company I have trusted. My holistic vet even sells their probiotic mega and I’ve bought some from them. Whenever I’ve used the probiotic mega it has worked for my dogs. I also have used their Cardio Strength supplement.

[Mom2Cavs]

I’m not a vet or professional, but it sounds like IBD or something like that to me. If it were my dog I would find a good limited ingredient diet with a protein other than chicken or even other than any poultry. I would give the dog a good probiotic/enzyme supplement along with the diet. This site has a list of hypoallergenic foods. I’d look for the one with the lowest to most moderate fat percentage. Also, canned foods are good or even freeze dried (like The Honest Kitchen) if you want to go that route….or to add to the kibble. There are also other people on this site with way more knowledge than me that I’m sure will respond soon to help you, so please keep checking back.

[enny]

I subscribe to an independent supplement testing service called ConsumerLab.com. They mostly test supplements for human consumption but they sometimes test pet vitamins. Recently they tested a dog multivitamin called PetNaturals Daily Best for Dogs. This vitamin failed their test because of too much lead in a daily dose, less vitamin C than claimed and and a smaller than claimed weight per vitamin. I use a different named vitamin called Canine Plus Senior for Dogs but it’s manufactured by the same company. They manufacture under various names. The company is called Vetri Science Laboratories a division of Food Science Corp. I noticed recently that the pill I give my dog has shrunk in size too even though it’s supposed to be the same. When talking to the company rep I’ve always felt they were being evasive to my questions. I’m going to try to get a refund on my vitamins because of the poor test results. Thought you should be aware of the lead problem.

[crazy4cats]

Well, I’m using NW Naturals frozen beef nuggets right now. I believe they have chicken also. My problem is that I keep switching so many things, such as food, supplements and toppers that I’m not sure which is making the most difference. But, with the combo I mentioned above, their poops are always good except after exercise. They are then a little soft, but not runny. I think if you are not opposed to raw, the Nature’s Variety frozen raw medallions would be great, but expensive. They have the clay in them that I believe helps with colitis. Have you checked out the dogaware.com website? They have a lot of information and tips on digestive disorders. Good luck.

[crazy4cats]

Right now I am feeding my dogs that have IBS Victor grain free which contains montmorillonite clay. I use a small amount of frozen raw beef nugget topper. To that I add the supplement Gastriplex by Thorne that includes slippery elm and L-Glutamine in its ingredients. So far, it’s the best they have done as far as their poops go. I have also used The Honest Kitchen’s Perfect Form and Vetri Science’s Vetri-Probiotic BD supplements with success. I never thought my world would revolve around my pup’s poop, but sadly it does. lol!

[theBCnut]

Dogs don’t have the enzyme to break down plant cell walls, so pureeing is best.

If the multi has enough E then it will do. E is a fat soluable vitamin, so it should be in a capsule, like fish oil. A LOT of fish oils are preserved with E.

There aren’t too many organ meats available at the store, but kidney is one of them. I order in bulk from Hare Today and they have a nice organ grind and several whole animal grinds. You may want to look into getting a glandular supplement instead. I believe Swanson’s has one.

[Honeybeesmom1]

Hi everyone,
I have the supplement – but don’t know the dosage to give. The glucosamine is 725mg
and each capsule is 241.6mg. Human dosage is 3 capsules. My doggies weigh 5,9 & 11 lbs.
What dosage would I give? Thanks!

[Shawna]

Hi assirak2313,

Kibble is the worst thing you can feed a dog with kidney disease. Please do consider canned or home prepared.. And do some research before deciding on a diet (or ask around).. The protein and phosphorus amount in the food needs to be adjusted to the stage of the disease. In the early stages it is usually not necessary, and sometimes problematic, to reduce protein. And the quality of the protein, how well the body uses it, is vital to ongoing health.

The site that RescueDaneMom linked to is an EXCELLENT source of info on diet, supplements etc. When I found out my one year old pup had congenital (from birth) kidney disease, dog aware was one of the most informative sites I found. My kd pup is now seven and a half years old and still going strong. Her vets gave her one year after diagnosis to live..

• This reply was modified 12 years ago by Shawna.

[theBCnut]

Garlic has been known to help with joints too, but I think you will want to know how much help the joint supplement is providing before you see if the garlic helps even more.

[anniearies]

Thank you for the reminder. ~i’m currently swtiching joint supplement.^^

[theBCnut]

If she is under 20 lbs you can give her 1/2 clove of freshly chopped garlic 3 days a week, then don’t give it for four. If she is over 20 lbs, give 1 clove instead. But if you are going to change her to a new joint supplement, I would do that first so you know how she is doing on it before adding something else.

[anniearies]

i see.what’s best if probably only add what is really required for individual situation.

[anniearies]

That’s probably the case.
Thank you for the links. It helps a lot !
Now we’ll let her try dr.harvey’s first.Then see if she could take the vegetarian ones.
Thank you so much for helping. ^^

[steve johnson]

My friend’s yorkie had PLE. She went to so many specialists and her poor dog was on so many drugs. Finally, she went on yorkietalk and a lot of the people in that group worked with the nutritionist on http://www.AskAriel.com with good results. She gave it a try along with a few of the supplements for digestion and IBD and her yorkie seems to be feeling a lot better.

[theBCnut]

Mine have never had a problem with it and all different foods digest at different rates but they never mention anything except mixing raw and kibble. I do know someone that has one dog that doesn’t do well when she mixes raw and kibble, but all the rest of hers do fine mixed. Her dog that doesn’t do well vomits and has loose stools and shows other signs of being in distress, so I expect if your dog has a problem with mixing, you will know it.

[RescueDaneMom]

My vet suspects that my 7.5 year old Great Dane, Max, has arthritis so he put him on Rimadyl (200mg/day). He’s been on it for about 2 months now and I have noticed that it’s helping. He doesn’t take as long to get up from laying down anymore. However, I know that Rimadyl can have very nasty side effects if used long term. I want to take him off Rimadyl and put him on something else. First question is: can you stop Rimadyl cold turkey or do you need to wean off it like you would Prednisone? Second question is: what supplements would help him like Rimadyl does?

Max is already taking the following:
4500 mg Glucosamine HCl
3000 mg MSM
1200 mg Chondroitin sulfate
300 mg ASU
My understanding is that Rimadyl lessens inflammation. I was told by a friend that I should slowly wean him off the Rimadyl and start giving him Dog Gone Pain (aka DGP). I did buy a supplement from Swanson’s that has boswellia and tumeric in it (300mg of each). I also bought Actiflex 4000 on recommendion (from pugmomsandy I believe), which has boswellia in it. I’m still waiting for the delivery.

Max is my first dog so this is my first experience with a senior with arthritis. Any suggestions or tales of experience are welcome. Thank you in advance. 🙂

-Caroline

[RescueDaneMom]

I don’t take stock in that theory about not mixing raw with kibble. I started out feeding raw by adding it as a topper to my dog’s kibble. He never had a problem with it.

[pugmomsandy]

I don’t look up the scientific stuff myself. I feed a mixture of foods sometimes. One meal can just be kibble or it can be kibble, freeze dried raw, raw and canned all together!

[Tiyapup]

I am feeding my pup a rotation of high quality kibbles, mixed with a balanced homemade raw diet. She is doing very well.. healthy growth, beautiful thick soft coat, lots of energy, pretty firm and very regular stools, etc. etc. I’ve read several times now that you should NOT mix kibble and raw in the same meal because of digestive issues. Has anyone really had problems with this, and can anyone give me a real scientific explanation why I shouldn’t mix them? I’ve heard they digest at different rates and (literally, I read this) “confuse the pancreas”. So what? Why does it matter how fast a dog digests something? She has firm and regular stools, and that’s enough to convince me that mixing is fine, but I’d still like to hear a scientific argument why mixing kibble and raw might be bad.

In case you care, the rotation is Taste of the Wild puppy, Wellness Core puppy, and Blue Buffalo Wilderness puppy, supplemented with a homemade variety of livers, hearts, gibbets, cheap cuts of venison or lamb, chicken necks, eggs, yogurt, pumpkin, salmon oil, a small amt. of an herbal supplement, and add Grandma Lucy’s grain-free no meat pre-mix. I was doing about 20% raw 80% kibble, but now its close to half and half.

[theBCnut]

My understanding is that they don’t know exactly what it is about grapes that makes them toxic to dogs, so I wouldn’t risk it. Garlic in high doses is toxic to dogs, but small doses of fresh garlic can be beneficial.

[RescueDaneMom]

A lot of glucosamine is sourced from shellfish. Do you think she could have a shellfish allergy? They make vegetarian glucosamine and joint supplements. http://www.swansonvitamins.com/q?kw=vegetarian+glucosamine+-+shellfish+free

I don’t think any supplements will conflict with kibble. You should be fine adding whatever supplement you decide to try right into her kibble. Sometimes herbs can have a strong smell (and taste I’m guessing) so you may have to add a little canned food or something else yummy to mask the smell/flavor.

[anniearies]

i hv found this products at a pet shop nearby. http://www.azmira.com/products/supplements/grape-seed-extract/
i know grapeseed is benificial for human,but does it work for dogs?
what i curious about is that dogs can’t have grapes, is grapeseed products mean to be helpful for them. And also same wonder if dogs can take supplement contain garlic?

[anniearies]

Hi, everyone, thanks for helping.
She been taking glucosamine+chondroitin tablets for over a year, it works for her. But then, she could take it no more. At first we thought she does not like the taste, as it’s bitter. We tried all other brand, instead of giving tablet, we brought glucosamine in powder or liquid form, and we found there is something she could not tolerate in glucosamine products. her tounge wouldn’t stop licking like getting choked,utill it went white, it happened whenever we gave glucosamine to her , either instantneously or later of the day. If we not giving her that, it does not happen at all.
To maintain her joint health, we still give that to her for quite awhile , untill our dog refused to have it anymore.
She is having dry kibble for meals, and i wonder if it’s right for us to add the herbal medicine to help her with it. I mean most herbal medicine seemed made intend to be added to whole food.Would it be in conflict with commercial dog food?

i would also like to try all the products you guys recommend.

thank you for helping without you guys, all i know i could give her is glucosamine and herbal medicine, now we got wilder choice. i believe there must be something suitable to maintain her joint health from what you guys recommend.

thank u guys !

[theBCnut]

Dogs rarely need any added omega 6s. They get plenty in any kind of food that they are being fed.

[dogspotindia]

Hey I think you should go with the "My Beau coat supplement palaMOUNTAINS" and "Salmon Oil Supplement 425 ml Beaphar" both have Omega 3 + 6 and you can find this products at online pet shop.

• This reply was modified 12 years ago by dogspotindia.

[theBCnut]

Generally speaking, we don’t recommend senior foods. Many of them are based on bad science. Seniors can have difficulty in utilizing the protein in their food and actually may require as much as 50% more protein than a younger dog, yet most senior foods decrease protein. They also don’t have a therapeutic dose of joint supplements in them, but they advertise as if they do, which keeps owners from giving their dog what it needs in that department. Senior foods are a marketing gimmick, not a need.

[OhBichonPlease]

I recently adopted an older female Bichon Frise from the local shelter. She has been doing great and made the switch to a higher-quality kibble with no major issues. I recently finished her first bag of Wellness Core and now we are trying Dr Tim’s grain free. She has been getting Cloud Star’s sweet potato Buddy Biscuits crumbled for treats. We had an issue lately that prompted a trip to the vet… For a Halloween treat, I gave my girl a dehydrated rabbit foot from a local pet store. Their products come from a reputable company that sources and processes all of its ingredients in the US. After eating this rabbit foot [complete with fur], my girl stopped eating [and subsequently pooping] for a week straight. There was one incidence of some stuff moving through after the first night, but not really anything else. She wasn’t struggling and didn’t seem in pain. For the first few days she was a bit lethargic and wasn’t interested in toys, but after day 3 or so she seemed like her energy was back and she was drinking normally. I tried everything to get her to eat – moistened dry food, peanut butter, yogurt, warmed wet food, pumpkin, baby food, pedialyte, tuna, etc and she was barely even eating her favorite treats and would sometimes refuse her favorite human morsels outright. We were worried, so we went to the vet. Nothing obviously wrong during the physical and we didn’t want to spring for an xray because I doubted a blockage [and the vet seemed to want to see the rabbit’s foot even though I told him she chomped it up well]… So the vet recommended famotidine, the main ingredient in Pepcid. We were told to give a quarter every 12 hours for a week. Within an hour of her first dose she was eating kibble again [and she is not an enthusiastic eater, especially not for kibble]. We were so relieved – it appears our dog just has a problem with indigestion and/or heartburn. Her diet, eating habits and relieving are all back to normal now… but I find myself giving her a quarter of the acid controller [we bought the store brand] in the evening when she hasn’t eaten. It is pretty obvious that it works because she will start eating soon after that.
I am wondering if anyone else has this issue? Is it safe to give my dog the occasional Pepcid on a semi-regular basis? The acid controller we have at the moment includes the antacids calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide – are we over-supplementing her? Are those safe enough for dogs to have several times a month?
Are there some triggers or dietary changes that I may be able to implement to prevent my girl from developing heartburn in the future? Is her physiology responsible or perhaps the way she eats?
If anyone has any experience with doggie heartburn or some comments or suggestions, please respond. I’m so curious about this!

[OhBichonPlease]

My doggie LOVES “salmon pops” that I make with a can of Wellness 95% salmon mixed with a can of organic pumpkin. It’s a pretty easy consistency for spooning into ice cube trays and they pop out smoothly for rebagging after a minute on the counter. I give her one or two a most days for the benefits to both skin & coat and digestion. She dances all the way from the kitchen to her special mat that she has to eat them on because a] they smell pretty bad on the fingers [so don’t want it on my carpet] and b] because they could be messy [if they lasted long enough to thaw]. I honestly don’t know how she doesn’t get a brain freeze from holding and chewing a whole cube down to nothing in less than a minute. They get an amazing response from my generally picky eater. It would probably be pretty easy to hide supplements or liquid meds in them as well. I think they may even help her teeth a bit since she chomps and gnaws with her back teeth more than she licks at them.
I have also thrown a few to the neighborhood cats who are starting to look a bit skinny this autumn. They definitely lick at it, but it is usually gone within a few minutes.

[RescueDaneMom]

I have used Dasuquin with MSM for large dogs by Nutramax for years. It works really great for my dogs but it’s expensive. The last time I bought it on Amazon it was around $80 for a bottle of 150 chewable tablets. I was giving my Dane 3/day so it lasted me about a month and half. I have recently switched to buying all of the components in Dasuquin separately from swansonvitamins.com: glucosamine, MSM, chondroitin, and ASU. It costs me around $25/month. I also just ordered Actiflex 4000 from Amazon. It is a joint supplement made for horses. It was recommended by a member on this forum. It will be much more cost effective for me. I’m hoping it will work for him. I’ve tried Liquid Health’s K9 Level 5000 on two separate occasions and it didn’t work for my dogs. I’ve also heard that Springtime Inc makes good joint supplements. I want to try theirs next. Nupro and The Wholistic Pet make powders that you add to the food that have joint supplements in them. I believe that Glucosamine HCl works better than Glucosamine sulfate for my Dane.

Here are some article on joint health and treatments:
http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/knowledgeBase/knowledgebasedetail.aspx?articleid=169&SubjectId=13261&SubjectName=Arthritis+%2f+Joint+Support
http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/knowledgeBase/knowledgebasedetail.aspx?articleid=46&SubjectId=13261&SubjectName=Arthritis+%2f+Joint+Support

That probably gives you a lot to think about. Every dog is different and some things work better than others. Good luck! I hope you find what works for your pup. 🙂

[BluesMom]

Thank you for the advice. What supplement do you use? He is a pit mix… which is strange yours does this all time too!!

[RVPets]

We have a 7 year old German Shepherd and we have been struggling to control a systemic yeast infection for the past 9 months. Our old vet (I do mean old now) kept putting him on antibiotics, saying it was not yeast, but never doing a skin scrap. Our new vet checked first and immediately told us it was yeast. He wants him on a no carbohydrate/lo. starch diet and has suggested a more holistic approach to controling the problem. We are very pleased with the results so far. He’s grown back most of his hair and his odor has diminshed considerably.

We add Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar (with the “Mother”) to his drinking water and we wipe him down with a vinegar and water mixture (50/50) and we are cleaning his ears with the same solution daily. We have hi on a partial raw diet that we have been adding a high quality dog food too (about half raw half dog food).

My problem is that we are having a hard time finding a food that he can eat due to food allergies. Has anyone tried Canidae Grain-Free Pure Elements for dogs? It does not have anything on his “don’t eat” list, but I’m not too sure about having sweet potatoes in the top 5 list of ingredients.

Has anyone else tried this with a “yeasty dog”? Did it help or make it worse? We are trying very hard to find a solution, but we simply cannot feed an all raw diet right now.

This is a list of ingrediants:
Lamb, turkey meal, chicken meal, sweet potatoes, chickpeas, peas, chicken fat, menhaden fish meal, potatoes, suncured alfalfa, natural flavor, minerals (iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite), vitamins (vitamin E supplement, thiamine mononitrate, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid), choline chloride, dried enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, mixed tocopherols (a natural source of
vitamin E)

[NectarMom]

I use Springtime Inc advanced joint care for my dogs and one of mine has luxating patella and she limped at times and since giving her Springtime once a day it is amazing the difference. She can run like when she was young. Great product.

[pugmomsandy]

I buy plain cetyl-myristoleate (Now or Jarrow brand) from swansonvitamins.com.

[pugmomsandy]

There’s really not enough freeze dried pieces in the raw boost! You can buy some other brand of freeze dried like Stella & Chewy’s and break up a freeze dried patty into the kibble. I supplement with freeze dried Vital Essentials. I use it as treats throughout the day too.

[theBCnut]

I would try raw chicken or turkey necks. They are mostly cartilage, so they have all those cartilage building nutrients in a natural form.

[RescueDaneMom]

What do you mean by not tolerating the glucosamine? Is it not working? Does it make her ill? I have a Great Dane so I really have to support his joints. I have never used glucosamine by itself. I’ve always used it in a combination formula with MSM, chondroitin, and ASU. I’ve just recently started adding in herbs as he has arthritis now that he’s an old man.

Some herbal formulas for dogs that I know of are Dr. Harvey’s Ortho-Flex Joint Ease, Herbsmith’s Soothes Joints, and The Honest Kitchen’s Lithe Tea.
For more info on using herbs for joint care see this article: http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/herbs-for-canine-joint-care/

Other things that help joints are cetyl myristoleate, hyaluronic acid, perna mussel (green-lipped mussel) powder, and eggshell membrane.

What I have learned in my search to find what works for my dog is that every dog is different. I have tried products because people tell me how great they are and how they worked for so and so; however, they didn’t work for my dog. It is all trial and error. You have to try everything. Try something and give it a couple weeks to see if there is any notable difference. If it doesn’t work, scratch it off the list and move on to the next thing. I wish you luck in finding what helps your pup. I hope I was at least a little helpful. 🙂

[theBCnut]

Hi kms
Yes, I think he might need more time for his intestines to heal. The worms attach to the intestinal wall and do it real damage, the more worms there were, the more damage, and you wouldn’t have seen all of the worms.

Caroline provided some good info and Perfect Form is a great supplement, if you are interested in trying it.

[anniearies]

vet recommend us giving glucosamine to our senior dog on daily basis.
But her body could not tolerate glucosamine in any brand any form after taking it for over a year.
In order to maintain joint health , and her achilless tendon, what supplement can i give her now?
herbal form joint supplement good for dogs?

[RescueDaneMom]

kms-

Here is an article on GI issues: http://www.holvet.net/slippery_soup.html
It has info on slippery elm bark and how you use it.

The Honest Kitchen makes a supplement to help with digestion and intestinal health that has slippery elm in it called Perfect Form.
http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/supplements/perfect-form

I hope this helps. 🙂

-Caroline

[LLdog]

Hi,

I am wondering if anyone knows where and how Earthborn Holistic food is made? And where the ingredients are sourced from? I can’t find information about the company. The website seems to be focused on how earth-friendly the packaging is, but doesn’t have a lot of information about the actual food!

My dane mix has a sensitive stomach and I have trouble keeping weight on her. She tends to have somewhat loose or large stools on many foods, even high quality ones supplemented with tripe and probiotics. She’s otherwise healthy, high energy, and has regular vet checkups.

I was feeding her a mix of acana and earthborn, and she was doing very well and having very small hard bowel movements.

However, I’m totally paranoid with so many companies having recalls, and so many high quality dog foods being taken over by bigger companies with low standards.

Does anyone know any further information about this food, or the company it is made by?

Where is all that tasty bison coming from??
Thank you!

[LLdog]

Hi,
I am wondering if anyone knows where and how Earthborn Holistic food is made? And where the ingredients are sourced from? I can’t find information about the company. The website seems to be focused on how earth-friendly the packaging is, but doesn’t have a lot of information about the actual food!

My dane mix has a sensitive stomach and I have trouble keeping weight on her. She tends to have somewhat loose or large stools on many foods, even high quality ones supplemented with tripe and probiotics. She’s otherwise healthy, high energy, and has regular vet checkups.

I was feeding her a mix of acana and earthborn, and she was doing very well and having very small hard bowel movements.

However, I’m totally paranoid with so many companies having recalls, and so many high quality dog foods being taken over by bigger companies with low standards.

Does anyone know any further information about this food, or the company it is made by?

Where is all that tasty bison coming from??

Thank you!

[Jeancar]

My vet is suggesting a food trial for my 5 yr old cocker spaniel. He has unidentified allergies(chews his feet, and “goobery” eyes). We’ve tried several allergy meds, and he is presently eating “GO” salmon. He recently had crystals in his urine, so he’s taking a supplement for stone prevention. He will have to stop taking supplements during the food trial. He also has a sensitive stomach, he takes Pepcid to control acid production. Are there any foods that deal with more than one problem?

She has suggested Hill DD potato venison. She feels the protein level is low enough to avoid bladder stones. This sounds reasonable to me, just interested if anyone else has the same issues, and possible feedback.

[RescueDaneMom]

What kind of dog is he? I have a Great Dane that I rescued at 2 years old. I put him on a joint supplement as soon as I got him. I had to up his dose as he got older when I noticed his joints starting to pop when he got up. The vet just diagnosed him with arthritis (he’s 7.5 now). I tried switching joint supplements once and his joint popping got really bad- the new supplement wasn’t working well. When I switched back to the old supplement the popping stopped. So that was a long way around telling you that it could be a joint problem. He might benefit from a joint supplement (something with glucosamine and chondroitin). I also have a pit bull in the house that does that stretching you are referring to. He does it ALL the time. I thought it was just a personality quirk. He’s 5 yrs old and 70 pounds and his joints never pop.

If you are really worried, you could take him to the vet and have them do an xray to see if there are joint issues going on.

[pugmomsandy]

You can find a similar food to Life’s Abundance for less $$ like Nutrisource grain inclusive line small/med breed puppy formula (yes, for your 8 yr old). If you’re willing to feed something better than kibble though, look into some dehydrated/freeze-dried foods like The Honest Kitchen or Grandma Lucy’s or Dr Harvey’s Oracle. These are less processed than kibble. If you can home cook for your dog, then those brands I just mentioned have a Pre-mix where you just add your own meat and some oil. I give my dogs probiotics, sardine/krill oil, super greens powder supplement, colostrum, Springtime’s Bug-Off/Longevity and some joint supplements. Mine also get fresh food like raw meat, scrambled eggs and raw sardines and leftovers of meat/some veggies.

[Mahaghaith]

Hi, I am at the stage where am obsessing about the health and longevity of my dog.
He’s a short haired Russian Toy Terrier. Almost 8 years old. Not neutered. He has always been healthy with very few issues. The occasional constipation/diarrhea followed by anal gland infections when he’s fed fatty fresh chicken. However recently I’ve noticed his skin/ coat changing. He has more bald spots and white hairs and has finer hair especially around his ears, neck and feet. He doesn’t itch nor seem bothered by them. His energy levels are great and his weight has always been stable(5.5 lbs). He’s been eating Royal Canine for chihuahuas and the occasional greenies and Macs&buddy treats. Not taking any supplements.

Now I’m wondering if I’m doing enough for his health. Was thinking of switching his food to Life’s abundance. Any advice/recommendations?

This is my first forum convo. All advice would be much appreciated especially since it’s from others who love their pets as their children like I do.

Thanks a bunch.