[Dori]

Hi Terri M. Please make sure that the raw virgin coconut oil is organic. Also, with the coconut oil, don’t start at 1 TBSP. start by adding very little per meal and eventually work your way up to the TBSP. Giving your dogs that much coconut oil without having introduced it slowly is sure to cause diarrhea. As far as the raw goat’s milk, I would also introduce that slowly until you’re sure that your dog is tolerating it well. I would also not start with both the coconut oil and raw goat’s milk at the same time. If you’re dogs have any issues you won’t know what caused it. What omega 3 supplement were you thinking of using? Canned sardines in water with NO salt that you buy in the grocery store is a good way of adding omega 3. Another way is also adding a fish oil. I use Nature’s Logic Sardine Oil. I keep it in the fridge and splash a little on one of their meals in the day then the bottle goes right back in the fridge. Fish oils go rancid pretty quickly so even though a food will say it contains fish oil, it’s viable really to be of any use which is the reason that fish oil should be kept refrigerated. I feed my girls canned sardines two or three times a week either as a mid day or evening snack or as a topper on their meal and on those days I do not add the sardine oil. I prefer sardine oil to other oils because sardines have a very short life span. In other words they’re not swimming around in waters long enough to absorb a lot of the dangers and toxics that have now so contaminated our waters. I never ever feed my dogs salmon or salmon oil because of the contaminated waters that they general come from. You have to really trust your fish monger when selecting fish for your dogs and make sure they know where the fish came from.

I noticed that you said you also bought freeze dried. Keep in mind that freeze dried is the most expensive way to go.

Let me say that I am delighted that you are going to feed your dogs raw. I’ve been feeding my three dogs commercial raw foods for a little over 2 and 1/2 years, maybe closer to three and the difference in them is nothing short of miraculous. I have a maltipoo, Katie, who I used to say was allergic to life in general. She was a complete and total mess. She was always itchy, tear stain,, gas to clear a house out, diarrhea, yeasty ears, shedding like crazy (her breed is not suppose to shed, they have hair not fur…..I’m allergic to animals), I could go on and on and on. Other than the occasional bout of seasonal allergies (Spring, Fall), all those issues have cleared up. No more scratchy, stains, gas, yeast, her hair is now not shedding at all and very very shiny. Good luck I know you’ll be happy you made the switch. Eventually when you have things better under control I hope you’ll give thought to rotating your dogs commercial raw meals with different brands and the different proteins within those brands.

Sorry, one more thing. Don’t forget the treats you feed. Most commercial treats contain grains and other garbage. Not all, but most. I feed little bits of organic fruits and veggies as treats. Healthy and none cause harm as commercial treats do. You also don’t have to worry about the dreaded recalls.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by Dori.

[WALTER M C]

Try giving ,libbys 100% pure pumpkin pura,1or 2 table spoons a day in their food.

That will stop the problem of runs,I don’t give my four dogs vit or probiotic,I just feed
them, back to basic dry food,and healthy treats,thank God no problems,and they are all happy campers.

walt123.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by WALTER M C.

[Bobby dog]

Hi Zach:
I haven’t bought any treats in a long time, I spend enough time reading labels of pet foods so I haven’t spent any time tracking down healthy treats. lol I have been using pieces of Stella & Chewy’s freeze dried Pheasant Dinner patties for treats lately. Stella and Chewy also make freezed dried treats which were a big hit for Bobby, I just haven’t replenished his supply. I imagine they would be low cal, not sure, but Bobby gives them two paws up.

I keep meaning to make some biscuits but I just haven’t had the time. I do make tiny meatballs, freeze them, and just put enough in the refrigerator for a few days worth of treats. If you are interested in hearing about this easy treat recipe, just let me know via a post here. 🙂

[Chabs]

I think I’m going to give the Wellness Simple Lamb and Oatmeal a try. The only thing that turns me off about that is that you have to use a can opener to open their cans-can’t for the life of me figure out why they haven’t modernized this because I don’t even own a can opener. I sometimes mix in some wet food at night. Any suggestions for treats?

[Jenny Rellick]

Cecile,

I am sure you already have tried cutting back, but you need to know by how much. Every dog food label I have read overestimates the serving size. On this site, the Dog Food Calculator is helpful, but I have personal advice on how to use it, it worked for my Leo-he lost 12 pounds in a year and has kept it off. I’ve taken the liberty of using it for Koda.

First, websites differ on what a Bichon should weigh. In the breed standard, the range is 7-12 lbs. On sites that are not sticklers for the breed standard, they say a healthy weight is between 10-18 lbs. Ultimately, the right weight for Koda is one where he has a physique that has a well-defined indentation at the waist and that does not feel feel flappy on the ribcage. If Koda ever had that physique you can use that weight as your target. If you don’t know what his personal target should be I would suggest 14 lbs. for the time being.

I looked up the Acana Fit and Light food and it has 360 calories per cup. I notice that the Fit and Light food uses oats as the second ingredient, unlike any other Acana products. That makes me a uncomfortable because I don’t even know That it would get 4 stars, let alone 5 stars. Dieting dogs can’t afford to waste calories on oats! You should consider going to the 5-star low glycemic product line from Acana, even though it will make the serving size smaller. For this exercise, I used the Fit and Light calorie count since that is what you used to. The dog food calculator says that for an overweight dog with a target weight of 14 lbs, Koda should be consuming 280 calories per day. With the Acana food you’re using that comes out to 0.78 cups per day (just over 3/4 cups).

You have to keep in mind that calories from treats count in the daily total. A couple of dog biscuits would be the equivalent of half a day’s food. You are going to have to find an extremely small treat. I would suggest Zuke’s Mini-Naturals which have about 3 calories each.
As another member mentioned, Bichons do have a risk of kidney problems. Many dogs don’t drink enough because they are trying to accommodate their owners’ availability for walks. I pour lukewarm water on my dogs kibble, just enough to cover it in a flat-bottomed dish. The food retains some of its crunchiness, but he automatically consumes more water and feels more full. Green beans and sliced carrots are very low in calories and high in fiber. They also help the dog feel more full. I put two heaping teaspoons of canned green beans (no salt added) on both meals, and that is only 10 calories per meal.
Therefore, I would suggest two meals a day, each with just over 1/3 cup of dog food, water to cover, and two heaping tablespoons of green beans. I hope that this specific recommendation will work for Koda. When you are dealing with a small breed, there’s a fine line between cutting back appropriately and malnourishing your dog. My dog really looks forward to his meals and he does not beg for food excessively after meals. Before, when I did not add water and green beans, he would put his paw on the bag of food and whine after he ate!
One last piece of advice: make sure that everyone in your household understands that a little bit of table food or a few too many treats will have a huge impact on Koda. If Koda is not losing weight, somebody is cheating.

[Zach M]

Hey guys, I just had some questions on what you guys use for super low calorie dog treats. Post what you guys use below, commercial or homemade.

[kenn712]

I have boarder collie/golden retriever mix and she is a wonderful dog but she is fat. I feed her Nutrisource grain free dog food I do not over feed her or feed her table scraps I don’t give her dog treats very often. She does a have a lot of energy and loves to play. If anyone has advice I would really appreciate it. I have a pets smart and pet co located near me and cost isn’t really a factor. Thanks for the help

• This topic was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by kenn712.

[Liz S]

I’ve always fed a kibble or canned for a dinner treat. But no matter what I do my chi will only eat canned. Vet visits etc. She is fine.

She was on Science Diet. Once I found out how bad it was I tried switching. I gave her ample time. I tried HQ kibble.

I’ve heard good things about Instinct Raw. I got a sample bag of the boost treats and she LOVED them. I think the fact that they weren’t too hard really appealed to her.

I’m going to give this stuff a go I think.

Who else feeds Instinct Raw?

[Susan]

Hi T, when I resuced my boy 2 years ago he would have diarrhea or jelly poos, once a week, in the end vet said IBD..He’s 5 now nilly 6….you need to work out what foods irratate his bowel by doing an elimination diet, I started with boiled chicken & rice but I found that the boiled rice irratated his bowel & he had diarrhea, he can have grounded rice that’s in kibbles but not boiled white rice then I added a tablespoon of boiled pumkin with his boiled chicken breast, he can have pumkin but not too much as his poos get real sloppy, then I added a boiled egg, the egg was Ok, then I added potatos, he got real itchy & had diarrhea, so he cant eat potatots then I tried sweet potatos, he doesnt get diarrhea but he gets itchy ears, you find a protein that agrees with him then start adding just 1 new food & u’ll know within 2 days if it agrees with him or not then if it doesnt agree dont keep giving it to him, it wont toughen up his stomach/bowel, it doesnt agree with him… I found Patch cant have high fat foods either, he can have tin tuna in spring water drained, he can have toast white bread not brown whole meal, human Jatz biscuits & rice cake biscuits.. I dont give dog treats as the fat% is too high & they have crap in some dog biscuits, you’ll start to learn what not to give, the vet made me just give 1 vet prescription diet kibble for 1 year she wanted Patch on it to heal everything but I started to add new foods for breakfast in 6 months, I knew the vet kibble didnt give him diarrhea so I did the elimination food for breakfast, I know your just suppose to just give only that 1 food for the day but I was too scared that it will give him his diarrhea bad again then he’d need to be put back on the Metronidzole tablets to heal his bowel again, Ive tried a few diferent kibbles & he has the Wellness Simple Lamb & Oatmeal now the Wellness Simple was the best out of the other kibbles I tried, It doesnt have Potatos & the fat% isnt high…It will take time but u’ll get there, also Patch is on a DOG probiotic, Karen Becker has a 14 strain probiotic & its dairy free a few dogs with IBS & IBD take her probiotic but introduce at half the recconmended dose when you first try a dog probiotic as some dogs will have diarrhea… keep a diary & start writing what foods agreed with him & what foods he cant eat, also dont just try a bit of carrot 1 day then the next day try a bit of egg, you try just 1 food for 1 week or 5days then if everything is good add another new food to the meal, in the end he was having his tuna, pumkin, boiled egg & carrot all mixed together for breakfast, When I want to try something new I do it at breakfast & nothing else is given that day except his kibble that agrees with him, I start to hear his stomach/bowel rumbling when something didnt agree with him or he starts scatching & I dont give it again its goes on my list. I hope Ive helped a bit, I forgot to ask what type of dog is he???

[Akari_32]

I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t think she could handle it yet. I did try to get the vet to look at her teeth while we were there today, but his advertiser came in and they talked until the next appointment came in, so I didn’t get a chance to have him look. However, they really are too far gone to do much of anything to, besides maybe pull them all. She eats without problem and chews greenies and oversized treats just fine, and I’m 99% sure I can’t afford anything to do with anything dental-y. I do want him to look and make sure nothing is a serious, life threatening (or at least over all quality-of-life threatening) issue in there with in the next few weeks. A person has to have more than $12 to their name before they can have a vet do stuff >.< lol

Mom came home tonight and referred to Ginger as “her puppy” (and “little orphan dog” LOL). For a dog that isn’t supposed to be staying, someone had grown quite attached. I mean, look at this that she posted on Facebook tonight! (Also notice how the cat, who she “hates” is in the middle, and not “her Bentley” :p)

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx294/Akari53/42BF73D8-08B1-451C-8F57-BADCDA503099_zpstwdl30vr.jpg

LOL

[Kellye P]

Thanks for the response. He gets the Fructosamine test every six months. He is always in the proper range. He is due to get tested again in October so I will have new numbers, but nothing has changed. He does not drink a lot of water or have any other symptoms of high glucose.

Last year I had the complete thyroid panel done – every single test. I thought maybe he was too high. He takes .1 mg of thyroxine twice a day. I was hoping that was the problem but all the tests came back normal. My vet is very particular with the timing so I’m sure she had me in the office 4 hours after he took his pill.

He is so tiny and cannot eat much at one time. I feed him exactly twelve hours apart but give him a little bit of food around noon and he gets a small snack at night. If he eats more than his usual amount, he throws up. His tiny stomach can’t hold more than half a cup.

I exercise him 30 minutes a day. He’s blind but can fetch in the house and will trot behind me on our very long driveway. The TCM vet does chiropractic adjustments and says his muscles are in pretty good shape. We walk uphill and he goes up our stairs.

A specialist in this area also treats him and consults with my vet. He suggested that we stop insulin for three days to reset him and then start up again. During the days he was not getting insulin, his glucose levels were right around 250. However, his urine test showed ketones. The specialist said that did not make sense. My vet said she probably would have taken him off insulin if he stayed at 250 without it. The ketones messed up that plan, though. Nobody has any explanation as to why he had ketones. I think that is the key to the weight problem but I have no idea what it means.

I have taken him to a vet school and many other specialists. He is a medical mystery. The good news is that he is quite content and if he knew how much time I spent trying to figure out why he won’t gain weight, he’d probably think I was crazy!

[Marla J]

To Marilyn E.
Thanks for the advice about Darwin’s. I have an introductory order coming soon. also, I used to hand out treats all the time to train my dogs, and then I found gentledogtraining.com. These trainers live in my city, but they have a training package with DVD you can order online which teaches you great stuff on how to train through leadership vs treat dispensing. I love it! They are the ones who recommended a raw diet, as they use it for their 8 dogs.

[Susan]

Hi Lisa, thats excellent Chewys all better, he’s beautiful, Omeprazole is Prilosec treats heartburn, Stomach Ulcers, Gastro Reflux Disease (Gerds) its a Proton-Pump inhabitor…. Im on Somac same type of drug, ur not suppose to stay on it forever but Ive been on Somac for 10 years now, my daughter was also on Losec but the Dr wanted her off the Losec cause she is young, then she had to stop taking Losec cause she fell pregnant & then when she stopped the Losec she had real bad stomach acid, real sick, couldnt eat, so Dr said she can take Zantac thats what my dog takes sometimes but my daughter said the Zantac didnt work & help like the losec (Omerazole) worked, now she’s in her 3rd trimester of her pregnancy the Drs put her back on the Losec & she said that she feels 100% better & she can eat anything now but still has to be a bit careful, no hot currys or spicey foods or fatty foods & she’s alright…
Research is showing you can get stomach cancer if you stay on an Proton-Pump Inhabitors for a long time..
All I know is it makes you feel heaps better, stops the nausea, stops the acid burning feeling & you can eat without having pain after eating, so Chewy would probably be feeling so much better…I’m glad you found a better vet…

[sarah c]

Hello there,

I would recommend my Skinny pet treats!! My dog can’t get enough of those treats!:) They come in a variety of flavors, her favorite is yogurt banana. Nothing artificial or preserved, and that’s what I love about it. Give it a try!

[amber p]

Hi Mike,

I absolutely recommend my Skinny pet treats! With my picky dog, it was hard to find a dog treat brand that she’ll eat every time. My friend recommended me mySkinny, and let me tell you it’s simply the best!:) They come in a great variety of different flavors, my dog loves chicken sweet potato and yogurt banana. You can get them in jerky or mini treats. Give it a try!

[amber p]

Hi Liz,

I would definitely recommend mySkinny pet treats. They come in a great variety of flavors and my Chihuahua Lovess it!:) They come in both mini treats and jerky. I’d say minis are perfect for small dogs!! And their packaging looks very nice. Give it a try!:)

[Lisa C]

Hello all! It has been a while since I wrote and I’ve been meaning to for a while, but kept getting sidetracked. So here I am at 2:40am, haha.

Our Chewy has been 1000000% fantastic over the last month. Our 2nd opinion vet saved the day. He has been on the omeprazole for over a month now and he hasn’t puked at all. He can eat any foods now that he couldn’t before. Wet, dry, treats of different nature. It’s a miracle. The only thing I worry is, does he have to take this tiny pill for the rest of his life? For the meantime, it’s a nice relief for all of us. We plan on talking to that vet soon to ask her about the Omeprazole. Chewy is a million times better in so many different aspects, attitude wise especially. he’s never depressed and sitting alone ALL day in his bed. he plays constantly, he’s always happy and smiling. It’s like we got our puppy back. We hadn’t seen that in SO long. it warms my heart SO MUCH! and he will be ONE next month!

Needless to say we gave up on buying Z/D as he can eat anything now and not vomit, and it’s super expensive. Currently he is back on Nutro since that’s what he has had since we first got him and he was a tiny baby.

Here’s some pics:

http://oi57.tinypic.com/5xon44.jpg
http://oi57.tinypic.com/20q1kpy.jpg

Thanks ALL <3

[theBCnut]

They are my go to training treats. They travel well and don’t leave crumbs everywhere and they are a great size for my dogs. We use the beef, tripe and turkey flavors. I love that, as long as I stay away from the chicken ones, I don’t have to worry about my food allergy dog, because the ingredient list is soooooo simple.

No, you don’t have to rehydrate them.

[Zach M]

Looks like they are pretty good. I will give them a try. You don’t have to hydrate the treats do you?

[DogFoodie]

Hi Zach,

I use their freeze dried tripe nibblets as treats also. My dogs love ’em. The only thing about them that bugs me is the waste in the bottom of the bag.

[Cyndi]

I use the freeze dried niblets as treats and I believe there are a few others on here that use them as treats as well! My Bailey loves them!

[Zach M]

Anyone heard of vital essentials? Any experiences? I want to try their beef nibs as treats for Ginger.

[pugmomsandy]

I’ve been using ZiwiPeak for treats. It’s like tiny pieces of jerky.

[James D]

I want to say first amazing site. Been viewing it for months before pulling the trigger and becoming a member. So far, not even a second thought.
So, now I’m looking for help since I can’t decide on a food or treat.

Background: He’s a 3 y/o Plott Hound mix, near perfect weight of 64 lbs. He runs with my wife and recently did 12 miles with her. He doesn’t play much but LOVES walks, hikes, jogging, runs, etc.

Help: We will eat any food we give him and take just under 1.5 mins. to finish the bowl (with bloat stop). I’ve been researching all the choices here and it’s a bit overwhelming. Problem #2 is he’s not a chewer with anything but a himalayan bone and we can’t let him have it more then 5 mins for fear of him choking on the pieces.

Summary: Best food option for his 4+ miles a day and long lasting chew (20+ min) Love the idea of grain free foods and edible treats without worry of choking.

Thanks!

[aquariangt]

Real Meat is great. Another meat option would be Sojos Simply treats. Just dehydrated raw beef, turkey, or lamb. They are the best commercially sold training treats ive found

[Mary M]

I have lately been using the “Real Meat” jerky treats for my dog. She loves them. They source their meat from the US, New Zealand, or Australia. She is extremely picky so any suggestions you all have I look forward to. She used to like the Zuke’s mini treats but not so much anymore. She rarely likes anything peanut butter, sweet potato, or any fruit/veggie treats. She also doesn’t care for dry dog biscuits of any type. She used to really like the Natural Balance sausages which I used for a “high-value” treat for her reactivity, but they changed their formulation (apparently now healthier) and she won’t touch it. So I need MEAT options. 😉 Oh and she’ll take the Stella and Chewy’s carnivore crunch, but not the carnivore kisses. Go figure.

[Sallynova]

All our family and friends use Dogs For The Earth organic dehydrated dog food. My sister started us all on it because her picky yorkie drove us all crazy until she discovered this food. They make really good treats, too. This is their website http://www.dogsfortheearth.com/Home_Page.php Their website is very informative and has taught me a lot about feeding our dogs. Our whole neighborhood uses it, we get regular shipments right to our house every 2 weeks.

[DogFoodie]

Hi Jennifer,

The yeast (Malassezia) infection is secondary to the seborrhea. The seborrhea could be the result of a medical issue (like thyroid) or allergies, either environmental (flea bite dermatitis) or food related. If it were thyroid related, you might see issues related to weight loss or gain, as well.

First, I’d like to ask some questions: about how old do you think she is; how long have you had her; did she have the condition when you adopted her; has it ever improved or gotten worse (do you know what caused the change); how long has she been eating the Purina and has she ever eaten anything else? How are her stools?

Without knowing the answers to those questions, my first thought is that changing foods is such an easy way to see if that’s the culprit, that it’s worth trying.

I would choose a simple grain free food that contains a single animal protein. I would choose a protein that your dog hasn’t eaten. She’s been eating lamb, so maybe try something like duck or rabbit. Look for a food that that doesn’t contain other high histamine ingredients like tomato. I would avoid fish oils, in the event that fish is a problem as fish oil, in theory shouldn’t contain protein, but it isn’t a guarantee; same goes for chicken fat. Chicken is a common problem ingredient, so I might avoid all fowl for right now. Look for something that contains none of the ingredients she’s getting now.

I’d recommend Nature’s Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient Diet in either duck or rabbit. Some other good limited ingredient foods are Zignature, Back to Basics, Wellness and Earthborn Holistics. I’m not a huge fan of Natural Balance or California Natural, but both are affordable.

Figuring out food allergies or intolerance, is very time consuming and can be very frustrating. Keep notes on what you’re feeding and how she reacts to it and be patient, give the new food time to work. A true elimination diet is a lot of work and can be very challenging to do. Feeding a limited ingredient food is easier and keep in mind that treats can be problematic as well.

[USA]

• This reply was modified 11 years, 8 months ago by USA.

[USA]

• This reply was modified 11 years, 8 months ago by USA.
• This reply was modified 11 years, 8 months ago by USA.
• This reply was modified 11 years, 8 months ago by USA.

[Akari_32]

I’m fostering a 16 year old Mini Dachshund right now and am using the Wellness Toy Breed formulas. I love the looks of them, and she eats them as well. Wellness also has a Small Breed CORE (grain free) recipe out now that looks fantastic I just bought to use for treats for my 2 year old Jack Russell mix that eats raw and needs a low carb diet, but loves his treats. Not Chihuahuas, but they are similar in size 🙂

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Louis –

It’s great that you’re being proactive about your dog’s dental health! 🙂

Unfortunately, the Milk Bone brand dental chews contain very unhealthy ingredients (kind of the canine equivalent of a candy bar for us humans!). The good news is there are a lot of healthy chews available that I’m sure your dog will love just as much.

My number one recommendation for a healthy and effective dental chew is raw meaty bones. My dogs are fed an entirely raw diet and their dinner every night consists of raw meaty bones, but raw meaty bones can be fed to dogs that don’t eat raw as well. The best options for small dogs are things like chicken necks, wings and feet. Larger dogs do well with items like chicken backs, chicken quarters, pork necks and turkey necks.

If you’re not comfortable with feeding raw (which is completely understandable, many aren’t) the next best option would be a natural chew – things like bully sticks, dried trachea, pig ears, etc. These treats are high in protein and low in carbohydrates making them species-appropriate and healthy – plus dogs go nuts for them! Just be sure to get these types of treats from a reputable supplier (avoid treats imported from China!). A great site to order chews from is BestBullySticks.com – they have a wide selection and their chews are sourced from free-range Brazilian cattle.

While I do feel that RMBs and natural chews are a much better option than commercial dental treats, if you do choose to go with a commercial dental treat there are some things to look out for. The vast majority of commercial dental treats are loaded with unhealthy ingredients (like the Milk Bone dental chews) but there are a few out there that aren’t so bad. You just have to be sure to always read the ingredient list – avoid items like propylene glycol, artificial colorings, corn, wheat, soy, by-products, digests, etc. The downside to commercial dental chews is that, for the most part, they’re all fairly carb-heavy (even the healthier options) and they’re typically very expensive (RMBs are cheap!). A few commercial dental chews that I would feel comfortable recommending: Zuke’s Z-Bones, Cloud Star Dynamo Dog Dental Bones, Halo Spot’s Chew, Get Naked Dental Chew Sticks, Newman’s Own Organics Dental Bones and Nature’s Recipe Pure Essentials Dental Chews.

Also, be sure that you’re brushing your dogs teeth regularly (at least three times per week) – while dental chews are certainly a valuable tool for dental health, the only way to ensure optimal dental health is through brushing.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 8 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.
• This reply was modified 11 years, 8 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.
• This reply was modified 11 years, 8 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.
• This reply was modified 11 years, 8 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.

[Bobby dog]

Just remembered one I found the other day looking for freeze dried tripe, Dr. Tim’s Flavor Booster, I am going to add that to my list now before I forget:

http://drtims.com/genuine-treats/

[Bobby dog]

C4c:
I love the name Beansie. I have a light orange and white too. 🙂

I finally found a list I made with ideas to entice your cat to eat when they are not feeling well. Some I already listed in a previous post. Here’s a few more, warm up canned food, add a little low sodium chic broth or clam juice, offer catnip before a meal, cooked eggs or egg whites, and allot of people recommended Purina Forti-Flora when all else failed.

Holistic Select used to have a digestive enzyme and a probiotic sprinkle (both had a flavor enhancer) on their website, but I can’t find it now. Eagle Pack has a digestive enzyme for dog and cats, but I don’t see it on their site either. I did find it at Wag.com: http://www.wag.com/dog/p/holistic-select-holistic-transition-digestive-remedies-2-2-oz-221578

I have been looking for some plain freeze dried tripe to mix with canned food for my cats since they liked the Verus cat food with tripe.

Here’s a list of flavor enhancers/toppers that were recommended by posters on a bunch of sites I visited last year. I never checked them out because he started eating again after the Vet gave him some fluids:

Petco Savory Tuna Flakes
http://www.petco.com/product/117258/

Halo Cat treats
http://www.halopets.com/natural-treats.html#tp31_2

Halo Dinner Party Sprinkle
http://shop.halopets.com/Natural-Treats/Dinner-Party-Chicken

Beefeaters Freeze Dried Cat Treat
http://www.petsmart.com/gsi/webstore/WFS/PETNA-PETUS-Site/en_US/-/USD/ViewProduct-Start;pgid=1Ip6wb8p8jVSRpB.FTRjIqx80000d5mL8f6_?SKU=36-3069

Purebites
http://www.purebites.com/index.php

Cat-Man-Doo dried Bonito Flakes
http://www.catmandoo.biz/

Stewart Flavor Enhancer
http://stewartpet.com/our-products/treats/Flavor-Enhancer/

Tuna Dash
http://www.catclaws.com/Tuna-Dash/productinfo/1700/#.VBowspRdXng

[DogFoodie]

Thanks, Dori!

I have looked at Vital Essential, but not recently, so I’ll look again. I’m actually using their tripe treats right now, because as you said, it’s just tripe and nothing else! I’ve all but given up on raw for Sam. He likes the tripe I order from MPC, but other than that, he often won’t touch it. He’s big too, so it’s expensive to feed him raw or freeze dried. Raw and freeze dried are hard on my budget!

I’m always open to suggestions!

Thanks again. : )

[DogFoodie]

Hi Lori,

He’s reacting to something and until you figure out what that is, simply changing foods won’t help – assuming you end up switch to something that also happens to contain his triggers.

It takes a lot of work and diligence to figure out what those triggers are. What you need to do right now is start keeping a detailed list of everything you feed him and the ingredients of those foods (save the labels if you can as ingredients change often). Make a note of how he reacts to each and every food you feed and remember that treats and supplements contain triggers also.

Figuring things out will be a bit easier if you feed him a simpler diet of foods that contain single proteins and binders.

It’s very frustrating, I’ve been there too! Had I simply fed my dog one of Wellpet foods listed above, my dog would be a mess, since he has a fish intolerance. Don’t get me wrong, I love Wellness foods in particular, I use them all the time for one of my dogs and wish I could for the other. My pup hasn’t had an ear infection in many months since I’ve identified his intolerance issues.

[Susan]

Hi Lori, I also rescued a dog that suffers from skin allergies & ear problems, (Canine Atopy).. I started an elimination diet & found he can’t eat Potatos, Sweet Potatos & wheat, I also stopped his chicken & I’m feeding him Wellness Simple Lamb & Oatmeal limited ingredients as he cant have potatoes but Wellness Simple has 3 different grainfree kibbles Wellness also has their Complete Health range & their Grainfree Core…I prefer to feed a kibble with grounded rice as most of the grainfree kibble have potatos or lentals & are high in carbs causing dogs to itch more…
A few ladies from the do park have dogs with skin & ear problems, their vets put their dogs on vet diets & they didnt help with the itch so now they are feeding their dogs “Holistic Select” Anchovy, Sardines & Salmon meal also made by Wellpet & their dogs are itch free & no more itchy ears & looking real shinney & healthy, also we bath our dogs in Malaseb medicated shampoo it kills any bacteria on their skin but doesnt strip their good oils also bath weekly, the Malaseb seems to relieve any itch & helps with their itchy stinky ears..sardines in spring water are good as treats.
here’s 2 links one is the Wellness range & the other link is the Holistic Select range
http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/recipes.aspx?pet=dog&ft=1#Complete
http://www.holisticselect.com/recipes.aspx?pet=dog#category5

[Akari_32]

Thanks for the support, guys 🙂 She’s such a sweet dog. It was love at first sight lol It’s so funny, getter walking on the leash outside, and her little tail goes up, and she prances around LOL I will pop in the vet on my way to work tomorrow and let him know she’s doing. That’ll help him place her a little better. Maybe I’ll have to keep her into the weekend and mom can love on her :p

Oh, and she was eating Royal Canin for Dachshunds, but I’ve got her switching over to Wellness Small Breed. The lady did bring back a few cups of the Royal Canin, and a bag of Milos Kitchen meatball treats. For a person who apparently loves her dog so much, she sure didn’t fight to keep this little one.

I’ve started to curve the barking with a quick little squirt from the cats spray bottle. Only took one, teeny squirt (and I don’t even think I hit her), and she quieted down to just whining a little bit. I’m not sure if I should correct her for whining as well, or if I should just let her get it out of her system… She’s best when the other animals are in the room, but if she realizes that I’m in the room to stay, she stops and lays down in her bed and sleeps. The dementia itself may be minimal, if she’s already getting the point about no barking. I feel like she’s hurting or was hurting from rough handling in that shoulder area and is snapping to keep people from touching it. Seems like the most likely option.

[Lynnette W]

This past weekend two 16 wk old German Shepard litter mates died after being given Canine Carry Out treats two days in a row. The vet suspects liver failure in both pups who were healthy until fed this poison! So very sad it continues to be sold in the US. Their names were Ryder & Sampson. Ryder’s daddy (USMC on assignment) posted the following on Facebook:
“Today my beautiful amazing wife had to do the hardest thing, she laid our baby down to his final resting point. I was not able to be there, so she did it all – carried him, said her last goodbyes to him from both her and I and finally held him for the last time. Babe you are so strong and amazing. I know Ryder is smiling down right now. I love you Ryder you were truly one of a kind.”

[Akari_32]

Sure thing! I was surprised to see how low the CORE recipes are, and how high the Simple and some of the Complete Health recipes are. Looks like I’ll me using the small breed CORE for his treats. They’re just what I wanted! A little high calorie, but they’re small, low carb, and grain free. Best of all, they aren’t smelly, so I’ll go for it lol Coupon time!

[Akari_32]

When I tried frontline, I saw fleas litterally crawling over the application site. It’s pretty much useless these day. I’m having great results using Little City Dogs brand lufeneron (sp?). You can buy it on Amazon, or through LittleCityDogs.com $25 treats a cats and medium dogs for a year, and $50 for large dogs. It’s the same ingredient in Sentinel and Program, and is extremely safe, even at high doses. My cat even takes it as a treat out of his food (it’s a chicken or beef flavored cap). After using every available on the market here in FL, it’s the only thing I can get to work, with the exception of Trifexis, which really bothers me with the all the problems it has, and I took my dogs off.

[Akari_32]

I emailed Wellness the other day looking for a low carb kibble to use as treats for Bentley, and they, awesomely, sent me the as fed and dry matter carb values of their entire dog line! Decided I’d post it here, and possibly help someone out in the future 🙂

Wellness® Dry Dog Foods: Carbohydrates

Wellness® Dry Dog
Complete Health Deboned Chicken & Oatmeal Recipe:
As Fed: 49.58%
Dry Matter: 53.89%

Complete Health Whitefish & Sweet Potato Recipe:
As Fed: 45.89%
Dry Matter: 49.84%

Complete Health Lamb & Barley Recipe:
As Fed: 48.15%
Dry Matter: 52.34%

Complete Health Healthy Weight Deboned Chicken & Peas Recipe:
As Fed: 53.11%
Dry Matter: 57.73%

Complete Health Senior Deboned Chicken & Barley Recipe:
As Fed: 52.42%
Dry Matter: 56.98%

Complete Health Puppy Deboned Chicken, Oatmeal & Salmon Meal Recipe:
As Fed: 36.72%
Dry Matter: 39.91%

Large Breed Complete Health Adult Deboned Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe:
As Fed: 44.58%
Dry Matter: 48.46%

Large Breed Complete Health Puppy Deboned Chicken, Brown Rice & Salmon Meal Recipe:
As Fed: 43.56%
Dry Matter: 47.35%

Small Breed Complete Health Adult Turkey & Oatmeal Recipe:
As Fed: 37.67%
Dry Matter: 40.94%

Small Breed Complete Health Adult Whitefish, Salmon Meal, & Peas Recipe:
As Fed: 35.43%
Dry Matter: 38.51%

Small Breed Complete Health Puppy Turkey, Oatmeal & Salmon Meal Recipe:
As Fed: 36.36%
Dry Matter: 39.52%

Small Breed Complete Health Senior:
As Fed: 44.16%
Dry Matter: 48.00%

Small Breed Complete Health Healthy Weight Turkey & Brown Rice Recipe:
As Fed: 43.38%
Dry Matter: 47.16%

Toy Breed Complete Health Adult Deboned Chicken, Brown Rice & Peas Recipe:
As Fed: 32.48%
Dry Matter: 35.30%

Toy Breed Complete Health Healthy Weight Deboned Chicken & Barley Recipe:
As Fed: 41.71%
Dry Matter: 45.34%

Toy Breed Complete Health Senior Deboned Chicken & Oatmeal Recipe:
As Fed: 42.43%
Dry Matter: 46.12%

Wellness® CORE® Dry Dog
CORE® Grain-Free Original:
As Fed: 29.47%
Dry Matter: 32.03%

CORE® Grain-Free Ocean:
As Fed: 28.52%
Dry Matter: 31.00%

CORE® Grain-Free Reduced Fat:
As Fed: 34.19%
Dry Matter: 37.16%

CORE® Grain-Free Puppy:
As Fed: 23.58%
Dry Matter: 25.63%

CORE® Grain-Free Small Breed:
As Fed: 23.79%
Dry Matter: 25.86%

CORE® Grain-Free Large Breed:
As Fed: 31.29%
Dry Matter: 34.01%

CORE® Grain-Free Wild Game:
As Fed: 28.18%
Dry Matter: 30.63%

Simple Limited Ingredient Diet Dry Dog Recipes:
Simple Grain-Free Salmon & Potato Formula:
As Fed: 43.20%
Dry Matter: 46.96%

Simple Grain-Free Turkey & Potato Formula:
As Fed: 41.99%
Dry Matter: 45.64%

Simple Lamb & Oatmeal Formula:
As Fed: 48.11%
Dry Matter: 52.59%

Simple Duck & Oatmeal Formula:
As Fed: 49.26%
Dry Matter: 53.54%

Simple Grain -Free Small Breed Salmon & Potato Formula:
As Fed: 35.13%
Dry Matter: 38.18%

Simple Grain – Free Healthy Weight Salmon & Peas Formula:
As Fed: 42.76%
Dry Matter: 46.48%

[crazy4cats]

Hi Akari-
Glad to hear Bentley is doing better. You are so much more adventurous than me with the raw feeding. I got real crazy and bought some frozen raw beef heart treats last week. Woo Hoo! As for the yogurt you are feeding, I’d be real careful buying fat free. Artificial sweeteners are not good for dogs, especially xylitol. I noticed my dogs’ poos are much smaller after their no kibble meals on Saturdays also. Keep up the good work!

[Naturella]

Sheltielove, a few of us here are college students, myself and my husband included. We also shop on a super tight budget for our dog, but so far we have managed to keep our food costs at $6.07/month for 4-5-star food. That is pretty low, although I am not counting Bruno’s (the dog’s) additives in the price. He gets an egg, a raw meaty bone (usually a chicken back or pork/beef neck bone piece), 1/2 can of sardines, and a tablespoon of coconut oil every other day and 1 tablespoon of yoghurt every other day. And The Honest Kitchen raw dehydrated food as a topper (1 tsp/meal, aside from when he gets coconut oil or yoghurt). The price of THK is calculated in his food cost though. Right now we are stocked on kibble and THK till the end of August, 2015.

Now, how did we do that?
Part 1 – lucked out! Our local Petland had a special during the months of November and December 2013 and was giving away FREE small bags of Holistic Health Extension. I stocked up on those with 4 bags.
Part 2 – Petland also sends me a coupon for $10 off of $25+ purchase – a great way to get bigger bags for less. I got 3 14-lb bags for about $20 each (with tax and all).
Part 3 – Luck again – there is an awesome little pet specialty store with amazing sales on top notch brands when they’re a month away from expiring, plus they give away free samples. Got me some of those too.
Part 4 – I facebooked a bunch of companies to ask for samples of their foods – some sent just coupons, some samples and treats, and some – whole small bags of food. Two bags of food came this way.
Part 5 – Planned couponing – for more info and to speak to this site’s real coupon guru Akari_32, see this thread – /forums/topic/coupons/
Part 6 – Scouting for deals and sales online. Websites, such as petflow.com and chewy.com will have flash sales at which you can get food for $1/lb – I got 19lbs of food this way, all in 4- or 5-lb bags of great, various flavors and brands.

Part 7 – MOST IMPORTANTLY – all of the above methods will be kind of on the hard side if you do not rotate protein sources (flavors) AND brands of food. More on diet rotation and why it’s important – /frequently-asked-questions/diet-rotation-for-dogs/ But this way you get to take advantage of all or most deals and sales versus being stuck to a specific brand/flavor.

Also, some of the more affordable overall brands are: Earthborn Holistic, Victor Select and Victor Grain Free, in some places NutriSource (not around Kennesaw, GA though – here it is soooo expensive!), Taste of the Wild (a Diamond product), Canidae (in my area it’s not too pricy), and possibly Dr. Tim’s.

As for Diamond – they manufacture several brands. They had a huge recall in 2012 and handled it poorly. Hence the issue of many with them.

As for Nutro, I cannot speak, although I have fed their small breed puppy food – one bag, first food we bought for our doggie before we discovered this site.

Hope this helps! Welcome, and keep the questions coming! 🙂

[weimdad]

Looking for some advice. Just had my 11 year old weim through surgery about a month ago dealing with stones. He had a blockage that is how we found out he had them. After a month of waiting on the results of stone diagnosis, he was put on Royal Canin Urinary SO dog food. I am looking for a natural approach to avoid the ridiculous cost of the food. I read your article above about the vet needing to learn more which now has me more concerned. Both of my boys have been on Alpo dry and split a can of wet alpo for years(11 and 13), now using Purina One because vet initially wanted him on that until we got results of stones. His surgery removed a bunch of stones which we never knew he had and didn’t have any issue with urinating, ever. He is a couch potato and doesn’t get over fed. He enjoys his treats but now not allowed to give him anything per vet. Reading all the articles over the last few weeks, sounds like he only needs additional water, maybe vitamin c and cranberries added to his diet. I just ordered the ph strips to stay on that but I cannot afford the food. Any recs will help. If I get him to pee more and watch ph should I be good or do I have to keep him on this outrageously priced food? Please help.

[pugmomsandy]

Stella and Chewy Carnivore Crunch and Carnivore Kisses. Fresh is Best has dried meats and organs. And Bravo has dried meat treats as well.

[Cyndi]

Vital Essentials Freeze dried niblets are awesome for treats. My Bailey loves them and she loves the dehydrated lamb or beef lung too! I have a deer liver in my freezer that someday I’m going to dehydrate in my oven. I’m just in no hurry for my house to stink, lol!

[Stephanie S]

Can anyone suggest some low carb treats (homemade or store bought)? My dog Charlie was recently diagnosed with lymphoma and I have put him on a low-carb diet, but he has been missing his treats. I bought a bag of lamb lung and he loves it, but I’m looking for a bigger variety. I don’t mind making or dehydrating various things, but it would be nice to go out and buy something as well.

[Akari_32]

Doggy steps are here! Been trying to get him to use them every time he goes up or down whatever piece of furniture they’re on (moving them between moms bed to the couch right now). He’s doing pretty good, but jumping is so ingrained that it’ll be a hard habit to break. He is figuring out that if he uses the steps, he gets a treat, though. Last night, he spent about an hour going up and down them, sitting at the top of them, laying on them– doing anything he could to get treats LOL

At one point, he did get “stuck” on them, too lol He was sitting on the top two tiers, with his butt on the very top one, and he really wanted to turn around and go up them the rest of the way (for a treat, of course!), but he couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out how to turn around LOL Special dog is special :p

So anyways, step-using is going pretty good. He tries to avoid them sometimes, like jumping completely over them, but over all, for just getting last night, he’s not doing too bad 🙂

[DogFoodie]

Hi Tiffany,

That’s great that you’re willing to cook for your dogs! A couple of great books to take a look at would be Karen Becker’s, Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats. You could also take a look at Steve Brown’s, Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet.

But, I agree…, you do have to know where to start.

I looked at the ingredients in the TOTW High Prairie Puppy formula you mentioned. There are a few things in that other than the proteins (bison, venison, fish) that could be the problem, such as tomato pomace or flaxseed. If you’re wanting to use kibble as a base, I’d start with a simple food that has one animal protein source and one starch. I might also try a food that doesn’t use chickpeas and lentils as binders since it appears as though your guy might have a sensitive digestive system and those are known to cause some gastric distress. Maybe try a limited ingredient food, such as Nature’s Variety Instinct LID. I’d recommend any of the formulas other than the lamb. You might also like The Honest Kitchen Zeal (assuming that he can eat fish). If you aren’t already familiar with THK, it’s a human-grade dehydrated food that you rehydrate with water.

I would start right now of keeping a list of everything that he eats, his reaction to it, etc. I did that and kept detailed notes and it was the way I discovered my dog’s food intolerances. Keep in mind the ingredients in any treats that he eats as well.

You could also try adding some plain canned pumpkin to his food to help firm up the stools to see if that helps. I’ve been using a product called Firm Up as needed which is dehydrated pumpkin and apple. It works great and I have much less waste because I never used a full can of pumpkin before it went to waste. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_pet-supplies?ie=UTF8&field-brandtextbin=Diggin%27+Your+Dog&node=2619533011