[aimee]

I agree with others that brushing is best. There are several dental diets marketed which have gone through the Veterinary Oral Health Council protocol and shown to be effective in reducing plaque and calculus accumulation. These diets have a relatively larger kibble and different textures or coatings that contribute to decreased formation of plaque and calculus.

I hadn’t heard that kibble size alone could decrease calculus formation, but I found a study that evaluated just that “Results showed that increasing kibble diameter by 50.0% was associated with a 42.0% calculus reduction……with the most pronounced effect being observed on caudally-located crushing teeth compared with incisor and canine teeth. ” Hennet 2007 I haven’t read the full text so I don’t know what the original and test diet kibble size was but did find it interesting.

Just as human dentists don’t recommend gnawing on a piece of food as our sole dental health program I don’t think gnawing on food should be the total answer for a dog’s dental health program either. However, apparently kibble size plays a role in calculus reduction on the back teeth which is what the OP vet recommended the larger kibble size for. For those that wondered where the OP vet ever came up with that idea, it could be that the OP vet was sharing what he/she learned from reading the veterinary dental literature.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

BC,
Will do. She is not fat, solid but i fear esp with schnauzer females who can put on weight quickly,that if I don’t pay very close attention she will put on the lbs. very quickly.
When the breeder told me she will not be more than 15 lbs at her adult weight I did indeed panic,because at almost 7 months she is 15 lbs,its almost like she has stopped growing length & height wise.
The breeder feeds only Candidae & couldn’t understand why I wasn’t going to feed that-I told the breeder i wanted her to have a more varied diet she replied well she will get fat!!
Oh well!!!
Millie had a little soft stool on the squash so today only rabbit. I introduced too much too soon with that a big screw-up on my part yet again!! Poor Millie 🙁
When do you suggest that noon feeding should be taken away?? I have read so many different opinions on this, I hadn’t had a puppy since I was 13 ,so you can just imagine how long that has been, that’s why all the questions.
And here’s another-have you ever used the ZYMOX ear cleaner?? the one with enzymes ? If so, did the wax turn a dark color? In Millie’s case all the wax (and she had a lot in my opinion for a puppy) turned a very dark color- & before I panic yet again & take her to the vet, is this normal with this product??
Thanks BC

[crazy4cats]

Hi Weezerweeks-
So glad to hear the kitties are doing well. You are so awesome for saving them! Here are some more low fat, low carb canned choices for your pup (compliments of BDog from another thread):

Fromm’s Shredded Beef 12.2% fat, 22% carbs
Tiki Dog Kauai Luau 15.24% fat, 8% carbs
Tiki Dog Lahaina Luau 13.18% fat, 13% carbs
Tiki Dog Maui Luau 14.28% fat, 17% carbs
Tiki Dog Tonga Luau 15.55% fat, 11% carbs
Weruva Marbella Paella 15.8% fat, 7.2% carbs
Weruva Bed & Breakfast 12.4% fat, 23.6% carbs
Weruva Paw Lickin’ Chicken 15.4% fat, 9.7% carbs
Wellness Core Weight Management 15.9% fat, 16% carbs
Good luck with your zoo!

[Dori]

Oh thank goodness! No, it’s not necessary. I was just scared that you gave it to her without food. It’s almost 10 p.m. here and I forgot the 3 hour time difference. I was concerned that you gave it to her without food and close to bed time. Typically if she’s going to have a tummy side effect (that won’t last) and is not the norm would be nausea or diarrhea. It’s never happened with any dogs I’ve had on Sentinel but I did read earlier that that’s the possible side effect. Don’t forget to mark it on your calendar so that you can remember what day of the month you gave it to her. I do it on the first of the month and then just put it on my iPhone as a monthly entry so that it reminds me. Half the time I don’t know what day of the week it is let alone what the date is. With both hubby and I retired it’s tough to keep track of days, dates. Without my iPhone telling me where I’m suppose to be on any given day I’d be lost.

[Dori]

Hi Deanna. Life stories are always welcome. It lets us all know background stories and whether one is old or new to the world of companion animals.

If your vet is a traditional vet than he/she will give you all the cons of feeding raw. Bacteria, yada yada yada. None of that, in my experience is true. All dogs have a bit of salmonella in their guts. It is dogs that have been fed kibble and/or inferior foods that will or could have an issue with salmonella in foods. A healthy dog (gastrointestinal health I’m speaking of) have no issues with a commercial food that may have a little bacteria in it. I’ve actually never known or heard of a commercial raw fed dog that has fallen ill from bacteria of any sort from a commercial raw diet. The issue with salmonella contaminated raw foods is more of an issue with the animals owners (humans) and not the owners. We are the ones that will get sick BUT only if we are slovenly. I’m sure cooking for yourself and your family now or in the past you have handled raw meats and poultry. When done you are always cautioned to clean all surfaces, clean all utensils and scrub your hands and all surfaces that the raw foods have touched. It’s the same thing. Raw meat and poultry is raw meat and poultry regardless of whether your feeding it to yourself and loved ones of the human variety or your animals. A lot of the traditional veterinary community seem to think that commercial raw feeders are indiscriminate as to what we feed our animals. I’m not sure where some of these vets are getting their education from or lack thereof. They don’t really keep up with the times and would prefer to just scare you off.

As to how much I feed my dogs, specifically Hannah, as she weighs 7 lbs. like your yorki does, it depends on what I’m feeding. If I’m feeding Primal Pronto (it’s a complete and balanced diet from Primal made in little “kibble like” bits frozen) then I scoop out 1/4 cup in the a.m. or p.m. just as I would have done with a kibble. If it’s in a pattie form, then I read the packaging for her weight and feed her accordingly. Typically it’s 1/4 of the pattie per meal. For varying meals even though all three of my girls weigh a little bit differently I pretty much feed them all the same amount. Lola, my 5 lb. girl is very very hyper so she burns everything off quickly. If she’s awake, she’s in motion. Katie my 6 lb. girl is tall for a Maltipoo and very petite in structure. She was the runt of the litter and due to be put down before I rescued her into our family. She has a lot of issues food wise, environmentally and muscoskeletal so I’m always making sure she keeps her weight on. Hannah, my true couch potato, and at her age that’s okay with me, she stays on the lean side. Because she is 15 1/2 years old and a touch of old age arthritis I keep her on the lean side. I’m not big on having a scale to weigh them on a regular basis. I feel my dogs. If they have a little bit of coating on their ribs that I don’t mess with the amount I feed them. If I feel one of them and can too readily feel their ribs where with my fingers I can actually feel an identation then I know that dog needs a bit more food. If I have to press down too much to feel ribs, then I feed a little less for that dog. Kind of like ourselves. We have heavier days and lighter days. Winter we’re indoors a bit too much in the summer we’re very active.

I got both Lola and Katie both when, I guess I was around 61 or so. I thought I’d go insane. Literally, I was shedding tears all the time. I then thought it was one of my bigger mistakes. It was tough going having to 9 week old puppies at the same time. I hadn’t had a puppy in so long I’d forgotten the colossal amount of work let alone having two. Well, now that all is said and done I have to say that Lola and Katie are the best of pals. They are not siblings in the true sense of the word but you’d never know it. They sleep by each other, they rough house, play, everything together. But honestly I didn’t think I’d make it through those first couple of years. Hannah was none to happy about any of it either. Now they all pal around together. When I call them to let them out in the back Hannah won’t go out until she waits for the other two to catch up. All three wait for each other by the back door before they’ll come back in. Very very cute. Of course, if one of them barks, they all start barking even though the other two haven’t got a clue why or what they’re barking about. Very funny. Some times irritating but mostly have given me so much love and quality to my life. At 66 I’d probably be able to handle a puppy again but certainly not two at a time. Though I think I would rescue a senior at this point in my life. At one point in your life you want babies and are all about babies and as you get older you see the need that seniors (whether they be humans or dogs) need.

One last point on commercial raw feeding. Once you do it you’ll wonder what took you so long and what you were so worried about. Also, feeding commercial raw foods is not at all what you think it’s going to look like. It’s not like you’re going to toss a whole animal at your dog for dinner. I couldn’t possibly handle that. Really it just looks for the most part like ground meats in shapes of hamburgers. Other than the “kibble like” bits that are meant for the squeamish kibble feeders trying to make a transition into raw and also because they defrost so darn quick.

[Dori]

Hi Dog Obsessed. I give the girls Sentinel Spectrum. I live in the South and try to keep them protected as best I can. We have a lot of fleas, ticks, mosquitos and all sorts of creepy things here. So the Sentinel Spectrum covers them not only from heart worms but fleas (where they can get tape worms) and if they were to get (ingest) a flea infected with tapeworms they’ll be covered. Of course they can get tapeworms from dead and decaying animals on walks and feces infected on walks and hiking and dog parks where owners aren’t picking up their dogs poops immediately and some don’t pick up at all. Anyway, that’s my understanding of some of the ways dogs can get tapeworms from reading some sites on line.

On the second part of your question as to dosage, I give the 2 – 8 lbs. because all three girls fall under the 8 lbs.

For Lily at 10 lbs. I would almost be tempted to go with the 2 – 8 lbs. BUT….if while on Sentinel she were to get heart worms because you gave her the lower dose and did not give it to her twelve months a year while they suggest the higher dose and monthly, they will not absorb any of the cost of treatment for heart worms. I hope I worded my thoughts here on the dosing. I guess it would be a gamble on your part. If Lily’s pretty much a housebound and yard dog and not going for walks and hiking where she would encounter feces and stuff that are infected with tapeworms then it’s possible she would be ok on the lower dose, maybe. But if you take her on long walks and hiking letting her sniff around all sorts of stuff or let her off leash in dog parks then there would be more of a possibility of her getting tape worms. Has Lily ever had tapeworms before? Are there a lot of dogs in your area or at her vets practice coming in with tapeworms? That would help you make your decision also. In my area of Atlanta there are quite a number of dogs being treated for tapeworms and heart worms so it’s a no brainer for me.

Jennifer H. Sorry I can’t help with your question. I don’t put topical solutions on my dogs.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Phillip O
Did you happen to ask your vet what the rationale behind not feeding a rotational diet was?
Does he or she eat the same exact thing day in day out their entire lives?
I suspect many may agree or disagree but here goes if you pups stay on the same food day in day out and suddenly develop itchy ears, eyes ,paw licking they will say an allergy has developed and an elimination diet is necessary or even better they will want to prescribe a prescription diet, while visits ,tests etc and you feeling helpless and your wallet gets thinner and thinner.
From most of the reading I have done eating the same food can actually cause problems for some dogs. That’s why offering different proteins different brands is actually beneficial.

I know how overwhelming this site can be,if i may I would suggest you first decide on what TYPE of food you want to feed: Kibble, canned, freeze dried , commercial raw, dehydrated, home cooked, real raw,and then look at the 4-5 star rating within the food,
I feed kibble but I lightly cook a topper of turkey chicken beef to up the protein or you can do kibble with a topper of canned. Kibble w a raw patty. so many varieties. I used to stay on this site most of the night trying to figure out what to try, plea don’t to that.
There are very helpful knowledgeable folks to guide you on this site
Good luck.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Oh Dori,
This has been a real nightmare, I wanted to downsize, yard etc, saw this townhouse well didn’t like the cabinets tore them out & found BLACK MOLD -well you can imagine gutted the entire 2 stories to the studs!!! As I said a nightmare that is a sinking well of money!!!

I guess while reading your post you do make sense – why have someone else cook, when I could do the same.

It’s funny I got the Primal Nuggets from Wag.com will have to check on the “Pronto” since it ships from the manufacturer.

I can get the “Vital Essentials” & Nature’s variety Instinct Raw here so that’s good , they also had Nature’s Logic it was on Susan’s list in 2013 but just read the review here and I will pass on that raw brand.

This is another reason I so miss living in a city-the availability of everything.

Well if i can rotate different brands with the lower fat proteins , I guess that would be ok., since you said each protein though the same is just a bit different when you change up the brands.
I am going to call Answers as you suggested along with OC Raw, see if they will ship directly to me. This local feed store cannot get either from there vendor.

You are wonderful, thank you again.
Have a great weekend

[Robert B]

I want to thank everyone for your help and great ideas on
helping me find and try different foods for Louie. Below are ideas
from the forum, I’m getting there, so can you read the below information and let me know what you think. So I think I found the Kibbles and toppings.

Freshpet Select Tender Chicken with Vegetables & Brown Rice Dog Food. I can use the above for his topper…what do you think?
http://freshpet.com/products/freshpetselectchickenrecipe/
I check the internet, and can’t find the Fresh Pet food that has the softer kibbles or I’m not looking at the correct Fresh Pet foods?
Can someone help me with the name of the shaped like kibbles for Fresh Pet?

I also might try Wellness Toy Breed Complete Health Adult Deboned Chicken, Brown Rice & Peas Recipe. What do you think?

I thank ALL of you for your help and time with all these great suggestions
Louie also thanks you!!

PS…I will be going to my sister-in- laws for the weekend and will not have a laptop.
I will check for emails when I return on Monday for your replies.

Robert

[Mark S]

I’m interesting with Taste of the Wild Dry Dog Food on amazon, I’ve read many reviews, but I still not satisfied with it.
Anyone can give me more reviews?
I saw it here http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000W5SLB8/
and also need an advice
thanks

[CockalierMom]

Sarah, I am in the same situation as you. Our vet dermatologist prescribed RC Hypoallergenic Soy because one of my girls is reacting to chicken, turkey and tapioca (and I am sure there will be more). I had ordered a bag of Wellness Simple Salmon prior, so I am trying that first. I have not completed the transition yet, but there seems to be improvement already. If she still has food reactions after 4 to 6 weeks, then I am going to the RC food to do a real elimination diet.

If you suspect chicken is a problem, you may want to try what the dermatologist had me do first. Take the first 5 ingredients of the food you are feeding now and increase each one individually to see if there is a noticeable reaction. I added 1 ounce of turkey to Lucy’s morning and evening meals, and by the end of the second day her scratching increased significantly. Then, after a couple of days of being off the increased turkey, her scratching calmed down.

Good luck with the choice you make.

[Dori]

Please read review on Blue Buffalo and google complaints about Blue Buffalo. Maybe your do is trying to tell you something. As to any suggestions for a dry food I’m sorry that I can’t be of any help there. I feel commercial raw foods to my three toy dogs as well as organic fruits and veggies. I know that quite a few posters seem to like Victor’s Grain Free, Nature’s Logic, Annaemaet (?), Brothers Complete, Nature’s Variety Instinct, Acana, Orijen. Those are just a few that I have read dry food feeders compliment. I’m sure there are others but I don’t know. What you can also do is switch to a dry food (for economic reasons I would suppose) and use a canned or freeze dried food as a topper. Your dog would get better nutrients than merely feeding a dry food. There are many other things that you could add to a dry food to make it more palatable and nutritious.

I hope this bumps up your question and kibble feeders will see and respond. 🙂

[Liz S]

Hi everyone,
Haven’t had the chance to get on here. So much going on!

Cheryl if you see this I would definitely love some help on questions to ask etc. I’ve had many furbabies for over 15 years but with this current vet I am just like…. sick to my stomach. The day you posted I didn’t have a chance to respond because I did want to get my 4 ferrets in to at the very least get checked out and I already had the appointment made. Anyway get this- my 3 girls tested negative for ear mites. Our new little boy we’d had for 3 weeks tested positive. Plan was to give them all a dose of revolution. Well after I left the exam room and spoke with the techs/front desk and they gave me the box I said “wait a minute. this says for cats 5-15lbs. ” So the girl goes in back, comes out says the vet I saw stepped out for lunch but they asked the other vet and she said ” yeah. if that’s what he wrote, then….” I thought to myself, are you kidding me?!?! My ferrets are under 2lbs. NO WAY was I going to give that to them. They’d be poisoned and die a horribly death. But I just wanted to get out of there. So I did buy the box ( $80 ) but again I was not going to give it to them. I was going to come back in 2 hours and demand to speak directly to either of the vets. Ha. I couldn’t answer my phone after I left because I brought my mom to her oncologist. We get back to her house and in the span of 1 hour I received multiple calls and voice mails from the techs saying ” Do not give it to them!!!! We’re working on what the proper dosage would be and see if we have the kind ( it metabolizes differently ) that is safe for ferrets.” —- they were frantic on all of the messages and I was thinking to myself… NEVER EVER WILL THIS OFFICE SEE ANY of my or my moms pets again!!!!!! I was just livid. If I wasn’t a veteran ferrant and applied it, they’d be gone! It’d be horrible! Just thinking about it makes my BP raise. The carelessness & negligence that day just set me off. But anyway… I did end up going back and speaking with the actual manufacturer and I received the correct kind. UGH. I wanted to tell you about it that day but it was just too hectic. I DID pick up ALL of our pets records as well as my moms dog, Qtip. I made sure to get everything.

I wish this site was a little more mobile friendly. The pages cut off and I write a big reply and then I can’t find the submit button!!!! I hope they work on it in the near future. It’s easier for me than getting on the laptop. Oh well. Anyway. Thankfully it’s tax time and I can help my mom out. We filed today but I saw on the news to expect delays in returns, so who knows. – Liz

[Balsey Dean D]

No kidding! Reading these posts here should never happen. I love my dog and after getting a few little bags of these Canine treats for Christmas for my dog, wow, still amazed. The problem is that dogs will love these treats, mine did. I won’t buy any of these treats or any treats for that matter. Petsmart is listed here selling these treats, I wanted to leave the Corporate office a message about this thread, they don’t have an email, why are they hiding? Here is their phone number though, good luck! http://www.petsmart.com/helpdeskcategory/-helpdesk_category_cmp_20121219_174730;pgid=bRZky3Uq7YZSRpWB6nh5Lmz30000ytFlsr0f;sid=Jt0s3F_-sZMp3AtJz-Zt2G30T3S1pDZXv6X1iKZm?article=cmp_20121115_172158

[Sherri G]

Hi there –

I have a four year old English Bulldog (Oliver) who is…”special”. Ha! He has a very sensitive stomach along with some random other issues. Oliver had to stop eating kibble at age 2 because while he doesn’t have Mega Esophagus, he was having kibble get trapped in his cardiac sphincter, causing him to randomly and sporadically regurgitate. Soft, pate-style food and a Vegan Digestive containing Slippery Elm, Marshmallow and Licorice finally stopped that issue. Going to canned food, Oliver gained weight. He began a prescription diet food (canned) exactly one year ago and has lost 12 pounds.

A week and a half ago, Oliver began having awful gas (something of note: he does not receive any “people” food) which led to extremely horrible diarrhea. And when I say “diarrhea” I mean a gushing geyser. (sorry!) Naturally, we went to our beloved, trusted vet. After two trips and some tests (blood and stool) nothing out of the ordinary was detected. She felt he could have simply built up an intolerance to his food. She suggested switching to I/D (canned) to help with diarrhea and a course of Metronidazole.

After 3 days on I/D and Metronidazole, his diarrhea became worse. We switched to a chicken and rice diet and 7 days of Tylan. He is mid-way through the Tylan and our vet would like us to call when he finishes and then decide on food options.

After researching and making myself crazy (is there anything worse than not being able to make our “fur kids” feel better?), I started reading about raw food. I knew nothing about it until yesterday, when I spent hours upon hours of reading. I am not a meat eater myself and would definitely use a commercial brand – but we have yet another issue: Oliver cannot digest carrots.

After HOURS of research, I have found only 3 flavors of 3 different brands that do not contain carrots. Of those 3 brands, Primal Formula (Turkey/Sardine) seemed to be the “best rated” food. I have ordered a small bag to try.

So.. my questions are:
-Since Oliver is on a chicken & rice diet, would/should we fast him before trying the raw food? I’ve read different opinions on it but most dealt with switching from kibble.

-Do any of you have experience with your dog having chronic diarrhea or sporadic periods of diarrhea and you feel raw food has made a big change?

I apologize for the extremely long post. Our Oliver is complicated and we give him the best care we can, following our vet’s advice. I haven’t spoken to her about going raw yet but she leans more towards homeopathic and naturalistic approaches to everything so I suspect she will be in favor of it. I guess I’d like some advice/input/thoughts if anyone would care to share.

Edit: Since switching to Tylan Powder with chicken & rice, no diarrhea – just very soft stool.

Thanks so much,
Sherri (& Oliver)

• This topic was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by Sherri G.

[Cheryl F]

Hi everyone. I’m new to this forum, but not new to the BARF diet. Back in 2004 I was feeding all my dogs/pups this diet quite succesfully, then I became unemployed for a period of 9 months late in 2008, and had to switch back to horrific kibble. I had 4 Saint Bernards, 1 Bassett Hound and a 60lb mix breed. Needless to say, the BARF diet food bill was quite extensive back then, and i had to re prioritize in order to pay the mortgage. I have only 2 dogs left now and the BARF diet is calling me back for all of it’s wonderful benefits. There weren’t as many suppliers then as there are now, and I’m reading the posts on the pros/cons of each supplier as well as performing my own research. I live in NJ and am looking for several suppliers who are reliable, have a good quality product, don’t gouge you on price and have a good selection of RMB, meat and organs. Please tell me your experiences with the various providers so I can make an informed decision before I place my order. Thank you all so very much.

[theBCnut]

I totally agree about dog food manufacturer being a big contributor to inhumane housing practices with food animals!!

I don’t consider feeding practices that the animals don’t understand or feel harmed by to be inhumane, but they may be unethical, which is a whole different, but relevant, issue. I, also, wouldn’t consider over 1 hour travel time to be inhumane anymore than I think it’s inhumane for my kids and myself to travel in the car for more than 1 hour, but there are limits, and travel conditions are another matter, definitely inhumane sometimes.

I don’t think from reading what is stated about Darwin’s that you can assume that they aren’t humanely raised, by your standards. Feeding cattle feed while on range doesn’t mean there isn’t grass, etc., but it may mean that it isn’t enough grass for them to be totally grass fed. They don’t say anything about antibiotics, hormones, travel time, etc., so I don’t know what the practices are.

I don’t know of any raw dog food manufacturers that are up to your standards. But you might want to check out Hare Today and see if you might think they are close enough. They aren’t complete foods though. Good luck in your quest!

[crazy4cats]

Hi Sam D-
I mix the Nature’s Variety frozen raw medallions with my dogs’ kibble a couple times a week with no issue. In fact, there “output” is generally better when I add in the raw rather than canned. Also, I believe that all of the Nature’s Variety raw products are already complete and balanced and would not need to be mixed with the HK base mix. I think that a few of the other brands of commercial raw such as Primal offer some raw that is not balanced and could be mixed with the base mix.

Have fun with that lucky puppy!

[theBCnut]

I only feed raw bones. I would be afraid that these would splinter or break off chunks. There is so such thing as “natural liquid smoke.” Smoke is not a liquid. I’ve read that smoked flavoring is a cancer causing agent. I’d pass.

[Peggy]

I agree with you Marie.

Much of what I can understand of this post, I do not agree with.

I adopted at 7 month old JRT from a local shelter 5 yrs ago. BEST thing I ever did. No I didn’t read up on them before adopting. NO I wasn’t prepared for the energetic, hyper, high-strung little buggar that he was/is. One ADJUSTS to their new addition, and help them adjust to you. It’s a transition for you BOTH. I did find that training our JRT was much more difficult than any other dog I’ve ever had, and I’ve had plenty of different breeds and mutts. BUT, he was and is well worth the work I’ve invested in him. Yes he is still high-strung and stubborn – always will be, that’s the breed.
But he’s my baby and I love him to pieces. I would gladly adopt another Jack Russell.

I also disagree that JRT’s are euthanized more than any other breed. That’s ridiculous. I’d like to see where you got those statistics from.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by Peggy.

[aimee]

Hi Howard and Dori,

The idea that urine pH plays a role in lawn burn was actually tested a long time ago. (Apparently Dr. Becker missed that publication.) It was published in 1981 and titled appropriately enough “Lawn Burn from Dog Urine. pH was one of the variables tested and it was found not to play any role in lawn burn. “The pH of urine has no effect on lawn burn”. Interestingly enough the authors reported that dl-methionine did decrease lawn burn because it acts as a diuretic and decreased urine concentration. Salt as a diuretic was a bit more effective.

You can read the publication here: http://www.myxyz.org/phmurphy/dog/LawnBurn1.pdf

I wouldn’t recommend adding things to your dog’s diet. I found these 2 articles that have a lot of information and suggest that if feeding a high protein food lowering the protein may help by decreasing the nitrogen load on the lawn. It sounds like a reasonable hypothesis but I can’t find that idea tested anyplace. I’d think urine concentration plays the largest role and watering the area after the dog eliminates probably the most effective measure to take.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2085&aid=1493

http://www.doghealth.com/how-to/how-to-prevent-lawn-burn-from-dog-urine

[Akari_32]

Thanks girl. I’m going to wait until Tuesday to give her the dewormer so that I can be home to make sure everything goes ok and she can go out as she needs. That’ll give me time to see if I should give it to Bentley or not as well.

Isn’t her new harness the cutest?? There was one that looked like it would be more comfortable, but it was very thick and they didn’t have the color I wanted (black or light blue) in her size so I took it as sign that that wasn’t the right one lol This one seems fine though, and she’s been asleep in it all day with no problems.

Her new food is working great, actually, and she’s not even fully on it. We’re just finishing up the last bit her Wellness mixed with it, and so far no tummy troubles and I’m seeing an inprovment in her mobility already, and she’s been doing a lot more running than usual in the last couple days. So far so good, I think!

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Joanne,
I am in the US -so no luck for us down here yet.

DF,
I thought I might have missed some sites that had it, all sites only showed the canned.
I agree, seem a possible candidate for my Millie, i don’t think I have the stomach to open the canned variety & their breadth after eating it must be bad.

[Dori]

Cheryl, thanks for your kind words. I’m hardly an expert on raw feeding or animal nutrition I can only relate my experiences with my dogs.

I don’t feed kibble and I don’t feed canned. The only canned I was somewhat ok with is Weruva but it contains caraggeean (can never spell that word) and it’s also made in Thailand. A very good trusted by most company that makes raw and dehydrated is Vital Essentials. Vital Essentials sells (as treats I believe or at least that’s how I’ve fed them) a bag of tripe. That’s a way you could go if you wanted to introduce some tripe into their diet. I don’t use commercial treats (too many carbs and ingredients that allergy girl, Katie, can’t have and I also just don’t trust them with all the recalls out there) so I’m always on the look out for something I can give them as a dry quick treat for training purposes. The dogs love them and they have not caused any gastro upset either.

A sardine every day is imo way too much! Only two or three times a week is more than sufficient. That’s probably why Pepper was no longer doing well with the sardines. You can go back to feeding her sardines if you want to but maybe a couple of times a week, not every day.

If Millie is already eating a freeze dried food and doing well with it then she should have no problem with raw at all. Freeze dried is raw. I would certainly switch her as soon as possible to the raw and get her off kibble. You can then feed both dogs the same foods.

Cheryl, you are not asking too many questions and you are certainly no bother. We all started where you’re at now. It takes a while to get the hang of it. Anyway, we are all still asking questions as we should be otherwise how else would we continue to learn.

I’m a Virgo. Perfectionist would be a kind description of me and, I too, suffer from migraines. I’ve had them since I was 10 years old. Hereditary I believe because my mother always had them. Anyway, ask all the questions you’d like. If I can’t answer any, I’m sure others will. Eventually you’ll be the one answering posters questions. That’s how it works around here. Learn and pay it forward.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Dori,
Your such a great wealth of knowledge, my little & i mean little experience with foods rotation is basically kibble with a lightly cooked topper of different proteins. I never fed canned.
i am sorry i am picking your brain so much, i really don’t know how to go about all this and then add in my fear well you can guess-
I used to feed Pepper a sardine every day until she couldn’t handle them, then I gave her fish oil-i would puncture a pill, she got beta glucan for her immune system coq10 for her heart 3x a week a Vit C, folic acid also-all human supplements just scaled down to her wt.
now with Millie I don’t want to overload her at this point because she is a puppy, i had planned to introduce the sardines a few times a week soon I think she needs the omega 3.
You know even though millie is eating a high quality kibble Orijen, Horizon legacy, I am starting to think she needs to get away from all kibble.
I have noticed,( funny that you mentioned this )Pepper’s stool has no smell since she has been eating THK, yet Millie’s does & I can only attribute it to the kibble.
I give Millie both the Orijen & Legacy mixed and she is ok with that.
I know she is ok with the orijen freeze dried (that’s what she gets for lunch alone)
I guess I made the mistake of giving her the HK with her kibble & chicken at nite.
I should have introduced THK alone with her protein as a topper.
Dori I will get this, i won’t be bothering you for ever, I am a Leo ,and we are perfectionists (that’s why I suffer from migraines) so i have to get this correct-poor Millie to have me for a mom 🙁
I did create a new topic on Puppy’s and supplements-i just haven’t had a puppy in ages & according to Millie’s breeder she needs nothing ( i don’t agree) but don’t want to go overboard.
I realize you don’t feed kibble but i saw a post where tripe is now made into kibble-petkind.com, I wanted your opinion, I have read here a lot of posters feed canned tripe-that it is good for them, I see that more of the large breed posters feed it, I just didn’t know if breeds like schnauzers would benefit. After all Pepper & Millie are not what you would call “working dogs’ Pep is in retirement & Millie is unemployed

[Dori]

Cheryl. I’m so sorry that you’ve had to experience the loss of your son. You’ve said you have no kids in a past post so you, like me, lost your only child. No, life will never be the same. Surprisingly and shockingly it does go on. So does the pain. My heart breaks for you as it does for all of us that have outlived our children. Bless you Cheryl.

Yes, that does come in to play a bit in our animals becoming our babies. Especially dogs. They are dependent on us for everything as were our sons when they were babies and toddlers. I think of my girls as my babies, but most especially as my toddlers as I don’t actually have to carry them around everywhere for them to get from place to place. Though I’m sometimes been guilty of that. lol. In the evening when watching t.v. or reading they are always on either my husband or my lap or a combination of both.

Just wanted to mention on the Plaque Off that if you would feel more comfortably you may want to give your vet a call. I do know that hypothyroid is the low production of iodine in the body. Hyperthyroid produces too much. It is rare for a dog to have hyperthyroidism. Hyperthyroidism is common in cats. Dogs if they have a thyroid condition is typically hypothyroid. But, of course, you can always check and get the advice of your vet.

Good luck with lunch today though I don’t believe you’ll need it.

[debra m]

Many conscientious pet owners these days are aware of the problem of dog overpopulation. Because of irresponsible breeders and owners of millions of dogs all over the world and put down every year in animal shelters and veterinary clinics for no other reason than the fact that they have a loving home to go to. The simple fact is that there are more dogs in the world of loving pet owners.

Jack Russell Terriers (JRTs) are particularly likely to achieve this goal. They are small and very cute, and a lot of people mistakenly think that would make a good dog for young children. Either that or they do not provide for the needs of the exercise you need this kind of great activity. What these people do not realize that I was born makes Jack Russell to hunt. This is a lively dog is very active, and often do not get along with other pets such as cats, unless properly socialized at an early age.

Because of these factors, there are now many JRTs in shelters and rescue organizations Jack Russell worldwide. If you are interested in helping to save one of these puppies a little courage from a terrible fate by offering a loving home and this is what you need to know about the adoption of the Jack Russell.

1. Consider the age of the dog you adopt. Requirements for the care of a puppy are very different from that of an adult dog or aging. Also, remember that Jack Russell can live for more than 15 years.

2. Generally adopt much cheaper than buying a new puppy.

3. Make sure you check out any health problems that may be present in the dog. Rescuers are usually voluntary, and will be very honest with you on this issue; unlike some dog breeders should you do with the money.

4. Try to get an idea of the life that the dog has had up to this point. If your dog has been subjected to severe ill-treatment and abuse socially, you may need to be prepared for rough ride in terms of training, poor behavior that has accumulated over time. But remember that any dog ever lost cause – “If problems” that may be the only person with the heart and patience to adopt

5. To find a dog to adopt, you can try to contact the local clubs Jack Russell, educators, veterinarians, or contact the club rescue Jack Russell directly by finding them in the phone book or online.

6. Remember are usually neutered dogs rescue and micro chipped when adopted. There are two good things. Chip means that if lost or stolen your dog to have a good chance to recover. The fact that these dogs are neutered and also mean they will not contribute to the problem of overpopulation. If you have plans to breed and then adopt the dog is not true for you, but you should not play unless you have looked into the matter and the race itself and get advice from other educators with experience to guide through. It should only be Reproduction of commitment to the maintenance and improvement of the breed.

7. If you already have a dog, consider a rescue dog cannot get along with him. Not socially many rescue dogs well with other animals. With some dogs, but this will not be a problem. Most rescue organizations allow Jack Russell dog to have a trial period to see how the dog fits your home.

8. Do not be surprised if the organization wants to rescue someone was to ask a lot of questions and check his house. These people are Jack Russell Ecuador passionate and want to ensure that these animals will not end up back in a shelter or rescue center of the city, which are often very selective about who they will allow to adopt their dogs. Do not be offended by this, because it is a common practice.

[Dori]

My only thought would be that if your dog’s urine is burning out your lawn wouldn’t that mean that your dog’s PH is already off? Not sure, just thinking aloud. You can test his urine yourself I believe with a PH urine testing kit. You can order it on line. Less costly than having your vet check the urine unless you’ve recently had your dog at the vet for routine annual physical where they would check the urine anyway. Though I’m not sure if they check PH level or are just checking for bacteria. Adjustments to the ph level would depend on what it is? You wouldn’t want to go to far one way or the other.

Marie’s neighbor may have already known what her dog’s ph level was.

[Dori]

Hi Cheryl,

Yes I do know how you feel about your babies. I was like this even when my son was alive. (He passed away a little over eight years ago at the age of 22). He used to refer to the dogs as his sisters (we had Hannah then who’s 15 now and we another dog, a Tibetan Terrier named Tracy. She passed two months before Matthew did). Sorry I only mention in because though I no longer have children, my dogs have always been my babies and family members so I get exactly where you’re coming from. Of course, my personality makes me research everything like crazy, add to that that I’m a Virgo and you get the picture. I never believed much in the silliness of horoscopes other than to read them in the morning papers years ago but as I’ve gotten older I realize I’m pretty much everything they say about Virgo’s. Go figure???? If you’re uncomfortable and nervous about the raw food, then you should probably wait until Monday morning when your vet is open again. It’s in your freezer so it’s not like it’s going to go bad or anything.

I also agree with your reasoning on the possibility of holding off on getting a puppy. It may very well be a bit disconcerting to Pepper. I’ve forgotten how old both your dogs are. Also, is it going to be too much on you. When we brought Lola and Katie into our home (they are 5 now) Hannah was 10 years old and it took her a very long time to adjust to the two new girls. I was surprised because she’s never had problems in the past. I can only think that either it was her age or she just liked being the Queen with no subjects below her. lol! Who knows really. Sometimes it works out perfectly fine. I just don’t know how Pepper’s blindness would affect her having a little squirmy puppy running amok in the house as the do. You’d really be the best judge as to her temperament and stress coping skills. Have a good weekend yourself. It’s cold here in Atlanta but I’m thankful that the sun is out. In the Summer I’m always wishing that the sun would go away.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Commercial Raw Feeders,
I could use some help.
Just got some primal Raw for my puppy Millie.
I took a big girl breadth , my questions how do i go about introducing this into Millie’s diet?
Give a tiny amt. alone? I still feed her 3x a day-her noon meal is an orijen freeze dried patty-do u think I should switch w the primal?
Can she eat the primal in her regular bowl or should I get her another stainless bowl?
I am sorry if I sound a bit “out there” have never ever done this-just worried about Millie
Thanks all in advance.

[Kristin C]

I am only replying so I can get off this post. And I think I’ll get my information elsewhere moving forward. If Aimee’s posts are considered friendly and calm we must be reading different ones. The ones I seem to read are ranting, somewhat heated and critical with occasional sarcasm. I prefer to get my information from more emotionally intelligent sources.

[Kristin C]

Hi Aimee-I understand that you have a background in the field just by your posts. What I mean by your “approach” is that maybe you can tone it down cause the newbies could get scared off. If you scan this forum it’s a lot of people who just want to do right by their pups, and that’s putting it mildly. People come here looking for answers to their concerns, and some are pretty serious (not just questions on dinner mixes). I found this forum after having a pretty solid dog who has a rock solid stomach but she had a mast cell tumor on her face as a puppy. I got another puppy who couldn’t keep kibble down and was just absolutely wilting and it shocked me.

I believe, from all I’ve read, it’s pretty grey on what to feed. One size does not fit all and I have worked super hard on variety for my fur-girls, as I am sure many others have in their own research. My dogs are thriving. I don’t have kids, unfortunately, but I’m sure I would be just as diligent, if not more diligent, in my efforts to feed them as I’m sure you are with your kids.

Aimee, just don’t steamroll EVERYTHING is all I am saying. Different diets may work for different dogs. Sorry to Jakes Mom for her post taking this turn:( Have a good night.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Aimee,
You will have to give me a few days to digest all that you posted, some comments I am still shaking my head about.
You are an intelligent well read well researched person, yet some comments just don’t make sense.
I am so curious (yet it isn’t my business) to know why you have such an axe to grind with the Honest Kitchen, yet vet diets are o.k.
You don’t think offering vet clinics trips kickbacks?? Where I come from that is a kickback, plain & simple.
Food isn’t an income source, its a WINDFALL to a vet practice its a cha-ching, do you think posters here are the average pet parent? Let me tell you they are not. you know that, you take the time to answer & help people, yet you think the veterinary profession is above reproach. If I am making wrong assumptions, I am sorry. Your sister’s clients may be the exception, but, they may be also better at hiding money & telling your sister only what they want her to know. Sorry if that sounds harsh. You may call me bitter & yes you would be correct-those incompetent **** BLED YES BLED ME,because they saw how much I loved my angel & that I would try to move heaven & earth to save her-Aimee how would you like to be told your fur kid had cancer only to be told by the head of the reproduction dept @ LSU Veterinary School she had her period!!!!! I didn’t know wether to laugh or cry, I called the idiot & told him he needs to go back to school !! I could go on & on, I have no respect for any of them. It’s money money money plain & simple! Yes there are some god vets, but those are rare, I have found only one & he is getting ready to retire
Don’t you think it’s easier to take what these vets say buy the crap pour it in the dish & not even look at the ingredients? People on this site spend hrs, days ,weeks searching for alternatives.
It’s the same with us people get a script from the dr. & on your way, don’t exercise don’t change the way you eat, just take a pill.
I will continue this but the fur-kids want to eat, I must comply

[Cait Y]

Ok so I have lurked here for a little over a year, and recently started making my own raw cat food via Lisa A. Pierson, DVM because one of my boys almost died after getting into the Dry food AGAIN and his whole GI system blocked up because he cannot handle the lack of fluids in dry food. He is such a picky eater that I had put off the raw diet dreading that he would turn his nose up at it like he did the other high quality raw/semi cooked food I tried buying him. He LOVED the home made food, he even batted off his BFF to eat his food too!
HoundDogMom, other raw feeders please bear with me I know that the whole shebang I know as of now it is 6 pages long. I am trying to paint the whole picture with the dogs, their special needs and what is causing me confusion with the Raw feeding books I have read. There is so much going on right now in my personal life that I am having a very hard time understanding this and if anyone could help point me in the right direction or even a book or website or from experience I would be so very very grateful.
The biggest reservation I have about feeding Raw to the dogs (who LOVED the scoop of homemade cat food I gave them as a test) are the bones and sadly the limited ingredients I can use for my Special Needs Hound.
I have a 14 yr old Walker hound (Forest) who has like no teeth left and was just diagnosed with cushing’s disease but has some pretty abnormal liver tests because of the damage that was done while he went undiagnosed. His liver is so enlarged it displaces his stomach sideways and upwards which makes EASILY digestible food a must. He cannot have food high in phosphorus, copper or ammonia which means little to no red meat and lots of poultry, eggs and pork. He also has problems with chronic Constipation so I would have to be VERY careful about the amount of bone I add to his diet but I also want enough in there to give him the nutrients he needs. Since he is older he also burns a LOT of calories, He is on Vital Fresh pet Turkey or Chicken and gets 1.5 lbs a day. I don’t know what is causing him to burn so many calories except for old age or maybe his body is trying to repair itself – all he does is lounge in the lawn and do his hound dance for food – people or animal whichever he can mac on at the moment lol
My 3 yr old yellow lab (Nova) is also a high calorie burner but she is super active, we do scent tracking, retrieving, and lots of walking/running on the grass. She will go until she drops which I have never seen before, so now I watch her very closely for signs she is over heated. She eats up to 2 lbs of the above dog food a day but is still losing weight on occasion when her activity jumps up again. She has always had double the amount of Eosinophils in her blood that she should at a “normal” rate. She has been checked for parasites so the best I can come up with is that she might have GI issues going on intermittently – she doesn’t transition food gracefully and really doesn’t tolerate even high quality kibble (after research it’s not such a mystery anymore) which is in part what turned me onto Freshpets Vital.
To top it all off I have a Four month old female lab puppy (Ellie) that is still growing. I have her on 2 lbs of Freshpets vital but I am worried that she is not getting something in her diet as well. She has three white lines running across her nails – each nail on every paw. In my experience when the horses have white lines or even indents it means either they were very very sick or have a mineral/vitamin deficiency of some sort. I know when Ellie came to us she had a severe infection of hook and round worms. Her infection was so severe at 8 weeks old that the vet said she would have died untreated – thank you OCD and taking her to the Vet the same day she was brought home lol. They were resistant to the normal worming meds and for 2 months we battled with getting them under control and gone. If Dogs are like horses that would cause the lines because of how sick she was during this (Great going Lemon law Florida) yet I also worry because I know parasites in small animals or even large can cause a huge system imbalance with nutrients which hinders growth.
OK Limited ingredients – because of Forest I have to stick to Chicken, Turkey, and Eggs as a main protein source due to his liver problems and because Rabbit in completely unviable to me unless I want to raise them myself. I have no local butcher – the closest one is three hours away so Chicken and Turkey liver will have to do for organ meat – sometimes I can get chicken hearts once in a blue moon. For Fats I have to choose VERY easily digestible fats from an animal protein because with Forests Liver problems his biliary system can be overloaded very easily and that would be disastrous. Maybe I can add some duck occasionally to his diet?

Copper Issues:
If ammonia restriction is required, feed less red meats and organs since they produce the most ammonia. You may not want to eliminate them entirely though, as they have important nutrients that help with liver function.
Instead, cut back. Feed more poultry, fish, eggs, and pork. If feeding red meat, even in small quantities, buy the absolute best quality you can afford. Preferably grass fed, antibiotic, and hormone free.

Meats generally low in copper are:
• Beef (muscle meat, not organs)
• Eggs
• Turkey (white meat)
• Chicken (white meat)
• Rabbit
• Fish
Meats generally high in copper are:
• Lamb
• Pork
• Pheasant or Quail
• Duck
• Goose
• Salmon
• Organ Meats
When feeding organs for copper issues, some animal livers contain more copper than others. Beef liver is higher in copper than chicken or pork livers. Regardless, the zinc and b vitamins in liver help to reduce the risk of copper toxicity. Though if your dog has an issue with copper, opt for chicken or pork liver. (http://primalpooch.com/raw-feeding-guidelines-dogs-liver-disease/)

I have read Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet and Dr. Pitcairn’s New Complete Guide to Health of Dogs and Cats. I have some major issues with either of the books, UtCaD is so absolute – if you feed this protein then you need this oil. First of all Canola Oil? Corn Oil? Soybean Oil? Walnut oil? Flax and hemp seed oil? I own horses and I would NEVER give them Corn oil with the GMO crap going around I don’t trust Corn or Canola at all. If I am not comfortable feeding to my strict Herbivores I am definitely not OK feeding it to the other animals. By the way the 2,000 lbs animals have had major GI upset from Canola, Corn, Soybean and Flax seed oil. I’ve given it to them in small amounts – 3 tablespoons a day and I have seen a massive systemic effect that made me take them off of it immediately. It was supposed to give them the right ratio of Omega’s 3 and 6 plus help my older guys move and keep weight on since it was winter. The recommended Ratio of 6 to 3 fats are 10:1 to 5:1 for dogs – I have read that small fish or Krill are the best to supplement dogs with because of the low contamination rate and it should not carry Salmon Sickness. Soybean oil is also something I would never give my dogs or humans or anything because of the way it can mimic hormones and interrupt the function of the Thyroid. Also Kelp is recommended a lot, but there are so many negatives that came out during the feeding kelp to horse’s fad that I will not touch the stuff. If it can affect the horses with the amount of iodine to the point horses became toxic I don’t trust the manufactures. It was not that kelp was being fed in large amounts there was absolutely no regulation on what type they harvested or what it contained. Missing link for dogs is a product I am familiar with and they do make it for dogs with trace minerals but it is flax based. Won’t this completely mess up the balancing? Does anyone here feed this instead of kelp?
The Missing Link Ultimate Skin & Coat:
Active Ingredients (per tbsp)
Flaxseed Dried Kelp
Glucosamine Hydrochloride (Vegetarian) Zinc Monomethionine
Freeze Dried Beef Liver Lecithin
Blackstrap Molasses Chromium Yeast
Rice Bran Selenium Yeast
Primary Dried Yeast Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6)
Sunflower Seed Niacin (Vitamin B3)
Dehydrated Alfalfa Garlic Powder
Dried Carrot Yucca Schidigera Extract
Shark Cartilage Powder* Riboflavin (Vitamin B2)
Freeze Dried Fish Protein Powder Thiamine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1)
Freeze Dried Oyster Powder Folic Acid
Barley Grass Leaves Powder Cobalamin (Vitamin B12)
Guaranteed Analysis Amount
Crude Protein (not less than) 18%
Crude Fat (not less than) 28%
Crude Fiber (not more than) 15%
Moisture (not more than) 10%
Linoleic Acid (Omega 6) 450 mg
**Linolenic Acid (Omega 3) 1000 mg
**Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO Cat/Dog food nutrient profiles.

Also if everything is so precise that does not leave room for error such as what if the chickens were raised on Florida soil which is heavy in limestone and deficient in other areas – rather than let’s say somewhere in the bread bowl what about if they were fed a corn based feed and another batch was fed free range? If the meat analysis is different it throws everything off and we all know that meat from south Fl is very different than meat from MI or IN – same principle goes with growing vegetables even organic. How much of a God Factor is there for the abundance of some micronutrients and lack of others? UTCAD also has an abundance of some nutrients way over the NRC guidelines – are dogs different in the fact that they can rid themselves of excess things very easily? I know in humans and horses Vit E and Selenium can be deadly because it builds up in fat and the body doesn’t flush it out like the water-soluble vitamins?
Dr. Pitcairn’s New Complete Guide to Health has a lot of oat meal, rice, beans?! Half and Half milk, whole milk, whole wheat bread corn? That sounds not so great for dogs and especially not for cats like it says it can be. What about kidney beans? With feeding my dogs I have learned they do OK on rice occasionally when they have an upset GI but if they are on a diet with rice too long they get backed up. Also the beans – the dogs seem to have issues with digesting them like people sometimes do – why are there so many carbohydrates? Why cannot I do sprouted microgreens or carrots or even baked potatoes because I know the dogs tolerate those vegetables very well. Also Brewer’s Yeast? Isn’t yeast as a whole bad? It’s in everything and I know Nova already is prone to yeast infections in her ears and when she gets a UTI – Also can Brewer’s yeast cause or attribute to bloat? Milk – isn’t milk products bad if they are in large amounts such as 2 cups milk plus 2 cups rolled oats and 2 eggs and calcium powder? Everything to me seems so skewed.
Also RMB are out of the question – Forest cannot eat them and Nova and Ellie are gulpers – they came from a large litter and it would be just my luck to end up in emergency surgery with one of them. I have a grinder to which I can grind the bone up with the meat and I know the purpose of the bone was for dental health but if I make Meat Jerky and other goodies can I replicate that without worrying about emergency surgery or broken teeth?
Since I own a grinder already for cat food why cannot I grind bones to supplement their food with? So far in my research the basic recipe and consensus I have come across is as follows:
16% Organ meat
10% – 25% Bone
The rest of the food would be muscle meat and muscle meat
Meat is very high in phos and the bone is high in Cal which means the Cal to Phos ratio should be 1.2 to 1.5:1 although 1:1 to 2.5:1 is ok as well. I just need to make sure the dogs consume more Cal than Phos but the question is do I need to add bone meal or can I grind my own bones to supplement?
Here is what the Article analysis the bone content to be in prey animals:
Bone Content In Raw Foods
When sourcing bones for your dog’s diet, it’s a good idea to know the approximate amount of bone in commonly sourced foods. Here is a quick guide to help you keep your dog’s bone content in the right range; between 10% and 25%.
Chicken Whole chicken (not including the head and feet): 25% bone/Leg quarter: 30%/Split breast: 20%/Thigh: 15%/Drumstick: 30%/Wing: 45%/Neck: 36%/Back: 45%/Turkey/Whole turkey: 21%/Thigh: 21%/Drumstick: 20%/Wing: 37%/Neck: 42%/Back: 41%
Pork Feet: 30%/Tails: 30%/Ribs: 30%
Beef Ribs: 52%
Rabbit Whole rabbit (fur and all): 10% Whole (dressed): 25-30%

From this can I remove the proper amount of bones or add more bones in to balance or would you suggest a bone meal powder? Also I have yet to factor in the percentage of vegetable/fruit/microgreens in the recipe – I am just so lost so if HoundDogMom could help or someone else could chime in I would be so grateful. I am trying very hard to learn as much as I can but between the animals and two sick family members and special needs animals by the time I have a moment to sit down I am out like a light for the night or my brain is so frazzled everything looks like it was written in French. Am I over thinking this? I just don’t want to screw Ellie up – she has already had such a bad start with the worm infection – and Forest needs nutrients to rebuild his liver correctly and I wanted to see if this change in diet would help Nova’s Eosinophils come to a normal level. Also has anyone ever seen white lines on every toenail that grows parallel with the skin? Any help would be so appreciated there is just not a lot of room for error with Forest right now with his liver Alt levels 4 times what they are supposed to be. They cannot stay on the Freshpet much longer because to feed the dogs its 19 dollars a day and that’s not a very good long term solution.
Thanks so much everyone~!~ I Hope everyone had a great New Year and wonderful Holiday
`RedMare

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Dori,
Please let me know how the girls do on KBPF-I ALMOST placed an order for the trial sizes, but my head is spinning from what I already have in the bullpen for Millie.
The next free-dried i have for her is the Oracle grain-free, still waiting for the Primal Raw.
I,too was loved by the shelter, all the foods I tried for pepper & poor thing couldn’t tolerate any.
Thanks for the heads up with the fruits and veggies -I only feed 1 type of treat its called Cocotherapy-freeze dried fruits or veggies they are very costly & the bags are very empty for $9.95 a bag, I don’t use any commercial bones either.
When I first got Pepper & didn’t know anything I bought her Greenies for her dental issues-my angel got so sick on them, I swore I would never again buy anything like that!!
I have been in Louisiana 34 yrs-all my adult life, but they still call me a yankee and I am proud of that,never lost my accent as I am told!! I go home & they ask me where I am from!!! Go figure.
Do you have any suggestions on what I can use to clean Millie’s ear she has some wax & I think it bothers her-she shakes her head sometimes,no smell, I thought vinegar or hydrogen peroxide , but this healthy dog Handbook says both are no-no’s=the book says o use a commercial product, I always try to stat away from them, but if you have a particular product that works, I would appreciate the info.
Fondly,
Cheryl

[Sarah]

I am hoping to get advice on how to handle a Rabies shot issue with Pearl my 13-14 week* old puppy. Pearl the puppy is 3/4 Golden Retriever and 1/4 Border Collie and an absolute delight of a dog!
*I left her paperwork at home and can’t remember her exact birthday off hand and can update with exact info later this evening

Issue/Problem/Question:
I work at Amazon HQ in Seattle which is a dog friendly office, meaning Pearl the puppy can start coming into work with me each day instead of being crated at home Monday-Friday 9-11 hours each day, which is what is currently happening. However, she cannot come into work with me until she has been cleared by Amazon vaccine requirements which is only to have her Rabies shot, and there is no go around on this. I have a vet appointment tonight and really love and trust our vet. I am not hyper sensitive on vaccinating in general (ex. I vaccinate myself AND my future children WILL be vaccinated) but I do believe in doing one’s homework. I have read a large range of ages in which is okay/safe/should do the rabies vaccine in. I would love to get the other opinions on what I should do in this circumstance. I hate having her crated all day and being able to bring her into work and have the diverse interactions with dogs and humans could be such an amazing impact on her long term.

I am interested to hear what age you think is the youngest to get this vaccine done and what the true level of risk is by getting it done at what ages. Considering the risks/rewards we are facing, how long would you wait to do the Rabies vaccine?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and expertise!

~Sarah and Pearl

[pugmomsandy]

If you haven’t nominated the brand yet, you can do so in this topic:

/forums/topic/nominate-a-dog-food-brand-for-editors-choice/

Also, if you haven’t read through the FAQ’s, it might help to answer your question.

/frequently-asked-questions/about-editors-choice/

There are several guidelines for choosing an Editor’s Choice brand. It also takes quite a bit of time to do the research on each company. Also, if a company chooses to not answer some of the questions required to be an Editor’s Choice, then that company probably won’t be included on the list.

[DogFoodie]

Hi David,

Sorry to hear about the diagnosis.

I know C4C has experience in dealing with Giardia. I hope she’ll see this and weigh in.

In the meantime, here’s a thread you might find useful:/forums/topic/puppy-with-giardia/

You can always go to the forum home page and specify search terms.

[Bobby dog]

Cheryl H:
KBPF is one of the dinner mixes I suggested you look into on the review side. Aimee was kind enough to look at the company and found some very interesting info in regards to what they have posted on their website and the pre-mix formulations. Read her January 4, 2015 at 11:54 pm post.

I want to start making some home cooked food for both my dog and cats, but have not had time to research it. The info that Aimee posted is the type of research that I feel is necessary before I buy a supplement. Unfortunately, I just don’t have the time right now. KBPF is no longer on my list of pre-mixes to research, one less company to look at. lol

If you are interested in speaking with a Veterinary Nutritionist, you can find one here:
http://www.acvn.org/

You can also contact a University that has a Veterinary School to see if they offer nutritional consultations with their Vet Nutritionist. Most that offer these services will do phone consultations with you and your Vet. Tufts, Cornell, U of Minnesota, U of Tennessee, UC Davis, and Penn Vet are some schools that offer this type of service; I am sure there are many more.

[Liz S]

Sorry for the late reply!

Cheryl & melissaandcrew,
I meant to say murmur. I think I was just thinking of so many different things at once…

Cheryl, I would cry too 🙁 – Glad your girl found you. I love Amazon- I will check Oravet out. I really, really want/need Qtip to have a dental. Maybe Oravet could be afterwards-maintenance? Will have to look at it in a bit.

You know, I think you are right about my vet. They have snuck in little ( odd ones IMO ) charges many times now. Twice now they have taken our pets information incorrectly. Meaning they kind of quickly put things in but they always seem distracted. The 1st time I found out was when we were discussing our buggs vaccines. Age was way off. The 2nd time was fairly recent. My 2 year old Chihuahua went in to be spayed. Mind you she had been going to them since she was a puppy. Well, the vet called me afterward and said ” there was no way this was the uterus of a 7 month old puppy. ” I was like WHAT?!?! She was 2! The worst visit was when we had to help our Annabelle ( ferret ) cross the bridge. My fiancé and I walked into the room while I held her in a fuzzy blanket. Anthony was so upset and had tears in his eyes since we walked in the door. I felt horrible 🙁 – I told him earlier that day that he didn’t have to come. It was okay. He said ” No, I’m coming. I’ve just never had to put any of my pets down before. I’ve never seen an animal die. ” — phew it broke my heart for him. Anyway- We get in the room. A tech brings in a card reader and tells us the price. It was not the “exact price” that I was told over the phone. It was $60 more. But, ok. Fine. She left and then came back saying ” we have it down as you ordering 30 cans of A/D and never paying for them.” — I was enraged. Not only did we not order them, but we never picked them up. We had even been there 3x AFTER the so called time the cans were picked up. I couldn’t believe she was asking about it at this time! She left again. Came back and said it was a mistake on their end. No ” I’m sorry about that.” No nothing. Oh it was just a really bad experience. 🙁

I guess I’m going to have to call vet after vet and explain/get prices etc? That’s hard because most won’t say much until the pet is seen, right? 🙁

I wonder what my next move should be? I have an appointment with the current vet on Tuesday and have to keep it since it’s for my ferrets. But I’m not sure what to do after that?

Honestly anyone that comments, I appreciate the advice more than you know.

Liz

[David G]

Mike Sagman – Thanks for the reply. That article was one of the first things I read here and it was awesome. Always looking to gain more knowledge on the topic. Just need help finding one that fits the criteria and our budget..

crazy4cats – Thanks crazy4cats! I’m going to go down the list and check the websites that were recommended and go with it. The Kirkland puppy food isn’t specific for large breeds so poor little Tanky’s stool is consistently soft/loose. Trying to fix the situation asap!

DogFoodie – While I understand the logic, if that were applied across the board there’s very few companies I’d use in life. Keurig, Coca Cola…I can’t say I’m surprised Costco/Kirkland didn’t reply, and don’t want to rule it out based on that. I would just say it’s icing on the cake for the companies that did respond.

Edit: I see Kirkland Signature Nature’s Domain on the list actually. We may just go with that since we’re familiar and have had a good experience. I’ll double check.

InkedMarie – I’m going to do that right now. We want to get something that’s affordable, but above all else provides the nutrition and quality. Definitely not trying to cut corners when it comes to his health and growth. Thanks again.

-Dave

• This reply was modified 11 years, 3 months ago by David G.

[Jon h]

Hi everyone,

So I’ve lurked here for a while now collecting information regarding nutrition and have come across an interesting topic. I became interested in natural allergy remedies as it seems our Australian cattle dog has some itchy skin problems the vet believes is related to allergies from the environment.

Now before we get on to the topic of honey I would prefer that this be a FACT based discussion not a personal opinion, anecdotal evidence type discussion. Unfortunately as humans we are able to make extremely irrational and unfounded correlations especially when we don’t understand something or want something to be true (ie we desperately want a natural remedy to be as effective or more effective than a pharmaceutical remedy). This has no place in the canine nutritional world (or human) as toying with an animals nutrition based on weak non-scientific beliefs is in my opinion horribly ignorant and in some cases an unethical thing to do. So please keep responses scientific in nature and cite articles if you can (petmd, blog posts and natural canine health daily articles type sources with no references don’t count as scientific!)

The theory behind the honey supplementation seems to be this: Local honey supposedly contains local allergens and supplementing with it acts similar to a vaccine by exposing the animal to low levels of an allergen and helping to develop an immune response to the allergen.

Now this sounds all fine and dandy in theory and certainty a naive layman will take this as face value and argue this as being fact (i’m am trying to be an informed layman!). But does this actually have any scientific value? That is what I want to find out.

I have read several claims that in fact there is no scientific basis for this. The argument is that bees do not extract pollen from the common plant sources of airborne pollen which cause the allergic reactions in our dogs. They of course get pollen from flowers and a few other sources, they do not collect pollen from say pine trees or most grasses. Any contamination during transport or in the nest from the common local allergens is said to be negligible and will not help build an immunity.
example of a study on humans:
http://www.annallergy.org/article/S1081-1206%2810%2961996-5/abstract

There is also a Finnish study on humans which took 3 groups, one group as a control, one supplemented with regular honey and one supplemented with a honey that had birch pollen added to it. The Ones taking the honey with birch pollen saw improvements and had to use less antihistamines to control their symptoms while the ones supplementing with regular honey saw no difference.
abstract:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21196761

Now my problem is that I see honey toted continuously on natural canine remedy sites. However I do not see a signal study either in humans or canines showing any truth to the theory. Any evidence is extremely weak correlation evidence with no control or consideration for other variables. All actual scientific studies of this theory i’ve personally come across show that their so no truth to this theory. So is this just a myth?

The second problem I see that REALLY concerns me is there are huge ranges of supplementation dosages. Some references say to feed your dog 1/4 teaspoon per week while other such as the lady in the non-scholarly article below say two tablespoons per day for larger dogs (in her case her lab and staffordshire terrier). Now that is extremely worrisome to me as there are 17 grams of sugar per table spoon of honey. if I am to assume her dogs weigh approximately 80 pounds (upper end of pure lab retrievers and beyond the upper limit of staffordshire terriers) then I estimate their daily requirement of calories (using online calculator) to be 1630. If there are 64 calories per tablespoon of honey (google) this would mean they are getting 7.9% of their daily intake of calories straight from simple sugars. Comparing this to my daily intake of ~2300 cals (because from my understanding canines metabolize simple sugars similar to the way humans do) this computes (if i’ve done my math right) to 48 grams of straight simple sugars a day for me. This is over my targets for the day even making the assumption that my other foods have zero sugars in them…. Now assuming that the dog is already getting sugars from their regular food source you are probably doubling their recommended sugar intake per day. This doesn’t seem right to me at all as a human consistently doubling their recommended sugar intake daily would be a good candidate for type 2 diabetes. So why are people recommending this to do to our dogs?

Michele Crouse interviewed about honey supplementation (under “honey for dogs” section)
http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/10_9/features/Bee-Honey-Products-Help-Canines_15967-1.html

I’m hoping this sparks some interesting conversation. As you can probably tell I am somewhat against this theory. Mostly because I have yet to see a shred of scientific evidence for it and I don’t personally like adding or subtracting things from my dogs diet based on personal opinions and weak, unfounded theories. I’d be interested to see if there is actually research supporting this idea.

Is there any truth to this theory? or are people just pumping their dogs full of sugar and added calories?

[jakes mom]

Just when I’m thinking about trying to put Jake on raw meat and dinner mixes I find out I can’t get SSLL. What are your opinions on the Honest Kitchen mixes? Price wise and quality wise? And which one? There are 3 to choose from. He’s a 30ish# beagle/bassett mix with no allergy issues or anything, I’m just thinking about better food for him. I’ve upgraded his kibble since I found this site altho I’m glad to know at least I was never giving him the 1 or 2 star stuff! Also added RMBs which he loves, but I’m not quite ready have a freezer full of bunny and quail. So I thought meat and the mix would be a good compromise if it’s not terribly pricey. Would that be comparable to a bag of 4star kibble? I’m betting he might drop a pound or 2 on the new diet, too, which would be good for him. He’s gained a couple of pounds since my other dog went to the bridge, Mom’s overcompensating I guess.

[Susan J]

Can anyone in here help me.
My little Bella is a pug/king Charles Cavilier x, since having her spade she has started suffering with anal gland problems. I first took her to the vets to have them done then a week later she was showing the same symptoms so then took her to a groomer who stated they were full again, indeed she was fine when I bought her home but about a week later was showing signs again even though we had put her on a kibble diet with no extra meat. That doesn’t seem to be working either although she does have episodes where she seem s to clear them and the metallic smell goes but only momentarily for a few days before its back again. I’ve read exercise helps but need to find what’s causing this in the first place …..can anyone help me please

[DogFoodie]

Hi Bryana,

I also have a Golden who started out much the same way as yours. I believe the vaccinations may have contributed to some of his early issues. It was my intention to spread vaccines out and I recall once the vet acted like, “Oops, I actually got a combo vaccine ready.” Of course, I let it go. I wish that I had insisted and that I hadn’t gotten unnecessary vaccines. My Golden had an infection in each ear at just a few months old and was at the vet sick with lethargy and diarrhea. I suspected vaccinosis. Yes, the vet put him on the I/D garbage as well. Since I can’t change that now, I only vaccinate for rabies and I titer for immunity to core vaccines.

As for food, my Golden had digestive issues as a young pup also. It seemed everything gave him diarrhea. Plain canned pumpkin can help firm up loose stool. Goldens are known for having sensitive stomachs and food intolerance / allergy issues. I’ve determined that my Golden has food intolerance issues. He cannot have fish, flax, tomato, chickpeas or lentils. He does better with moderate protein, fat and carbs and a bit lower fiber. I’m not suggesting your Golden has these same intolerance / allergy issues, but it’s my guess he’s intolerant of something and what you’re saying is the end product. You have to figure out what they are, which is the tricky part and it takes a lot of time. Can you compare any ingredients in the food he was eating too see if there are common ingredient that could be the culprit?

Also, your Golden is a large breed puppy that has unique nutritional requirements. You must feed him a controlled level of Calcium. You should also avoid over-exercising him to avoid stressing growing joints and you should also keep him lean while he’s growing.

Here’s a link to another thread in the forum that explains this in more detail, read the first few pages at least: /forums/topic/large-and-giant-breed-puppy-nutrition/

On page 36, there is a Google document with a list of foods with appropriate Calcium levels for large and giant breed puppies. It was posted on 10/22/2013, at 4:22 PM by Hound Dog Mom. You should choose a food from this list: /forums/topic/large-and-giant-breed-puppy-nutrition/page/36

One food in particular that I might suggest is Nature’s Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient Diet Turkey.

[Walt R]

Thanks for your follow up. Yes, i have been adding probiotics to his food and will continue to do so. I will also watch the stools to see what happens and adjust per your recommendations.

We truly do not know if he must have fish based foods or not. All i have to go on are all the various foods we tried when we first got him. We tried a LOT of different foods due to the bad gas. I really can’t even recall all the different brands and types (beef vs. chicken, etc). I know we tried several… and once we go to the fish, problem solved. Gas was gone, dog was far more energetic and his fur was looking great. It took many months and just like that… life was good for everyone until about 3 months ago and now i can hardly stand to let the boy sleep next to me because the breath is too much. It smells like the Frito and it literally makes me ill from headaches to stomach. My wife and son are not as affected but they too smell it.

Anyhow, it is only because of our experiences when we first got him, that i start with the Trout/Salmon vs. Bison or Lamb (2 meats i think we did not try).

If you have recommendations for an actual food/type, I’m wide open to suggestions.

Part of the problem i have… seems that every food has “something” we need to watch for. Peas, Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Legumes, Yeast, Oats, Grains, etc. So it’s hard trying to figure out where to start.

Unfortunately, money is a factor. Zignature is at the very high end of what i can afford if this turns out to be the new food of choice. I also know that due to lifestyle constraints, i need to stick with dry dog food. Again, convenience is a factor. Hope that doesn’t sound insensitive.

He’s been doing great for over 2 years and all of a sudden, something changed. I’m sure we’ll once again find the right food and fix whatever is going on. I just dread that this may take months.

So, thanks again for the advise. If you have any specific recommendations or 3 for brands/formulas… i will put them on my list in case the Zignature does not work out.

Thanks again.

Walt

[Walt R]

HI. I gave my bud another medicated bath today followed by a regular shampoo Fresh N Clean that we like. He was smelling good. I also cleaned the carpets and changed out the bed linen.

He laid down at the foot of the bed and a deep breath was let out as he was going to sleep. UGH… it smelled so bad. It’s the smell that I’m having a really hard time with.

That to me was indeed confirmation it’s internal, not external, and through licking he’s transferring to the external.

So, based on readings and feedback from others, i got a bag of the Zignature Trout and Salmon. I’m thinking now that, also based on readings here, that his yeast infection is internal which is possible.

I also put 1 teaspoon of baking soda per 1 liter of water into his 2 water bowls and will do this for a few days.

My question now changes.

He’s on the Purina Select Salmon food. I am switching him to the Zignature Trout and Salmon. How much of a wean off do i need to do? Meaning, do i do 50/50 of old food to new food for 3 or 4 days and then Zignature after? Can i move faster?

Are there any signs i should be looking for that would indicate we are moving too fast with the switching of the food, such as gas or loose stools, sleepiness, etc?

Once again, thanks everyone for your continued help.

[Liz S]

Really need some help here. My moms chihuahua just turned 10 years old. A few months ago at her check up she had everything checked ( and more since she’s considered senior now ) – as well as blood work. Everything came back fine.
Brief back story: her old vet whom she went to for over 10 years and cared for many pets, told her a few years ago that although her ( Qtip is her name ) breath was REALLY, REALLY BAD, and her teeth were as well, she wasn’t in any pain. That dogs don’t have pain when they get cavities etc. BS!!!! She had never had a teeth cleaning. I was so upset. But my mom trusted him. * Please NO COMMENTS about how she should have had her teeth cleaned several times by now. * —- I know that. My mom now does too. And please no comments about her.

Fast forward to her check up a few months ago at MY vet. I recommended her to mine. I’d been with them for about 2 years and am happy with them for the most part. One of the reasons I also bring all my furbabies there is they treat ferrets. I have 4. Couldn’t find any other vet that took them.

They discovered Qtip has a small heart palpitation. And of course we spoke of her teeth/gums etc. Of course they said she absolutely needs a cleaning and teeth pulled. But they won’t do the anesthesia until they do an MRI. Which I totally understand and agree! Apparently they don’t have an MRI machine on site. So between the cleaning, extra time for pulling teeth, anesthesia and a truck having to come with an MRI machine the cost is going to be outrageous. I know it would’ve been either way but the mobile MRI added a lot of money.

*Please, no comments on ” if you can’t afford a pet don’t get one. Or have a savings account for things like this. ” * —- My mom knows this. I know this! My family ( fiance and toddler ) ourselves have 2 cats, 3 dogs and 4 ferrets. And after caring for a sick ferret for 9 months this past year we understand the extra costs that may come.

I’m just wondering if anyone has any advice. Similar situations. Etc. I guess I’ll call for her and get a breakdown of everything. I should probably call around and see if any other vets have an MRI machine on site or whatever else I can find out about saving some money on this. I want to help my mom. She has an extremely rare tumor and her husband is a truck driver and is almost never home. I’m just looking for any help/ideas you guys might have.

Breaks my heart seeing Qtips mouth :'( – breaks my moms too but there are other things going on financially that aren’t her fault.

Thanks in advance and thanks for reading

[Walt R]

Thanks all for your suggestions. I have been doing the antifungal shampoo every 2 days for the past week and I have not notice much difference. I also got a spray for the paws but that too has not helped. I did supplement his food with probiotic powder but again, no change. In fact, I want to say it’s worse.

I am thoroughly convinced his issue is INSIDE… that it’s in his saliva, in his mouth. He licks himself and then it gets on the bed linens and then they smell too.

The most convincing reason why I think it’s his mouth/insides… when he takes a deep breath and breathes out…. the fritos smell is huge. almost as bad as bad gas.

I’m very sensitive to this which is why it’s a problem.

Anyhow… I agree, that I need to start with food.

Unfortunately it’s challenging to spend $50 on a bag of dog food. Time is limited too with how much I work.

I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but for now, I want to remain with dry food.

There are 100’s of makes/formula’s out there. Something has to work.

As mentioned previously, when we got him we tried many of the regular brand foods and everything made his coat smell and he had bad gas. We stumbled upon the Purina Pro Plan Select Salmon formula and life was good for nearly 2 years. We had small bouts of this frito breath smell, but it would go away. This time… it’s not.

Can anyone recommend other dry dog foods to try?

I have read… no potatoes, sweet potatoes, grains, peas, sugars, yeasts, etc… but it seems no matter what I look at, one of these ingredentis in in the food. Sometimes it’s 7 or 8 ingredients down the list…

Which prompts the next question… if the potatos or peas are 7 ingredients down… do I need to be concerned?

I do not have a distributor near me for Victors. I was recommend Blue Wilderness but it has the Peas and Potatoes. I was also recommended Zignature Trout/Salmon but it too has peas further down the list.

Any other thoughts?

I don’t mind buy a 6lb bag here and there and start trying to find the right ones again. But it’s challenging with there being so many to choose from.

Thanks again for all your help. I will continue on with the shampoos, probiotics, etc…

[DogFoodie]

Hi Samantha,

Sweet little Pennie has had some challenges. I bet she’s been lonely. I’m sorry that the elderly gentleman had to release her, but am glad she has found a living home with you. I hope he’s doing OK without her.

When it comes to fish, I feel your pain. It’s everywhere. I’ve tried several different types of fishes and fish oils, but my dog reacted to all of them. It is very difficult to find a fish free food. I’ll be reading an ingredient panel and think it looks good and then down at the bottom of the list I’ll see menhaden meal or salmon oil. It’s frustrating, I know. My dog has some other intolerances that make more challenging.

If I’m not mistaken, the only Victor that’s an option is Lamb & Brown Rice. That’s quite a step down from Orijen Six Fish. I have used, with great success, Nature’s Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient Diets. I know there are more options than those I’ll list, but those that I’ve found have to exclude other ingredients beyond fish…, so a couple more recommendations are Addiction Viva La Venison, Acana Duck & Bartlett Pear (the original, not the Singles), The Honest Kitchen Thrive, and Canidae Pure Sky (I HATE that it’s a Diamond product, but it works for my dog so I use it sparingly) and Wysong Fundamentals.

I’ll see what others I can come up with.