[Corinne M]

Hi Jennifer,
I’m so glad to hear that the info was helpful – I remember how hard & overwhelming it was for me to learn about pancreatitis when it my dog was going through it. So it’s nice to know that someone else can make use of what I learned. I’m sorry to her about your experience with the vet – I think I just lucked out with mine. But I don’t want to leave you with the impression that your vet did anything wrong in prescribing Prednisone, because I think that it’s something that is widely used to treat specific problems, but just like any drug or herbal remedy, there are times & cases when it’s just better to avoid it – an argument could be made that giving your dog a corticosteroid so that he’s not in constant misery from the itchiness is a compassionate thing to do. The flip side is, there are risks associated with using it and if the “itchies” can be eliminated through diet & supplements maybe that’s worth trying.
I also don’t know why they are pushing Royal Canin – maybe they’ve had other dogs do well on it and think it’s the right thing for Milo. But I agree with you, if you suspect it’s triggering allergies it’s worthwhile to look at other foods.
My dog’s are doing great on what I feed them – I alternate between homecooked, home-prepare raw, and commercially prepare raw. But here’s the thing – I only started doing this about 4 years ago because one of my dogs had a blown-out immune system & I had to learn how to feed him in a way that was anti-inflammatory, avoided chemicals, avoided allergens, etc. etc. And to be honest, I have made mistakes along the way that could have done more harm than good (for example, I got the phosphorus/calcium ratio totally wrong for awhile and only discovered it after labwork came back with creatinine levels waaaaay high – I could have caused kidney failure in my dogs if that had not been caught & corrected). And I still consider myself to be learning – so I keep a close eye on them and read everything I can get my hands on and keep it simple and safe. I will do some research for you & report back what I find, but in the meantime, keep up your search for a nutritionally complete & balanced high-quality commercial food that meets the requirements for Milo’s pancreas.
I do think a simple boiled chicken & rice diet is useful when dogs are sick – fewer ingredients to upset their system. But, the recommended fat ratio for a dog with damaged pancreas is REALLY specific so I would only home cook right now if I knew for certain that the recipe I used was safe in terms of fat ratio. The recipe I used after Max had pancreatitis was formulated for me to deal with his other issues but I’ll look for info on a basic safe recipe for you.
BTW: Thanks to the other posters who found my post helpful. I learn so much from you all and from this website! I really appreciate the resources & people here!
Corinne

[Jennifer H]

Thank you, everyone for answering my post. To be honest with you, I never really researched dog foods until he ended up with Pancreatitis. We have always had poodles and none of them ever had issues until Milo. It was when the Pancreatitis happened, that I found this site and began to truly research dog foods. I agree with you magnoliasouth that Natures Recipe is not the best food. I really do not feel right feeding him something I can not eat and is not the best after educating myself on what is truly in pet foods. Truly, I do not know what caused the attack, I am just going by what the vet said, that pig ears are high in fat. Milo had only eaten his grain free dog food, grain free treats and a pig ear before his attack. My neighbors were aware of his allergies and I have again made it clear that he is to have nothing to eat. The vet said that it would be hard to determine exactly what caused the attack, they are just speculating the pig ear is the cause of it. As for the Royal Canin, i stopped it within about 2 days of purchasing the case of it from the vet. I now realize that the vet promotes that junk.

I have looked at the list of low fat/low sodium on here but I am still worried that some of them may still be too high in fat for him. My other worry is with a lot of the limited ingredient diets, there is a lot of starchy foods instead of grain, which promotes yeast. I am still working my way through the list and was not aware of the other thread with the low fat/low sodium foods, so I will look at that as well.

Corinne, your post has been so helpful to me, with lots of information. I do not feel it was preachy at all, but very very helpful. Unfortanately, I am not at all happy with my vet. There answer was and still is “royal canin”. Most of the time, I am speaking with a tech. My vet has dismissed my concerns about Milo’s food allergies and continually states that it’s “season allergies”. Not to seem more knowledgeable then the vet, but I know how Milo acts when he is having a food allergy. I am looking for another vet in the meantime. I did give Milo some Benadryl, but I did not give him the Prednisone after the attack. I honestly didn’t know it could cause Pancreatitis, and I am now wondering why the vet did not know this as well. They actually gave him Prednisone for another issue in April, so I am wondering now if that is what caused the pancreatitis.

With all my recent research, I did read about the pancreatic enzyme, which I am starting to give him. I would love to fed him a homemade diet w/ supplements. Another area I have read a lot about. Corinne, is there any pointers you can give me? Or maybe steer me in the right direction of recipes, supplements, etc. to begin dong this? Also, I have read that Chicken and Rice diet is ok to feed him, while I know it is not balanced, would it be ok to feed him this diet until I have his food situation under control?

You have given me so much direction, I am very thankful and plan on getting to work on as much as I can right away.

[Susan]

Hi Regina, My Patch didnt do good on the Eukanuba tin low residue, I looked up the Eukanuba tin low residue & the Iams Tin low residue & they have the same ingredients, also when I put it in the fridge the next day you’d see the white fat that had hardened on the side & top of the food, the fat is too high at 4.5%.when you converted to kibble fat thats around 21% fat thats high…There’s too many ingedients also in the low residue tin, there’s fish, chicken liver, chicken & beef..Have you tried cooking a low fat meals….I give Patch light Tuna in spring water drained then mix in a bit of boiled pumkin for breakfast, he does real well on the Tuna better then on the boiled chicken breast…also have you looked at the Low fat diets in the review section, look for something lower then 3% fats in wet foods….also you say that Alf wont eat kibble, have you tried soaking the kibble in water to soften, then draining the water off.. I do that with Patches Eukanuba Intestinal kibble & the Wellness Simple Duck & Oatmeal kibble, have you tried adding some low fat tin food or some tuna on top of the soften kibble, to make him eat…..I know when Patch had his gurgling stomach/bowel I’d make him a piece of dry white toast with a little bit of thinly spread honey on the toast & his bowel would stop gurgling & rumbling, its gases going tru his bowel, also Royal Canin make a tin food called (Gastro Intestinal Low Fat) its only 1.75% fat, maybe try the Royal Canin low fat tin food, Ive read a few people on the Dogpancreatitis yahoo group use the Royal Canin low fat tin food with great success…I hope Alfie gets better…but look at the fat % content, it took me 1 year to realise that it was the higher fat% making Patch ill, the stupid vet didnt even realise until I saw another vet that said lower his fat under 9%..I did then Patch started to get better again & no more rumbling & gurgling stomach/bowel..

[Corinne M]

Hi Jennifer,
I completely feel for you – it can be overwhelming trying to digest all the information out there when you just want to make your pup feel better! I had a Golden Retriever who had a bout of pancreatitis, and I learned a lot in the process – maybe some of it can help you.
First I had some concerns about Milo reading your post – and I want to address them without sounding preachy or condescending, so please understand that I am approaching this as if you have the level of knowledge that I had when it happened to my dog (very little knowledge). So forgive me if some of this is just plain simplistic and maybe obvious.
I never learned what caused the pancreatitis in my dog – there are theories, but the best experts I talked to said it could have been just plain old bad luck. What there seems to be agreement among the experts is that, once a dog has a single an episode of pancreatitis, everything changes – dietary needs, vaccine protocol, immune support, medication sensitivity, everything… FOR LIFE. That sucks, right? But it’s assumed that the pancreas is now more fragile or less efficient than it once was, and the goal becomes avoiding another bout of pancreatitis.
So you’re already working on the first step – which is diet; low protein, highly digestible, etc. etc. Essentially, a diet that doesn’t stress out his pancreas.
A compromised pancreas essentially means a problem in the digestive tract, which is why I wanted to respond to you. Digestive problems are often tied to things you are describing in Milo, like food sensitivity, itchy skin, loose bowels, yeast infections & immune deficiency. A healthy pancreas releases digestive enzymes into the digestive tract which then help to breakdown the good food you feed him so that his body can utilize all those wonderful nutrients. So the first step that you are already tackling, “what high quality food can I use?” is critical! Unfortunately, I don’t know – I feed homemade – but I trust that you will get some wisdom from this site & through your research will get that answer. But the NEXT steps are equally important, and here’s where I hope my experience can help you.
Part of the dietary changes you must make is supplementing with pancreatic enzymes. Ask your vet or do some research. I used a formula that was specifically recommended for my dog based on tests run by his endocrinologist – and my dog was a 90 pound, 14 year old Golden – so I can’t tell you what’s right for Milo. However, I can tell you that minimally, Dr. Pitcairn’s book says just pick up a human grade digestive enzyme from the vitamin store and give ½ capsule with each meal. That would be better than nothing.
Without proper food digestion, the best, highest quality diet won’t give Milo the nutrients he needs. So don’t skip this step.
Next, vaccine protocol. Dogs with compromised pancreas should follow a more “minimal” vaccine protocol. Ask your vet, or google Dr. Jean Dodd’s vaccine protocol to get additional information.
Immune support: here’s where I think Milo really would benefit from your research and discussions with your vet. The food symptoms you describe (itchy skin, loose stools, yeast imbalance, etc.) sound to me like two things going on: 1) problems in the gut – which will be dealt with thru diet & supplements; and 2) a weak immune system. The skin is a wonderful organ for telling us when our dogs’ immune systems are struggling. A dog with a healthy immune system will be pretty resilient when it comes to yeast & other skin flare ups. A balanced complete diet, fully digested with the help of enzymes may go a long way toward giving him relief – but you probably need to look into some immune support supplements to help him recover initially. Ask your vet, or look into having his immune system tested at http://www.hemopet.org the lab report will include a review by Dr. Dodds who can suggest a specific immune support protocol for Milo. I used Moducare (Thorne Labs) plus other specific herbs & vitamins.
Medication sensitivity: And here is where you are not going to like me…Prednisone is not something I would give to a dog 30 days after pancreatitis. I absolutely understand why it was prescribed (to make your itchy dog less miserable), and frankly, I don’t know of any substitute that will do the trick. The problem is, Prednisone is a corticosteroid and can actually trigger a bout of pancreatitis. It is absolutely not safe for Milo right now…sorry. Google it or ask your vet if this seems like questionable advise – but I can’t stress enough, NO PREDNISONE.
I hope you take this in the spirit offered – advice from a fellow pet owner who adores her pets. And hope Milo is on the mend soon!
Corinne

[magnoliasouth]

Hello all! My daughter works for a vet and can get Royal Canin at an enormous discount. She has her dog on Satiety right now and I have to admit that she’s doing very well on it, despite the ingredients it lists. But that’s not my question. lol!

My dog has severe skin allergies. To be honest, food changes haven’t affected it in the least. I’m thinking she’s actually allergic to grass. Still, the vet wanted my dog to go on the RC Anallergenic food and until now, she had been eating Wellness Ocean Formula.

The problems are the ingredients listed in the Anallergenic food.

Corn starch, hydrolyzed poultry by-products aggregate, coconut oil, soybean oil, natural flavors, potassium phosphate, powdered cellulose, calcium carbonate, sodium silico aluminate, chicory, L-tyrosine, fructooligosaccharides, fish oil, L-lysine, choline chloride, taurine, L-tryptophan, vitamins [DL-alpha tocopherol (source of vitamin E), inositol, niacin, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), D-calcium pantothenate, biotin, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), riboflavin (vitamin B2), thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), vitamin A acetate, folic acid, vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin D3 supplement], DL-methionine, marigold extract (Tagetes erecta L.), histidine, trace minerals (zinc proteinate, zinc oxide, ferrous sulfate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, calcium iodate, sodium selenite), rosemary extract, preserved with natural mixed tocopherols and citric acid.

How weird is it to have corn starch as the primary ingredient? What exactly is “hydrolyzed aggregate”? I thought corn and mystery “poultry” are allergens?

Now my daughter did ask about the hydrolyzation and was told that it has something to do with processing it to remove allergens. Not sure how true that is.

The thing is that I’m a human nurse. I know full well that just because a vet’s office sells a particular product, doesn’t mean it’s the best product. It’s all in what they get out of it. Sadly a lot of people don’t know this. I swear I think it should be illegal. It’s the same thing as lobbying, which I think also should be illegal. Decisions should be based on opinions, not money. Sorry, I accidentally launched into rant mode… and I digress.

I’ve asked my daughter to speak to the RC sales rep. In fact, this is specifically what I texted her:

Subject: Questions to as your RC sales rep. 1. Why do they use meat by-products? 2. Why aren’t meat products the primary ingredient in any of their foods? 3. Why is a corn product the primary ingredient in the Anallergenic food, when corn is a primary allergen? 4. What does “hydrolyzed poultry by-product aggregate” mean and define “poultry”? If “poultry” means chicken, why is that (also a primary allergen) in the Anallergenic food too? I have more, but we’ll stop there for now. Just tell her I’m not trying to grill, I’m trying to understand and give her a chance to explain it to me.

Perhaps someone here knows the answers already or can make suggestions or whatever.

[magnoliasouth]

First off, love this site and all the work you’ve put into it. I don’t buy a dog food that I haven’t read about here first.

There are a lot of foods though that you haven’t reviewed and I can only imagine why. There are just so many! That said, it would really be nice if there were a way to analyze them ourselves, or at least, get an idea. Is there any way you can list ingredients on a page, in alphabetical order, with basic information about them?

You could still list the controversials in red so most users would know right away.

Take for example Dried Potato. You say:

The X-number ingredient is dried potato, a dehydrated item usually made from the by-products of potato processing. In most cases, dried potato can contain about 10% dry matter protein which can affect our estimate of the total meat content of this recipe.

It could say that, but because you won’t know what number ingredient it is, it would be helpful if we learned when it was important and when it was not. For example, how different would the importance be if the first ingredient was dried potato or if it were the last ingredient? Or what about the 7th?

Another thing – and this would go with your reviews too, but it’s important for users to know this – is a warning on which manufacturing countries are a danger. Most of us know that Chinese manufactured dog food is a serious no-go. Not everyone does though. Also, to take that a step further, what ingredients are particularly dangerous in a country such as China? Or is it any ingredient?

Again, this would be helpful for your users who are researching foods you haven’t yet reviewed. Also by putting it on one page (or if you don’t want that the user could choose to “view all” or “print the bad ingredients” or whatever) they can then print it and take it with them when looking at what dogs foods are locally available to them and quickly find the ingredients. I say this because not everyone can afford to buy online and not every town has a Petsmart.

Many thanks for giving us the opportunity to make suggestions, and for your hard work. 🙂

[Jennifer H]

My toy poodle, Milo, had Pancreatitis the end of May. A few years ago he was diagnosed with Wheat Allergies and our vet at the time recommended Natures Recipe Grain Free Dry Dog Food. He had been eating that food for years without any issues. He is prone to occasional ear infections. He has been seeing his current vet for less then a year. When he came home from the hospital after the pancreatitis, the vet sent him home with Royal Canin dog food and the tech at the vet said that after he was finished eating the Royal Canin they sent me home with, that he could go back to eating his regular pet food. He just need to not eat anything that was high in fat or salt. My poodle is big. He weighs about 17lbs. He is not overweight for his size, just a big poodle. A neighbor was feeding him pig ears without our knowledge so I thought perhaps this had caused the Pancreatitis. Anyway, I tried to put him back on his regular food and he refused to eat it. It was a dry kibble. I brought this to the vets attention and at that time they said they wanted him to remain on Royal Canin. I purchased a case without reading the ingredients first and I couldn’t believe I was feeding this to my pet. Milo has changed eating this food. He is constantly hungry. He begs for food, pesters you until you give him something more to eat and he has begun to scratch non-stop. He has been getting non-stop ear infections, biting and licking his paws and has very loose stool. I have left dry food down for him to eat, but he will not eat it. The symptoms he shows with the ears and biting/licking are usually signs I have seen in him in the past when he had food allergies. I returned to the vet and they did not think this was a big deal. The vet tech actually commented that it sounds like my dog likes the Royal Canin. (um, no I don’t think so either) They gave me more prednisone and told me to give him 1 Benadryl, twice a day, every day.
On the Benadryl, all Milo does is sleep. He acts spaced out. He is still scratching like crazy. I have read so much information on so many topics that my head is spinning. I feel so bad for my little guy and I am at a loss as to what to do for him. I have looked into different pet foods, but most of the high quality foods that are grain free are loaded with starch or fat. Any advice anyone could give me would be so much appreciated. I have tried diluted vinegar rinses and it seems to help for the night, but the next day he is back to scratching non stop. Is there any foods out there that are low fat, with no starch and no grains? I have tried a few brands that have quality ingredients, but I have found they have a lot of starch (potatoes, sweet potatoes, in gravy) and while he has enjoyed the food, it is not helping with the itching. I would prefer ingredients that are ok for human consumption (I don’t want to eat it, but I want him to have the best). I have tried MyPerfectPet, but it is loaded with potatoes and he has scratched even more. I have read so much that my head is spinning and I am at a loss. I just want him to be happy and healthy. Thanks again in advance.

[Jennifer H]

My toy poodle, Milo, had Pancreatitis the end of May. A few years ago he was diagnosed with Wheat Allergies and our vet at the time recommended Natures Recipe Grain Free Dry Dog Food. My boy has been eating that food for years without any issues. He is prone to occasional ear infections. He has been seeing his current vet for less then a year. When he came home from the hospital after the pancreatitis, the vet sent him home with Royal Canin dog food and the tech at the vet said that after he was finished eating the Royal Canin they sent me home with, that he could go back to eating his regular pet food. He just need to not eat anything that was high in fat or salt. My poodle is big. He weighs about 17lbs. He is not overweight for his size. A neighbor was feeding him pig ears without our knowledge so I thought perhaps this had caused the Pancreatitis. Anyway, I tried to put him back on his regular food and he refused to eat it. I brought this to the vets attention and at that time they said they wanted him to remain on Royal Canin. Milo has changed eating this food. He is constantly hungry. He begs for food, pesters you until you give him something to eat and he has begun to scratch non-stop. He has been getting non-stop ear infections, biting and licking his paws and has very loose stool. I have left dry food down for him to eat, but he will not eat it. The symptoms he shows with the ears and biting/licking are usually signs I have seen in him in the past when he had food allergies. I returned to the vet and they did not think this was a big deal. The vet tech actually commented that it sounds like my dog likes the Royal Canin. They gave me more prednisone and told me to give him 1 Benadryl, twice a day, every day.
On the Benadryl, all Milo does is sleep. He acts spaced out. He is still scratching like crazy. I have read so much information on so many topics that my head is spinning. I feel so bad for my little guy and I am at a loss as to what to do for him. I have looked into different pet foods, but most of the high quality foods that are grain free are loaded with starch or fat. Any advice anyone could give me would be so much appreciated. I have tried diluted vinegar rinses and it seems to help for the night, but the next day he is back to scratching non stop. Is there any foods out there that are low fat, with no starch and no grains? Thanks in advance.

[Susan]

Hi Regina, when they start getting so skinny & cant eat with spewing or diarrhea, who cares that the prescription diets are rated very very low on this site.. like Patch the Low Residue Eukanuba Intestinal was the only food that helped him in the end, within 2-3 days of being on the Intestinal, Patch was doing a normal poo again…He didnt do good on the low residue Intestinal Plus wet tin, poos were still sloppy.. when I looked the fiber was 4%, I thought maybe that was the problem but when Ive tried other wet tin foods he was doing very sloppy poos as well, so I thinkits the fat % now its too high, so I try to stick around the 10% fat now.. Patch is still on his Eukanuba Intestinal & Im soooo slowly adding the Wellness Simple Duck & Oatmeal, its good to know that there’s another kibble that he can eat as well as his Eukanuba that breaks up very easily…..Ive read that Eukanuba is made Switzerland & Iams is made South America..have a look on ur bag & see where ur Iams is made, I’m curious, maybe that’s why they use different ingredients, all I know is it has helped my boy, there’s even a Eukanuba “Sensitive Digestion” that isnt a prescription diet & sold at Pet Barn, the only difference is the fat & its 13% where the Intestinal is only 10% fat & Chicken & Turkey is the first ingredient intstead of corn….Ive told a few dog owners at the dog park that had their dogs on the Hills Sensitive Stomach, now their dogs are pooing real good.. now I’ve told them about the Wellness Simple limited ingredients & hope it also works for their dogs. We dont have Iams here in Australia only the Eukanuba & Eukanuba prescription diets. I hope Alfie is feeling better & gets better soon…

[desiree s]

hi,
i converted my 8 yr old papillon to raw food about 6 months ago.
However his recent blood test showed extremely high kidney BUN readings of 41mg/dl and low creatinine readings of 0.4mg/dl.
My vet has always been against raw feeding and instructed me to immediately switch to a low protein renal kibble diet.
However, after much calculation i realised my raw home made diet only has about 15% protein..
Here is the recipe i use for 28 days of food:
Raw chicken breast and minced 1878g (56%)
Raw beef minced 336g (10%)
Canned green tripe 390g (11.6%)
Chicken heart and liver 252g (7.5%)
Romaine lettuce, red bell pepper, carrot 504g (15%)
Topping of steamed pumpkin or sweet potato.
2 tspn ground egg shell
(No bones given as he has no teeth and refuses to try and chew bones)

As he is fed about 120g of food each day, i calculated his protein intake from above should be about 18g.

Am really confused as he is extremely picky and loves his raw food but his blood test results show such risk of kidney problems that i am afraid to continue with raw feeding too!
Is there something wrong with my recipe?

[spaniel39]

Hi Hound Dog Mom et all:
I just can’t seem to keep Sophie the Komondor’s stools firm;
Have her on Nutrisource Large Breed Lamb, which she loves; not really giving her
treats; She does go the the dog beach and park (where she could pick up something
whether a “bug” or eating something bad); but been tested for Giardia, etc
(which I know doesn’t always show) so I just do a course of Panacur or Metronzadole.
She is happy, healthy, but Pudding poops
I read a thread about D. Earth, adding a tablespoon to her food daily. could try that.
In addition, she gets probiotics (Coagulans Bacillus) and NWC total Biotics.
Also done the boiled chicken/rice/sweet potato/canned pumpkin
Thanks!

[Corinne M]

Personally, although I feed my dogs raw, I wouldn’t presume to try to convince anyone to do the same. It’s messy – and sometimes it’s just a pain in the neck! When I am busy (or lazy), I buy prepared raw dog food that includes only high quality, human-grade ingredients and I find the warnings and disclaimers about “contamination” slightly hilarious since it’s the same stuff I buy at the butcher’s counter to feed my family. Some of the “cautions” make it sound like I’m bringing a nuclear weapon into my kitchen – when in fact it only contains fresh, ground meat & vegetables.
If you are avoiding a raw diet because the of the safety questions, I can tell you that high quality, fresh, human-grade foods are safe for you to handle & for your pup to eat. If, on the other hand, you are avoiding raw dog food because your pup had a hard time digesting it, I would tell you that there some great resources (this website especially) that can give you some suggestions on how to transition your pup off commercial kibble if that’s your goal. And, if you and your pup find kibble works best for you, there are also some great articles here about how to select an excellent quality dry or freeze dried dog food. In the end, the fact that you are even posting on this site makes me think that you are probably already feeding your pets a lot better than 99% of pet owners out there because you are clearly concerned with nutrition & wellness.
Best of luck in whatever path you decide upon.
Corinne

[Corinne M]

Hi Ashlee,
I feel compelled to respond to your post because I also found this site when I got interested in dog nutrition after one of my dogs developed health issues…and to be honest, it hasn’t been an easy road. However, I can tell you that the journey has resulted in major improvements in all of my dogs’ health & wellness. And I’m committed to continuing the journey – but it’s daunting at times, expensive (but the costs are offset by reduced vet bills), and sometimes overwhelming. I made some mistakes along the way, mostly in trying to get the supplements right & balancing the calcium/phosphorus ratio in homemade/raw feeding – but fortunately, my dogs are healthy and thriving on a natural diet. So if my experience can help others to avoid some of the pitfalls along the way, that would be great.

So here’s my 2 cents based on what I read above: I would start with Cookie, since she has cancer & arthritis (and is over weight) I think she’s in greatest need. This may be “off subject”, but the first thing I would do is cease any vaccines completely. Her immune system is compromised by the cancer, so your vet should be able to give you a waiver if you need one in order to keep her “tags” current – if your local jurisdiction wont accept a vet’s waiver, you can pay for titer testing in lieu of vaccination. But to be honest, I don’t think you would/should have to go thru that expense ( I can elaborate if you need help getting around city requirements). Next I would get a consult with Dr. Jean Dodds at Hemolife http://www.hemopet.org/veterinary-diagnostic-laboratory.html
you can do this by phone or email if you are not located in southern California. Call her and explain Cookie’s situation & that you are looking to switch her diet. She can tell you what labwork would be appropriate to determine a course of action (especially testing Cookie’s immune system & inflammatory issues) you can print the lab order from her website & have your vet do the blood draw & have your vet send it to her for the testing. Ask her to call you with the results and her recommendations – she can tell you what supplements to use to assist with Cookie’s immune support & inflammation/ arthritis. I would ask Dr. Dodds about raw feeding for Cookie – if her immune system is an issue, you may want to buy a high quality prepared raw food like Bravo Balance http://www.bravorawdiet.com/product/balance/index.html and *lightly* cook it – just enough to be extra safe. Of course, getting Cookie’s weight down to optimum level will help with the arthritis – if you feed her the Bravo Balance at the amount appropriate to her *ideal* weight, her weight should normalize in a few months without her feeling deprived. Bravo’s website has a feeding calculator you can use to determine the amount to feed – just remember to plug in her ideal weight, not her actual weight. Here’s a link: http://www.bravorawdiet.com/product/feeding/howmuch.html
I only suggest a prepared raw diet because it takes a lot of the guesswork out of feeding a “nutritionally complete” raw diet – and it sounds like Cookie needs help ASAP. As for cost, assuming Cookie’s ideal weight was 60 pounds, you would feed 1.2 lbs of food per day and I think a 5 lb chub of their balanced brand is like $27 – so her food would be about $42 per week. When I make raw/homemade my cost is about $2 to $5 per pound, depending on my protein source (and not including cost of supplements). Expensive – but I’ve saved a TON on vet bills; my dogs never get skin issues or yeast infections anymore.

As for the other dogs and your journey to switch to raw, there are some great resources here on this site and suggestions for other resources – just read everything you can get your hands on and learn about the diet/wellness connection. If you find it challenging at first maybe switch first to a home made diet, then take the leap to raw when you are ready. At least with home cooked you have control over your ingredients & can deal with specific ailments (like Mia’s yeast infections) by eliminating foods that are common culprits for yeast imbalances.
Best of luck to you in your journey!
Corinne

[Alina S]

Hey, all. I’m new to this forum, but I have read a lot of articles here already! Unfortunately, I have a lot of health-related questions for this post, so I apologize in advance. It would be great if I could get as much help as possible, though. 🙂 I’ll start with a list of his background information, then move on to a semi-detailed list of my health concerns for him.

-Rottweiler/Shepherd mix (at least, we think. He almost looks like he has some Corgi in him.)
-1 year old
-30 pounds
-Adopted from local animal control on Tuesday, 7/15/2014
-Was at the shelter for a month
-When he was found, he was covered in ticks
-Tested positive for whipworms
-Up to date on all vacs
-1/2 tin of Nutro Ultra patte per feeding
-1/2 cup grain free Science Diet per feeding*

*I know everyone hates Science Diet, but it’s what the shelter was feeding, and I didn’t want to switch dry foods on him right away.

Took him to the vet Friday, 7/18/2014
-Gave me medicine for whipworms
-Said he looked fine otherwise
-He’s getting neutered on Friday, 7/25/2014
-He’s getting tested for heart worms and tick-borne diseases on that day, too.

Now, onto my list of concerns…

-Loose stools
He doesn’t have full out diarrhea, but his stools are very watery and hard to pick up with a doggy bag… They just smear over the grass and it’s awful! I did some reading and it seems like both whipworms and lyme’s disease can cause diarrhea. The whipworms are under control (hopefully,) and we’ll know about the lyme’s disease this Friday. So,
-are his stools loose because he’s still getting used to his new home? Should I be worried?
Any feedback on combating this problem now and in the future would be greatly appreciated.

-Whipworms
I read that the reinfection rate for whipworms is very high. After the dewormer, and after his heartworm test, he will be on HeartGard Plus. Will that be sufficient for protecting him from whipworms, or will this be a consistent problem? Am I looking at any long term damage from the whipworms?

-Limping
I just took him to the groomer’s today. I do not know what went wrong, but he is now limping very badly on his right hind leg. When he stands, he stands just on his very tippy toes of this leg, and if he’s walking/running, he either limps on it, or just hops on his 3 legs and avoids using it all together. I’m going to wait and see if things get better tomorrow morning, before I call anyone.

-Can I wait until I bring him to the vet this Friday to ask about it? He does not seem to be in pain. He does not cry or squirm when I touch his paw, his leg feels fine, his hip sockets feel even to me, the pads of his paw are fine. His nails do look really short, but I can’t find evidence of blood. Do short nails cause limping?
-What should I do about walks?

I’ve been taking him out onto the leash and just moseying around the front yard, but that is not giving him the bathroom time that he needs. He is running around and playing, and shows a lot of eagerness while outside and even chased after a rabbit, he’s just limping. Is it okay to walk him like normal, so he can relieve himself fully?

I’m really sorry about all these questions, but I thought it would be best to make one long list. Feel free to just pick and choose a certain topic to answer; don’t feel pressured to answer all these questions. This is my first “adult” dog, meaning I am doing this all without the help of my parents (I’m in college,) and I want to do everything right so I don’t have mountains of vet bills later on.

Thank you so much!!

[Corey K]

thank you for the feedback. I actually tried the raw diet, and the highest end foods with him prior to the issues and he will not touch them. He seems very picky and also will not eat canned food. I was just reading about the cranberry supplements and may give them a try. He eats IAMs large breed for ages 1-5 now because it’s the only thing he will consistently eat. I am confused about one thing I’m reading. I keep reading that the struvite crystals do not need treated unless there is an active infection. He does have an active infection and is on an antibiotic. My vet tested his urine a week after the begin of antibiotic and it was back to normal. I plan to keep him on the antibiotic for 4 weeks. Why does it say that the crystals are only dangerous if there is infection – is that simply because the infection needs treated? Or do the crystals behave differently or pose a different threat if accompanied by infection? So confusing!!!

[Melissaandcrew]

Lisa- Well, lets review here-All the foods she has recc have not worked. In addition, your dog is now skeletal on the verge of staving to death from lack of nutrition. Since there are plenty of raw, freeze dried and dehydrated foods on the market that do in fact meet AAFCO regs etc, it seems to me she is just against anything other than the old kibble foods. I am not recc that you go against vet advice, as that of course would not be appropriate. I can tell you however, that if it were my dog, I would have already tried it. Its sure as heck better and more nutritious than boiled chicken long term.

[Debbie L]

I’ve only tried faw meat with a dog once, a female Collie, but she had a sensitive stomach and it made her vomit. So if I did not add canned to her dry food I began to add cooked meat again and she was fine. She loved to eat green frogs when she could catch them, but they made her sick and vomit every time. Apparently raw food was not for her.

My concern about feeding raw is the potential for parasites, E.coli, Salmonella, etc. I know in the wild animals (carnivores) have no choice but to eat raw foods. But since dogs are removed from the wild are their systems still geared to handle foods raw? I haven’t tried raw meats on my two males.

On the human aspect, I believe about a year ago I read where the FDA was not as thorough inspecting meats as in the past. That makes our foods not as safe as they once were. So, the bad elements in raw meats could be passed on to dogs and cats as well.

I just don’t feel as safe about feeding pets raw foods as it was say 10 years ago.

[Ysabella J]

Hey everyone,

I have a 3 year old, 65 pound Golden Retriever. For about the past 4 months or so I have noticed her licking her behind a lot more than usual. I would say about 3-4 days out of the week and usually when it happens it is multiple times during the day. I know that she is licking back there due to anal glands because every time she does it, out comes the nasty smell.. I took her to the vet, they expressed her anal glands and said they were small, nothing abnormal about them.. She had never had this done before. Well 2 days after I brought her in she started licking again. I started adding pumpkin to her diet regularly with no help. She is fed Orijen kibble & Merrick canned food for breakfast and Stella & Chewy’s raw for dinner. I haven’t switched her diet in over a year. I am really not a big fan of bringing her in every 3 weeks to get her anal glands expressed after reading an article published by Dr. Becker. She doesn’t scoot at all whatsoever, it’s just the licking… I can’t find much information about this online, so now I am here.

Anyone have any advice? I am open to anything… Thanks in advance!!

[Anita L]

Bobby-dog told me about this thread. Here’s my couponing for today: HTHs someone.

Hello my friends!
I’m pretty sure this is a good deal so I wanted to share. Not sure if there is a place for this kind of post. (if so, let me know so I’ll know for next time).
as seen on: http://www.southernsavers.com/2014/07/petsmart-b1g1-30-5-30-10-60-15-70/
PETSMART is running a great sale right now. They have select products up to 30% off thanks to their “BIGGEST SALE OF THE YEAR“.
Along with that sale, there is a promo code that is buy one product and get the next one 30% off. The code is “GET30714“. This deal can be applied to the already on sale items!
On top of all this you get $5 off a $30 purchase, $10 off a $60 purchase, or $15 off a $70 purchase.
Shipping is FREE your order is over $49 or you can opt for in store pick up! The sale ends 7/20.
🙂
After I order 1 bag of food, I qualified for free shipping so I was excited. Plus I needed a couple more things and found deals. Now I don’t have to go to the store!
Good Luck and happy shopping! 🙂

[Anita L]

Hello my friends!
I’m pretty sure this is a good deal so I wanted to share. Not sure if there is a place for this kind of post. (if so, let me know so I’ll know for next time).

as seen on: http://www.southernsavers.com/2014/07/petsmart-b1g1-30-5-30-10-60-15-70/
PETSMART is running a great sale right now. They have select products up to 30% off thanks to their “BIGGEST SALE OF THE YEAR“.

Along with that sale, there is a promo code that is buy one product and get the next one 30% off. The code is “GET30714“. This deal can be applied to the already on sale items!

On top of all this you get $5 off a $30 purchase, $10 off a $60 purchase, or $15 off a $70 purchase.

Shipping is FREE your order is over $49 or you can opt for in store pick up! The sale ends 7/20.

🙂
After I order 1 bag of food, I qualified for free shipping so I was excited. Plus I needed a couple more things and found deals. Now I don’t have to go to the store!

Good Luck and happy shopping!
🙂

• This reply was modified 11 years, 5 months ago by Anita L.

[BRT]

Thought I’d post an update. So, the NV Instinct Boost Venison kibble was a huge fail. My boy was itching like mad. He was only on it a few days. I don’t know what it was about the food because he used to to eat Natural Balance Venison without any problem years ago. Anyway, I went back to the pet store and under the recommendation of a salesperson I left with Zignature Trout and Salmon. I read some reviews on here about that food and got a little scared because some people were saying it caused diarrhea in their dogs. But, I took a chance and fed it to them and on top of that had to switch cold turkey.

So, now a week later, they are both doing great on it. My itchy boy isn’t itching. He doesn’t wake up in the morning and immediately start licking his bottom. At first the quantity of their stools were huge, but it’s gotten much better. I’m so happy and I hope this works for us for a while. Now, the plan is to get them acclimated to this food for a couple of months and then incorporate Vital Essentials Fish Entree as one meal. That was also recommended to me by the salesperson. I feel like I’m on a good path. I’m not sure if his tear staining will clear up, but I’ll take what I can get.

[Susan]

Hi Melissa & Iusol, Im not pushing no one to take Predinsone, I hate the drug..Its a band aid drug that covers the health problem, it just supresses ur immune system, puts you in remission but with IBD it does help with some dogs when the bowel is so badly inflamed…. as long as the dog is only on the steroid for 1-2 months, no longer… I have had so many arguements when I join a group called IBD about this drug these ladys dogs were dying from IBD & steroids were the only thing that helped save their dogs, well that’s what they told me & now Im starting to understand the drug a little bit more… like my vet says she hates the drug but it does save some dogs lives when nothing else has worked….I have Auto Immune Disease LUPUS & I was put on Predinsone in the begining of my illness when I was younger & it made me very ill…..If I was Lisa I would be asking my vet so many question & yes Iosul Patches vet 1-2 months ago wanted to put Patch on Prednisone, I said NO.. I even posted a post 1 month ago asking for help on forums, in the end I ended up doing my own research about IBD & I join a group that have dogs that have IBD & Im starting to undersatand this rotten disease a bit better now…a dog just doesnt get IBD & then you change its diets & oh he’s all better now, he can eat anything now…if that has happened with anyones dog (like I have read on this site a few times) then their dog has never really had IBD, it either had something else wrong (parasites) or he had IBS.. there’s a big difference between IBD & IBS, I think people get this mixed up as Im learning..also alot of dogs owners on this site are very blessed & have very healthy dogs & their dogs can eat a high protein diet or a high fat diet.. when I first join this site I’d read people were feeding their dogs this & that I thought WHY cant my boy eat that or eat this so I asked the vet about putting Patch on a raw diet, my vet nilly had a heart attack as Patch was very sick at the time & I didn’t understand that his bowel needed to heal & rest not put more fat into his diet… then I’d read on this site that vet diets aren’t good, so I tried changing Patches vet food, then Patch went back down hill again, that’s when the vets wanted to cut him open, I said NO….Finally I though stuff it, the vet prescription diet has helped my boy get better it may have corn in it but it has made him poo normal, he’s playing, he wants to go for his walks, he’s a happy 5 year old dog acting like a puppy & he’s not crying in pain….I still dont want him on his Eukanuba Intestinal but sometimes they do need the balanced vets diet just for a little while to get better, then you can slowey change their diets but on this site ur made to feel guilty cause ur dogs on a vet diet….sometimes there’s some people that come on this site so desparate for help they will do anything they read… giving vinegar to a sick dog is not a good idea, I google info on ACV its good for some dogs with minor problems but not real sick dogs..but until you have a really sick dog, I think no one should really being saying do this or do that, like I wrote ASK ur VET about Metronidazole or Prednisone the vet will either say, oh NO he doesnt need that or no we think chewy has this.. I always write what has happened with Patch & what did worked with Patch on post, if that person wants to try what made Patch better good-luck to them, I wish when I came on this site 1 year ago I got some good advise, I think a couple of ladys did help a little Paddy & Crazy for Cats had some real good advice but I couldnt get that kibble being in Australia.. When I read Chewy’s story it sounded just like what Patch & I was going thru last April 2013…sorry for the book

[Debbie L]

My Fox Terrier was smooth. I’ll find a good dog food, just not one to break the bank though. I often read the ingredients and was surprised mine did not seem to care much for the 4Health. All the bags say 100% balanced nutrition, from the cheapest ones to the most expensive. Of course we know that isn’t true, though.

Ol Roy has been around a long time and I’ve seen a lot of people buy it, but years ago a vet told me it was not good. Another one told me they had seen more dogs with skin problems on Pedigree than any other dog food. I usually stick with Tractor Supply or Orscheln’s when buying dog food. There aren’t too many feed stores around here. At Tractor Supply once I bough Diamond Grain Free and a worker said it was good. I may try that again, probably have to mix with some canned food.

[Susan]

Hi Ashlee, you have 3 beautiful dogs, sorry I cant help with the raw, but there’s heaps of people on this site that can, I just borrowed this book called “Dr Becker’s REAL FOOD For healthy Dogs & Cats” its a good read & Karen puts you in the right direction with foods, supplements, calcium & fatty acids, for young medium & older dogs..what to do & what not to do..

[RescueDaneMom]

Hi Kelly,

The only good food I know of for joint care is Victor GF Joint Health / Adult Canine Formula
with Glucosamine. Here is the website: http://www.victordogfood.com/

However, the amounts of glucosamine and chondroitin in dog food are usually not enough to be therapeutic. There is 750mg/kg of glucosamine and 250mg/kg of chondroitin in this food. I have a senior Great Dane (8 yrs old) that needs joint support. I am giving him glucosamine and chondroitin from Springtime Inc. I use their equine line because my dog is so large but they have a canine line as well. I would check out the Supplement forum and look for threads on joint health. I know there are a few of them. It would probably be most beneficial to get your dog on a high quality joint supplement in addition to a high quality food.

Best of luck!

[Valerie M]

http://petfoodtalk.com/dogfoodreviews/merrick/

I have been feeding the Merrick grain free Buffalo and sweet potatos. Not sure I like it. Dogs did better on Innovo The below quote may help regarding gastro issues. One of my 3 has loose stools and now I think I know why.

link quote >> The only negative thing that people have to say about this food is that some dogs suffer gastrointestinal problems after eating it. This may be a result of adjusting to a new food brand. Overall, this food is highly recommended.

Read the posts that go with the link. I am looking for another food after reading the comments on th link I attached. , and was looking at Wellnes bc it is made local for me, and is organic and no GMO’s. I think I’ll look at Acana too. Its hard to find around here but I am not happy with what I am reading now about Merrick, and your comment that your dog seems to be having more allergies lines up with my experience. I wish this was easier. My dog was way more energetic on Innovo. Huge difference when we switched to that from Solid Gold, but it was recalled and pulled so we switched to Merrick. That has been so so for us. I have a labradoodle, a mini schnauzer and a border collie hound mix.

[texasniteowl]

Thanks for the reply…and the reminder about Acana. I really wish the Classics were available. I liked the look of the Light & Fit and Senior products. And I guess I just wasted some time reading ingredients lists for those.

And no, I haven’t really seen any weight gain so I will ignore fat % for now I suppose.

As for novel…I know there are some out there, but finding novel and limited is tougher than I thought it would be. I picked up one brand’s “rabbit” kibble and the 2nd ingredient was salmon meal! And several beef or venison foods also contain lamb.

So, for novel I need to look for: beef, venison, rabbit, pork.

He has had: chicken, lamb, duck, fish. I’m also presuming turkey is close enough to chicken and duck that it would not be novel. His Fromm’s Salmon Tunalini also had sardine meal in addition to the salmon and tuna, so basically, most fish is out.

The new flavor Acana Singles Pork & Butternut Squash is a possibility…but only 31% protein.

The Nature’s Variety Instinct LID Rabbit is a possibility also.

I may go ahead and stick with poultry for a full bag…well, like a 15lb bag…which should last 3-4 weeks and then rotate through some others even if they are not novel to see how he reacts. A 3-4 week supply will give me a good idea of whether something works for him or not.

[texasniteowl]

Short story: we’ve been on chicken and rice for a month and need to get back on a kibble.

You can skip to near the bottom about what kibble to go with or you can read…the long story.

Long story:

My dog Wilson is about 7 and 1/2. We have had him for about 19 months. He came to us on Purina lamb and rice. I first switched him to Fromm’s Duck and Sweet Potato and then later to Fromm’s grain free Salmon Tunalini. He also with every meal got a tbsp of yogurt, usually Fage Greek Plain but sometimes other brands. He was on the Salmon Tunalini for about 7 or 8 months.

In late April, he started eating a lot more grass than usual. Prior, he ate grass maybe once every 2 or 3 months. But he started going out in the a.m. (mostly a.m.) to eat grass about 4 times a week. But no other symptoms really presented. At first.

By mid to late May he was still grass eating but poo had started changing and not for the better. But we would have days were it was fine and then days where it was bad and then days when it was fine again. He still ate his food and still loved his walks, etc. But we also did have a few days where his interest in his food in the morning was not present. Then finally, after seeing some blood in his poo, we went to the vet.

Fecal test #1 was negative for parasites/giardia. Fecal test #2 showed a bacterial overgrowth of the bad, rod shaped bacteria. So vet put us on a 5 day course of amoxicillin, metronidazole, and pro-pectalin. We stayed on his kibble during this course. Finished the 5 days and on day 6, we had not only very liquid, essentially water, diarrhea, we also had vomiting. Called the vet…another 5 days of amox, metro, pro-pec. This time, went to chicken and rice.

The chicken and rice was meant to be short term!

After the 2nd 5 days, we kept on the chicken and rice and waited to see what would happen. It initially seemed like his poo started to improve. So I started mixing in a little kibble. Like less than 1/2 of 1/4 cup.

And things got worse again. So called the vet again.

The vet suggested that in spite of the parasite fecal being negative that we do a dose of panacur. And that if no improvement, our next step would be to take blood and fecal samples and send them to the vet school at Texas A&M to be evaluated. So we did the Panacur.

At first, didn’t see much improvement. But then about 4-5 days after his last dose his poo started to improve. Still on the soft side. And worryingly, a bit orange even though he wasn’t getting pumpkin. But firmer than we had seen in a while.

So, I went by a local boutique pet store who gave me a sample of Orijen Adult and I started mixing in some. Just a little.

And the poo got even better.

Nearly normal! Using the Purina fecal scoring model, we’re up to a 3 where 2 is ideal. We had been averaging a 4.5-5 at one point with some individual poos even worse!

So, I want to slowly increase the amount of kibble. And at some point, I plan to re-introduce probiotics (maybe powder instead of yogurt) and maybe add enzymes.

(I also bought the $3 book about supplementing kibble with fresh stuff…and would like to do that…eventually. First things first.)

Anyway, props to anyone who made it thru all that.

The main question:
Which kibble to go with for now?

A friend of mine who has a dog with severe IBD suggested that maybe a food intolerance started the whole cycle to start with, but I don’t know that I buy that. She suggested a novel protein. But, he’s been on chicken and rice, and the Orijen Adult is chicken based and his poo is improving right now. Is it possible he has a food intolerance of some kind? Sure. Allergies? Yes. In fact, he seems to have a grass allergy. Since I know he has had chicken and duck and lamb and fish, if we start looking at a novel protein, I’d be looking at pork or venison or rabbit. But I don’t know what else he might have had before we adopted him. And in terms of amount paw-licking, etc. I don’t think it is much different than any other time. He can get itchy ears too, but the vet attributes that to mostly seasonal allergies.

The qualm I have about the Orijen Adult is mainly due to the high fat content. 18%. We are mostly inactive. He is a lap dog most of the day except for our daily 1.1 to 1.2 mile walks. And a little bit of fetch with a tennis ball. But otherwise he loves nothing more than snuggling in my lap in the recliner. And he is 65lbs! And, as mentioned he is 7 and 1/2. Should I start watching the fat %? Though his weight last time we were at the vet was within 3 lbs of what they called ideal. So we are doing pretty good so far.

Then there is the matter of grain free vs. grain inclusive. In the best scenario, I prefer grain free. But I’m not sure I’m crazy about all of them going to lentils for fill. Though, the Orijen Adult has lentils and I have not seen a problem so far. But it has only been about 4-5 days and he is getting a limited amount.

I do like that the Orijen Adult is a higher protein level. His previous food was only 31% protein and the Orijen Adult is 42%. Maybe it was the fact that he has been on chicken and rice for a month that made the higher protein level an easier switch? It’s been proven now that a higher protein percent for senior dogs is OK, right?

Orijen Senior is similar to Adult except uses pea fiber also. The fat is 15% instead of 18%. And fiber is 8% instead of 5%.

Some other mostly chicken or at least poultry based foods I was considering are:
Taste of the Wild Wetlands
Wellness CORE Original
Wellness CORE Reduced Fat (37% protein, 11% fat)
Acana Adult Large Breed (37% protein, 14% fat)
Acana Light & Fit (39% protein, 10% fat)
Acana Senior (37% protein, 14% fat)
Earthborn Holistic Great Plains Feast
Merrick Grain Free Chicken & Sweet Potato

Anyway, I’m really at a loss here. Novel protein or not? Fat %? Protein %? Lentils? Other food suggestions?

[Kelsey K]

Hi all!

First time poster here. HDM, thank you for all of this great information you’ve compiled! I very well could’ve missed it in the previous 73 pages (let me know if these questions have already been answered!), but I had a few questions about raw food and puppies.

I am a first-time LBD owner and will be bringing home an 8-week old berner boy in a month. I’d love to get him on a raw diet ASAP but am worried about the calcium content. My FIV+ kitty boy is currently eating Natural Pet Pantry (NPP), and I love how healthy it’s kept him.

Can I start feeding raw to a Bernese at 8 weeks old or should we start with kibble first? Any suggestions on a specific commercial raw? I’ve been looking at Darwin’s or NPP, but am totally open to anything and everything! If not raw right away, what’s the best kibble for a BMD? I’m eyeing Fromm, but I want to do everything right!

Thanks in advance for the help!

• This reply was modified 11 years, 5 months ago by Kelsey K.

[Jonathan L]

Thanks Betsy and Zach for your responses. It does really disturb me and makes me wonder if we could have prevented having to have put our dear Velvet down with different food. Well, at this point we can’t obviously reverse what happened but I certainly don’t want to have something similar happen with Olive.
Yes, the food is inexpensive and yes we do have financial limitations. I was thinking that based on what I have read here that we would go with Kirkland Signature Adult Chicken. We can purchase that locally and I think it will fit our budget. Is that a good option? Or is there a better option that would be similarly priced?

[Susan]

Hi Lisa, Chewy reminds me of what my Patch was doing 1 year ago, vomiting early hours of the morning, having diarrhea, vet diagnosed him with Pancreatitis & IBD, he had to be put on a low low fat diet, nothing over 10% fat & a lower protein % so nothing over 24% protein, he was put on vet prescription Eukanuba Intestinal diet & a dog probiotic this helped with his pooing problems, he does perfect poos now but he still vomited maybe once a week or once every 2 weeks, so I started to cook him boiled chicken breast & 2 tablespoons of boiled pumkin for breakfast, this stopped his vomiting of a morning & his licking & licking his lips after eating but he was still having his pain on his right side under his rib cage, so I stopped the boiled chicken & now I give him tin tuna in spring water, I drain the small tin of tuna & mix with about 2 tablespoons of pumkin & I warm in micro wave the amount I need to use that morning & put rest in fridge for next morning, I then spread the tuna & pumkin on 1 piece of toast, there’s enough for 2 breakfast, I cut the toast (white bread no grains) into 9 squares & hand feed, so he doesnt gulp it all down too quick, the toast seems to keep everything down when he burps, he doesnt seem to have his pain like he did with the boiled chicken, all his vomiting has stopped too….
I’d see a new vet & start with a new low fat diet & see how things go, when I first started the pumkin Patch did have soft poos for 2 days know its perfect, Im also adding the Wellness Simple Duck & Oats to his Eukanuba Intestinal, the Wellness Simple has been good as it digest easily & isnt a hard hard kibble, I also add water to Patches kibble then drain, then add water again, then drain to wash off excess dust from kibble & to soften kibble, the Eukanuba Intestinal is a low residue kibble it breaks up real easily so its easier to digest there is a puppy formula awell, the Wellness Simple also soften real easliy when water is added, Patch was also vomiting up undigested kibble about 6-8 hours later 1 year ago, I forgot last year Patch when Patch was real sick he was put on Metronidazole for 2 weeks, its an antibiotic for their stomach & bowel its stops the diarrhea, ask ur new vet can you have a script & try the Metronidazole, I just go to my chemist & only pay $9.20 instead of the high vet charges, I wouldnt do raw as it high in fat & bacteria ur boy mighten be able to digest raw at this time until you work out whats wrong, something is wrong, alot of puppy foods are real high in fat, you mite need to try a low fat adult kibble just till you stop the pooing & vomiting..or get a vet precription diet just till u get everything under control as ur boy is probably starving with the vomiting & diarrhea…..Good-luck

[Lisa C]

I’m sure this has been talked about numerous times on here, but there’s no search box to try and find answers in the forum. Sorry!

We have had our Chewy since December of last year. We got him at eight weeks. He is a Pekingese/Chihuahua/Cocker Spaniel/ mix (we did a DNA test!) So he’s not quite a year old yet, but later in the fall he will be. The first month or two we had Chewy, he had no problems. We fed him dry puppy Nutro (the pink bag) that was recommended by someone who claimed to have researched foods. after the first 1-2 months, he started vomiting EVERY day. At least once a day. It’s now mid-July, and yes, he still vomits EVERY single day! I think there’s maybe been six total days since Feb that he hasn’t puked at least once. We’ve had numerous tests done at the vet. Blood tests, X-rays, stool samples. Everything is negative. They have no answers for us! The next step would be putting a camera inside him — which I’m sure is an expensive procedure that I cannot afford. He acts normal – he still loves to go outside and play, gets excited when we come home, plays with toys. But he always acts so hungry. We’ve tried so many different kinds of foods, wet and dry. At the vet’s request, we tried two different brands of prescription food (dry only), (which is expensive) 🙁 first Hills and then the Purina RX. The vet also made me buy the $30 box of RX Purina probiotics. None of that fancy overpriced crap did anything but make him vomit even more, and even worse, all undigested.

This week I’ve started to keep a daily journal of everything he eats, and his daily puking habits. The vomiting occurs in the early mornings. Occasionally at night, but mostly mornings. He seems to do alright on the Nutro Puppy Chiot wet food, last week he went maybe 1-2 days without puking on that alone. But I know he can’t just live on wet food, at least from what I’ve read they also need dry food for their teeth. For a few weeks we tried feeding solely cooked chicken, which is LOVED, but still puked out that, too. The other problem is obviously is switching the foods so many times gives him baaaad diarrhea. Yesterday I decided to try yet another food, Solid Gold wet, and going from the Nutro can to that has made him diarrhea two days in a row. We have to keep him locked up in the kitchen the last two nights because he just won’t stop pooping. Of course most of the time his poops are normal, but every once in a while that one food will tip him off and it’s all downhill from there.

I’m so, SO tired of waking up early every morning to scrub vomit off of our apartment carpet. (It’s already ruined.) but most importantly, I just want Chewy to be a normal, healthy dog, and not have such horrible vomiting problems. and of course because of this, you can feel all his bones. We recently took him to get groomed and they said they noticed he was really skinny. He’s skinny because he vomits every day! My boyfriend says we should try him on a raw diet, but I don’t want to do something too drastic without help first. I guess our next step could be getting a second opinion at a different vet, but we’ve already spent a lot of money. I appreciate ALL comments and suggestions. Please help us and our Chewy 🙁

[Melissaandcrew]

I love Champion products as I have said many times. I have not bought it recently as I am rotating other brands right now, so it was a surprise for me to read that the Singles have gone down to a 25lb bag. When they reformulated them before, I was told by the customer service it was for uniformity amongst the bags-Acana had been bigger than Orijen and that did make sense to me. However, if the new bags are 25lb, then based on that previous statement, I expect all to drop to 25lb-and that alone may be a deal breaker for me. At some point, I think they are going to price themselves right out of them market in the US, and then the Kentucky plant really won’t be needed, lol.

With that said, I will wait and see if the quality appears to drop, or if there appear to be issues. I will not judge based only on production location. I have no reason to believe that a company would invest 85 million to make lower rated foods in the US, but who knows?? If Champion wants to keep me as a customer(and I buy a ton of food) they will have to keep quality and formulation right up there on par with the Canadian produced foods-I am not interested in redesigned products with less meat content etc. Only time will tell.

[Melissaandcrew]

I love Champion products as I have said many times. I have not bought it recently as I am rotating other brands right now, so it was a surprise for me to read that the Singles have gone down to a 25lb bag. When they reformulated them before, I was told by the customer service it was for uniformity amongst the bags-Acana had been bigger than Orijen and that did make sense to me. However, if the new bags are 25lb, then based on that previous statement, I expect all to drop to 25lb-and that alone may be a deal breaker for me. At some point, I think they are going to price themselves right out of them market in the US, and then the Kentucky plant really won’t be needed, lol.

With that said, I will wait and see if the quality appears to drop, or if there appear to be issues. I will not judge based only on production location. I have no reason to believe that a company would invest 85 million to make lower rated foods in the US, but who knows?? If Champion wants to keep me as a customer(and I buy a ton of food) they will have to keep quality and formulation right up there on par with the Canadian produced foods-I am not interested in redesigned products with less meat content etc. Only time will tell.

[Sarah Y]

I’m trying to find a good, safe dental chew for my dogs. I have heard mixed reviews on greenies though they seem to be the most popular. One of my beagles can be an aggressive chewer too. I remember reading greenies should not be swallowed in pieces. My beagle tends to chew a piece then swallow it whereas my other two beagles will thoroughly chew their greenie. Soooooo, I stopped giving greenies to them because one not not chew through the whole thing. I bought nature’s recipes dental chews today but honestly am not sure if they are good or not.

I do brush my dogs teeth and to be honest, it’s not consistent. Sometimes its 2 or 3 times a week for a few months then it’s once a week, sometimes once every couple of weeks. They have had dental cleanings too. So overall their teeth are pretty good.

Any suggestions on good dental chews/treats?

[Cyndi]

Hi Stefan, Good for you getting your dogs on raw! I started my girl on raw a little over a year ago. You sound like you know what you’re doing, for the most part. You should check out the raw food forum here: /forums/forum/raw-dog-food-forum/
Specifically look thru the thread second from the top, “Suggested Raw Dog Food Menus” started by Hound Dog Mom. She posted a few of her recipes there as well as other people posted what they feed too. It is a long thread, but HDM’s recipes are in the first 3 pages.

Someone else can chime in and let you know what else you should be doing or not doing. I get advice from the raw feeders on here. I use, and it’s very well recommended, See Spot Live Longer dinner mix. I add it to my dogs boneless grind in the morning 3 or 4 days a week, just to ensure I’m not missing any add ins that my dog needs.

Good luck! 🙂

• This reply was modified 11 years, 5 months ago by Cyndi.

[Katie J]

I can’t edit now. But I wanted to add that I am really thankful and grateful for all the advice given here and in other threads that I have read. I went from almost buying Purina’s puppy formula to having two solid (in my opinion) brands to rotate and a couple that I I want to look into as a potential third. I have nearly figured out how to balance a raw diet and have both of the “bibles” on order. I am pricing making the switch and putting together a plan to do so. With a new job for me in the future (I just received the offer this week), I plan to get that ball rolling.

It’s been awhile since I had a puppy. A long while. And I have tried to spend a lot of my free time researching and learning to make things better for him. I’m certainly not perfect and still learning. Without the kind folks here, who knows what crap I would have gotten him from Petsmart or whatever my local store has been told to push! I had to listen to about a 5 minute speech on Evanger’s canned. They left out the part about the huge recall though.

To me, little Gichin appears to be flourishing. I see a happy and playful puppy that is growing what seems like daily with appropriate and normal elimination. He’s officially settled in after nearly a month in his new home. His potty training has been fantastic. I can’t remember the last time he had an accident.

And I really have this forum to thank for all of it as they help me tweak everything to make things perfect.

[Regina D]

I finally (after weeks & weeks) found a food Alf can eat without stomach upset – Natural Balance Lamb & Brown Rice. I am going to keep him on this for at least a month, as he has not had a stomach upset at all while being on this food, and he eats 3 cans/day heartily. Alf is 50 lbs, and I feed in 3 feedings/day.
However, I am not that thrilled with what I have learned about NB, or about brown rice. Therefore, I would like to wean (or at least alternate) him onto some other brand lamb LID. I’d like to stick to lamb since he is doing well on that protein. Someone on this forum suggested Wellness Simple Lamb & Oatmeal. When I checked the reviews, WSL&O gets only 2.5 stars vs. NBL&BR gets 4. What I read about the Wellness company sounds very good, vs. NB, which is now owned by DelMonte.
I want to do the best for Alf, please enlighten me!

• This topic was modified 11 years, 5 months ago by Regina D.

[USA]

Hi Lynn J and lynne s

The danger of lead could still be there.The EPA said:

“even newer plumbing advertised as “lead-free” can still contain as much as 8 percent lead.”

I don’t know if this applies to water coolers and instant hot units. They both use copper pipe that runs through a heating coil similar to a radiator in a car. The water runs through the copper pipe and that is where the lead could get into the water.

The insta hot and the water cooler both use a holding tank (albeit small) to hold the heated water. This is where any minerals, metals or other impurities would build up and be re-absorbed back into the heated water.

So anytime you have a holding tank that is where impurities will build up. I would read up on how to clean and flush these tanks to remove any residue. Citric acid and vinegar are often used in coffee makers and water distillers to remove buildup.

It aint easy trying to do the best for our pups, but it sure is worth it!!!

• This reply was modified 11 years, 5 months ago by USA.

[aquariangt]

You can start any age on raw really (what breeds do you have?? 2 5 month olds go through 50 lb a month, oi-my 3 go through 15 ish pounds)

There are a few threads about starting raw, and Hound Dog Mom and Rescue Dane Mom both have a lot of tips

[Patricia W]

I’m new here and have been reading this with interest. I have a mini australian shepherd that needs to lose about 6 lbs. I’ve been fighting his weight loss for a couple years now. was feeding him Chicken Soup for the Soul weight management which is 20% protein and about 6% fat. I tried switching (very slowly) to Fat Dog, which is higher in protein and after a very short period he got pancreatitis and had to be hospitalized.

My vet was pretty sure it was the new dog food and told me it was important to keep fat low and beware of high protein foods for a dog with this disease. I’ve been very careful since then and put him back on the Chicken Soup. He is still overweight and so the vet put him on a prescription Iams. After a four month period he had only lost 1 lb. The vet food was very expensive so I went back to Chicken Soup weight management.

He has breathing issues and also a chronic limp that comes and goes, so exercise is not something I can push. He chases our border collies around the back yard, and goes on short walks, but if he starts limping, I have to curtail it until the leg heals. He has had the xrays, blood work, etc., and the vet is pretty convinced it is a bit of arthritis and we have to deal with it, giving pain meds if it is bad.

I’m interested in getting some opinions. Right now I give him 1/2 cup of dry and 1 tblsp of canned (iams) at each meal morning and night. I think I am feeding him too much, but he seems so hungry. The vet had me feed him 1/3 cup dry and 1 tblsp wet of the prescription food and he was hungry all the time, with only 1 lb loss.

I’m also very confused about the high protein comment for pancreatitis dogs early in this forum. My vet says NO on high protein and it seems to be a disagreement among the vet world. Any thoughts?

Thanks

[Bobby dog]

Hi gmcbogger:
Sportmix Wholesomes Chic & Rice (TSC 40 lbs/sale price $27.99) is one I was going to suggest to you. Pro Pac would be another, they are both manufactured by Midwestern Pet Foods, who make Earthborn Holistic.

Diamond manufactures the 4 Health grain inclusive recipes, GF pork, GF duck, and reportedly the GF whitefish. I haven’t verified with TSC if Diamond is now making the GF whitefish, however there have been several complaints about this recipe changing on the review side recently. Ainsworth manufactures the 4Health GF beef and GF turkey recipes.

Also, check with dog food websites and the stores that you purchase food from for frequent buyer programs or any other incentives they may have. For example, buy ten bags and the 11th is free.

There is a PDF download from Steve Brown, ABC Diet, that you may be interested in. This download will help you improve a kibble diet through healthy foods (eggs, tinned fish, fresh meat, vegetables) you can get at the grocery store. I feed anything from a 3 to 5 star kibble and this download helps me to improve my dogs diet very affordably.
http://www.seespotlivelonger.com/home/sll/page_41/see_spot_live_longer_the_abc_way___electronic_down.html

Here’s are some others you may want to check out:
~Zach’s Quality Feed:
http://zqdfrjscompany.azurewebsites.net/index.php
/dog-food-reviews/zachs-quality-dog-food/

Depending on your location this may only be available online, but check it out even if that’s the case because their shipping rates may be reasonable. Here is a thread a poster started about Zach’s: /forums/topic/4-stars-33-for-50-lb-bag/

~Exclusive (PMI Nutrition):
http://www.exclusivepetfood.com/default.aspx
/dog-food-reviews/exclusive-dog-food-dry/

~Blue Seal Life Stages (Kent Nutrition):
http://blueseal.com/products/dog/life-stages-dry-formulas/
/dog-food-reviews/blue-seal-dog-food-dry/

~Sportmix Wholesomes or
~Pro Pac:
http://www.sportmix.com/dog/wholesomesChickenMealRice.php
/dog-food-reviews/sportmix-wholesomes-dog-food/
http://us.propacpetfood.com/images/propac-ultimates-header.png
/dog-food-reviews/pro-pac-dog-food/

~Authority GF & grain inclusive (Petsmart):
/dog-food-reviews/authority-dog-food-dry/
/dog-food-reviews/authority-grain-free-dog-food/

[Susan]

Hi Dfwgolden, Ive just started the Wellness Simple Duck & Oatmeal.. as my boy has IBD & we think that the chicken was causing his tummy problems & the hive like lumps on his head & body, so I’ve started the Simple Duck & Oatmeal cause it has the lowest fat %.. Im not happy about the low Protein but Patch seems to do better when the protein is under 24%.. Im pretty sure that the Simple Duck & Oatmeal does not have chicken fat, as I made sure that there was no chicken in the Duck & Oatmeal, I just went on the Wellness Simple site to double check & there’s no chicken fat, it has natural duck flavours, I even looked at the Lamb & Oatmeal & there’s no chicken fat either, the best way to know if ur dog is intolarent to chicken is to start a elimination diet…when you start with say lamb or Rabbit for 1 month,then slowley add some chicken & see if he has his diarrhea again, he’s had alot of things done in the last 3-4weeks so its very hard to say what did cause his diarrhea, I know antibiotics can cause diarrhea, Ive written down what antibiotics causes Patch to have diarrhea & make sure next time Patch is not put on them..
I read that Victor is a budget friendly & has 5 stars also 4 health sold at Tractor Supply, Pure Balance grainfree Rachel Ray sold at Walmart, Earth Farms sold at Petco & Eagle Pack & Authority sold at Petsmart are suppost to be budget friendly aswell…also keep up with the probiotics, my boy has been on dog probiotics now for 10 months..especially when trying a new foods..

[Dfwgolden]

Hi everyone!

Ok so I have serious question for xx large breed dog owners.
I have a 12 week old male Great Dane puppy.
When we got him he was on Diamond Puppy formula and doing iffy.
We feed ourdogs a grain free rotational diet.
And they have done awesome. However Bane has seemed to decline since we got him.

He’s growing normally and everything however he has had soft stool since day one.
And these past two weeks it’s literally been water/patte.
Two days ago He had to go CONSTANTLY. And just explodes I kid you not it’s like an explosion.
A norm poop just falls even if it’s diarrhea however his blows like a gun. Splashing everywhere.
Including in our new car… Three times within two hours.
And it’s not just a little it’s A LOT.

He’s been on-
Diamond Puppy
Whole Earth Farms
And recently Diamond Naturals Large Breed chicken and rice.
This last food is when he hit his worst.

After two weeks of this I took him off the food sunday afternoon. And only gave him canned pumpkin salt, plain crackers, plain yogurt (live culture) and some probiotic human capsules.

Last night I finly have him some solid food:
Wellness Simple Salmon formula.
This morning he finally pooped and it was solid! But very orange defiantly could tell it was from the pumpkin! Haha!

He has since pooped three more times all of which have been mostly solid but could be better.
Shaped but mushy.

I’m wondering if it’s poultry and the Petco guy recommended it as a way to start into a LID and see if that helps. (The simple)
He had his ears cropped about 3-4 weeks ago and was on antibiotics which could possibly play a roll? And he is down on his probiotics?
He was only on them for a week though and this didn’t start up to water until recently.

He is on dewormer and flea/tick. Sintenal. And has received his last round of puppy shots. No rabies yet.
My dad brought up the possibility of Giardia and Coccidia. Had a fu work up done today he he’s clean as a whistle on his fecal Giardia and blood.
Our vet is a dane breeder herself

Bane is eating and drinking normally and has shown no signs of “illness” he’s just his goofy self as always!

My biggest
Concern however is the fact that if he does do good on wellness simple that we won’t be able to keep him on it.
It’s $68 for 27lbs.
And with him already eating 6 cups a day and is having 4 other dogs.
You get the gist.
I live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Texas area and believe it or not my food choices although broad are limited to either $&!+ or high dollar.

We’ve done 4Health and Diamond and Proplan and purina one (which believe it or
Not the weight loss formula did fantastic for out over weight senior golden)

The vet said it’s possible he has a grain and poultry allergy.
Which limits my choices even more as even “duck and oatmeal” formulas contain chicken fat.

I leave for a month long Vacation with Bane to Poplar Bluff Missouri on the 15th white it being so Rural that lowers my availability even more.
Meaning I don’t have time to try a raw diet for him.

I need something that’s no more than $45-$50 a bag that can basically “hold him over” until I get back In 4 weeks.

I’m in need her Hound Dog mom! Lol.

[RescueDaneMom]

I started feeding raw as a topper then went 50/50 then switched to full raw. Some dogs can handle kibble mixed with raw and some can’t. If yours can’t, then you can do kibble for one meal and raw for another meal.

With smaller dogs, I would guess that it will probably be easier for you to feed grinds. You can purchase a cheap grinder on Amazon. I just did this recently and got a good grinder for under $90. It grinds chicken bones with no problem. Turkey bones are too hard for small grinders so you can’t grind those or beef bones. The only bones I’ve tried thus far have been chicken. You may also be able to get already ground meat/mixes from your co-op.

You may want to look into purchasing Steve Brown’s book called “Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet.” There are raw recipes with and without bone and he specifies what you need to do if feeding a puppy.

Hope this helps.

[BRT]

Thanks for the replies. Everyone has been so helpful and supportive here.

Almost two weeks in and stools are still soft. Plus, I’m feeling like I might not be able to afford this route. I’m going to stick it out as long as I can, though.

The 4 lb bag of instinct raw bites lasted a couple of days short of two weeks. I’m having the hardest time finding the venison in local stores, but was able to find a bag of medallions yesterday.

I used the food calculator on the NV website and put both dogs weight and activity level (not active and I want to maintain weight) and it said to feed 8 medallions/day each! There are only 48 medallions in a bag. That seemed like a lot so I went with 6 medallions each today (3 in the AM and 3 in the PM). My maltese/poodle acts like he’s starving. I know he’s not though.

Would I be a terrible mom if I had to add kibble back along with raw? Do people feed both? One meal kibble, one meal raw? Maybe it’s too soon to decide. I also think I need to definitely buy more than one bag when I go out. I’ve already spend $62 on food in less than two weeks and I’m really feeling it.

Thanks!

[Susan]

Yes terri, Elimination diets are best, but you can do ur own home cooked or raw, instead of the kibble, I found my boy cant have Potatos or sweet potatos makes him itch more, I started with just boiled chicken breast & pumkin, then after 2 weeks I added some sweet potato & within 2 days his ears were itching, so I stopped the sweet potatos & his ears stop itching, then I added a boiled egg, he was fine, I started gaving him a little bit of banana as a treat he was fine but I noticed that he started to get his yeasty stinky smell again & I looked up bananas & they are a high carb fruit that converts to sugar that causes yeast, so now Im stopping the banana, he’s not a happy camper, he loves his banana, Im sick of cooking & freezing chicken every 10 days, Im using tuna or salmon now instead of the chicken, my vet said try goat, I went to the butcher & he said that goat is dearer then lamb, around $35 a kilo, that idea went out the door, The vet did skin scrapping & got stuff out of his ears & he too came back negitive for yeast but he itched & stank like a bread shop, real stinky yeast smell..so I dont understand, Ive googled high carb fruit & vegies & I stay away from them…I will not try the steriods as I saw on one of Dr Karen Becker videos the steriods just mask the problem, a band-aid as soon as u stop the steriods the problem comes back, I think the enviornment adds to Patches itch problem as well, we walk alot so just rubbing against a plant, grass or sniffing pollen in the air can set them off, next dog will not have any white on their bodies, the vet said white dogs are normally more prone to skin problems..
If your dog can stomach raw, then raw is best for elimination diets, there’s no carbs, that’s why Id say alot of dogs have these itchy problems….also alot of these grainfree kibbles have potatos, peas, sweet potatos, lentils, barley, legumes…

[Katie J]

A little over two weeks ago, I brought home a new pup for my boyfriend. He’s a Shiba Inu/Akita Inu mix and coming up to 4 months old. I have very little background on him as he was a pet store pup that I bought second hand. It’s a long story for another thread. I know the stigma with pet store pups as well though I have a 13 year old English Springer Spaniel that was purchased at a pet store that has never had anything but a routine vet visit and lives on Purina of all things. Anyhow back on topic. My little guy is little. He weighed at 7 lbs about a week ago at the vet’s office, but I am guessing he’s sitting closer to 8-9 now. Yes, I know he is shockingly small for his supposed breeding. But everyone that meets him guesses either one of this mix, but no one knows why he’s so small. We’re guessing that it could have a lot to do with his pet store past.

Now that that’s out of the way, time to talk food. I got him with a bag of Eukanuba puppy. He ate that fine until he caught wind of the Purina. Our adult dogs (the spaniel and my terrier mix) are free range because we lead a very busy and random life at the house. This is something I plan to change for my terrier and this pup when my boyfriend get our own place. I knew that I didn’t want the pup to eat adult food as he has special puppy needs. I nearly just bought the puppy formula for Purina until I food this website. Since then I have done more reading than I would care to admit on dog food. I decided to pick a food that wasn’t going to be a big jump in quality or price and bought 4Health Puppy. I know some people are leery of Diamond. But at the price and star rating, I grabbed a bag along with one of each of their rice free cans. My plan was to do kibble and a can topper. He licked the bowl clean for three meals. Meal four, he ate half and walked away. I switched the topper to a new flavor. Same result. We were trying two meals a day but broke it down to 3 thinking that I was trying to feed him too much at a time. No change. Though I was able to get him to finish if I spoon fed the last half of his food.

Three days ago I stopped by a local dog boutique and came home with several samples and goats milk as a probiotic. His stools had been soft too pretty loose due to the changing in foods trying to find something he liked. After the milk thawed I gave him a little in his nornal meal with the same result: ate half, spoon fed rest. Stools have firmed up since. The night before last we started samples. I have a lot of Earthborn as I had went to another store and got even more samples most of which was Earthborn. I think it was the prairie formula first that he nearly finished on his own without the milk. I only give the milk once a day. Apparently he nearly finished his next two meal with my boyfriend. I wasn’t there as I was working. But I know that he will not spoon feed. With fireworks last night, the pup didn’t get his dinner. It was too late, and he had a late lunch. I expected a hungry puppy today! Nope. Same result with goats milk. This was his second feeding on a new flavor of Earthborn. I forgot the flavor. But it was blue packaging. I still have the primitive flavor left to try from Earthborn. I also have Halo, two flavors of Fromm, Acana and Orijen puppy. I wanted to get through all of the cheaper stuff first in hopes of finding something he likes.

A few extra things to add, I am feeding him separately from the spaniel who is very food aggressive. But I feed him with my terrier as I want to start transititioning my terrier to a better diet as well for when we move out. Sometimes the pup seems distracted because the terrier gets something different (4Health adult and the same topper the pup gets). But he does want to eat the terrier’s. He gets awfully burpy when he eats. I am looking to add sardines and perhaps switching to plain Kefir for the probiotic. Switching to raw right now is not something I want to do. I am unsure about getting the right balance, and his puppy stage is far too important to screw up. I do plan on introducing him to all the raw elements I want to use in the future, and at around a year old, we may make the switch. And I cannot afford to do commercial or dehydrated food. I love the guy, but I can’t justify spending as much to feed him as to fees me not to mention it’s not in the budget.

Boy that was long just to get to what I wanted to ask. Is he training me to spoon feed him? It seems like all of my meals with him end with me begging him to finish so much so that I grab the spoon. His nutrition is so important to me. I can’t stand him missing a meal or wasting that food! Any ideas?

[Susan]

Hi Abby, he may have IBS, my boy has IBD, I resuced him about 19months ago, Patch is also a stress head, so maybe this has something to do why they get IBS, Patch also has been on the Metronidazole a couple of times in the begining & had anal gland problems, vets put Patch on the Eukanuba Intestinal in the end, since being on the vet Diet Eukanuba he’s been doing real good, his anal glands dont need expressing by vet no more….when I tried to change his kibble last December I didnt realise that he cant handle too much fat, Ive found if the kibble is around 10%-12% fat he’s Ok, no diarrhea, also I have to keep him on a lower protein kibble & the Eukanaba Intestinal low residue is 23% protein 10% fat & 1.75% fiber, I think in America you have the IAMS but the ingredients are different to the Eukanuba has no by-products & lower fat & lower fiber then the Iams low residue kibble..I’d try the vet prescription, if you cant get Eukanuba Intestinal then the Royal Canin low fat is similar with fat% Protein % & fiber %.. Ive had to have Patch just on the Eukanuba for around 6 months, no treats nothing else, just his Intestinal kibble, vet said his bowel needs to rest & heal then when his poos were excellent.. I started to sooooo slowley tried now foods, also Wellness Simple is good with Limited ingredients, I’m slowley adding the Duck & Oatmeal kibble with his Intestinal the fat is 11% protein is 19% Protein is a bit low but if he doesnt get sloppy poos or diarrhea thats excellent, I also give him a small tin of tuna in spring water drained then mixed with about 2 big tablespoons of pumkin for breakfast, next week Im going to add a boiled egg to the mix as I half the mix for the next morning aswell..the Tuna & egg will boast his protein a bit more, I also use a good dog probiotic…Ive read that the prebiotics in the kibbles get damaged from heat & when transported if left in the heat or sun, so ur better off given ur own probiotic awell & a kibble with FOS.. I try not to let Patch stress & keep his routine the same everyday, I feed him the same time everyday, walk him same time, I also take him everywhere with me, well where I can, he loves meeting people..If I change something in his day, Ive noticed he’ll be real whinging & have his pain that night & next morning.
In Australia the Wellness dog kibbles are dearer then the vet prescrition diets, I dont know why, I pay $32 for 2kilos of the vet Eukanuba Intestinal & the Wellness Simple is $37 for only 1.8kilos…try to make him feel secure & in time he’ll learn to trust again, when I first got Patch he wouldn’t let me out the front door without crying & whinging, then he learnt that she just going shopping so when he sees my shopping bag he knows she’ll just be about 20min & she’ll come back & I give him his second bit of breakfast, I break Patches meals up into 5 meals a day, I found he couldnt stomach real big meals at once…its sad alot of these rescues have had it hard, not all, my last rescue was healthy wasn’t nervous but she was younger… Patch is 5 years old..in time things do get better.

[Susan]

Hi Amy, its not the Frontline, frontline only penetrates the first 1-2 layers of their skin, My boy had a reaction to Advantage DO NOT USE the Advantage penetrates thru the skin to their blood, within 24hrs one side of my boys head swelled up his ear & his bottom lip swelled, & he was vomiting blood early hours of the morning, at first I didnt think the Advantage until I rung his vet. the best way to know whats happening is an elimination diet, for 1 month you just feed 1 new protein & say boiled pumkin or rice nothing else no treats nothing, thats if you think it could be foods, I used chicken in Patches elimantion diet but now I think Patch cant have chicken as the lumps on his head that look like hives got worst, Patches vet said that he has seasonal allergies & cause I just rescued him 19 months ago she said I’ll start to see a pattern, I noticed last winter Patch was good, no itch but the end of summer Patch got all his hive like lumps, itching & rubbing along the wall, this winter Patch has his hive like lumps again, so I look in Patches diary & last winter I wasnt feeding him chicken, this winter I was feeding chicken, so Ive stopped the chicken…Ive heard all these test are no good as they give false readings the best would be if you could try him on raw, Im just starting a new kibble called Wellness Simple it has limited ingredients, also watch his carbs, no potatoes, no sweet potatoes, no carrots no high carbs that turn to sugar that makes yeasty itchy skin.. If he can handle it i’d feed raw.. & google a good Raw diet for itchy skin..Ive been thinking of putting Patch on Raw but he has IBD & I have enough trouble trying to find a low fat kibble, so raw would have to much fat for Patch..also there could be a plant or grass in ur garden or on his walks that he’s allergic to, I’ve changed Patches walking route to see if that helps….Its winter here in Australia, so if Patch has enviornment allergies or seasonal allergies like his vet said, why is he getting them now being winter & he didnt last year, thats whats making me look at his food this year, I use Malaseb Medicated shampoo, & I use a cortisone cream when he gets some of the red itchy sores, I found the cortsone 1% cream is excellent Im just using my cream…just look at the ingredients in his kibble & see if there’s Potatos sweet potatos carrots, lentils any high carb foods…A friend from the dog park had a staffy that was so itchy he was red & losing his fur she tried the vet diets they didnt work then she tried the Holistic Select Adult health Anchovys sardines & salmon & her boy is looking excellent not scratching fur all grown back..so a few people from the dog park are using the Holistic Select with great results… Im also given Patch tuna & pumkin for breakfast to replace the chicken & his hives have gone. sorry for the book..Oh a good dog probiotic this will help too…good-luck