[jakes mom]

Akari, I would be very careful about ordering flea meds over the web. Lots of imitations and fakes out there and who knows about the active ingredients and their concentrations. Cats are so sensitive to chemicals! I got Capstar at PetSuppliesPlus. You could still give him a dose or 2 while waiting for the preventative to kick in. I don’t use preventatives any more since I moved from the country and all the cats are strictly indoor. I’d go with one that kills all stages so you’re covered when eggs already laid on pets or in the house hatch.
Bobby dog, maybe Bobby has a little GSP in him, they have a blue /gray/brownish coat too and that would account for the bird obsession! lol! He might be OK with a whole chicken back instead of a half. I cut mine in half longways because it seemed kind of big for Jake but you can see what you think when you open them. I imagine every package will be different depending on the chicken and the butcher, lol!

[Shasta220]

I got a 13wk old puppy the other day to babysit. She got scratched in the eye by our cat earlier today (both are utd on shots). Her eye stays open fine, but the haw (she’s a lab but has saggy haws already) is a little bit inflamed, and a little bit of pink/red eye-goop builds up.

I will be contacting the owners (all the way in Italy, woah!) if it doesn’t improve soon to see if I can get her into the vet tomorrow. Until then, are there any things I can rummage for that might help?

I’m honestly not too concerned, as she doesn’t whine/be in pain about it, and the eye itself appears fine. I just don’t want anything to escalade, of course.

Thanks!

[Ryan K]

So, I have two dogs. My female is a 12 year old Old English Sheepdog and my male is a 4 year old Dachshund/Terrier mix. I have noticed that my OES has been pretty picky with what she eats lately. She was normally on anything with Lamb and I wasn’t really paying too much attention to whether or not her food was grain free despite her constant itching and chewing of her paws throughout the years. She was constantly getting yeast infections in her ears but my vet never told me to change her diet. I recently decided to switch up her diet on my own to various reactions. I tried Zignature’s Lamb formula and she seemed to like it but wouldn’t touch it after a month of eating it. Then I moved her onto Earthborne Holistic Meadow Feast, which she had a HORRIBLE allergic reaction to. I am not sure what in that mix caused the reaction (eye swelling, lethargy, fever, vomiting, etc) but I wondered if it might have been the Tapioca? I am not sure though. Since that experience I put her on California Natural’s Kangaroo formula but she would only eat it if I put about 1/4th cup of warm water in it…this is something I had never done before but thought I would try after reading that someone else did that with their dog’s food…this caused ANOTHER problem with my dog…she didn’t chew the food with it being watered down but instead decided to just slurp it up and then wound up with food stuck in her esophagus. This ended my watering down of the food.

Since THAT I have put her on Acana Duck & Bartlett Pear and at first she seemed to go CRAZY for it but her love for it has cooled and now I have started mixing canned food with her dry food which she goes nuts for. However, I am not sure how much to give her? I normally let my dogs have a full bowl every day since I have grazers but the canned food has become scheduled at night. Before that, she will not touch the dry food. Should I be concerned about this? She has the dry food out to eat but she isn’t eating it unless the canned is mixed it. Buying both grain free canned and such an expensive grain free dry for her is a little much for my budget. Should I try a new less expensive grain-free? I was thinking of moving over to Fromm’s to see if she would like their Beef recipe or maybe the pork? I don’t know if those are ok for senior dogs though? Someone I know mentioned that I should watch the form of protein she is getting since she is older now but they didn’t say WHAT protein to go for. Is there truth in that??

Of course, my main concern is that she is getting enough food. Is it ok that she is just eating one big meal a day but not touching her dry food the rest of the day??

[Nancy C]

A few thoughts, as I am studying this topic as well. FYI I have given my 10 yr old golden retriever the little round garlic capsules from Whole Foods-pinkish label. One in AM and one in PM. I drop it in her food bowl. We live on a wooded lot in NC and I have NEVER seen a flea on her! I studied for 6 years for a PhD and my chair was the founding president of the American Holistic Medical Assoc, a former Harvard Neurosurgeon, BUT VERY BIG ON avoiding chemicals and pharmaceuticals whenever possible (which can be most of the time actually). He is very informed on holistic remedies, incl homeopathic, and says HE uses a product called CEDARCIDE on his several dogs for ticks and fleas. Says it’s great and it works! He lives in Missouri also in the country/ woods. It’s sold at Amazon by the quart but you can get a better deal by ordering a gallon. My container arrived yesterday and I have already sprayed it on the dogs. It has a cedar-ish fresh smell. Dr. S told me he just sprays and rubs it into the fur a couple times a week. Reviewers swear by this stuff. It’s called “BEST YET” by Cedarcide. And it is super – SAFE! My doc advisor does not put the chemicals in his dogs either. I have not asked him about heartworms but I will. Someone ELSE Who has several dogs and who I respect told me there is a product called PBG-51. The link to the site is http://www.firstchoicenaturals.com/resourcearticles/parasitesbegonefrom mypet.php. I am told that this product is not advertised for heartworms for legal reasons BUT it protects against them. I am studying that now as would like to get OFF Sentinel. I used to give my golden Sentinel only half the year. Two yrs ago my vet sat me down and nicely chewed me out saying the dog is vulnerable in NC all year around. So I promised I would keep her on it. Last thing – I am the one who has the GSD who was 18 mos in jan and wandered into big digestive troubles trying to transition him to Origen then to ACADA — several of you have helped me so much. I have discovered in this awful experience with all his loose stools and diarrhea that a flea/tick collar I bought at the vet (Solesto – made by Bayer) is probably one of the culprits for my Shepherd’s digestive disorder. The DAY after the vet’s secretary fitted Axel with the collar he had diarrhea IN the house and IN the yard. Everywhere he went the entire weekend diarrhea was falling out of him. I was going crazy. Two weeks later I realized that it was NOT the HILLS nasty WD Rx dry food he was on that caused this sudden diarrhea– geeze that stuff is like eating HAY and no way could he have the squirts on it. I had just started giving him a little Science Diet Sensitive Stomach. BUT I bought that collar as I went out the door at the vet. It HAD to be the collar. I looked on line and found that among all the LOVERS of the collar there are some detractors as well whose dogs also had bad diarrhea. So watch out about that collar!
That’s all I know for now. PS: Cedarcide gets rid of all insects, including BED BUGS!!
Nancy C

[InkedMarie]

Naturalla: I don’t do this but there are people, some friends of mine, who naturally raise their
puppies and they get no vaccines, except rabies. I say this because people have this
thought that you must listen to your vet regarding vaccines. I’m not telling anyone to
listen to their vet or don’t. I listen to my holistic vet only, not my regular vets. One of them
is actually fine with me doing what I believe is correct; the other one, not so much. The
other one is a VCA owned clinic and they push everything and anything. I use them only
because of their long clinic hours. You didn’t say this but I hate reading of people who’s
told them what they had to do. It’s your (general your) dog, no one can make you give
vaccines, get them altered, etc.

So, anyway, with Boone, he had way more shots than I normally would have done but he’s 8, I wasn’t so in tune to stuff like titers. Ginger came to me at almost five months of age and she
had more vaccines than I would have given her. If I ever get another puppy, I will probably do one round of puppy shots and call it a day, titering after that. Dogs should get their immunity from their moms.

[Susan]

You said that ur dogs itch none stop, you must start with an elimination diet, I started one about 1 month ago as my boy has Pancreatitis & enviornment allergies we dont know if he has food allergies that’s why I’d say the vet suggested an elimination diet, The vet said the first month just feed boil chicken but I knew my boy could eat boil chicken so I added cooked pumkin, then when I saw he wasnt scratching or rubbing his tummy on my beautiful white rug the next week I added sweet potato within 2 days Patch was rubbing on my carpet so I stopped the sweet potato & know he cant have sweet potato or a kibble with sweet potato…. then I added pasta another NO it made him itch then I read dogs with skin problems like yeast & bacteria shouldnt eat carbohydrates, potatos, sweet potatos etc, then I added half a boiled egg & he’s been good, Im thinking of adding broccoli next.. Im reading Raw & Natural Nutrition for Dogs by Lew Olson PhD she has help me understand alot of things & this group its a easy book to read & very easy recipes, she explains what foods aren’t good & what foods are good for certain illness, like Skin problems & what causes ur dog to itch, Pancreatitis Diabetes, Gastro problems, feeding senior dogs, getting a pup onto raw etc, she has cooked recipes & what supplements to add.. in the elimination diet you cannot give any treats nothing, just that one food for 2 weeks then 2 foods so on.. you must cook all vegetables so they are fully cooked, she even suggest to pulped vegetables as dogs digestive system weren’t meant to eat vegies, here’s one of her recipes for Skin allergies a Low Glycemic regular fats Diet..this is for a 50 pound dog to be divide into two or more smaller meals per day.
8 ounces 1 cup regular fat ground beef
2 ounces 1/4 cup beef liver or kidney
2 eggs scrambled or boiled
4 ounces 1/2 cup steamed or boiled broccoli
4 ounces 1/2 cup cooked yellow crookneck squash
4 ounces 1/2 cup whole milk yogurt
Serve meat cooked or raw combined with cooked vegetables eggs & yogurt if serving meat cooked wait until meat & eggs have cooled before stirring in the yogurt…..
What I do is I cook once a fornight & freeze everything except the egg then put in fridge the night before to thaw for next day…

[Akari_32]

Since everyone is so in awe of my couponing, I figured I’d make a thread where everyone can post their couponing trips, and ask coupon questions 🙂

Heres what I did today at PetSmart 🙂

1x 3lb bag of Simply Nourish Source Rabbit and Chicken cat food– reg. price $9.99
2x 5lb bags of Pet Botanics Grain Free Dog food (one Lamb, one Salmon)– reg. price $14.99 each, on sale for $9.99 each
2x 18 count (12oz) bags of Petit size Greenies– reg. price $16.99 each, on sale for $13.99 each
2x 3oz cans of Simply Nourish Source cat food (one Beef, one Venison)– reg. price $1.19 each, on sale for $1 each

Total regular price is $76.33, without tax (which is 7% here).
After Pet Perks sales are applied, $59.95, without tax. To the non-couponer, that would sound great, but to me, thats terrible! Thats like a quarter of my paycheck LOL

So my coupons were:

$5 off off any Natural or Specialty Dog or Cat Food (prints on the receipt of a previous purchase, and gives you a specific list of foods to choose from).
2x $5 off any 5lb or larger bag of Pet Botanics Grain Free Dog Food (found in a pamphlet by the food)
2x $10 off any 12oz or larger package of Greenies (Pet Supermarket coupon, received in an email. I will share that below)– These are pure gold!
2 cans free of any brand stated on the coupon (prints on the receipt of a previous purchase)
$4 off $20 Pet Supermarket Coupon (reveived in an email, and will share below)
$3 off any purchase $3 or more PetSmart coupon (prints on the receipt of a previous purchase)

After coupons and tax were applied, I scooted on out of there for just $17.07! And mom owes me $8 for the Greenies for her dog (Bentley) lol So really, I only paid $9.07 >=D

Here are those Pet Supermarket coupons!

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx294/Akari53/10offgreenies_zps12ab1fac.jpg

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx294/Akari53/april2014_Petscoop-4-off-20-April-2014_zps342f6f12.jpg

Remember when using competitors coupons at *any* store, that you check and make sure what stores they even take. My PetSmart will take PetCo, Pet Supermarket and PetLand coupons. They should take whatever is directly around them. And always follow any coupon, either manufacturer or competitor, to the tee. Manufactures pay the store back the face value of the coupon, PLUS 8 cents (sometimes more, its stated on the coupon). So they make money on these. If you continually screw them out of their 8 cents, even on accident, they’ll hate you forever. And they aren’t payed back for the competitor coupons, so use them well, or they can refuse to take them all together.

I have more to share! I just have to find them in my various dog and cat food threads LOL If anyone has any to share, post away! I love hearing about good deals 🙂

• This topic was modified 10 years, 11 months ago by Mike Sagman. Reason: Title changed from Coupons! to Dog Food Coupons
• This topic was modified 10 years, 11 months ago by Mike Sagman.

[aquariangt]

DFA rates foods based on what’s in the food for the star rating system. They keep a collection of recall notices and such to be taken into account that you can read about on the top bar there.

However, because of these other issues, that’s why BB doesn’t end up on the Editor’s Choice lists. There are many 4-5 star foods that don’t make the list, and there a few reasons why, but the things that have been in said in this thread are some of the reasons that BB isn’t

[Bobby dog]

Hi C4c:
I don’t know if you read all of this thread, but I made a “grocery store” food list. We discussed it before how our cats can/are addicted to Purina foods for various (mostly unhealthy) reasons, what are we gonna do? So I have a list of the less offensive varieties from Fancy Feast, Sheba, Purina One, and Pro Plan. The difference between Purina’s Friskies and other lines is basically you will find a named meat first in allot of them, some don’t add fish, some may contain artificial colors/flavors and some don’t, all have K3, and maybe some other undesirable ingredients. If you want I can share my list and you can see what I have weeded out solely on ingredients and carb values.

I get frustrated paying almost $2.00/can for good food only for my cats to snub it. So I am now rotating in some Purina foods. After figuring out the carbs for each recipe, then eliminating recipes that don’t have named meats first and are high in carbs you are pretty much left with the pate varieties. I have a few fish recipes in there also because my cats still crave their fish.

Go to the Purina website and at the top of the screen you will find a button for coupons. They have a buy one get one free of the Pro Plan canned cat food. This month there are also Fancy Feast and Purina One coupons along with some others that I don’t use for dry dog and cat food. Sheba offers coupons on their Facebook page.

[Rachael C]

Hi apologises if there is already a post regarding which puppy/dog food is the best but I am rather new to all this.

We are collecting our 8 week old Labrador puppy called ‘Charlie’ next week. He is currently on IAMs puppy food. When I researched puppy food to find the best online deals it opened up a whole can of worms. Lots of different brands started to grab my attention. Which would you say is the best dry food. As much as the ‘raw diet’ sounds appealing it is just not achievable. I am a busy full time mummy of 5 children ranging from 6-years to 2-years so do not want to commit to that sort of high maintenance diet.

I would be very grateful of any help. Never had a dog before

[Susan]

My boy has Chronic Pancreatitis & IBD & Allergies, Ive been doing alot of reading about Pancreatitis. Ive read that kibble isnt good as the Pancreas has to work harder digesting kibble putting more strain on the Pancreas, have you thought of cooking.. I’ve been boiling chicken breast & pumkin & an egg, I freeze the chicken breast in meals sizes & I freeze the little bits of pumkin, I take out the night before & put in the fridge for breakfast, I boil a egg every second day cause I only give him half boiled egg at breakfast, I shread the chicken & mash the pumkin & mash the egg all together so its all mushed up, easier to digest, also make sure any vegetables or grains are well cooked to make them easier to digest. I then warm in micro wave.. At night I give his kibble only..this has helped the chicken pumkin & egg his pain has gone that he was having under his right rib cage, he’s not coming over to me no more for me to rub his side like when I just had him on kibble.. I’d say that she’s having pain then not wanting to eat. maybe try a low fat can food if u don’t want to cook but I havent found a can food that is low enough in fat, thats why I cook..Ive read that Diabetes & pancreatitis are closely linked, Dogs with Diabetes are often prone to Pancreatitis & vice versa..here’s some Low-Glycemic vegetables you can cook with chicken breast or lean low fat ground beef broccoli or cauliflower, cabbage, summer squashes zucchini, dark leafy greens mustard greens & spinach.. I mite try adding some zucchini, I dont know about spinach I always was told if ur constipated eat spinach…Im reading a book called “Raw & Natural Nutrition for Dogs” by Lew Olson PhD.. it has easy recipes for Pancreatits, diabetes, bladder, liver, heart, cancer etc, she explains what not to feed when ill..also what vitamins to add, excellent read.. the book cost about $11 online..

[dendad]

The thing is, the Science Diet your buying now isn’t the same as it was when you started using it. Like you, I used Science Diet for all my dogs for many, many years. Dog food companies change their formulas for various reasons, mostly economical reasons. Science Diet changed their formula several times over the years that I used it. I fed my dogs twice a day, so it was very easy to tell when the food looked and smelled different. You can see some info on one of these changes here:

/dog-food-news/hills-science-diet-new-recipes/

Be sure to read the entire article, including the updates.

I truly hope your dog’s “replacement” does fine with Science Diet. For me, I’ve learned my lesson and am still grieving the loss of my best friend.

[Bobby dog]

Hi Akari:
I totally understand that you don’t have the best area to feed raw, me neither, but it sounds like Kitty may like raw to me. If you tore off a piece and he ate it, I would say he probably likes it or is at least curious. My cats do not even entertain the idea of eating something they don’t like. lol I would keep giving it a try, tearing the meat off of the bone might be more appealing to him, maybe even try a different meat. Try feeding a little peice of raw maybe once a week to start with and see how it goes. You can always freeze some portions so it doesn’t go to waste. I will be trying some raw for my kitties soon!

I have never used a cat fountain, but I would take the suggestions of Jake’s mom and Bcn and keep introducing him to it by leaving it off most of the time and turning it on little by little. Peaking his interest and getting him used to the fountain could just be a matter of more time and patience. I wouldn’t give up on it, give him time to get used to it.

I don’t know of any type of water additive.

Earlier in this thread you wrote you made his food almost soupy in consistency by adding water. Do you still do that? You can also try mixing the meat water into his wet food. That extra flavor might appeal to him. Did you make bone broth or did you boil the meat? Just wondering what you ended up making.

If he is not drinking enough water I would suggest doing anything to get fluids into him consistently (nothing harmful of course), so if it has to be fish flavored water then let it be fish flavored water! Look over the suggestions from catinfo for getting kitties hydrated. There’s also clam juice and Catsip too.

If you feel his urination habits have changed or seem abnormal I would not hesitate to take him to the Vet. You can’t fool around with UTI’s. I will add that the size of the litter balls you described are on average what I remove from my litter box; sometimes bigger, sometimes smaller. But what is normal for my cats might not be Kitty’s normal litter box habits.

[dukesmomma]

my Blue nose is on Nusentia probiotic Miracle and on Nusentia Enzyme Miracle. They have worked wonders my question is does anyone know anything that is comparable and works great? The reason is I live in Canada and I get this stuff from the states I just got my order today and paid $119.00 on line and $14.91 at the door (which I never had to pay at the door before) It’s just getting more and more expensive each time I order (mind you I used to take him to the vet and pay an arm and a leg every three to five weeks with ear infections and food allergy and secondary staph infections which caused him to lose fur and since I have had him on this all that has stopped) If i have to I will continue to pay the price of the product I am already using so my dog can be healthy and happy, but I would prefer if there was another product out their It has to be gluten (grain/wheat) free and doesn’t cost so much. Please no spammers try to get me to buy some cheap product that doesn’t work and is harmful to my duke he is not just my dog but my child. I want REAL help. Thank you!

[Jackie T]

I am trying to find a grain-free food that both of my Papillons, 6 months and 3 yrs, will eat and maintain a good weight. One of my cats has grain allergies so all food must be grain-free. I have been switching from Orijen/Acana to Blue Wilderness to Wellness Core, trying to find a happy solution. The pup ate puppy formula until the last bag (last week which I mixed with the wilderness adult) at six months does she still need puppy food? It seems that the higher protein/fat content is more palatable for them, except the Core, they both ate around it. I have read the non-GMO list and found that the Orijen/Acana is one of the foods listed there. It is the food I used for my first Pap and the pup until recently, should I stick with it? my cats both eat Orijen/Acana too. Is switching between the different formulas in the Orijen/Acana line enough or should it be different brands of food? Thanks for your in-put.

[Shasta220]

I’ve just kinda skimmed through the past few posts, but I read “Patch smells like yeasts my friend said it’s like mold.” I knew a dog once who had that distinct smell. They couldn’t figure out anything in his diet! and they bought an anti fungal shampoo (I believe it was Malaseb), have never had the problem since. The dog didn’t have any itching though, so I still think Patch probably has allergies… There’s that slight chance he might also have a skin fungus and shampoo would help clear it up.

If he has any outdoor allergies, have you any access to local raw honey? I know of some super allergy prone dogs that get a spoonful of raw honey every day and can now go outside in the worst allergy seasons without a problem.

[Susan]

Yes, his vet gave me a list of human Antihistamines last spring, when he was getting what looked like hives under his fur on his back & neck but that went away & I never bothered with the Antihistamines…I live Australia & its Autunm now & we’re having rotten raining days, I think what Shasta said is a good idea the wipes as Ive been trying not to wet his feet & keep them real dry, I dry them as soon as we walk in the door he knows his routine collar off dry feet. I do bath him weekly in his Malaseb medicated shampoo which helps heaps, but after 3 days the yeasty smell is coming back the yeasty smell started about 3 weeks ago & he was scratching one ear so I put his Dermotic ear drops in his ear & it went away… I saw a new different vet 1 month ago cause Patch was having real bad acid reflux since December & Patches old vet just put him on Zantac & carafate that worked but not 100% he was having pain on his right side under his right rib cage on & off.. the new vet looked at all Patches blood test & listen to everything that had been happening with Patch & he said it looks like Patch has IBD, Chronic Pancreatitis & skin allergies…there’s Acute Pancreatitis which is usually a one off incident from a reaction to a drug or an illness then there’s Chronic Pancreatitis is when several acute occurrences happen over time damaging the pancreas, the vet said we’ll start him on an low fat elimation diet..the first month which was March just gone, he said start with just boiled chicken, so I give just under 1 cup of shreaded boiled chicken then 1 week later I added 1 heap tablespoon of Butternut pumkin then I added 1/2 boiled egg all mashed up, for breakfast.. I still give Patch his vet prescription Eukanuba Intestinal that’s he’s been on since August, I give him his kibble at night I soften in water then drain the water, with his Intestianal kibble his skin goes good.. I found just the chicken & pumkin wasnt filling him up & he looked like he was losing weight, so I put him back on the Intestinal just at night. I want to get him off the Intestianl kibble, Ive read kibble isnt good for dogs with Chronic Pancreatitis to much work on their Pancreas, Oh, the only other thing he has is a little slice of banana in the morning & at night..thats all he eats, Chicken Butternut pumkin, egg & his kibble that is also chicken & turkey.. I thought chicken allergy but his kibble is chicken…what’s the diference with a normal pumkin & butternut pumkin. Im wondering would there be a difference..I started the elimation diet about 1 month ago then the last 3 weeks we’ve had rain..thats what makes me think its the wet grass & wet walk ways..now Im starting to think maybe the Butternut pumkin.. I dont know… I’ll see the vet this afternoon that’s Patches old vet & see what she says, she’s an American vet that came to Austraila after getting married in the 90’s.. I think she gets real confused with Patch too….he does her head in..

[Susan]

I forgot to mention Patch smells like yeast my friend said he smells of mold, I said mold, I dont give Patch sugar the only sweet thing Patch eats is Banana a few little pieces, I didnt realise that the Jazz biscuit had sugar in them but he doesnt have them anymore, Ive cut out the carbs No Potatotoes or sweet Potatoes, Patches paws got real bad 3 weeks ago, we’ve had rain on & off for over 2 weeks, I dry his paws after a walk but u cant dry in between his toes that’s where they’re real red & sores are, they look like red blisters.. I put his Apex Antibiotic cream on them & they start to get better, then the other paw starts going red & sore the next day, its like it’s spreading, one day the back paws are bad then next the front paws are bad, I think it could be from walking on the wet grass, but Ive been on the computer & he has been sleeping & all of a sudden he goes mad with the licking his paw, I look & his paw will be red swollen & we have would of went for a walk about 2 hrs before, this is why I dont know is it food or is it the wet..Ive booked an appointment with the vet this afternoon as Ive been trying to treat his paws over the 3 weeks & they get better then it rains then they seem to get sore again, I’ll see what she says, I bought him shoes but he wont walk in them, the poor thing looks like he’s walking on the moon, Its very hard cause I mite feed him & it happens or we go for a walk & it mite happen, maybe it was going to happen & Im blamming the food or the rain, the elmination diet he’s sort of on one now, no treats, no different foods, he’s on a very bland diet low fat diet cause he has Pancreatitis & IBD as well..thats why I made him the Banana cookies, as a treat, I gave one to him 1 hr ago & nothing has happened this time.. YET..

[Shasta220]

Glad that he’s gonna be okay, and hope you feel better soon! I’ve had my darn foot beat up three times in the last month (first I stepped on a jagged rock, then it got kicked by a horse, and THEN my cow decided to step on it….uggggggh!)

I’ll also agree with Patty, that popping em seems to make them even /more/ mischievous. I have some friends that own two golden/labs, and they are completely old fashioned with the whole smacking your dog when it’s bad…. They think it’s the best, and get quite confused when I say “I don’t need to hit my dogs as a correction.” Their dogs are friendly/calm as can be, but they don’t ever understand the correction. They go get into the chicken coop, then come back out. Owners run over and smack them…..they just think they’re getting popped as a regular thing, they don’t understand “oh. I went in there. That was bad. Oops.”
Luckily they’re very easy going dogs and forgive quickly….if anyone dared to try that “method” on my Loki, they’d prob end up in the hospital and then go shoot him. He will not put up with getting shoved around like that, and I can’t say I’d blame him!

Sorry for that vent….not sure what that has to do w leave it.

But that’s good he does know those commands! Try to get to the point where he might ignore /anything/ unless you gave him the “ok!” (“Ok” is about the easiest one to learn. It just means “free time” or “you can have it”. I’m sure he already knows it pretty well. I always do it in a super-excited higher pitched voice so they know that they can take a break from working, or gobble up that food.)

[theBCnut]

Kibbles are pretty much all high carb because they need the carbs to hold the kibble together. Think about using a low carb canned food instead. There is a topic on the review side for diabetic dog foods and there is someone(USA Dog Treats) that monitors that thread and is very knowlegable about diabetes.

[Bobby dog]

I have to write that I am very cautious as to the treats I feed my guys. That was part of Bobby’s skin problem. Along with feeding canned Pedigree I was feeding bad treats. As soon as I stopped feeding them, his skin quickly improved. No more itchiness, redness, or foul odors! lol Poor little guy. I have been making bisquits here and there for Bobby, other than that I freeze the meat that comes off of the bones when I make the bone broth and use that for treats.

As far as cleaning a cats teeth, I have been lucky and never had any issues. I gently remove any tarter with my finger nails when I do see it.

I asked Shasta a question a few days ago about the raw food she wrote that she fed her cats. She mentioned it on one of the threads recently. We need to track her down and find out what she feeds and how it is working out for her. I wouldn’t mind trying raw meat with the bone, but I am also interested in a cut of meat for teeth cleaning without bone for my older kitty who’s teeth are a little questionable; he just lost one recently. Maybe she would have some recommendations for us.

[Bobby dog]

For canned meats avoid MSG, soy oil, and lots of sodium. You would want it to be packed in H2O with minimal ingredients listed on the label. And you would not need alot of canned meat. I know I listed a tuna water recipe for you on this thread somewhere (from catinfo) and I believe she used one can of tuna mixed with H2O.

If you want to buy fresh meat what kind do you think you will use? Ground or whole? If you are looking for something simple I would get ground meat (you won’t need much) and lightly cook it in a frying pan.

Let’s say lightly fry a 1/4 lb of lean ground meat. No other ingredients needed. When it is just cooked (maybe a little pink in color) take it off the burner and let it cool. When the meat is cool enough to touch, dab it with a paper towel to remove as much excess fat as possible. Then put it in a bowl big enough to add H2O to. At this point I would say how much water you add depends on how concentrated you want it to be.

Lightly baking chicken or turkey (bone in or boneless) would be another option. You could also give canned wild caught Mackeral or Salmon (packed in H2O) a try. I know you don’t want to use fish (and good job steering clear of any fish by the way), but if it is temporary I don’t think it would hurt him.

These are all just some ideas for you. I haven’t made kitty meat H2O, but I would make it for my kitties if I needed to quickly. As I wrote in the other reply I make a bone broth which takes 24 hours. I always have some in the freezer. Sometimes I make flavored H2O out of it, sometimes I give it to them full strength, and sometimes I just mix it in their food.

[Bobby dog]

On making the flavored H2O, I would try making flavored H2O out of anything that is good for cats, but I wouldn’t feed my cat a canned broth due to the ingredients or broth made from a boullion cube for example.

I would and do make bone broths for my animals out of whatever meat goes on sale at the grocery store. I brew my recipe for 24 hours in a crock-pot which my family gets mad about because I am cooking for my pets not them. lol

I am not sure if you like to cook, but you could get some meat (ground, boneless, or with bones), bake it or fry it lightly, and make some flavored H2O from that. I freeze the extra broth I make in icecube trays then put the frozen cubes in a zip lock bag for later.

I would imagine you could also find canned meat like chicken (in the aisle with canned tuna) to make flavored H2O as well. Just read the labels to make sure there isn’t any bad ingredients inside!

[Akari_32]

I have a question for you guys…

I changed the litter to the Blue Buffalo walnut stuff, and at first he didn’t really want to use it, but gave in a few hours later and then hasn’t seemed to mind since (this was two nights ago). I’m noticing that since switching to this litter, he pees in really small amounts, like when he had his UTI.

He did get locked in the roommates room all day one day, but he peed in her cloths, so I don’t really think he had to hold it long, if at all that day. He’s also been out side a few time and got hot to the point where he was panting (he really likes it out side….), but I made sure to extra water (on top of the water I already add) to his food after wards.

So, I mean, there have been a *few* instances were he could have gotten a UTI, but I don’t really think it was enough to cause one (two play times outside with lots of water afterwards, and a day locked in a room where he found a place to pee anyways). My thought is its the new litter, and he’s sort of unsure about it. I just noticed last night that he was peeing in small amounts, and thats the night after I started using this litter. Since then, I’ve been adding lots of water to his food. Like, he’ll lap all the water up, eat some of the food, then leave, and I’ll sneak in and add some more water before he comes back. And I’ve started back feeding him smaller meals (so that he has more chances to get water in while eating). How long is it ok to let this go on before going to the vet? I know cats don’t like drastic changes in their litter, and some are just spoiled rotten when it comes to adjusting, but if it is a UTI again, I want to get it taken care of as soon as possible.

And I know some people said fish water to get him to drink. I don’t really want to do anything with fish, so can I do, like, chicken broth, or beef broth, or something? Its the same idea, and less smelly, right? lol I’m also still looking for a fountain waterer, but he didn’t seem to thrilled about the running sink water, so I don’t really think he’d go for a fountain…

*side note: I hate this litter and once this stuff is gone, I’m not going back! My room smells like coffee and cat pee!!*

[Susan]

Yes, Im reading a book called ‘Raw & Natural Nutrition for Dogs’ By Lew Olson, PhD..She recommends a Low-Glycemic diet, high in protein & fat & low Carbohydrates…there are stories through out her book, one is about a dog called Jake a Doberman/Labrador mix, who started to have seizures when he was 3 years old, Jake was whats called a “Cluster” meaning he always had multiple seizures close together, Despite trying everything from conventional medications to acupuncture, his owner Jo was unable to get the seizures under control.. After exhausting all the usual medical avenues, Jo started to look elsewhere for alternative treatments, joining an online Epilepsy group, one of the things recommened by the group was a raw diet. With nothing else left to lose Jo started Jake on a new raw diet, Within five months Jake had gone from having seven seizures every two weeks to one a month, Her vet was astonised at the drastic improvement a raw, fresh food diet had made when all the other treatments failed..There’s more on how she explains how the sugar in carbohydrates can affect epilepsy, hypothyroidism, diabetes, allergies, arthritis, & yeast infections & how a low-glycemic diet is a good defense against all of these conditions.. Dogs dont have a nutritional need for carbohydrates..there’s more to read but too much to write..she has simple recipes in her book for illnesses, its an excellent read, its online for around $10..

[Carl L]

Hi all, I posted this in the Editor’s Choice forum as well, but realized it applies to any 5-star kibble:

We have a new dog (1 1/2 year Lab) and need to settle on a quality commercial food. Commercial raw and 5-star canned food is out of our price range. Most kibble is not.

I have been reading in many places that aside from cost and convenience, all things being equal, a quality canned food is probably slightly better for a dog than a quality kibble.

In Canada, there are not many 5-star canned foods in our range. Kirkland Cuts in Gravy is one. We can feed our 60 lb. Lab for under $100.

My question is, aside from convenience (not an issue in our case), does it make sense to go exclusive Kirkland canned versus a 5-star kibble since it is in our price range? What are the points against feeding this particular canned vs. any 5-star kibble? (We are leading towards Acana Regionals).

Of course we can go kibble and canned combined, but aside from price, I am not sure why we would do it?

Anyone willing to offer opinions?
Thanks in advance

[Carl L]

Hi all, this is my first post. Great place to hang out!

We have a new dog (1 1/2 year Lab) and need to settle on a quality commercial food. Commercial raw and 5-star canned food is out of our price range. Most kibble is not.

I have been reading in many places that aside from cost and convenience, all things being equal, a quality canned food is probably slightly better for a dog than a quality kibble.

In Canada, there are not many 5-star canned foods in our range. Kirkland Cuts in Gravy is one. We can feed our 60 lb. Lab for under $100.

My question is, aside from convenience (not an issue in our case), does it make sense to go exclusive Kirkland canned versus a 5-star kibble since it is in our price range? What are the points against feeding this particular canned vs. any 5-star kibble? (We are leading towards Acana Regionals).

Of course we can go kibble and canned combined, but aside from price, I am not sure why we would do it?

Anyone willing to offer opinions?

Thanks in advance

[Sarah Y]

I’m glad and not so glad seeing this thread. You are pretty much describing my 10 year old beagle. She LOVES food and always needs a slow eating bowl which works for her! She has always been a voracious eater and poop eater. She was recently diagnosed with giardia which can caught through eating feces or from drinking standing water. As soon as they diagnosed her, I knew exactly where she had caught it.

Because Scooter eats rabbit poop, cat poop, dog poop including her own, we tried the “forbid” powder. It’s supposed to keep them from eating their own feces. We were worried she would re-infect herself. We do a good job of cleaning up the yard, but we aren’t always fast enough to catch her from eating hers…gross, I know. The forbid powder worked for her. We gave it for a week and a half. Someone suggested we give it longer so maybe it would convince her not to eat it.

Now, I believe her stool eating got worse eating Wellness complete health food which has grains in it. I’m going to try a switch to a grain free food to see if it improves. We’ll see if it works!

• This reply was modified 11 years, 12 months ago by Sarah Y.

[Susan]

My boy was eating the neighbours cat poo, I was going to put a muzzle on him when he went outside as it was making him ill… I saw a Dog Behavourist & she told me to make sure everytime I was outside I watched him & teach him the words “LEAVE IT”… its easy to teach ‘leave it’ u get a 1 little treat or 1 of his kibbles & put it under ur foot when the dog smells it & goes near the treat u say ‘LEAVE IT’ when the dogs leaves the threat u wait then reward him with the treat thats under ur shoe, that way he cant quickly grab the treat under ur shoe, then when he seems to understand the word LEAVE IT u leave the treat next to ur foot or nearby on floor, same let dog see treat, if he goes to eat it say ‘NO, LEAVE IT’ then when he’s has left the treat wait then give him the treat, once they have learnt the word LEAVE IT when you see them about to eat something yuk u can say leave it. Now my boy leaves poo or any food in the street on our walks…But I did change his food he was always hungry, once he was put on another kibble & I increased to 3 cups the poo eating did stop, Im reading a really good book called ‘Raw & Natural Nutrition for dogs’ by Lew Olson PhD, she explained why some dogs eat poo, now I cant find the page about why & how to fix the problem but I remember her saying their poo isnt digested properly, unprocessed food & the dog can smell food not poop, & dog eats it, Ive read elsewhere to add some pineapple to the dogs food to stop poo eating but I dont know if it works..I’m busy at the moment but tonight I’ll speed read back thru the begining if her book & try to find what Lew Olson says, I remember thinking, she’s was right & that it made sense when I locked back on why my dog was doing it, I look thru her book later,

[Steven M]

I have not tried Divovite yet. I have 2 year old Bullmastiff that has been on Taste of the Wild/Bison pretty much since I rescued him (had him on Blue for about a month, the foster had him on a raw diet for a month and I have no idea what he was eating before)…He seems to be having food allergies, but can’t tie it down to one thing that he is allergic to. When he stays at the sitter’s for more than a day, he comes home licking and rashy. The first time it was small red bumps everywhere including his ears, eyes and jowls…The second time it was hot spots and the dry flaky bumps that others have talked about on this thread. Both times the vet prescribed antibiotics. The first time, he got a steroid shot and some eye and ear cream too…the second time I had to go to the vet twice and the second time he prescribed a second antibiotic and a steroid boosted antihistamine…and said that I could give my dog up to 15 Benadryl a day for the rest of his life. I agree with all of you that think that meds for life is ridiculous. I don’t think I want to go raw with his diet either. I am willing to try Dinovite, it isn’t that expensive for a 90 day supply (for my 120lb bully, $1 per day)…

I want to add this though- those concerned about diatamaceous earth need to do more research on it. I’ve used it several times all by itself to kill fleas. Non-food quality is used in pool and hot tub filters, food quality is used by farmers in their livestock foods to help fight intestinal parasites because it is actually crushed shells and corals and it cuts the parasites skin and causes them to dehydrate. Many sites will recommend it all by itself as a treatment to your pet’s coat to fight fleas and you can add it to food by itself for the same reasons farmers use it. I’ve never heard it being referred to as a “binder.” And to the post talking about the ingredients to the solvents and poisons including H2O, RIGHT ON man!!!! People are so worried about “chemicals” they can’t pronounce, but most people would not have any issues eating an egg…well you know eggs are chemicals and if you looked at the chemical make-up of an all natural egg, you wouldn’t be able to pronounce them either (Ovalbumin, Conalbumin, Ovamucoid, Ovomucin, Lysozyme, Avidin, Ovoglobulin, Ovoinhibitor) and that is just for the whites of the eggs….

[Austin L]

I’ve been a long time reader but thought I’d see if I could get some advice from the knowledgeable people on this board. Our 11 month old hound/boxer mix has recently (past 1-2 months) started eating poop. At first we didn’t even notice as he’d do it when running around on his own in the backyard. But then he had a few bouts of day long vomiting after we caught him doing it. When we keep him away from the poop it’s fine and he doesn’t have vomiting problems. We’ll have my fiance’s parents dog-sit him sometimes when we’re out of town and he’s gotten into poop there as well followed by vomiting. As soon as he vomits we limit him to chicken with yogurt and rice to help calm his stomach for the next few days.

He’s a VORACIOUS eater and as soon as he finishes eating he’s searching for more food. He’s 60 lbs and we feed him 4 cups a day (feeding twice daily) of high quality grain free food. We’ve rotated between Wellness Core Wild Game, Orijen Adult, Wellness Core Original, and Merrick Duck and Sweet Potato. We feed him in a bowl designed to help slow him down as well. We also just finished a regimen of probiotics that we purchased about 2-3 months ago to help with loose stools, which worked wonders.

What I’m wondering is if we need to possibly switch him to a food with grain in it. He never ever seems full and will run out and eat poop right after he finished his meal if he’s allowed. Also, should we try a digestive enzyme as well? Any suggestions would be great we just want to find something that we can stick with to help him. Thanks!

EDIT: Also I forgot to mention he’s always had issues with fairly constant anal gland secretions. Nothing huge, just little bit every couple of days.

• This topic was modified 11 years, 12 months ago by Austin L.

[Sarah Y]

Besides protein differences, are there are other differences in senior versus adult food?

I have two senior beagles…both are within normal weight range but it’s a struggle. They get some excercise with a 15-20 minute walk in the morning and a 30-45 minute walk in the evening…every day (unless it’s pouring down rain). My 10 year old, 22 lb beagle was just diagnosed with a luxating patella. I was shocked as all her vet checks have never shown this problem. The vet said it’s possible it was undetected due to muscle mass and as they get older they lose muscle mass.

They eat Wellness senior dog food because the 10 year old had some abnormal kidney values a couple of times and her urine specific gravity can be low at times due to how much water she drinks (she has always been that way). So I chose wellness for the low phosphorus level (.75). The vet thinks she may have some renal deficiences so her take is to be cautious and keep an eye on it.

I was considering a change to blue wilderness senior as it’s grain free and higher in protein. The red meat formula has .7 phosphorus and the regular senior has .9. Any thoughts on this? As fo rmy other beagle, she’s 37 lbs and her only health issue is an autoimmune disease that affects her nails. Oh and the 10 year old recently had full anal glands. Just though I would mention that.

If you would prefer I start another thread, just let me know. Thank you…

[Nancy C]

Interesting. I’m the one with the now 20 month old GSD with the afternoon loose stools who had been doing beautifully on TOW High Prairie (5 stars) until I transitioned to Origen and Acana. Simultaneous to that I was giving him some Bully Sticks from “BEST BULLY STICKS” (an internet site). I had studied Bully Sticks and the way these were made sounded the best. The small company in Virginia appears to be very conscientious about producing a quality and safe product. They are aware of potential problems re Bully Sticks and say they have implemented some techniques that ensure safety. I had ordered inch thick ones. Have been wondering if he got a particular bacteria from those sticks that contributed to this inflammatory bowel condition he is now in. Our weather was bad during Feb when this started and I gave him one every other day to help tide us all over until our bad weather cleared up. At first I had put them in my deep freeze bec I had read that that would kill any unknown bacteria. Then I stopped doing that. Nice weather is here and I do not plan to give him anymore of those. May freeze the remaining ones all summer in prep for winter. He DID enjoy chewing on them and I do not blame this company. I think they are very committed to producing a sound product. They have an interesting video on their web site.

[Shawna]

Okay, friend in California — let’s call her T.. T rotates (you know me and rotation) between the Preference and Steve’s and adds raw antelope, buffalo, beef etc. These are all no bone in commercial products she gets from a local puppy boutique in her area.

The premix she was using (that he dog was reacting to) is called NDF2. Just realized it has wheat brand and germ too. For some reason I was just remember the oats??? http://www.volharddognutrition.com/natural-diet-foundation-2/natural-diet-foundation-2.html She had heard about the diet on a Yahoo group and a premix was appealing to her so she could rotate the meat. But she wasn’t rotating the NDF at all.

She feeds raw green tripe once a week, fasts the dogs once a week and makes her own kefir using raw milk and kefir grains (it is legal to buy raw milk in California). She feeds a REALLY good diet. After reading a previous post about some of the other symptoms you are seeing in Hannah however, I highly doubt the elevated liver values are due to detoxing like was the case in T’s dog.

If it ends up being the liver you might want to look in to Dr. Dodds liver diet using white fish and potato. White fish creates less ammonia which in turn is less stressful for the liver as it is the liver that has to convert the ammonia to urea. There are also supplements that can be considered — such as Sam-e and milk thistle in therapeutic doses, Standard Process Hepatic Support and so on. I have a contact at SP that can help with product recommendations if wanting to go that route.

You might want to also consider a phone consult with a nutritionist or a holistic vet once you have an official diagnosis. Treating cushings will be somewhat different than treating liver cancer. Mary Straus, Dr. Becker, Dr. Dodds, Naturopathic Vets Dr. Jeannie Thomason or Kim Bloomer, Dr. Peter Dobias, Dr. Christina Chambreau, Dr. Martin Goldstein, Dr. Barbara Royal (Darwins) etc might be some to consider speaking with. Jacqueline at Answer’s might have suggestions for diet or vets to speak with too? I could contact her on your behalf. I’m guessing you’ve already determined the diet for cushings can be high protein, lower fat/purines and carb.

Dr. Becker has several video/articles on cushings if that is the diagnosis or if you want to get info early before a definitive diagnosis. She talks about typical and a-typical cushings as well as causes (she, and others, feel early spaying can cause a-typical as an example) and dietary prevention (which you were doing by feeding lower carb, moisture rich.

[Shawna]

Hi Dori,

One of the key differences between holistic practitioners (truly holistic that is) and allopathic practitioners is that the holistic ones see a change (even if still in normal ranges) as a possible “sign” that something might be going on. Rather than dismissing a mildly high liver enzyme they would treat it even if no sympotms are present. Dr. Becker refers to this as the “grey area”. If you think about it, it makes sense. The body doesn’t just become ill one day. The kidneys lose function before symptoms are seen. The liver is quite stressed before liver enzymes become abnormal. Cancer has already taken a foothold when cancer is usually diagnosed. I love how Certified Clinical Nutritionist Radhia Gleis describes it “you wait till the horse is out of the barn, you wait till there’s symptoms and on a scale from zero to one hundred, a hundred being absolute perfect health and zero being death, we don’t start to really experience sympotms until we’re at about 30. So 60% of the vital energy of the body is diminished and then all of the sudden the body is knocking on the door saying there’s something seriously wrong. At that point pathology has set in or disease is already set in and the horse is already out of the barn.” She says “Our job is to catch you when you are in a biochemical imbalance, and restore that balance before disease and symptoms starts to manifest.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMiBuAWvDB0

Holistically speaking, symptoms are an expression of disease, or imbalance in the body, that has been present but not addressed.

That doesn’t change anything you are dealing with now but I kinda wanted to address how truly holistic practitioners look at and treat versus how allopathic practitioners handle things. Cyndi, if you are reading this, I’m still available to talk but the last few weekends got away from me. I WILL make myself available this weekend any time if you want (well any time after 10:00 am Central time that is). 🙂 You have my number, just call when it is convenient for you…. Dori the offer is open to you as well if you ever want to email or talk..

Starting another post to address you questions as this one is long already…

• This reply was modified 11 years, 12 months ago by Shawna.

[Mike Sagman]

The answer to most of your questions about how we manage the EC list can be found about midway down the Editor’s Choice FAQ page.

The answer to the question about why brands are sometimes removed from the list follows:

“Members should not be surprised to see some changes to our Editor’s Choice list as new information is discovered or brought to our attention.

“So, in the spirit of keeping the list short enough to be useful to our readers, we may sometimes be compelled to remove one good company to make room for others under consideration.

“Of course, there are many reasons a particular brand may or may not be included. And these reasons are typically subtle.

“In any case, to ensure our freedom to make these opinion-based adjustments freely and as needed, we must reserve the right to keep some of the rationale we use to make these decisions private.”

Hope this helps.

[Bobby dog]

Yeah, I was just thinking about that, is it possible he likes my dog more than he likes me? lol. What about leftovers for me? He does adore Bobby and he’s one of Bobby’s favorite people; he has four favorites. Every morning he trots over to his house and returns with a bisquit. I am lucky to live next door to a neighbor that loves Bobby probably almost as much as I do. My mother was ill and hospitalized for five days just before New Year’s eve this year. I called him from the hospital late in the evening to ask if he could feed and let Bobby out because I didn’t know when or if I would be getting home. He didn’t hesitate to say yes and even kept him at his house until I got home.

I like his litter box designs. Some of the openings looked narrow and long to me, but I understand his thought behind the opening shapes. I think I like the size of the opening on catinfo’s better (it’s worked well for my cats). But, his are good to keep in mind because you never know when a design might need to be tweeked for some reason. I also like leaving the top rim of the box intact (catinfos design). My thought would be for better support to keep the box square. Idk Also, I know on catinfo she mentions different theories on where you might want to put an opening (long or short side). I put the opening on the short side of the first box because of where I was putting it and it hasn’t caused any problems, such as litter getting scattered. On the second one I put the opening on the long side. My cats don’t seem to have a preference. I really feel they are just in awe of all the space they have inside. They actually look more interested in using the litter box. lol It’s funny to watch them the first few times because they almost seem overwhelmed by all the possibilities of where they can dig their hole.

I am going to look into the mats he suggested. I just put an old car mat outside of the one in the basement.

I also checked out the prices of the litter he suggested, the chicken layer feed, very interesting. I can still get clumping unscented TSC litter a few pennies cheaper/lbs, but I might give it a try this summer on the porch just to see how it works. I already planned on trying corn pellets from TSC as litter; it is 40 lbs/$7.00. I started using corn pellets for my horses this winter. I don’t use stalls but during inclimate weather they do urinate in a specific spot in their run-in. I previously used wood shavings which was a pain because I couldn’t put it in the regular manure pile. The people that pick up my manure for composting won’t take it if there is anything other than straw, hay, or manure in it.

Later on tonight I am going to look at the website again to see what other info I can find. It looks like a handy site. Thanks again. Oh, and the tote box from Wal-Mart is a Sterilite and was $20, maybe a little more. So, if your Wal-Mart doesn’t have it, maybe you can track one down from their website.

[banditsmom]

I’m just about certain, enough so I won’t feed it to my dogs. I’ve seen the same comments on 4 other forums Itchmo, Catster, Chihuahua People and Yorkie talk. I also found it on Truth about Pet Food Petsumer Report from Feb 2013. It said that the canned foods are made at Evangers and the dry foods in Georgia. I only fed Evangers once and my dogs didn’t like it and I didn’t like the rusty cans.
I’m a newbie and knew nothing about Evangers until I read this forum so I decided to look up what I could. I looked up Performance Pet and they own Canine Cattle a company that makes dog & cat food. Performance Pet makes Spring Naturals that was just reviewed and got 4 stars.
I found the comments in 4 different places plus in the Petsumer report. Although there is no factual material to back up the comments they sound reliable and they are repeated more than once.
I also read that the CC Facebook page admits this and names some other companies, Party Animal, Weruva, Addiction & another I forget that use Evangers. I wish I could remember where I saw this but didn’t mark it and I’ve searched and now of course I can’t find it. I am also probably the only one in Mass. who is not on Facebook so I couldn’t look it up.
I feed Weruva so I was not too happy and I called them. They said their Kobe line was manufactured there but that’s all. I also found that same exact info on Itchmo.
Other companies mentioned in my reading were Dave’s , Addiction, Wysong Au Jus, Party Animal, Wild Calling, Great Life and Holistic Select. The info on Holistic Select and Dave’s was from 2010 so things may have changed. I called Dave’s but they said they didn’t give that info out but they denied it. I also called Addiction because I feed that also and they said that their NZ line was manufactured in NZ but the others were manufactured at Evangers.they said they send someone to supervise the whole process. This is exactly what was said on one of the forums.
So, I believe the stuff about CC but I am going to call them and I will let you know what they say. Is it possible for one plant to manufacture all these foods and what is with the rusty cans? Some of the Dave’s cans in our pet store here have the same rust but I haven’t seen it on the Addiction or Weruva cans I’ve bought.

[theBCnut]

High protein does not cause liver problems or high liver levels, but after there is already a liver problem, the liver has a harder time dealing with as much protein. The high levels could be from something else, they could be a temporary increase due to some insult to her liver, like a toxic exposure, they could be because of some other disease process all together. You just can’t know yet. You may have to start adding carbs to her diet to reduce the protein levels, but you may need to do nothing at all, you just don’t know yet. If it turns out that she really is having liver issues, have your vet get you a recipe for a homemade diet for her. It will still be way better than anything you could buy.

She is much more likely to have come in contact with something on walks or whatever like that, than for the supplements that you gave her to have caused a problem. Unfortunately, this could be age, it could be longterm exposure to heartworm prevention, it could be from pesticides, even ones your neighbors used years ago, you may never know and liver problems can literally take a lifetime to pop up.

And yes, I do mean that most vets just feel, look, and listen to dogs at their yearly and never run blood work until there is already a known problem, so they never have normals to compare to.

Dori, at 14 1/2 years old, you would never want to treat her for heartworms and she would never have enough of them to have a serious case, so the first thing I would do would be to never give her another dose. BTW, when was her last dose in relation to when she had the blood work done? That alone could explain the elevated levels.

[Dori]

Ok Patty. So your basically telling me to calm down and wait and I could be freaking out thinking there’s nothing that will be able to help but that in actuality if it is the liver then there will be some things I can do to reverse the situation? Damn, sorry Patty, I now realize I am babbling. I’ve been checking the protein levels of all the raws that I feed and, of course, they are much higher than kibble but I don’t want to put her on kibble. I also took a look at protein levels for the Nzymes and I’ve had her on two other supplements that I had forgotten about from Ark Naturals Grey Muzzle line. One for cognitive and one for heart health. I just thought since she was older she might need some heart health and, also, due to her age I couldn’t really tell whether she sometimes seemed a little more out of things because of losing some hearing to old age or cognitive skills were being affected due to age. Everything has added protein. Could all that contribute to high liver levels. I should have left well enough alone and just fed her the raw with her glucosamine and not added other stuff. I have been giving them all milk thistle but since it comes in capsules I was dividing one capsule among the three dogs. Should I have been giving each one capsule? It just looked like so much. I should have posted that question. I know we all talked about milk thistle when losul’s Turbo was diagnosed with HW but I don’t think it was ever discussed as to how much or I just missed that part. I’m kicking myself right now thinking of all the things I may have done wrong. Like I said, other than hypothyroid Hannah has never ever had any health issues.

What do you mean it’s rare for vets to do yearly bloodwork? If they don’t then what’s the point of the yearly physical? Why would I take them then? I could look and feel them as well, actually, better than she can? Hmmmm? I should have insisted on a 6 month bloodwork instead of yearly. I read something about that somewhere that when dogs get older they should go every six months instead of yearly but she didn’t think it was necessary in the least because Hannah’s always been so healthy. And here I go rambling and babbling.

[theBCnut]

Somewhere there is a thread about bloat, but I don’t know where it’s hiding, but the take away is that they really don’t know what causes bloat. Every time they think they have a cause, they try to cause bloat and find that whatever they were testing doesn’t cause bloat. The current thinking is that there is no one reason that animals bloat, but that there may be several factors that have to be present at the same time to cause bloat. I can tell you that raw fed dogs are not known for bloating and they recieve a high fat diet compared to kibble fed dogs, so it can’t just be fat. Same with dogs fed canned foods.

They say that for bloat prone dogs that you should not feed a food with citric acid in it because this can cause gas build up in the stomach. And they also say to wet the food well before feeding it to allow it to absorb all the water that it can. And don’t allow your dog to drink water after eating, especially if fed a dry meal. I would always add digestive enzymes to any kibble being fed to a bloat prone dog, but I would strive to feed a more natural diet to these dogs.

[InkedMarie]

Tina, for your Golden & Corgi, getting weight off them is of the utmost importance, for their joints. I used Wellness Core Reduced fat with great success. While I have not used it, others have had luck with Annamaet Lean (this may need to be ordered as it’s not as widely available). Both can benefit from salmon oil added to their diet. You can use human form or buy those available online or at pet stores for dogs (I use human). Are they getting a supplement for their joints?

For the cocker & mixed breed, I’ve read that people use Nutri Source with good luck for dogs with sensitive stomachs.

I know nothing about colitis but hopefully someone else can answer. Its possible the foods I listed won’t work. If I was you, with dogs with issues, I’d consult a holistic vet who would be able to advise you on dogs with their issues and probably offer a non vet food. You could go to DogAware.com and contact Mary Strauss from there or Lew Olsen at b-Naturals.com.

Both of them could give you some advice. Good luck!

[Akari_32]

I already do get the food and she pays. And the likely good of her having time to pick food up between estimates and permits is very slim. There’s no help needed in that department. You all are the ones that feel there is. That’s not my problem. My problem was wanting to know how Pet Botanics compared to Pure Balance. What’s available is what’s available. If he can only eat one food, then so be it. Thousands of dogs do it. Moms going to do what it is she’s going to do, and she’s not going to change it till she has to (ie, I move out). Case closed.

[Dori]

Definitely rotate within the same brand but you need to find at least two other brands and rotate brands as well as proteins with all brands. A lot of people seem to have some problems with their dogs on BB. Remember, not every food is for every dog. Once you’ve done the complete transition to Merrick and his stools are fully formed then you can experiment with different proteins within the same brand, then begin to experiment with a different brand that has ingredients that your dog does well on. Slowly transition. Once that’s done and you’ve fed all the proteins on that brand, you’ll be in search of a third brand. Switching up within the brand is good so that you dog isn’t always eating the same protein and can possibly develop an intolerance to that protein. It’s also important to switch brands because even though the ingredients may be similar to the Merrick or whatever else you find, the proportions of proteins, fats, carbs, minerals, vitamins, essentially everything will be a little or a lot different from brand to brand so this way you can insure that your dog is getting a good balance. Also rotating is really very good in case there is a sudden recall in a brand you can immediately switch your dog off that food onto one that he’s already accustomed to. The more you rotate your dogs meals the easier you can move from food to food. Much much healthier for your dog. Healthy dogs will tolerate illnesses and minor recalls much better than an unhealthy dog. Hope I’ve answered your question and not babbled too much. Gotta go. Today is dog grooming at my house. I’ve done two of the girls, I’ve just got one to go. I’ll check in later.

[Nancy C]

YES I want to know too. Have a 20 month old GSD. My vet does not like deer antlers and anything else hard which includes BONES because they can easily crack a tooth and then you REALLY have a problem. I was surprised but she said if I saw some of the problems she sees due to cracked teeth I would agree with her. Rawhide is not digested so I do not give them to my dogs. Greenies are supposedly VERY BAD- plus our GSD chewed the XL ones in one minute. I found the website BESTBULLYSTICKS.com and they seem to have good ones. Go read that site. They explain WHY theirs are better. I ordered some and he LOVES THEM and a 12 inch takes him about 30 min. I take it from him after 15 min. I put them in the freezer a few days, thinking it will help with ANY bacteria left on the sticks. THe company says there is no bacteria due to their processing, but you never know. When this dog started getting runny stools I quit giving them to him because it COULD be bacteria in the stick that he cannot deal with. Now I’m dealing with runny stools. I also bought him a VARSITY BALL which is at Amazon and on the net. They are expensive but honestly this is more entertaining than a chew toy could ever be. Watch the videos of dogs playing with that toy. Plus, it wears him out. He cannot get enough of it. You might consider spending your chew toy money on this great entertainment. Good luck.

[T]

Have you tried feeding him any of the canned foods (Nature’s Variety Instinct, Merrick, etc.), fresh commercial foods (FreshPet, Just Food For Dogs, etc.), or considered cooking for him (Just Food for Dogs is a good option if you need a recipe)? Digestive enzymes may help as well as some alternative therapies such as herbs, acupuncture, food therapy, etc.

Westies are sort of known for exactly these sort of issues you’re describing. As they get older, it can definitely be even more of a challenge to figure out.

I’m a holistic veterinarian in Phoenix. If you were in my town, I would evaluate all of his symptoms, habits and preferences to try to identify imbalances. Then I’d use acupuncture, Chinese herbs and food therapy to help balance him. If you’re interested in this sort of veterinary care, you could check if there is a vet near you who knows about TCVM here: http://tcvm.com/Resources/FindaTCVMPractitioner.aspx

If you would like to read my articles about pet food, here is a link: http://naturalalternativesvet.com/category/blog/food-therapy-for-pets/

Good luck!
Tabitha

[Mary W]

Hi!
Thank you all. I know he is hungry and I’m a pharmacist with some medical knowledge and I know this u/d is high in grain, low in protein-therefore, he will eat his body’s own protein when he is hungry-he is NOT getting enough, I agree. I am just afraid to go back to the Wellness which he did so well on before the stone-main ingredient is chicken (protein). ALL I’ve read on the web is contradictory regarding oxalate stones (which require surgery).Some say acidic is bad, some say alkaline is bad-most say protein is bad etc. VERY CONFUSING. I will ask my vet about grain free but they clearly are not experts on nutrition as one of you wisely pointed out. I DID find a number of ‘veterinary’ site that provides nutritional counseling for dogs to your own vet.CAN ANYONE recommend one or have any knowledge of these places? You and your vet submit details to the nutritionists and they reccommend…if ANYONE has any knowledge on these places, please let me know and we will try that next-my vet is great but has no clue as to diets… Thank you ALL so much for taking the time…my dog should be well nourished and a healthy weight-just have to find the safest way to do that-I will increase food in the meantime.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Kim B –

Great points! Freeze-dried and human-grade foods are wonderful – you’ll find some on the Editor’s Choice list. However some of the goals in constructing this list was to compile a collection of foods which would meet our reader’s needs in terms of availability and convenience among other things – you can read more about the selection guidelines here: /choosing-dog-food/brand-guidelines/. The majority of dog owners feed kibble as either the main component of their dogs’ diet – it’s often readily available, it’s convenient and it’s more cost effective than most “alternative” foods – so we felt inclined to include various brands of kibble as the bulk of the report. After thorough investigation we feel that all of these companies we have included which produce kibble provide a superior product as opposed to other companies producing kibble.

Concerning white potato, due to the nature of kibble manufacturing all kibbles require a starch component to act as a binder. There are pro’s and con’s to any binder (be it a grain, legume, potato, etc.). White potato provides a viable option for many dogs that are unable to consume grains due to allergies or intolerances. Concerns about particular ingredients are a great reason for all pet owners to investigate diet rotation – /frequently-asked-questions/diet-rotation-for-dogs/.

[theBCnut]

No, they aren’t East or West brands, you just either have to read more here or find exactly the right store or order online dog food. Most of these brands aren’t available anywhere within 100 miles of me, but I am aware that they exist and where I can get them online.

Great Life hasn’t had a recall because when they had an incident that should have resulted in a recall, they very quietly did a product withdrawal instead, so if you weren’t paying attention to your brand at exactly the right time, you wouldn’t even know that there might potentially be a problem with your food. I wouldn’t buy from a company that does that, because I know they wouldn’t inform me or anyone else of real issues. No trust.

[Shasta220]

I’m really sorry about this. It’s especially tough with the little guys, because they can’t afford to lose weight – and I’m guessing he has the proper slim build already, no extra pudge to him?

What do you feed him? Back before I knew about dog nutrition, my parents only wanted the cheapest, so my poor baby got stuck with grocery store foods. I kept telling mom to /at least/ get Dog Chow (believe it or not, it was good compared to these foods), because he would starve himself for 3-4 days at a time. When he did eat, he’d only eat 1/2 scoop instead of 1-2 scoops. After enough begging, I finally did some research and found a 3 star food we could move to without breaking the bank. He didn’t have a problem at all ever since then. Now he’s on a 4star food, and I think he’s our best eater. Slowest one, yes, but he loves his food!

I’d agree, usually loss of appetite can signal some serious health problems, even oral problems. He might not be eating because it hurts something in his mouth or his tummy.

Since he seems to love drinking, I wonder if you could sneak some supplemental additives in there to get at least some nutrition into him?