[Karen J]

Ok, someone recommended Wellness, no grain. I got her the Lamb. Just started trying it – she loves but the woman at Unleashed said you know this is not a complete food. I noticed when she pooped it’s turning to diarrhea. So now I put a spoonful in and mix it with the BB kibble and Stella & Chewy – we’ll see what happens.

So many are against BB I may try something new.

Cream cheese is magic for the pill delivery system for the d-monnase and vit C.

Went to a friends house the other night, there for 3 hours, should’ve probably taken her out, friend gave her some sausage and hard cheese and played with her but she puddled, fortunately in a dog friendly house.

Will this puddling go on forever?

The lady at unleashed seemed to think I should put her on a raw diet?

[InkedMarie]

Hi Karen,
Is it the 95% lamb that you got? If yes, that is only a topper/mixer, not complete. Can you just pick a canned or dehydrated food & give her that, no kibble? A raw diet is best if you can or are willing to do it.
Has she been to the vets? Have you taken in a urine sample? Does she have an infection going

[Karen J]

Yes the vet said no infection or stones just crystals. I’d really rather not have her puddling because that means her bladder must be stopped up until the crystal dissolves and it’s too late to get outside. That’s got to be uncomfortable.

Maybe I should switch to raw. As soon as I found out about the Wellness I cut it down, whew, her little farts filled the room. I started mixing the lamb Wellness – she just loves it -so she doesn’t get too much of it but still eats the kibble with the Stella and Chewy mixed in. I haven’t seen her this excited since I brought her home from the rescue place (she was 4 months old now she is a year).

I think I’ll take her for a second opinion but what are some good raw foods to feed her?

[InkedMarie]

There are various options for raw. You can buy pre made raw at the store; the ones I like are Primal & Vital Essentials. If you go to the review side, put raw food into the search and read up on them.

Darwins is pre made raw that is shipped to you. Google for the website, they offer a trial package at a good price.

You can do your own raw, BARF or prey model. Prey model has no fruits or veggies. That is what I feed but I feed it ground. I buy the bony ground from Hare Today and some from Reel Raw. I buy some boneless from Hare but most of it locally.

[Zach M]

I definitely second InkedMarie’s comment about Primal and Vital Essentials, they are both very great products.

[Karen J]

She was eating Freshpet Vital grain free and stopped…didn’t like it. Is that the same as Vital Essentials?

[Dori]

No, not the same. Vital Essentials Raw is a different company. Commercial made raw foods that I keep in rotation are Primal Formulas (that is their complete and balanced line, they also make a freeze dried formula), Vital Essentials Raw (they also make a freeze dried formula), Answers Detailed Raw (not always easy to find), Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw Food only (not their kibble with raw boost), some people like Stella & Chewy’s Raw but I don’t like it at all anymore, I used to feed Darwin’s but they’ve added more fat to the formula and lowered the protein and raised the price so I stopped using them, I have recently added to our rotation O C Raw. My three dogs are doing well on it and seem to like it. You’ll find that initially raw will seem much more expensive to you than any kibble BUT it is well worth it. You feed less commercial raw than you would kibble and my dogs spend very little time at the vet which is a huge savings. Oh, there’s also Steve’s Raw Food. They only one of the foods that I’ve mentioned that you’ll find a the big supermarket type pet stores is the Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw. All others are typically sold at your smaller boutique type dog stores. Any of those stores that carry Answer’s Goat’s Milk can order Answers Detailed Raw food.

I have three toy dogs (Maltese, Maltipoo and a Yorkipoo) and have been feeding commercial raw for approx. three years.

[InkedMarie]

Karen,
Fresh Pet is cooked then cooled food, I believe, not raw. Vital Essentials is raw.

[Bobby dog]

Fresh Pet makes a raw, “Vital Raw,” which is grain free. Not sure if that is what Karen J is referring to or not.

http://freshpet.com/our-foods/our-brands/vital/raw/

[InkedMarie]

Oops, I didn’t know that Fresh Pet was raw. Sorry!

[Bobby dog]

You are right, their food is cooked; the raw recipes are fairly new. Their Vital line has the cooked and raw recipes now.

[Karen J]

Here I imploring for advice. Trixie loves Wellness Petite Entrees (Grain Free Lamb Cassarole) BUT very expensive because ant 12.8 lbs she needs 4 a day. Petco $1.50, forget them, Henco in Sun Valley $1.25 but they only have 3 containers left right now & they’re far.

My thought is if I get get a kibble to mix it with I could use 2 a day. She will no longer eat the BB Basics NO grain for small breeds, I tried mixing it with her new favorite the Petite Entrees but no go. I do have some calls out – tried a raw frozen and she ate it once.

Just got a bag of EVO no grain kibble to try and mix with the Wellness Petite Entrees . Any thoughts?

[theBCnut]

Is this dog underweight, overweight, or the right weight? If she isn’t underweight, you need to think about some tough love. There is NO reason to cater to a dog that is that picky and is otherwise in good health, and no, possible crystals do not count, because missing a few meals would only help that situation, not hurt it.

Pick a good quality kibble and offer it. After 20 minutes, if she hasn’t eaten it, pick it up and put it away until time to offer the next meal. Do the same thing again. Or you can do the same thing with any canned food you choose. If she doesn’t eat, she must not need to eat. She will not starve herself.

[Karen J]

Well she is the right weight, don’t want to wantonly choose, my last dog had IBD so I’m very keen on a good diet within my budget. True, she won’t starve, she will eat eventually.

But don’t want her eating only because she is so hungry anything will do. I have heard that dogs do self fast.

Can’t they have both kibble and wet. There seems to be a prevailing point of view that it has to be either or. She doesn’t free feed, my last 2 dogs did and did fine with it.

Oh well, I’ll just try EVO kibble and some wet food. Moisture is best for crystal control.

[theBCnut]

Definitely, you can use both mixed, but mixing them will make the dry go bad faster, so be prepared to throw out if that’s what is needed. Only offer for a short time, then refrigerate. As long as she is not getting too thin, then don’t worry about her missing meals, she is self regulating. If she gets too thin, then worry that something else is going on and get her checked out again.

[Karen J]

Thanks will do.

[Author]

Posts