[Naturella]

Hey, all!

Many of you know Bruno was a little sick these past 2 weeks – it turned out to be food related with NVI Rabbit. First bout was horrible, 3 days of vomiting and jelly poop, every 2.5 hours or so, day and night… Poor guy was on bile and pushing water out… But then we stabilized him with Perfect Form, chicken, brown rice and pumpkin. I slowly introduced canned food (just chicken) and then I got a can of NVI Rabbit to try and introduce it and the kibble again, to see if that was the culprit for his sickness. Sure enough, about 3 or so days in on the kibble, just like the previous time, he started vomiting again, all night, and I took him completely off of NVI again. Recovery though was much quicker, same ingredients – boiled chicken, brown rice, pumpkin and Perfect Form. Stool was good, and when I started him now on Holistic Health Extension Grain Free Chicken and Turkey (something he’s had before and done well on), still with Perfect Form and pumpkin, and some of the chicken and brown rice stuff, but just for one day during the transition, stool is just fantastic – small, firm but not rock hard, no vomiting, all is well.

Except Bruno always acts like he is starved! Maybe he was a bit undernourished while he was on the chicken-brown rice-pumpkin mush (all ingredients blended with some water until porridge-like), but now he’s almost back to normal (I will start him back on his regular THK this week, and add his regular add-ins one at a time over 2 weeks), but he always licks his bowl looking for more food, and when he eats, he rushes like he never has. He gets a total of 3/4 cup of HHE per day plus the pumpkin and Perfect form. Before he would get the same amount, with additives, of HHE Lamb and Brown Rice (lower calorie by 20 kcal/cup than current HHE). Before that he was on 1/2 cup of Earthborn Holisitc Primitive Natural (higher calorie by 40 kcal/cup than current HHE) with additives, but didn’t appear starved.

So, question is – should I give him as much as he wants for a bit and let him self-regulate (he’s never been an uncontrollable eater, even as a puppy), or up his daily intake some in a controlled manner? Does he need that? Or should I start introducing some treats again here and there?

Thank you all in advance! 🙂

• This topic was modified 11 years ago by Naturella.

[aquariangt]

How’s his weight looking? Being such a little guy, any amount would be pretty obvious. If he is still in good shape, I wouldn’t increase too much

[Naturella]

@aquariangt , his weight seems fine. I think he had lost a visible amount in his first bout of being sick (my mom said he looked like he had shrunk to her), but I didn’t think it was anything to worry about. And he looks fine now. He’s on the lean/muscular side, and he doesn’t look famished anymore, lol. He only did so the 3-4 days of the first bout of sickness, when he couldn’t hold anything in and didn’t want much either. He just ACTS hungry, probably from not getting all of the nutrition his little body needed for 2 whole weeks (or getting it on and off for a bit), but I guess once I begin introducing his usual stuff (THK, coconut oil, yoghurt, sardines in water, raw egg, RMB – one by one over a few days each), he will be ok?

[Dori]

I wouldn’t add any more food to his meals. Just feed the amounts that you normally would. He’s used to getting treats, bones, etc so that may be making the difference but I would still hold off and add them back into his diet slowly as you planned. Don’t rush anything especially when he starts with those cute puppy dog eyes and you’re tempted to give him treats. He’s been sick on and off for at least a couple of weeks if not a little longer even so his tummy needs a little more calming down inside.

[Naturella]

Dori,

Thank you for the advice! I shall not give in to his little face and I even took away his food bowl cause he kept licking it and banging it in the bathroom cabinet, lol. He will be fine, I’m sure, I just figured I’d ask. And yes, still going at it slowly, I will keep the pumpkin and PF in his diet for a while – won’t hurt anything, plus, he’s doing fantastic for now, knock on wood! 🙂

Thank you for the advice! 🙂

[Dori]

Glad he’s fantastic and yes, I knocked on wood. He’s probably just missing the extra goodies. My girls always keep licking their bowls long after they finished. You’d think they thought it was like their last meal or that poor little girls hadn’t been fed in days.

[InkedMarie]

Poor Bruno. I agree with Dori, feed him his normal amount.

[Author]

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