[Debbie S]

Where do I start? Some background – back in 2013 our home consisted of two parrots, a cat, Mandy a 13 yr. old female Sheltie, Shadow an 11 yr. old male Sheltie, Roxie a 4 yr. old Pomeranian and two parents. About Sept. 2013 I was stupidly giving the dogs Milo’s Chicken Jerky (small pieces), when Mandy became ill. She was vomiting, had diarrhea and was very lethargic. We admitted her to the Vet hospital and she was put on IV’s for a couple of days but there was no helping her at this point and it was recommended putting her to sleep. We did and I started researching and found about the chicken being from China! I felt horrible and wanted to die right along with Mandy. I had obviously been poisoning my babies and Mandy wasn’t strong enough to fight it.
Fast forward to May 2014. We had been feeding Blue Buffalo Senior Grain Free dry and Blue Buffalo Family Favorite Recipes (various chicken/turkey flavors) mixture twice a day. Every single treat that we gave was made in the U.S.A. Shadow stopped eating any treats that were hard, would eat around the kibble and started acting strange even for him. At that point we started cooking chicken breast and white rice. (Then we find out rice can be toxic also). None of the dogs ever turned down the sweet potato that I give daily to the parrots. We took him to the vet thinking he may be having teeth problems. Nothing. Maybe a slight gum infection so he was put on a mild antibiotic. He still had his slight heart murmur but nothing to worry about. Exactly a week later on May 7th he was really restless, couldn’t find a place to lay down and about 11:30 pm he came out of the bedroom panting extremely heavy and drooling, I knew immediately something was wrong, woke up my husband, and called the vets for the emergency location. We hopped in the car, with me carrying him and he was panting louder than I’ve ever heard anyone breathe. We were almost there when Shadow bucked up into my chest and flopped down. He was gone.. supposedly by heart attack and they pronounced him DOA.

Now we only have Roxie and she has been as depressed as we are. She’s normally a little pig with treats and always cleaning others bowls if they walked away. She basically stopped eating, laid around and was totally depressed. Knowing this, we gave her time because she wasn’t acting ill and since she was a little overweight it wouldn’t hurt her to not eat as much as normal. Then she started turning down hard treats, and not eating the kibble in her food just like Shadow did. We took her to the vets after a couple of weeks of this because I was so anxious after the last couple of years and losing two of our babies. The vet took X-rays and a full panel of blood work. When he laid her on her back, her tongue turned blue so he was concerned. But her blood work was perfect and the only thing showing on the X-rays was the extra fat she was carrying which is effecting her breathing and probably the cause of her blue tongue.

We changed her food because she has to lose 1.5 – 2 pounds so we tried Hill’s Ideal Balance Slim and Healthy Adult mixed with the comparable canned food which was weird for us because we had always steered away from anything of Hill’s. Now after reading about it I want to stop feeding her that even though she loves it and is eating well again.

I need advice on what to feed a large framed five year old Pomeranian currently weighing 11 1/2 lbs. who needs to weigh no more than 10 lbs. She has arthritis starting in her knees and has just recently started constantly licking her lips. In the past we have just let them run the fenced back yard using the doggy door but I’ve started taking Roxie on nightly walks to help the weight loss along.

I’m thinking of Wellness Core Reduced Fat & the canned Weight Maintenance mixed or one of the Merrick choices. Any suggestions are appreciated since this seems like a very intelligent group.

• This topic was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by Debbie S.

[aquariangt]

Wellness Core Reduced Fat many people have recommended, though I haven’t used it myself. I believe some people have mentioned Annamaet Lean as well.

I’m glad you are taking a look at this, dogs with arthritis definitely need proper weight. Very sorry for your loss on the shelties 🙁

[neezerfan]

Check out this article, it has several suggestions: /best-dog-foods/weight-loss-dog-foods/

[meky6ra]

I’m so sorry to hear about your losses 🙁 Don’t blame yourself! We shouldn’t have to worry about dogfood killing our dogs. My dog lost four pounds with the Wellness Simple Healthy Weight Salmon and Peas. I like that one a lot.

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