[Akari_32]

How much, do you think? He’s a *big* boy! I hoping for a vets visit tomorrow, so he can be weighed then. But in his defense, Bentley did eat about half of his dry food before I could stop him lol

[Akari_32]

So I need some tips. The cat is starving. He ate all his food last night, and this morning input down exactly the same (~1/8 cup of dry food, and a nice big tablespoon of canned food). He’s eaten it all, and is currently chasing around the bowl that had the canned food in it. He’s thin, but he’s in no way dangerously skinny. I can just barely feel his spine and ribs, but his hips are a little obvious when you feel around under all that fur. He’s not that bad, though, and he’s happily eaten a few crickets as well (he knocked a Kritter keeper full of them off the table, and I missed a few in the clean up lol). I don’t want to give him too much food all at once, and make him sick or something, but it’s pretty pathetic that he’s chasing his food dish around! Thoughts?

[Akari_32]

He doesn’t seem at all like the type to bolt out an open door. Someone dumped this cat, I’m sure of it. He’s shy and skittish, but boy can be get in to trouble! He escaped from the bathroom, then after a while jumped the step-over gate in the hallway. I figured I’d just let him roam the house. He’s already been climbing all over the kitchen table, tried to jump on both reptile tanks in the living room, found the blinds on the back door… Lol

He seems very healthy. I checked his teeth, and they looks great, his coat is solid, he’s super soft. So I’m really worried about him giving the dogs anything. I’ve got him locked in the bathroom for the night, though, and I’ll lock him in there when I go to work tomorrow. He can’t be trusted alone just yet, it seems LOL

The good news is, he knows what to do in the litter box! Thank god lol that would be terrible if he didn’t.

He’s starving, it seems, so I think at this point he’ll anything. He did end up going back for that dry food. And he got into moms room and under black hole of a bed, so I had to lure him out with even more canned food. He’s eaten two tablespoons of Friskies and about 1/8 cup (less, really) of the Max Cat. And I saw poop and pee in his litter box when I went In the bathroom to get him to stop clawing on the door lol Turns out, the litter I bought is NOT clumping. I flushed the poop down the toilet, but can’t do anything about the pee. That’s ok, I guess. I’ll buy better litter later. I bought everything but the Innova, EVO and Max Cat at the dollar store. Can’t expect much from dollar store cat litter LOL But his bowls are really cute! :p

Another friend of mine and I have decided that if I can’t keep the cat (it’s up to mom, in the end, after all), that she will take him. They’ve got another cat, and they should get along great.

[Akari_32]

This has got to be worlds sweetest cat! He just wants to petted and rubbed and loved on. He’s not pushy about it, though. He’s so gentle. I tried to lock him in the back room with a baby gate, but he let himself out while I was preparing his food lol there a step over style baby gate in the opening of the hallway, and I think the only thing keeping him from jumping it is the dogs lol He’s already made himself at home in my sisters empty room (probably because it smells like Chester, her cat), so I just closed the bathroom and let him be. I happened to buy a little bed at goodwill today for Bentley, but this cat is freaking huge, so I’ll give it him LOL He’s now laying the doorway of the bedroom, where he can see me. He goes between napping, and just watching me. It’s pretty cute :3

Here’s some pictures of him! He must be a Maine coon mix. He’s very well built!

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx294/Akari53/13BB068A-DA57-4E25-9CC4-EABAF43B9A11_zps0eou7ahm.jpg

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx294/Akari53/E59D56BA-672F-47CA-A89B-B0E593994C05_zpstu3f5xg0.jpg

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx294/Akari53/5DFA0F18-A97C-48AA-9DDB-25E9BDA13C83_zps24xuqkfh.jpg

In the last pic, I was texting the girl that gave him to me, instead of petting him, so he plopped down at my feet and stared at me LOL

[Akari_32]

HE’S SO FLUFFY! And very sweet. He’s already taken to me. And eating lol I bought him a huge can of Friskies at the dollar store, expecting much if it to go to waste while I figured out what he liked and got him eating. I put down three bowls, water, canned food, and dry food. Made a mess of the water, ignored the dry, and inhaled the Friskies. Good thing also bought a can of Innova and a can of EVO! If he doesn’t eat the dry (which, whatever) I’ll give it to my friend (It’s just the Nutro Max Kitten, nothing special).

[Akari_32]

Guess what guys?? SUE CAUGHT THE KITTY!!!! Going to pick him up now 🙂 Pics to come!

[Akari_32]

Bentley coughs every now and then, as well. Usually after eating, but he’ll also just cough randomly (I don’t know if the food bothers his throat or if it’s allergy related). Let me know how keeping your guy inside helps! It may be what Bentley needs.

[Akari_32]

So this dog is back to scratching like crazy. I’m wondering is it’s more of a pollen thing…? Cars are litterally covered in yellow dust, and my fish ponds have yellow Inge around the edges– it’s disgusting! He’s much worst this year than he was last year, and my allergies are terrible this year as well (I might as well have a cold at this point, because at least it would be over soon!).

I’ve been wiping him down with baby wipes, and I bathed him that neosporin stuff once, and he’s got flea stuff on, so he doesn’t have any fleas on him. His feet are the worst, and his knees and thighs are pretty bad too (everywhere he comes into contact with grass, basically). There’s an empty lot with about 40 pine trees behind our house, which is the main source of the areas pollen.

If this is the case, there’s really no way around it, other than potty pads or a potty patch thing inside, and our house is so small that there’s really no where to put either (besides the fact that both if those options are pretty disgusting lol). Or we could just constantly run Benadryl on him and get cortisone shots every so often …

[Akari_32]

He eats at night. We usually leave in the morning. Getting this dog to go potty is a headache (he had serious ADD and you have to keep him on track, and he likes to waddle around while he poops, so he can cover as large an area as possible), so it’s easier on all of us to feed him in the evening when we’re home for good. He does also gets treats and chews (and his mommy and grandma sneak him things all the time, too), so it’s not like he has no food all day. He really likes to do things at too speed (like eating). I’ve come to accept that it’s a terrier thing. I’m rarely home all day, or most of the day, but I could feed him half and half if I get the chance. Mom works out of town and is only home a few days a week, so she can’t do it unless she happens to be home, either.

[Akari_32]

Thats an interesting idea!

So I’ve been experimenting with “training” him to not eat like a lunatic, and we’re actually doing pretty good! I’ve been going between just giving him is food, adding various amounts of water to his food, and just giving him a little bit at a time. As long as he has a different way to eat every night, it takes him several minutes to eat. However, I think I’ll be trying something with a larger kibble size next. When he has something larger to crunch on, he tend to take a few pieces out at a time, set them on the floor, and then eat them one at a time. Any suggestions on a grain free food with no chicken with larger pieces? (I was thinking, even though he hates it, the fish Wellness CORE, as well as the Wild Game. I was also wanting to try, so the sake of budgeting, the grain free Pure Balance, but I hear the pieces are tiny.)

[Akari_32]

About the fleas, yes we have them. In the yard, usually. We treat the house with Sargents Flea Breeze (works really well, actually), and the dogs gets their Trifexis usually. We just so happened to run out of Trifexis as it’s getting warmer out, so the fleas are making a come back and moving right inside on the dogs at the same time :/ I bought some cheap topical stuff today. That’ll hopefully help some. I don’t have very high hopes for it lol the hardest thing about getting these fleas under control is out neighbor is major red neck, and has like 40 dogs, 62 and 20 people living in their 2 bed one bath house (ok, it’s more like 4-6 dogs, 5 or so people, and 2-3 cats, but close enough).

[Akari_32]

Gotcha. Any brands you recommend?

He’s back to chewing on himself this morning. He was scratching a little last night, and this morning he driving me crazy with nasty licky dog noises. I’ll have to see what I have for fleas around here. I may still have some tubes of Sentry. Like a retard, I gave most our topical flea treatments to my friend, thinking we’d always have the trifexis -_-

[Akari_32]

I didn’t see anything that popped out at me at Pet Supermarket (that was a good 8 months ago, though). I’ll probably have to go to PetSmart or PetCo for anything good. I also do a lot of online shopping for fish and reptile stuff, so I’ll look next time to need something. What sort of ingredients would you recommend?

It’s only that one Bayer’s shampoo that makes him oily. It’s pretty weird. I’ve used it on Haley with no issues (other than it doesn’t clean worth a crap). He doesn’t have any confirmed food allergies, but we think chicken and grains are a no go, as are fleas, and grass. So, basically everything a dog comes in contact with, he’s allergic to.

[Akari_32]

Hi best friend!!!! 😉 (creeper code for “check your email!”)

[Akari_32]

Around here it’s pretty much either Hartz or Sargents (or Grreat Choice… Lol), unless you want to drop about $20 on an 8 oz bottle. There’s not really much of a choice here, since I also have two large dogs that like to roll in dirt.

We’ve almost always used the whitening shampoo on him. It doesn’t seem to bother him. I tend to not use it, though, unless her happen to have nothing else. Mom is the one that usually does.

The vet gave him a cortisone shot about 6 months ago while we got the fleas under control and him on a better flea prevention (winter is over now and his Trifexis has run out, and we don’t have $300 to get everyone back on it!! *rips out hair*), and it worked great while we got everything figured out. I know they don’t last very long, but it sure does help.

I don’t really like the Bayer stuff, but it was free. Pet Supermarket had samples out for a few months, so I went in and grabbed a few every week. It doesn’t really clean him at all, and kind of makes him (just him, which is weird) oily. Free is free I suppose. I noticed they have it on clearance now, and I fully understand why lol

I try to keep the water cooler, but he shakes something terrible when I get anywhere below luke warm. He’ll also run away from it if it’s too cold. He’s only about 8 pounds, and is a total princess. Has to have a jacket on when it’s below 50 outside XD Anyways, I know hit water isn’t the best for dry skin, and I do my best on that end.

He’s Maltese and Jack Russell. Dad was 4 pounds, mom was 11. He wasn’t supposed to get much bigger than 5 pounds, but he never got that memo lol

[Akari_32]

It’s a human body wash. We’ve been using the new Bayer Expert Care or whatever it’s called shampoo and conditioner, Grreat Choice oatmeal shampoo, Hartz Groomers Choice Whitening Shampoo, some other Hartz stuff (just a normal shampoo), and we occasionally use the really expensive Adams for fleas if he needs it. Just about everything from normal shampoos to fancy stuff. We’ve also been wiping his feet and tummy after going outside, keeping his bedding super clean, treating the house for fleas, etc. Thankfully he doesn’t seem bothered by oatmeal shampoos, but this Grreat Choice stuff is junk. Bought it on clearance, and I understand why they were getting rid of it LOL And the pollen is terrible right now, so I’m sure that’s not helping. We’re almost to the point of getting him a cortisone shot again… I’ll see if I can find that stuff around here. Maybe it’ll help.

[Akari_32]

Lol I was reading your response through the email and I was like “who the heck is that??” Then I logged on and saw your picture and was like “oh it’s patty!” XD

Which ingredients are you worried about, and why?

[Akari_32]

PetSmart dry list!

Simply nourish source
Organix
Natures recipe grain free
Simply nourish LID
Wellness CORE
Blue buffalo wilderness
Blue buffalo freedom

Blue buffalo’s cat food is pretty cheap, considering! I was surprised. Their dog food is outrageous lol

[Akari_32]

She hasn’t caught him yet. She told me before she only goes out there a few times a week to feed him, so I’ll give it some time.

I’ve heard about that fish thing. I’ll be using mostly poultry and beef. I figure a can of fish here and there won’t hurt though, if I have to or for a treat or whatever, but I won’t use it on a regular basis.

The Simply Norish (both kinds) is only on my list for when it’s on a good sale. It looks like a good quality, but the protein is a little low from what I can tell. Lots of people have good things to say about it, though, and I like the looks of the Source dry food. I just have to see how much is fed before that goes down on my dry list, since it’s pretty expensive.

[Akari_32]

PetSmart list for wet

Natures recipe
Blue Buffalo
Simply nourish
Organix grain free
Innova

[Akari_32]

I know I can buy DIY vaccines and such, but I’d like him so see the vet and make sure he’s healthy enough to be around the dogs and reptiles. Just curious, do you guys with indoor cats get them vaccinated every year, or no? My sister never got hers done after their boosters. But she also didn’t have any dogs. The dogs go with us place, and then they’ll have contact with the cat…

I’m off to check PetSmarts website for food! If I don’t come back, it’s the because the freakishly large selection killed me….

[Akari_32]

I’ve heard that. Dogs are so weird lol My sister left behind a covered litter box that I’ll snag (she keeps it here for when she comes home from college with her cat), which should help with dogs wanting snacks.

Speaking of worms and parasites, are there good over the counter dewormers, in the event the cat needs it? We’ll obviously be seeing a vet and getting shots and what not, but I’d like to do what I can at home and save myself some money, if possible.

[Akari_32]

I’m right there with you, only I’m the one in college, with reptiles and crap-tons of fish thrown in as well (and less cats) LOL

(Side note, I meant to write THAT site, referring to CatInfo, not *this* site, DFA, above lol)

I hope I do get the little guy. She said he looks almost like a bobcat, but his front and smooth, and back end is fluffy LOL Has me thinking he may be a hybrid, or just got some crazy genes.

The biggest thing is getting my mom on board. We’re both allergic to cats, but if he shows up while she’s out of town, he’s got a much better chance. However, I know plenty of people who will take him in the event I cannot (be it a straight up “no,” or we give it a try and one of our allergies is too bad).

[Akari_32]

She says he comes to her when she goes out to feed him. I can only go by what I’m told until I get him and can see for myself, if she manages to catch him. I don’t know if she’s ever tried to pet him or anything, though. She has a dog and she plans to catch it and put it in dogs the cage for me, so I can transport it home. I probably should have told her to flip the cage up so that the door is on top so she can just drop him in and slam it shut, in the event he isn’t as friendly as we think LOL

I’ve been to that site. It’s helpful, to an extent. I’d like to know what people have success with, which is why I posted here. This site makes it seem like feeding a cat is some sort of rocket science, but “I guess it’s ok to feed this grocery store stuff if you have to.” I dunno lol I didn’t actually save one of the charts (didn’t know there were two!) to my phone for future use last night, though. I did see that the Authority looked pretty decent.

Oh and the dry CORE is on my list as well. I always got good coupons for Wellness :p

[Akari_32]

Thanks! I’ve been scooting around the websites for all the stores here and picking out some foods to try. Wet and dry together sounds cheaper than just wet, and obviously healthier than just dry.

Wet:

Newmans own
Rachael Ray
Natural Life 95% (the dry is disgusting, but I don’t think the wet looks at all)
EVO
Wellness Core
Natural balance (some of them)
Nutro Natural Choice
Wellness
Blue buffalo

For dry, I’m kind of just leaning toward EVO, for the price. Given the good selection of canned foods I’ve got going, that’d be alright, right? Obviously, if another brand I like the looks of goes on sale I can get a few bags of that, too. It’s hard to find a good, affordable (for me) grain free dry cat food around here! :/ I’ve still got a local shop to check in person, and two more websites to check (PetSmart and PetCo).

What do you guys think so far?

[Akari_32]

Some vets here put them in on the side of the shoulder, where all the muscle is, rather than in between the shoulders, where it makes sense, and some of the animals are always tender there, from the chip is constanly rubbing the muscle.

[Akari_32]

I like the step in harnesses for my 8 pound Jack Russell mix. Mainly because he’s pretty stupid and gets tangled in the leash (even the flexi-leash– HOW????) when he’s leashed with a collar. He also chokes himself on collars. Pulling in the step in harness isn’t as comfortable (or maybe easy? I dunno) as pulling in the collar is, and he actually walks like a normal dog and not like an idiot with the harness on, though he does still some how choke himself on it if he gets excited and pulls. But all my dogs are naked at home, and only wear collars and such to leave the house.

Another alternative to ID tags and collars would be microchipping. I’m 50/50 on that, though. I’ve seen some animals be fine with them, and some be in serious pain when touched around where it was put in. They really are a great bit of technology though, and have gotten many lost pets returned home.

[Akari_32]

I’m also gunna add Pro PAC to my list, despite the corn. At almost 600 calories per cup for the puppy performance, that’s suuuuuuper tempting, if the price is right. Anyone use Pro Pac before? Gets a good rating.

[Akari_32]

Hey guys!

I had a little bit of time to kill (yay for 3 am…?), so I went through and refined my list to 25% protein and above, and 450 calories per cup and above. There are also three that were close and cheap enough for me to maybe one day consider, which are separated at the end. This really helps me narrow down my food choices! There were so many I really didn’t even know where to begin, other than with Nutrisource because it’s available locally now. Anyways, heres my list!

Dr. Tim’s Pursuit Active
Merrick Classic Puppy Real Chicken, Brown Rice and Green Apple
Healthwise Chicken Meal and Oatmeal
Nutrisource Performance
Nutrisource Super Performance
Nutrisource Small and Medium Breed Puppy Chicken and Rice
Nutrisource Grain Free Chicken
Nutrisource Grain Free Lamb

Precise Endurance Formula
Precise Small and Medium Breed Puppy
Eagle Pack Power

Also on my mental list is Diamond Naturals and Grain Free (BIG maybe. That one will depend on finances, really), Wellness Small Breed Complete Health Toy, and Wellness Small Breed Complete Health Puppy. I plan on going to the local pet store tomorrow and seeing what of these they can order, and how much they would be. I also have to go to Pet Supermarket and confirm that they have the two Wellness foods, and their prices for the small bags (which I will only purchase with coupons, given the price), because their website SUCKS.

Why is it that small breed foods always look better than large breed ones? Dog food should be dog food, I’m just sayin’!

[Akari_32]

He’d be afraid of any pans. He won’t even lick our plates or bowls after dinner.

[Akari_32]

That’s a good way to feed raccoons and birds LOL

He used to have a treat ball I’d give him snacks in, but he destroyed it the other night, so now I have to find him a new one. I’ll try portioning it out and a small ball in the bowl if I don’t have time for that, though. Hopefully we’ll come up with some other ideas as well.

[Akari_32]

He would actually eat the larger kibbles, but he would still power eat, and polish his meal off in about 2 minutes. With these smaller ones, though, it’s like a game to see how fast he can eat it. He’s freaking crazy, to say the least lol

I’m not always the one to feed him, but I will try out doing a little bit at a time when I feed him. He does eat considerably more slowly when I add a ton of water to his food, so that he has to “bob-for-apples” to eat, but that stains his face, makes his breath smell nasty, and gives him hiccups (because he’s still trying to eat fast). I just can’t win with this dog *rolls eyes*

[Akari_32]

Sorry for the double post, guys! The spam filter appears to snatching up any posts with multiple links, and I’ve been back and forth with Dr Mike about it lol at least I got the link to that other rescue back :p

Thank you LoDoVilla! Another for my list 🙂

[Akari_32]

(I typed a post all out and the stupid forum logged me out and all I lost it all! Thank god for browsing history, at least…. Lesson learned: when you type stuff out and don’t post it immediately, copy it! Still lost one of my rescues, though…)

Breeders:

http://www.mazerklaverkennels.com/

http://www.pets4you.com/pages/tnt-pigasus/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Croft-Kennel/165853020290567

Rescues:

http://www.adoptapet.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bull-Terrier-Rescue-of-Florida-Inc/221615061278615

http://bullterrier.rescueshelter.com/Florida (list of bull terrier rescues in FL)

I found several rescues and breeders right here in Florida, which I didn’t think I’d find! Super happy about this. I’ll be digging into these all more later, but I think its a good start! Anyone have info/experience/etc on any of these?

[Akari_32]

Breeders:

http://www.mazerklaverkennels.com/

http://www.pets4you.com/pages/tnt-pigasus/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Croft-Kennel/165853020290567

Rescues:

http://www.adoptapet.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bull-Terrier-Rescue-of-Florida-Inc/221615061278615

http://www.dogsnow.com/bullterrierflorida.htm

Been scooting around the web tonight, looking specifically for dogs here in Florida, and was actually MUCH more successful than I thought I would be, finding two bull terrier specific rescues, and three breeders, all of which I’ll be digging more into when I feel like charging my computer, as its about to die :p Any one have info on any of these places?

[Akari_32]

All the dogs in my family and immediate friends families I’ve trained or helped train, so I’ve been around the block a few times in that department. My biggest challenge was a friend terrier/shepherd mix, but not because she was stubborn (she wanted everybody’s love, and did whatever she had to to get it, which made her really easy to train), but her owner didn’t keep up with it as much as he needed to. She was so active that she had to be worn down some to get her into a good energy for training, and he always tried to go right into training with her, so it took a while for commands to stick. I’m certain I can handle the energy and stubbornness, fingers crossed.

I do also know times change, and if I’m too busy for this breed when the time comes I’m ready for another dog, I will look elsewhere for an easier breed.

I’ll be looking more into breeders and rescues tonight, and report back with what I’ve found. Still waiting on anyone that knows of or has dealt with breeder posted in my first comment above, well. 🙂

[Akari_32]

I’m fully aware of how difficult bull terriers can be. There will be two other people I’ll be living with, so we can have eyes on the dog at all times. I also plan on crate training (I will never not crate train! My dogs love their cages, and they’re handy). I also know very much about hard headed dogs. My rott mix was a terrible puppy up until the age of about 3, when he finally mellowed out. He’s 10 now, and he’d rather be lazy and lay around (and counter surf…).

When the time comes, I very much so have a lot of people to be contacting, which is why I’m working up a list now, and weeding out the bad ones.

I’m in Florida, right in between Orlando and Miami, on the gulf coast. The closest breeder I’ve found is the one linked above (North Carolina), and I’ve found no active bull terrier rescues. Thankfully I have time to find more of each. As of right now, I’ll either have to have the dog flown to me, or I’ll have to take a week off work and drive to get it. I’m leaning more toward the going and getting it option, so that I can see the facilities and parents if I get one from a breeder, or meet the dog in person first if I adopt (but we have other animals, I don’t know how well that’ll work out). There are kinks to work out, but I’ve got time to get it all straight.

[Akari_32]

It’s fixed now lol

/forums/topic/wanting-an-english-bull-terrier/#post-33694

Anyways, I was looking at Bentley last night, and his skin is also already looking better. It’s not so red, and he’s not clawing at himself so much. Now we know not to ever put him back on “regular” dog food, no matter how good he’s doing lol

He also really seems to like it. He’ll run over to one of us, and run through the house to the kitchen and stop at the dog food and stare at us, then run back to us, then back to food if we don’t do anything. Even if he just ate he’ll do that! I’ve been putting some in a treat ball if he keeps asking for food. He loves to chase it around the house.

[Akari_32]

It’s not that I’m not wanting a pit bull, it’s that I just *really* want a bull terrier. Like, for 10 years or so– and I’m only 20. I want them both (among much larger, and less common breeds like the Irish Wolfhound), but I’m more on the bull terrier side. What really decides it is money when the times comes. How much it is to get a puppy from whatever breeder I decide to go with, how close they are and how I’m going to be getting the puppy, if there even are puppies available, if a rescue has a dog I like, how much and where it is, and how it’s going to get to me, if I don’t have the money for said dog or puppy, and/or fall in love with a dog from one of the various shelters around here.

Obviously, a breeder is always going to have puppies, but a rescue is not going to have the same selection, which is why I’m not pushing too much for that right now. When it comes down to it, I will be looking at what rescues and shelters have, but I can’t count on either to have a dog for several years until I’m ready for it. Which is why I’m looking at both, and find the best few of each. Another big reason for me going to a breeder though is I will be living with room mates, and they will have their own animals, as well as what ever I have. Rescues can *say* a dog is good with other dogs, cats, men, etc, but when the dog is moved from home to home, that can easily change. I am shopping around for both, but when it comes down to it, I have more to factor in than just puppy vs adult. I need to figure in the safely of the existing animals at the time I’m ready for this dog.

And really, I don’t even know when I will be getting this puppy/dog. My rott mix is extremely aggressive toward outside dogs, and very protective of me. So I’m basically waiting on him to pass, which is hopefully no time soon. He’s my 130 pound baby, and I love him to death. But they can’t live forever… I’m also going on almost 15 years of rescue dogs. Don’t get me wrong, give me any dog and I’ll love it for the rest of life, but I’d like to explore all my options for my next dog.

[Akari_32]

I guess it’s been too long and I can’t edit my last post lol Just tried posting my new thread again and still nothing! I just email Mike about it, I guess?

[Akari_32]

I did a search with the exact title of the thread I tried to post to see if I could find it and the forum was just being stupid because few days ago, after being on the site for an hour or so messing around, I clicked back to the main forum page and all the posts were saying 1 week+ as when there last updated, when clearly that’s not true, when just seconds before there were several saying they’d been updated just a few minutes ago.

But anyways, there’s not another topic that’s got the same title or anything. I got the duplicate content message when I tried to repost the thread immediately after it didn’t work and gave me an error message the first time. It’s like it’s been submitted, but it’s not showing at all.

It was a thread asking about breeders and had a few links to breeders and rescues, so my only thought, beyond a bug or glitch, is that maybe the forum software red flagged it as spam or something? I don’t know how fancy the sites anti-spam software is or anything, though… It took forever to type out on my phone so I copied it in case something like this happened, so I’ll try it again in a bit when I feel like dealing with it lol

[Akari_32]

Dropping in to let you guys know Bentley is fully on the Instinct, and even after being on it for only a few days, I can already feel difference in his fur, which is crazy. He’s eating 3/4 of a cup right right now, as per our best guesses from the bag and calorie calculator (apparently dogs don’t weigh 6-9 pounds according to Natures Variety LOL), so we’ll see how that goes and work it out from there. Hopefully he can go down to a 1/2 cup, but probably not, since it’s 460 calories a cup, and he’s a crazy little dog.

(Also, is anyone else having issues posting new threads today? I’ve tried to three times today and got an error the first time, a duplicate content message the second time, and absolutely nothing happened the third time. Like, it went through, but I have nothing to show for it. Very strange….)

[Akari_32]

Coupons are awesome! Since the store does this program independently from the companies, can combine store and vendor coupons with the buy 10 get 1 free to save even more.

I’ve worked it out for wellness just using a $4 off $20 and $5 off vendor coupon combined with b10g1 at Pet Supermarket, and using $4 off $20, $5 off vendor, and $5 off competor (PetCo) coupon, and it’s cheaper to do it at PetSmart with more coupons. Pet Supermarket is also $3-5 cheaper on all their foods compared to PetSmart. Just all depends on coupon policies and prices, I guess.

[Akari_32]

He isn’t going for soaking (he hate baths, too lol), so I bought him some anti-bacterial baby wipes (used regular baby wipes before winter and they worked pretty good but the poor package design made it hard to seal it back up and their dried out pretty quickly).

I also went to get him some new food today. I went in for EVO, I was still kinda sketchy about it, and proceeded to look again at the Wild Game CORE, and after so many back and forth’s, the manager asked if I needed help (he’s the nicer of the two managers. The other one is a cranky butt face, to put it nicely, though she wasn’t too bad today LOL), i explained my problem to him (found out today that any purchases after 12 months do not count toward their b10g1 deal, so I had to re-do my math and such to decide the cheapest option) and after talking for a bit, he directed me to the Nature’s Variety vendor who just happen to be there today.

The vendor and I got to talking about what Bentley needs, and he told me that most of the formulas the store carried had no chicken at all (meat, fat, or otherwise). We eventually got on the topic of coupons (with how I usually go to PetSmart and get wellness for $2 a bag), and he gave me a coupon for $3 off any size bag of Nature’s Variety. So I got a 4 lb bag of Beef and Lamb Meal Instinct, and I’m very happy. Got out for $15. He should even eat about the same amount that I calculated on the EVO. So it shouldn’t be much more expensive, and I’m not worried at all about the brand, and I’m corfortable sending mom out on her own to buy this (with coupons, of course :p). And once his skin is cleared back up, she can go between any flavors she wants, as well as the Nutrisca (once I try him on that). Yay!

[Akari_32]

You’re right. I don’t look at fish based foods because one of my dogs doesn’t like fish. I do sneak in the Ocean Fish CORE every now and then and just mix it in, since we finally got him to stop picking through his food piece by piece lol

[Akari_32]

If you don’t want any chicken at all, all of the Wellness CORE has chicken except Wild Game, and the only TOTW with out chicken is the High Prairie Puppy. Just throwing that out there :p

That’s a great coupon! Hope the one store takes it. I’ve yet to ask my lps if they’ll take pet supermarkets $4 off $20 coupon lol

[Akari_32]

Good news! I dug up a coupon for the Nutrisca that good for the rest of our lives (ok, 2015, but close enough), and after some calculation, both the EVO and Nutrisca will last about 2.5 months for the 13.2 pound bag (EVO) and the 15 pound bag (Nutrisca), and after coupons are applied to each food ($4 off $20 for the EVO and $3 off any bag of Nutrisca and $4 off $20 for the Nutrisca), it would cost the same to feed him each. So we have two foods that I’m comfortable with mom feeding him, and mom is actually happy with the price after doing the math. Does anyone know if EVO puts out coupons?

I used this website to help me figure the over all costs, using the price per bag as tax and coupons applied. http://www.goldendoodles.com/care/food_calculator.htm It’s not perfect– it has the other dogs eating TWO TIMES as much as they actually eat, but its a start, and Bentley does actually eat what the bag says, given his activity and young age.

Also forgot to add earlier, the reason I’m putting this off on mom (I’m in charge of the dog food for a reason– she figures dogs do fine on corn based foods and expensive food is a waste of money) is because she is sick of watching Bentley scratch himself raw, and I don’t have the money to buy Haley special food AND Bentley special food, and still feed my 130 pound beast that is Dweezle. I told her she’d have to pay for his food, and she ok, what ever it took to get him to stop scratching. As I said earlier, I took her to the store today to scout out prices and whatnot, and she was very put off by the price of good dog food. Me doing the math just now for her actually seemed to lighten her up, and she seemed pleased about how long the food would last, given the price. I told her she could go back and forth between the EVO and Nutrisca and she didn’t make a fuss, and sounded ok with it. I’d still like to try him on the Pure Balance as a just in case food.

The good news for me is, I no longer have to feed her dog (why am I, a 20 year old college student, feeding my 40 year old mother’s dog?? I’d rather be broke than see him on dog chow.). Not feeding him means once I’m done with the Purina ONE Dweezle is on (long story short, coupons got me paid $7 for every 3 of the 3.5 pound bags I hauled out of the store), he too can go on grain free like Haley. With coupons, as high calorie food as I can find (and afford), and some major budgeting, I can make it work.

Anyways, with a little work, I’ve made mom see how its actually really cheap to feed a better food. Now if only it was that “cheap” to feed such large dogs on a college budget…

[Akari_32]

So I’m thinking of just going with the EVO. Given the red meat aspect of the food, and higher calories, it seems like the best choice for the money, and the dogs needs and flavor preferences. I think next week we will buy a medium sized bag of it, see how long it lasts, and how well he does on it, and then if it works out well, we’ll use that for a while until his skin clears up.

As much as I hate to do it, he may have to be a one-food-only dog. He gets several treats a day, though, given his small size, a treat is like half a meal for him, so he’d still be getting a variety in his diet. Besides that, I can’t control what my mom does. She had the dogs (not Bentley, as we got him after I took over the dog food) on dog chow for…. 9-10 years? And they did “just fine.” I will try him on some other foods once he settles, though, and bother her about keeping him on 2-3 different brands, given we find that many that he does well on.

Does anyone have any info on the Pure Balance Salmon grain free? Like feeding guide lines, or a website? I think she’d feel better about the price of the EVO if we could squeeze in something a bit cheaper every now and then. It’d also be a good emergency food, since WalMart it always open.

I was looking at Chewy and PetFlow, and I might set her up for automatic delivery once we figure out how long a bag of EVO will last him. But she won’t get the buy 10 and get one free Pet Supermarket offers on all their foods.

[Akari_32]

Gotcha. So he’s pretty much allergic to anything that bites? Fantastic LOL

Diamond makes ALL of Canidae?? I thought they only made certain ones! Well thats out, then…

Oh, I forgot one other food. Nutrisca. Its a bit expensive for the lamb one, but its not too bag considering the medium sized bag larger than most other brands medium sized bags. Anyone have experience with this?

[Akari_32]

I’ve tried all the other flavors of Wellness CORE for the other dogs, and the mix he’s currently on right now has CORE Puppy and Ocean Fish (and Purina One Beyond Lamb), and as far as the dogs doing good on, I’m happy with them, and it is my go-to brand. I’d love to see a red meat based CORE that has the protein profile that the other formulas do, with no plant protein boosters, which is my reservation about the Wild Game one. However, it still does look like its got a good protein level when you factor those out. I don’t think chicken flavors and fats are supposed to bother allergies, because theres none of the protein that causes the problems. Thats the way I understand it, anyways. I could be wrong.

I took mom in Pet Supermarket today to look at the foods, and the she was having a heart attack about the prices. She wants to put him back on the Innova Prime, despite it being more expensive than the Wellness, because she knows he does good on it. Has anyone used it (or EVO) since the recall last year? I have her leaning more toward the Wellness, though, because with coupons, I can get $9 off any size bag ($5 off any bag, and $4 off $20 purchase). If she wants to put him on Innova Prime, I’d rather her spend the extra $3 and put him on the EVO, though. They’re pretty much the same, just EVO is better.

She liked the price of Nature’s Recipe (thats the orange bag, right?) Grain Free Salmon ($14 for a 4 pound bag), but potato is the second ingredient, and its only like 25% protein. I’m wondering since he gets soooo bad on grains, if I should avoid anything that is so starchy? And if she wants that, she’d have to go all the way out to PetSmart for the larger bag, as 4 pounds wouldn’t last long.

On the Diamond note, I was looking at the Canidae PURE or whatever their new grain free line is called, and he could have two of three formulas. Again, they are low in protein (25ish %), but the price isn’t bad, about the same as the Nature’s Recipe, and it looks better than the NR does. Has anyone quite figured out which of Canidae’s foods are made by Diamond? I know they don’t like to let that information out. She also asked about TOTW.

Mom was asking about what she could get at WalMart that would work for him. I’m sure we all know that only grain and chicken free food at WalMart is the Pure Balance Salmon and Pea. It is a good price, and its not too bad, but given his food issues, I wonder if it’d be ok. I guess we wouldn’t really know if never tried. Thoughts on that?

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