[Melissaandcrew]

Thanks Marie..I am hoping these work as well as the horse products I used in the past.

[Melissaandcrew]

Uhm…what is your question?

[Melissaandcrew]

Thanks Patty : ) I can’t believe another year has come and gone-Yogi will be 1 yr old on the 4th and another will be turning 15 on the 3rd. Since I have so much of the longevity, everyone over 10 will be getting some, lol.

[Melissaandcrew]

I used to feed my liver dog Wellness whitefish and potato alternating with Fromm whitefish. He did really well on it and seemed to hold his weight as well as have his condition under control. When he would get picky, I would add boiled whitefish or chicken(on occasion) to encourage him to eat.

[Melissaandcrew]

Victor Ultra Pro is only about 440 calories per cup : ) Use caution with the schnauzer and foods that may be too high in fat content. If you are not worried about that, google “satin Ball Recipe” and it will put weight on a dog fairly quickly.

[Melissaandcrew]

Look around for a slaughter/meat processing plant in your area. I have found two. One is organic and I buy most of my stuff there for under $1 a pound. Downside is I take whatever they have that week..sometimes its all beef, sometimes poultry and I now have the largest size chest freezer I could find full of assorted pieces/parts. I have waaaaay to much liver and spent a full day boiling/drying a lot into treats and still have more to go. I fill in the gaps with store bought. I use tinned sardines $1 a can and canned salmon and oysters which I bought in bulk on sale. I still feed 50percent dry, can or dehydrated.

[Melissaandcrew]

AReim-

Your dogs sounds like he has IBD/Colitis more so than Pancreatitis. He has all the same issues that my dobergal has had over the years.

[Melissaandcrew]

ASandy-

If a dog has pancreatitis that is chronic, there is no such thing as its “okay in moderation” when its a high fat food. Typically vets recc under 12percent fat for the dry products, and one should convert canned into a dry matter basis in order to properly assess how much fat is in that particular canned brand, If its 20 percent, its 20 percent fat whether you feed a teaspoon or tablespoon. In dogs with low tolerance a teaspoon of a high fat food could send them into over load.

Also, please state for reference where you garnered the information that dogs with pancreatitis should be on a restricted protein diet? Owning pancreatitis prone breeds for over 20 yrs, I have yet to see such information, and have yet to restrict protein in a dog based on pancreatitis(which is typically brought on by fat, not protein).

[Melissaandcrew]

For dome dogs the probiotics and enzymes make the ibd worse..but you don’t know until you try.

[Melissaandcrew]

Marie-

Lol! Yes, I am serious! Hubby and I got to see the show from the”staff/performer” section behind the scenes and it was a blast. One thing I have to say-In “real life” they were all a bunch of great guys/gals. There was a Make a wish child there that night, and they all seemed to go out of their way to make him feel special. Our dog of course was a huge ham. She was, at the time being shown AKC and in full continental. She had no problem strutting out to the ring with Dupre and Dawn Marie..when the crowds went wild with foam fingers etc, she just stopped and posed, lmao. No fear whatsoever. One of our few dogs that ever earned a paycheck, lol.

[Melissaandcrew]

Do you remember Renee Dupre? Back in 05 when they were in town one of my standard poodles played Fifi” lol

[Melissaandcrew]

LOl. I try to buy food for the upcoming month to be at least 30 days ahead. I counted food bags yesterday and realized that except for a bag or two of “new try” products, I really don’t need to look until mid Jan or so. Especially now since I switched from premade raw topper to 50% homemade raw.

[Melissaandcrew]

I am new to the home made raw route so there may be a better method.. I buy in bulk thaw, portion it out and then freeze until needed. Right now I have way too much beef liver so its thawing to become treats.

[Melissaandcrew]

A couple of things. Mill dogs needs TIME first and formost to come out of their shells. They need time to develop a bond with their person. Only when they gain trust in their person, will they truly blossom and become a dog. Until then, its a learning curve-every thing is new. At this point in time(4weeks??) no one has any business correcting a “soft/timid” dog for anything. One can not correct a behavior that has never been taught and learned to begin with, and she needs TIME to adjust before any one tries to set rules.

[Melissaandcrew]

It may not be a joint/bone issue at all. True puppy mill dogs often lack courage/boldness and have soft temperaments while adjusting. Most will not go up/down steps or jump into vehicles because they have never learned to-and it will take time. Think of her as a large puppy-if she even walks on leash and collar, you are miles ahead of many.

[Melissaandcrew]

There are two types of dew claws-attached and detached. The detached are the ones that appear “dangle” and loosely attached. THe “attached” are usually firmly attached to the leg and flat against it. In the case of “danglers”, I always remove them. They can get ripped off on anything that can catch them-ie ice covered snow, carpets/rugs’ bedding etc.

[Melissaandcrew]

Dobes are known for sensitive stomachs. Not sure about his current problem but he should be fed at least twice a day.

[Melissaandcrew]

If the need is medical, then it is what is necessary. If its owner preferences I find it an unnatural for a dog

[Melissaandcrew]

I have always used the albon for 10 days-coccidia- and metron for giardia. Never had qiick resolution with panacur.

[Melissaandcrew]

I rotate through most 4-5 star foods for the dry. Currently they are eating NV limitd ingredient Duck-simply due to the lower fat content that my schnauzers can eat. I also now give everyone 50 percent of their diet in homemade raw. We also rotate 5 star canned foods and dehydrated Grandma Lucy’s(almost 600 cals per cup!)

My boys WILL loose weight on all grain free, no matter how high the calories for some reason. I account for that with the Abady, and by adding higher carbs to their portion of the raw diet. This seems to work wonders. I add things like sweet potato their bowls every other day when they are not getting the Abady.

[Melissaandcrew]

My two rescue Iggys are very high energy and had the same issues. I find either a higher carb food does the trick, OR adding a tablespoon or two of the Abady. And, small or not(both 10lbs or less) they can easily pack in a cup of food without any stomach issues, lol. They are eating machines.

[Melissaandcrew]

Most any kibble will soften when soaked in warm water..some just take a bit longer than others.

[Melissaandcrew]

I don’t feed tablescraps like the “old timers” would, lol. I feed high quality “human food” in addition to their kibble/raw/dehydrated/canned. The only time they would get table scraps would be if I had left over egg, pasta etc-in otherwords, no fat cuttings and the like. Anything that is good for us to eat, but left over is fair game in my house : )

[Melissaandcrew]

if it were my dog, I would deal with the liver first. Google Dr Dodd’s liver cleansing diet-be aware that they can lose weight quickly, so be sure to watch the weight of the dog.

[Melissaandcrew]

What did the vet say? Any puppy that stops eating to the point that you say he needs nutrical, needs to be seen by a vet. He could have a myriad of issues, including a partial obstruction etc.

[Melissaandcrew]

I would be leary of the feeding requirements on the websit. Note it states to feed a 2-5 lb dog the SAME amount, whether its a pup, adult or inactive senior.

[Melissaandcrew]

Can’t digest any fats ? What is the diagnosis?

[Melissaandcrew]

wow..It would have taken me about 30 seconds to exit that office and move on. Whether or not a vet agrees with the owners choice, its still the owners right to decide conventional or holistic.

[Melissaandcrew]

Champion prints it on the bag so look at a bag of acana

[Melissaandcrew]

Costco!!! Thei brands Kirkland and Natures domain I believe

[Melissaandcrew]

Hmm.. Lets see, and I am sure I will miss some-

4Health-Tractor Supply Grain INCLUSIVE ONLY-
Taste OF the Wild(their own brand!)
All Diamond
Chicken Soup(Diamond brand)
Some of the Solid Gold dry foods
Canidae(except for the small amount at Ethos on West coast)
Natural balance(but guessing that changed since buy out a few mths ago?)

Whata am I missing…anyone?

[Melissaandcrew]

I would suggest looking around for another pet store, even if a bit further away. WEvery one assumes the boutique store are higher priced,but many do carry good budget friendly foods. I have used propac in the past and still do on occasion as something different-it doe have corn, but decent rating, and its 28.99 for 33lbs or so. Inside is a $3 off coupon, and then they have a buy 10 get one free program. You can not beat it for the cost.Hitek has grain free and grain inclusive, and a frequent buyer program. Victor has a varied line and it runs from 30-46 or so for the varietie. You can find other options if you are willing to drive a bit.

[Melissaandcrew]

Hi there-

I have always fed mostly kibble, and will not give my dogs whole pieces of raw. Recently, I went to 50 50 dry and raw because I bought a grinder to grind up the bones. So far, everyone loves it and see to ne doing fine on it. I buy meats from various places, including butcher, market, processor etc. I found that I actually save several hundred dollar a month doing this, versus just feeding the kibble, dehydrawtd, commercial premade raw and canned that I used to.

[Melissaandcrew]

No regular vet that prescribed the oral. She took the oral to handle thd secondary infection shd created bg chewing coupled with fhe spray. Now if we notice her lick or chew a spot a spritz of the spray seems to handle it.

[Melissaandcrew]

IF you think he has a thyroid condition, you need to have blood work done at a vet, Never play around with the thyroid and supplementing iodine. You can cause permanent issues.

I have only skin dog and when she used to have flareups, we used the ketoconazole spray which worked better than anything orally. She has not had an issue in quite a few months, so they do believe its seasonal.

[Melissaandcrew]

“Safe” depends on your dog. They are considered an acceptable item in the raw world for a dog to have, but if the dog is too aggressive of a chewer or gulper, it would be an issue. make sure youwatch them.

[Melissaandcrew]

Personally I wouldn’t do anything until a full thyroid panel was run but that is me. Anything can make a dogs sseizure if he is alletgic to it. I have never had a dog paralysed for an extended time framd either. My epileptic would get stiff legged which clearted up ss soon as she was done with the seizure.

[Melissaandcrew]

I had this problem a few months ago. Suddenly corrected itself

[Melissaandcrew]

I am so sorry for your loss.

[Melissaandcrew]

I know you are trying to avoid meds, but I would get a tube of BCP ear packing ointment from your vet, and stick it in : ) I have a dog with chronic ear issues, or atleast I did. To make itworse, she get very aggressive when you try to do anything with her like that. Our vet put some in, and voila-she has not had an infection in 5mths. It lasts two weeks, and I got a tube in case she needed a second or third dose. Nope. Gone, completely and has not returned. You have to warm the tube up in your pocket or hands for 10 mins before putting it in, it does leak out and make the fur around the ear a bit nasty, but it was well worth it for 100 percent clearance of the infection with nothing else needed-youleaveit in, nd do not clean the ears for 14 days until the next dose is due.

[Melissaandcrew]

Hmmm..neither would seem to work. I use our spare room which is heated/air conditioned to store the dry. Here in NY we have the same problem with humidity etc. So, that is where the dry “lives” For the dehydrated/canned, I had hubby install some cabinets on the wall of my “mud room”. Then, I simply remodeled the kitchen, lol, that was old and outdated. With 4more cabinets, I now have two spots to keep the canned-some in the kitchen, some in the hallway : ) I split our freezer giving the dogs two shelve for their raw for now, and am looking into a chest freezer to store bigger quantities.

[Melissaandcrew]

I agree with the others. The results are not outrageous that mame me say “ut oh”. Yes, there are guidelines of what is considered normal, but what is normal for yours? Do you have previous blood results from within the last year to compare?

[Melissaandcrew]

PS I use the recipes out of Steve Browns book and Karen Becker so fra, jut substituting leaner meats.

[Melissaandcrew]

Not Sandy, but I buy all my foods locally to date. I look for the ’boutique’ small pet stores and they tend to carry the higher quality, harder to find brands. There are several of us here that rotate every bag, or every meal/day, lol. It builds up much quicker than you can imagine. Some people order on line, but I tend to be a ‘hands on’ type person needing to see/read/handle the products.

Ordering in bulk is not a good idea unless you are going to use it up fairly quickly, so that would depend on the number of dogs you have. Sandy has a bunch, lol, and I have 15, so the amounts we use per month are going to be a lot higher than someone with two or even three dogs.

[Melissaandcrew]

Increase his calories and closely monitor his weight. If he fails to gain or continues to loose, I would suggest an Addison’s test. Standards are very prone to addisons.

[Melissaandcrew]

HI Nancy-

Several of my dogs are schnauzers which are very prone to pancreatitis, and need the fat closely watched as well. With that said, I choose lean meats, and then still trim off what I can. So far, in the past two weeks, they have eaten homemade raw(used commercial made before) using chicken, lean beef, beef heart and venison. No problems with them so far..

[Melissaandcrew]

You need to get some weight on that boy. If he is an average size standard,a nd not small, that is emaciated, not thin. I would also suggest taking him to a vet for blood work. it could be something else just coincidence to the diet change. The Abady is great for putting weight on dogs-I have used it with standards with great success.

[Melissaandcrew]

HI Molzy-

Sounds like your at the same point as me, lol. I have the same two books and washoping for more recipes that included bone in-Beckers turkey and chicken one are identical, except for protein. Can’t really say that is “two recipes” imo.

If you read the book, there is a mall blurb that whole ground chicken is the proper balance for rmb/bonless. So yes, if you added the 5.25 and th 3.25lbs, you could use 8.5lbs of that instead.

You would still need to add the proper amount of organs called for in the recipe.

[Melissaandcrew]

From what I know ,Diamond makes its own products, period. So, its unlikely that a neighborhood local plant is bagging/making Diamond Unless the plant is a Diamond owned plant, and the “other food” is the one being copacked st it. What plant are we talking about?.

[Melissaandcrew]

Keep a close eye on him. Sometimes the snap test for pancreatitis comes up negative at the early stage. I have heard of this happening a few times to people, only to be positive 24-48 hrs later.

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