[theBCnut]

My advice would be to try one, then later try the other, so if something helps, you know which one it is. Start with only a quarter or less of the recommended amount and take a week or so to get up to the full amount. Back off on the amount at anytime when you see a stool change. I haven’t tried Missing Link, but DinOvite helped me get my dog off of foods that were doing him damage and on to a good healthy homemade diet. I didn’t stick with DinOvite though. I just used it to round out my dogs diet until I learned enough to make good homemade.

[theBCnut]

The Honest Kitchen Zeal is low fat, high protein, and good quality ingredients.

[theBCnut]

Coconut oil is digestible, so it won’t lubricate the digestive tract. You may need to add a source of fiber to her foods. Pumpkin puree is a good source of fiber and you can freeze it in ice cube trays to get a good serving size for your dog. You can also run healthy greens through the blender and freeze those into serving size cubes to give one with every meal. There is no down side to adding fresh foods to a dogs diet except the little bit of extra work, but your dog could get all kinds of benefits from it.

[theBCnut]

With entropion, the eyelid rolls inward and the eye lashes irritate the cornea, so permanent damage can occur. The usual treatment is to do a minor tacking surgery to correct the inward roll of the eyelid. Some dogs actually have an inward growing eyelash that needs a little electrocautery to burn the hair follicle so the lash doesn’t keep growing back.

Cherry eye is an entirely different problem, which is an inflamed gland in the corner of the eye and not so common in poodles as it is in some other breeds, like Cockers, and Pekinese. It also requires minor surgery sometimes, but it’s pretty hard for an owner to fail to notice a cherry eye. It’s unsightly and can cause the eye to not close properly, but it is usually just a cosmetic issue.

A lot of dogs with dry eye also tear a lot due to the inflammation that causes dry eye. It blocks the nasolacrimal duct, so tears run down the face instead of exiting the normal way through the nose.

[theBCnut]

Unfortunately, it is entirely possible that your dog’s itching and yeast problems are due to ingredients in the Dinovite. Both flax and alfalfa are known for food sensitivity issues.

[theBCnut]

Poodles are known for entropion, which is an inward growing eyelash, which can cause damage to the eye if not treated appropriately, so first have the eye checked out.

[theBCnut]

The curved back may be a muscular development problem and should be evaluated by a vet. It may also be genetic.

[theBCnut]

When it come to kibble, starch is what holds it together, so if you want starch free, you have yo go to canned, raw, cooked, or homemade. If you do go the homemade route, make sure you do your research on what needs to go into a dogs diet. Homemade diets often have some amazingly glaring errors, like no source of calcium, so make sure you cover your bases.

[theBCnut]

My dog with food sensitivities had the exact same symptoms. Try getting a food that has very different ingredients. If your dogs’ normal food uses chicken and rice, try beef and potato, or venison and sweet potato. I had to do an elimination diet for mine to figure out what he reacted to since there were so many things, but once I got him off of the foods he reacted to, he quit having any symptoms after about 3 weeks and I saw a lessening of his symptoms within 2 days.

[theBCnut]

I think this is the one.

/forums/topic/to-feed-or-not-to-feed/

[theBCnut]

Shawna

He increased protein a little, but increased fats a LOT. He eats around 4000 kcals a day.

[theBCnut]

Hi Elisabeth P

I’m flattered that you find my posts helpful. That’s very sweet of you. I don’t know if you can follow anyone on the forums and my profile is set to private on the review side because we have had a rash of trolls/stalkers. I remember the post you are talking about, but I have no idea where it was either. I may be able to find it and if I do, I’ll post a link.

[theBCnut]

Hi Shawna

My brother was an uncontrolled diabetic that went on a carb free diet. He lost 70 lbs in 3 months. He is now off all medications including high blood pressure meds and cholesterol meds.

[theBCnut]

It isn’t common for dogs to retain water unless they have kidney disease or congestive heart failure. However, I just learned from my diabetic brother that people retain about 4-5 pounds of water for each pound of glycogen stored, so maybe dogs do likewise.

As far as Dr Tim’s, it is a good quality food. Any low fat food will have higher carbs. There is no way around that. Fiber is reported as carbs, so you may want to also be aware of fiber content in any food you look at.

[theBCnut]

It’s possible. Blood sugar level affects metabolism.

[theBCnut]

This could be the first signs of a spinal problem. You may want to ask your vet for a referral to an acupuncturist. They are surprisingly helpful with issues like this.

[theBCnut]

Some dogs go off their food due to the heat, so make sure your dog is cool enough before feeding. I even feed mine some things frozen to help cool them down.

[theBCnut]

My dog definitely did better when I removed cleaning chemicals from the house and stopped treating the yard. I also stopped using heartworm worm prevention with multiple things in it. He could handle Ivomectin, but not the other wormers and flea preventatives that they add to heartworm prevention.

[theBCnut]

Mineral oil causes soft stools because it is not digested at all, not because of excess. There is more than one mechanism at play when it comes to oils in the diet and soft stools.

[theBCnut]

This may be a symptom of a food intolerance and a food change may be in order. Yes, giving acid blockers long term is harmful. That’s why there has suddenly been a rash of shyster lawyers offering to sue if you have been using them long term. Try eliminating grains for a while and see if that helps, then try eliminating chicken. Good luck. There are about 20 ingredients my dog can’t have.

[theBCnut]

In my book, that’s another strike against Champion. So sad that they are tossing out their high standards to make more money in the US. It’s not like we aren’t willing to pay for high quality food.

[theBCnut]

If her blood values are normal, it has been found be detrimental to feed low protein food. If he discovered she only has one kidney because he did blood work and it was off, then the protein levels found in prescription food are lower than other commercial foods are allowed to have and consulting a nutritionist to create a homemade diet is the way to go.

[theBCnut]

Please go to their website and use their “Contact us” button and give them a heads up too.

[theBCnut]

I don’t worry about feeding trachea occasionally. I won’t feed it regularly though. And commercial raw food with beef is often made from beef neck, including the trachea, gullet, thyroid bits, so you have to be careful there too.

[theBCnut]

Decomposition is a bacterial issue. The toxins that are produced are produced by bacteria.

I’ve been combining raw and kibble for years on multiple dogs and never had an issue in any way. My dog with gut issues definitely digests kibble better along with raw. Personally, I think the admonition to not mix the two is an old wives tail based on anecdotal “evidence.” Raw fed dogs would have gigantic stools too, if people fed like amounts of grains, veggies, etc. My dogs have very small stools since they aren’t fed the foods that have tons of fiber and other filler ingredients. Well, except for my JRT, who actually gets fiber added to her food, but that’s another story.

[theBCnut]

So far, the only fish I don’t feed bones and all is catfish, but I feed raw. My dogs have had salmon, tilapia, perch, herring, sardine, whiting, bass, drum, and a few others. I prefer to feed small whole fish, but I order whole fish grinds too. I also feed whole shrimp.

[theBCnut]

You feed the amount of organs and bones that goes with the amount of raw that was fed. The kibble has calcium, vitamins, and minerals to balance the kibble portion. It shouldn’t have excess. Personally, I think the vitamins and minerals in their natural form are better utilized.

[theBCnut]

60/40 is way to fast to switch a new puppy. Put him back on the old food for a couple weeks, then try again MUCH SLOWER.

[theBCnut]

I throw all kinds of different high antioxidant fruits and veggies into the blender, then freeze them into ice cubes, and give one a day. So my dogs get some strawberry every day, as well as blueberry, blackberry, and some others. They have no diarrhea issues, but they don’t get too much of any of them.

[theBCnut]

Having free run of an acre may cause such a young puppy to over exercise, which can burn off too many calories and cause too much wear on growing joints.

[theBCnut]

I do like to feed some carbs, mostly foods with good levels of antioxidants or super green foods for their micronutrients. I try to feed no more than 20% of the diet as carbs. I like protein to be around twice the % of the fat, but am OK with a 3/2 ratio.

I do have one dog that gets a higher carb %, but that’s because she needs more fiber, so it’s indigestible carbs.

[theBCnut]

Abady did not want their food reviewed and would not give Dr. Mike the info he requested to do a review.

[theBCnut]

“Veganism is an ethical lifestyle, not just a diet. Obviously, everyone should be vegan, as it is the most ethical lifestyle, by far, compared to every other dietary approach. It’s just a question of personal willpower, and in a few cases, people with nutritional concerns (which are not founded in legitimate science.)

So that is not arguable.”

Obviously wrong. There is nothing unethical about eating meat. Period. Oops, I guess there is an argument.

[theBCnut]

Hi Marie

Dogs eating home cooked meals have the same requirements for calcium that raw fed dogs have. Obviously, you don’t want to give cooked bones, so the calcium has to be raw bones or come from other sources.

[theBCnut]

There are no negatives to brushing except the time it takes, so I’m all for people brushing their dogs teeth, especially if they feed kibble. I don’t brush my dogs teeth because they never have plaque of any kind and I have so many animals that necessary stuff takes all my time. I do take the time to teach good mouth manners to all my puppies and real life keeps them gentle. I don’t take for granted that their teeth are clean because I feed raw. They get their teeth checked at least twice a week, as well as every other part of their body.

[theBCnut]

It’s funny that you should post that. In my 41 years of owning my own dogs, the only tooth fracture I have had to deal with was from a nylabone. In the 14 years that I worked in the veterinary field(not a vet), we had about 5 broken teeth from Nylabones, close to 15 from chewing rocks(but a few of those were all in one Lab’s mouth), and 2 from aggressive bone chewers that were not raw fed dogs. I couldn’t even begin to guess how many from car accidents.

We also had a number of blockages. One dog ate socks, credit cards, screws, chain collar, etc. Both of the 2 that had swallowed bones were not raw fed. Socks were the biggest offender.

If raw fed dogs are swallowing bones that are too big, their owners didn’t do enough research before starting to feed raw. You see, you’re supposed to make sure your dog LEARNS to chew up the bones. If they gulp their food, there are measures to take to slow them down and get them chewing.

[theBCnut]

I use it fairly often and am using it now. Two of my 3 dogs do really great on it. The third dog has food allergies, so can’t use their brand.

[theBCnut]

Broken teeth are also a chewing style issue.

[theBCnut]

Hi Cannoli

Feeding neck MAY cause HYPERthyroidism. This is because some sources do not remove the thyroid gland. This is most common in beef and other red meat grinds and not usually an issue with whole turkey and chicken necks.

And yes, feeding bones can prevent plaque build up. I don’t brush any of my dogs teeth and they all have completely spotless teeth, all the way to the back. It is definitely an individual dog thing. It has to do with chewing style.

Chewing style should also be the major determinant in deciding whether or not whole bones are safe to feed.

[theBCnut]

The issue with mini schnauzers is that they are prone to pancreatitis, so vets recommend a lower fat food.

[theBCnut]

Just a note, acid reflux is often a symptom of a food intolerance. As an example, my dog gets acid reflux if he eats grains. If I take him off all grains, he never has acid reflux. In fact, I actually add raw vinegar to his food because I have read that acid reflux is also associates with NOT producing enough acid, so the sphincter valve at the top of the stomach doesn’t close all the way. Also, I add water to his food, because acid production in the stomach is affected by water content of the meal.

You might want to experiment on your dog and it’s food a bit rather than continue on antacids for life, which has a different set of problems.

[theBCnut]

Definitely feed a meal with no bone, and start adding boneless meat to those leg quarters.

[theBCnut]

I’ve had a number of copraphagics over the years. Some I’ve been able to fix, others not. For some dogs, adding FRESH pineapple, Adolph’s meat tenderizer(not the one w/ MSG), or digestive enzymes has worked. My current copraphagics, can’t eat foods with “natural flavoring” or other sources of MSG or he will start eating his poop. The other dogs can’t eat it either, he isn’t picky about whose poop he eats.

Eating other things that are not food is called pica and is commonly associated with zinc deficiency.

Good luck!

• This reply was modified 8 years ago by theBCnut.

[theBCnut]

There really isn’t a reliable allergy test for food issues. They all have both false positives and false negatives. The gold standard is the elimination diet.

[theBCnut]

I would NEVER buy a kibble that is stored in a bulk bin. Yes, it sounds nice for the environment, but it isn’t what is best for kibble. Exposure to air starts the process that causes the fats in kibble(and everything else) to go bad. So kibble should be made, promptly bagged, and stored in the original bag with all the air squeezed out and then sealed. Even after opening, it should be stored with care.

[theBCnut]

A number of the really short haired breeds have food sensitivity issues. I’m glad you figured out for yourself that you needed to not just switch the food, but switch to something very different, different meat, different carb. Food issues are a pain. Good luck!

[theBCnut]

My GSDs needed about 4 to 4 1/2 cups of NutriSource. Increase food slowly, keep a good eye on your dog’s stool, and keep you dog on the thin side until full grown.

[theBCnut]

Skin irritation in the armpits and groin are usually, but not always, associated with contact allergies, like grass, detergent, carpeting , etc. The tests for contact allergies are somewhat reliable, but do not cover everything.

Tests for food allergies are well known for giving both false positive and false negative results. The gold standard for testing for food related issues is an elimination diet.

[theBCnut]

Do a search here for “low sodium” Another poster, some time ago, did the work for you on finding low sodium foods. If you aren’t opposed to feeding raw, you might want to add a bit of heart to your dog’s diet. Heart muscle is a good source of taurine, which they have found Cavs need.

[theBCnut]

There are intestinal parasites that cause intermittent problems, so one of these times that he is having bad stools, you should get a very fresh sample in to your vet. Also, try adding probiotics to his food for a couple weeks to see if his gut need some help rebalancing.

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