[pugmomsandy]

I tested their first morning pee and they did get some Wysong Biotic pH- last night and the pH was 6 this morning!

[pugmomsandy]

ProDen Plaque Off has the specific seaweed that helps tooth buildup. I gave it to my foster that I had for several months as he was dieting so he could lose enough weight and have a dental, and his rotten breath was actually gone by the time it was time for a dental. I sprinkle it in their food and it’s a very tiny amount. I have bought the oral get but haven’t tried it yet.

[pugmomsandy]

Yes, Marie, those are the two products and I think you can still rotate your other ones in. I give the full dose once a day, most days.

[pugmomsandy]

Bette’s Immune blend has probiotics in it already. Yes, you should be able to find coconut fiber and plain ground psyllium at the health food store. You can even add a couple teaspoons of chia seed or ground flax/hemp seed for fiber. You might look into using some slippery elm. It soothes/coats the GI tract. Ask your vet if any of these are contraindicated.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 3 months ago by pugmomsandy.

[pugmomsandy]

I just tested the pH on one of mine and it was between 7.2-7.4!

[pugmomsandy]

Have you tried Weruva or Tiki Dog canned food? They look like human food. If he would eat just once a day, then I wouldn’t be too concerned. But there are premixes where you add in your own meat to make a somewhat homemade food. If homemade is something you’re considering. If not, there’s the dehydrated foods where you just add water, wait several minutes and serve.

[pugmomsandy]

Can he have more fiber in his diet like ground psyllium or coconut fiber?

[pugmomsandy]

Will he eat just canned food?

[pugmomsandy]

For tiny kibble, look at Nutrisource small/med breed puppy, Amicus puppy, Nature’s Logic, and Nature’s Select Hi-Pro/puppy, and By Nature Organics. I’ve used all of these. I also know that Simply Nourish small breed is tiny kibble. Wellness also has a toy breed kibble.

[pugmomsandy]

My 14 yr old has been more mobile lately and the only new item I’ve been giving him is Longevity and Fresh Factor.

[pugmomsandy]

Did you find out if the UTI is completely gone? My dogs haven’t had any noticeable side effects. I’ve been using the product a couple times a week as I alternate with a cranberry plus herbs supplement for several weeks to a few months. I dont remember the actual time i started using it. I think the highest pH was 9, and it was down to 8 and they have a follow up in April. Although I do have pH test strips here at home. Tonight they ate a duck neck for dinner so they’ll get the urine supplement with their canned food breakfast. In a six month period, two of my dogs had the high pH, so I’m using the products fairly long term. My third dog who eats the exact same diet has normal urine. Go figure. As they don’t have blood in the urine, frequency or other issue, I’m going to stick with these products for now. They do get vit C occasionally too.

[pugmomsandy]

There’s some articles at b-naturals.com about urinary pH/crystals/stones which say some dogs will just have a high pH. And as long as they are asymptomatic for urinary issues, it shouldn’t be too worrisom. That being said, I’ve added dl-methionine (in Wysong Biotic pH-) once a day to my dogs’ meal.

[pugmomsandy]

Yes you can use freeze dried food when boarding your pet. It’s a little more pricey though. Even though my dogs eat raw, they still also get kibble and canned food so they wouldn’t have a problem eating either of those for a period of time if needed. That’s one good reason to feed a variety. I would probably use freeze dried or canned food if boarding my dogs.

[pugmomsandy]

I’m a pug seamstress now. Since I’ve been fostering for a long time, I’ve had to buy them a sewing machine and make them some jackets and diapers and dresses because pugs are short and stumpy and don’t ever fit anything off the rack!

[pugmomsandy]

You’d have to ask the manufacturer if they test the bone meal for heavy metals. I make my own raw and use Solger brand which is tested and human grade.

[pugmomsandy]

Go with your gut feeling. I’m sure that SC and RC are complete and balanced with all the nutrients needed to maintain life and give a dog soft fur and they have tons of research and do feed testing, but I like to feed better ingredients, not just a concoction of nutrients.

[pugmomsandy]

These are are the supplements I have on hand but don’t necessarily give every day: Springtime Bug Off, Longevity and Joint Chews, Mercola Bladder Support, Wysong Biotic pH, krill oil, calamari oil, vit E and C, ubiquinol, cetyl-M, DE.

[pugmomsandy]

I use Solger bone meal but Now and Kal brands were also listed in the recipe book I use.

[pugmomsandy]

I would say 75% raw/25% processed of some type (kibble, canned, dehydrated). Tonight’s dinner is just tripe with a little canned food just to mix in some supplements.

[pugmomsandy]

I’ve heard Costco has a big tub of Nutiva brand coconut oil at a great price. Check out Nutiva.com and wait for their 1 gallon to come back in stock. It’s free shipping on orders over $30.

[pugmomsandy]

My dogs didn’t have any UTI’s but had a high pH and some struvites. They take Wysong Biotic pH- alternating with Mercola Bladder Support in one meal almost daily. They don’t get it when they eat raw food. I use it when they eat kibble/canned meals. I would recommend getting some urine pH test strips so you can monitor that at home or take in a urine sample to be tested monthly. The urine pH relates to the type of crystal. And my dogs did see a vet, a holistic one. I wouldn’t recommend cranberry juice especially it it has sugar in it. Try a D-mannose supplement. D-mannose attracts a certain type of bacteria from the bladder wall. It’s the active ingredient in cranberry and some other berries.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 3 months ago by pugmomsandy.

[pugmomsandy]

Start feeding the garlic now. It says it could take a couple weeks to fully be effective.

[pugmomsandy]

You can also add calories by adding some fat/oil. A Tbs of coconut oil has about 120 calories. There are also several recipes online for Satin Balls. You can also look for a food with a higher fat content and more calories per cup. Maybe a food for puppies, performance or working dogs.

[pugmomsandy]

You can try reducing his food intake just a little bit. Also I’ve noticed that on walks, my dogs’ stools will be softer than normal if it’s not their usual poop time. It’s like walking stimulates them to go, or they smell another dog’s poop and that makes them want to leave one of their own, even when they normally wouldn’t need to go if we stayed home. Does that make sense?

[pugmomsandy]

You can even add something with some fatty acids in it like flaxseed or hemp seed and chia for added fiber.

[pugmomsandy]

Dr Tim’s is a quality product. You can add some fiber at feeding time so that might give you more food choices. I give ground psyllium but I’ve also noticed that when I top my dogs kibble with a dehydrated food (rehydrated) it also bulks up their stool.

[pugmomsandy]

B-naturals supplements are next on my list to try.

[pugmomsandy]

Look at Grandma Lucy’s and The Honest Kitchen, maybe even Sojo’s.

[pugmomsandy]

Congratulations!! 🙂

[pugmomsandy]

Here they are:

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/15_01/features/Pet-Uses-Of-Apple-Cider-Vinegar_20435-1.html

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/2_6/features/5220-1.html

[pugmomsandy]

Sorry, I can’t post links from my iPad, but there are two articles about ACV from Whole Dog Journal. I can find them later unless someone else posts them first.

[pugmomsandy]

I use photobucket to post pictures in the forum. On the other side, you can insert photos from your computer but you have to shrink them down first.

[pugmomsandy]

I’ve used Nutrisource grain free Heartland Select and Nutrisource grain free Lamb on my fosters and they do well on those. They don’t get any transition since they don’t (99% of the time) come with their own food. I did have one foster come with Kibbles & Bits! Oh my!

[pugmomsandy]

So sad. Did you ever make a report to the FDA?

[pugmomsandy]

You might check Sojo’s freeze dried food. It’s relatively low in protein, as is Addiction dehydrated food, and The Honest Kitchen (Force, Keen and Verve). Otherwise, the canned food you are looking for will be in the 3.5 star and below categories of wet food.

[pugmomsandy]

Is good stool indicative of not having worms or is that not an indicator? I don’t recall worming my dogs with meds. I give them DE sometimes.

[pugmomsandy]

aquariangt,

Some dogs can’t digest a “richer” food right off the bat, even if you do a slow transition. Their digestive system might not be healthy and strong. And usually the 5 star foods are alot different in composition. For instance, some of my fosters had vomiting, bloody, mucousy poop to diarrhea when I added some 5 star kibble to their diet. So I had to back them down to something around 25-30% protein. That’s usually where most of my fosters stay for kibble. I do top their kibble with some 5 star canned foods. My dogs, on the other hand eat various types and compositions of food without any problems as they’ve been doing it for years.

[pugmomsandy]

No food for at least 24 hours! Only liquids. And you can buy slippery elm to help coat his GI tract. Actually it’s in The Honest Kitchen Perfect Form. But you can get just plain slippery elm and make a gruel out of it.

[pugmomsandy]

Putting the little kibble in an IQ Ball might help as well. He has to push the ball around to let out some kibble pieces.

[pugmomsandy]

They are fairly common products and you can even find them at the big chain stores or online. But here are some examples you can look at:

http://b-naturals.com/by-condition-c-23/senior-care-c-23_4/bertes-immune-blend-1-lb-p-17.html?cPath=23_8

http://www.swansonvitamins.com/swanson-probiotics-dr-stephen-langers-ultimate-16-strain-probioticwith-fos-60-veg-caps

http://www.swansonvitamins.com/swanson-ultra-anti-gas-enzyme-170-mg-90-veg-caps

[pugmomsandy]

I generally try to finish an open bag by 3 months. Kibble can have an 18 month shelf life.

[pugmomsandy]

I fostered a bulldog for a couple of months and she did fine with my small kibbles (since I have pugs) mixed with canned food. The moisture made it easier to pick up and swallow and I could mix in probiotics and digestive enzymes with her meals so she didn’t have a gas problem.

[pugmomsandy]

I thought someone had mentioned before that Blue would not divulge which companies manufacture their foods.

[pugmomsandy]

That’s awesome! A new grinder!! I’d like to get the 1.75 HP one but it’s around $1200!! But my Weston 22 does great anyways. I’ve done over 100 lbs in less than 20 minutes.

[pugmomsandy]

I buy Nutrisource fairly often. I’ll buy the small/med puppy and the grain free lamb recipes.

[pugmomsandy]

There are many foods similar to Nature’s Logic that are “complete and balanced”. I use Hound & Gatos, Wellness Stews, Merrick classic and 96%, and Weruva. Or you can add a multivitamin supplement to her feeds.

[pugmomsandy]

Hi-Tek Grain Free is made by Hi-Tek and has not had a recall. Also Nature’s Select is made by Mid-America Pet Food. And Ainsworth makes Pure Balance and Back to Basics. Tuscan Natural is made by Pyramid Pet.

Merrick makes their own food and they bought Castor & Pollux.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 4 months ago by pugmomsandy.
• This reply was modified 11 years, 4 months ago by pugmomsandy.

[pugmomsandy]

Have they always been gassy? You might giving them probiotics/digestive enzymes with their food. I used to give them regularly over a year ago, but now just a couple times a week as mine aren’t gassy anymore 🙂 I have 3 dogs that sleep with me and one of them might toot once during the night and honestly it doesn’t smell half as bad as hubby’s!!

[pugmomsandy]

I don’t know either but I feed the sardines whole, ungutted.

[pugmomsandy]

By Nature Organics stews don’t have carrageenan.

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