Please someone give me advice!

[niamh123]

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In my opinion Dr Johns is a load of rubbish with low meat content.The Pooch and Mutt has a high meat content which was probably a shock to her digestion.I feed raw but I know it doesn't suit every owner.I know Arden grange do a fish dog food aimed at dogs with sensitive tums I would give them a ring they will send you some samples to try and their nutritionists are really helpful

 

[Hemlock]

As RGC says - have the vets tested stool samples, especially for giardia?

 

[Finsky]

What about natures menu raw nuggets ...my friend is Vegan but wanted to feed her pup raw ...you dont have to handle it as you can pop them out of the bag ...it tells you how many nuggets you need to feed and is a complete food ....

Indeed and they come in several different ingredients/recipes as well. Even if fed as addition to something already found suitable for the dog's tummy...it would still be hugely beneficial extra for the dog's diet.

 

[JudyN]

Hygiene with raw food doesn't address the issue of the dog licking young children after eating. However, I did a bit of digging - all meat sold as raw pet food has to undergo regular testing for salmonella, and there was a recall of Nature's Menu at one time because of possible contamination. This shows that the system works, if you like - after all, there are occasionally recalls of human food. And also - salmonella has also been found in kibble.

So if you do decide to try raw, you would be safer buying a commercial brand designed for dogs - meat from butchers or supermarkets may well be less safe as they are intended to be cooked, which would kill the pathogens. Personally, I would judge commercial raw food along with standard hygiene measures to be 'safe enough' round children, particularly if I couldn't find an alternative that suited my dog. But given the lack of conclusive evidence, and the amount of contradictory reports, that is just an opinion.

 

[merlina]

My very tummy sensitive spaniel eats 'Vets Kitchen' either Pork and Potato or Salmon and Potato, grain-free kibble with the stock from boiled veg and often the veg itself added. We spent the uckiest year finding out what would work. He also eats some raw- eggs, white fish and offal. Chicken and rice makes him throw up as I discovered in a holiday cottage!

 

[Stephhoney]

As mentioned by others, a good suggestion would to try a raw diet.
A simple product, clean with no mess and convenient, try "Natures Menu", this can be purchased from most pet stores with a freezer. This is a good product to get started with.

Raw is safe providing that you treat it with the same cleanliness and respect that you would any other meat.
I think that I have attached some information

http://k9joy.com/dogarticles/doghealth01salmonella.pdf

There is a a link in the "Dog Food + Diet" section. Go to useful links + Recommended reading and open "Raw feeding" in Judy's post.
.

With regards to a grain free kibble, I would suggest "Millies Wolfheart". There are a lot of choices and protein levels. I would suggest starting with the lowest protein "Forerunner".

Unfortunately our vets are not the most knowledgeable people to advise on diets.

Myths About Raw: Is my vet really qualified to be giving nutritional advice?
Have a look at the Myths listings for this.
.
.

Is it possible to feed cooked meats with beg ect? It is a worry for me but if she doesn't improve I might have to go to Raw.

Thanks

 

[JudyN]

Is it possible to feed cooked meats with beg ect?

What's beg, please?

 

[Stephhoney]

And I will also look into the nuggets, thanks for that. As for the vets testing they don't seem overly concerned as she's active and happy. I did ask but they said see how she gets on with grain free fish flavour.

And never used porridge, is this reccomend? I would like to get some weight on her if anyone can help in the mean time. Can I give her pro biotics daily when pro kolin has finished?

Thanks

 

[Stephhoney]

What's beg, please?

Sorry veg. X

 

[Tinytom]

My pups always had baby rice or porridge for breakfast....

 

[JudyN]

Sorry veg. X

Haha, I should have worked it out! Yes, you can make your own cooked dog food, and it might be an option for you if you're concerned about raw. It's not something I've looked into but again, you will find all sorts of advice online, much of it contradictory. It would be worth having a look at supplements such as Dorwest Keeper's Mix or Smartbarf to add in too. If you wanted to give a good range of veg without the work, Nature's Menu also does frozen fruit and vegetable nuggets.

 

[JoanneF]

Cooked meat and veg - yes, you can. There are recipes online but remember a balanced diet will need liver, other secreting organ like kidney, and added calcium (which would normally be from bones) as well as muscle meat. But you can't feed cooked bone so you would need to get ground bone to add, or another calcium source to substitute.

TBH, if you could find a good quality kibble that didn't cause watery stools, it would be a lot easier. As with all things, there is a massive range in the quality of foods of all types (wet, dry and raw) so if you don't want to feed raw there are still plenty of options. I don't feed raw, largely because we travel abroad (well, normally we do) and I'm not confident I could find what I needed in places I don't know. I can easily carry 2 months supply of dry, so my dog is on a good quality dry.

The probiotic like yoghurt - yes, you can give some daily. Goat's yoghurt seems popular because a lot of dogs are lactose intolerant but because the bacteria in cow's yoghurt break down the lactose, you can certainly use that if it's easier to get. It has to be live yoghurt though.

 

[Finsky]

Hygiene with raw food doesn't address the issue of the dog licking young children after eating. However, I did a bit of digging - all meat sold as raw pet food has to undergo regular testing for salmonella, and there was a recall of Nature's Menu at one time because of possible contamination. This shows that the system works, if you like - after all, there are occasionally recalls of human food. And also - salmonella has also been found in kibble.

So if you do decide to try raw, you would be safer buying a commercial brand designed for dogs - meat from butchers or supermarkets may well be less safe as they are intended to be cooked, which would kill the pathogens. Personally, I would judge commercial raw food along with standard hygiene measures to be 'safe enough' round children, particularly if I couldn't find an alternative that suited my dog. But given the lack of conclusive evidence, and the amount of contradictory reports, that is just an opinion.

Yep, and the fact that dogs do eat and lick much more questionable things when out and about, never mind their cleaning habits! To witness these things, a raw food 'breath' is least of the worries to get any bacteria from.

 

[Tinytom]

I have fed raw for years and never had a problem but i dont encourage the dogs licking us either

 

[Finsky]

I have fed raw for years and never had a problem but i dont encourage the dogs licking us either

Mine don't need any encouragements....you only need to be close by and all of the sudden you are 'rewarded' with a quick lick of a tongue. As long as the target is not my mouth..it ain't a problem.

 

[Stephhoney]

Thanks for everyone's advice. It would be alot easier just getting her onto a good kibble but I just really feel like non will ever agree with her! Going to give the fish one ago but if that fails back to the drawing bored. Will try yoghurt too! X

 

[melb100]

Hi Steph Honey, What a worry - we've had our own issues this week with liquid poo and refusing to eat kibble so I can only imagine how stressful that this is still going on.

Our neighbour has given us a sample freezer bag of Fish4dogs small size kibble to try as their boxer gets on v well with it with a sensitive tum. On their website you can get a sample for 50p, not sure if you need postage as well. We havent tried it yet but just in case you're still looking for fish flavours.

Out of interest, did the vet say why fish was a good idea?

Ps neighbour also warned to get the salmon, on no account try the sardine unless youre a big fan of sardine scent all over your house!

 

[Dibbythedog]

You could try wet cooked food. My last little dog was on Naturediet and he did fine on it.
Naturediet | Natural Wet Dog Food.

 

[Stephhoney]

Hi Steph Honey, What a worry - we've had our own issues this week with liquid poo and refusing to eat kibble so I can only imagine how stressful that this is still going on.

Our neighbour has given us a sample freezer bag of Fish4dogs small size kibble to try as their boxer gets on v well with it with a sensitive tum. On their website you can get a sample for 50p, not sure if you need postage as well. We havent tried it yet but just in case you're still looking for fish flavours.

Out of interest, did the vet say why fish was a good idea?

Ps neighbour also warned to get the salmon, on no account try the sardine unless youre a big fan of sardine scent all over your house!

It has honestly been such a worry! I just want her to have normal movements!! She has liked all good we've have her just non is agreeing with her.

The vets said to try fish flavor as we've tired 2 with chicken so she seems to think it's flavourings. She said fish or lamb so I'm going with fish. But will have to wait another few days for her tummy to settle and try again.

Wish I knew that I've ordered some last night oh well. Already spent a fortune on dog food so what's another bag lol.

Thanks x

 

[Stephhoney]

It has honestly been such a worry! I just want her to have normal movements!! She has liked all good we've have her just non is agreeing with her.

The vets said to try fish flavor as we've tired 2 with chicken so she seems to think it's flavourings. She said fish or lamb so I'm going with fish. But will have to wait another few days for her tummy to settle and try again.

Wish I knew that I've ordered some last night oh well. Already spent a fortune on dog food so what's another bag lol.

Thanks x

Out of curiousity does anyone have a suluki? Would love to know how much yours weighed at 3 months. She's 14 weeks and currently 5.9kg last time she was weighed at the vets she was 5kg so gaining but I think she's still under weight.