Dog food

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firecadet613

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May 10, 2007
5,253
Indiana
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What do you feed your dogs? My Jack Russell Terrier had a seizure a week ago, and after doing some research on it, I found out I can reduce the chances of it occuring by switching her heartworm medicine, and also switching her to a preservative free diet.

I took a look at Meijer tonight, and there are so many different kinds of dog food! She was on Iams Weight Control, and we switched her to Purina Fit and Trim about 5 months ago or so. I'm starting to look into preservative free/natural dog foods, but the choices seem to be endless.

What do you all feed your dogs, and how do they like it?
 
There are two aspects to this... The first is what "I feed the dog" and the second is "what the dog eats." We have to get some special prescription dog food from the vet that has some special thing about it... I never really looked into it but it costs way too much (it says "Duck and Potato" on it). It's supposed to be easier to digest and produce less dog poop.

However, I went upstairs last night and one of the Goldens had her head stuck deep into the covered cat litter box and cleaned out every last turd... So not sure what the point of special dog food is. Good thing the cat was up inside the Christmas tree chewing all the branches off the trunk and chewing on the electrical wires... otherwise it could have been messy.

I'm starting to figure out why I have a lot of deer in my yard but never any deer poop....
 
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Four Suns said:
There are two aspects to this... The first is what "I feed the dog" and the second is "what the dog eats."

Our two German Shepherds (at almost 100lb each) are still considered "puppies" and dine on the Iams "Smart Puppy" supplemented by the occasional chipmunk, squirrel and possibly rabbit (can't tell from the fur scraps) - not to mention the stick of butter that "disappeared" from the kitchen counter last night.
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Four Suns said:
There are two aspects to this... The first is what "I feed the dog" and the second is "what the dog eats." We have to get some special prescription dog food from the vet that has some special thing about it... I never really looked into it but it costs way too much (it says "Duck and Potato" on it). It's supposed to be easier to digest and produce less dog poop.

However, I went upstairs last night and one of the Goldens had her head stuck deep into the covered cat litter box and cleaned out every last turd... So not sure what the point of special dog food is. Good thing the cat was up inside the Christmas tree chewing all the branches off the trunk and chewing on the electrical wires... otherwise it could have been messy.

I'm starting to figure out why I have a lot of deer in my yard but never any deer poop....
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ROFLMAO .... omg.. I needed that laugh, thanks! That is so true, that is so like what a dog would do.

and then they come out of the room with that look on their face - Rut Ro.... Rut's Rong Rolf? - Scoobie Doobie Doo!

The best part, is how, right after this(or if they've been licking their or the neighbor dogs genitalia), they come up to your SO, and give her a big wet kiss, and she asks you why you don't like the dog to kiss you on your face.

My friend feeds his dog raw chicken breast meat.

Don't get me wrong, I love dogs... I just lost my white shephard after 11 yrs this past spring, I'm just not a big fan of them licking my face.

-VtSeaRay
 
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Our mountain cur seems to prefer Dunlop tennis ball fuzz over all other brands. The female whippet-terrier mix gets her way around the food bowl despite being outweighed by the younger and stronger male, especially when we pour meat juices from the pan over their cheap dog food to make it more appetizing. Both like to lick peanut butter off the knife when my 14 year old makes his peanut butter sandwich. Both seem reasonably healthy.
 
guinnesssherm062.jpg
I did some research and I can't remember where I found it, but there was a women who came up with a rating system by adding points for good things(real meat,potato, whole grain) and subtracts for fillers and chicken parts etc.. For the cost I found the Kirkland Signature(Costco brand) lamb and rice or Chicken and Rice to work well for my Rat Terriers. They weigh in around 14lbs so they can be sensative. It is actually produced by Diamond pet foods. There are 2 different grades, premium, and regular. Both are reasonable in price. If no Costco you can get Diamond foods at Tractor Supply.
 
Betty, our Standard Poodle also uses IAMS, with a little canned mixed in to make it attractive. No shortage of Poop here. We have 10 acres and she poops in about a 15' square area.

Not a fun area to mow.

Great dog and no shedding at all.
When we call her "Cap'N Betty" , she knows exactly that we are going boating.
 
We tried all the dog foods and our 'itty bitty' pup didn't like them. So....I turned to old faithfull and did what my parents did and their parent before them did....we feed her table food.....well sort of. Every week we buy a roasted chicken from Costco...specifically for the dog. She loves it. We also leave dry food out for her and she eats that at her will. Oh...and she get three/four dog treats every morning for breakfast.
 
The problem with most commercial dog foods is the “processing”. You can easily research this on the web, but the short version is that inedible food by products are ground up, blasted at temperatures that removes most if any nutrients remaining, formed into pellets and then sprayed with a coating that smells and tastes yummy to the dogs. Without the coating they wouldn’t go near that garbage.

A dogs digestive system has not and will not adapt to eating this stuff and some studies have been made to show that eating only this “food” will shorten their life span.

The alternative is to use natural foods and thankfully there are several available and at reasonable costs. We feed our golden these two:
http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/index.shtml
http://www.naturapet.com/brands/evo.asp
When romping around on some isolated shoreline of the bay, the preferred cuisine is typically horseshoe crab that has been properly seasoned in the sun for a few days.
 
My dog,
An adopted street dog from Puerto Rico eats 2 Eggs ober easy bacon home fries and toast for breakfast. Lunch is usually a tuna sandwich or something like. And for dinner he has prime rib bone with plenty of beef , Chicken, or Haddock. A few milk bones at bedtime. He has plenty of water and kibbles and bits for snacks.

He Eats what we eat. Vet say's he is very healthy. He goes to the Doggie SPA every two months for maintainance.

willy.JPG
 
Don't try to self-diagnose seizures in your dog. They can be from contiminates, but depending upon the dog's age, the cause could also be canine epilepsy, tumor, or some type of imflammatory disease. Also of concern is the duration and extent of the seizure since violent muscular spasms can cause significant injury to the dog.

We had a seizure dog a few years ago and the course of treatment we ended up with was gradually increasing doses of phenobarbitol so the dog was essentially seizure free. In our case the cause turned out to be tumor related, but careful treatment and handling of the dog during a seizure bought him several extra years of chasing crabs on the beach.

The point is, don't try to figure this out on your own.......get your vet involved.
 
Thanks Frank. I'm calling the vet this AM. She's 3.5yrs old.
 
Best thing I ever did for my dog was get her off dog food. I feed her fresh veggies, brown rice, a protein like chicken and fish, a dab of olive oil and glucosamine. She instantly hit her ideal weight and her activity level shot up to that of a puppy again. She's 7 years old and i've had her on this diet for about 4 years. For snacks I buy her oxtail cut into little discs and freeze them raw. It's also cheaper than dog food. Give her the right proportions of each and have her checked by the vet on a regular schedule.

Let us know what the vet says about your dog and what caused the seizure.
 
Will do. It's scary what most dog food is! I'm headed out to pick up some Evo and switch her over to the for the time being...but I am looking into feeding her stuff I prepare myself. What breed do you have turtletone?

Vet closed early...gotta love it. Shoulda called yesterday..
 
My dogs now eat Purina One supplemented by some table food. We tried the raw chicken diet - bought a heavy duty grinder and then added some vegetables and olive oil and eggs to it. They really like it but it was just plain nasty to prepare, store and serve. They did produce less poop but it wasn't enough to warrant them eating better than me some days. Dogs do not digest grains very well so we look at the ingredients before we buy - but honestly we don't worry about it too much. Like others - they eat bugs, wood, grass, some sand, tennis balls and anything else unfortunate enough to cross their paths.

Interestingly enough we have a bed and breakfast and serve wine and cheese in the afternoons. One time we got a cheeseball thing and brought home the leftovers - the dogs wouldn't touch it. After a minute they wouldn't even sniff it anymore - needless to say we threw that out and will never buy another one.
 
firecadet613 said:
Will do. It's scary what most dog food is! I'm headed out to pick up some Evo and switch her over to the for the time being...but I am looking into feeding her stuff I prepare myself. What breed do you have turtletone?

Vet closed early...gotta love it. Shoulda called yesterday..
Click to expand...

She's a lab/beagle mix which means she can find anything dead within a mile and bring it back.
 
Here's some good reading on canine epilepsy.

http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/overview.html

A co-worker of my wife's dog had seizures, and he rushed her to the vet. They wanted to do a $750 test, but the test probably couldn't show them whats wrong. They would put her on some medicine that should help it, but there would be no gaurantees that it would help. Also, once you start that medicine, you can't stop it.

I read through this, and my dog is eating a food that has preservatives in it, and her heartworm medicine is Ivermectin based, so I'm going to switch her over to Interceptor from Heartguard in two months when the supply I have runs out. I'll be switching her food today, and hopefully that will help if not alliviate the problem. I'm going to pick up some EVO tonight, and put that down next to her Fit and Trim and see which one she goes after first....sort of a test!
 
My dog "Tugboat" eats Wysong, which is some all natural, organic, only made from potatoes grown on the south side of the farm BS...
But she doesn't like it, and instead prefers to follow my kids around and eat what we eat... She is particular to eggs, any meat, salmon, potatoes, peanut butter and vanilla ice cream... She is in phenomenal shape, and her activity level is, um, off the charts....
 
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She woke up at about 545 AM and had another seizure...a bad one at that according to my wife. I'm always at work when it happens. We'll be at the vet at 8am...I will report back what they tell me
 
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