Help- dog food

Jennypops

Hi all,

Hoping for some advice and opinions on dog diets.

My dog was brought to the vets today after a couple of days of being a bit off, hes vomited a few times and seems to have had a little leakage from his glands. Hes always had glands issues with having to be emptied regularly enough and that. Always a bit pukey too with getting sick every month or two fairly standard.
Currently feeding James Wellbeloved, hes been on this for a good while..bit of a picky eater, never seems to wolf his food down and tends to just graze at it.
He howled like mad when vet done his glands and there was LOADS of it, created a lovely stink in the clinic...so vet keeps him in and runs bloods and xrays. All fine asides from his gut being inflammed and thickened..hes being kept in on a drip to treat dehydration and vet will see how he goes overnight etc.
He mentioned such things like inflammatory bowel disease, colitis, viral infection, and said that its most likely just he has a senstive tummy and will need to be on a special diet to see how he responds to that. If problems continue then further tests can be done. I do think there is something with the food as his glands are also having problems too.

So, does anyone here have similiar or know of any diets that I can look into, as I said hes on JWB which I thought was hypo allergenic but perhaps its still not the best for him..

Thanks for any help (hes being kept overnight in vets on a drip, first time away from me like that house is too quiet!!

mymo

I'm currently trying a sample of Whites light and sensitive, ingredients look good, white rice and salmon based, they have a website with all details on. You can request a free sample to try.
My boy is quite sensitive and this seems to be going down well so far, fingers crossed its good and dogs do well on it.
By the sound of it your boy may need more fibre to help empty the glands, I give raw bones once a week or so as thats supposed to help, but it's not an issue I have with my two. If the glands were really bad that can cause other issues.

Hope he's ok, he may just be really sensitive, my boy had awful watery poo, almost constantly on James wellbeloved, but was fine once I switched back to Royal canin.

Just remember to switch very gradually, whatever food you choose.

aisher

My dog was on Beta kibble and I moved her to James Wellbeloved as I had been told it was a better quality food -she ended up getting very sloppy poos which lasted two weeks - I went back to the Beta and the 'poo' went back to normal. Perhaps the JW is too rich for your dog as it was for mine. Would you consider changing her food? Mine is now on a mix of Beta Kibble and Nature Diet - she is a grazer too and she eats this no problem.

Jennypops

Absolutely, I will feed him whatever is the best for him. His poos were grand on JWB, and he seemed ok temprament wise, very laid back and relaxed.

I was looking at Natures Menu pouches and other items from that range, I gave him a pouch of that before and he loved it. He seems to enjoy the softer foods and now I am thinking its because the kibble was too flippin hard on his little tum
With the bones, this is mostly a veggie house so never really any meat here, but if I go to the butchers is there a particular bone I should ask for- ie size or animal (sorry thats probably a stupid question but Ive not been in a butchers for years!!) Do I just give the bone to him as is or do I need to do anything with it first?

I will see what the vet reckons to Natures Menu, I hope if hes on soft food it doesnt mean runny poos!! Also would soft foods not make the emptying of the glands more difficult?

Sorry so many questions!

aisher

Nature Diet although a 'wet' food is not actually full of water. It has a high meat content so you dont need to feed a lot of it - my dog gets it mixed with the kibble and her poo is like cigar butts lol - she has to force it out so the glands are working. I dont give my dog many bones - if I do I only give raw bones as cooked bones can splinter and cause problems.

mymo

With the bones, this is mostly a veggie house so never really any meat here, but if I go to the butchers is there a particular bone I should ask for- ie size or animal (sorry thats probably a stupid question but Ive not been in a butchers for years!!) Do I just give the bone to him as is or do I need to do anything with it first?

It depends on the size of the dog, my two are medium and small size (springer, jack russell sizes), and my butcher gives me raw lamb ribs, they are small and easily chewed, good bit of meat on them too.
Never cook the bones, just give raw, if you're worried about bacteria or germs just pop them in the freezer overnight and defrost (I don't bother, after all the butcher has to be clean enough for people, so should be enough for dogs).
There's a lot of crunching goes on and don't panic if the poo is white or very light after, thats normal.
Oh and I give two ribs each usually, I'd start with one to see how he goes first though.

Cutie18Ireland

I had mine on JWB and they were picky with it even with different flavours. Changed to burns and its gone as soon as its put down.
We have a 14 year old westie and he was drinking an awful lot on the JWB worried his kidneys were on the way out but he is much better on the burns.
I have them on mini bites at the minute so the pup and older 2 have the same food. Once the pup is 6 months will change to the chicken and rice which is lower in protein again.

Cherry Blossom

Have been round the houses with dog food as well. On everything I've tried after about 3 months my dog starts eating mud and grass all of a sudden so I'm not too sure what's going on. I was feeding JWB (duck variety), the 2kg bag lasts around 4 weeks and no real issues until I opened bag no. 3 and all of a sudden it started running through her (literally!) I'm feeding barking heads at the minute (green bag) and I have to say that after the end of the first bag it's showing the best results so far, finger's crossed we won't be back eating mud and grass at the end of month 3 again!

Hal Emmerich

I give my lads whatever I'm having...make extra...very rare I'd give them dog food.