Help!! Abby Won't Eat

[Joan]

When all else fails, I give Bailey chicken. He has never refused it. He generally eats a dry dog food. Once things settle, you can find a good quality food that they like. Hope all is well.

[Cudedog]

Sandi:

I am sincerely sorry to hear of the health problems of your little furry children. It is always distressing when they are ill. I hope that by the time you read this, all is back to normal.

I'm going to get on my soap box for a minute here - this isn't aimed at you, Sandi, I am just spouting off a bit. Everyone, please understand that these are my experiences and my opinions and I mean no offense to anyone.

So, speaking for myself, I have not fed commercial dog food in many years - not since the melamine problem first cropped up way back when.

I make my own dog food - lots of raw meat, a variety of cooked vegetables, a variety of fresh fruits supplemented with a liquid vitamin supplement that I that I get from my vet. Also add to that the same glucosamine-chondroitin pills that I take myself. Yes, it is a nuisance to make the food all of the time - sometimes - although after a while it becomes part of the routine.

I have Staffordshire Bull Terriers, a medium-sized dog (average weight of mine about 30 pounds). Average life span for this breed is about 10 or 11 years.

When I first started my dogs on my home-made diet I had four dogs, eldest at the time were 9 and 11 years of age, and really had the "old dog" look and mannerisms, the older one dragging around, seeming about at the end of her days. When I started them on home-made food, within a week or so it was like they were reborn. The older one then lived to 15, the other made it to a few months within her 17th birthday.

My two youngest dogs of the original four are now both 14. My Girl is doing fine (lots of energy, chases the ball with enthusiasm, no arthritis), my Rod not so much - but he has cancer-related health issues, so it is not unexpected. Health problems that began, I might mention, before I began feeding home-made food.

Let me reiterate here that average life-span for this breed is generally about 10 years. I have had Staffordshire Bull Terriers now for near on to 30 years, so I know of which I speak. None of them lived so long as those who I have fed home-made food. Most passed at around 10 years of age. And all my Staffords have been related - Girl and Rod are the grandchildren of my original Stafford show dog.

Think about these things:

How well would a human do, and how long might they live, if they were fed nothing but dry kibble, laced with mystery additives (ever read the label?), year after year?

Even foods that are "manufactured in the U.S." often contain ingredients imported from outside the U.S. - only the actual food is "manufactured" here. Interestingly, ingredients are still being imported from China.

How can one possibly tell by looking what that dry, hard, brown ball that comes out of a bag actually contains? Could be floor sweepings. It would take a chemist to exactly know for sure. There is a reason that commercial dog food contains onion and garlic by-products (both garlic and onion are toxic to dogs): it makes it smell good (to humans).

Dog food manufacturers - even those who make the primo brands - are motivated by profit. If they were not, they would not stay in business very long. Thus they use ingredients that are basically "leftovers" - meat by-products and such that are not, or cannot be, used for human consumption.

Has anyone here ever tried to read the label on their current bag of dog food, and actually know and fully understand what all of those additives are? I tried once, and after a few hours on Google I gave it up.

How about cost of home-made food, you might ask? Actually, not a lot different than commercial food. Right now, in my area, one can find 15% fat ground beef at the meat counter in my local grocery store for $3.75 a pound (the higher fat content ground meat is a lot cheaper). Fresh whole chicken about $.99 per pound. Rice can be had in bulk in my area for about $.10 per pound (a lot of rice is grown in my area of Northern California). Ultra-premium dog food in my area about $3.25 per pound.

I know that making fresh dog food every day might not be do-able for some people. Particularly for those spending a lot of time on the road. It is, definitely, a personal choice.

My choice? I will never go back to feeding commercial dog food. I have seen, first-hand, the difference that a good, home-made food makes. Again, making the food becomes part of the daily routine. I cook for myself every day, after all (I stay away from fast food) - now I also cook every day for my dogs.

But that's just me.

Thanks for listening.

Anne

[MandysMom]

Anne, I agree completely with your ideas. We don't have dogs but our Savannah cats eat well. One eats raw chicken or beef ( organic when available and sprinkled with vitamins). The other refuses raw but eats a dry food I buy at a premium pet store and first ingredient is chicken meat ( not by products). This pet store has never had a recalled food on their shelf. The owner raises champion German Shepards so does her research well. I have known her around 20 years now. I would feed,the second kitty raw if she would eat it, but she will only eat small bits,her sister leaves that get dry. Silly cat. It's a pain to have raw chicken around but it's our choice and my sister in law who was,the breeder had cats that approached 20 years old and I have to believe it was her care and feeding of raw as well as, canned and kibble. Each cat could,choose. The funniest thing was her "barn cats" would catch mice and rats and other small critters and deliver those critters to the breeding cats in their large enclosures so they all ate the variety of their choice!
Velda

[monik7]

Anne, maybe you should include a recipe of what you cook for your dogs.
Sandi

[gingerK]

Anne, no offense taken here, I agree with what you said. Raw or home-cooked food is the best. Good for you on helping your furbabies have wonderful, extended lives.

[Queen]

Anne, I wonder how much shorter the lives of our beloved Border Collies were from the food they ate. They've been gone for ten years now and when they were alive we tried to do the right thing by them by feeding them the expensive Science Diet... and still we lost one to pancreatitis and one month later the other to some undiagnosed liver issue. They were only nine and eleven and we were utterly heartbroken, still are to some extent.

[gingerK]

Science Diet may be expensive and touted by vets but it's first ingredient is corn. Bad.

[BarbaraRose]

There is much truth to the raw/natural diet for pets. I know a lot of ferret owners who only feed raw/natural/homemade food for their ferrets. Ferrets generally only live about 6-8 years. Ones that are fed only natural, live much longer.

That being said, it is a lot more work to do that, so I choose to do the kibble but am still researching the best brands out there for mine. Ferrets can't digest fruits or vegetables, and yet most dry ferret kibble contains both. Go figure!

Ferrets in the US almost all die of cancer. Ferrets in Europe are all fed raw (mice) and rarely ever get cancer. Cancer is the leading cause of death of cats, dogs and ferrets in the US.

It is tough to balance what is best for our pets and what works best for our time/lifestyle.

[MandysMom]

To this day I believe we had so many health problems years ago with our cats because we believed our vets when they sold us Science Diet telling us it was the very best. Years later when I learned the truth, I still feel a twinge of guilt for what I did not know. It's terrible stuff (won't even glorify it by calling it food) and yet vets still have a big rack of it out front. How many animals must suffer before vets figure,this out. Sad.
Velda

[IrishIroamed]

Sandy - sorry to read about the Abby's problems with not eating. And Abby only eating a little. Did you get to the vet?

[monik7]

Sandy - sorry to read about the Abby's problems with not eating. And Abby only eating a little. Did you get to the vet?

Yes Cheryl, I posted yesterday. Still waiting for blood test report.
Sandi

[grammynmaggie]

Thanks this was an enlightening post... I would very much be interested in a
cooked homemade dog food recipe... if anyone has one... maybe you could post it for us
thanks... donna

[Bethers]

I wouldn't recommend the cooked recipe my vet gave me. I broke it down - and it utilizes too much rice - which is ok, but has absolutely no nutrients for dogs.

As to the cancer and animals - think about the processed foods we're eating as humans - doing the same to us. Cancer is also much more prevalent in people now (and not because of age) as it is in animals - the crap in the processed foods for us and animals is not good for us.

There is a wonderful dog food company out there - The Honest Kitchen - where you can actually buy dehydrated human grade food for your dog, where YOU add the protein (chicken, hamburger, beef, fish, etc). Because I'm supposed to limit Peaches protein and I'm not happy using the prescription dog foods filled with the crap you're all talking about - I'm going to give that a try. I've already used two of their other foods - but what I like about this one, is that I can switch up the flavor by switching up the protein every day. And, no, I don't get anything for recommending them - but like what they are doing. It's 100% human grade, guaranteed nothing from China, non-GMO, etc) Here's the link to read about them:
http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/
and the link to the food that you add the protein:
http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/dog-food/base-mix

Just something some of you might want to try, also. Or not.

[monik7]

I finally heard back from the vet. Abby's two liver tests were slightly higher than normal. So they've given us an antibiotic to use 'til next Saturday when she's supposed to go back to get it rechecked. They're both supposed to stay on the chicken and rice for 5-7 days. Then I have to have it figured out what kind of food to try. I'm stumped. It seems like everything is bad. The vet mentioned one brand - Royal Canin, but there are a bunch of different varieties so I have to ask her which one. Has anyone heard of it? I haven't had time to look online. Have watched 3 soccer games today. One was my GS. My GD scored 6 of the 7 goals her team scored in their two wins.

[BirdbyBird]

Royal Canin has a good reputation and good research behind their foods. It is a little more if you are buying it in the stores but I know breeders that have it delivered directly and the price is much better. In the end you are often saving yourself vet bills and supporting the health of your animals by investing a little more in a quality food.

There are several good sites to research dog foods. BJ is always good at posting those. In the end different dogs do well on different quality foods. many dog folks are now recommending switching protein sources and some of the limited ingredients from bag to bag....gradually mixing as you switch, as usual. There is the thought that feeding one protein source for a long time may contribute to some of the food allergies that show up.....