Feeding and elimination?

[judy]

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If he is eating it, then put him inside before you clear up, as otherwise he will percieve it as being even higher value - you want it too!!
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thanks. i needed that.
ok. good point. I will not clean it up in front of him anymore.

Thanks for telling me about pineapple and Deter. Good to know about. he is a fast kisser and it's inevitable that i will get poopy kisses if i don't act.

Thanks for that great link. That article on coprophagia in dogs will make perfect bedtime reading for tonight! sweet dreams...

How do you know tedbear should weigh 5 pounds more? Do his bones stick out a little too much?

[Nicki]

Yes he's just really quite skinny - even to me and I like them skinny.

My vet - who is brilliant and understands me!! - even very subtley asked what I was feeding him...his delicate way of saying I think this dog looks STARVED

You should be able to feel the ribs and spine and chest bone [which I think is a good indicator in a Cavalier, as they don't all carry the weight on their ribs], they should be lightly covered.

Have a look on Laura's site, this is very good for all sorts of things:

http://www.roycroftcavaliers.com/manualfeeding.htm

about half way down this page, there are some good photos.

[JaneB]

It is so interesting to see how many of us struggle with the eating issues in our puppies. Both of my girls were very picky eaters initially and often had runny, yucky stools. I went through all the panic of "OMG! what is wrong with them?!" It seems that with time, and experimentation with their food, they have both settled into enjoying their food and have fewer bouts with loose stools; their overall body weight is now really good. I wonder if it isn't just an "age" or maturation thing. The food that seems to work best for them is a combination of Canidae and Merrick's Granny's Chicken Pot Pie. I think the Pot Pie is the reason they like their food so well now and it does seem like a very healthy addition to their "regular" chow.

The poop eating (Flora) has also stopped. Thank goodness! I know it can be normal puppy behavior but it does go against one's sensibilites. Hang in there with Zack, this too shall pass. Hope he is feeling better now that a bit more time has passed since his surgery. Hugs around his furry little neck from the three of us.

JaneB

[judy]

jane, how old are the girls now?
thanks for the perspective, and thanks for telling me about Grammy's Chicken Pot Pie--i read up on it today and found a local store that has it in stock. It sounds like what i've been looking for, something appetizing. Do you use both the canned and the kibble, or which one?

[judy]

.....if you do decide to clear out all the varieties of kibble (you could just slowly work your way through them if they are tightly closed and kept fresh) give a local rescue group a call -- they will be only too delighted to use the unwanted food.

How long should kibble be used before it should be thrown away if it's not in an air tight container? How long can it be used if it is in an airtight container?

I have more bags of food than i have containers and i would be happy to give most of that kibble to rescue groups, but some of it has been just in the open bag for 3 and 4 months. The premium kibbles all seem to say 'no preservatives' on them. If this food is too old, i need to throw it away.

I have some kibble in air tight containers that's been there several weeks to a couple of months at least. How long should that be used before throwing it away?

I also would like to ask a question about pumpkin. I've often heard the advice to feed a bit of canned pumpkin when there's diarrhea. When the diarrhea stops, is it ok to continue to give the pumpkin until it's gone? How long would the pumpkin be good in an air tight container, after removing it from the can? how much pumpkin a day would not be too much?

[judy]

i would like to report that since last Saturday which was one week after neutering, i started feeding Zack only kibble (Royal Canin because it has the smallest pieces which are easiest for him to chew), i removed the bully sticks, the pressed hooves, the booda bones, the edible nylan bones, and stopped giving canned food. For all my pets before i got Zack, i always fed only kibble and life was simple, poop was simple. now Zack is on the program. On the first day of the new regime, he cleaned his plate of all the kibble upon return from a rousing trip to the dog park. Previously, he would just nibble the expensive fancy canned food and leave it in the bowl long enough that i had to throw it away.

needless to say, i'm very pleased. He eats one cup twice a day of kibble and i can pick his poop up without it smearing all over the grass. this is how life should be.

Because i have such a poor memory, i have not been following the instruction about picking up the bowl and taking the food away if he doesn't eat it in 15 minutes. It gets left there until he eats it. I mean to pick it up after 15 minutes but i completely forget to do it. That's the habit I'm in with the cat and previous dogs i had.

I know this is something to be discouraged, leaving dogs' food for them to eat at leisure, "free feeding." Why is this practice to be discouraged? What problems does it cause?

As for his elimination, there have been no missing poops with smelly breath since that one episode just before he was neutered.

thanks for all the guidance and info and encouragement. Thank you for making a difference.

[Moviedust]

We do the same with Cedar: measure out her food and it sits in her bowl til she eats it. She's older so we only feed her once a day, though.

I'm under the impression that true "free feeding" is when an uncontrolled amount of food is made available and the dog can eat as much as he or she wants. This often leads a dog to over eating (very much like it leads to over eating in humans!!) I could be wrong about this, but this is what I understand. Someone could correct me.

[JaneB]

The girls are 7 and 9 months old. They both love the kibble. In fact, Fauna lays on top of her empty bowl, just in case Flora makes a run at it. Silly girl, you should see her asleep with her head in it. It is so funny.

I tend to stay away from the canned variety as both Flora and Fauna tend to love it too much and snarf it up way too fast. I've been told by the Merrick rep that many people use the canned Grammy's food to entice very picky eaters. I can certainly see how that would help. I got a sample bag to try before I bought a bag of it. Most of the petfood dealers around here carry them and offer them free of charge.

Hope this finds Zack feeling better. Let me know how he likes Grammy's.

JaneB

[judy]

..Hope this finds Zack feeling better. Let me know how he likes Grammy's.JaneB

that's so funny about Fauna guarding her EMPTY bowl.

Zack is feeling fine. At first he liked Grammys canned food. It certainly looked appetizing. I put it on top of kibble and mixed it. He ate it right away the first time, and then, as with every other food except boiled chicken and rice, he became more and more hesitant about eating it, taking only a few bites and leaving the rest. Finally, he didn't touch it at all when i put it down there. I was experimenting with not mixing it with the kibble but just placing it on top of the kibble. No dice. I think the biggest cause of the problem was his bully sticks and other slowly edible chew things, booda bone, pressed hoof, lamb and rice nylabone. He would walk away from his food bowl and pick up one of those chewing things and just happily chew and gnaw away at it, but more aggressively than he would if he ate a meal. He would pull pieces off and eat them and wear them down faster than he had been. finally i figured out that this was substituting for eating for him. I guess the flavor of them must be more appealing, even than Grammys. I just switched to kibble alone and took away all those chew things, and the first day, he cleaned his plate of the kibble, and has continued to do so, although not always when i put it out. It depends on if i put it out at a time when he's hungry. I'm really pleased to know he's getting the nutrients in the food and life is so much simpler. Later when this has become a firmly established habit, of eating only kibble, for a treat, a couple of times a week, i'll try giving him a half can of Grammys or other canned that i have now in my cabinet. I will start allowing him to have edible chews on certain occasions, such as after he's eaten his food. But not every day. i gave him a Kong with a treat inside that he can't eat but can lick and he puts a lot of time into that. The thing is, h e's not a picky eater. He'll eat anything if i structure it right. His symptoms of pickiness were just the way I was setting things up, without realizing it. To not be picky, he just needed me to make changes.