I have a toy poodle who will be 10yo later this year. I got her when she was just going on 4yo. She came with a whole pharmacy full of pills...some to make her poop and some to keep her from pooping too much, some to keep her from puking...plus the usual heartworm pills and topical flea gel.
She also came with a big 'ol bag of grocery store kibble.
The first thing I did was put her on high-end kibble. Within a week or so, she didn't need any meds at all, other than the monthy heartworm. I never did boosters on any of her vaccines except rabies.
As time went by, I learned about raw feeding and eventually switched to Nature's Variety Raw Instinct, rotating varieties daily. Then I stopped working and money was tight so I put her on canned Instinct. When they came out with Raw Boost kibble, I gave that a shot and that's when everything fell apart. It seems that it is high in sodium. She got a raging UTI and was very, very sick for weeks. I put her back on NV Raw. Not long after, she had a rabies booster and went off her food for a few days. A year went by, she had been better for a bit, and then she had another rabies booster.
Since then (some time last year) she has a weird problem...her stomach is super sensitive. If I go even a teeny bit beyond 12 hour feeding intervals, her stomach starts squeaking and growling and she then refuses to eat. I try very hard to always feed her at 7am and 7pm, but sometimes life interferes and people come before animals and occasionally I don't get home to feed her until 8pm or maybe 9. If I know I will be out late, I will sometimes feed her earlier, but then it throws her off in the morning.
I stopped buying beef and chicken food, thinking those would be the most likely to be of lower quality, even in a good brand like NV. We are sticking with lamb, rabbit, and venison for now. If she refuses a meal, it usually turns into 2 or 3 missed meals before she can eat again. I'm wasting a ton of food and she really can't lose any weight bc she already is so tiny. Any idea what this could be?
Oh, and PS: I know someone will suggest just buying meat from the grocery store, but she never learned to eat meat off a bone and anything in chunks doesn't register to her brain as food. I've tried it and unless it is ground into oblivion, she will just sniff it and walk away and the idea here is to get her to eat more.
She also came with a big 'ol bag of grocery store kibble.
The first thing I did was put her on high-end kibble. Within a week or so, she didn't need any meds at all, other than the monthy heartworm. I never did boosters on any of her vaccines except rabies.
As time went by, I learned about raw feeding and eventually switched to Nature's Variety Raw Instinct, rotating varieties daily. Then I stopped working and money was tight so I put her on canned Instinct. When they came out with Raw Boost kibble, I gave that a shot and that's when everything fell apart. It seems that it is high in sodium. She got a raging UTI and was very, very sick for weeks. I put her back on NV Raw. Not long after, she had a rabies booster and went off her food for a few days. A year went by, she had been better for a bit, and then she had another rabies booster.
Since then (some time last year) she has a weird problem...her stomach is super sensitive. If I go even a teeny bit beyond 12 hour feeding intervals, her stomach starts squeaking and growling and she then refuses to eat. I try very hard to always feed her at 7am and 7pm, but sometimes life interferes and people come before animals and occasionally I don't get home to feed her until 8pm or maybe 9. If I know I will be out late, I will sometimes feed her earlier, but then it throws her off in the morning.
I stopped buying beef and chicken food, thinking those would be the most likely to be of lower quality, even in a good brand like NV. We are sticking with lamb, rabbit, and venison for now. If she refuses a meal, it usually turns into 2 or 3 missed meals before she can eat again. I'm wasting a ton of food and she really can't lose any weight bc she already is so tiny. Any idea what this could be?
Oh, and PS: I know someone will suggest just buying meat from the grocery store, but she never learned to eat meat off a bone and anything in chunks doesn't register to her brain as food. I've tried it and unless it is ground into oblivion, she will just sniff it and walk away and the idea here is to get her to eat more.