inhaling food - YorkieTalk.com Forums

myjerseegirl · 01-24-2008, 09:11 AM

My little Jersee is almost 11 weeks and already weighs 3.5 lbs. Which is fine because we have an eight year old son and didn't want a tiny dog. The thing that bothers me though is she absolutely inhales her food(it takes less than a minute for her to eat what i give her). I feed her around an 1/8 of cup 3 times a day, which is what is recommended by the package and the vet. I feel like I'm starving her though. Will she always eat like that or will she eventually slow down? Any advice is appreciated.

bjh · 01-24-2008, 09:35 AM

What are you feeding her? That does not sound like much food, that comes out to less than 1/2 a cup day. Depending on what you are feeding her, she may not be getting satisfied. My Yorkies alway have food available so I am not sure I can be of much help. Does she look like a healthy weight or does she look underweight for her heights and body frame?

Ellie May · 01-24-2008, 09:40 AM

Ellie is six-years-old and does the same. She gets tons of food (mostly soft) and it takes her 32 seconds to eat 1/4 cup.

myjerseegirl · 01-24-2008, 09:42 AM

I'm feeding her puppy chow. I took her to the vet. 3 weeks ago and he said she was in perfect body condition. We've had her since she was 5 weeks old. She was bottle fed because they almost lost the mom so she was weined early. When we got her the lady had her on moist puppy food mixed with milk. She was so fat she waddled when she walked. I think if I leave food out all the time she will eat till she's sick.

bjh · 01-24-2008, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by myjerseegirl

I'm feeding her puppy chow. I took her to the vet. 3 weeks ago and he said she was in perfect body condition. We've had her since she was 5 weeks old. She was bottle fed because they almost lost the mom so she was weined early. When we got her the lady had her on moist puppy food mixed with milk. She was so fat she waddled when she walked. I think if I leave food out all the time she will eat till she's sick.

Is she on Purina Puppy Chow? Of so then that could be her problem. That food is mainly grain and not enough good protein. Dogs that are fed a poor quality food tend to eat more and get fatter because they are not being satisfied. They may look healthy but after awhile health issues usually arise.

TLC · 01-24-2008, 10:06 AM

Sorry to say....but Puppy Chow isn't really a *great food* - It's filled with tons of cheap fillers, thus, she is probably still hungry.

Do you have a Feed Store or a Speciality Mom/Pop type of Pet food store?

I would suggest getting a better quality food for her.

Here are some suggestions:

Merrick
Wellness
Solid Gold
Canidae
Natural Balance

myjerseegirl · 01-24-2008, 10:19 AM

Yes it is purina. I asked the vet if i should feed her hills science or something like that and he said purina is what they recommend. Small town 1 vet. I'm not worried about the cost, just want her to be healthy. I'm going to petsmart tomorrow. I'll look for new food. Thanks!

TLC · 01-24-2008, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by myjerseegirl

Yes it is purina. I asked the vet if i should feed her hills science or something like that and he said purina is what they recommend. Small town 1 vet. I'm not worried about the cost, just want her to be healthy. I'm going to petsmart tomorrow. I'll look for new food. Thanks!

Sorry to say, Vets DO NOT know too much about nutrition (hehehehehe)
(and S.D. is just as bad as Purina - IMO)

My rule is:
Nothing Made in China
No Corn (in any form of text)
No By-Products (in any form of text)
I also go with NO wheat, flour, soy, gluten (but that's b/c I have allergy dogs)

I am not really sure what brands that Petsmart has

- you might want to research to see if there's a specialty shop, they tend to carry to better brands....

TurtleDove · 01-24-2008, 10:30 AM

Ariel is on Nature's Variety Raw, and she does the same thing. Sometimes I think she isn't getting enough food, but she's actually gained a bit since I started her on it.

Mere_de_Jambo · 01-24-2008, 11:19 AM

It's funny because they will chew on everything but their food. Jambo also inhales his food (raw). I hardly catch him chewing it. Even when I give him treats to train he tries to swallow it as fast as he can.

Brookef18 · 01-24-2008, 11:20 AM

Sadie is 15 weeks... Our vet say they need to eat 4 times a day and they should be getting a half a can a day!!!! That said, Sadie will not eat all her food every meal any more...She was a little pig when she was younger but maybe she was going through a growth spirt? ANy way you should give her at least 4 meals... I mostly do every 5 hours at this point. But I also offer dry food in between.

Sadie is on wellness right now but I am looking into raw diet...

bjh · 01-24-2008, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by myjerseegirl

Yes it is purina. I asked the vet if i should feed her hills science or something like that and he said purina is what they recommend. Small town 1 vet. I'm not worried about the cost, just want her to be healthy. I'm going to petsmart tomorrow. I'll look for new food. Thanks!

Is there a Pet-co near you? I know the Petsmart in my area does not carry any food that I am crazy about. I know Pet-Co carries Solid Gold. Go to http://dogfoodanalysis.com and look at the 5 star dog foods. If you can't find the kind of food you want in your area then you can go to http://petfooddirect.com and order a good quality food. Chicken soup is a good dog food, go to http://chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/ and look for a dealer in your area. Now when you select a new food you will have to change her over slowly. The first day maybe add 1/4 new food to 3/4 old food. If all goes well after one day then increase the racial of new food to old food a little each day. Most of the time going from a poor quality food to a high quality food you may have to put up with soft stool for awhile until you puppy gets all that icky stuff out of her system. You are doing the right thing in switching her. These vets that don't know anything about nutrition really make me mad. Sometimes I think vets push Science Diet and other poor quality food because they know it will eventually cause health problems and then they can treat all the problems that arise from poor quality food. I am just glad that you care enough for your baby to ask questions and seek answers. Best of luck to you and your baby.

myjerseegirl · 01-24-2008, 11:46 AM

Thank you so much for all the good info. I will check to see if we have a pet-co in our area. If not I will just shop on line. We live in small town usa so i doubt we have very much to pick from.

Ellie May · 01-24-2008, 11:55 AM

If you are saying she is inhaling the hard food, that isn't good at all.

Can you crush it up so she doesn't swallow it whole?

If I had to feed kibble and buy something from Petsmart I would go with Natural Balance, Solid Gold or Wellness (if they have it).

As TLC said, Purina and Science Diet are not good foods. Vets don't know too much about nutrition and even the ones that do still carry junk.

I would avoid ethoxyquin, BTA, BHA, propylene glycol (or any other poisonous or carcinogenic preservative), Dyes (example red #40...), by-products, any food that says it contains animal product but doesn't put what kind of animal it came from, menadione, tomato and broccili (more of a personal preference) and all the allergens TLC listed. You might be able to get away with feeding them but who knows... After all that there is still no guarantee that it is a good food.

myjerseegirl · 01-24-2008, 12:19 PM

There is a Pet-co where we are going for the weekend so I think I will try the Solid Gold and see how she does with that. Thanks to all for the great feed back.

01-24-2008, 09:11 AM	#1
myjerseegirl Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Salem Posts: 29	inhaling food My little Jersee is almost 11 weeks and already weighs 3.5 lbs. Which is fine because we have an eight year old son and didn't want a tiny dog. The thing that bothers me though is she absolutely inhales her food(it takes less than a minute for her to eat what i give her). I feed her around an 1/8 of cup 3 times a day, which is what is recommended by the package and the vet. I feel like I'm starving her though. Will she always eat like that or will she eventually slow down? Any advice is appreciated.

01-24-2008, 09:40 AM	#3
Ellie May And Rylee Finnegan Donating Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Metro Detroit, MI Posts: 17,928	Ellie is six-years-old and does the same. She gets tons of food (mostly soft) and it takes her 32 seconds to eat 1/4 cup. __________________ Crystal, Ellie May (RIP), Rylee Finnegan, and Gracie Boo🐶

01-24-2008, 10:06 AM	#6
TLC Slave to My Rug-Rats Donating Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Long Island Posts: 7,247	Sorry to say....but Puppy Chow isn't really a great food - It's filled with tons of cheap fillers, thus, she is probably still hungry. Do you have a Feed Store or a Speciality Mom/Pop type of Pet food store? I would suggest getting a better quality food for her. Here are some suggestions: Merrick Wellness Solid Gold Canidae Natural Balance __________________ Adopt Donate Foster www.yorkie911rescue.com

01-24-2008, 11:20 AM	#11
Brookef18 Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Cape Cod Ma Posts: 1,855	Sadie is 15 weeks... Our vet say they need to eat 4 times a day and they should be getting a half a can a day!!!! That said, Sadie will not eat all her food every meal any more...She was a little pig when she was younger but maybe she was going through a growth spirt? ANy way you should give her at least 4 meals... I mostly do every 5 hours at this point. But I also offer dry food in between. Sadie is on wellness right now but I am looking into raw diet... __________________ Brooke (Chewy's and Sadie's Mom) visit us on dogster dogster.com/dogs/700047

01-24-2008, 11:55 AM	#14
Ellie May And Rylee Finnegan Donating Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Metro Detroit, MI Posts: 17,928	If you are saying she is inhaling the hard food, that isn't good at all. Can you crush it up so she doesn't swallow it whole? If I had to feed kibble and buy something from Petsmart I would go with Natural Balance, Solid Gold or Wellness (if they have it). As TLC said, Purina and Science Diet are not good foods. Vets don't know too much about nutrition and even the ones that do still carry junk. I would avoid ethoxyquin, BTA, BHA, propylene glycol (or any other poisonous or carcinogenic preservative), Dyes (example red #40...), by-products, any food that says it contains animal product but doesn't put what kind of animal it came from, menadione, tomato and broccili (more of a personal preference) and all the allergens TLC listed. You might be able to get away with feeding them but who knows... After all that there is still no guarantee that it is a good food. __________________ Crystal, Ellie May (RIP), Rylee Finnegan, and Gracie Boo🐶

01-24-2008, 09:35 AM	#2
bjh Donating YT 5000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Southeast Texas Posts: 7,959	What are you feeding her? That does not sound like much food, that comes out to less than 1/2 a cup day. Depending on what you are feeding her, she may not be getting satisfied. My Yorkies alway have food available so I am not sure I can be of much help. Does she look like a healthy weight or does she look underweight for her heights and body frame?

01-24-2008, 09:42 AM	#4
myjerseegirl Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Salem Posts: 29	I'm feeding her puppy chow. I took her to the vet. 3 weeks ago and he said she was in perfect body condition. We've had her since she was 5 weeks old. She was bottle fed because they almost lost the mom so she was weined early. When we got her the lady had her on moist puppy food mixed with milk. She was so fat she waddled when she walked. I think if I leave food out all the time she will eat till she's sick.

01-24-2008, 10:19 AM	#7
myjerseegirl Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Salem Posts: 29	Yes it is purina. I asked the vet if i should feed her hills science or something like that and he said purina is what they recommend. Small town 1 vet. I'm not worried about the cost, just want her to be healthy. I'm going to petsmart tomorrow. I'll look for new food. Thanks!

01-24-2008, 10:30 AM	#9
TurtleDove Donating Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: California Posts: 1,510	Ariel is on Nature's Variety Raw, and she does the same thing. Sometimes I think she isn't getting enough food, but she's actually gained a bit since I started her on it.

01-24-2008, 11:19 AM	#10
Mere_de_Jambo YT Addict Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 328	It's funny because they will chew on everything but their food. Jambo also inhales his food (raw). I hardly catch him chewing it. Even when I give him treats to train he tries to swallow it as fast as he can.

01-24-2008, 11:46 AM	#13
myjerseegirl Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Salem Posts: 29	Thank you so much for all the good info. I will check to see if we have a pet-co in our area. If not I will just shop on line. We live in small town usa so i doubt we have very much to pick from.

01-24-2008, 12:19 PM	#15
myjerseegirl Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Salem Posts: 29	There is a Pet-co where we are going for the weekend so I think I will try the Solid Gold and see how she does with that. Thanks to all for the great feed back.