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02-09-2011, 07:17 PM | #1 |
Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Eastern Pennsylvania
Posts: 97
| Update on Bella's eating /weight gain and question Hi all. Just wanted to update as I came with questions when we first brough out little Bella home. Quick background: she wouldn't eat, only weighed 2 pounds...didn't gain anything in a month. She was treated for parasites twice ( even though the second culture came back negative). She had very thin hair ( is growing a bit more hair). She is now up to 4 pounds at 5 months...she's also taller. Her front legs seem to have a bit more hair and her head is normal looking hair-wise. It's her body and back legs that look a little thin. We decided to give her the rest of her vaccinations seperately as she had a reaction to having them all together. A pricey decision, but worth it. One problem I'm having with feeding her...she won't eat unless it's the same thing the older poodle eats ( she loves the poodle...sleeps on her, cries for her when she's out of the room, follows her everywhere). I put the food down, the poodle wolfs hers down and Bella waits until she is done, walks over, sniffs and licks her empty bowl. She then goes over to her own and if the food doesn't match she won't eat! If I feed them seperately, she won't eat her food until the poodle comes over and eats it- and then it's gone! My poodle has gained 7 pounds during this feeding debacle. In my desperation to get Bella to gain, I was fine with this...just feed her whatever she would eat- but it's regular dog food- NOT puppy food. I tried the Wellness brand puppy food and she wouldn't touch it-- even the poodle wouldn't eat the Wellness dog food ...she only likes Little Ceasar's Filet cuts. Is this very bad for Bella at 5 months ? Can I supplement for puppy needs ? I'm hesitant to break from this as she is gaining and willing to eat. I don't want to start this feeding problem all over again. |
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02-10-2011, 07:39 AM | #2 |
Furbutts = LOVE Donating Member Moderator | So, she still needs to gain then, do I have that correct? If yes, then keep her eating what she *will* eat, for now. Another option is to take that Ceasar's and mix in some better-quality food with it. Make sure the Caesers you're giving her is Puppy formula, esp if you're going to 'cut' the Ceasars with another food (if the 2nd food is adult). If this works, then you could eventually try adding less and less Ceasars over time. Another thing to try later, when there is less Ceas, is to sprinkle the food w/ Parmesan cheese as it's nice and pungent and dogs seem to like it. I think it's pretty cute how she worships the poodle .
__________________ ~ A friend told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn. ~ °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° Ann | Pfeiffer | Marcel Verdel Purcell | Wylie | Artie °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° |
02-10-2011, 08:00 AM | #3 |
I ♥ Armani & Chloe Donating Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Upstate NY
Posts: 3,895
| Glad to hear she has gained some weight. How much weight does the vet still want her to gain? Have you tried any higher quality canned foods? How about switching the poodle over too to encourage the puppy to eat it- these higher quality foods will have more protein and better ingredients, your puppy will have to eat less of them then the lower quality foods which may help with weight gain. Is Cesars a stew type food, or pureed? Merrick has some great stewed type canned foods like Puppy Plate, Grammy's Pot Pie, etc that many dogs find tasty. Halo food is also stewed. Natural Balance is a pureed type. Pick one that is similar to the Cesar's and it might help. Have you tried adding things to the food to encourage eating, things like cottage cheese, yogurt, boiled chicken, baked fish, sardines, fresh veggies and fruits, cheese- these are all really healthy for your baby and may encourage them to eat the rest of the food if mixed in.
__________________ Armani & Chloe |
02-10-2011, 08:03 AM | #4 |
Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Albuquerque, NM USA
Posts: 16
| I don't know if this will help or not but dog food labeled "Puppy food" is just a way for dog food manufactors to label their food. So as a dog mum with a very picky eater, I say as long as your puppy is eating, then the food labeled dog food should be fine. You might want to feed her 3 small meals a day if you'd like to see her gain some weight.
__________________ Terrilynn & Bella |
02-10-2011, 01:07 PM | #5 |
Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Eastern Pennsylvania
Posts: 97
| Thanks so much Yes, the Little Ceaser is more solid and then some are little pieces of meat. I've tried the Wellness, we did one that sounded like Yubanuba (?). Both dogs kept coming back to the Ceasar. I cooked for her during the worst of her food issues...chicken, rice, oatmeal on and on. Cheese, egg. The vet was EXTREMELY discouraging...saying she needed the balance that a commerical dog food would provide. I'm fine with that...and now knowing that the Puppy designation isn't all that important...I'll relax a bit about her eating. I just want to get her healthy. She did eat some kibble today...a higher quality brand ( can't think of the name now...but bought a ton of different brands when trying to coax her...it was reco'd here). After reading that some of these pups also liked having food on the floor...I scattered some and she ate it. Funny girl. I also dipped my fingers into her food and pulled out a couple of chunks ( I can't stand the smell of dog food so you know I love this puppy and she ate hand fed. I don't want to start THAT-ha! So that will not happen unless she is starving. Mostly I'm afraid of the high fat stories and the like I've read here. I'm going to try to switch her ...slowly to better quality food but in the meantime, I'm not going to stress that this is going to damage her pancreas, liver or kidneys. She is 4 lbs now and we were told she would be between 4 and 7 lbs when full grown. I'm feeling so much better after reading these replies...thanks so much to all who responded! |
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