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07-24-2013, 07:55 AM | #1 |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Mar Vista, CA
Posts: 49
| Food and Poop! Kibble/Canned Hello everybody! I adopted Lily about three weeks ago and we've been having a lovely time bonding and getting to know each other. Of course I don't have to tell all of YOU that I'm already in love with her and of course want what's best for her! Lily's facts: She's 2 years old and weighs 10lbs. She was adopted from another family and it's known that she's a Yorkshire/Norwich Terrier mix, a true "Norkie". I switched her from Nutro brand food that she was on prior to adoption, to Halo kibbles. At present she eats 1/4 cup for breakfast and 1/4 cup for dinner. She usually poops 2-3 times a day, her poops are never foul odored and are always nice and solid. The directions on the bag say that pups around her size should eat 3/4 - 1 cups per day. I'd like to add 1/4 cup of wet food daily to get her to 3/4 cup. At this point she has only had wet food when she's needed to take medication but LOVED it (of course). When we first adopted her, I originally mixed the two but I think it was a bit too soon when switching her food as she had some indigestion issues. She also SCARFED it because I'm sure it was delicious for her. Now she's comfortable on the 1/4 cup kibble for breakfast and dinner and supplemented with Blue Buffalo Stix (1/2 stick daily) and Sojo's organic small biscuits for treats as well as a few raw carrots each day. Lily walks 2+ miles a day, she's a real walker so I am watching her sugar intake with these treats but keep in mind that she gets a lot of exercise on her walks and playing with her family and doggy friends in the neighborhood. Up to this point I have been slowly increasing the amount of kibble I feed her because we did not have her old food to wean her off of, she stopped eating the Nutro abruptly. Trying to give her the new food full go immediately is what caused the indigestion issue (long gone now) and why I stopped the canned food and only started increasing her kibble. Question 1 - How much food does your babe eat and how many times does s/he poop? Question 2 - Do you use canned food? 2b - How do you feed it? Mixed in with kibble? Do you serve it separate with meals or in between? Just want to get an idea from those of you who DO feed kibble and canned food about what your babies eat and eliminate. A word about food - We could all spend hours if not days debating what the best diet is for our dogs, we could do that for humans as well! We all have many different opinions, lots of people go only raw, lots of people only go kibble. I've done extensive amounts of research and speaking with my vet who is incredibly holistic minded when it comes to nutrition and decided to go with Halo Small Breed kibble as well as Halo food for many reasons. I am aware of the amount of meat protein vs. plant protein in this food and we have discussed in depth with two vets and an animal nutritionist and came to the conclusion that this is what's best for her body right now. In a perfect world, YES I would love to cook my Lily dinner and prepare her meals myself. Perhaps one day my schedule will allow this. I will rotate her food and supplement quality meats when I can but for the most part I will be relying on a kibble and canned food diet, at least to start. Thanks for reading my LONG post, I'd love to hear about how much your dogs eat and poop!
__________________ Bridget Lily's Mom |
Welcome Guest! | |
07-24-2013, 08:54 AM | #2 |
♥Momma's Bambino♥ Donating Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Ca
Posts: 10,026
| It sounds like you have it figured out LOL, I agree with you in the food. We YT’ers get wrapped up in that issue. I think if your dog is doing well on the food than just leave it alone, unless that company has had some recalls or other issues. I’m honestly GLAD to hear you got her off the Nutro! That food is just horrible. Peanut is 4 pounds and he gets ¼ daily. He gets 1/8 in the morning and 1/8 around 5pm. Peanut will poop 2 times a day. When I give him wet food of any kind it seems he does poop more. I don’t give him wet food, for us he is too small and the cans are too big. For us it is just a waste. So I will boil him a boneless skinless chicken breast for the week and give him little shreds of it daily. That is like his “ wet food” you can always try to do that in replace of the wet food to see if she poops less..? I don’t know if you are concerned with the amount she does or if you are just wondering what other dog do..
__________________ "People with nothing to hide don't usually feel the need to say so." |
07-24-2013, 09:20 AM | #3 | |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Mar Vista, CA
Posts: 49
| Quote:
I'm SO with you on the canned food! I have only opened two cans since we adopted her 3 1/2 weeks ago and both really went to waste. I think when I figure out when/how much to feed her (I'd like to get the meat and nutrients in this canned food into her body!) I'll likely separate the small can into 4 portions and put them in little tupperwares or something air tight so they can last 4 days in the fridge. Even though the Halo cans are BPA free, I don't trust them more than a day after opening. Thanks for sharing Peanut's info! So glad to "meet" you both!
__________________ Bridget Lily's Mom | |
07-24-2013, 09:31 AM | #4 |
♥Momma's Bambino♥ Donating Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Ca
Posts: 10,026
| Glad to help!! It sounds like for Lilly’s size you are feeding her the right amount, plus she is pretty active. Some days Peanut will eat a little more, so I add maybe 2 tablespoons- sometimes he eats it and sometimes he has a couple bites and leaves the rest. I don’t want to have him hungry and not give him more if he wants it, I try to give him the recommended amount- but you know if he is hungry he is hungry LOL. 2-3 is pretty normal, esp if she averages around 2. If it were more than 3 then I would maybe change something. I really wish dog food companies would make smaller cans, like the cat food cans, those would be perfect. I feed Canine Caviar and the wet food cans are so big! Like you I don’t feel 100 % comfortable with leaving it opened for too long. I just stopped, my friend told me I can freeze them in a bag afterword’s- I tried one time and I was like what am I doing?? LOL This is stupid. I just started making him a chicken Ha Ha! Nice to meet you too, your Lilly is super adorable.
__________________ "People with nothing to hide don't usually feel the need to say so." |
07-24-2013, 09:48 AM | #5 |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Mar Vista, CA
Posts: 49
| Awww. Thank you, Deanna. We feel pretty grateful to have adopted her. She's already part of the family in a major way. I'm sure I don't have to convince you of that! Peanut is adorable! I love those little guys!! Lily is the first dog of our own for both my husband and I. I always had medium sized dogs growing up 20-30 lbs and my husband always had BIG dogs who were mostly outside dogs. I remember on one of our first dates many years ago at a friend's house, he whispered in my ear "Do you know they let their dog up on their bed??" Hahaha! Boy have things changed for him!! Anyway, I mention this because I guess I felt like oh gosh, I'm starving my dog! But 1/4C seems to fill her each meal. When we first adopted I did 1/4C PLUS 2 TBS wet food and that was when she had some indigestion/regurgitation issues but only for a day. I, along with my vet, thought it was because 1/4C might be her max per meal and I don't want to push it. Talking about food is a big deal here on YT and you know, it really is in the human world too. People say no carbs/good carbs or paleo this, lowfat that, raw this, natural here, GMO there, green juice only. AAaaahhh! You could go crazy to find good nutrition for yourself! Let alone your sweet little peanutbuttercup of love, right?! I figure that I've done my homework and I'm truly doing my best to give her the best food she can have without breaking the bank or having to become a dog chef. I will try the chicken for Lily! I bet she would love it!! The cans are the worst, what's this discrimination against small dogs! Haha, just kidding. And by the way, I had a client (I work with dogs and have for years, but let me tell you having your own is SO much different) she froze portions of her frozen food, the prescription brand as her gorgeous Silky Terrier has IBS. Anyway, after thawing the consistency was terrible! It was really more like a gravy, no texture to it at all, bleh! If it's not broken, why fix it right?! I started to really obsess about food when I learned she was on Nutro because of course I wanted to change that immediately. I went between several foods and called in the big guns (smart dog nutrition folks) and then I had to calm myself down and remember that we had family dogs live 14-15 years on crap purina and we can do so much better now. Anyway, I love to hear that Peanut loves his chicken, I'm putting that at the top of my list for my next trip to the market! I bet he's a really loved little guy!
__________________ Bridget Lily's Mom |
07-24-2013, 12:29 PM | #6 |
♥Momma's Bambino♥ Donating Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Ca
Posts: 10,026
| Peanut is my first dog and is DH’s first small dog. We both had dogs growing up, but he also had a Massif around his early 20’s. When I first brought Peanut home he wanted to sell him! LOL It took about a month ½ for him to love him and want to keep him haha. Now DH would never think of not having him in our life, I know he probably doesn’t love Peanut as much as I do, but I know Peanut does have a very special place in DH’s heart. I think it is good to feed what is recommended on the back of the food, but I think it is also important to learn how much your pet can eat, and what makes them the healthiest. It is amazing how much food has changed, like you I remember our dog eating table foods, Purina and all the other crap food they had back then- and the dog lived till 15! It has changed so much, and all you can do is research and feed what your dog does well on. In the end that is all that matters. Like you, I have done my homework and research. Some of the best foods Peanut didn’t do well on, so I’m thankful he is doing wonderful on CC and if anything changes I will re route my plan!! Like you said all you can do is your best, and I know all of us YT’ers love our babies and do what we can for them. YT is a wonderful source to find different foods, get experienced advice. I trust YT’ers more than any other reviews. Peanut loves the chicken!! He is right under my feet every time I take the bag out of the fridge! How he knows that bag is for him is beyond me LOL. I like giving him the chicken because it works for us, he gets one of our chicken breast and I make it for him while I make ours. It will usually last him a week. I would say every other week he gets a chicken. It was DH’s idea to give him a chicken, he said “ I wouldn't want to eat dry dog food every day”! I think Lilly would be in cloud 9 if you gave her some, it is so silly to see them get so excited over chicken! LOL I don’t know, I just wish food companies made smaller cans. I mean they make them for cats, and I have seen bigger cats than Peanut! In general I think wet food is gross, I don’t like how it smells, how it looks, and I’m sure it isn’t that tasty LOL. I hate throwing away a whole can when some pets are starving on the streets- My brother was feeding his dog’s Nutro! I had a little talk with him and now he put them on Blue Buffalo. There are a couple food’s where I will say something- I will put my 2 cents. Halo isn't a bad food, and if Lilly is doing well then hey like you said Why fix it!?! It is an amazing bond between a woman and her dog! I can’t even tell you how much I love him. He is my heart and soul, and it sounds silly when I say that, but he is! I would be lost without him, and DH of course. I've had him since he was 10 weeks- he is 6 years old now and it seems our bond gets closer and closer. It sounds like Lilly is a perfect match for your family, sounds like she found a wonderful home full of love!! Can’t wait to hear the stories of her as she gets older.. seems like no matter the age they are always doing something silly!
__________________ "People with nothing to hide don't usually feel the need to say so." |
07-24-2013, 06:33 PM | #7 |
YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: NJ
Posts: 1,812
| All of my yorkies get 1/4 cup daily of kibble. They do get fresh fruits, veggies, and chicken/beef/dairy daily. I would feed the dog not the bag. Cozy and Buddy would eat til their stomachs exploded if given the chance! Roxy poops every other day. Cozy poops at least 1x/day. Lucy poops twice a day. Buddy the golden poops at least 1x/day.
__________________ Beware of Nestle Purina Cozy (4/06), Roxy & Zoey (2/08), Lucy (4/09); Buddy 4/09- Rescued 12/11); Mika ('98) & Tallulah ('00) RIP Harley 4/2009; Lucky 11/2010; Zoey 4/2012 |
07-25-2013, 05:42 AM | #8 |
Action Jackson ♥ Donating Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Maryland
Posts: 17,814
| Jackson is about 17lbs give or take, active and healthy size. He gets 1/2 cup of kibble per day on most days. We do 1/4 in the AM and 1/4 cup in the PM. Breakfast he usually has Wysong Dentatreat sprinkled over the kibble, some mornings a bit of Grizzly Salmon Oil. Dinner we usually mix a bit of Weruva wet food (I buy the small cans because the big ones go to waste, I don't use enough, I just do a little spoonful in kibble and stir it around). He also gets a small 'Get Naked' chew every night (about 18 kcals per stick) and an occasional bully stick (maybe one a week). Oh and training treats whenever we train, or whatever and they are either Zuke's (2 cals per treat) or Cloud Star Soft n Chewy Buddy Biscuits ripped into tiny pieces. We've found this is the best for us, and keeps him in the best shape. If he ate what the bag recommended, he would be very plump. LoL. If he's a lot of exercise (like excess swimming all day, etc), I will give him more (like 2/3 cup per day). At one point, I was feeding him more and found he got a bit 'chubbier' for my liking. This is how I like him: 942996_10153018802970319_58097223_n.jpg 253181_10152113706480319_309152894_n.jpg
__________________ ~ Brit & Lights! Camera! Jackson! CGC ETD TKP ~ Follow Jackson on Instagram: https://instagram.com/jacksontheterrier |
07-25-2013, 06:06 AM | #9 |
Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: montana
Posts: 2,945
| morgan gets 1/4 cup in the morning and 1/4 at night and he weighs 7.5 lbs which the vet tech thinks he needs to lose a little weight but I don't |
07-25-2013, 11:14 AM | #10 |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Mar Vista, CA
Posts: 49
| Jeane, Brit & Mika! I love hearing about your babies!! It sounds like my Lily is probably right on track with her diet. Thanks for validating my suspicions. Isn't it lovely that we're all so blessed to have these babes in our lives!! Deanna, it makes me feel so good to know that your love for Peanut still grows stronger after 6 years. I feel that way now and for us it's only been just short of a month. What a wonderful world they bring to us and I'm so thankful to have found this community of people who really LOVE their dogs!! Wishing you all a great day. Love Bridget & Lily
__________________ Bridget Lily's Mom |
07-27-2013, 05:26 PM | #11 |
YT 3000 Club Member | halo is not bad food, much better than the nutro, chester gets maybe a quater of a cup of the acana and he gets his wet at night on the dry or without, and he will let me know if I forget the wet food after I come home from work at night |
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