Changing food - YorkieTalk.com Forums

princesssmomma · 01-18-2009, 06:59 PM

This is my first thread so bare with me.
My princess is 9 months old and everything was going good until Saturday before last. We opened a new bag of dog food (same food as before) and she ate as usual. The next day she started to have diarrhea.

Poor thing she went right by the door to go outside.(she is house trained since she was 4 months) We cleaned it up and made sure she was alright. It continued throughout the day and night. (about every 2 hours or so) We took her off the food, and put her on rice and chicken broth diet. This seemed to help so we thought she had a bug. So hubby gave her some food and it started all over again. So I figured it must be a bad bag of dog food. (we had a dog die over the whole dog food thing a few years ago)
So I put her back on the rice diet and took her to the vet because there was blood in her poop.
The vet said she was fine and it might have been a bad bag of food. We were feeding her Nutro puppy max. Vet also said that she was old enough to start her on regular food not puppy anymore. So i am feeding her the rice with broth and now chicken in it. I have to start her on adult food and am trying IAMS small breed. I dont know if this is the best for her or not. I dont know how to make food that is good for her with the right vitamins or nutrients in it. But I dont want to lose another dog to bad dog food.
So if anyone can help me with making the right choices that would be great. Just some ideas would help so much.
Another thing is when i took her to the vet she weighs 9.6 lbs. and the person i got her from said she wouldnt weigh more than 6. The vet said she was not over weight, she is strong and healthy. She is also really long but the vet said she is a perfect Yorkie. So i guess we will see.
I cant post a picture yet cuz this computer is old and wont let me. So I will post some when I get my laptop back.
And boy do we love our little spoiled rotten Yorkie!!

Dont know what we would do without her!!

Sorry for the long post, remember first time posting. lol
Thank you in advance!!

TOY · 01-18-2009, 08:39 PM

Well, I'm certainly not one to give advice since I don't even have a Yorkie yet! However, I have been reading a great deal about wet vs. dry dog food and home-cooked vs. bought. I would encourage you to read some articles about the food but I'm finding that there are many differing opinions. One article I did read was to see if the vet's office or pet store had samples of various dog foods...seems like a good idea to save money.

NewYorkieLover · 01-18-2009, 08:43 PM

Welcome to YT!

I'm sorry your princess has been having tummy troubles. I can understand your worry, especially considering what you've been through already!

I don't know as much as many others here do, but after reading posts, and checking out this website: Dog Food Reviews - Main Index - Powered by ReviewPost
I decided to change Lexi's food to a higher quality food. You can go there to check out the IAMS and look for something that might be better for her.

Good luck, and I hope she feels better soon.

chestermama · 01-18-2009, 09:55 PM

Iams is a low quality food, by prodcuts, corn all the nasty stuff. I personally would not feed it because of all the aniaml testing they have done on animals. solid gold, wellness, merrick, innova are some to look into. There is a website called dogfoodanalysis.com. The vet office alot of them have science diet they will recommend because they get a kick back from it, and they also have nasty stuff in their food as well.

cariblonde · 01-19-2009, 01:47 AM

maybe try Innova or Wellness? You vet may carry it and slowly mix it with her puppy food and gradually take out less and less puppy food so her little tummy will adjust? Also 9 lbs is a great size! I have a 2.8 lb little girl and I constantly have to watch for Hawks and even jumping off the couch, even though she thinks she is 50 lbs

I'm sure your baby is gorgeous and healthy which is what we want! do NOT dwell on the weight. I wish my yorkie was at least 5 lbs! Your vet may even have samples of the wellness or innova for you to try first! Good Luck

Ellie May · 01-19-2009, 04:32 AM

According to many pet owners, Nutro has been causing illness and death in dogs all over:
Consumer complaints about Nutro Pet Foods

You will get a lot of opinions on what food to feed and dogfoodanalysis is a good place to look but remember that a food rated dix stars by the owners of that site may not be a six star food to everyone. And just because foods are recommended based on their ingredients doesn't mean that the copmany has a good quality control dept., etc.

You are absolutely right about homecooking. It has to be balanced or it could harm your dog. That said, you can hire a canine nutritionist and they will balance it for you. That is what I did for my dog and feel more comfortable with it than with dog food.

Except for Ellie's vitamins, I can eat what she eats, and if I decided to change her over to human vitamins, I could eat the whole diet.

It seems like human food tends to be recalled faster than pet food if there is a problem. However, it is more expensive and a bit of work.

amandawash · 01-19-2009, 08:36 AM

Oh no! It sounds like you have already taken her off the Nutro- Thank God!! Do a quick google search of Nutro. Iams is not the best quality food but I would feed that in a heartbeat over Nutro.

Good luck to you. The dog food thing is probably one of the hardest parts of owning a baby. Do lots of research. And like Crystal said, be careful with the dog food analysis website. All of there 6 star foods are extremely high in protein which is not appropriate for some dogs.

So glad your baby is better and you caught it fast.

princesssmomma · 01-23-2009, 05:09 PM

has anyone heard of Royal Canin they had that at the petsmart and has breed specific food for Yorkies. IShe wont eat the Iams little stinker.
I also saw Wellnes there i think.

Breny · 01-23-2009, 05:23 PM

Welcome to Yorkietalk!!! I'm sorry your baby was sick!

You really want to watch the ingrediants in the food, I like to watch for No artificial flavors, No artificial colors, No corn or corn gluten, and No wheat or wheat gluten.

Mine are all doing great with what they are on and I'm very happy.

Good luck in your search and again, welcome to YT !!!!

PrincessDiana · 01-23-2009, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by princesssmomma

has anyone heard of Royal Canin they had that at the petsmart and has breed specific food for Yorkies. IShe wont eat the Iams little stinker.
I also saw Wellnes there i think.

Royal Canin has corn in it and causes itchies in a lot of Yorkies here. Personally, I think it's an overpriced, low quality food. HOWEVER.. that being said, there are many members here who use it without problems. It's just a matter of preference and what works best for you and your Yorkie.

I personally like grain-free foods and we feed Wellness Core and Nature's Variety Instinct. Other good grain-free brands are Orijen, Natural Balance, and Taste of the Wild.

You can find Wellness and Natural Balance at Petco. Some people also like Solid Gold (we hated it) which is also carried at Petco. Most of the other brands you will have to find at a specialty pet or feed store.

princesssmomma · 01-23-2009, 07:42 PM

i have been researching and Welness, inova and royal have most of the same ingredients the only difference is the corn gluten in royal. We dont have the specialty stores here and i wont buy food from petco they dont have a good rep. i found the royal at petsmart and i think i will try it. She wont eat the IAMS so it is worth a try for something else. She cant eat chicken and rice all the time.
Thanks for all the input.

01-18-2009, 06:59 PM	#1
princesssmomma No Longer a Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Medical Lake WA USA Posts: 20	Changing food This is my first thread so bare with me. My princess is 9 months old and everything was going good until Saturday before last. We opened a new bag of dog food (same food as before) and she ate as usual. The next day she started to have diarrhea.Poor thing she went right by the door to go outside.(she is house trained since she was 4 months) We cleaned it up and made sure she was alright. It continued throughout the day and night. (about every 2 hours or so) We took her off the food, and put her on rice and chicken broth diet. This seemed to help so we thought she had a bug. So hubby gave her some food and it started all over again. So I figured it must be a bad bag of dog food. (we had a dog die over the whole dog food thing a few years ago) So I put her back on the rice diet and took her to the vet because there was blood in her poop. The vet said she was fine and it might have been a bad bag of food. We were feeding her Nutro puppy max. Vet also said that she was old enough to start her on regular food not puppy anymore. So i am feeding her the rice with broth and now chicken in it. I have to start her on adult food and am trying IAMS small breed. I dont know if this is the best for her or not. I dont know how to make food that is good for her with the right vitamins or nutrients in it. But I dont want to lose another dog to bad dog food. So if anyone can help me with making the right choices that would be great. Just some ideas would help so much. Another thing is when i took her to the vet she weighs 9.6 lbs. and the person i got her from said she wouldnt weigh more than 6. The vet said she was not over weight, she is strong and healthy. She is also really long but the vet said she is a perfect Yorkie. So i guess we will see. I cant post a picture yet cuz this computer is old and wont let me. So I will post some when I get my laptop back. And boy do we love our little spoiled rotten Yorkie!! Dont know what we would do without her!! Sorry for the long post, remember first time posting. lol Thank you in advance!! Last edited by princesssmomma; 01-18-2009 at 07:00 PM.

01-18-2009, 08:43 PM	#3
NewYorkieLover Donating Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 418	Welcome to YT! I'm sorry your princess has been having tummy troubles. I can understand your worry, especially considering what you've been through already! I don't know as much as many others here do, but after reading posts, and checking out this website: Dog Food Reviews - Main Index - Powered by ReviewPost I decided to change Lexi's food to a higher quality food. You can go there to check out the IAMS and look for something that might be better for her. Good luck, and I hope she feels better soon. __________________ momma to ♥ lexi ♥ and the two best skinkids ever!! whoever said you can't buy happiness forgot about puppies

01-19-2009, 01:47 AM	#5
cariblonde Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: wilmington nc Posts: 1,585	maybe try Innova or Wellness? You vet may carry it and slowly mix it with her puppy food and gradually take out less and less puppy food so her little tummy will adjust? Also 9 lbs is a great size! I have a 2.8 lb little girl and I constantly have to watch for Hawks and even jumping off the couch, even though she thinks she is 50 lbs I'm sure your baby is gorgeous and healthy which is what we want! do NOT dwell on the weight. I wish my yorkie was at least 5 lbs! Your vet may even have samples of the wellness or innova for you to try first! Good Luck __________________ Proud Member of the Spoiled Rotten Club and in the end, its not the years in your life that count but the life in your years.... Abraham Lincoln

01-19-2009, 04:32 AM	#6
Ellie May And Rylee Finnegan Donating Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Metro Detroit, MI Posts: 17,928	According to many pet owners, Nutro has been causing illness and death in dogs all over: Consumer complaints about Nutro Pet Foods You will get a lot of opinions on what food to feed and dogfoodanalysis is a good place to look but remember that a food rated dix stars by the owners of that site may not be a six star food to everyone. And just because foods are recommended based on their ingredients doesn't mean that the copmany has a good quality control dept., etc. You are absolutely right about homecooking. It has to be balanced or it could harm your dog. That said, you can hire a canine nutritionist and they will balance it for you. That is what I did for my dog and feel more comfortable with it than with dog food. Except for Ellie's vitamins, I can eat what she eats, and if I decided to change her over to human vitamins, I could eat the whole diet. It seems like human food tends to be recalled faster than pet food if there is a problem. However, it is more expensive and a bit of work. __________________ Crystal, Ellie May (RIP), Rylee Finnegan, and Gracie Boo🐶

01-19-2009, 08:36 AM	#7
amandawash Lovin' my R & R Donating Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Middleton, Idaho Posts: 2,152	Oh no! It sounds like you have already taken her off the Nutro- Thank God!! Do a quick google search of Nutro. Iams is not the best quality food but I would feed that in a heartbeat over Nutro. Good luck to you. The dog food thing is probably one of the hardest parts of owning a baby. Do lots of research. And like Crystal said, be careful with the dog food analysis website. All of there 6 star foods are extremely high in protein which is not appropriate for some dogs. So glad your baby is better and you caught it fast. __________________ Amanda 's Ranger & Ryder

01-18-2009, 08:39 PM	#2
TOY Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Tennessee Posts: 1,094 Blog Entries: 4	Well, I'm certainly not one to give advice since I don't even have a Yorkie yet! However, I have been reading a great deal about wet vs. dry dog food and home-cooked vs. bought. I would encourage you to read some articles about the food but I'm finding that there are many differing opinions. One article I did read was to see if the vet's office or pet store had samples of various dog foods...seems like a good idea to save money.

01-18-2009, 09:55 PM	#4
chestermama YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: washington Posts: 3,383 Blog Entries: 1	Iams is a low quality food, by prodcuts, corn all the nasty stuff. I personally would not feed it because of all the aniaml testing they have done on animals. solid gold, wellness, merrick, innova are some to look into. There is a website called dogfoodanalysis.com. The vet office alot of them have science diet they will recommend because they get a kick back from it, and they also have nasty stuff in their food as well.

01-23-2009, 05:09 PM	#8
princesssmomma No Longer a Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Medical Lake WA USA Posts: 20	has anyone heard of Royal Canin they had that at the petsmart and has breed specific food for Yorkies. IShe wont eat the Iams little stinker. I also saw Wellnes there i think.

01-23-2009, 05:23 PM	#9
Breny My Tiny Treasures Donating Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: . Posts: 11,790 Blog Entries: 3	Welcome to Yorkietalk!!! I'm sorry your baby was sick! You really want to watch the ingrediants in the food, I like to watch for No artificial flavors, No artificial colors, No corn or corn gluten, and No wheat or wheat gluten. Mine are all doing great with what they are on and I'm very happy. Good luck in your search and again, welcome to YT !!!! __________________ http://Brenysbabies.com

01-23-2009, 07:42 PM	#11
princesssmomma No Longer a Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Medical Lake WA USA Posts: 20	i have been researching and Welness, inova and royal have most of the same ingredients the only difference is the corn gluten in royal. We dont have the specialty stores here and i wont buy food from petco they dont have a good rep. i found the royal at petsmart and i think i will try it. She wont eat the IAMS so it is worth a try for something else. She cant eat chicken and rice all the time. Thanks for all the input.