Dealing with my Mother.
 

Sorry to be frank, but my mother is a pain in the a**. I am 22 years old and fully take care of my own dog. However, on certain days when I am at work either way too early or until way too late (only on Saturdays and Fridays), i ask that she feeds Bella for me. I feed Bella Innova Puppy food with cut up boiled chicken. My mom refuses to do this saying that the puppy food makes her nauseous. Bella loves it.

So, my mother went out and against my will, bought Bella new puppy few. Nutro Natural Balance. I am totally against it, yet she doesn't seem to care. Bella is very happy on the schedule of food I have now.

I told my mother that this is my dog, and I will feed it what I want, after extensive research on the Innova. But she doesn't seem to grasp the concept. She says that when I am going away to Hawaii on vacation for 10 days, she will force bella to eat Nutro Natural Balance regardless of it Bella likes it or not, and if she doesn't eat it, she won't eat it.

Frankly, my mother is a b****. I am only staying in this house because I cannot afford a place on my own, but if I could, I would move out as soon as possible.

What should I tell my mother? Am I in the right or in the wrong?

Google nutro and then show your mom your findings. Its been linked to dog illness and even deaths. Dont let your mom feed it.

Natural Balance is not by Nutro... it's made by Dick Van Patten. Did you maybe mean Natural Choice?

Either way, she shouldn't change Bella's food suddenly like that. I would avoid leaving Bella with her in her care... is there anyone else you could depend on? Brother? Sister? Dad? Friend? Neighbor? Another relative? Even if it means taking her and dropping her off... Maybe consider doggy day care?

WOW, she sounds like a control freak. Wish you could find another sitter.

Natural Choice, yes. and she is a control freak, which bothers me.

I showed her the website regarding Nutro and their death and illness problems with dogs. She said to find another dry food. Basically, she doesn't care what Bella is on as long as she is on dry food (perhaps shes too lazy to put together a nice meal for the dog and rather throw dry food in a bowl instead, she also says she hates the smell-- regardless if Bella likes it or not).

What dry food do you suggest I start her on? We will be doing a slow transition to the dry food, so no problems there.

I want something that has small bites, so any suggestions will definitely help.

The Innova that you have her on is a very good food. If you dont want to feed that do a search on here for food and you will get alot of info. If you do switch do it gradually

If she's doing well on the Innova wet, then she should be fine with their dry food too. I heard Wellness is good and a lot of people feed that.

Wow...sorry to hear of your ongoing battle with your mother...it's too bad she does not respect your choice for YOUR pet.....If I were closer...I would pet sit for you :>)

I supplement with natural balance, although I feed her venison medallions. I think they have 2 versions for small bites. There are several others that feed this too, nobody seems to have had any problems with it so maybe you could get your mother to use this??

I would not be happy with her either , is she jealous about something or just this way normally. I would not be happy having someone feeding my dog a bunch of crappy food. I hope you can find someone else to watch your dog, I wish I was closer

If I read your post correctly, you still live in your mother's house and depend on her to feed Bella several days a week when you work late and you will need her to take care of Bella for ten days when you go on vacation. If so, you really aren't able to fully take care of Bella as you say so you will have to compromise.

You need to respect the fact that the smell of canned food makes her nauseous. Remember, she is doing you a favor by feeding Bella for you when you are not there to feed her yourself.

Get some Innova kibble as Ashley V said so your mother can feed Bella that when you are working late or on vacation. I'm sure Bella will do fine.

Maybe you can get little Tupperware containers and make the food up beforehand on the days you work early or late so all your mom has to do is take the lid off, set it down ,and run away from the smell ;)

If she really can't stand the food I'm sure you can come to a compromise ( even though you shouldn't really have to) of a food you are happy with and she can stand the smell of. How about the dry version of what you feed her now? And on the days you feed her you can add a little wet food with it , and on the days your mom does it can just be the dry food and chicken.

I hope it works out for you.

Feed her dry and get one of those automatic feeders that release food every so often,or free feed her the dry.

I am sorry...but I don't mean to sound harsh...But I would save my Hawaii money and get my own place.

Thanks for everyone suggestions. We are going to go out today to a hollistic pet food store and come to a comprise. I do like the idea of adding a little wet every so often, it seems she sometimes has a hard time chewing hard food, but maybe because she just isn't used to it.

I will be choosing either Natural Balance or Innova Kibble. Does anyone know if the Innova Kibble is small bites?

Yes, Innova puppy food is small bites and it's an excellent food.

Yes, the Innova kibble come either puppy or adult dog food, and it does come in small bites for small dogs. I feed mine that every day and they love it. Also, feeding dry is much healthier on the teeth. Good Luck!

DITTO! It is difficult to believe you'd come on a public forum and call your mother a bitch.

I agree that you should save your vacation $$ and find your own place to live, that way - it would be your house and your rules. Ashley V seems to have come up with a great compromise.

Well...some mothers are just not "so motherly" I have one. As soon as I got dogs, she said they were NOT welcome in her home, which is about 1/4 the value of my home, and she has indoor cats, and they both smoke indoors, but that is another story altogether. The dogs were just the excuse I needed to STOP going over there :)

But you are young, and living with your Mother, so you are going to have to be more diplomatic and work out a compromise.

Also, I started feeding my dogs a combination of wet/dry food when they were younger because I thought it would make it easier for them to chew. I believe once you start feeding them this way it will be hard to switch them over to just dry food. All 3 of mine love their Merrick, but only Darcy would eat it dry, and that is because I believe she was fed dry only (and not such a good quality) before she came to me. She thinks anything Mommy/Daddy gives her is just yummy, she is nothing like her finicky brothers!

All I can say is WOW..I guess if I were in that situation, and I was working, and I could afford to go to Hawaii, I would also, just forget the trip and use the money from the trip for a down payment on a place. One thing I love my Mom, and would never call her that, and would hope my kids never would me either. It sounds like with you living with your mom, it's kind of a co ownership, since she's helping to take care of the dog when you're working. If I had one of my kids at home, and they thought of me like that, they would be out the door in a heartbeat..Sorry!

As a mom of older children, I would be very sad if one called me that as well. However, some moms are not always great moms. That being said, she is providing you a home AND allowed you to bring a dog into HER home. Then she agreed to take care of that same dog for you. AND you are going to Hawaii when you can't afford your own place. As a mom, I would expect my daughter to get her own place, then get a dog, and then, if she could take care of all of that, finally go to Hawaii. Sorry, it's the mom in me.

I'm not looking for 5 more mothers, sorry.

We have bought innova dry. Do I need to make a transition or can I just switch her to the dry since she is on the innova wet?

I would start adding a little of the kibble to her wet food gradually. I'm sure she won't have any problem with it.

I'm glad you were able to find a compromise with your mother.

agree
 

you have to gradual switch the food
or she could get upset stomach
but just watch for that

Don't be suprised if she eats around the dry food for awhile either.

I agree, This is your mothers home and if dont like it you sould move. I dont mean to brass but I have a 24 yr old that was not taking care of manolo and going on vacations and partying all night long so I took Manolo and will not give him back until she grows up. You need to respect your mother and not call her such harsh names. This is her home, and maybe the wet food does make her sick.:(

Dealing with my Mother
 

They are really giving it to you, sorry for that. No one walks in your shoes and who knows who is paying for your vacation?
:p

What happened to my signature???? I don't think I am crazy.

I think what really affended alot of us moms is the way she called her mother a B----. The mother who is allowing her to live in her home.The mother who takes care of the Yorkie and will while she is in Hawaii. Please. This young lady needs to appreciate her mother that brought her into this world. I lost my mother from breast cancer when I was 18 yrs old. Boy do I miss her....Thats what made me mad. Some of these young kids dont realize what they have. Wonder if she will be calling her Mother a B---- on christmas...I sorry Im very passionate about respecting your elders....

Dealing with my Mother
 

I am so sorry that you lost your Mom at such an early age.

Maybe she feels that she can "VENT" with us without hurting her Mom's feelings.