Tink loves Taste of the Wild Wetlands Formula
 

This is an introductory post of sorts. I'm a new Yorkie slave to Tink, the 13 week old terror. I got her at a place that was much less than optimal. She was incredibly skinning, only weighing 1.4 oz, scraggly, and had a bacterial infection on her ear tips. My vet told me that she was "alarmingly thin" and that she needed to gain weight. She was an incredibly calm puppy... just laid around in my lap, never chewing anything... not doing anything much other than give me a few puppy kisses every once-in-a-while, scratch like crazy, eat 2 morsels, scratch some more and go back to sleep.

She became sick last Saturday and I had to take her to the pet ER. The vet said she wasn't going to make it through the day. 105 fever. He gave her a SubQ, antibiotic injection, and an injection to calm her tummy. He sent us home with a liquid antibiotic to give her for 10 days and a can of Hill's A/D. 30 minutes after we got home, her fever was down to 101.3 and running around playing, something I hadn't seen her do before. By that night, she was insane. Biting, chewing, chasing things, just a bundle of energy.

The next morning she was sick again. I gave her some karo and she bounced back. I was scared all day because she went up and down. Every time she'd go down, I'd give her some karo. The goal was for her to stay alive until I could get her to my regular vet on Monday.

Monday morning, she was a bundle of energy which was great as my husband was out of town and my son's car wouldn't start; so he took mine without asking. She stayed "well" all day. This morning was the same. It dawned on me Monday that Tink hadn't been scratching. I suspected the Purina One Puppy Chow the breeder told me to purchase; thus I spent Monday researching here on what all of you guys feed your yorkies. I also suspected that food as being part of the problem for her previous malaise and possible illness.

The more I read about feeding, the more confused I became. My son brought home 2 samples of Solid Gold Hundchen Flocken, but Tink turned her nose up at it. It also has barley; so I wasn't thrilled, but it was certainly better than the Purina One. She loved the Hill's A/D and refused any other food offered.

I read that the Taste of the Wild can be purchased at Tractor Supply. The only other Pet store that I've seen in this area is PetSmart and their food is unacceptable. I picked up the TOTW this evening and was disappointed at its great size. What amazed me was Tink's reaction. She went nuts when I brought it in, scratching at the bag like a mouse scratches to get into something. Her little paws were going a thousand miles an hour. I gave her a 1/4 nugget after breaking it and she chomped it right up. I'm hoping that this, along with some canned, and possibly mixed with another brand of quality dry puppy food (as well as a squirt of karo) will get her through puppyhood.

I'd like to thank all of you for your health and nutrition posts. I was so lost and scared until I read all the suggestions on this forum. I don't know what I would have done without it.

Hello and welcome to YT from a fellow Tennesseean!! Congratulations on your new baby!! Sounds like she has a great mommy. My puppys LOVE Taste of the Wild too. Roscoe has been eating it for 3 months and is doing great on it. Good luck and keep up the good work!

Welcome!

My Jackson LOVES his Taste of the Wild (the bison flavored one!) He also eats Innova dog food mixed in with wet. If you go to the food's actual website, you can type in your zip code and find the closest store to you that sells it.

Welcome to YT!!

I'm feeding TOTW Pacific Stream formula right now and all five of mine love it. I think it's an excellent food, but the most important thing is that your baby likes and will eat it.

I wouldn't recommend giving her the Karo unless she needs it. Try to let the food provide everything she needs. Just feed her often, or free feed her, to keep her blood sugar levels even.

I bet you don't have to break up her food for very much longer. Once she puts on some weight and gains strength she'll probably be able to crunch it up on her own. I was amazed watching Tate eat when he was such a tiny puppy.

Congratulations on your new baby! We'd love to see some pictures. :)

welcome to yt!! If your looking to fatten your pup up, totw is the way to go..I fed that to my Tucker when he was that little and he gained almost 3 pounds in 6 weeks!!..

Thanks. So good to know!

They had the Pacific Stream in stock. I was torn on what to buy. I thought I'd read somewhere not to feed Yorkies a lot of fish, but the Hill's A/D has fish meal in it and smells fishy that Tink loves so much. I went with the fowl because they didn't have the bison in stock. I was shocked that she went nuts for it.
I'll give it a try today with the TOTW. Even with the A/D, she'd go down without the sugar. I've been feeding her about every 3-4 hours. I keep food in her pen, but she's rarely in it. She stays in my lap most of the time. She also sleeps with me and gave me a scare this morning because she wakes me up during the night to go potty and didn't last night. I feed her when she wakes me to keep her sugar up. I woke up after 8.5 hours, saw that it was light outside, looked at the clock, and thought, "Tinkie! Oh no, please Tinkie, be alive!" She was still asleep. I checked the bed for spots, but it was clean. I fed her and she seems her usual self. If she's going to sleep all night with TOTW, then I'm sold! LOL

Now THAT would be wonderful. I'd love to not have to add the canned food too.

I'll upload some right now. She's not overly beautiful right now, because of the oily antibiotic on her ears that she spreads all over her head.

A man and his wife were at the pet ER while we were there. He insisted that she isn't a Yorkie because his Mom has one and Tink doesn't look anything like hers did at that age. His wife was mortified at his rudeness.

The vet told me, without my asking about it, that the hair on her face would fill in later. She thought it was thin due to her scratching at her ears that were infected. Whether it fills in or not, it doesn't matter. She's beautiful to me. ;)

Well.... I couldn't figure out how to insert a pic into this post. I'll create an avatar with her pic.

Do I ever feel stupid now! Innova was my first choice because I'd read it was good for itchy pups. I went to the site and plugged in the zip as you suggested and, Voila! They sell it at Earth Fare that I didn't even know existed. I'll go grab a bag today and mix it with the TOTW.

She no longer needs fattening, if you can believe it. The Hills A/D (and probably all that karo) put 9 ozs on her in 4 days. I weighed her last night and she weighed 1 lb 13 oz. She might need a little more weight, but I think she's close to normal now. Each individual vertebrae no longer protrudes on her spine. Her shoulder blades aren't protruding as they did and her sternum isn't protruding either in a flat position. She looks so much better. :) I'm glad to know that I don't have to worry about her losing weight on TOTW. I feel much better about leaving out the karo. I was concerned with feeding her so much sugar.

I added her pic as an avatar. Her ears were down in that pic because of the infection. After I washed away the scabs and gunk, her ears stood up. It was a pleasant surprise to see them, although they're awfully large. LOL

Oh, she's darling! :)

I hope we'll get to see many more pics as she's growing up!

We went Innova hunting today. I was thrilled when we finally found it in small bits. I noticed she didn't go crazy in the store for it, but thought it might be the stress of the place.

She didn't go crazy scratching the bag either at home. Nor would she even try a kibble... just spit it out. I crunched up some TOTW and mixed it with some canned. I tried to crunch up the innova to no avail... the stuff is HARD. LOL I also added some water. She managed to find every bit non-innova and spit it out slurping them clean on the exterior. I've left it in her bowl and not feeding her the usual before we go to bed meal to see if she'll eat it. If not, I'll try again in the morning. I'm too scared of her sugar falling to withhold anything else past the second feeding of the day tomorrow; so if she holds out, she wins. :(

Im so glad that she is feeling better and gaining the weight she needs!! She still is a tiny little thing.. my guy was 2.5 pounds at 10 weeks..:eek: but I call him my little ox :cool: he will be a year old next month and has been holding steady at 9 pounds..:animal36 You are a great momma and she is absoultly beautiful!!

not every dog will enjoy every food out there. If she isnt interested in the innova now she probably never will be. I tried the innova with my dogs too and they didnt care for it much. If she is eating the totw with out any problems I would just keep feeding her that.

I also wanted to add that if you keep swtiching her foods she may become picky, so find something she likes, does well on and stick to it!! :)