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07-20-2010, 11:54 PM | #1 |
Yorkie Yakker | Good or Bad?? My yorkie is extremely picky to eat, and usually doesnt eat alot. She weighs 3.4lbs, so really small So I have done the following: I have cooked chicken, taken the water/extract, then used food processor to paste chicken. Mixed the chicken into the extract, and now its kind of like a soup that I put over her kibble. There is no salt added or any other spices or oil. And I removed the skin before using the cooked meat. She seems to love this, and is eating her kibble with a little bit of this on. NOW my big question is this healthy to give her? Is it okay? How much of this is toooo much? Im pretty happy because she is eating atlast, but dont want this to affect her health |
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07-21-2010, 09:39 AM | #2 |
YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Posts: 1,795
| Hi there, I cannot comment on whether that is the perfect solution or not but have a few suggestions... What is the kibble you are feeding. When I got my puppy my breeder was involved in a breeder program for a not so great food. After several problems with her dogs and the puppies in that particular litter we switched. All of the pickyness was eliminated. My boy is really small I don't even think he has hit 3.4lbs yet, and this is what I feed him: he has free range to his kibble, however I only fill it twice a day if he runs out, he usually eats less than 1/4 cup a day of a great quality feed, (I feed NOW! and am very happy with the brand) to help make things taste better, and eliminate cooking, I feed a small amount of Trippet (beef tripe) daily. I take one of the smaller cans and divide it into 8, he gets an 8th in the morning and an 8th at night. (WARNING: tripe really stinks. if you are going to feed this and you like kisses from your dog, I recommend purchasing good smelling dental sticks and feed (appropriately) daily, or get in the habit of teeth brushing). I can recommend some of those if you like too. Good luck, and remember 3.4lbs is really small, if you are feeding a good quality feed like NOW! they wont eat much. The key is to assure there is no grain or wheat, and no by-products. I found switching to a grain free really made a HUGE difference in Harley's eating habits. |
07-21-2010, 09:55 AM | #3 |
Yorkie Yakker | Many thanks for your reply. I do feed a very known kibble (Royal Canine Puppy and Royal Canine Yorkshire Terrier) She doesnt eat alot of it though How old is your boy then? He is really small then!!! |
07-21-2010, 10:02 AM | #4 |
YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Posts: 1,795
| He is 9 months... Royal Canin is what we switched from. I was very dissatisfied with it, and Harley hated it... If you would like a full review of why I didn't like it, I'm happy to provide it... essentially it has corn in it, and that caused a lot problems for us... let me know if you want the full run down on why we switched. |
07-21-2010, 09:50 PM | #5 | |
Yorkie Yakker | Quote:
Honestly Im starting to feel very depressed because I cannot seem to get her to eat well | |
07-22-2010, 05:04 AM | #6 |
YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Posts: 1,795
| I would definitely consider switching... especially if it is stressing you out that she's not eating... Here are the many reasons why myself and the breeder + other owners from recent litters, have switched. My reasoning: First he wasn't eating well enough, he had constant eye goup, and was eating his poop every day! When I got him completely switched to a grain & wheat free food he stoped eating his poop, he loves his food, even though the kibbles are bigger, they eye goup only happens every once in a while, usually when we travel. The food definitely helped in that case. I also suppliment with Trippet, it gives that little extra kick to make the food tastey. For that size she should eat around 1/4 cup of this food daily and 1/8 of the smallest size can of tripe twice a day (if you can't get tripe talk to the local pet food store they may be able to find something similar). That's what Harley eats, but he's a little smaller. I wouldn't feed more tripe than that, just more kibble if needed. My breeder decided it was time to switch, My dogs mother went through a terrible time having the puppies (she also retired the dog even though it was her first and only litter... she's big on letting the dogs live a proper life and NOT over breeding) The mother could not hold weight, lost ALOT of her hair, and was having troubles growing it back (I've heard that sometimes they do lose hair, but the lack of regrowth was the problem). Eye goup was a constant on all of her dogs, and thier coats were bland, not a lot of shine. There was an instant change once the switch was complete. She switched to Natural Balance, I couldn't get it close to my house so I switched to NOW! the ingredients in both are similar and have equal nutritional value. Other dogs in the litter, and other litters: They had similar problems. The eye goup was a uniform problem with all of us. one could NOT get the dog to stop eating poop, and a few had allergic reations. All problems improved significantly if not completely once a food switch was done. I am extremely disapointed with Royal Canin, Very happy with NOW! NOW! does have a Yorkshire Terrier food, I will only be feeding the general because the store only carries the general, I've talked to her and decided that I'm ok with the general, because I suppliment with the tripe. I hope this helps... just remember if choice is limited, go with something that is Grain Free and wheat free, if you can find something that says allergen free, that's a bonus. You want absolutely NO bi-products. The first three ingredients are the largest component of your food, the first ingredient should be some sort of meat, NOT CORN. corn is a filler, essentially you have to feed the dog more to get equal amounts of nutrients. which leads me to the next point... you may think that this might be an expensive switch. I priced it out. I paid way more for the Royal Canin, than I did for the NOW! Good luck! There are plenty of articles on choosing foods for your dog. I but most of them summarize the above. I also caution you if you ask your vet about food. it has been my experience with both dogs and horses, that vets wont make the decision for you, A lot of them make money by carrying brands like royal canin, etc. I've watched videos where a vet is promoting a kibble that the first ingredient is Bi-products... so be careful. You are better off to ask a trusted dog friend who has loads of experience, or listen to the opinions of people on this forum. That's how I learned, I just kept asking, and taking in all the information people gave. Another great site to join is Zoo-too I think it's called, I found that forum befor Yorkie Talk, and between the two of them I learned ALOT! Best of luck. |
07-22-2010, 10:17 AM | #7 |
Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: River Falls, WI
Posts: 677
| Maybe look into a raw diet if she already likes the cooked chicken? If your choices are limited and she is a picky eater, raw may be the way to go. My GSD was a picky eater, I went through a ton of kibbles, and when I switched to raw a few months ago, he now loves to eat! |
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