Food? or is it something else?. . .

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by ladyjane

Just a little FYI: Science Diet has discontinued Nature's Best.

Yikes!

Probably still doing Ideal Balance though? Since it sold at the major chains, I bet that one sticks around for awhile.

[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by Ellie May

Yikes!

Probably still doing Ideal Balance though? Since it sold at the major chains, I bet that one sticks around for awhile.

Yes, I am.

I hope it does!

[imdll]

Originally Posted by concretegurl

So what's the update here?

Did you ever do a fecal at the vet's in the least?

I feed TOTW because the brown rice base in Innova was too harsh on my fatties, they needed grainless.
We also do RAW/BARF.
I'd do model prey but I'm lazy atm.
Has anyone ever noted hypoglycemic Yorkies do exceedingly better on a RAW diet?

No, Lu's symptoms never did reappear. My initial pangs of panic over what appeared to be the symptoms starting up again was a false alarm. She had that occasion of being ill and mucousy stool with a little bit of blood in the mucous and then it disappeared and to this point has not returned.

In reviewing all the possible contributing factors I highly suspect what happened was a combination of several things. Lu is very easily distracted and she tends to be much more picky about eating when we aren't at home. I was helping take care of my grandmother while my parents were away for several days and so Lu's schedule was pretty upside down. She's not super sensitive to the point of that making her ill but I suspect she wasn't eating as much as she normally would. After doing some reading I have also come to understand that some animals and people can have reactions to vaccinations a couple of weeks after the fact due to how your body creates the antibodies etc. Tack on top of that the fact that Lu doesn't tend to eat much for treats but did have a little bit of roast beef. I think that all those things in combination is what turned little Lu's world on edge.

I do hope that people understand that I was monitoring her very closely during the time when she appeared unwell. Because I know her and her habits I could see that she was not her normal energetic self but she wasn't just laying somewhere completely lethargic and knocking on deaths door. When the symptoms were present I was concerned and watching very closely for any indication of change for the worse. Even if the symptoms had remained the same I would have taken her to the vet first thing in the morning. By morning it was as though nothing had happened. Later on when it seemed like pattern might be starting up again I was very concerned and if there had been the slightest change in Lu's stool she would have been to the vet in the middle of the night if necessary. However, nothing further developed.

At this point I believe the little bit of bile vomit that has occurred a couple of times is likely due to not eating as she should and I have been extra watchful about her eating habits particularly when we have to be away from home, as that seems to be when she is most likely to scrimp in the eating department. If there is any change in Lu's stool etc. then I will have her to the vet for testing. So far she has been acting like nothing happened and I'm awfully pleased that has remained the case. Here's hoping it was a onetime thing.

In watching Lu's eating habits so closely I have noticed a couple of times when she has eaten her food like pills and not chewed it at all. She doesn't do that very often but on one occasion she threw up a bit of food and it was all still solid kibble. She's so dang fussy when it comes to food and I wouldn't have chosen the food she is eating to feed to her because I kind of feel like it might be a bit large but when she wouldn't eat anything else it seemed like a better option than starving herself. Don't get me wrong, the kibbles aren't terribly big just big for such a tiny mite. I think I may try the small dog version in the hope that the flavor will be similar enough she will eat it. The protein level is a bit different but hopefully she will do as well on it as she has on the regular Acana if I can get her switched over. I’m going to do a bit of reading and then decide from there. May have to give some thought to the RAW diet, not sure how well that would go over considering how fussy this little one is though. Still something to consider. Thank you for the suggestion.

[TraciG]

My pup also eats Acana, I read on another thread some members concerned about the size of the kibble. Someone suggested breaking it down with a meat clever and I thought it was a great idea and have been doing that for the past few days. Even though Brutus never gagged on the regular size kibble, I din't want to take the chance. Just a thought... Glad to hear Lu is doing better.

[RileyDC]

Originally Posted by concretegurl

So what's the update here?

Did you ever do a fecal at the vet's in the least?

I feed TOTW because the brown rice base in Innova was too harsh on my fatties, they needed grainless.
We also do RAW/BARF.
I'd do model prey but I'm lazy atm.
Has anyone ever noted hypoglycemic Yorkies do exceedingly better on a RAW diet?

I also feed TOTW.... Switched from Acana about 4-weeks ago. Riley Loves it and is doing Really Well on it. He gets Really Excited at mealtime and eats it all, which makes Me Happy!!

Hope your baby is doing better.

[imdll]

Originally Posted by TraciG

My pup also eats Acana, I read on another thread some members concerned about the size of the kibble. Someone suggested breaking it down with a meat clever and I thought it was a great idea and have been doing that for the past few days. Even though Brutus never gagged on the regular size kibble, I din't want to take the chance. Just a thought... Glad to hear Lu is doing better.

Lu seems to eat the Acana just fine when she actually eats it rather thanswallowing it like pills. She is a bit of an odd duck. Sometimes she will"steal" food from her bowl and take it to the family room and playwith it before she eats it. She doesn't appear to have difficulty with the sizeof the kibble in that she has on occasion swallowed it whole rather thanchewing it. With regard to the size of the kibble I had wondered if it might behard to chew? I know that the act ofchewing on things is good for their teeth and jaw etc. and when I watch her eatshe doesn't seem to have trouble chewing the kibble but somewhere in the backof my memory I remember hearing or reading something about tiny dogs wearingtheir teeth down on food that is too large for them? I can't remember for thelife of me where I read or heard that and I have no idea if there is any truthto that notion. It may be an old wives tale. Does anyone know?

Lu seems to do quite well on the Acana and since she is so terribly fussy Ihate to try and change her diet unless it really is necessary. Her stool seemsthe right amount of firmness (doesn't tend to stick in her hair but isn't hardand dry either) and she seems to eat the kibble just fine when she doesn't gettoo distracted . . . Other than thescare she gave me a little bit ago she has not had any health issues. Thatbeing said, if there is any truth to kibble size and teeth wearing then I wouldcertainly try to change her food to protect her teeth.

I will say that there must be something relatively good about the regularAdult Acana as our Greyhound/Deerhound eats it and the vet is always amazed athow wonderful his teeth are. Apparently Greyhounds are notorious for having badteeth. (I didn't know that until the vet mentioned it.) I know we ought to bebrushing his teeth but we haven't been and for some reason his teeth areapparently impressive.

I feel bad for those who have dogs that have major food issues and have totry and figure out what is causing the problem. If that had been the issuegoing on with Lu I had read enough to know it wasn't going to be an easy taskif we had to search out food issues. It's such a pain to have to go the trialand error route and of course what works well for one dog doesn't always workfor another. It has to be terribly frustrating. Theories also change over theyears as new information becomes available. Then there are trends in feedingyour dog just like diet trends with people. It would be so much easier ifthings were more cut and dry.

I'm going to do some more reading and see if I can find anything tosubstantiate the kibble size and tooth wearing theory. If anyone happens toknow something about that, I'm all ears. I'd hate to be giving Lu somethingthat could be causing her long term issues with her teeth. I could break up herkibble as I do have a hand chopper that would probably do the job. It would begood to know though if there is indeed a reason for concern.

[concretegurl]

So glad it's working out