Ask questions and share about your pet's health to help others.
border collie is 11 years old, he had TPLO leg when he was 6. He was running around the pool and he seemed fine, after laying down he had trouble moving. We assumed aggravated the TPLO leg, but he’s gotten worse to the point leg paralysis
My girlfriend and this vet work together at a referral hospital. He says that they are starting to see a lot of pets come in with blockages or other issues and many of them are fed Blue Buffalo. Additionally, surely you’ve heard about the trouble BB has apparently gotten into about its ingredients? However, this is mostly a battle between Purina and BB and it is not clear whether there are other issues here as well. Basically what I am asking is–should we change? and if so I am not sure what to change to or whether to take ingredients seriously anymore because apparently companies are being dishonest about them. We are also being told to switch to Purina ProPlan instead. Our dog has always been somewhat sensitive to his food.
I love your blog by the way!
I really appreciate your even-minded response. What is frustrating about this is that their product has been seemingly intentionally mislabeled. While we’re all affected by advertising, but when determining his diet I tried to avoid advertisements all together and focused on ingredients. However, I can’t trust that they are even listed honestly then I am not sure what to do. I am tempted to switch foods but my method now seems unreliable.
i liked Blue A LOT before they were bought by their parent company.
once the buyout happened, the recipe changed…put a serious hurt on my IBD-suffering cat with that sudden, unannounced change. they didn’t change the label for another 6-12 months, too.
My dog which is a small bichon poodle, keeps licking her back paw. It is a bit red. What can I do for her now? Her vet’s office is closed now.
You can try over the counter Benadryl. One milligram per pound. And a sock to cover it.
If you have a dog shampoo you could try to rinse the foot which might also calm the itch.
My puppy has parvo but has 2 vaccines does he have a better chance of surviving parvo?
this is a question to ask your vet. is your puppy at the vet’s now?
Yes I just came back from seeing him. Hes been there for 2 days today will be his 3rd. He looks very weak and is very sleepy but still wags his tail.
good. that’s the best place for him to be. i hope he recovers!
My pitbull puppy has parvo and is being treated today when i went to the vet to visit him he pooped blood then right after he started pooping clear what does this mean??
I was a clear and slimy like mucous what does it mean?
It’s normal with parvo.
6 wk old pup dropped by child. Slight limp. No whining while feeling from paw up leg or while trying to walk. Baby asprin?
Hi….firstly I hope you don’t mind if I say please don’t let your child pick up the puppy, children should treat dogs with care and respect….puppies are not toys.
A pup should not leave its mother until they are at least 8 weeks old, 6 weeks is very young.
A puppy’s bones are st
Sorry hit the wrong button!
A puppy’s bones are still quite soft at 6 weeks old. Perhaps you should pop him to a vet to make sure no lasting damage has been done.
My husband and I were discussing making our own dog food. Our dogs are currently eating dry Whole Earth Farms grain free kibble. Sometimes we add in whole Earth Farms grain free wet food in the evenings. We were wondering if switching to homemade food is a good idea and if so how much do we feed our dogs? Our dogs are 60-80 pounds each.
I would consider BARF diet
Hi Amanda,
that is a good question, isn’t it? And the answer depends on whom you ask. Some might tell you, yes, definitely, others will shout out, OMG please don’t do that.
Here is how it is with food, whether for ourselves of for our dogs.
The best food you can offer is
– biologically appropriate (there are arguments about what is or isn’t biologically appropriate for dogs)
– as fresh and wholesome you can offer (some argue that ingredients don’t matter only nutrients matter; well both do matter)
– as little processed as possible
– with as little stuffs that don’t belong into food as possible
– as natural and organic as possible (again, there are arguments that it doesn’t matter but it doesn’t make sense that it wouldn’t)
I think Dr. Becker summarized it fairly well in this article:
http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2010/07/21/13-pet-foods-ranked-from-great-to-disastrous.aspx
Again, there are arguments whether raw is best or cooked is best. (there are arguments about every single aspect of what to feed our dogs)
Advantages of raw: minimal loss of nutrients, high digestibility
Disadvantages of raw: possible contamination with bacteria
a) the risk seems higher to people than the actual dog(s)
b) can be controlled with exercising good food safety
Advantages of cooked: minimizing risk of bacterial contamination, good digestibility (even better with some ingredients such as veggies; whether raw or cooked protein is better digestible is also debated)
Disadvantages of cooked: loss of nutrients
Advantages of making your own food (raw or cooked): full control over ingredients
Disadvantages of making your own food: if not done properly, there is a risk of nutritional imbalances
These days you can find commercially available diets for any type of food you wish to feed, whether it’s raw or cooked. Advantage of doing that is that you can find manufacturers who have complete and balanced formulations. Disadvantage is that you don’t control the ingredients directly and have to take the manufacturer at their word on what they put in and where they sourced it. There are some reputable manufacturers out there for both raw and cooked diets.
How much you should feed your dogs depends on your dogs (not only their weight but also their age and activity level). There are calorie calculators out there.
Depending on what you have available where you live, home prepared (whether raw or cooked) can be cheaper than commercial. Or not. Depends on whether you can source from farmers, co-ops etc.
There is the work that goes into making the food.
MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT, though, is that if you are going to make your own food, whether raw or cooked, is to make sure it is COMPLETE AND BALANCED. This can be best and easiest achieved by
a) working with a nutritionist
b) working with a supplement such as BalanceIT
c) acquiring some good recipes (but whatever you’re going to make will need to be supplemented, AT LEAST with calcium source) Vitamins and minerals may or may not have to be supplemented depending on the ingredients you’d use.
As for myself, I used to home-cooked for Jasmine for a long time. It worked very well for her. I DID use a supplement designed specifically for balancing home prepared diets (in Canada we have Hilary’s Blend, which I have been using). With Cookie, she decided to “switch herself to raw” on her own (she is an avid hunter) so I figured who was I to argue and I’m now feeding her raw. For the time being I use mostly commercially prepared frozen raw with the odd fresh home prepared raw such as during hunting season. So she’d get a whole rabbit, for example.
I think reading the above article I linked to should give you a good idea how to improve your dogs’ nutrition and where to start.
Please do not forget the COMPLETE and BALANCED bit.
Here is a great recipe for home made dog food from Dr. Stanley Coren at UBC. I made it for my dogs and they loved it (until I got to be too lazy). You can look it up on this website : pets.ca/recipes /recipe3
How to prepare puppies to stay alone for a night and half of day alone?We need to fly in the evening to get our visas done and we’re gonna be home in the early afternoon.They’re gonna sleep in the spacious garden+food+separateBowls ofWater
that’s WAY too long for puppies to be by themselves. please find someone to watch them.
If I had someone who would take care of them when we’re not here, I wouldn’t ask this question. Unfortunately, we’re new in this country and the vet advised us NOT to leave them at the clinic due to distemper outburst (they’ve been vaccinated today for the 1st time).
I wouldn’t have asked* sorry!
Anna, i would look into a pet sitter in your area. seriously. PLEASE don’t leave these puppies alone for more than a few hours. please.
The only option we have is to arrange a pet check in the morning to change water. Pet sitters are not available at my region because of Ramadan (boarding centers are full) or religious issues (dogs are considered ‘haram’ ). I’ve already checked what’s available.
They will be staying in the garden where they usually stay for the whole day ( they poop there and pee). They are in the house usually for the late evening and night. Our lab will be 15/16 week and Golden 13/14. We cannot change the date, because we may not be able to legally enter the country if we stay any day longer – and this is pretty important part.
I can arrange somebody to change the water in the morning – but no touching the dogs or staying with them – religious issues for my neighbors and the person who will perform the pet check.
Have a female American Bulldogog at the end of a heat cycle. She will be spayed Very soon. However, she has started fighting with my other female, an Alapaha Bulldog. Unspayed dog new to house 4 weeks no problems until a few days ago.
This sounds like a recipe for disaster. I would spay both of your dogs ASAP. In my experience, fights between new pack members always begun 4-6 weeks after the new dog arrived. There is kind of an initial grace period where everyone is adjusting, getting comfortable, and figuring out what the rules are in the home. Having to intact dogs is only going to intensify a problem that may already be there. I truly hope that spaying you dogs will be the solution to your problem, however if it is not I would recommend an trainer how specializes in dog aggression.
We spay all,of our dogs. The only one that isn’t is the new edition. We were told that she had been already. Took her in for a check up and found out she was just beginning a heat. We are waiting for that heat cycle to end. She is a sweet dog and they have gotten along well together until two days ago. I was questioning if the heat could cause this sudden aggression?
Sorry, it sounded like you had 2 intact females in your home. Having a dog in heat can definitely cause some aggression. I hope that is all it is
Hi I have two chows mickey is 10 months old and Mia is 6 months at the moment mickey is having to wear a cone as he has developed hotspots on his legs and last Mia started chewing the inside of her leg I have both on Harringtons dry dog
No swelling that I can find, no neck or jaw stiffness, no visible discomfort. Unresponsive to prick test in the feet, all bowel/urination seems voluntary? It’s been two days of this now.
My lab had this procedure a few years ago. When she over does the running around she’s quite stiff getting up and down for a few days. We will restrict her exercise but she’s never been so bad that she couldn’t move. I’m afraid he might have torn something again. Once the tear happens, a dog will show no visible discomfort and will naturally distribute body movement to the three good legs. I would probably have an X-ray done quickly.