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I'm switching from Merrick to Kirkland's (Costco brand). My dog's farts have been peeling the paint. Now I have an unopened 25lb bag of $50 dog food, and amazon wants $20 to send it back. Maybe I should sell it on craigslist?
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Jan 21, 2014 17:51
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ukrainius maximus posted:she just really likes to drink, especially from her own cup at the table while I eat Omg  ukrainius maximus posted:I'm concerned that she may never lose the hanging pouch that she has though. I'm not sure if it's from being fixed or if she really was just that fat, hopefully it slims down. It's really common in cats that have been spayed. Accept your feline for the cutie she is. My cat has been fixed and lost weight, too. She has a pad of fat that pulls the excess skin down, and it hasn't gone away over the past 2 years since the weight loss. It'll probably never go away, but it keeps her feet warm when she sits, like a penguin. It's also funny to watch swing side to side as she runs, and doesn't seem to be bothering her.
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Jan 21, 2014 18:02
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How drastic up the food-list should I go for a senior cat who was on (dry) Whiskas kitten(!) and Friskies? I seem to remember that going from Crap to Premium causes digestive stress, so I am thinking an intermediate for now. I bought Authority because I thought it was in the "acceptable" range for cats in an earlier iteration of this thread, but I guess it's not so good now. Besides that, I brainfarted and got the Adult version instead of Senior for a 14-year-old. So I definitely need to go shopping again. I just got back from her vet checkup today, and her bloodwork for liver/kidneys etc is in the normal range. She has lost some muscle mass which could be from the nutrition, possible arthritis, or possible tapeworms that she might have got from her fleas (both are treated as of today) The vet said that any Senior food like Royal Canin, Authority, etc will be fine to build her muscle back up. Since those are low on the list in this thread, I think I will look at other brands of senior food and call the vet to see if she thinks they would work instead. I'm not looking to take PI advice over my vet's, just simply to get recommendations from PI and then call my vet to run them by her. So... recommendations??  Edit: I am leaning toward Innova or Blue Buffalo because they are sold at Petsmart, right behind my neighborhood. I worry that the 38% protein in Innova might be a huge jump from Friskies' 30%, and maybe BB's 32% is a more gentle jump alongside the non-poo poo ingredients. Damn Bananas fucked around with this message at 21:58 on Jan 21, 2014 |
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Jan 21, 2014 18:29
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AvianPundit posted:What Ol' Roy doesn't even make the list? It's that bad? It is that bad. Being able to get 50 lbs of it for $20 is a big enough red flag, but if you check out the ingredients list, it is all garbage.
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Jan 21, 2014 19:04
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Crooked Booty posted:No sane dog is going to eat kibble when steak and poo poo are the other options. It doesn't matter what brand you pick. Stop giving her "yummies" if you want her to eat kibble (and god I hope you don't use that word in public). She doesn't get fed human food anymore. She eats Stella and Chewys. My question was about another healthy but less expensive dog food we could supplement S&C with to save money.
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Jan 21, 2014 19:16
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AnonymousNarcotics posted:She doesn't get fed human food anymore. She eats Stella and Chewys. My question was about another healthy but less expensive dog food we could supplement S&C with to save money. IIRC Stella and Chewys is a raw diet, right? I know some people recommend against feeding raw at the same time as kibble. Something about different rates of digestion likely causing tummy issues with the dog.
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Jan 21, 2014 19:50
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effika posted:Omg Haha good to know I'm not alone! It is pretty funny to watch it swing as she runs, sometimes I wonder how she can balance at all with that thing. I don't especially mind it though. She picked up the water habit from the first year I had her - my roommate and I kept cups of water half full all over the apartment and she would just help herself and has never stopped. She sits on the chair and meows until we give her a cup now, then she just stands up and keeps two paws on the table while she drinks. She even has her own little cups!
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Jan 22, 2014 01:13
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ukrainius maximus posted:Haha good to know I'm not alone! It is pretty funny to watch it swing as she runs, sometimes I wonder how she can balance at all with that thing. I don't especially mind it though. I believe we're going to need proof of such bold claims.
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Jan 22, 2014 02:37
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The pet store near my house sells Monkey Chow. I don't think anyone here owns a monkey. Anyone know whats up? 
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Jan 22, 2014 02:48
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I've seen them for sale in Japan, but that's it.
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Jan 22, 2014 02:59
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cryingscarf posted:IIRC Stella and Chewys is a raw diet, right? I know some people recommend against feeding raw at the same time as kibble. Something about different rates of digestion likely causing tummy issues with the dog. Interesting. I honestly didn't even realize S&C was raw. My dad bought this yesterday, which is actually a mix of kibble and raw freeze-dried bits. She seems to only like the freeze-dried raw stuff though.
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Jan 22, 2014 03:13
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JakeP posted:The pet store near my house sells Monkey Chow. I don't think anyone here owns a monkey. Anyone know whats up? There are a couple companies that make exotic diets for zoos, and I think one of them actually has something called "monkey chow." I've seen it used by wildlife rehab people as part of a diet for various critters, so depending on the protein/fat/carbs it may be something people feed to their not-monkey animals (potbelly pigs? ferrets? skunks? raccoons? people have all kinds of weird creatures).
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Jan 22, 2014 03:51
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There are a frightening amount of "monkey moms" out there so there may be someone who needs monkey chow in your vicinity and you don't even know it. Or at least you won't know it until one of them gets their faces eaten by their teenage macaque and ends up all over the news.
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Jan 22, 2014 04:00
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Anyone have any suggestions for getting cats less interested in food? Mine are so food aggressive now that they turn into complete assholes whenever anyone even looks at the kitchen or stands up from the couch. I've managed to get them to sit and (mostly) shut up before I put their bowls on the floor, but before that they are out of control. They aren't fat, they have lost a little weight over the last year (like maybe 1/4 - 1/2 lb each) and the vet says not to get them skinnier but they are fine. They each get a can of food a day (generally Tiki Cat or Weruva) spread over 2 feedings and another 1/8 cup of kibble (I think I'm back to EVO but I can't remember). They act like they are STARVING. I did an experiment and gave them each about a half cup to see what they would do and they ate EVERY kibble and then screamed for more. I'd been thinking that if they truly were hungry that I would give them a bit as a free feed but that obviously won't work Generally, I love these guys… but they are SO horrible when they are like this they just suck. Anyone have any ideas?
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Jan 22, 2014 05:55
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spregalia posted:I believe we're going to need proof of such bold claims. I'll back this up, just gave to get a shot of her tonight once I get home. In the mean time I'll see if I have any old pictures!
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Jan 22, 2014 17:15
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When moving my cat from free-feed dry (that has gotten him a bit pudgy) to a rationed wet diet, how do I know how much to feed him? I was feeding both wet and fee feeding dry (with slowly less and less dry) and now he's completely devouring the wet I give him morning and night and begging for more. I don't mind ignoring the begging, but everything I'm reading online seems to say the right amount is different for every cat and don't offer much in the way of guidelines. Ichabod is male, about 4.5 years old, fixed, has all his shots and is indoor only. He is moderately active. Plays some, sleeps mostly. He is prescribed Royal Canin Urinary SO. We're feeding him the Morsels in Gravy, as he wouldn't touch the regular pate. NewcastleBrown fucked around with this message at 19:37 on Jan 22, 2014 |
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Jan 22, 2014 17:15
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Another question regarding picking a food for my senior cat who has lost a lot of muscle mass... I called my vet and she okayed the much-higher protein in Innova dry (compared to 30% Friskies), but being the overanalyzer I am, I went to check out the Innova wet equivalent. It's not feasible for me to feed her canned right now, but damnit I'm curious to to see what's so special comparing apples to apples in wet to dry. Innova Senior dry has 40.59% protein and 29.3% carbs Source Innova Senior wet has 12.21% protein and 4.946% carbs Source Wh..what? I see the lower carbs is better by a mile, but why is the wet's protein so low? Do wet foods have a different way to measure protein? I'm still going to buy her the dry stuff, but I'm just 
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Jan 22, 2014 19:25
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NewcastleBrown posted:When moving my cat from free-feed dry (that has gotten him a bit pudgy) to a rationed wet diet, how do I know how much to feed him? drat Bananas posted:Innova Senior dry has 40.59% protein and 29.3% carbs So the dry food, the protein is actually (40.6/95 =) 42.7% on a dry matter basis. The carbs are around 30%. The canned food, protein is (12.2/27.5 =) 44.4% a dry matter basis. The carbs are around 18%. Senior foods are generally lower in protein because older cats get kidney disease, and high protein is not great for that. But there was also a recent study showing that cats digest and absorb a progressively smaller amount of the protein they eat as they age, and this probably contributes to the muscle wasting that just about every senior cat develops. So I'm a big fan of high protein for old cats as long as their renal values, both on blood and urine, look good.
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Jan 22, 2014 20:55
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Merrick Puppy formula gives Pete the shits sometimes. We're switching him to the adult formula soon so we'll see if the bowel movement situation improves at all. Like he doesn't have diarrhea every other hour, but when I take him for a regularly scheduled walk during which he always shits, it'll be really... loose.
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Jan 22, 2014 21:07
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Crooked Booty posted:The guaranteed analysis includes water. That's why every value looks much smaller on the canned food label. To compare foods with different water contents, you have to convert the values to what's called a "dry matter basis". First you figure out how much of the food is dry matter (100% - moisture%). Then any of the nutrients divided by the dry matter will give you that value on a dry matter basis. (Natura is good about putting carb values on their website, but for other brands, carbs are 100 - (ash + moisture + protein + fiber + fat)). Thanks! Very useful. Innova must be on the ball, because their senior formula has higher protein than their regular adult formula. Edit: gently caress! Innova dry isn't sold at Petsmart anymore. All that research and waffling for nothing. I went with Blue Wilderness. Spoiled kitty. Damn Bananas fucked around with this message at 02:36 on Jan 23, 2014 |
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Jan 22, 2014 21:59
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I've come groveling back, looking for advice even if it's "suck it up and pay for it" which I'm more than willing to do, but wanted to know if someone could help me decipher ingredients. My dog with pancreatitis has been given this food: http://www.purinaveterinarydiets.com/Product/ENGastroentericDogFood.aspx It's retarded expensive for a 32 pound bag. It's more than double (almost $90) what I pay for the other dog food which is a 40 pound bag. Other ones I've found that may work: Blue buffalo senior, which has 8% fat and can be special ordered by a friend of mine for $65 per 30-pounds. http://www.bluebuffalo.com/dog-food/lp-senior-chicken The Weight Management and Senior formulas from Innova are roughly $60 per 30-lb bag and have 10% fat. http://www.innovapet.com/products/1780 http://www.innovapet.com/products/1781 And finally, the place I work has this and I get a stupidly good discount with 12% fat: http://www.poulingrain.com/product_details.php?product_id=279&category_id=7 I'm finding normal dog food to have something like 17-22% fat content. The only thing I really understand to look at is fat content. She has been eating a bland diet of rice and chicken/hamburger, but that isn't a viable long-term solution because dogs need more than that for nutrients and whatnot.
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Jan 24, 2014 14:58
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Spermy Smurf posted:I've come groveling back, looking for advice even if it's "suck it up and pay for it" which I'm more than willing to do, but wanted to know if someone could help me decipher ingredients. It's a prescription formula specifically for your dog's health condition while the others are general food for older dogs. You need to do what the vet says on this. If you really don't like the contents of the food you can ask your vet about using other brands of prescription foods for your dog's condition, but there might not be much variation on content. A side note: your dog has a chronic health condition now. You need to trust your vet. If you can't do that, find a vet that you can trust. Dogdoo 8 fucked around with this message at 16:03 on Jan 24, 2014 |
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Jan 24, 2014 15:56
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I really should have mentioned: The vet said "low-fat food, here is the one we carry." So she didnt say "this and only this is what you should feed the dog," but more of a "it's all we have along those lines."
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Jan 24, 2014 15:58
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Spermy Smurf posted:I really should have mentioned: The vet said "low-fat food, here is the one we carry." Yeah, for pancreatitis cases, sometimes low fat is all that you want/need. I would take the list you found and the percentages to your vet and ask them, as they have an idea of how severely affected your dog is and how severe the fat restriction might need to be. I do think it's likely that they will approve of something OTC if low fat is really all they want for your dog's diet. Another note on low fat diets--there are some diseases that require so low a fat content that you can't find a suitable diet over the counter, and even among prescription diets, some are much lower than others so it becomes not just "low-fat" but "this particular expensive low-fat food." But, I wouldn't expect most pancreatitis dogs to need that specifically.
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Jan 24, 2014 16:19
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Hey pet food goons. Is there any quality wet cat food that tastes like crappy stuff? My cat was never huge fan of wet food in general but luckily seemed to love grain free dry food. He recently developed hepatic lipidosis and luckily bounced back. However, now he won't touch any dry food and will only reliably eat goddamn Friskies. He nibbles at better food but won't eat it up like whatever crack they put in there.
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Jan 25, 2014 00:52
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I'm trying to find some kind of treat that my pug puppy can actually eat quickly and without it falling out of his stupidly short face. He doesn't seem very interested in cheese and most of the dog/puppy treats I've found are either too big or not soft enough for him to eat. He's absolutely bonkers for mashed sweet potato but it's pretty messy stuff to be feeding him, and our vet advised us to keep it to a bare minimum and wean him off it. I'd even be open to making treats myself if it means I can actually do some training without having to give him 5 minutes for every treat. Trying to feed pets properly is interesting, especially when my brother or grandad is surprised that I get annoyed that they try to feed my cat Friskies or some other poo poo when I leave for a few days and they overfeed him and run out of the good stuff
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Jan 27, 2014 04:43
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Natural balance makes a biscuit style treat that has sweet potato in it. Solid gold distributes (but doesn't make) a softer treat that has sweet potato as well but I'm totally blanking on the brand name. Bil-jacs makes a puppy size soft treat that is pretty popular with my customers. Can't say anything about the contents of it though. phosdex fucked around with this message at 09:56 on Jan 28, 2014 |
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Jan 28, 2014 09:53
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Hi PI, meet Cid! so for a little bit of a back story, Cid was given to me by my now Ex girlfriend for our Anniversary. After we broke up, she decided she wanted to keep him and because I was the one moving out, I was at a disadvantage and she was especially crappy about it. So he stayed with her...until about a week ago when she had some dude drop him off at my house.  HOORAY! He is back to being my cuddle monster and underfoot companion! However, he's pretty drat stressed out because he was completely uprooted from his life and everything he knew. He has been scratching like a madman at his eyes, lips and ears, to the point of scabbing. He's not on flea meds but ive been checking him and I can't see any and he's not biting at his butt. His skin is pretty dry and his hair is coarse, so i have been adding fish oil to his food. Also,im going to start changing his food in the next couple days. Also because it was an out of the blue, completely insane surprise, it could not have come at a worse time for me financially, so I'm having to put off taking him to the vet until I'm in a better financial situation. I have a pretty good feeling that his scratching is stress motivated, because I couldn't find any swelling or discharge, or signs of infection.  I'm about six months out of practice as a dog owner, so please bear with me. 1. Ive been comparison shopping between major animal retailers and amazon, but I was curious if anyone had any other decent online retailers to look at 2. Will a fish oil heavy food help to mitigate his scratching, just improving his skin health? 3. Is there any other diet based solution that could help him adjust better, or is it just a wait and see thing? 4. Also, I feel terrible about not being able to afford veterinary care, is there a resource that would help me find affordable care? So now that the sob story is out of the way, have some more nice pictures of Cid.  He is mad about the flash  He ran away and was hiding from me  He seems like he's at a healthy weight for about a year old to me, but what the hell do I know. So I've bribed you with pictures! Any help would be TREMENDOUSLY appreciated. Politicalrancor fucked around with this message at 10:58 on Jan 28, 2014 |
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Jan 28, 2014 10:55
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Ten Becquerels posted:I'm trying to find some kind of treat that my pug puppy can actually eat quickly and without it falling out of his stupidly short face. He doesn't seem very interested in cheese and most of the dog/puppy treats I've found are either too big or not soft enough for him to eat. He's absolutely bonkers for mashed sweet potato but it's pretty messy stuff to be feeding him, and our vet advised us to keep it to a bare minimum and wean him off it. I'd even be open to making treats myself if it means I can actually do some training without having to give him 5 minutes for every treat. I've got two squishy faced cats and one of them came from her old owner with some special dry cat food for Persians and other flat-faced cats and I'm not going to recommend cat food for your pug but I figured the shapes of the Royal Canin Persian formula (for adults and kittens) might help you with your treat search so you know what shapes to go for, along with the small size. This is the kitten kibble  Their site says that the shape helps them to grasp it better in their mouths and encourage chewing (that might not be as big deal to you with softer treats). Adult kibble  Apparently the almond shape helps them them to better grasp it with the behind of their tongue. This was what my cats were eating and it seemed to help the normally messy eater (softer biggish treats fall out of his mouth too but he just picks it again and eats it when he's done chewing the first bit) to eat without anything falling out of his mouth. I've got Burmese which aren't completely flat faced but they do have pretty short faces. The other one who eats like a vacuum doesn't have the same issue with food falling out of her mouth as the leisurely eater but the leisurely eater's face is a bit shorter than the vacuum  And I had an earlier issue that I posted about the vacuum eating up all of the food so the leisurely eater couldn't graze on it through the day. Normally I mix two flavors together because I spoil my cats but the vacuum doesn't like one of the flavors as much as the other one so she leaves it alone for the grazer and he's fed again later in the day with the flavor that vacuum hoovered up when she's fuller so she doesn't beeline to it immediately. This probably won't work for fatass cats who will eat anything but you might get lucky like I did.
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Jan 28, 2014 14:37
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Politicalrancor posted:I'm about six months out of practice as a dog owner, so please bear with me. 2. Dogs really don't scratch to the point of scabs just from stress. Something else is likely going on. A little fish oil may improve his skin overall if it's dry, but it's not going to fix whatever is making his face itchy. Also a little is good, but a lot is not better when it comes to fish oil. Look up a dose online for his weight and stick to that. 3. It's possible that his face is itchy due to a food allergy, but there are a lot of other possible causes that would need to be excluded by your vet first. 4. Some large cities have low-cost veterinary clinics, but it's rare for them to do things other than spays/neuters/vaccines. I would not recommend going that route, even for vaccines, if you can afford it (because ultimately you'll get what you pay for). He needs to see a veterinarian for his skin. If he is around a year old, he's probably due for vaccines really soon, too. He should also be on monthly heartworm prevention, depending on where you live. You'll need to start budgetting for his medical care, but in the meantime, maybe you could borrow some money from someone? You may want to call the vet you plan on using and try to get an estimate for having his skin evaluated.
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Jan 28, 2014 15:57
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DressCodeBlue posted:Hey pet food goons. Still looking for good canned food he'll actually eat, but at least he won't be living on Friskies.
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Jan 28, 2014 19:09
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Whats a good brand/type of pro-biotic I can give a kitten after being on antibiotics awhile, what kind of live cultures should I be looking for? If I should put this in the cat FAQ thread thats fine, I just figured its food/intestine/nutrition related, so try this one.
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Feb 5, 2014 05:44
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I personally like NaturVet's Digestive Enzymes with prebiotics and probiotics, in the powder form. Just mix in the correct dosage with their wet or dry food, my cats have never rejected any food with it. It also doesn't contain any lactose like some other brands. It does say for over the age of 6 weeks though and of course others may have a better opinion. Link
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Feb 5, 2014 07:44
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nunsexmonkrock posted:I personally like NaturVet's Digestive Enzymes with prebiotics and probiotics, in the powder form. Just mix in the correct dosage with their wet or dry food, my cats have never rejected any food with it. It also doesn't contain any lactose like some other brands. Thank you, that stuff looks pretty good, shes about 3.5-4 months old so it should be ok.
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Feb 5, 2014 10:53
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 Recall alert!So uh, I've never actually heard of this food before. Apparently there's the risk of salmonella. http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm384876.htm?source=govdelivery&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery Foods recalled are some from the "Hubbard Life," "Joy Combo," and "QC Plus" lines of food.
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Feb 7, 2014 07:09
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Is there an accepted cat treat that isn't temptations (cat has an allergy to it)? I'm looking for one that will make my cat go fuckin' nuts because it's so good. I will accept the answer of "you just gotta try a bunch and see what works" but also looking for recommendations.
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Feb 11, 2014 11:10
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Blue Buffalo has a line of treats that's corn and wheat free, my girls seem to like them a lot.
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Feb 11, 2014 11:17
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Greenies, they have slightly better ingredients. I have a cat that loves Temptations and even she prefers Greenies.
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Feb 11, 2014 15:57
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Totally Normal posted:Is there an accepted cat treat that isn't temptations (cat has an allergy to it)? I'm looking for one that will make my cat go fuckin' nuts because it's so good. I will accept the answer of "you just gotta try a bunch and see what works" but also looking for recommendations. What is the allergy to? If you don't know the exact cause, which Temptation flavor was it?
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Feb 11, 2014 16:48
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Why don't you try something like Purebites? They are a freeze dried, single ingredient treat that is fine for cats or dogs. I have to hide my bag of chicken pure bites that I give to my dogs for training treats cause the cat climbs on the counter and rips the bag open. Whole Life is another similar brand.
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Feb 11, 2014 17:20
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