My bad....feeding kibble again is a no-no....

    • Gold Top Dog

    My bad....feeding kibble again is a no-no....

    apparently for Rivers.

    Completely ran out of time and fresh food this week for the dogs; so for replacement of half their meal mixed in with their normal HK and fresh turkey, I gave all of the dogs partial meal with Healthwise puppy chicken/brown rice for only 3 meals.

    Poor Rivers immediately got the stinkies, and a little bit of the nasty poops; his stomach was obviously bothering him too, as he acted pouty all day. I felt bad.

    All stocked up again now for a while, so hopefully won't have to do that again.

    Does anyone know though, is canned food better then dry food for an emergency meal, and is it easier on the tummy?

    • Gold Top Dog

    Just get quick serve versions of whatever carb Rivers tolerates (quick cook oatmeal, instant rice, instant mashed potatoes) and keep frozen bags of chicken breast in the freezer.  It takes twenty minutes to get it all together and another ten to cool, especially if you chunk a couple eggs in the carby stuff after it's cooked.

    A meal or two of off-balance stuff won't kill him and it's better than putzing around with a touchy tummy.  I've got one that doesn't tolerate kibble either (ex-parvo puppy), and she's 60-something pounds so canned isn't practical.

    • Gold Top Dog

    Yeah...dont' care to make that mistake again. Poor guy.

    Is it really that much of a shock to go back after being on homecooked for 4+mnths??  I mean, I can feed him just about anything homecooked wise, but that dry dog food, of which he has eaten in the past, just really got to him.

    • Gold Top Dog

    Maybe it was just the sudden change and he wasn't use to it?

    • Gold Top Dog

    My fresh food fed dogs get used to a variety and most can handle anything, switching cold.  Rescues generally get to that point after just a few weeks.  Lynn's got a particularly sensitive tummy but she started that way.  I still have hopes she'll grow out of it if I feed her carefully for another year or so.  Parvo is murder on the system.

    • Gold Top Dog

    That's the thing. I can feed Rivers just about anything without issues. This is the first time he's had a problem, but it wasn't really a problem persay, just gassy.

    • Gold Top Dog

    Prancer gets a combo of canned, kibble and homemade.     I mix and match all the time - she's never had transition issues.   I gave her Pedigree canned after running out of her regular canned .... oh boy, bad move.  Diarrhea for days from one day of feeding the Pedigree, even tho it was low fat (fat is one thing I know is an issue for her).       I was really surprised.    From now on if I run out of canned food I'll just feed rice with an egg or sardines - I don't know why I didn't think of that in the first place !!!   (thanks Brookcove for making me see what was right in front of my face !)

    • Gold Top Dog

    stanton

    That's the thing. I can feed Rivers just about anything without issues. This is the first time he's had a problem, but it wasn't really a problem persay, just gassy.

     

    I think some dogs handle a sudden switch better than others and a past history of tummy troubles seems to make them more sensitive.  My two are like that.  I can only go to canned z/d in a pinch, anything else will throw them for a loop so I transitioned to a homecooked plan that is super simple and can be picked up at Walmart after a long day at work and whipped up quickly.  Makes for an easy dinner and no tummy troubles.

    Good luck! 

    • Gold Top Dog

     Canned food is definitely easier, but it's still tougher than fresh, if you ask Emma. She's also an ex-parvo-puppy, and has a super touchy GI tract. She tolerates a handful of kibble, for treats or something, but forget  feeding it to her.