Sara&Audi

Sorry about your allergies! All allergies are horrible :(

It would be way, way too expensive since I feed higher quality canned food so it would be at least $3 a day to feed her( $90!!!!! a month). She is 14 lbs so I am willing to pay up to $40 a month for her.

She likes new kibble for a few days then hates it suddenly, but I assumed it was only for taste. Her taste changes so frequently that I am starting to get fed up. She will love chicken one day, and then the next she will hesitate to eat it. I swear I'm prematurely graying from the stress!! lol

Sara&Audi

Yep, too bad my mom babies her :( I do believe this was a problem in her old home. From the beginning when we adopted her, she would turn her nose on canned food and dry food from the shelter. Maybe it was adjusting to her new home?

She did gain a bit of weight when she was eating half can, half kibble along with horrible gas. It's way to expensive to feed a can exclusive diet($90 a month)

AngelsMommy

I agree that the caving in that your Mom is insisting on, is what is the problem. I had to be strong too! I feel for you working out what she will and won't eat. I was told that my Angel was on one food and I found out she hated it! She may have eaten it at her old home, but she didn't like it very much. I found that with her it was all about smell. If she like the smell of something then she would eat it. If not no way! lol

I went through a bunch of different foods before she settled down to eating raw and loving it! She is now at her right weight. Which is right around 46 lbs. And has more energy than ever. She had no appetite when I got her, and they told me that had always been the case. But she had gotten to eating between 1.5 lbs and 2 lbs of meat a day! With great pleasure! She is not over weight at that amount but I will continue to make sure that she stays at her peak. I think that she is just making up for lost time.

Of course our several mile a day hikes could add to her cal needs.

But to start her I first would basically blanch the meat, and then cool it to room temp. It was not cooked except for the outside skin. As she accepted that I would cook it less and less. But I did have to hand feed for a while as well. But once she decided that she liked it the only meat that I had to heat was the organ meats. Which initially I seared. But I thought that since smell was a big thing with her, I soaked it to get rid of the blood and then she was fine with the liver and such.

I also give her satin balls which she loves. Since it got cold she needed the extra that these add because we are out in the cold so much. Holistic Dog - Satinballs Satin Balls I use the third recipe but replace the wheat germ with flax seed because I don't use gluten items on dogs. I also added coconut oil for some of the peanut butter as I like what it does for animals coats. And Angel loves coconut oil.



Good luck with the process and whatever you decide.

fjm

Sophy used to like kibble for a few days, then go off it. I suspect she liked it when it was very fresh, but not when it began to go stale - a bag lasts a Papillon a long time. Fortunately she loves home cooked and most raw - like Angel, she is not keen on raw liver and kidney, but LOVES raw green tripe!

You say she won't eat a home cooked diet, but holds out for the chicken your mother cooks? Are there other things she enjoys, or begs for? (Eggs, porridge, steak...) I think I would make a list of the things she enjoys, find healthier/cheaper alternatives where necessary and try her with those, and then try to concoct a varied balanced diet, starting by mixing it with quite a lot of the expensive canned food and gradually reducing the proportion of canned.

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To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden,
where doing nothing was not boring- it was peace.

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PoodlePowerBC

I truly believe that if she has allergies, and from the look of her eyes it seems likely, you need to do an elimination diet. I just went through this with Russell due to ear problems. It is a pain, but it cleared up his ears. He is very allergic to eggs ... go figure. And he has a sensitivity to chicken. He's ok if I give it to him a couple of times a week, but I was feeding it every day for the last 2 years. (Russell is PMR fed)
If you do decide to feed a home cooked diet you need to make sure they get everything they need, eg calcium, organ meat, etc. There are a ton of great web sites out there to help.

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