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Food for the finicky

Basenji Health Issues & Questions
  • Pippin gave up dog food completely a few weeks ago. Kibble, canned, etc– it is just disgusting to him. I have been making the pitcairn's renal failure diet for him, and I can share that recipe if anyone wants it, but also found today that he WILL eat freezedried diet by Prairie and will also eat the frozen medallions by Nature's Variety, which is very helpful because I occasionally run out of the homemade and this stuff will do in a pinch.

    I thought maybe others would liek to share what they feed a finicky dog, brands, types, recipes they have tried?

    At first, when he had his recent downturn, he would eat ONLY pizza and only if I shredded it and hand fed him. Not the healthiest choice and probably not very good for his little kidneys but he was at 19 pounds and I was desperate to get food into him. Since I started the homemmade diet and we tweaked his medicines, he has regained six pounds. So, has anyone else got ideas for the finiscky dogs among us?

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  • Not Interested In Eating His Food!

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
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    DebraDownSouthD
    I'll just add this in case the testing doesnt give you answers. Anorexia exits. Although nearly ALL cases of dogs who do not want food has an underlying medical cause. But some dogs simply have anorexia. There are drugs that work very good for it..At one point they stopped making one type so we had so we had to switch. They increased Sayblees aggression. So from then on i handfed her. https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/anorexia-in-dogs
  • 0 Votes
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    ZandeZ
    @kayg said in Food recommendations for anal gland issues: I’m going to eliminate lunch starting today and see how he does. I forgot to stress, when you eliminate lunch, don't just spread the same amount of food over two meals instead of three. Cut back. I need to weigh Mku who will be 6 months old on Friday, but I am sure he is nowhere near 20 lbs. He is sleek and svelte and a perfect weight at the moment for his age. Lovely shape LOL. And at risk of becoming boring, I say again, no actual treats do mine get. I measure the daily amount of kibble each morning into a container and from that container I take some with us on walks (to encourage recall) and I dip into it as a reward for particular good behaviour. Hoover and Mku think they are getting a treat, but it is not 'extra' - it comes out of their daily ration ! And I agree with DonC - what exactly started you worrying about his stools ?
  • Rice in Dog Food

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
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    BarklessdogB
    I heard in the news that arsenic can be linked to certain types of cancer. Still if there are high concentrations of arsenic in rice, it does not makes sense to feed it to your dog everyday. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/09/arsenic-and-rice-yes-again/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews
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    curlytailsC
    Interesting. If anyone else tries this, I would love to get some feedback. As I understand it, food sensitivities are hard to diagnose accurately. There's skin allergy testing, where a panel of fur is shaved off and different allergens are tested directly on the dog, which I was told often registers false positives. And there's something like VARL Liquid Gold Serum allergy testing, which still requires a blood draw. I guess they can test for food allergies as well, but again, I don't know how accurate that is. So I've been told that the best way to test for food allergies is still to try an elimination diet. It would be wonderful if there was a rigorous set of tests that could just tell you definitively what food your dog is allergic to! So if this test does it… cool. I'll definitely keep this in mind. Thanks for sharing, Pat.
  • Food grade Diatomaceous earth

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
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    BasenjimammaB
    Yes, we could control it with the diam. earth, but rather not, their skin gets so dry, I only use it in my yard and coop, spread it all over your yard, on a nonwindy day and it will kill anything and everything, inlcuding fleas, it basically dries them out. I even put it in the feed for the chickens, helps with worms. Although unknown to most, we all consume diam. earth as humans, in pancake mixes, some flour mixes and things like that..keeps critters from invadiing while in storage.. I actually use Comfortis on the dogs, the only thing that seesm to work the best.
  • Raw food continued

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    nomrbddgsN
    I did buy a grinder-kind of in between a commercial and home use one. It will grind bones. When Zina was on the basic raw, she was on chicken and bone. But there were no organs in it. She was on it for about a month-supposedly to rid her body of toxins. Like I said she did fine at first, but when I started on the mixtures, that's when it went to pot. I wonder if I start her on one thing with organs and bones, maybe beef? if she would still have a reaction. What do you guys think about this. If she is allergic to chicken, and I'm still unsure about this (I wonder if she's sensitive to it), is she also allergic to other fowl?? The think I worry about is that if I do put her on one type of meat, will she get all her nutritional value? Freezer space isn't a problem, I can always pick up a second hand one fairly cheap, but I do have a 27' one and two small house freezers. Also, don't forget, this is a boxer. I haven't heard of a case of Fanconi in a boxer myself. If you are on a higher protein diet, your creatinine levels tend to be higher as well. I believe, this is why when you are on the Atkins diet, you still have to watch your intake. And Zina will not live another 5 years, most likely. What I have to do is make her life comfortable now. If she's happy for 3 more years and then I have to put her down, so be it. At least she was happy in the time she spent on this side of the Rainbow Bridge. It's better than the miserable first 7 months she spent. And this was not a breeder problem. The pet people who had her did not listen to the breeder, caused the issue to explode, literally, and the replacement puppy died at 2 1/2 of issues as well. I can get the meat fairly cheap, as I do have the grinder and the butchers will sell cheaper if they don't have to do anything to the meat. I also have the space, if this does work, to grow some of my own food for them. If I have to go to pork, because she's allergic to chicken, then in 6 months, I can have enough food for a long time. But I want to make sure of what I am doing first. She deserves to be happy.