[TikisMom]

I am interested in what you feed your pup. How much, how often and how big your "little" one is.

Tiki is about 5.5 pounds. I feed him twice a day, though he doesn't always eat his food. I put out 1/2 cup each time I feed him, unless he hasn't eaten what I put out earlier.

He likes soft treats and he gets them often

. I try to buy chicken based treats that are all natural, something new every time. I feed him Nutro Natural Choice; Chicken, rice and oatmeal formula. He gets no table food except a raw baby carrot or grape once in a while that we just happen to drop

What are your feeding habits?
Tiki's Mom

 

[Maltese Dad]

We feed Jazz and Fez Eukanubu dry mixed with a little Eukanuba canned twice a day. Jazz gets a little over a quarter cup of dry Small Breed Puppy formula mixed with an eighth cup of which ever canned flavor I think she may like. I also add a half a teaspoon of "Missing Link" to their morning feeding. I usually let the dry food sit in a little warm water for a few minutes before mixing. Jazz was 2.5 lbs. at 16 weeks when we got her and is now up to 3.75 lbs. at 8 months. Fez gets slightly larger portions (he's currently 6lbs. at 2.5 years) of Small breed Adult formula mixed with canned and "Missing Link".

Funny thing is, Fez was used to an open bowl of dry food before we got Jazz. After we got her, Fez would have no part of Jazz being fed and not him and Jaz would find Fez's bowl and try to eat his food. His food was to big for her to swallow ( at the time) so she would try to swallow, gag it up and decide to chew it. Obviously we had to change, so Fez went back to being fed twice a day with Jazz. Now they're not satisfied until they have had a little nibble from each others bowl, but things are working out OK.

 

[Luvmypupster]

I started Bentley out on Eukanuba puppy formula but when he reached the age to switch him to the adult he wouldn't eat it so I put him on Nutro.
He started getting picky about the Nutro and I switched him to Natural Balance. I put out 1/2 cup each morning and toss out what he doesn't eat to the birds. Some days he eats almost all of it and other days he eats very little. I would guess he eats about 1 and 1/2 to 2 cups of food a week. He weighs close to 7 (I think).

 

[Bellezza1212]

how old are your dogs??? are any of them "tea cup" puppies? not even 4 pounds at 8 months sounds small to me.. haha... angel was about 2 when she was 2 months and now I know she's at least 5 pounds. I feed her a handful of dry food twice a day. She use to eat it all but now she may or may not finish it all.

 

[Toby's Mom]

 

[Toby's Mom]

 

[doctorcathy]

im wondering if anyone else feeds homecooked food. i started it around 6 or 7 months ago---i havent had any problems. i never met anyone that had their dog on it for a long time---we'll i met a guy at Costco--but he had another breed, and it lived to be 18 yrs old. so i'm hoping i get the same or better results.
thanks

 

[Toby's Mom]

-_-

 

[pico's parent]

Doctor Cathy,

I'm still flummoxed as to how to give Pico a home-cooked diet that satisfies the requirement of low protein/low fat and still gives him all the vitamins and minerals he needs.

When we go for his annual checkup in June I'm going to ask my vet who has 3 maltese, one of which has the same MVD as Pico. I think he is getting really bored with the l/d because he hasn't cleaned his plate once in the past 5 days and has eaten none of his canned in 4 days! I even put chicken broth and some chopped egg on it, as well as tried to hand feed him.

I really thing home-cooked is the way to go because you can add variety but proper diet is critical for his health so I can't just give him chicken and rice and veggies and know it's ok.

 

[doctorcathy]

pico, i honestly have no idea how to do low protein, low fat. going by what the books say, dogs need 50% protein. so if you're going low protein, would you just go to 30%? and boiled lean chicken breast is probably the least fatty protein i can think of.

if your vet doesnt know, maybe look up a doggy nutritionist or holistic vet or something. if you cant find one--i'll ask my vet. or i'll try looking online. i was thinking about talking to a holistic vet--but the bloodwork that we did on the dogs looks like we've been doing find for the past 6 months. so i'm thinking that if anything drops on the next blood test--i'm definitely going to look for some help.

in think in Donald Strombecks book--Homeprepared diets for dogs and cats, he writes about veggies and what vitamins they give. i totally hope you get the info you need. i know how you feel when the dogs seem uninterested in their food. we're having a little bit of problems right now. <_< they're getting pretty picky!