Hi - my name is Brenda and I've been lurking around the forum for a few weeks; I feel I know most of you personally by now and have gathered a wealth of great information. I personally have never seen a more dedicated group of people showing such patience join together with one goal - to improve the life and health of our pets. It's amazing how much of your personal time you devote and how much knowledge you share. I, for one, am amazed and want to say thank you.
I have two Shih Tzu's, Dallas (7 yrs) and his daughter Disney (6 yrs). I'm not too knowledgeable on how to add pictures but will try to figure it out soon. For years I was feeding Science Diet ZD Ultra at the recommendation of my vet for Dallas' skin condition as he said it was probably a food allergy (red splotchy belly, severe itching and paw biting). He said there was a blood test he could do ($150) that may show what the specific allergy was but there was no guarantee. Since I wasn't able to spend $150 for something that may or may not tell me anything I decided to try the Z/D to see what happened. Over the years he didn't get any worse but not significantly better either. I fed Disney the same to keep it simple for me. It's amazing how we blindly follow the vet's advise on this - I had no idea they had no more nutritional training than they do.
Last year Disney had struvite kidney stones and had to have surgery. The vet called Hills to see if we needed to change her food and they said to keep her on the Z/D Ultra but to also add in the canned for the extra moisture. Imagine that!
A few weeks ago I looked at Dallas and his coat looked so bad - looks oily but feels brittle, not soft at all - so I thought there has to be something better and started to do a little research. For about a week I was cooking chicken and vegetables, adding in fish oil capsules and plain yogurt. Other than the occasional apple, carrot or banana they had never had anything but kibble so they really ate it up. Anyway, in my google search for new "recipes" to feed them I somehow stumbled across this site and haven't looked back.
I've been feeding raw for the last two weeks and it's gone really well. So far they've had drumsticks, some of which weigh a little more than they should be getting to maintain what I think their ideal weight should be at 15 pounds - they're not overly active so I'm holding it close to 2%. But I know to balance over time and I can adjust if they appear to gain weight. Disney is the piglet - she weighs about 20 pounds so needs to lose a little. I did give them a thigh on Wednesday and was awakened at 2AM yesterday by Dallas to go outside. It wasn't too bad, just a small loose stool. Maybe I should have taken the skin off since dark meet contains more fat? Other than that one loose stool the others have been firm so I'll probably start turkey next week.
Anyway, I just wanted to say hi and thank you all. I'm sure you'll hear more questions from me.
Brenda
I have two Shih Tzu's, Dallas (7 yrs) and his daughter Disney (6 yrs). I'm not too knowledgeable on how to add pictures but will try to figure it out soon. For years I was feeding Science Diet ZD Ultra at the recommendation of my vet for Dallas' skin condition as he said it was probably a food allergy (red splotchy belly, severe itching and paw biting). He said there was a blood test he could do ($150) that may show what the specific allergy was but there was no guarantee. Since I wasn't able to spend $150 for something that may or may not tell me anything I decided to try the Z/D to see what happened. Over the years he didn't get any worse but not significantly better either. I fed Disney the same to keep it simple for me. It's amazing how we blindly follow the vet's advise on this - I had no idea they had no more nutritional training than they do.
Last year Disney had struvite kidney stones and had to have surgery. The vet called Hills to see if we needed to change her food and they said to keep her on the Z/D Ultra but to also add in the canned for the extra moisture. Imagine that!
A few weeks ago I looked at Dallas and his coat looked so bad - looks oily but feels brittle, not soft at all - so I thought there has to be something better and started to do a little research. For about a week I was cooking chicken and vegetables, adding in fish oil capsules and plain yogurt. Other than the occasional apple, carrot or banana they had never had anything but kibble so they really ate it up. Anyway, in my google search for new "recipes" to feed them I somehow stumbled across this site and haven't looked back.
I've been feeding raw for the last two weeks and it's gone really well. So far they've had drumsticks, some of which weigh a little more than they should be getting to maintain what I think their ideal weight should be at 15 pounds - they're not overly active so I'm holding it close to 2%. But I know to balance over time and I can adjust if they appear to gain weight. Disney is the piglet - she weighs about 20 pounds so needs to lose a little. I did give them a thigh on Wednesday and was awakened at 2AM yesterday by Dallas to go outside. It wasn't too bad, just a small loose stool. Maybe I should have taken the skin off since dark meet contains more fat? Other than that one loose stool the others have been firm so I'll probably start turkey next week.
Anyway, I just wanted to say hi and thank you all. I'm sure you'll hear more questions from me.
Brenda
