Food

topic posted Thu, September 20, 2007 - 6:18 PM by  Valerie
Can I ask you guys what you feed your Pyrs?

I currently feed Solid Gold Wolf King and Solid Gold Hund-n-Flocken, and he's done really well on it...however, I just put in an order for Eagle Pack Holistic Lamb.

Zuke has been super itchy for well over a month...but only on his face, and slightly on his feet. I live in the middle of nowhere and he has been seen by four vets. I finally found one that I think knows something...most out here specialize in livestock and I don't find them very knowledgeable about small animals (well, Zuke's not small but you know what I mean). Anyway, they just keep giving him Prednisone, except for the last vet I took him to...he agreed with me that steroids are not going to fix the problem. Unfortunately, I now have to ween Zuke off of the steroids before I can even try to get an allergy test done on him.

Anyway, this new vet found ear infection, which pretty much pissed me off because I had him at another vet last week who didn't catch it. So Zuke is on an antibiotic and ear drops. A skin culture did not show fungus or bacteria on Zuke's skin, but I am just TOTALLY convinced that this is yeast. When we came home today, there was a funky smell in the family room...my daughter ran in thinking that one of the dogs may have thrown up, but there was nothing. We could not figure out what was causing the smell. Then Zuke went up to Chloe for some attention and she said, "Mom, the smell is ZUKE!" It's his face and ears.

I've kind of gone off on my own, I am going to treat him with Nzymes yeast kit, if it's not yeast, it won't hurt him, but I have had nothing but great recommendations for it, so I am going to give it a try as I am at my wits end!

So...I just wanted to know what you feed. I can't bring myself to feed raw, I talk to some Pyr owners online who feed raw with good results, but I don't know if I'm knowledgeable enough...I worry about the teeth on the bones and also obstruction.

Anyhoo...thanks for your input!
posted by:
Valerie
Nebraska
  • Re: Food

    09/20
    Ooo ear infections. Keals gets them all the time. It's a chore to clean her ears, but she will sit there and suffer through it. We use an ear cleaner that we got from the vet, the name escapes me right now we just through the bottle away.
    For food we give her Imes for large breeds. We try to give her soft food, but she dose not seem to care for it. But she LOVE our cat Dexter's food.
  • Re: Food

    09/21
    Aww - you take such good care of your baby!

    I used to feed them Natural Choice but of course got them off that right away and switched to Wellness. I am switching again though to Dr. Harveys. The cat too! www.drharveys.com/

    My friend Patty is the co-owner of a wonderful shopehere called the Uppity Puppy (www.theuppitypuppy.com). You walk in and immediately think "this is a froo-froo dog store" but it is sooo much more than that. Not only will they custome fit/make clothing and harnesses for any size dog but they are an animal rights store with a ton of holistic remedies/essences. They are a bakery where no wheat and no animal by-products are used. They dont even sell leather productsand Pattys dog is a Vegan! I love it! Anyway, my monsters will not be Vegans but this Dr. Harveys stuff is supposed to be amazing, and not terribly expensive. From what i hear not only from patty but other people, it has helped their dogs and cast with various ailments - itching being one of them. It is 100% people grade stuff, Patty even eats it sometimes!

    Patty is also a certified naturopath and is just chock full of info. She lives to help people keep their animals happy and healthy. Please feel free to call her (dont email, she is horrible with computers) with any questions on Dr. Harveys or anything else, tell her I sent ya! She custom mixes remedies speciffic to your dog, has a ton of ready made products, etc... She is doing a 5 flower essence one for George to help with his seperation anxiety....
    • Re: Food

      09/21
      Oh Michelle...thanks for the link! Finally, someone I might be able to call who knows about the Bach Flower Remedies! I have given Zuke Bach's Rescue Remedy because he became afraid of the backyard for no reason I could find. I think he must have had a run in with a garter snake because he's still not afraid of any other animal...anyway, the Rescue Remedy totally works!!! But I don't know enough about the flower essences individually, but I would like to get one to help with Louise...she's a wonderful dog, we got her at the shelter, and she's still under a year old...she is just an attention hog. We cannot pet Zuke without her driving him off to have us all to herself. I know there's an essence that will help, I just don't know what it is! LOL

      I'm going to try to call tomorrow, my daughter has a volleyball tournament in the morning, so we'll see :)

      I could never feed my dog a vegan diet. Dogs are carnivores, or at the very least, omnivores (since that issue is highly disputed LOL), but I'm glad they sell meat based food products, too :) Their store looks totally awesome! I wish I could go there. I'm really looking forward to talking with Patty, I will tell her that you gave me the info., I will buy my Bach Flower remedies from her!
      • Re: Food

        09/24
        Ya - Patty is great. I dont know if you were able to get a hold of her or not. Saturday she was out at a festival with me all day (we are in the same dance troupe), and Sunday the shop had a pet psychic in so they were probably really busy. If you didnt reach her, try her tuesday afternoon. The shop is closed on Mondays

        I am just now being educated on these essences - it's pretty neat stuff. I have my doubts as to whether or not it will help my sweet psycho George but i'm willing to try anything!!! He just spazes sooooo bad when I am away. When I am with him, he is pyrfection though.

        They do not sell any meat based products at U.P. but with Dr. Harveys you add whatever source of protein you want for your pet. For Pattys dog truffles, she uses lentils. For my pets I will be using chicken.
        • Re: Food

          09/25
          I guess I was looking at the Dr. Harvey's Power Patties, which are made with tripe...maybe her shop only sells the veg to bowl by Dr. Harvey's?
          • Re: Food

            09/25
            Yup! The Vege to bowl it is! Cheaper than the patties (though she wouldnt sell them anyway). You just reminded me that I meant to bring the insert she gave me with the food with me to work today. My cat is in the begining stages of kidney failure (she is 14) and I want to send the info sheet to my vet... just to be on the safe side. I dont want to give her too much protein with her condition. Right now she is on k/d and is not a huge fan of it. I wanted wait till she finished the bag she is on anyway before switching her....

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