The Pet Thread

[Win4us]

I call bull**** on this one, lol. Its a dog, not a baby bird!

This dude may know how to handle dogs, but he's way off on that one.

Right...I thought only birds did that too. I may go puke on my 13 yr old and see.

 

[Huly]

I never called you out personally. Today I sent you links to read when you questioned someone else's specialist. Ask you vet how much nutrition training she has had. They get little to none in vet school. My vet who has every certification possible in both traditional and holistic will yell you that and there are too many brands to keep up on what is what. Is that her fault no that is just the way it is. That is why my vet has her patients bring in food labels where she can read them. Do I think I ams is a bad food? YES! Could it shorten your cats life? Very possible corn and grains were not made for a carnivore. Do youI feed aeach tiger orstripes lion corn and grains? NO! Did I come out and tell you directly that you were killing your cat? No I provided you links to read and form your own opinion.
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[Win4us]

You have a badass looking cat BB but I don't think I could own one, they're just creepy/mischievous to me.

If I was forced to get one tho I think it would be the biggest Maine Coon I could find. That breed is kinda cool looking. Something like this orange model.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

I found out tonight that lilies are toxic for cats...after or kitten has been munching on the Easter flowers I got my girlfriend. Whoops...he's not showing any of the symptoms, only a little diarreah.

BB...I wasn't trying to say you were killing your cat either, apologies if it came out that way. After literally almost killing mine, I don't have much room to talk.
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[Burgundy Burner]

Ricky is quite a cat indeed. Maine Coons are a good breed too.

Christie, going to school/college is one of a series of steps as you know. On the job training makes a great deal of difference. Nutrition training - not only is her knowledge of it extensive, she has trained other vets on the subject. Again, her specialty is cats only - not cats, dogs, rabbits, etc. - just cats.

Do I think your personal crusade is a good one? Yes and no. The motives may be pure, but I compare it to those who try to run a nanny state these days. I'm not a smoker, but for those who do - hey, light 'em up. Same for those who want to eat fast food, eat candy, consume certain kinds of beverages, or serve/eat pork at a tailgate.

You say that I have been misled and implied that my vet was paid by a pet food company. Nothing further could be from the truth. Quite frankly, I've been a cat owner longer that you have been on this earth. First cat was there before I was born and he was around when I was a young teen. The second cat was a family member for fifteen years - we think she met her fate in our heavily wooded back yard at the hands of a raccoon - didn't know we had those critters around until one was spotted a few days after Princess disappeared. Princess had several good years left in her, but fate intervened.

Pudge was with me for eighteen years - he was just a super cat that was full of life. It was hard to say goodbye to him and I waited several years before bringing Ricky home. He'll be three in July and is certainly a welcomed addition to my life. There are no guarantees, but I think we can have many good years together. Sixteen years. Fifteen years. Eighteen years. Now it is Ricky's time and I hope he can be around longer than the others and he has a good chance imho.

 

[Burgundy Burner]

I know you didn't say or imply that - no worries.

Yes, keep the cats away from lillies - it can truly be deadly for them. I don't keep any plants in the house and never did with Pudge either.

As for PETCO, they sell Iams. I prefer PetSmart only because they have cat/dog hotels and adoption programs. I can also find what I need (most of the time) at the commissary/exchange.

 

[Burgundy Burner]

Yep, the government has a website for all recalled pet foods. I stay up to date with it.

 

[Burgundy Burner]

I'm going to have an opinion or two along the way Mike. Some of it is strong and some of it is benign/passive. Pets can be an emotional subject - after all, they are part of the family.

As for the respect thing, I leave that to others. The person who is the hardest on me is me and I don't grade on the curve.

 

[Nobody]

I think in a lot of respects, vets with their food recommendations are just like doctors with their drug recommendations. They get kickbacks. If they tell you they don't, but they have any types of ads in their office or suggest specific brands, etc. they are flat out lying to you.

The doctor I went to for years was one of the only docs around here who was unaffiliated with any big medical group like Bon Secours or Sentara. The reason he did that, is because he didn't want to be forced to push medicines on patients if he didn't think it was the best for the job. As a result, his office didn't have a single ad or product in the entire place with any pharmaceutical company or name of any drug on it, and he had no samples to give. To me, vets that are similar are the only ones you can truly trust. if they recommend something specifically by name, there's generally a reason for it. Especially if they insist on a particular brand, dead giveaway.

My first Border Collie ate Moist & Meaty for over a decade - at the recommendation of her vet. Without checking the ingredients, we took her word for it. After years of feeding it to her, her teeth rotted out even with regular cleanings, greenies, etc. Come to find out, Moist & Meaty is overloaded with sugar.

We switched vets, and the new vet instead of recommending things by name, instead pointed us in the direction of the type of food to look for, and the ingredients to avoid. That's why we settled on Petfresh. And this vet even told us never to let a vet tell you by name what to buy, because they have their motives.

 

[HOF44]

Bought some Blue Buffalo chicken for my pups. I don't know if it'll make them healthier or not but they love it! Devoured it in record time. They were eating Beneful.

 

[Win4us]

Question for the veteran dog owners. Noticed lately my dog all of a sudden has a TON of loose skin. He is eating like a pig and is gaining roughly 1/2 lb a day.

Does a dogs skin pre-grow right when they start a growth spurt? Basically making room for the mass they're about to put on?

 

[Huly]

Bought some Blue Buffalo chicken for my pups. I don't know if it'll make them healthier or not but they love it! Devoured it in record time. They were eating Beneful.

Woohoo watch their coats and muscle mass you will be surprised

 

[Lanky Livingston]

Question for the veteran dog owners. Noticed lately my dog all of a sudden has a TON of loose skin. He is eating like a pig and is gaining roughly 1/2 lb a day.

Does a dogs skin pre-grow right when they start a growth spurt? Basically making room for the mass they're about to put on?

Not a veteran dog owner, but I've heard of the "growing into their skin" thing before. I think you're exactly right about the skin growing first. The looser the skin, the bigger your pup will be.

 

[Huly]

Question for the veteran dog owners. Noticed lately my dog all of a sudden has a TON of loose skin. He is eating like a pig and is gaining roughly 1/2 lb a day.

Does a dogs skin pre-grow right when they start a growth spurt? Basically making room for the mass they're about to put on?

Could be a number of things. How old is he?

 

[Huly]

If he is a young dog def growth spurt. I swear I fed Gibbs when he was younger and from 2-5 he looked like a gangly teenager.

Older pets will get thinner as their bodies process fat much quicker so they lose weight. My 18 year old cat was doing this so we added fatty proteins to her diet like Duck, Beef etc instead of lean proteins like chicken

 

[tshile]

Bought some Blue Buffalo chicken for my pups. I don't know if it'll make them healthier or not but they love it! Devoured it in record time. They were eating Beneful.

I went with Blue Buffalo the hypoallergenic and am weaning my dog off Iams. He scarfs it down immediately and stands next to me when I'm feeding him now. His food would previously lay around all day.

So I have no idea if he has an allergy (still mixing while he transitions) or if Iams is bad for him, but he's certainly intrigued by the new food. It could also be a newness thing and in 6 months he lets it lay around again.

 

[HOF44]

I went with Blue Buffalo the hypoallergenic and am weaning my dog off Iams.

I just went cold turkey with the switch. Didn't upset their stomachs or anything.

 

[tshile]

Yeah, it says to go 2 weeks starting at 25% new food, gradually increasing. I basically went 25%, 50%, 50%, 75% new food last night. I'll probably start 100% tonight. He didn't have any problems either.

Though it has appeared to shift his dump schedule which is going to be interesting... Hopefully it doesn't change to being middle of the day while I'm at work

 

[HOF44]

Though it has appeared to shift his dump schedule which is going to be interesting... Hopefully it doesn't change to being middle of the day while I'm at work

Haaaa mine too, seems to be a longer interval between eating and doing their business.

 

[Huly]

More holistic food produces less waste as the body absorbs more of the food

One thing to keep him interested in food all the time tshile is to use the same brand but switch the proteins up. One day buy chicken then next buy bison etc you will not need to do a slow switch since same brand etc but the variety is very good and keeps pets interested