Iams was a decent food before it was sold but now is just not good. Better then Ol Roy which will kill a dog but I found feeding a cheaper dog food not only resulted in anal problems but more vet visits for illnesses and all of my dogs and my parents' dogs were dead by 11yrs old. After switching my dogs have gone to 13 yrs old routinely with my oldest being 16 when he went to the Bridge and now Brutus is a healthy 15 who jumps on the couch, runs around chasing the other dogs and has had no decernible loss of hearing or vision. No arthritis that shows either. He still gets puppy zoomies. So I figure the better food has helped, it makes sense to me, feeding twinkies and Coke to a kid might not kill him but won't make him healthy. I have seen a kennel and a few indiviual dogs fed BARF and not been impressed by their skinny condition. My dogs are kept slender..wish I could keep me that was too...but their ribs are not all sticking out looking like a.starved dog. I tried "better" food too and not had as good results. Since I have fed 100lb dogs to 3.5lb dogs and often fosters in horrible shape I like a one food fits all type. Although I do feed 3 diff types depending on which is cheaper but the same formula basically. As a footnote my brother who is wealthy and could feed any food has fed Purina dog chow to his several Labs who all died before or by 11 yrs old.
Robin, the Dobe Axel CGC, TT, the German Pin Ranger CGC, TT, the Chihuahua Alice and the MinPins HoneyB, Brutus, IMPS fosters Jordan and Mack www.minpinrescue.org www.chi-rescue.com -------- Original message -------- Subject: Re: Re: [Chihuahuas] New Chihuahua Ownder From: Alice Saunders <whiterabbi...@gmail.com> To: chihuahuas@yahoogroups.com CC: I think most dog owners have gone through ruptured anal glans at least once. My last dachshund, Bob Barker had one rupture and the the other almost rupture. The vet popped it and drained it. I swore, no more cheap food again. Still, I am now feeding Iams. I was feeding California Natural Chicken but the price just got to high or me. Iams seems to be ok. I'm not getting the large poops I got with cheap food. Is there a food in the Iams price range that doesn't have any corn I it at all? Iams ingredients list shows corn after a bunch of other stuff, so I'm thinking there's not much of it in it. What do you all think of Iams? Alice Sent from Incredimail for iPad From: Pam Dean 12:44 PM Been there and done that. No more thank goodness. Mine are on the Venison and potato and have not had anal gland issues at all anymore. Will not change..lol From: GinbarMinPins <ginbarminp...@aol.com> To: chihuahuas@yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 11:02 PM Subject: Re: [Chihuahuas] New Chihuahua Ownder HoneyB had 2 ruptured anal gland problems when I switched her to a different food so we are on the same food for life and I don't have to clean out any of my dogs anal glands. In fact when we switched I brought 3 other MinPins to the vet to get their glands expressed as with short nubs and just me I had trouble fully emptying them. Aloce's previous owner fed a grocery store brand and had to express her glands but she has been fine here. While grocery store food has lots of fillers it apparently is not fiber. A foster came with the same problem and a bag of fig newtons, his vet's remedy, and was also fine here. Prunes are also a natural way to help them. Robin, the Dobe Axel CGC, TT, the German Pin Ranger CGC, TT, the Chihuahua Alice and the MinPins HoneyB, Brutus, IMPS fosters Jordan and Mack www.minpinrescue.org www.chi-rescue.com -------- Original message -------- Subject: Re: [Chihuahuas] New Chihuahua Ownder From: Peggy The Girls <phr...@optimum.net> To: Chihuahuas@yahoogroups.com CC: That can happen when they are on a corn or a rice kibble. Best foods have Chicken as the first ingredient and preferably as the second ingredient to. I had Gigi once on a diet that was Chicken, rice, then some other type of rice and she had a hard timing going too. I switched her to a chicken, oatmeal, barley, kibble and she doesn't have a problem with that. It can also happen when their anal gland is clogged. When she goes to the Vet ask him to ''express her gland''. A lot of dogs need it done sooner or later. I only have to do Gigi's once a year which I do. Princess had hers done years ago and is ready to have it checked out again. I leave her to a Vet as she is hard to express. It all depends on the dog. I do not believe in doing it every month like some people have their groomers do it when ever the dog is groomed. I can tell you of to many stories where the gland ruptured because it w as being done to frequently. Stress in dogs usually brings on diarrhea, not constipation. So I would try switching her diet very gradually and see if that helps, if not, then let a Vet check her out, and other then the gland hopefully nothing else is wrong. Also pure pumpkin in the can, the one that doesn't have anything added to it, works to regulate a dog. If they have diarrhea or constipation it regulates them. It is not a laxative, it just helps to get their system to act normal. Just 1/2 tsp 2x a day for two days usually does the trick for a 6-8 pound chi. You can freeze the rest in portions in a ice cube tray, after frozen, move each one to a plastic bag and then you will always have the portion ready if you need it. I noticed in another post that you stated that she is being treated for Kennel Cough, which is common in shelter dogs. I know that you also stated that you are keeping Mickey away from her, which I am sure isn't easy. Be aware that Kennel Cough is very contagious, they can pick up from sleeping on the same bed/blankets, playing with the same toys, food and water bowls, and even from your hands if you don't wash them before and after handling each of them. The hard part about KC is that it seems that when one dog gets over it, the next one picks it up. There are different strains of the virus too. So you may want to also ask your Vet if it is advisable to give Mickey a preventative antibiotic or he may want to wait it out and see if Mickey can fight it his own and not come down with it. If Mickey came from the same shelter and hasn't shown signs of it yet, then he must have a very strong immunity against it, or perhaps he was already given the KC shot. Lots of Luck with your new babies, Peggy -------Original Message------- From: Alice Date: 3/19/2013 5:22:28 PM To: Chihuahuas@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Chihuahuas] New Chihuahua Ownder Thanks, Peggy. I didn't know about stress and sugar levels. Minnie strains to poo. Her poo is pretty hard. I'm not sure if that will settle into normal poo when she settles in and gets use to his new home. \ \ /\ Alice ( ) whiterabbi...@gmail.com .( ). Sent from my iPad mini On Mar 18, 2013, at 12:24 PM, Peggy & The Girls <phr...@optimum.net> wrote: Congratulations! I am so glad that you adopted rather then buy! Two very cute babies!! My little Gigi was found on ebays classified for free......not a good thing to give any animal away free, not that she didn't cost me a mint in Vet bills. Anyway she was about 5-6 yrs when I got her two and a half yrs ago and she weighs 7lbs, she was 6 pounds before her spay. She is a Long Hair. She is a very sweet and quiet chi, not barky and not a mean bone in her body. The most wonderful thing about the chi breed is that they come in all sizes, colors, and shapes. Personally, I feel that any of them that are super big are not all chihuahua. They have something else hiding in those genes, lol. That mainly being because of all the so called designer dogs that have been bred in PMs and BYBs for so many years, and when it comes to shelter dogs many are found on the streets and their mama could have been a chi, but most of the time if she too was stray then no one knows what bred to her. But once you own one no matter what they look like they are your baby and it really doesn't matter at all. The protocol for dog shots has changed. Once they are given the initial series of puppy shots, they only need a booster one year later, then for most of the virus's out there they have immunity for life, and that depends on where you live and what virus's are prevalent in your area. The same series of shots is given to an adult dog who has no history of vaccinations. Rabies is mandated by the Federal government, so they can get a one year or a three year shot. Be aware that the rabies vaccine is the exact same vaccine and the exact same amount is given whether it be a one or a three yr shot, and the same dosage is given whether it be a St Bernard or a Chi. Some states recognize the Immunity level lasting for three years, while others recognize it for one year. They are trying to push it for 5 yrs and I sure hope they do that fast, as most Vets agree that just one rabies shot actually last for a lifetime. So here are a couple of links and I strongly sugge st reading them and doing your own research before giving them unnecessary shots year after year, which only compromises there immunity level once in their senior years. If you never owned a chi before, you should be aware that stress can lower their sugar level fast. Some signs are, sleeping a lot, no appetite, shaky, diarrhea. Nutra-Cal comes in a tube and is loaded with electrolytes to increase their sugar level and appetite. Pedialyte is great to prevent dehydration from the diarrhea. I always keep them in stock just in case. I also rescued a Mini American Eskimo from a shelter about 6 yrs ago and Princess will be 8 this summer like her fur-sister Gigi. I also have two parrots who are now 24 yrs old and 23 yrs old. <RoseSmiles3Bk-CaNb-1Ka-1.jpg> http://www.itsfortheanimals.com/DODDS-RESUME.HTM http://www.weim.net/emberweims/Vaccine.html http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/10/27/new-canine-vaccination-guidelines.aspx Gigi <34-DSC02277-FXlg Copy.jpg> Princess <1000.jpg> -------Original Message------- From: lwr0032 Date: 3/18/2013 4:50:55 AM To: Chihuahuas@yahoogroups.com Subject: [Chihuahuas] New Chihuahua Ownder Hi All, I'm Alice and a new Chi owner. I have owned dachshunds (or rather they owned me LOL) since I got out of college in the mid-90's. A little over a month ago, my dachshund, Mortimer Snerd (Morty for short) passed. He bonded most with my hubby. He was pretty much devastated. A week later, I talked him into going to our local shelter "just to look". Well, we walked out having adopted a Chihuahua mix. Hubby named him Mickey. The shelter thinks he's a mix but after looking around the net a all kinds of Chi pictures, he's come to the conclusion that Mickey is a deer head chi. I know it's not an AKC recognized breed and it doesn't matter since Mickey is a companion for hubby. Mickey is much bigger than a chi. He's 14 lbs, runs like a deer and hops like a deer. This past week my buddy and shadow, Bob Barker, an 8.5 lb red dachshund passed. I had to have him out down because of renal failure and he stopped eating. He was 5 y.o. when I adopted him. 2 days ago hubby and I went to our local shelter looking for a small companion dog for me. Well, I found a cream colored 8 mo. old Chihuahua. The shelter named her ChaCha. I renamed her Minnie. She's on,y 6 lbs. for me, that's small but I understand that's big for a chi. Mickey is twice her size. She's a sweetheart just like Mickey. They have somewhat the same personality. At the meet and greet with Mickey, Mickey seemed to come out of his shell more than he has in the month we've had him. He loved playing with Minnie and plays pretty gentle with her. Oh, forgot to say, Mickey is 4 y.o. I'm a first time puppy Mommy. Never thought I'd own a puppy. I'm happy about it and glad Minnie is an older puppy. My question is, what can I expect from an 8 mo. old chi? In 2 weeks Minnie will be due for her 2nd set of puppy shots and a 2nd deworming according to the shelter. She should be done with all that by 8mo, correct? Alice
