Digestive problems and Dental care

Question
QUESTION: Hi,
I have a 1 year pekingese who i brought from someone i know, I brought her home almost 3 or 4 months ago. she is a very sweet and an amazing dog, except she drives me up the wall with food, she wouldnt eat healthy dry foods like i've tried many kinds but once she comes close smells the food she walks away. so because i dont want her to die of hunger I know she loves cooked chicken so i started feeding her cooked chicked thats when the problem started. I noticed after 2 weeks of eating the chicken that she dosent go out to poop everyday like she used to, she poops once every 2 or sometimes 3 days and also started vomiiting yellow foamy vomit once a week first thing in the morning. i dint think it was from the food as i read on many sites that vomitting forst thing in the morning is normal with small dogs because they produce something that they sometimes cant tolarate so the reaction is vomit! one of those weeks she vomitted 3 times i took her to the vet they made me buy a pack of dry food and told me that it was low in protein and that she would be able to digest it better the only problem is that she would not eat what so ever all she would have is one or 2 bites then leave! the vet told me to be stronge and not fall for her tricks because she would try to convince me to give her somthing else so i remained stonge for 3 weeks and yes she stoped vomitting however i want my dog to be a healthy dog and feed her whats healthy for her to stay well. am not satisfied with the food that she doesnt like and the vet told me to just give it to her as medication for 6 weeks. I got her butch dog food which is made of chicken and she loves it but you'd never be sure of these foods are made of really and if they are really what they say they are. Am seeking your advice to tell me what i can feed my dog something she would like and at the same time is healthy for her. as im now on the process of figuring out what to feed her and i keep on switching which i heard is not good for their digestive system. one more thing to highlight she loves home cooked food and am ready to cook for her if youd advise me that its whats best probably than pets food which may also cause dental problems.


I dont want to make this long but i also want to ask a small question my peke has her front  bottom teeth all visible outside her mouth. the vet told me that her whole jaw is dislocated which makes her front teeth out of place, my question is, is there anything i can do to help her or should i be extra cautious and need to be extra careful with her dental care??


7 days feeding chart   ANSWER: Ok Sara,
First of all, you have to follow your vet's advice. I know these dogs are cute and will stick their nose up at certain foods. However, fussy eaters like this dog are made that way by the owners caving in to them- these dogs are NOT born this way.

Changing a dog's food all the time is very dangerous. Whoever told you that vomiting is normal in small dogs is wrong and shouldn't be spreading false hoods around like that.

Vomiting yellow bile is a sign of pancreatic problems and that is from switching foods all the time. Pancreatitis can kill your dog- in as short as 24 hours. This is not something to mess with.
Dogs are not made to eat a variety of foods. Their digestive systems want one kind of food all the time- no surprises, no changes, NO HUMAN FOODS.

I never recommend cooking for your dog because there is no way you can give this dog a balanced diet like that. Cooking chicken is just as bad. There is no fiber, carbs or other nutrients in an all chicken diet. Your dog would be very sick very fast that way.

What she needs is for you to STOP buying foods for her and get her one food only. She is young so she can eat an adult maintenance food. Get her some Science Diet Small Breed formula. Dogs love it. It comes in small pieces so she won't be picky about the size of the food nuggets.
look at it here:
http://www.hillspet.com/products/science-diet/sd-canine-adult-small-and-toy-bree

The best thing about Science diet is that it is nutrient dense, it is everything she needs for optimal health and a long life. You didn't say what kind of dry food your vet gave you but if it is Science Diet you need to know that she won't eat it down the way they do cheaper foods. It isn't that she doesn't like it, but once they start eating it they get more nutrients from the small amount of food they take it, so they don't need to eat as much food each time. Over time she will pick at the food because of this. She is eating what she needs at this point. That could be why she is doing this now if your vet put her on Science Diet.

If you want this dog to live a long life- 15-16 yrs, then you must follow these recommendations Sara. You have to stop thinking she is a person that wants and needs other foods. Treat her like a dog (when it comes to feeding her that is!) and give her affection and attention that doesn't center on food.

As far as dental care goes, she won't have any teeth to worry about if you keep her on a human food diet. They will start to fall out due to bone loss from lack of proper nutrition. Your vet didn't mean her jaw is dislocated as in it isn't where it should be but she is a brachycephalic dog, which means she has a short nose and so the jaw juts forward more than it would in say a Labrador retriever. This is normal for a peke to have a jaw like this and thus the bottom incisors will show. She still needs her teeth brushed daily and cleaned at the vets once a year or more.

Good food equals better dental health also. Science Diet is formulated to help keep your dogs gums and teeth healthy and cleaner. It doesn't replace home and vet dental care, but it is ancillary to that. So your vet bills will be less since she will be healthier and have better teeth.

You have nothing to lose and she has everything to gain by you switching her for the last time to a good food. Take the three bag challenge and save some money doing so.

http://www.feedingisbelieving.com/believe/3-Bag-Challenge-Form.html

here is a chart to show you how to switch her from the food she is on to the Science Diet.
Good luck Sara and please know that your vet and I just want what is best for your dog so that when she is happy and healthy so will you be. Don't give in to her, don't feed her ANYTHING but her dry food. You can mix a bit of canned in later on or give her a spoonful on the side but ONLY Science Diet canned foods. Wait a few weeks if you do want to give her that. I don't recommend it since they like it so much they will only want canned and it's bad for their teeth to give them only canned.

What we tell people to do is just take a bowl of her dry food on the table or counter and use it like treats. She doesn't care what it is. She just thinks it's from the table. But only use her new dry food.

Let me know if you have any other questions and how she is doing in three weeks.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Jana,

Thanks alot for your advice. appreciate this
Well here in the Dubai I dont think we have science Diet, I havent seen it anywhere in all the pet stores i went to. however we do have Eukanuba and pedigree around which one do you think is more like science diet?
if you insist that science diet is the only best than Im ready to even check online and see if i can purchase and get it delivered to Dubai. hope I get a site which offers international delievery. you cant imagine what im ready to do for my dog anything to keep her healthy i love her to bits and I do understand dry food is whats best. so many people i know here who own dogs and told me its okay to spoil my dog and give her what she likes to eat but I also know that shes a dog and that they have their own healthy diets which are not in human food. I have my understanding but what i hear offen conflicts and just confuses me. also note that perhaps i suffer from this confussion because she is my first dog. I will search and try to get what you recommended. but if i dint succeed please tell me which one of the above 2 available pet food is best for her instead of science diet. although i know she would be so fussy and wont even approach her plate i will be persistant and make it the only available food for her. as i mentioned before when the vet gave me the dry food for her to have she stayed for almost 3 weeks giving me a hard time and not eating except 2 bits! I almost thought she was going to die of hunger!

Answer
Hi Sara,
it can be confusing when well meaning people try and steer you wrong about spoiling the dog. Spoiling in this case can mean an early death sentence for her.

Hill's sells Science Diet online and ships all over the world. I don't know how much it will cost but you can find out by calling their 1-800 number on the web site or by going to Hillspet.com.

Neither one of those foods compares to Science Diet and Pedigree is a terrible food to feed anything. We had a dog come in once from out of town that died from eating Pedigree all of it's life. Her skin was falling off of her! Garbage in, bad skin and garbage out.

I appreciate the fact that you want to do the best for your dog. Ask your vet if they can order the Science Diet for you or again just get it online.
You can pick from one of the areas closest to you here:

http://www.hillspet.com/site-selector.html

This page shows different stores that you can shop online from:

http://www.hillspet.com/where-to-buy/shop-online.html

Here is a page from PetSmart online with the Science Diet small breed Small bites.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3946881

You have to cut and paste them into a browser window if the links are not clickable in here.

If you absolutely cannot get the Science Diet then try the Eukanuba. It used to be made as well as Science Diet but then they stopped using the fixed formula I told you about before.

Let me know how it goes Sara.