Question
Isabella
the puppy I assume to be yours in your pic looks strikingly similar to my Izzy! (pic attached) :-)
I submitted a request to join your Yahoo group as well....
So I got baby Iz about a week and a half ago. She is 17 weeks old now (born Jan 11) and weighs approximately 2 lbs (tiny baby!). I got her from a very nice AKC registered breeder and she has had all shots/health checks etc. Kathy (breeder) said she's charting to be about 3 lbs grown and as I realize 3 lbs is a very small puppy dog I want to make sure she grows to her full potential and is healthy and strong so I always make sure her little tummy is full :-)
I made the mistake of giving her some chicken breast a couple days after I brought her home and she got a bit "spoiled" so we struggled for a bit on a variety of whatever she agreed to eat, but thankfully for the past two days now I've gotten her on a mixture of chicken baby food-cottage cheese-Royal Canin Baby Puppy 33 (not the best food from what I understand but it's what the breeder originally had her on - I understand you recommend Evangers?). I'm feeding four small meals daily and ALWAYS out of her normal dish - that helps.
Anyways my question/comment is regarding a recommendation I followed which I found on several breeders sites. The recommendation was to tempt finicky eaters with Gerber Baby Meat Sticks. Well, Iz LOVED meat sticks and decided that was about all she felt like eating for about three days prior to our discovery of the above mentioned mixture. I figured that at least she was happily eating but unfortunately, meat sticks contain onion powder (probably in the water/oil mix they're soaked in). Once I figured that one out I discontinued feeding them to her of course.
Izzy had seemed like she was sleeping a lot but over the past two days since we tossed the meat sticks she seems like a brand new puppy, playing a lot more, etc. I feel terrible for giving her those nasty old meat sticks and wonder if her lack of energy might have been due to the onion powder and if this could produce any further ill effects that I should worry about?
So for anyone else who may have read the meat stick recommendation - NO MEAT STICKS. SO many f-in idiots out there with crappy information on chi care it's unbelievable. My fault for not figuring it out sooner but good Lord...I'm gonna write those breeders some nasty emails because they sure as hell should have figured it out a long time ago.
Iz has been getting Nutrical twice a day since I brought her home, by the way. I noticed another expert on here recommending Nu-Vet Plus and was wondering what you think of that particular supplement.
Anyways, ttys and thanks!
Kylie
AnswerHi Kylie...
I read your well written and well detailed note and was totally taken back by the fact that you read on some breeder sites to feed a pup Gerber Meat Sticks! I totally feel your anger and your well placed concern for your pup. You know, the first thing that comes to my mind is that breeder sites are often not the best resource for obtaining the best information for our pups and even our adult dogs. Reputable breeders who are breeding for the betterment of the breed and who are truly knowledgeable are really few and far between. I have had a number of people join my Yahoo group explicitly for the purpose of copying information in the files to use for their websites. In other words, they didn't have a clue about the dogs that they were breeding and were seeking information that they could paste up on their websites so that they would look knowledgeable.
Kylie, I use baby food for 2 reasons only: It often helps inappetant senior cats eat their regular food when used in small amounts and it is useful when giving medication to a dog or cat who is difficult to medicate or the medication tastes bad. I currently have a Chihuahua that is taking a hormone for hypothyroidism and popping a bit of chicken baby food on my finger and sticking the small pill in it makes giving the pill as easy as pie. Over the years, veterinarians (especially those working at ER hospitals) have been very good about advising clients not to feed baby food IF it contains onion (or onion powder). So, people who have had a relationship with a good and informative veterinarian know about the dangers of onion and I believe that people who belong to good Yahoo groups and other good dog forums are aware of the dangers of onion too. The regular Gerber's baby foods don't appear to have onion powder in them. Or, I should say that the chicken and turkey blends do not - those are the ones that I use and the ones that I'm familiar with. However, I have to be honest and tell you that I had never before heard of Gerber's meat sticks having onion powder in them before. I've never, ever used them for my pups, dogs, sick cats...whatever...and I've never met anyone before that was feeding them to their dogs and I've sure met a lot of Chi owners on my Chihuahua lists over the years. I googled Gerber's meat sticks and looked at a number of websites where the ingredients were listed and they didn't show onion powder listed...BUT...each of those websites had a little disclaimer at the bottom saying basically that all the ingredients may not be listed and that you should be sure to read the label on the actual product to see the ingredients. So, then I typed in something like "Gerber Meat Sticks ingredients, onion powder and...VOILA!...there IT was listed on more than one website! So, I have to say that your note to me on AllExperts is going to serve to make LOTS more people aware and most probably save some lives!
Kylie, I am concerned that Izzy did eat these meat sticks. Onion causes a conditon called hemolytic anemia or Heinz Cell Anemia. I don't know how much she ingested, but she's a two pound dog and onion toxicity is dose dependent. Meaning what is a small amount for a 10 or 15 lb. dog is a lot for a 2 lb. dog. With hemolytic anemia, some dogs can have a reaction right after eating the onion while in most cases it takes several days for symptoms to manifest. If she were my dog, I think I would consult with an experienced veterinarian and just have some blood work run to see that she's really okay. Here's a website for you to take a look at: http://www.suite101.com/content/onion-toxicity-in-dogs-a40917
Maybe 2 years ago my eldest Chi stepped on the pedal to the small can used for food waste in the kitchen and it opened and he took out some onion peels and it looked like he ate some of the onion stuck to the peels. I knew that he couldn't have eaten much, but I didn't know for sure. I took him to the ER where vomiting was induced and then I administered charcoal to him (as per the ER instructions) to make sure. I had his blood tested I believe two days later. He was fine, thank heavens.
Kylie, I really feel that you're going to cause more problems down the road and turn Izzy into a really picky eater with how you're currently feeding her. It is my opinion that she should be on a premium, high quality dog food and that you shouldn't be adding the cottage cheese and baby food. Cottage cheese is full of sodium for one thing and the more you feed these other things, the less nutrients she's getting from the dog food that she really needs. If you feel a need to supplement her food, learn how to properly home cook her food later when she's older. For now, you want her to enjoy her puppy food and get the nutrition that she needs so that she can develop a healthy immune system and strong body. My youngest Chi weighed the same as your Izzy when she was that age - maybe even a tad less. She eagerly ate her dry dog food (I was using what the breeder had been feeding her at the start) after I soaked it well and gave it to her warm. You mentioned Evanger's and I have spent a great deal of time researching dog food for my own dogs and Evanger's is the brand that I feed my dogs. One of my dogs is currently experiencing a medical problem and Evanger's was the only company out there that had a blend of food that is beneficial to his nutritional needs right now. I have been quite satisfied with them for a number of reasons. If Izzy likes chicken and she likes baby food, she should be very happy with their Chunky Chicken Cassarole Dinner.
Kylie, you shouldn't have to be giving Izzy Nutrical twice per day. I'm wondering if someone advised you to do that? I'm thinking the breeder did. We administer Nutrical to pups that are showing signs of Hypoglycemia (or low blood sugar). If Izzy is eating well and active, she should not need the Nutical. No, you have no need for Nu-Vet Plus or any other vitamins if Izzy is on a premium, high quality food. I think if you research that product you will find that the people who sell it usually know little about the health of your pet or nutrition and receive revenue for the items they sell. They usually ask you to put their code or their name on your order so that they can get monetary credit.
I see no reason why you can't start mixing in another brand of food with the Royal Canin that you've been feeding her. Just start small and take a couple weeks or more to make the total transition to the new brand.
Kylie, I'm very glad that you wrote and I really do hope that you will at the very least have a blood test done on Izzy to make sure things are perfectly fine. I think you're really smart and very eager to be a good companion to Izzy and I'm very glad that you wrote and warned all of us about the Gerber Meat Sticks! Please don't hesitate to write back if you have any other questions or concerns. Oh, and Izzy does look quite a bit like my little one! They're both VERY cute! :)
Jo Ann
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