Hello!

[jsicard]

Hi,

My name is Jess. I am new to this forum. I just happened to stumble upon it while looking for alternatives to my dog's food. We recently had him perscribed the Hills I/D dry food. I really don't want to pay $55 for 20# of food. He just had a death scare last week. Doc doesn't know what the hell he had. He was in the hospital over night had 4 bags of IV fluid. Doc didn't run all the toxin tests we wanted! :( He tested for Samonella and Parvo both were negative. But not sure if he was intentionally poisoned or if he ate something. It's very frustrating! So now we supposed to feed him this Hill's I/D. I am looking for a better alternative for him and me!

[xellil]

Hi there - I was having similar problems with my dog when I found this site - constant visits to the ER, digestive issues no one could find a cause for, etc. We were also prescribed Hill's, which the vet sells from his office and makes a profit from, and has horrible ingredients.

You will find lots of good informaton here. I have been raw feeding my dogs since April, and not one single trip back to the ER. Before April, it was every 2-3 weeks.

[lucky]

maybe raw would be worth looking into ... I agree, hills is basically cr*p, my previous vet suggested I feed that too ... since starting on raw my lucky has not had a single vet visit due to an illness/problem ... there are a lot of very knowledgeable people here so i'm sure you'll get tons more advice soon :)

[DaneMama]

Hello and welcome! I'm sorry to hear about your pup being sick...I'd suggest you start reading and find out what you feel comfortable doing and researching.

[jsicard]

Thanks for the comforting words! I will keep on my search for a solution! I did find a brand called Blue Buffalo that looks like it's pretty good. I might just get a 6# bag or something to try it out and see if Hank has any reactions to it.
Oh that reminds me!! Has anyone ever had a dog get sick over a rawhide. Hank loves those, but i know the day before he was sick he had had one i had just bought. Hmmm.......

[DaneMama]

I do not recommend raw hides at all. I would try giving bully sticks or natural raw bones (not big knuckle or soup bones as they break teeth- rib bones are safer) before giving raw hides. Actually....I would never give my girls raw hides.

[Scarlett_O']

WELCOME!!

I would also HIGHLY suggest looking into raw and figuring out what you are most comfortable with....as far as BB is concerned there ARE better foods out there!

And as far the rawhides....well NONE of my dogs will EVER have one! I REFUSE to allow my boys to go into my in-law's house until every single one of those nasty, no good things are picked up!! Bully sticks or ribs are both GREAT!:D

[jsicard]

OK thanks! I will throw those rawhides out and find where to get those bully sticks. If you don't like Blue Buffalo, what food do you recommend? I thought the list of ingredients in that food was pretty good.