# Nutritional Questions



## Ripley! (Jan 26, 2011)

I'm needing help and clarification. Sorry this will be long, but I want to make sure I get the back story and reason for the questions. I have a 1 and a half year old female Doberman. She eats Taste of the Wild and I rotate the protein with every bag. Two weeks ago she started vomiting. Couldn't even keep down water. Went to the regular vet. They said "she probably ate something she shouldn't have" and gave her meds for nausea. Now we have a trash can with a click lid and an invisible fence, what did she get? Better for a day, then more vomiting, 5 times before the vet opened for me to call. Put her on IV fluids, x-ray showed gas pockets, blood test showed liver numbers up. Again "she ate something she shouldn't have" like spoiled meat that sent toxins to her system. Kept her overnight and sent her home the next afternoon. Her spirits were better and her liver number had gone down. Plus it was a holiday weekend and she would have to stay till Tuesday when I brought her in on Friday. Sunday she was BAD couldn't keep anything down. Took her to the E-vet in the am. The pm vet did a series of x-rays finding her whole intestines were filled with gas. He did surgery removing two plastic squeakers and 10" of intestines. ( I've beaten myself up over her swallowing plastic. She is crated when I'm not home, so I don't know when it happened. ) she did great for two weeks. This past Friday we had my father-in-law and his two dogs over. I feed her earlier knowing the three of them would run around like maniacs. They did fine and she even pooped that night. Saturday 6 am she had breakfast. When I came home from work my husband said she had vomited around 11 am. She kept water down. Fed her around 4:30 pm and she vomited around 9 pm. She pooped Saturday as well.Took her back to E-vet. X-ray showed gas again. They kept her and did a Barium test (the liquid dye that coats the digestive system) it passed thru fine so no obstruction. She stayed the day and I picked her up around 10 pm. The regular vet called to check on her today and wants her to eat Hills ID for two weeks. I've been feeding her boiled chicken, brown rice, and cottage cheese. Which is what the E-vet said to feed her after surgery. Feeding three times a day right now too. The regular vet said that did not have the nutrition she needed. I don't get it, how is actual chicken meat worse then processed kibble? They would rather me change her food several times, which I've always read was hard on them. Plus she weights about 62 lbs so they want me to buy a 17 lb bag that cost $45! There's no way I'd spend $45 on two weeks of chicken. I looked up the ingredient list of Hills ID. This is what it said:
Ground Whole Grain Corn, Brewers Rice, Dried Egg Product, Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Pork Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Soy Fiber, Dicalcium Phosphate, Chicken Liver Flavor, Iodized Salt, Potassium Citrate, Choline Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Soybean Oil, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Taurine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Ethoxyquin (a preservative).*
REALLY! That has better nutrition then boiled chicken!? *Am I over reacting?What would be recommend to add? Especially on keeping the gas build up to a minimal. Since that was all that happened the last time. Thanks for any thoughts or opinions.


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

Sounds like you and her have had a rough time sorry to hear about that.

I most likely would not use the Hills formula if it were my dog. I hope that things clear up and get back to normal!!! :becky:


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## malluver1005 (Nov 15, 2009)

I agree, steer clear from Hill's!


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

if i'm reading this correctly, the problem is not with food, it's with the squeakers in toys....i presume they are toys....

so if this were my dog, i would feed raw and if raw were not an option, i'd continue to feed a homecooked diet, but a proper one, not one with dairy, like cottage cheese, which would be very hard on a dog's digestive system....

i'd feed a combo of beef, chicken, and pork, with a little liver, some fish and quinoa, some raw veggies pureed and added to the concoction....and i'd get some beef bbq ribs and strip off most of the meat and fat, give it to her for recreation chewing....

i would not compromise her health any further with science diet and terrible food like that.

my heart goes out to you and your girl...


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## cprcheetah (Jul 14, 2010)

I would not feed the Hill's product as it is VERY hard for dogs to digest the corns/grains in it and since your dog lost part of her intestines she needs an easy to digest diet. I would go grain free such as Orijen or Acana or something along those lines. Or if you are up for it Prey Model Raw once she's all healed up, it's the easiest diet there is to digest . I would add probiotics and/or Digestive Enzymes to your dogs food for a bit, that may help with the gas.


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