CockersOnline Forum
Cocker Specific Discussion => Health => Topic started by: Barry Sharpe on July 24, 2002, 03:23:38 PM
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Hi everyone,
We started George on pedigree complete but was told this was not good for him. So we switched to james wellbeloved on the advice of vets and friends. However every now and again about once a week we provide George with Cooked rice and gravy as well as a handfull of his dry food ( just to make things interesting for him). We notice that he does not gulp his dry food but actually sits down and eats his food slowly. However give him rice and the food is gone is a few secounds. As dogs are geared up to gulp thier food is it healthier for him to eat slowly? It also now matter how much i turn it over in my mind seems an awful lazy way to go about his feeding him. just a couple of handfulls of dry food 3 times a day and that is it. But i alwys get that niggling feeling that he must be bored with the same food day after day. I guess you could say that the rice helps my conceince more than anything else. What do you use and why? Are you happy with it? Does your cocker gulo his dry food or does he eat it slowly?
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Poppy gets Eukanuba twice a day with a small amount of Chappie tinned food mixed in with it. She just flings the dry food round the room unless there's something a bit tastier in with it!
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I feed our Cockers on Nutro (another of the premium dry completes) mixed with a little raw tripe & they all do very well on it. Whether dogs gulp their food down depends a lot on whether they are greedy eaters or not - some of ours gulp their food down like canine vacuum cleaners but a couple of the less greedy ones, eat slowly & carefully. The greedy ones couldn't care less whether they get the same food day in or day out - if it's in their bowl, it gets eaten ;D
With the ones that are not so greedy, I might ring the changes a little - add chicken or minced beef instead of tripe (though the base food stays the same) I don't believe in chopping & changing diets just for the sake of it - if the dogs eat it & it suits them, then why change? Sure, complete foods are more convenient for us but that doesn't make them bad (though I would avoid the cheaper ones that have goodness knows what kind of animal parts in them, not to mention E colourings & other additives!)
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I feed Vegas pedigree complete puppy as this was what he was weaned on. Brook is fed on James Wellbeloved senior/light. I put him on this in the hope that it may help with his aggression and he really enjoys it. I was planning on switching Vegas to the James Wellbeloved too but he loves what he's getting just now - you would think it was going to be his last meal on earth! And to think Brookie's breeder told us cockers were very fussy eaters! :D
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Jenna eats Burgess Supa Dog for puppies. She seems perfectly ok on it although I wonder if she is getting a bit bored of it.
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I'm still feeding Jazz on the diet the breeder gave me which is 3 meals a day which always consists of Puppy Beta.
Breakfast is Puppy Beta mixed with either condensed milk, scrambled egg or rice pudding, lunch is Puppy Beta mixed with lukewarm water and dinner is Puppy Beta mixed with mince, tripe or scrambled egg (if she didn't have scrambled egg for breakfast).
Looking at the other posts I've got a feeling I'm doing something wrong???
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Hi Louise
Beta Puppy is a perfectly good complete food, but it is a "complete" ie you should only add a little meat if you like - anything more & you are increasing the protein (Beta Puppy is already high in protein) & altering the balance of the food. Scrambled Egg is fine as a meal in itself but personally, I wouldn't add it to the Beta. Rice Pudding again is a meal in itself - not something to be added to a complete food. These sort of milky feeds are also not really needed in a puppy Jazz's age & can give some pups the runs :) However, if you are happy & Jazz is happy, then don't worry about it :)
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Hi Louise - I would be a bit worried about the condensed milk due to the sugar content - could be a cause of tooth decay?
my lot all get Pedigree Advance either Growth for the young or pregnant or maintainence for the adults. I have just switched from maintanience to Energy as both the Adults were looking thin (its winter here) I haven't had that problem before. Generally I don't mix the feeding as I find they can get loose stools and they certainly aren't fussy.
cheers
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Pedigree complete (had to go home and check the name). She seems happy enough. She used to wolf it down, now takes her time. Occasionally bits of chicken. Having seen some right tubby dogs around, I am determined to keep mine in shape through moderating their eating habits.
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I feed Fudge Pedigree Complete. Tried various dried foods and some didn't agree with him, and gace him the trots ::)
Although he's only 8 months I've changed him from the puppy, which he did like, as my Husband bought the wrong bag by mistake a couple of weeks ago, and he enjoyed it much better. I was told dried food is better as it's better for their teeth, plus I don't find his breath smells, my other dogs breath smelt with tinned food. I also put some pasta and a bit of left over veg a couple of times a week - is this OK :-
Cheers Gill & Fudge
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Jazz also pinches carrots out of the rabbit's cage. I kinda wedge the carrot between the bars so that it doesn't fall into the rabbit's wood shavings and Jazz chews off the bit from the outside...she loves it...is this ok?
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Hi Louise.
Jenna loves carrots as well, I always give her some carrot when I am chopping up the rabbits carrot. (poor thing has no front teeth).
I'm sure carrot is good for our doggies in moderation anyway.
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Good to see this post as I also find the whole subject of feeding confusing!
We feed Barney on James Wellbeloved and I also put a spoonful of Chappie in it to liven it up a bit - before he was on Burns as I was told 'natural ingredients' are best. Also used to add Delicius Dog Gravy to it for interest but haven't been able to get it at Tesco recently!! Barney absolutely wolfs his food down, you'd think he was permanently starving although he gets two meals a day plus a lunchtime Kong or Bustercub and usually quite a few treats in the day as well!! He seems in good condition, coat is shiny, not moulty, no smelly breath or body, not at all overweight - only thing is he does poo a lot (4 a day!!!) - or maybe that's entirely normal :-
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Good Poll thread Barry. :)
Anyway, we give ours (Burgess) SupaDog Active. No particular reason except that Sweep had always had this from the start so when she joined us it was just as easy to get Libby to eat that too.
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LOL ;D ;D ;D ;D
I know i should have put this in the poll section. All this new confangled technology ::)
Good Poll thread Barry. :)
Anyway, we give ours (Burgess) SupaDog Active. No particular reason except that Sweep had always had this from the start so when she joined us it was just as easy to get Libby to eat that too.
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I feed my two on tinned meat. Occassionally they get scrambled egg. Other times I give them chicken and rice just to vary their diet. As they have a tendancy to put on weight I have cut down on biscuits with their meal. Both are not that bothered by food - which is unusual for cockers isn't it?
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Barney our nearly 9 week old puppy is still on the same food the breeder gave to him. He has four small meals a day that consist of 1/3 of a mug of purina puppy food and 2 - 3 good sized teaspoonfuls of pedigree puppy lamb and rice or chicken and rice; but since we have had him (nearly a week) he has had quite soft poos and now and again very runny messes! Is this OK?
I'm not sure if he is getting too much wet food or whether its because he is sneaking of now and again when I have taken my eye of him for a second and has eaten some grass and leaves of plants.
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If Barney is on exactly the same food that he was weaned on, it is unlikely that the food is causing his soft poos. If you introduced him to the moist food, you could decrease the amount that you are giving him(giving him more of the dry to compensate) and gradually increase it over the space of a week if he seems to be okay. It is common for pups to be quite loose when they go to their new home, so it could just be that but if he's anything like mine it is prob due to the fact that he's eating things he shouldn't ::) As long as he's drinking and is bright and bubbly, I wouldn't be overly concerned but if it perseveres, you could take him to the vet for a check-up.
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Thanks Gill, Barney has been on the dry food and the tinned food since coming from the breeder, I have not introduced any new food to him so I think you could be right about the soft poos being something to do with eating things he shouldn't. Today he has only been in the garden to do poos and wees only and not too play (due to the rain, cause' he doesn't like it!!) and touch wood his poos have not been so soft and runny 8).
What a lovely topic of conversation :P
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Tess eats Beta puppy food. at least I think it is, it comes in a plain plastic bag from my local'sell everything' shop. I live in the country. She wolfs it down. I have just upped her to two handfuls a feed, 3 times a day, she is 12 weeks old Sunday and has her final jabs monday, thank goodness.
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We feed Cooper on Chudleys Original complete and he loves it. We tried a lot of diferent foods before we settled on this one. He loves it, I just put water on it about 1/2 hour before giving it to him.
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We are all on NUTRO here! Recently converted and loving it.
Nice shiny coats and healthy dogs. Also no hyperactivity in my very excitable boy which is great :-) I put that down to colourings and addititves, which of course are not found in NUTRO. Sorry, theres no going back for us ;D
www.nutro.co.uk
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Ditto - we're a Nutro family;) supplemented with something nnice to add a bit of taste, chicken fat, raw beaten egg, cooked lamb and veg etc etc - but primarily Nutro.
Pam n the brady bunch!
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Hi
I'd like to change Bailey and Tia over to Nutro but can't find anyone that sells it.
is there a web site that sells it????
Claire
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Hi Claire
Have a look at http://www.nutro.co.uk (http://www.nutro.co.uk) It gives the free phone number which you can ring & order your Nutro direct from the company. They are generally very efficient & deliver within days of you placing your order.
Jane
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The cheeper way to obtain is directly via nutro and they can take credit/debit card payments over the phone or a cheque in the post. But you can order it from
www.animalinstinct.co.uk and www.bluepet.co.uk