Does anyone feed their dog home cooked food rather than kibble?

[katie01]

Our dog (purebred shih tzu) used to barf all the time..drove me crazy. The vet seemed to think it was a food allergy so we switched to an expensive food..it's a salmon and rice mix. The barfing stopped so that must have been the issue. The dog gets no human food whatsoever and if it does find a scrap, even the tiniest bit, it will end up sick the next day so we are very careful if we drop something.

It does seem like the shih tzus are especially prone to tummy troubles, my friends with shih tzus or shih tzu mixes have reported their pet going through these illnesses much more than other dog owners.

May I ask the brand of your dog food?

Thanks everyone for the replies, the vet is not in today due to New Year's, as soon as the office is open I'm going to run everything by him, but it does make total sense to stick with ONLY her food for now, give it a few weeks, and see how she is doing. If we still have problems after that, I can look into another brand or homemade, or see a specialist.

 

[katie01]

Do you have any plants (houseplants or outdoors) that your dog might be munching on when you're not looking? Many plants are mildly toxic (some severely) and can cause these symptoms.

Hope you figure it out soon! My dog went through a lot of these issues as a puppy - some due to giardia and some due to nibbling on plants in the backyard.

Thank you, we do not have any house plants, and she is always on leash when outside at our house. My in laws had some house plants that I know can make dogs sick, we attempted to keep her away from those, but with all the people in the house and young kids visiting there for Christmas, she was being let out of areas we had her contained in, I did catch her eating a leaf of something. It was nearly impossible to keep her "quarantined" from danger there, some of the visiting kids even let her out the front door and we had to chase her down, who knows what she ate during that time. I hate the idea of putting her in a kennel when we go out of town, but after this experience I think it will be safer for her.

However, it still doesn't explain why she was sick two weeks ago before that visit out of town

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Our dog (purebred shih tzu) used to barf all the time..drove me crazy. The vet seemed to think it was a food allergy so we switched to an expensive food..it's a salmon and rice mix. The barfing stopped so that must have been the issue. The dog gets no human food whatsoever and if it does find a scrap, even the tiniest bit, it will end up sick the next day so we are very careful if we drop something.

Haha see you are a good doggie mom!

 

[IndyRnRfan]

We had a problem with our dog vomiting when she was a pup. Found out it was a corn allergy. She gets dog treats and once in a while we will give her salmon but that's it. She loves carrots and potatoes but only gets potatoes raw and sparingly. This past summer she got very ill, shivering, shaking, wanted to cuddle with one of us all the time along with diarrhea and wouldn't eat or drink. Wife gave her some Greek yogurt for probiotics and when she was done she would drink some water. About two days later she was getting better and finally started eating dog food on day 3-4. Water is much more important than if they are eating or not. Lack of water intake can cause kidney failure quickly according to our vet.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

This is information on the feeding chair I was talking about earlier for dogs with megaesophagus.

http://twolittlecavaliers.com/2012/09/dog-with-megaesophagus-uses-high-chair-to-eat.html

 

[Dentam]

Lack of water intake can cause kidney failure quickly according to our vet.

Yes, this is very important to note - if your dog is throwing up and has diarrhea, it can get dehydrated quickly and cause serious problems. I would definitely take the dog to an emergency vet if this is the case. You can feel your dog's gums to tell if it is dehydrated.

 

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

We have a rescue Shih Tzu (purebred) who had a problem with diarrhea and vomiting when we first brought him home. Turns out that he can't tolerate even the tiniest bit of chicken in any form. We feed him a high quality lamb and rice kibble, and I confess he does get people snacks on occasion. He can eat beef, pork and lamb with no problems (and pieces of granola bars, thanks to my soft-hearted husband) - we just stay completely away from poultry. We've never had a dog with a problem with chicken, so this came as a huge surprise, but I've since heard from lots of other people who have dogs that can't tolerate it. Apparently it's a pretty common issue.

 

[kimblebee]

Haha see you are a good doggie mom!

LOL obviously you remember that I'm not a dog person. I don't like the dog or animals in general but I don't want to see him in pain or suffering. I'm the one that makes sure he has food and water and gets outside..

@katie01 our food is Profile. Not sure if that is available where you are..

 

[Julie's Haircut]

I don't have much experience in feeding dogs. I do know that my brother and SIL have fed their dogs whatever they had for dinner that night. Whenever we're over there they give the dog a plate from the table. Turkey dinner, meatloaf, spaghetti, grilled chicken, beef stew, lasagna, etc. Potatoes and vegetables included. They're on their fifth dog in about 30 years. I don't think any dog has lived more than 8 years. Coincidence??

We got a dog in late summer. No human food. The dog begs while we're eating, but we ignore her. OK, OK....once in a while we'll give her a slice of deli ham or roast beef.

 

[low-key]

my dog isnt happy with my cooking, I might need a chef

 

[KBoopaloo]

We have a rescue Shih Tzu (purebred) who had a problem with diarrhea and vomiting when we first brought him home. Turns out that he can't tolerate even the tiniest bit of chicken in any form. We feed him a high quality lamb and rice kibble, and I confess he does get people snacks on occasion. He can eat beef, pork and lamb with no problems (and pieces of granola bars, thanks to my soft-hearted husband) - we just stay completely away from poultry. We've never had a dog with a problem with chicken, so this came as a huge surprise, but I've since heard from lots of other people who have dogs that can't tolerate it. Apparently it's a pretty common issue.

My dog had the same issue with chicken. She was a rescue and we fed her Blue Buffalo chicken and brown rice from the day we brought her home. She was mostly fine but her poops were always a little soft. But every 4-6 weeks she'd have an episode with diarrhea and sometimes vomiting. It was almost always in the middle of the night and I'd be standing outside with her at 2:00 am wondering what the heck the problem was. She'd get back to normal on a diet of boiled ground beef and rice and things would be fine for a while until another episode. She had a particularly bad episode one night after she had also been given some table scraps of leftover roasted chicken. I did some research and swapped her to a salmon and rice kibble (Kirkland brand) and it totally changed everything. The vomiting/diarrhea episodes stopped and her poops got much more solid overall.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I just got through reading through your thread from two weeks ago. Not too many posts make me teary, but that one did. Your dog sounded so sick, and really needed better veterinary care than she was getting, IMO. (Sorry!)

http://www.disboards.com/threads/ha...meds-long-and-some-tmi.3469273/#post-54862444

I agree with yoopermom in that thread, I think she got an awful lot of vaccinations and anti-parasitic medications all at once. I disagree that her symptoms weren't from them, necessarily. She could've had a little dehydration and acute renal failure from getting so many things at once, heck she's only 13 lbs! (And probably less now.) I have a Cairn Terrier who is only 18 lbs. We give him the heartworm pills AND the flea/tick pills (since he already tested positive for Lyme Disease on liquid), but our vet instructed us to spread them apart - we give one on the first of the month, and one on the 15th of the month. Flea and tick and heartworm meds are very powerful, and she got them both at once. (And yes, as a 30 yr RN I am expert at giving meds, monitoring reactions, assessing for problems, treating sequelea, etc.)

I also agree with the last poster in that thread about the possibility of Addison's disease.

There are a lot of possibilities, actually. Your dog is SICK! I mean, vomiting once in a while is relatively normal for a dog. What you've described is not. And bloody diarrhea is a HUGE concern!

I honestly think it's time for a second opinion from a different veterinarian.

And I did read a little given the last few posts about Shih Tzu's vomiting, and yes, there does seem to be a breed component to their vomiting. Maybe check with a good Shih Tzu breeder about it. But I think from what you described before, there is more to it than a food issue. I could be wrong, but I would leave no stone unturned to find out for sure.

 

[Tigerlulu]

Oh my goodness! I have that same mix dog and her sensitive stomach drives me nuts! She pukes all the time. If we never give her any kitchen food and stick to only regular dog food and normal occasional dog treats she's fine. But then she will go outside and eat whatever crap and comes in and pukes despite our best effort. She puked today in my van on the way to my moms house. No idea what she got into this time. I suspect it's because my son gave her a bite of cheese yesterday. Our house rule is if you feed it to the dog and she pukes, you clean it up.

I have given her pumpkin before when she was younger and the problem was worse. She's 7 years old now and it's gotten way better, but has never gone away totally. She just has an extra sensitive stomach that can't handle change. Some stuff she's ok with but we make a point to never feed her kitchen food. She doesn't even beg because we've never "rewarded" it.

Good luck!

 

[katie01]

My dog had the same issue with chicken. She was a rescue and we fed her Blue Buffalo chicken and brown rice from the day we brought her home. She was mostly fine but her poops were always a little soft. But every 4-6 weeks she'd have an episode with diarrhea and sometimes vomiting. It was almost always in the middle of the night and I'd be standing outside with her at 2:00 am wondering what the heck the problem was. She'd get back to normal on a diet of boiled ground beef and rice and things would be fine for a while until another episode. She had a particularly bad episode one night after she had also been given some table scraps of leftover roasted chicken. I did some research and swapped her to a salmon and rice kibble (Kirkland brand) and it totally changed everything. The vomiting/diarrhea episodes stopped and her poops got much more solid overall.

The above sounds EXACTLY like our dog. Totally fine, completely normal, the picture of a happy healthy dog for six weeks or so, then "bam!" she pukes at night then empties out her colon all night long. Gets treated with whatever the vet gives her or recommends, bounces back just fine, until the next time.

The episode Pea and Me linked from my thread a couple of weeks ago was different, much worse than the other times. That time I was truly scared she might die. She wasn't willing to eat or drink for a couple of days and we had to do a mixture of fluid at the vet's, and my spoon feeding her ice chips or syringing fluid. I feel like in that case it could have been a combo of her sensitivity plus all the stuff she was bombarded with from the vet visit.

As of this evening, she is acting totally normal again. She was barking at her food bowl at 2:00 pm, when I started the rice and pumpkin. She's had three small servings since then with no problems, and has been eating ice chips like a champ. She's acting playful and alert. Not at all like what happened to her a couple of weeks ago.

The below post also gives me hope, I am hearing this from all the shih tzu and shih tzu mix owners, that these dogs are prone to GI upsets. Thanks for posting, it's good to know someone else having a dog with these issues and living to tell. I will keep working with my vet and doing whatever testing we need to do though if she continues to get sick even after strictly limiting her diet to only kibble. After hearing so many dogs who had a problem with chicken, I'm also considering trying her brand of dog food but in the lamb and rice variety instead of chicken and rice.

Oh my goodness! I have that same mix dog and her sensitive stomach drives me nuts! She pukes all the time. If we never give her any kitchen food and stick to only regular dog food and normal occasional dog treats she's fine. But then she will go outside and eat whatever crap and comes in and pukes despite our best effort. She puked today in my van on the way to my moms house. No idea what she got into this time. I suspect it's because my son gave her a bite of cheese yesterday. Our house rule is if you feed it to the dog and she pukes, you clean it up.

I have given her pumpkin before when she was younger and the problem was worse. She's 7 years old now and it's gotten way better, but has never gone away totally. She just has an extra sensitive stomach that can't handle change. Some stuff she's ok with but we make a point to never feed her kitchen food. She doesn't even beg because we've never "rewarded" it.

Good luck!

 

[Dentam]

Something I forgot to mention is that my vet prescribed Tylan powder for my dog when she was younger and having all of the tummy issues. She still has a pretty sensitive stomach so the powder comes in handy if I ever change her to a new food (which I try not to do now that I've found one that works called Orijen) and I always try to bring it with me on trips we take in case she gets diarrhea. It is very inexpensive and lasts a long time since you only use a very small amount sprinkled in their food once per day. It's been a lifesaver for me on a number of occasions.

Also, someone mentioned Blue Buffalo food and their dog having issues with vomiting. I've heard this before associated with that brand. Dogfoodadvisor.com has a great rating system for dog foods and can help you find one that is healthiest for your dog.

Good luck!

 

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

Hi Katie01 - I wrote earlier about my dog's issue with chicken. For what it's worth, we now feed him Merrick's Lamb and Sweet Potato kibble.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I posted here a couple of weeks ago about our shih tzu/bichon mix being terribly ill with some sort of GI distress. We don't know what caused it, and here she is two weeks later going through the same thing. I didn't sleep at all last night until 9:00 am because she was vomiting and having diarrhea the entire night, my husband took over at 9 am so I could finally sleep, and she still kept vomiting until about noon.

This is about the fifth time she has gone through this in her 16 months of life, the vet is never sure either what causes it. That's a lot of sleepless nights and missed work time for the days I've had to take off and stay home with her, I really need to figure out how to prevent future episodes for her sake and ours. There is so much conflicting info out there about the best types of dog foods, that I could probably spend years trying to find the right one for her and doing elimination diets, and so forth. Then again, maybe it isn't the food at all, who knows.

I am not crazy about the idea of raw food what with the risk of salmonella and having that mess in my kitchen around my kids, but I wondered if anyone successfully just feeds their dog home cooked food such as chicken, rice, veggies, fish, and/or beef. If so, do you mix it with kibble, or not? And how do you know if they are getting a balanced diet?

I am just throwing this out here because it may be noteworthy to you. You never know.

One of my dogs had episodes of vomiting/diarrhea for yrs. We kept changing food as well.

We finally figured out the cause. She was eating out of the bathroom trashcans.

We already had step lids for most of the bathroom trashcans because she is a dumpster diver however nothing for the laundry room and the kids had trashcans in their rooms and were not so diligent with paying attention.

We thought we were doing fine with that.

Turns out she has a propensity for QTIPS and she would try and get at them. She is a border collie mix & smart.

Now we are extremely careful and no more major "episodes". If she does get ill feeling and wants to go out we have to make sure she does not chow down on grass.

We feed our dogs Orijen Senior.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I was wondering how she's doing?

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

I feel your pain! I'm so sorry you're dealin with this. My dog has serious allergy issues. I went through vet visit after vet visit and rounds of IV fluids because she was getting dehydrated.

It turns out she's allergic to poultry among other things. Then she suddenly started having the same problems. Turns out that dogs with allergies can become allergic to proteins as time goes on!!!

I've never really understood the not wanting to feed dogs "human food" thing. Granted kibble and canned food tend to have correct amounts of vitamins but also have all sorts of low grade crap.

We found and love a mix from "honest kitchen" it's made in a human food facility with human grade food. It's complete doggie nutrition. You just add water or water and protein. It's a really easy way to feed real food with proper nutrition.

 

[Kellykins1218]

They're on their fifth dog in about 30 years. I don't think any dog has lived more than 8 years. Coincidence?

Yeah, it probably is a coincidence. Our dogs always eat what we eat. Our dogs have lived well into double digits including our shih tzu who was almost 18 when she died.