My Dad's Dog is sick. Any advice?

[bumhouse]

My dad has a six year old chiuahua mix. He feeds it Pedigree in a can for like ever. Since I got Colt, I have been encouraging him to switch (not for the first time, but I'm like beggin him now!!). I gave him some Canidae today and told him to start adding it a little at a time to his yuck food.

Anyway, today (we haven't started the switch yet), he has diarrhia (sp?). You know what I mean even if I can't spell it!! On Mon., he was under anethesia to have his teeth cleaned and a warty thing removed from his back - of course, his teeth are horrible from feeding him the yucky canned stuff!! Could the loose stools be from the anesthesia? I told him to lay off the Pedigree and give him about a tablespoon of pumpkin. I also got him some rice and hamburger. Does this sound OK? Any tips for making the switch because my Dad says he's going to refuse to eat even with his yucky food mixed in. I told him to just hang in there, the dog will eventually eat.

 

[~Jessie~]

Anesthesia can cause diarrhea... it is very common after surgery.

Also, some dogs find the higher quality foods to be less palatable than the crap foods. I would take 14 days to switch from Pedigree to Canidae, since Canidae is leaps and bounds better than Pedigree.

I hope the little guy feels better soon.

Also, I would encourage your dad to start brushing his dog's teeth. Little dogs are notorious for their teeth problems, and it is scary to put them under anesthesia for dentals. The higher quality food will help a ton with his teeth as well, since it isn't full of sugars and starches like the Pedigree.

 

[bumhouse]

Thanks, Jessie. That makes me feel better. I'll take your advice.

 

[showpug]

I agree with what Jessie said.

If your Dad's dog doesn't like the dry Canidae, then why not let his dog eat the canned Canidae? Canned food is actually very good for dogs and easier on their kidneys. It will still help his teeth because as Jessie said, it doesn't have the poor ingredients.

I wish I could afford to feed canned only, but with 5 dogs I just can't. It would not be expensive to feed canned Canidae to one chi though!

 

[bumhouse]

Great advice Showpug. I'll keep that in mind.

 

[bumhouse]

Paco is doing fine now. A couple of days on pumpkin and some rice did the trick. We have begun the switch to Canidae. So far, he has been accepting it by hand feeding. Seems to like it OK. My dad was supposed to mix some into his Pedigree this morning but I haven't spoken to him yet to see how it went. Wish us luck......