My Cairn Terrier is very overweight so we started only feeding him a cup of food a day (split into two portions - one in the morning & one at dinner time- recommended by the vet) and taking him for lots of walks and runs. We recently took him to the vet and he told us to continue to walk him & keep his activity level up (he likes to just lay around a lot). There is another problem though, he vomits a lot... Could all of this be a sign of a thyroid problem? Vet said to take him back in 3 months and if he hasn't lost any weight then that may be the case..but I wanted to get other opinions. I'd say he vomits atleast every other day..sometimes it's his food & other times it's just grass. I am very worried & concerned because our last Cairn fell victim to cancer, so of course all these bad things have been running through my mind.. :\ Should I just wait it out and see if we can get him to lose the weight?
Thyroid problem?
- Thread starter BabyBoo
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I'm surprised that a vet wouldn't be more aggressive about finding the cause of constant vomiting. It's hard to find a fat Terrier; they're an extremely active breed.
What kind of food are you feeding him? You might seriously want to consider a home cooked diet, BARF diet, or something of that type. It's definitely something to look into, especially since there are so many chemicals and harmful hormones in so much of the manufactured dog food. There are good, high quality organic kibbles made with human grade ingredients, too, which are very much worth looking into. That DOESN'T include the Science DIEt and Eukenuba/Iams products sold in most veterinary offices.
What kind of food are you feeding him? You might seriously want to consider a home cooked diet, BARF diet, or something of that type. It's definitely something to look into, especially since there are so many chemicals and harmful hormones in so much of the manufactured dog food. There are good, high quality organic kibbles made with human grade ingredients, too, which are very much worth looking into. That DOESN'T include the Science DIEt and Eukenuba/Iams products sold in most veterinary offices.
Just a question, but is he vomitting up anything, or is it just bile? Nutro has a high level of copper (I don't remember the exact amount). When I got Duke, his owner gave me the rest of his food, which was Nutro. I continued feeding it for a couple days, but as soon as he vomitted bile, it was off to the store to get some California Natural. Since then he has only vomitted when he decides to forego eating his dinner.
As for the thyroid issue, Duke is hypothyroid, and he's finally on the right dosage of meds. He doesn't have weight problems, but he does have thin hair in his croup area, and a thick patch of fur on his hind leg. But, the vet did say to watch his weight as his thyroid levels get back to normal, so I think you should get a thyroid panel done just in case.
As for the thyroid issue, Duke is hypothyroid, and he's finally on the right dosage of meds. He doesn't have weight problems, but he does have thin hair in his croup area, and a thick patch of fur on his hind leg. But, the vet did say to watch his weight as his thyroid levels get back to normal, so I think you should get a thyroid panel done just in case.
And throw that Nutro away!
By the way, Serena posted a link to a recipe for something called "Satin Balls" on another thread today. You might really want to check it out. It's mainly to help underweight dogs, but it would be very easy to modify to lower the caloric levels while maintaining the high nutrition. You could eliminate quite a lot of calories by using very lean ground beef instead of the cheap, high fat kind. With a dog the size of a Cairn, it's not going to take a lot of ground beef, and you could also mix it with some ground turkey.
Just be sure to freeze any raw meat well for at least 24-48 hours before feeding it to your dog. (Check out the "Important Read" thread in this forum, too.)
By the way, Serena posted a link to a recipe for something called "Satin Balls" on another thread today. You might really want to check it out. It's mainly to help underweight dogs, but it would be very easy to modify to lower the caloric levels while maintaining the high nutrition. You could eliminate quite a lot of calories by using very lean ground beef instead of the cheap, high fat kind. With a dog the size of a Cairn, it's not going to take a lot of ground beef, and you could also mix it with some ground turkey.
Just be sure to freeze any raw meat well for at least 24-48 hours before feeding it to your dog. (Check out the "Important Read" thread in this forum, too.)
Sometimes it's food or grass, other times its bile.
Do you recommend Calfornia Natural?
I'd really like to try the BARF diet for both of my dogs but I don't exactly have a lot of time on my hands & it seems to be somewhat overwhelming/time consuming. I want to do what's best for them, though. I definately need all the help I can get......
Do you recommend Calfornia Natural?
I'd really like to try the BARF diet for both of my dogs but I don't exactly have a lot of time on my hands & it seems to be somewhat overwhelming/time consuming. I want to do what's best for them, though. I definately need all the help I can get......
Any of the Natura brands (California Natural, Innova, Karma, and I think there may be one more, www.naturapet.com) are good. My dogs get Innova for several breed specific reasons.
If you're really interested in the BARF diet, but don't have the time to devote to it, there is a product called Sojourn that is mixed with raw meat. A couple who raise Champion Dalmations (one of her dogs is featured on the AKC Visa card) told me about it. www.sojos.com is the website. They just came out with a no-grain formula as well as their original formula.
If you're really interested in the BARF diet, but don't have the time to devote to it, there is a product called Sojourn that is mixed with raw meat. A couple who raise Champion Dalmations (one of her dogs is featured on the AKC Visa card) told me about it. www.sojos.com is the website. They just came out with a no-grain formula as well as their original formula.
Going back and re-reading my post, I realize I didn't even mention what I had intended to. I meant to say that high levels of copper can lead to copper toxicosis. (More common in some breeds than others, but I don't know which breeds they are off the top of my head, other than the Doberman.) So that's why I asked if he was vomitting bile. That would be a sign of copper toxicosis, but since he's vomitting food and grass also, I don't think that's the case.
As for California Natural, I think it's a great food. His coat is much darker now, and he just looks so much healthier. Like Renee said, all of the Natura products are good foods to feed. But if you are interested in the BARF diet, I'd check out the site Renee posted above. It is ultimately your decision as to what to feed your dog, but I hope that helps you decide.
As for California Natural, I think it's a great food. His coat is much darker now, and he just looks so much healthier. Like Renee said, all of the Natura products are good foods to feed. But if you are interested in the BARF diet, I'd check out the site Renee posted above. It is ultimately your decision as to what to feed your dog, but I hope that helps you decide.
Update: Just lettin ya all know that Boo has lost 3 lbs. in 3 weeks since I started splitting his food up and exercising him more. I'm very happy that I'm seeing results...there also hasn't been any vomitting since my first post so I'm happy about that too- but I'm still going to change his food after some more research. No more Nutro for my baby. 