Don't Feed Your Dog

Thank You...my "old" girls thank you too....I give mine little bits of bacon now and then--so that is what actually caused it, huh?

Thanks for the heads up. Who knew? Hope your girl is better soon.

Thank You...my "old" girls thank you too....I give mine little bits of bacon now and then--so that is what actually caused it, huh?

The ER vet believes it was the fat content. Even though I grill mine on an open grill so everything drains off and then drain it again on paper towels. He said pork is a big no no as they grow older. My older dog Sarge(by 1 yr) had no trouble. He said no people food.......period. They aren't gonna be happy. They get reg doggie food and only get the people stuff as a treat, but not after last night.

The blood workup showed one pancreatic enzyme to be elevate, but not both. He said the second is usually up if they get to the point of throwing up which she didn't.

So sorry to hear about your frightening experience .....
We have a 13 year old at home and she is sending lots of love for a speedy recovery ....
Thanks for sharing the info with all of us so we don't find ourselves in the same boat!
By the way, was that the dog in your avatar that we saw walking down to the GulfView Heights beach access?

Giving dogs people food creates LOTS of business for vets. While I love vets and want them to do well, y'all can save yourselves money (and your dogs' health) by only feeding them their dog food. If you have to give them treats, get low cal/fat dog cookies, or buy a small bag of another brand of kibbles and use that for treats. Your dog only cares that the treat came from your hand, not what's in your hand.

Dogs don't "need" the people food, no matter how they try to show you that "need" with their eyes. People food has too much fat, sodium, and other things that dogs just don't need outside of what they get in their food. Even a few little bits off your plate every day adds up to stomach problems and weight gain. And you never know when the food that you always "slipped" to your dog will cause a problem, so just because a dog has tolerated certain people foods before does not mean that will always be the case.

ALeonard- even though you had a middle of the night ER run- it could have been worse. Driving a dog to the vet who is shooting bloody diarrhea all over the car is the pits. Hope you both feel better today!

I'm so sorry this happened. I hope your pet recovers fully and quickly. That's really scary!

So sorry. Hope they are feeling better. There was a thread a while back with good info on what not to feed your dog. I knew about ham and bacon, but it was things like grapes that surprised me.

What a difference of how things have changed. When I first got married in 1976 I had an English Springer Spaniel that was a show and hunting dog. The vet told me to give him a small dose of bacon grease mixed in with his regular food. It was supposed to make his coat shine and was good for his hair.

Thanks for the warning, as pooped (?!) as you must be!
Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

Not only is people food bad for dogs, it encourages begging, their presence under the table at meals, and other bad behavior.

The differences in behavior between family dogs who get and don't get people food is amazing (though a good part of that is general training level).

Party guests are amazed to see our dog step over a plate of food (including meat) to get to a person who would pet him, while my aunt's horselike goldens will steal your napkin off your lap during dinner (preferable to getting cracking in the knee by their head) and ate the bow off one of my little patent leather shoes during a Thanksgiving dinner!

BACON

I grilled a little bacon last night to crumble up on my salads this week. Sarge and shyann are looking at me and begging, so I let them both have 2 small thin, well drained slices. 12 hours, no sleep, a trip to the emergency vet and $331.00 later, I'm back. She had a pancreatitis attack. She started having trouble breathing, freaked me out and I am not even going to go into dodging the deer on the back roads at 4 this morning to get her to Niceville.

They shot her up full of pain meds, antibiotics and an anti-nausea meds. I am waiting for my Vet to open so they can take it from there, which will probably entail a few day hooked up to an I.V. because she can't eat anything now.

I spilled coffee all over me me on the way back home and the day is just starting. So everyone have a great day and if your dog is older and has tolerated a small treat in the past, beware, this could happen to you.

Hope everything will be okay...poor puppydog!!!

Awwwww...Poor Pooch!! Hope a speedy recovery is underway

OH no! I hope doggy (and you) will be feeling better, pronto! I have done the late-night emergency vet routine and it is NOT FUN! Poor thing!

A-L I had a german shep. years ago that got pancreatitis. He couldn't eat anything without getting sick. The vet put him on a diet of rice and cooked beef liver. My house stunk so bad from cooking the liver all the time, but after a few weeks we slowly started mixing in his dog food. He recovered but it was a horrible few weeks. Hope your doggie is better soon! And hope your day is better than your night.

Thanks everyone. She is at the vets office resting comfortably with a doggie I.V. and giving the techs the eye for waking her up when I called to check a few minutes ago.The tech actually told me Shyann opened her eyes and looked at her like, "Woman, can't you see I'm resting. I had a tough night, now leave me alone."

As one of the posters said, I have also been told by multiple vets that a little grease or oil on their dry food is good for their coats and overall health. I don't feed them scraps, they both get a small can at night and always have some dry kibble in their bowls, but I will admit they may get a bite of a particular protein I might be eating. The vet this morning told me that when dogs were real pack animals they ate meat, but it was wild game and had very little fat content overall. Just as we find we cannot tolerate some foods as we grow older, dogs seem to do this as well.

Right now I'm concerned about her big brother who is wandering around trying to figure out why I left with her (which he hated,because I had to break out the leash and he started jumping around like we were all going somewhere) and did not return with his little sis. The cat on the other hand doesn't seem concerned........

I got everything in for us to go to press this afternoon and am going to take a nap before I crash totally. Thanks again and Jdarg, if it had been that bad, I think I would have just lost my mind............

My husband is the Morsel Man.....on the farm.....all the dogs gather at the back door after supper...waiting on scraps. My husband stands there with a bowl and a fork and feeds about 7 to 8 dogs. He calls them by name and the others have learned to be patient and their turn will come when their name is called. It's really cute and I will see if I can find a pic of this and post it.

But, now after hearing about pancreatitus (sp) it scares me. Will have to have a talk with Morsel Man. It's gonna be tough...on a farm..nothing goes to waste.

Mr. Baxter (pictured) wishes Shyann a speedy recovery!

Morsel Man

For a shiny coat, skip the bacon grease and go for Omega 3 fatty acid caps- just squirt them on the food. (they stink, which makes dogs love them). These also work wonders for itchy flaky skin.

Your vets should carry them in containers with dog doses, or you can buy them at a health food store and ask your vet the right dosing.

Rx Science Diet makes a good bland food made mostly of rice that most dogs like, and I always keep a few cans on hand in case we have an emergency. If you go your own route with cooking rice, don't dump a can of chicken broth over it- make sure you have low sodium low fat broth, and use just enough to make the rice smell appealing!

My baby (my TAR) almost died about 1 year ago from pancreatitis. My husband gave him a piece of fatty steak and the next morning Reagan was projectile vomiting, etc etc. It was extremely frightening. He spent about 3 days at the vet getting antibiotics, etc. Needless to say he no longer gets people food of any type. I hate it b/c he loved veggies and fruits and he cries everytime I eat a grape or apple. But our vet said nothing but dog food and certain treats that of course we can only get at the vet and they are about $4/bag which lasts barely a week!!

Anyway, hope your baby is better soon!!!

AL sound like your baby is already doing well. Hope everything goes well.

This sounds so scary! I'm so glad this turned out OK for you and your dog. Thank you for thinking of everyone elses' animals too.

So happy Shyann is going to be OK...

I am going to talk to our vet about the fatty oils capsule. Fuzz gives Daisy the Lab a healthy dose of olive oil on her kibble every day. Her coat stays shiny and she doesn't itch too much, but after hearing about this, I wonder.

Another thing not to give your dog - Rope Toys! My daughter's 3 year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel chewed a rope toy and swallowed the rope which became intertwined in her intestine. We almost waited too late to take her to the vet not having a clue that she swallowed the rope. Anyway after surgery and a $5,000 vet bill she made it. I have since read online that this happens frequently. I don't know why they even sell them.