Puppy food

[Nepsa]

We will be following the vet's orders on her specialized diet so her body can heal from the parvo.

 

She's only 5 months old and very THIN from being sick and throwing up/diarrhea. She's on the mend...but is still fragile.

 

I need some ideas what puppy food to give her that's high in fat and will help her gain weight and isn't "China based" brand. I thought about Solid Gold..but she needs something in high fat and in lamb/rice. I suspect she has very sensitive stomach like Aspen did. Aspen did well on lamb and rice nutromax and she went on fish/potato with Solid Gold and did well on that. But Asker seems MORE sensitive than Aspen so I need to get the right puppy food to ensure she gains weight and isn't hard on her digestion system.

 

I'm considering Wellness, Solid Gold, Merrick, etc. But it has to be puppy food high in fat. Also she didn't do well on "Taste of the Wild" so that one is out.

 

Vet told us to start her with Iams....puppy food. I'm not too sure about that. I rather she has better quality food that isn't made with byproducts and has beets/corn in it, etc but is high in fat.

 

We already have another pup who is very heavy boned and very CHUCKY..she doesn't need to gain the weight. She is doing well on the "Taste of the Wild". It looks like we need to buy 2 type of food; one in high fat for Asker and Taste of the Wild for Nepsa and our other dog who is also doing fine on it. It's harder to juggle the dog food on all the dogs with all their varied needs which was why I picked "Taste of the Wild". It's a no go with Asker and Kira who both don't do well on it but other two do great on it.

 

Asker has a long way to gain back the weight and to heal. Will post pictures when we get her home today from the vet hospital. I can't wait to see her today!!

[SincereArtisan]

You need to take it easy on her digestive tract while she is recovering from parvo. Bland foods are going to be best for her to start on. Hill's prescription i/d canned or dry food would be good, or you can try the Iam's veterinary formula Low Residue. Small frequent meals is the key...so, lets say 1/2 cup 4 times a day. Once she is stable on that food, you can gradually switch her to a good puppy food. You don't need to worry about getting her fat quick, that will do much more harm than good, but just taking it easy on her digestive tract will help her recovery. Take it slow. She'll get to where she needs to be, but it might take a couple weeks.

 

Wellness is a good food. I have two of my dogs on the fish/potato diet for allergy reasons and they love it. I have tried taste of the wild but I do not recommend it for cats--my cat's poop smelled like an animal had DIED. Natural Balance makes some really good foods too.

[bsms99]

Have you considered just adding the extra fat? We sometimes add a bit of corn oil to our horses food, or some grease to our dogs. Maybe olive oil? Fish oil?

 

I've never had a sensitive dog stomach to worry about, so I don't know if it would work.

[SincereArtisan]

Corn oil and olive oil will give your dog the runs. You want nutrition...not fat.

[Dal & Mad's Mom]

If it was me I would probably just cook up some chicken in the oven or on the forman grill and give it to her more frequently and offer her as much dog food as she can eat all day if you can but, with many dogs that gets complicated. I like the merrick and I've used chicken soup for the puppy lover Made by OMH. I've also used Solid gold Hundchen flocken it was good. For sensetive puppies we have had good sucess with science diet lamb and rice there isnt any corn product in the higher ingredients.

[Alaska]

We will be following the vet's orders on her specialized diet so her body can heal from the parvo.

 

<snip>

 

Vet told us to start her with Iams....puppy food. I'm not too sure about that.

I hear a contradiction in what you're saying above, and I understand why, so here's my suggestion. You should follow vet's orders, but instead of secretly rebelling against the Iams suggestion, maybe you could ask what composition the vet thinks her food should have (e.g. protein/fat percentages, protein source, etc.) and then counter with a "better" food that fits the vet's criteria. You can use The Dog Food Project website to research foods that fit the vets criteria.

 

For healthy dogs, NV Instinct Chicken is a good high-protein, high-fat food, but I agree with posters above that such a rich food may not be what your puppy needs just yet. Again, I would let the vet take the lead on suggesting nutritional needs, but offer your own brand choice to meet those needs.

 

I have to say that I absolutely could not open your original thread because I couldn't bear to learn what it might say, but once it got up to 5 pages my curiosity finally got the best of me. I'm so glad I waited long enough that the news had turned from bad to (cautiously) good! Parvo is a horrible disease - what a relief that you got her to the vet in time.