<p>Another rimadyl vote. Our older dog (now deceased) responded very well to rimadyl with no obvious side effects. It definitely seemed to make him more comfortable in his “golden years.”</p>
<p>odyssey, if you are making chicken and rice for your dog, you might want to get on the B.A.R.F. web site and look at their recommendations - dogs need veggies too, and they also advocate for no carbs (grains). Raw chicken necks with the skins pulled off (you can get no-antibiotic free-range for 99 cents a pound at Whole Foods) are better for them than cooked chicken - more bio-available and have those soft little bones for natural calcium.</p>
<p>Most brands of kibble have preservatives and rendered meat. If your dog has ever had pancreatitis, you have to be very very careful. One of my dogs got a pork hot dog years ago, and almost died from pancreatitis. She does perfectly on the raw diet. Check it out, it’s really very little trouble - I spend only about 20 minutes per week preparing the chicken necks (pulling off skins and freezing) and making the ‘morning mixture’ (mostly veggies).</p>
<p>I decidedly don’t want to get into anything here, but, especially if you have an old or ill dog, DO talk to your vet before starting the BARF (Bones And Raw Food) diet. I thought about it (and researched it) for our young dog, and our vet, who stays very current, told me she has serious doubts about it because of US processing standards. I’m not tryign to change anyone’s opinion who’s already committed–and our dog DOES get thick-walled raw bones frequently, but if you aren’t already well-read about it, please be aware that any web-sites you may read about it are going to be very biased in one direction or the other.</p>
<p>I just want all dogs to be healthy and happy. I think the vet who knows YOUR dog should have a lot of input on the matter.</p>
<p>ctymomteacher, most vets do not study nutrition (I think most take one course in vet school), and many are naturally somewhat biased because they sell various specialized brands of dog food (e.g., mutton, lamb, rabbit canned food, or various kibble formulas). Science Diet, for example, talks a good game on formula balances, but the quality of the ingredients is not much better than the commercial brands in grocery stores. (IMO, the first question is - does the food use rendered products or not? If so, pass it by).</p>
<p>The BARF diet (and I am not a fanatic on that version of the raw diet, it’s just a convenient reference point as it is well known) attempts to mimic, as closely as possible, a ‘natural’ diet. If you research the ingredients in almost all prepared dog food (kibble), you will be amazed at the c**p they put into the formulas. For example, protein content -protein from chicken feet and rendered beaks is not equal to the quality of protein from muscle meat. They get away with it because few people look into what is </p>
<p>An example of an equivalent approach to human nutrition would be nursing your baby for one year (now even recommended by the AMA), e.g., give them the food they’ve evolved to require.</p>
<p>As I said, Yulsie, I didn’t want to get into anything, I just want people to find things out for themselves. We don’t feed our dog junk, and we don’t buy food from our vet. In fact, I made all our older dog’s food when he became ill. I’ve already shared that recipe with one person who PM’ed me for it. I understand what you’re saying. But there is a lot of bias out there on the web, even fanaticism about the BARF diet, and people need to know that going in. </p>
<p>That’s all I have to contribute on the subject.</p>
<p>I give my dog Merrick wet and dry food- treats made by the Monks of New Skete and chews with chondrotin by Breeders choice.
I have made up stuff for her when she has an upset stomach- not an unusual occurance for a lab who has been known to get into the garbage and eat a whole chicken carcass bones and all- usually I just make rice cooked in chicken broth with some plain yogurt.
But I couldn’t even keep up making baby food for my kids- I am realistically just not going to cook for my dog ;)</p>
<p>Emeraldkity4- I don’t use the merrick dry food but our older lab who has never been a big eater loves her food now with just a few spoons of wet food on the top. I am amazed at how good some of Merricks can foods look. Have you tried the wingading flavor? My D worked in a pet store for 2 years and she learned alot about pet food. I was amazed at how many different foods and how they are marketed.
With our lab we thought she had hip problems and tried all the medications but they didn’t seem to help. Eventually the vet felt it was nerve damage. We give her aspirin and chondrotin. We also give her chicken strip treats that have chondrotin. I think they are called happy hips.
The hardest thing for us is that she loves the beach and swimming in the ocean. Between the hips and the ears we can’t take her anymore.
Any good ideas out their for labs who seem to always have bad ears?</p>
<p>Re: labs w/bad ears - I haven’t tried this personally, but a lot of folks on the justlabradors.com forum swear by it: <a href=“http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/ears.html[/url]”>http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/ears.html</a> It is a ear solution to be used on an infection. Since it is purple, be sure to wear old clothes and apply it outdoors in case your dog is a head shaker. It can go flying. The woodhaven site has a lot of interesting information about the breed. (I am in no way affiliated with this kennel, but have received excellent advice from the owner on other labrador related issues. I trust her implicitly, but of course, you’ll have to use your own discretion when getting advice from an internet forum. :))</p>
<p>We had a golden retriever who recently passed away at age 15. He had fairly severe arthritis for sometime and we gave him an over the counter (human) medication called FlexAbles. I believe the active ingredient was glucosamine. This product was very, very effective and much much cheaper than any prescription from the vet. A pharmacist friend clued me in to this. Never saw any negative side effects from it and it seemed to benefit him tremendously.</p>
<p>Ear formula works great! You will probably need to ask pharmacist to order the Gentian Violet. I have used it on my lab for over 2 yrs. Once his ears cleared up, I clean them with the formula every now and then. No more infections. I fill a syringe (don’t forget to shake the bottle), then go outside and squirt it in his ears, and wipe with a cotton ball. I’m still on the same bottle, and I think it cost less than $10. Google Blue Powder Ear Stuff for more info.</p>