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Changing food

Basenji Feeding
  • barklessk9B

    I would highly recommend the fish oil. As I stated before in a previous post, I put Zak on a grain free diet and added fish oil pills daily and a Cosequin DS (glucosamine & chondroitin) capsule sprinkled on his food each day for arthritis and he has not had a problem with arthritis since. There are foods with these supplements included, however, it is my understanding that they are just sprayed on the food. My vet had in the past suggested for my senior dogs at least 1000mg fish oil daily for cognitive health and the arthritis. For Zak and some early kidney disease he is showing she is recommending, and I have also read on line, 100mg fish oil per 10 lbs. of body weight (2500 mg daily). I don't think you're going to find the best level of fish oil supplement in a kibble. Oh, and his coat this year is sooooooooo soft! :)

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  • mustBcrazyM

    Changing food to diet

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    agilebasenjiA
    i should add that, as long as the hips/knees are good or excellent, I don't mind my seniors carrying a few extra pounds. years ago we had a lab who was dysplastic and I was very careful she NEVER carried extra weight. Jet's ideal weight is about 26 and he maybe a few pounds overweight. It's a little more difficult for the seniors to bounce back from any sort of illness and Jet's hips were OFA'd Good, so I don't worry about a little extra. The veggies will add fiber to the dogs' meals and help fill them up. I would not use canned as it tends to be high in sodium. If they don't like the veggies, you may want to try to cook them in a little chicken broth to help the flavor. or you can decide if they aren't hungry enough to eat the veggies, they aren't really hungry. My house is colder in the winter, so I tend to feed the b's 1/3-1/2 a cup 2x a day. And I tend to train more during the nicer days, so Z gets very little at meal time as I have to watch that. (I use lots of treats during training.) But really, I would not switch to a different food just to reduce the weight. For Z I also usually use a puzzle toy for feeding her meals so it lasts longer. For comparison, Zest!'s official measurements (for AKC agility) were 15.88 and 16 inches and I think she looks best at 20 pounds.
  • P

    Dog food

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    kah211glhK
    I was feeding my Basenji brand blue and she started getting crystals in her kidneys. With the recommendation from my pet store owner (Pet Ranch), switched to Nature's Variety Instinct RAW. Withing 2 months…all crystals are gone. Now Basenji, Rotty, and Puppy Mastiff/Pitt all get Nature's Variety. Their coats are very shiney and teeth are so white.
  • H

    Food options???

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    SharlaS
    I agree with Pat regarding the coat. It is very common for reds to be "washed out" when they loose their coat. It unusally returns. But if he is doing well on the food, don't change it. The old saying, don't break what not broken.
  • Capt_Jack_our_BasenjiC

    What Food And How Much??

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    MacPackM
    Topper,12; Nicky 10, ; and Eddie 8 all eat a combination of 3/4 EVO by Innova, and 1/4 regular adult Innova. We free feed, dry kibble is down all the time, but I think I put about 3 cups out a day, some days they eat it all but some days I don't add kibble at all. Mine do get a bit of whatever we have for dinner, mostly veges, they love all veges as long as they are cooked, especially broccoli and sweet potatoes. IT acts as an appetizer, as soon as they finish their plates they run to the kibble bowls to finsih their dinner. We used cheaper grocery store foods for many years but I felt my dogs deseerved a better quality food so tried several premium brands and settled on Innova. Then when they came out with EVO, I slowly added that but when I went 100% EVO, their poops were a bit loose, so we re-added the regular Innova and it seems to suit them perfectly. Eddie's coat was very coarse when we rescued him, he is soft and silky now. Even though it costs about twice as much as the cheaper stuff, I know they are getting good nutrition and their coats glow and their teeth are clean, so it is worth every cent to me. We are what we eat, and if we eat 'animal by products' (hooves, bones, feathers and even sawdust in some) sprayed with flavors and dyed with food colorings, we may be saving money now, but inviting health probelms in the future. Just MHO, but strangers compliment my dogs on their gloss and vigor! Anne in Tampa, off the soapbox
  • bellabasenjiB

    Homemade food…

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    youngandtiredY
    I have now switched from Blue Buffalo food to Merricks wet and dry. The Blue Buffalo was hard to get, I had to buy it out of town. I get Merricks locally, and Sahara absoutely eats it better than all the rest. She is a picky eater and doesn't have a big appetite, but man oh man is she waiting when it is meal time now. She cleans her dish, a new thing for her. I am very happy, I use the dry also with about 1/4 cup of wet mixed in. I add alittle warm water to the dry (it makes it's own gravy) heat the wet alittle and add to the dry. Yes, I know Sahara is spoiled b/c I heat her wet food but what the heck, she is worth it, only takes a few seconds. Merricks is pricey $2 per can but I make it last for about 4-5 meals. Anyways, if you read the can and bag of the dry you will see what I mean, it is very good dog food and the family that has the company has been in business for 3 decades.
  • luzmery928L

    Food decision

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    luzmery928L
    i was so concerned about the recall when it first happened I took for granted checking the labels again.