JAJ2010

Sunshine is on Tylan powder for the rest of her life. It's working and we aren't asking any questions! She's on 3/8 tsp twice a day. It's no longer a med that I can get without a prescription, but while I was discovering that I found Tylan 200 & Tylan 50. I think these are injection meds, but could we use them orally? Similar to the injection Ivermectin (meant for sheep) that we give orally for HW prevention? We have a vet app Aug 1st, but I figured I would try to get my duck in a row and try to guess at the math to see if it was even possible before I marched in there with my crazy question! Anything to save some money....

The premade stuff is definitely super expensive, but may be good to use starting out. We buy their meat at a distributor that supplies all the restaurants (and maybe some grocery stores.) Last trip cost $350 and that should feed all three for 8 months. Buying in large bulk is the key. I also have to take a day off work since the distributor is only open during business hours M-F. Still cheaper than a premium kibble for us. Plus we have had no annual dental costs!

Sounds like you are only giving muscle meat? No bone? We follow the Prey Model diet. 10% bone, 80% muscle meat, 10% organ (5% being liver) You shouldn't even think of adding in organ meat for the first couple months. When you do add it in, go slow! It's very rich. Try to get your meat vs bone portions figured out first. An easy place to start is to give a chicken quarter. It usually has the right balance of bone vs meat. Some dogs need more bone in their diet. You'll have to figure it out as you go along. Bone equals firm poop. Let the poop tell you how the diet is going

Make sure he pees as late as possible and empties! Then at 4am you come out of that bed like a snarly angry bear. Works every time! In fact my current dogs will snarl at visitors who think wake up time occurs when it's dark out. Saves me the trouble! LOL We do not mess around with our sleep in this house! A more civilized approach, that requires more aim and much more civility than I process before the sun comes up, is to use the squirt bottle. And congrats on your new baby! 😀

I know only enough about this to get us all in trouble, but there was a point where I had freaked out and thought Rainy was having kidney issues. Raw green tripe is apparently a balanced kidney diet all by itself. It smells awful and you have to wear gloves to touch it. (you will not be washing that smell off!) If we ever do encounter kidney issues, that's my planned go to. Hope you find something that works! Maybe you can do kidney kibble mixed with the green tripe if the kibble is icky tasting?

I know this is much easier advice to give... But don't focus on the end. Just spoil these seniors every single day. Each sunrise and sunset is a blessing when our pups get this old. You are also lucky! I know plenty of hounds that never made it to 10. Makes me feel guilty to have a 13 yr old sometimes.

Rainy's 13, but she doesn't have any hip dysplasia that we are aware of. She did run a butt ton of races though. Rainy doesn't really go on long walkies anymore. Most of them are under 15 minutes before she starts loudly panting and dragging behind. Every couple weeks I'll take her out by herself for a special mommy walk. She gets to go where ever she wants at whatever speed she wants. Lots of sniffing and slug pace, but it makes her happy. When I'm that old I don't want to go on long walks either! I want to lay in bed and eat ice cream & cookies

We saw immediate change same day with the once a day dose of 300mg. Within a few months we needed 300mg twice a day. Then in a few more months we needed 50mg of tramadol in the middle of the 2 doses of Gabapentin. Right now she gets 8am Meloxicam & 300mg Gabapentin. 5pm 50mg of Tramadol. 9pm 300mg of Gabapentin. Back when I did my research I saw that Gabapentin works really well with an NSAID. There may be something else going on with your girl other than Arthritis and Nerve pain?

When we started the Gabapentin, it was 300mg once a day. We can increase up to 3 times a day if needed, but at that point we may want to look at other options that may work better. 300mg in the morning gave us a brand new instant pup. Rainy is 65lbs

Rainy is on 300mg twice a day. And tramadol in the middle of those 2 doses.

Gabapentin really helped Rainy's legs be less shaky. But if she gets pushed or bumped on tile she'll go down. We just have to be careful. She's 13 now. Her harness really helps us steady her before she goes down. It's the ruff wear one with a handle.

We feed once a day (raw not kibble.) They get a breakfast milk bone and we all go back to bed! Cookies throughout the day ensure the bellies aren't empy

Oh that's right! I saw a study years ago that many of the health benefits from feeding raw were seen even if it was a supplemental amount added to kibble. Always an option

When we lived in an apartment, I would keep a chest freezer in the living room! LOL

You really need at least a chest freezer. Otherwise you are buying food weekly. I can't even be responsible enough to buy myself food weekly! LOL

Totally fine to refreeze. Thaw in the fridge in a pitcher or container, since it will ooze. The prepackaged raw is very cost prohibitive for the large dogs. 3/4 of a lb sounds a bit right. I don't weigh the food. I just look at ribs & hip points. If they have been extra active and are looking skinny, I feed more. If they are looking pudgy, I feed less meat and add in some canned green beans to keep their bellies full. I get my meat from a meat distributer (places restaurants buy from) and buy in bulk. Dogs have their own giant freezer. I try to keep everything I buy well under 50 cents a lb. Turkey neck are usually the only thing that breaks that price point. I invested in a giant grinder that can eat bones for breakfast, only now I feed giant chunks. So much easier than processing, grinding, ad packaging 1000lbs in a day. We follow the Prey Model Diet ETA I missed the 3/4 of a lb twice a day. My pups generally eat that only once a day. You need less volume with the raw food since there is no waste or filler.

We will be there Wednesday to Sunday! Can't wait!

I would imagine you would need to find a low fat raw diet, so not sure you found use the prepared raw. I'm not familiar with pancreatic issues first hand. So I'm not much help.

Maybe adding a good probiotic would help? Along with small frequent meals?

Rainy has a very big issue with cooked chicken. We feed it raw at least 3 times a week. Cooking anything totally changes it! Bookmarking this! Thank you!

I just saw a commercial for this yesterday! 😁

She's so precious!

You can give Tylan 3 times a day? Sunshine is on it twice a day. Great to know we have some increase room if we have more issues!

Thank you so much! I'll reach out to them in 2 months when I need to refill the freezer. ☺️

Thanks! Any little bit cheaper always helps out!