Between the two of us I am 100% certain that I am giving her the correct diet for her. Especially when I think of that less than 500g three-week-old who had to be bottle fed and then weaned to a nearly-but-not-quite six kilos at six-months-old who does not have an ounce of fat on her but who is as solid as a rock. With Pereg, Ram was very much against me giving her anything with bones. "They will stick in her GI tract" or " they will be chewed but impact in her guts:. Yeah, sure, but they never did, did they. Tikva is also on raw and even though Michal, her primary vet is, herself, vegan, she accepts that Tikki is on raw but is now trying to lecture me about all the bad bacteria and stuff if raw poultry [lamb is out of the question unless I will the lottery, which I do not do and beef is almost as bad] is given to Tikva. Tikva has three meals a day, with maybe two or three very small biscuits when I want her to get back in her crate for something. Either at night or if I want to go across to the macolet. Crate door open - Tikki hops in - is given a tiny biscuit and the door is closed and that is that. Meal #1 is around 10am and is either a small chicken neck or a small chicken wing, both of which I buy fresh, pack individually and freeze, and she has whichever it is frozen. Crunch crunch crunch. Meal #2 is around 3pm and is raw meat [usually poultry] which I had frozen but defrosted for that meal, plus vegetables and all the extra vitamins and minerals I now give her. Meal #3 is around 8pm and is, to be honest, baby/toddler food. Mixed so it is like a very thick porridge but containing various vegetables and sometimes meat. Think of things like Plum Organics, which I mix powdered multi-grain food. It is not heavy on her little stomach, there are a lot of different types, and she is very happy with whatever goes in her bowl. I usually add some cottage cheese or, as I did this evening, a raw egg - bulk but not heavy. She is thriving - there is no way she would have put on so much weight otherwise but it is muscle and bone and not fat, especially as I have not increased her meals for some time now. And I will not increase them now as she does not ask for more. But she is only just six months old and sometimes I wonder if I am feeding her correctly. Because with LO, who was on kibble all her life, starting with puppy kibble and then going on to adult kibble, and then Pereg who I only changed to raw when I learned about it on Dogsey, I keep wondering if Tikki is missing something.
I think you are doing the right thing. Adding red meat will be beneficial to her, rather than only poultry but as money allows of course. I understand how expensive it is. The vet sounds full of it. While they are a great source of medical advise I find not usually a good source of diet information. At least here in the states they recommend and even sell some of the worst kibble.
Malka in the 70's vets were all for feeding raw & were totally against feeding Chappie, but now vets are all for feeding Chappie & were totally against feeding raw. My 6 won't eat raw have tried several times, My 6 love Chappie which my vets are very please about
@Bulldogs4Life - when I say poultry I am talking about turkey gizzards, turkey hearts and turkey liver. Basically they are what I can get easily and afford. Tikva also has ox lung which she loves - also very inexpensive and very nutritious. All this is strictly Kasher and I can, and do, cook and eat whatever she has whereas she has raw. I do get top quality minced beef as and when I can, but I am not worried about whether she has sufficient vitamins and nutrients as I give her supplements, starting off with THIS which she still has with her meal #2 and will probably have until it is finished, and once she was fully weaned I added THIS Both supplements seem to have the correct things for her, and both suit her. So she will have them both until they are finished. I will probably then give her the supplements I gave Pereg - a load stocked up on shortly before she was euthanised and still sealed, although a lot of things were necessitated by both her epilepsy and the medication she had to take for it. My vets really are excellent - they just are not that knowledgeable about raw feeding, however they do not sell dog food or recommend any. What they do keep, though, is some Hills prescription food, and when one of Pereg's blood tests came up with a raised BUN level [creatinine level was perfect] Ram suggested I give her Hills for renal problems. So I bought a few tins, got them home and read the ingredients, and took them all back next time I went! Oh, and her next blood test showed a perfectly normal BUN level. @6JRT's - I do not even know if Chappie is sold here, but Tikki will not eat kibble and the only tinned she has - as a part of her second meat and vegetable meal - she is fine with. I do not give it to her very often but just enough so that she will eat it in an emergency if she has to be kenneled, as somehow I do not think I could ask them to sort out her raw food for her!
A lot of dogs can't eat tin dog food as it goes right through them, Your mini Monster is thriving on the raw food so continue feeding it her xx
Tikva only has tinned food occasionally , and the amount that she would have had instead of the raw meat with her meal #2. And the one she really enjoys is probably the cheapest, but a tin will last for four days when used is instead of her raw meat and is bulked up with mixed vegetables as usual for that meal. Having checked all the ingredients, the cheapest tinned food has the same as the most expensive one, so it is not as if I am feeding it to her all the time. I think I worry too much about her, having had to have my beloved Pereg euthanised on 1 April and then Baby Ziva being "lost" - the last time I saw her on 1 May before I went into hospital - and I am terrified that something might happen to Tikva. Probably why I am feeling so worried about her being spayed on Monday.
Back on the subject of food. Tikva weighed 6 kilos on 23 November when she was spayed - first time she had been to the surgery so first time she had been properly weighed. I have not increased the amount of food I give her for ages - not since she decided she only wanted three meals a day and not four. So she is obviously having enough - heavy for her size but she looks thin. But maybe that is normal for Dachshunds? Her Dam was ginormous and at just over 7 months I cannot see Tikki getting much bigger. I am not sure but I think that the Russian "girlfriend" of the owner of the farm, or whatever it is, imported the Dam when she came over. Then the bitch got out and ended up with eight puppies. Next thing I knew, the puppies had to go "or else" and she boogered off with the bitch. Leaving eight three-week-old puppies, and I have no idea what happened to them but having had to bottle feed Tikva I do not have much hope for the others I can feel her spine but it is not visible - but her ribs are. She has a very wide and deep chest - I have just had to cut a Small mesh harness off her as I wanted to wash it but could not get the thing off over her head, and fought to put a Medium on on - so she has gone from XXS to XS to S and now to M [and a matching colour collar of course - so she cannot be underfed. It is just with a much shorter back than a Daxie and longer legs, although they are definitely Daxie legs - just longer and thinner, that maybe I think I am underfeeding her because I can see her ribs? And she is the most energetic puppy I have ever come across, who walks around on her back legs, jumps up on all four legs and twirls around off the ground. But not knowing anything about Daxies, is it normal that I should be able to see her ribs? She does not ask for more food, her tiny biscuit treats that she has when she goes into her crate are just one at night [when she rushes into her crate and sits and waits for it] - one if I have to go to the macolet [I do not trust her to be left loose] - and one if I need to vacuum or even just sweep as she is evil if I do not keep her away. I know that she is healthy - she has been vet-checked enough times - but I have never had a Daxie or a dog where her ribs can be seen. Felt, yes, but seen? Maybe because she has such a very short velvet coat? Plus having the slightly longer back - and a skinny waist to die for!
@Malka I think Tikva will still have a fairly loose, fine puppy skin, and as you say, a short, sleek hound coat. As her skin thickens, she will get more coverage, also, as she has now been spayed, she will tend to carry a little more fat when she matures. (Has done so for me anyway!) I'm sure Michal would say so if she thought Tikva was too slim, but if you are concerned, you could try feeding a little more fatty meat, like lamb, or dusting on a pinch of suet. The BARF feeders do like to keep their dogs lean, if she doesn't nip in too much behind the last rib, and seems satisfied with her portions, I wouldn't worry about it.
@CaroleC - I would need to win the Lotto in order to buy lamb, if I could find any - and almost as much for beef! Suet is not Kasher therefore not available, but I am giving her coconut oil with her second meal as well as her supplements. Michal said she was fine because she is pure muscle with no fat, which is why she is heavy for her size. And Ram, who saw her for the first time when she went for him to spay her, would not have done so had he not been satisfied with her weight and size. Lexie, my Little One, only weighed at maximum 6 kilos and she was a bit overyweight at that, being mostly at about 5½ kilos, but being a long-coated girl, and such an easy one at that, looked larger than Tikva but felt much lighter when picked up. Pereg, of course, was overweight due to her epilepsy and medication. She was short-coated but her coat was not as short as Tikva who has a coat like velvet but who is difficult to get hold of let alone pick up. Tikki is a right little booger. I am not going to increase her food though as she seems satisfied with what she has, and although she has a shorter back than a Daxie I do not want to risk her being overweight and having possible spinal problems. The only thing that really worries me is that both Dachshunds [standard and miniature] and Minpins have epilepsy in their breeds, and I do not think I could cope with another epileptic dog.
I wouldn't worry about it to be honest. She's an adolescent and as such will still have some changes going on. As she ages, she'll settle to the shape she is meant to be
I think she will stay at the shape she is now and when Michal first saw her she reckoned she would weigh maximum 10 kilos - so 6 kilos when she was spayed at just over 6 months, and not having any increase in food, I doubt she will weigh much more than she does now, let alone get anywhere near 10kg. I just wish she would learn how to behave as she really is diabolical at times. Well, diabolical with me but absolutely wonderful with other people and especially with small children. But - she does not like going out for walks with me on my little scooter but loves being outside by herself on her long tether. Only one problem with that - she goes to the door, asking to go out [not for a pee or a poo, just to be outside] - then runs away when I try to clip the tether [or a leash] on, and oh can that puppy move fast. Once finally caught and clipped on she will stay outside for a couple of hours, rushing around and "talking" to whoever goes past, and because people think she looks cute nobody objects at being barked at!
