Should I change his food?

[glencorgi]

Yes, Hills will meet the minimum daily nutrient requirements, doesn't mean that a puppy or a dog will do well on it. Some puppies/dogs don't process all that corn as well as others do.

I haven't met a vet or seen a vet yet that doesn't say give medication as prescribed and the reason being for that is there can be medical consequences if one doesn't. Same with over the counter de-wormers, you break their conditions of use if one does not follow the directions.

So if eight out of ten vets do not agree with you, they'll be wrong?

Debbie

[pmavrich]

With Molsen, we were advised by the vets to give him 1-2 tsp of low fat cottage cheese a day to help him with his growing bones. Molsen was from a large litter of 9 pups, so Molsen needed the extra calcium to support his growth. We fed him Iams puppy food, which was what the breeder had fed them.

If you are concerned about worms, a vet visit never hurts .

[MyPemCharlie]

Thanks for all the replies!

I double-checked/confirmed with the breeder that Charlie was wormed, so I really don't think he has worms. However, for anyone concerned, I would never give him a higher dose of any medicines than what a vet would recommend. We'll be going to the vet for puppy shots Oct 1, so we should knock out any doubt or question of worms then.

Yesterday and today I've been reading dog food ingredients online. I like the natural, "human-quality" ingredient foods. Charlie's Science Diet food is down to about 3 cups, so it's a good time to slowly transition him to see if a new food will put some weight on him. (He actually looks pretty beefy/pudgy at 7 lbs., but doesn't seem to be gaining.) I'm going to look at Solid Gold or Canidae.

[Peanut]

I brought Peanut home at 7 weeks with a deworming shot done by the breeder. We brought Peanut to see the vet and she confirmed he has 2 types of internal worms/parasites! The vet said the dosage given by the breeder/type of shot was not enough to wipe out peanuts bugs.

The breeder fed Peanut Diamond dog food which gave him A LOT of gas. We switched and now he's eating Eukanuba puppy kibble and biscuits.

I just weighted Peanut last night, he’s 12 weeks and 11 lbs! Peanut was the largest out of the liter, almost double the size of the smallest runt.

[Michael Romanos]

Peanut - Taylor gets a large Eukanuba biscuit daily.

Hill's greatly exceeds the minimum daily requirements of nutrients. Hills are one of the super premium dog food manufacturers who produce complete and balanced diet for dogs. Here are the ingredients in the regular Hills puppy food: fats 20.4%, proteins 30.2%, carbohydrates 38.5%, crude fibre 3%, calcium 1.41%, phosphorus 1.19% etc.

It is funny but all the vets I have spoken to and specific sales people on the subject of worm tablets that are sold by our vets and at leading pet stores and at dog shows, all say that you can give a dog too little dosage which will affect completely successful treatment, but you can't harm the dog in giving over the prescribed quantity such as 1, 1.5, 2 tablets instead of half. The cost is the only negative factor. The same kind of thing applies to administering tablets out of kilter with the recommended time gap. Must be some real potent worm pills in the USA.

[MyPemCharlie]

Just an update on Charlie. He has gained one pound since I posted, so he is 8 pounds now at 14 weeks. Maybe he is just small, though his parents are "standard" sized?

I tried switching him to Solid Gold puppy, but he kind of turned his nose up and picked around it, so we're still trying to decide on a different food. I also gave him a fenbendazole wormer at 12 1/2 weeks (breeder wormed at 10 1/2 weeks) so that is supposed to be good for tapeworm, roundworm, hookworm and whipworm.

Monday, we're going to the vet for his next round of puppy shots and will do a fecal exam to check for parasites.

He is such a bundle of joy!

[grnrom]

Good too hear that Charlie gained a pound. I also recommend a holistic type food for Charlie. Just keep trying different foods until you find a few that he likes and rotate. Good luck.