Everyone Deserves a Healthy Diet

Teddy had to go to the vet this morning.  For the past week or so we kept noticing that he just wasn't himself.  Normally he wants to run, jump, play fetch and tug-of-war.  Lately though, he just wants to lay on your lap and sleep (even though I love this - I know it's not like my puppy!) 

Also, for the past few weeks he's been "dribbling".  While he isn't 100% house trained yet, he's pretty good.  We walk him 3-4 times a day and this usually does the trick.  When he has to pee and we aren't taking him for a walk he has a wee-wee pad in the livingroom to use.  However, the past couple of weeks he's been squatting and peeing just a drop every 20-30 minutes or so wherever he wants - on the carpet, on the couch, on the bed.  Even when we walk him, he stops like 4 times to pee and very little comes out. 

Now, because I'm neurotic I kept looking up his "symptoms" online and a lot of sites said this is a phase, he was "marking his territory".  However, this past weekend he basically stopped eating.  He'd still eat treats and carrots and anything else we dropped on the floor, but he wouldn't eat his food.

Yesterday morning when I went to take him out of his crate, he had gone to the bathroom in his bed, stepped in it and made a big mess!  Teddy has never had an accident in his crate since we got him, so I knew that this wasn't normal and something was wrong. 

At this point enough was enough, we had to go to the vet. 

I called yesterday and got an appointment for this morning.  The vet said to feed him boiled white meat chicken and rice for dinner last night and breakfast this morning to see if he would eat that.  Well, that was no problem - he loved it.  But even after he ate, he was still so lethargic, not running around and playing at all.  Just laying on the couch.

This morning when we got to the vet they weighed Teddy (up to 8.2 lbs!), took his temperature and I explained to them his symptoms.  As soon as I started they suspected that he had a urinary tract infection which was causing the dribbling pee problem.  However, the UTI wouldn't entirely explain the upset tummy problems we've been having, causing him to not eat and have no energy.  They asked me what food I've been feeding Teddy.  I told them that I buy Vets Choice: Holistic Health Extension.  Well, apparently this was not a good thing!  They right away accounted for Teddy's upset stomach with this food.  I thought I was doing a good thing - feeding him all natural, organic dog food that has only 3 ingredients; chicken, chicken broth and brown rice.  The vet said that this has too much protein for Teddy and doesn't have any of the other nutrients that he needs.  She gave me a bag and some cans of Purina EN to give Teddy for the next couple of weeks, which she said would get his stomach back on track. 

By the time we left the vet (and $220 later) Teddy was put on 1 antibiotic, 1 stomach relaxer (she equated it to Pepcid for people) and 1 anti-bacterial. Hopefully in 5-7 days I'll have my normal, happy, frisky puppy back!

A note about the dog food:
The way I decided to feed Teddy Health Extension was by using this website that rates different dog food brands (wet and dry food), explains all of the ingredients and the benefits of the food.  It can be so overwhelming to choose a food at the pet store - there are so many!  I knew that I wanted a food for "pet stages" that I could use for him while he was a puppy and when he grows to be an adult.  We tried a couple different brands and this is the one that Teddy liked the best (they also had the smallest kibble size, which Teddy appreciated).

When I put Purina EN into the website I discovered that it only got 2 stars and the website says it's basically like feeding your dog McDonalds!  Well, I can't be feeding my puppy McDonalds every day!  What kind of mother would I be?  Especially when I'm trying to cook and eat healthy - doesn't Teddy deserve that as well?? 

I'm going to take the vets suggestion and feed him the Purina EN for a few weeks until his stomach is back on track and then I'm going to find a good, healthy food to feed to my precious baby.