Questions about Canine I/D

Hey there, I have a friend with an 11 year old small mixed-breed dog. For the past 2 years he has had bad tartar on his teeth, so much so that the vet has cleaned them every 6 months. Also, when he eats, you hear this awful gassy noise coming from his tummy. He tries to eat grass when this happens to settle it down. The vet has prescribed I/D and he has been on the canned kind for the past year or so. He continues to have these tummy issues.

She is taking the dog to the vet later today to see what's the matter this time since this tummy issue comes up every so often. I want her to ask the vet about changing the diet to something more natural (aka premium food with supplements and off this scrip diet, which seems to be causing more harm than good).

In the meantime, can anyone suggest some supplements she can ask the vet about. I'd like her to switch to something better like Wellness, which can be ordered through a local store or even Nutro, which we can find here. Should she be on a senior formula? I think so.

Thanks for the input!!!

Yes she should switch to a premium food or a raw diet. most prescription foods are crap. Nutro is better and definalty wellness. My dogs eat nutro.
Nutro has many senior foods.
Nutro max
http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=2751546

Nutro max canned
http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=2864148

Nutro natural choice
http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=2750843

And nutro ultra
http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=2750858

I hope your friend gets his tummy troubles under control.

Also it wouldn't hurt for his teeth to get brushed. Does he accept chewie bones and things those always help with tartar too. My 8 year old gets nutro and chewie bones and she has the teeth of a 2 year old.

TALK to your vet..

IMHO yeah switch to a BASIC senior food

I would say nutro natural choice in the silver bag ( chn rice and oatmeal) might be a good place to start after the vet okay

natural balance has a number of simple foods that the % match to what most senior s need ..

if you can try a no grain ... I like Core by wellness for that as its protein and fat are within the "norm" for all dog foods

Hey thanks for the replies. The first thing I told her was to speak with her vet to see if he'd work with her through a food change.

I'll give her the list of the suggested foods and have her take them to her vet. Thanks again.

I think Wellness would be a good choice to try. The grain free is great but they also have a line called "Wellness Simple Food Solutions" which is good for dogs with stomach issues. You can read about that line here:
http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/dog_w...ons_index.html


As for supplements she could ask the vet about using probiotics/prebiotics and digestive enzymes. Another supplement I've heard really good things about it Seacure.

Some vets are good about it and some are not. I hope your friend has a vet who is open minded.
Really IMO the best thing for the teeth is a regular supply of raw bones. If a dog scrapes his/her teeth against a bone then that is good for cleaning. Even better is if they chopm on some raw bones. It busts up the tartar and they have much better breath too. Only works for dogs who are good about chewing. If your friend's dog is one of those who swallow everything whole then this is not a real good option.
Good luck!