What's on the Menu?

Ask Old Mother Hubbard!

I itched. I scratched. I itched some more. My little paws turned all red, I chewed on them a lot, and I lost all the hair on my tummy. I was miserable. Apparently it was a food allergy or sensitivity of some kind, and the solutions weren't exactly my cup of catnip tea. I could go for steriod shots, which made me have to potty a lot for two whole weeks, and I could take anti-histimines, which made me less energetic and sparky than usual. This course of "relief" could continue for the rest of my life. It sure didn't sound like fun to us!

We also tried a couple of Herbal Remedies, which offered some relief, and I loved them, but they made me have to potty a little bit, extremely often, and that caused embarrassing accidents! The capsules were stronger than I needed, even at 1/2 dose. Giving 1/4 dose from each capsule was such a challenge that it wasn't feasible, since Deb couldn't be sure of accurate dosage.

The non-allergenic dog food I was on didn't help a whole lot either. It was ok... but the kibble was a bit too big and my girls had to cut it in half for me to be happy with it... and frankly it was really salty, and it probably wasn't suitable for a lifetime of feeding. Besides, without additional treatment, I still itched and turned red.

Adding Omegaderm-3™ with OptiZinc™ to my food put a little hair on my chest. I wasn't thrilled about it and sometimes turned up my nose, or sulked when I sniffed and found it on my food. It did give me relief, and that was good, but it didn't solve the underlying problem of "What can I eat that won't itch me?"

Deb searched high and low. She surfed the internet. She talked to Joelle and vets and other chihuahua owners. She went to stores and squeezed bags of dog food and sniffed and prodded and read labels. She wasn't indecisive... she was just incredibly picky. Plenty of foods looked and sounded okay, but weren't available in our area, or were only available in huge quantities.

Finally Deb sniffed out a lead to the Alaska Feed Co. at 1600 College Road, in Fairbanks, Alaska. Their sales personnel were able to help her find Wellness^® Dry Fish & Sweet Potato.

Several factors prompted Deb's decision to choose Wellness^® Dry Fish & Sweet Potato. First, it was available in a 6 pound bag. It comes in larger sizes, but I am a little dog and don't eat much, so she needed to find smaller bags. Second, it met numerous conditons Deb insisted upon. She wanted all-natural, human grade food quality, oven baked (rather than extruded) dry dog food, with no nasty preservatives. Plus, I had to love it!

We found what we needed with Wellness®, at Alaska Feed Co., Fairbanks, Alaska.

When changing dog foods, it's recommended to gradually mix the new food with the old, to avoid digestion upsets for the dog. "Houston, we have a problem." ...but not really. From the beginning when we mixed 3 little pieces of Wellness® in with her previous food, Smuckers nosed out the new food and chowed down. It wasn't until she figured out that we would not give her a full feeding of the new food before she'd finish her meal. Visit http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/ for more information and to find a location near you.

More to come!!!

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