Help please!

[Jamied88]

I have 6 month old staffy she keeps being sick after eating. I have tryed her on dry foods, yes it stops her being sick but she hardly eats anything so i stopped it as was worried she wasnt eating enough. She is currently on pedigree puppy wet meat. Am i feeding her too much or could she just be eating too quickly?

[ginger899]

I think taking her to a nutritionist is a great idea. With guidance, you could probably learn to give her home cooked foods. Dogs love home cooked food, but we have to be careful they are getting the exact nutrition a dog (not a human) needs. So although meat veg and rice or something similar will be okay for a few days, she will need other things as well, which supply the minerals etc a dog needs. Home cooked food with a recommended supplement is usually ok.

Pedigree is definitely not one of the best. And though they do like dry food, that's not really good for them constantly either. A high-quality dry food is better, so long as they drink plenty of water.

My dog used to gulp her food. It frightened me because sometimes she would go at it so hard and fast she almost choked. Even when I split her food, and fed her small amounts at a time, -that made her gulp it even faster!
I got around that by finding the biggest mixing-bowl in the house, and putting her food in that instead of in a small dog-sized dish. She had to slow down as she had to chase her dinner bit by bit around the bowl! But there were no more episodes of almost choking!

[Jamied88]

Thank you both very much. We r going to take her to see a nutritionist and see what they say as she isnt in any pain at all and is a gernally lively and active puppy as they are haha. I have heard that before about pedigree before.

[Misfits4Me]

What your describing could be a number of things....If she has already had a complete physical & medical issues ruled out, Then your next step,  if possible, is to Change her to a better quality food...Pedigree is a very low quality and she may have problems with any # of the ingredients in it....

It's full of by-products, chemical preservatives & dyes....These cause problems with dogs.....Make sure you read the ingredient list & check for consumer complaints online.....

Many things go wrong with grocery store pet foods...This should get you started:

dogfoodadvisor.com..............Thanks & good luck, Karla

[tonyb286]

Hi. If you think she is gulping her food, that could certainly cause a problem. Dogs that gulp actually take in air as well as the food, and the air can become trapped in the stomach causing dangerous bloat. Try feeding the same amount but splitting it into much smaller portions and then letting her have it an hour or so apart. You should in any event be feeding three meals a day until she is 8 months old, which means each meal will need splitting into two or three portions until things settle down. There are some fabulous "gadgets" for dogs that gulp their food. Just Google anti-gulp dog bowls. I know you can also get them from Amazon and most big pet stores.

A healthy Staffy should weigh between 40lbs and 45lbs. What weight is she now? This will give you a good indication of whether you are feeding too much or too little. Staffys tend to be greedy, so she will probably eat almost anything given to her (when not bloated), which means you do have to control how much food is given.

An average amount of food is about 200g to 250g a day. But obviously this depends largely on the type of food being given. If it's manufactured dog food, check what the manufacturer advises on the product packaging.

If you think your pups stomach is bloated or she seems to be in pain, I would see a vet asap, because it could be there is either a blockage or a twisted intestine - and that situation can become an emergency if left unchecked.

Hope that helps.

Tony