chihuahua with hemolytic gastroenteritis

[oliverspal]

i glanced @ this site, began reading and immediately became a member! my 5 lb. long haired chihuahua is recovering from hemolytic gastroenteritis. my wonderful vet gave me three cans of Innovative Veterninary Diets sensitive formula for canines. Jake goobles this up! i was to wean him back to 'normal' dog food, which i thought, was good...nutro sensitive stomach. now, from reading, i see, this is not great AND jake doesnot seem to like the taste. any suggestions? what is this 'canidae'? thanks for your pending comments!

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

Hello and welcome to GP!

So sorry to hear that your little one had a bout with HGE. Although there is no true test to confirm HGE the vet will usually base their diagnoses with the clinical signs. It isn't common for the majority of dogs with HGE to ever come down with it again but one can never be too careful. Vets usually provide something easy on the stomach to last through the worst of it but then only suggest something a bit easier on the stomach than the "typical" dog foods available.

Many believe that bacteria plays a huge role in HGE and this along with an already "sensitive stomach" found in many of the small breeds are excellent reasons to try and stick with a more natural / easier to digest food. Two of the best I've found anyway for sensitive stomachs are Wysong and Royal Canin's Sensible Choice. Canidae is an excellent all natural food as well but in my opinion not optimal for the more sensitive stomach.

Good luck with your little one and again, welcome to our home away from home!

[Carrie]

I use Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance venison and brown rice....simple ingredients, single source protein and it's easy on the stomach. I'm sure there are more, but that's one I've been using and is good. You can ask around at feed stores and pet stores to see if they carry it or one of the others. Some of the premium foods, as Crossfire said are good, but have many ingredients, some of which are not so good for sensative tummies.

Glad your guy is recovering and welcome to the site!

[flyndog]

While you're waiting for more personal answers - which I'm sure will be forthcoming as nutrition is a very popular topic - BowChow is a good site to start some research. http://www.dogaware.com/dogfeeding.html#commercial
Also, Whole Dog Journal has an extensive online list of foods.
www.wholedogjournal.com
Kit

[GreenleafGreyhound]

Err....I'm kind of confused. Is there such thing as hemolytic gastroenteritis? I'm rather familiar with hemorraghic gastroenteritis (HGE), but I did a quick search on hemolytic gastroenteritis and I can't find anything by that name. Do you mean to say your Chi has hemorraghic gastroenteritis (HGE)?

I agree that you should stick to a food that has a rather short ingredients list. Many brands come to mind, including Wellness Simple Solutions which contain one protein source and one carb. I believe one formula is potato and duck. Another brand which has quite a reputation is California Natural. Wysong is a greyt food, but Lucky didn't tolerate it very well and he has an extremely sensitive stomach. Good Luck and check out the Whole Dog Journal link Kit gave you.