what do you feed your jack russell?

asparagus1968

looking for recommendations please.
he is nearly two, 6kg ish.
I give him the amount advised on the pack but he poos at least three/four times a day,quite loose and he looks thin to me, not exactly skin and bone, but can see ribs. he is very happy/bouncy/good coat etc so don't think he's ill.
vet recommended hills science plan, but it is so expensive.
like the idea of the more meat/less grain feeds, but that might be me falling for the hype?
so, any ideas?

skintandscared_2

You could be describing our 1 year old to the letter. He literally is exactly the same - sometimes I think he looks thin, but he's bouncy as anything and does 4-5 poos a day. The first morning and afternoon poos are perfect, but the ones that follow could definitely be firmer!

We feed our Teddy half a pack of forthglade adult mixed with 2 x 1/3 cup scoops of Royal Canin Jack Russell dry food. I have tried reducing the wet and increasing the dry, but then he just literally licks the wet off the dry food and leaves the soggy nuggets in his bowl LOL! He is the fussiest eater EVER (apparently terriers are notorious for being fussy). For a horrible few months the only wet he would eat was Pedigree with jelly!! We were trying everything in a panic because he literally would not eat. Now I've gradually got him eating Forthglade for his wet food instead so I'm much happier. He didn't like the puppy one, but he seems much keener with the adult formula. It smells good too - like proper food!

RuthnJasper

My JR had this problem, to an extreme degree (foul-smelling liquid poo, containing mucus; unable to hang on at night while I went downstairs to let her out, followed by her shame and humiliation at having done it in the house - but apparently fine and normal in herself). It was actually Colitis in her case. Generally, the vet recommends plain cooked chicken or white fish and rice, but this is quite expensive and time consuming.

I was able to narrow it down to the fact that it always seemed to be brought on by tinned dog food in gravy. I started feeding her the tinned food in jelly (supermarket own brand is fine); half a tin with a small handful of plain mixer biscuits once a day and the problem cleared up.

Sometimes I have a friend's dog over to stay while she's abroad; Gisèle (my JR) and Betty (other dog) like to "swap dinners" halfway through (!) - on the one occasion when Betty was eating tinned meat in gravy with her mixer, Giz's Colitis came back, so I know that was most likely to be the cause.

Good luck! x

skintandscared_2

Have to agree that our Teddy doesn't like meat in gravy, just jelly. For about 2 months I was cooking chicken and rice and he wouldn't touch anything else. I was at my wit's end because he really needed more nutrition. I bought some powdered dog vitamins and minerals to add to the rice, then he turned his nose up at that too! The Pedigree in jelly saved the day, but I am happier now he's on better quality wet food. That said, I will also have a few tins of Pedigree in the cupboard now LOL.

Misty_Blue

What brand are you feeding? I would not feed Science Plan to my dogs; it's like Royal Canin - expensive considering the relatively low quality of the food. But a lot of vets stock it, and have nutritional training from the manufacturer, so they recommend it...


You can get much higher quality foods for lower prices. This is a good independent site that rates the foods on quality, and allows you to compare one against the other. It also tells you how much it would cost per day to feed your dog each food: http://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/

GBNI

Vet probably recommended that feed as they stock it not that I'm being cynical

Not JRs but I feed both my dogs Skinners. The schnauzer gets maintenance as she's 13 and the lab x rottie cross is on the duck and rice. They are hypoallergenic etc

asparagus1968

thanks for replies.


he has only ever had dry food.


don't think he has colitis, no mucus/incontinence etc, just stinky,loose. and awful smelly wind! (usually whilst sat on my lap of an evening!)


may have a look at the royal canin jack Russell though, cheers

asparagus1968

Misty_Blue wrote: »

What brand are you feeding? I would not feed Science Plan to my dogs; it's like Royal Canin - expensive considering the relatively low quality of the food. But a lot of vets stock it, and have nutritional training from the manufacturer, so they recommend it...


You can get much higher quality foods for lower prices. This is a good independent site that rates the foods on quality, and allows you to compare one against the other. It also tells you how much it would cost per day to feed your dog each food: http://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/

oh, that's interesting, thanks

Misty_Blue

I definitely wouldn't go with Royal Canin if you're looking for a brand with better meat content and fewer fillers. This is the ingredients list from the Jack Russell version. Not good, especially for the price!

Dehydrated poultry protein, rice, maize, vegetable protein isolate, wheat, animal fats, hydrolysed animal proteins, maize gluten, beet pulp, minerals, fish oil, soya oil, yeasts, fructo-oligo-saccharides, hydrolysed yeast, borage oil (0.1%), marigold extract, green tea and grape extracts, hydrolysed crustaceans and hydrolysed cartilage.


"Virtually all of the Royal Canin range is based heavily on poultry meal, white rice, maize and wheat, none of which are particularly desirable in a dog food. Poultry meal is ok but it is always best to look for meats with named animal meat sources (like chicken, turkey, duck etc.); white rice is little more than a starchy filler while maize and wheat have both been consistently linked to dietary intolerance and digestive problems.


The other problem is that no percentages are provided for any of the ingredients making it very difficult to gauge the true quality of the food and also allowing the ratios of the ingredients to change from batch to batch."

asparagus1968

he's on wainwrights at the mo, think i'll try the applaws

RuthnJasper

asparagus1968 wrote: »

thanks for replies.

don't think he has colitis, no mucus/incontinence etc, just stinky,loose. and awful smelly wind! (usually whilst sat on my lap of an evening!)

That's probably a "dirty protest" because you won't let him watch 24-hr steamy wildlife documentaries on the Discovery Channel or Animal Planet...!