Am I worrying too much? Update! Bubba is eating the new bag of Canidae!

[Lyn]

I have noticed a behaviour change in Bubba starting this past week. He's much calmer. Even the ladies that work in the pet store pointed that out to me when were there on Sunday. So it's not just me seeing things. haha. He's always been borderline hyper 'puppyish' expecially when we take him in there.. But he's just kinda mellowed out. I was thinking it was just his age, he'll be 2 on Feb 2nd and that maybe he's just maturing? It's not like he was hyper one day and calm the next.. it's happened over the week.

Don't get me wrong he's not a bump on a log now, he's still a spaz when people come over, and he's runs around and plays with Lola like usual.

BUT!! What's really got me worrying is that he is nowhere near excited during feeding time as he used to be. All I had to do before was touch the bag and he was bouncing/drooling and pacing. Now he just sits quietly and waits. Plus he's actually leaving some food in his bowl. Out of his 3 cups he'll leave about 1/2 a cup.. He NEVER did that before, he always finished his food and looked for more. But If I pick his bowl up and say 'hey are you going to finish this', he'll go finish it.

I did notice with this bag of Canidae that the kibbles are dry.. kinda crumbly-ish and lighter in color, but Lola eats it fine. Bubba also ate it fine up until these past 3 days. The bag I have expires on Jan/03/2008 and was packaged Jan/03/2007. I'm going to contact Canidae too. But I was just curious if anyone else had a bag with those dates and noticed any changes in texture and color?

-Either he's not feeling well...
-I got a bad bag of Canidae (which has never happened before)
-Lola is going into heat.. which I see no signs of. Unless someones elses dog in the neighbourhood is in heat? Because he is also whining periodically.
-Or he's just maturing?

I called my vet and he said to bring him in if he stops eating completely or becomes lethargic. He's is drinking normally.. Regardless I'm freaking out like usual. LOL

[Anakalia]

It's ok to worry like crazy, I do it all the time!  I do have to say, you do a wonderful job describing Bubba's behavior!

His change in behavior could be lots of things, but what comes to mind for me would be ingredient change in the food or he could just be maturing. I know, for us it seemed like Koby matured overnight and everything just clicked with him. He was more calm and all of a sudden he did everything we asked of him, it was very suprising! lol  If you think the kibble looks different I'd definitely call to see if they changed the ingredients, are Bubba's poos still firm?  It does sound like he may be losing interest in the food have you ever thought about putting a cup of warm water in the food?  Koby's always such a picky eater until I started putting a cup of warm water into the food, I stir it and wait about 2-3 minutes, the warm water makes a gravy and Koby LOVES it.  Good luck, I'm sure Bubba will be fine.

[Lyn]

Thanks! I was hoping I explained it well enough when I posted it. haha My hubby thinks I'm nuts half the time.. but he's not with the dogs as much as I am so I tend to notice when something is different right away.

His calmness did shock me, but he's still not listening any better. Maybe Koby could teach him a thing or 7. hahha

But Yup.. Bubba's poops are normal. The ingredients in the food are the same, I compared with the last bag.. which oddly enough has the same expiry date. Hmmm.. It's almost like it's stale, but it was packaged the beginning of this month. I emailed Canidae after I posted and mentioned the kibble texture and color. They are usually pretty quick with their emails so hopefully I'll have a reply today.

Funny too, I got out the tin of dehydrated liver treats that LibbyP sent in the pups SS gift and Bubba went loopy. I'm definitly leaning towards something going on with that bag of food. Makes even more sense because Lola will eat anything regardless of the taste or smell, hence her poop eating habit. LOL After Bubba eats his expression/look is kinda like yuck! Same expression he had when I tried to feed him raw moose meat which he also refused to eat.

Canidae is preserved with citric acid. I was told by my vet not to pre-moisten it. Something about it increasing the risk of bloat. Any thoughts on that? I had read something about that.. but they both drink water after eating. So I don't know doesn't make sense to me. LOL

[chaosndestruction]

HAHAHA SO Canidae is the reason Keela has such bad farts 

I don't see anything wrong with the bag of Canidae that I picked up near the beginning of this month...(Assuming it's the same dates as yours because our feed store is REALLY good about having fresh food in).

I have no advice about it:( Our food seems normal... All the dogs are still eating it...and the ferrets still love to trespass into the dog area and steal their kibble...soooo maybe you just got a bad bag?

[Anakalia]

Ok now you got me worried!  So I shouldn't be putting water in with Koby's food?  Or is that just with foods that have the citric acid?  He's eating California Natural and I just checked the ingredients list I couldn't find citric acid, but now I'm confused.   

[k2campbell]

Hmmmmmmm, I’m going to check out our bag of Canidea when I get home today for the dates.  Kate goes through little spurts of “really” liking her Canidea, whereas sometimes it will just be “ok”.  Maybe it has something to do with the weather, growth spurts, mood – who knows.  Sometimes she doesn’t inhale when she’s eating – other times she’ll eat a bit and leave the rest for later that day.

Regardless, I’ll check my bag and let you know. 

As for pre-moistening Canidea, we've done this with Kate since the day she started on it and have never had a problem (knock on wood). I was told (at some point) that it was better to moisten any food than not (to prevent bloat)

[Lyn]

Ahhh.. As soon as you mentioned Purdue it clicked.. that's the study my vet was talking about. He didn't want me to feed any food containing citric acid at all. But I told him I wasn't switching since it's the only food that Bubba is having 'happy poops' on and actually gaining weight. I had to weigh the pros and cons and the only con with Canidae is the citric acid. That's when he told me not to pre-moisten it, no exercise an hour before and after meals.

Anakalia, California natural isn't preserved with citric acid so no worries. I didn't mean to freak anyone out. Sorry

I'm still waiting for a reply from Canidae.. And thanks Kelly for checking your bag of Canidae for me.

[Beaux]

I use to feed Beaux California Natural Lamb & Rice because his allergies were so bad. California Natural was wonderful. Recently his new sister, Gracie Belle, joined our extended family and her mom & dad stuck her on Canidae lamb & Rice. We did the slow switch of food then for Beaux so they were on the same thing. I have seen a wonderful change in two areas. His poo is not as hard and troublesome for him. It is "healthy poo". And he use to slow down a day or day and a half the day after running at the park or playing hard. Now, after Canidae, he is back to playing that same evening if he plays hard in the morning. His joints are really benefiting. His vet agreed.
They also make a cookie. Lamb & Rice or Chicken and Rice. He loves them and they smell so fresh & yummy. I keep them in the frig to keep them fresh. The only down fall is I put too much in his food scoop one day (in the morning & evening) and by that night he threw up just the food in two piles. It literally looked like breakfast & dinner. I think with as much water as he drinks and what ya'll were talking about, he got too much food in that belly and thank goodness expelled it. I felt like a horrible mom.. The next day with lite dinner he was back on track. I did notice also with his new food he can't really snack too much on the fatty treats (meaty rawhide filled bones,etc) or else his poo gets runny. Beaux's breeder had allergy and tummy issues with all her pups she sold. So no suprise their on his sensitive tummy. Other that that, on this new Canidae, I have no complaints. Good luck with your baby though.
Kim & Beaux

[Lyn]

I just checked my email and I got the reply from Canidae.

"""Hello Linda,
We are sorry to hear you had problems with the last bag of Canidae you bought. We are not aware of any problems with that batch of Canidae, but all of our products are 100% guaranteed so you can either take that bag back to the store for a replacement bag or you money back or you can send us the upc(bar code) from the back of the bag to our office and we will replace it with a voucher for a free bag from Canidae."""

I called the store I bought the bag from and they had one return. But the girl I spoke to wasn't sure why. Go figure. lol

I'm not sure if I'm going to worry about getting a free bag or not. Technically Lola is eating it with no ill effects. So it's not like it's a waste of money and had to throw it out. Although I could get the free bag and donate it to the local animal shelter.

[Lyn]

Good point! I'm going to pick up a new bag today if hubby is done work before the store closes, otherwise I'll get it tomorrow. I hope Bubba eats it no problem. Right now I have to shake the bowl whenever he walks away. Then he'll come back, eat another mouthful and walk away again. Or he'll take a mouthful, spit it all over the floor and run to the treat jar. LOL At first I just picked up his bowl, figuring he'd be really hungry by dinner time. But nope he did the same thing. Plus he was hounding anyone that had food like he was starving to death.

My hubby mentioned too that maybe he just doesn't like the Canidae anymore. I reallllly hope that's not it because we are going to end up having the loose stool issue again if I switch him to something else. Plus we have already tried all the high end foods that this store carries and my hubby would rather not have to drive to the next town to get dog food.

[Anakalia]

What if he's just going through a stage of "Don't want food but give me TREATS!"  Koby does that if I give him too many treats, he'd much rather eat those delicious "yummies" as we like to call them! lol  What if you were to stop giving treats for a couple days and only offer the food, see if he shows more interest.  Really they're just like kids, if kids know they're going to get treats before and after meals, why would they bother eating the stuff thats good for them? They become stubborn and hold out for the "yummies". lol My daughters the same way!    Good luck!

[Lyn]

That could be too. He just never refused food like this before. So I immediately thought something was wrong.

Tina, I was going to add some leftover gravy to his food lastnight but hubby didn't want me to, thinking it might make him pickier. I just want him to eat so that he doesn't begin to lose the weight he's put on. So far he hasen't lost any that I can see.. but I've also been coaxing him to finish it. That in itself is a huge pain because Lola finishes her food and dives in his as soon as he walks away. So I can't even allow him to free feed because of her.

If he still refuses the new bag of Canidae. I might just buy a small bag of something else to mix in just to add a different smell and hopefully keep him interested. As long as there is more Canidae than new kibble he 'shouldn't' have any loose stool problems.

Hubby is going to be so impressed. hahhaha He wants them both to be on the same food. Just easier on the wallet. 

[marypyrs]

Just a thought = but maybe there IS something wrong with that particular bag of food. Even though the dates on the bag are OK. Storage/exposure to "something" during shipment or storage??? You said it looked different. Bubba is older, so wiser in some ways, than young Lola. (I swear. My puppy would eat any and everything he could get his mouth on.)Maybe he knows something we Humans can't detect? I wouldn't try to tempt him with toppings if he thinks there's something wrong with the food. Then again, ? ? ? It just seems strange that it came on with that new bag.
 

[bluskygirl]

I kinda agree. Maybe just buy a new bag of Canidae, and see what it looks like. Try feeding it to Bubba and if he eats it like normal, then I would get rid of the current bag.  If it seems to make no differenence, then you have another bag of food on hand for later. I remember you said it was crumbly. That just seems strange.  I haven't used Canidae though, so I have no idea what it's like normally.

[Lyn]

My hubby is picking up a new bag of Canidae today. I got him to do the grocery shopping too while he was out. I still feel horrible, I thought my cold was going away but instead it got worse.

So I'll find out at dinner time whether Bubba will eat the new stuff or not.