I have been feeding my dachshund cooked chicken gizzard and liver every night and premium dry food every morning. Recently, I noticed that he is limping and its joint is slightly swollen. He is overweight and lack of exercise too. Should I change his diet?
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all that liver might have given him vitamin A toxicity. I would get a blood panal done at the vets asap though because of his age and for annual wellness anyway.
And gizzards..well I feed a raw food diet and gizzards aren't considered really species appropriate. Ok to feed but not as a majority of the diet. You'd do better with something like beef heart or chicken hearts..
Exercise him, take him on a walk. He's a senior and the less he walks the sooner he'll lose mobility.
supplement him with daily glucosamine and MSM (for his joints) and milk thistle (for his liver)
alias boxer
While "real" food is very good for him I think it is a bit overkill to be feeding one entire meal of the exact same thing every day. Especially since part of that includes liver, which is very high in vitamin A like the others have mentioned.
Stop the gizzard/liver meals for now and take him to the vet. The swollen joint might be completely unrelated to the diet, but better safe than sorry.
For the future, feed him meals of liver and gizzards no more than once a week. If you still want to feed "real food" every day, switch up the meats you feed as well as their sources -- try chicken, beef, beef liver, turkey, pork, etc. Also make sure you're giving him raw bones to be sure he's getting enough calcium. The calcium/phosphorous ratio in a dog's diet needs to be balanced, and since meat contains phosphorous, if the dog is getting to much meat without the calcium he could have a deficiency, especially if he's getting all meat meals once every day.
gwb56
No! You are giving him both the dry food and real meat, though I would feed him once a day instead of twice. You may want to cut back on the amount of food you give your dog. As far as the swollen area and limping goes, keep an eye on him or her and look to make a judgment if it is broke. This observation time should be no more than 2 days from the time that you first noticed the injury. If you think it is broke you need to take your dog to the vet to insure the injury heals properly. This will cost you some, but is worth it in the long run. Try to get out more with your dog and just play with him or her whenever you can (after it heals from its' injury). You can play fetch in or out of the house or just run with it. Get the dog's heartrate pumping as this aerobic type of exorcise will raise your dog's basil metabolic rate, so that it will burn more calories even in its' sleep.
Cheers...gwb56
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Yes. Throw away the kibble and stop cooking the meat.
I cannot recommend feeding any of the commercial varieties of meat-flavored baked paste with chemicals added. Instead, why not feed your dog actual food? The dog’s natural diet is raw meat on the bone. Try it. The dog will love it, the diet will help him teethe properly as a pup, satisfy his lifelong need to chew, keep his teeth clean and his feces innocuous.
http://www.rawmeatybones.com
http://www.rawfed.com
http://www.rawfeddogs.net
http://www.rawfeeding.net
http://www.barxx.com
http://www.rawlearning.com
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/groups.rawfeeding/
The basic idea is to approximate a wild diet as closely as possible; raw meat on the bone and small amounts of organ meat [liver is most important, but also kidneys, pancreas, spleen, lungs and what is called green tripe]. Amount to feed is calculated as 2-3% of the dog's ideal adult body weight. Your veterinarian can help you estimate that; then you just do the math. You don’t have to be exact; all amounts are to be averaged over a week or two. Dogs [not toys or puppies] that get big, complicated meals sometimes will eat for two days and then not again for five. All perfectly normal.
Most raw feeders that I've read have started their dogs on chicken: it is readily available and inexpensive, plus it is antibiotic- and hormone-free. The fat content is easy to control.
Anonymous
The concerned pet owner side of me says yes, and take him to the vet to see what exactly is going on in his little body. They will more than likely put him on a diet plan that can still fit yours and his love of food that will be more beneficial to his health. Or, the joint problems could be unrelated entirely, because wiener dogs are known to have joint problems because of their proportions.
The dog lover side of me says he's 12 years old, has always had this diet, and, not to be insensitive, he may be nearing the end of his jovial life. Feed him what makes him happy.