Dachshund Dog Food Can Cause Sickness And Allergies

Dachshund Dog Food Can Cause Sickness And Allergies

What are you feeding your Dachshund?

Are you aware that the dog food we are feeding our Dachshunds can cause sickness and allergies? After the big pet food recall I think we have all become a little more aware about the dog food we are feeding our Dachshunds and that it may not always be as safe as it should be.

Dachshund Food

Most people feed their Dachshunds prepared pet food – it is convenient to grab a few tins or a bag while we are purchasing our own food. We trust the glossy pictures on the bags of healthy dogs – after all the manufactures are responsible for providing all the nutrition your dog needs to grow strong and healthy – or so we hope.

Dogs need protein and fat – of course, before commercial dog food they would get this from meat. They also require carbohydrates in their diet. This is a balancing act – too much or too little protein can cause diseases.

However, it is important that you check the ingredients on the labels – although they can be very confusing.
A few of the ingredients you will see on commercial pet food are:

Cereal Rice
Corn Fat
Meat Bone meal
Preservatives and Additives    Added vitamins                                            

So lets break this down a little.

Corn – Dachshunds and most dogs have a difficult time digesting corn and it can often cause allergies that could show up as physiological or behavioral problems. Please also be aware that this corn has already been rejected for human consumption – it failed USDA inspection because of mold, rancidity and other contaminants! Check the label and choose a dog food without corn if possible.

Fat – fat is basically added to ensure  your dog eats the kibble – they love fat just like us and a little is not harmful but too much just like us will make them fat. Check the fat content.

Meat– Aha at last an ingredient our Dachshund’s need. Depending on the food you chose it could be Chicken, Beef, or Lamb – However, the meat used in dog foods is not available at our local butchers. I went searching on the Internet to find out what this meat is and was a little upset with the results.

Ready? Well lets take chicken by-product (or beef and lamb) – that is the heads, beaks, legs, intestines, neck basically what we don’t eat is ground up for dog food. I guess that is not too bad until you consider where the meat is coming from. This ‘meat’ is rejected human grade slaughtered animals. Some of the manufactures use animals from vets, test centers, and watch if the packet just say meat – that could be any dead animal.

We should check the dog food labels to see what percentage meat content it has – this would be nice it they actually put it on the label but they do not want you to know!

Description Percentage Meat
Chicken Dog Food               95%
Chicken Dinner 25%
Dog Food With Chicken 3%
Chicken Flavor No Minimum – just has to taste like chicken!

This is copied direct from www.aafco.org   association of American feed control officers:

Am I correct that parts from sick, dying, or dead animals are allowed? Doesn’t this pose a health risk to pets?

Animal by-products which may include materials from animals which died by means other than slaughter are explicitly defined as adulterated unless the materials are rendered in compliance with animal health and protein product regulations to destroy any potential microorganisms which may be in the products. The processes used are deemed to be adequate to control risk of disease.

Why am I so passionate about telling you all this?

I have a mini Dachshund called Luke. He weighs 9LB. I love Luke so much and he is the seriously the best dog I have ever had the pleasure to own. He is such a darling and I want the best for him so that he stays healthy and has a long happy life.

Dachshund Luke Eating His Food

I started buying him what I thought was the best dog food available, it came in little containers, smelt disgusting but looked great and he loved it.

Two months later, he started to be sick, throwing up and had bad diarrhea. I of course rushed him to the vet. At first, they thought that maybe he had eaten something on one of this walks, or maybe had an infection. The vet gave him an injection to stop him being sick and some tablets to sooth his stomach.

The next day I was back at the vets’ office again – he was much worse, lethargic and the symptoms had got worse. This time the vet was more concerned and ran some tests on poor little Luke. One of the tests showed that the food was being blocked from entering his stomach and he needed an emergency operation.

I was so scared especially when the vet explained that they were not sure if it would work. They went on to ask what I was feeding him. Apparently, the little cute cans of food that I was so lovingly giving him were much too rich for a small delicate Dachshunds stomach. This had caused an acid build up, his stomach was fighting to digest the food, and eventually it had caused a blockage and a lot of pain.

When I went to the vets office after his operation I was shocked at how awful Luke looked. I just broke down and cried I could not stop feeling so guilty for doing this to him. Why was I so stupid, why had I just blindly believed that the food sold in the supermarkets would be safe?

Luke struggled to stay alive and recover from his operation for 7 days. He lost a lot of weight and looked all bone. I visited him and stayed as long as the vets’ office would let me, trying to sooth him and get him to eat. He had a scar down the whole length of his little belly and looked so sad.

Finally, the vet said I could take him home to continue his care there. He was on four different pills three times a day. His recovery was slow and painful but gradually he began to eat without being sick and put a little of his lost weight and muscle tone back on.

One thing the vet did stress to me is that he sees this regularly especially with small breeds and that I should be very careful what I feed him – the trend is increasing. He is now on a mix of prescription dog food and homemade food and is much healthier.

This all happened three years ago but it did so much damage to his stomach that to this day, if he so much as nibbles something that he should not have, he is throwing up again. It is a constant battle when we are out of the house to make sure he does not find any dropped food.

Even if your Dachshund can eat anything and seem OK, there is a chance that some time in his life his little body will have had enough.

The dog food you are feeding your Dachshund could be causing Liver and Kidney dysfunction and bladder and stomach cancer.

Some of the symptoms may show up as allergies including:

  • itching
  • hot spots
  • dandruff
  • excessive shedding
  • foot-licking
  • face-rubbing
  • loose stools
  • gassiness

I urge you to learn as much as you can about what is in the food you are feeding your Dachshund so that they do not have to go through what Dachshund Luke did – or worse.

To get the full information on what is in your Dachshunds Food CLICK HERE and find out how to increase the lifespan of your Dachshund by 130%!

About Karen Larson

I love Dachshunds and support Dachshund Rescue. I created my How To Potty Train A Dachshund ebook when I found out some dachshunds ended up being surrendered simply because they were not house broken. Dachshund Luke travelled with us from Florida to Spain where we stayed in the mountains for 4 years. During that time I started this website and my husband wrote a book! We returned to Florida with a rescue Podenco dog called Puppy and a cat called Kitty Kat. I currently live in Florida with my wonderful husband.