My 21 month old GR boy is unusual for the breed as he is and always has been a fussy eater.  After his recent cruciate op and some horrible antibiotics he lost his appetite completely and barely ate a thing for two weeks, not even his favourite treats!  I have finally got him eating again with cooked minced beef and pasta which he has had for about a week now. (once a day).  He eats this with more relish than I have ever seen him eat anything before.  He also has much smaller poos now which maybe means more of his food is being absorbed??.  Just wondering if its ok to continue with this as I know I have got to keep his weight down and worry that the pasta will make him put on weight, although we lived in Italy for four years and I dont think I ever saw a fat Italian!
Thanks for any input.  Also should I be giving any vitamin supplements with this?

I would not really recommend pasta for a dog, it is high in carbs and starches.  Dogs can have some of these but too much isn't going to result in a healthy diet.  Cooked minced beef and pasta is not a balanced diet in an ongoing way and is not going to provide his body with the right quantities of various minerals and vitamins, as a complete food would.

You will find there is a correlation between him being overweight and being a fussy eater.  Fussy eaters are made, not born. 

Choose a food which is good for dogs looking to lose weight - Burns (all varieties) is a good one, as it is light in oil/fat.  Put it down twice a day and if he walks away from it immediately remove it and feed him NOTHING until the next meal time.  Even better if you can train with his food, so he learns that he has to earn it and work for it - and it is not free.  Dogs, like humans, value things more if they are not free.

Or consider a full raw diet but not included pasta rice or other carbs .fruit and veg being optional .it often sorts out fussy eatets as well and thee a lot of good FB groups eg barf UK ,raw feeding rebels , raw feeding UK assuming u are UK if not there are other international ones.unfortunatelu long term feeding of just cooked mince and pasta could end up.in health problems

I have often fed some of mine pasta and tripe when they have been poorly and they woofed it down they love it. I told my vet about it and he said it was fine to mix a little pasta in their food.. It is better that they eat something than nothing at all especially if they are poorly...If your dog likes the pasta just cut it down a bit if you think he is putting too much weight on,but too be honest I never found that mine got fat on pasta..

Something is better than nothing is fair enough of unwell although it does also put extra strain digesting on a sick body but I wouldn't rely on most vets regarding nutrition unless they have made a special study.most  have very little.trianing in this area at all and suggesting kibble is usually their go to

Thanks paxo (and others).  I wasnt really considering it long term, just relieved to get him eating again after three weeks of practically zilch.  This fussyness is new to me as my previous three dogs (all at the same time) ate the same good quality food every day of their lives from adulthood with never a moments hesitation "oh goody dog food again" . Will start mixing good "proper" dog food in a bit at a time and hope that works.  Meanwhile I have bought some multi vitamins and minerals for him.

sorry I didnt realize you were a vet furriefriends !! continue as your doing Goldenfrenzy for a few weeks and as you say add a bit more proper dog food and cut down on the pasta a little gradually as you go.

All the vets I know(& I know a good number)& have known in the past have admitted that they have very little training on nutrition & their knowledge comes from "trial & error" & colleagues advice & knowledge gained over years of practice. From memory they get half a day(usually from food company reps)in their formal training. If they want to specialise in nutrition they have to do it in their"spare"time whilst in full time practice before going on to post graduate study.

I've had young vets referred to me for suggestions by their seniors if they know I've had dogs with similar problems & managed to resolve them, mind you I have know my vet for over 30 years & we have worked together to sort out problems in the past. He's virtually a one-man practice taking on newly qualified/nearly qualified vets for furthering their hands on experience in the field

> sorry I didnt realize you were a vet furriefriends !!

I didn't see furriefriends saying they were a vet?

Vets have very little training in nutrition, canine or otherwise.  What training they do have is sponsored and influenced by the likes of Hill's,RC,etc - unless they do CPD, even that needs to be mostly under their own steam.

There seems to be a lot of anthropomorphism about a dog's diet ie thinking they need  meat, carbs and veg. 

Dogs aren't humans! They need meat, bones and offal.  Some enjoy fruit and/or veg on top/as a treat but heavy carbs such as rice, pasta and potato only serve to slow their digestive system down and that enables bacteria to grow

I didn't see furriefriends saying they were a vet?

Exactly

I think you people are missing the point, we are not talking about feeding pasta throughout the dogs life, we are talking temporarily which has never harmed my dogs in any way,in fact it has done them more good than harm...I don't feed my dogs tinned Chappie constantly either but I always have a few tins in which helps enormously if they ever get an upset tummy now and again..

I feed my very fussy dog home cooked food for tea, with kibble for breakfast.
She is not overweight.
She has beef/chicken, pasta/rice/potato, and veg.

I think the smaller poos are because they aren't being bulked out with filler, it's all good food.

Thank you paxo and St Domingo.

paxo

  My go to for upset tums is also Chappie.  Has been for donkeys years!

I don't know how Chappie got into this thread, maybe a bit of a diversion from pasta and to try to influence others who have it as a 'go to' - I've also used the original Chappie for tummy upsets.
I also fed kibble and tinned meat (plus bone broth/chicken soup ) for decades - I've researched an awful lot and now feed raw, just like I've researched, and developed my views and actions on training, vaccinations, flea and worm treatments.
I have to thank so many of this forum for directing me to starting points on these  - Brainless is one in particular, partly because I had an Elkhound and because of her continuing research and sharing of ideas

Zuma had surgery - suspected blockage - about 8/9 yrs ago and was put on (I think) Hills 'recovery diet' at over �2 a tin but the Vet was quite happy for me to swap him to Chappie for a week or  so and then gradually mix his usual food in back to his usual diet.

Actually Chappie was the first thing I tried as I know a lot of you good people use it as a standby.  He just sniffed it and walked away, as with everything else.  The thing that finally got him eating again (and  Iknow this is not ideal but by this time I was desperate) was a slice of wholemeal toast and honey -- no butter.  He just had this once and it seemed to kick start his appetite.

Goldenfrenzy I had a GSD once who got a terrible upset tummy and was very poorly, he was close to death...he completely stopped eating for a couple of weeks, he looked like a walking skeleton and would touch nothing, one day I was having a cuppa with a digestive and he looked interested, he ate half the packet and then gradually over a week began to eat little bits, he recovered and eventually went back to his normal raw diet. He munched his way through a good few packs of digestives first though !!! In severe cases whatever works is good for the short term to make that breakthrough.

It's the same with humans. On the rare occasions I've had a major tummy upset or flu and I'm unable to eat or don't want to, it seems to take ages before my appetite returns back to normal. More often or not I have to tempt or force myself to eat something before I even want to start eating again.
Useful for me who could do with losing a fair bit of weight, but perhaps not for a dog who is of the correct weight before the illness.

Love it.  I never thought of digestive biscuits! Glad he recovered.

> I wouldn't rely on most vets regarding nutrition unless they have made a special study.most  have very little.trianing in this area at all

True, when I took my 4 fat healthy puppies for their first vaccinations our vet who otherwise appears quite intelligent and reasonable man was genuinely surprised they had been raised eating raw tripe and other meats offal and bones. He told me he thought the tripe you buy in pet shops was meant to be cooked

> Also should I be giving any vitamin supplements with this?

Not a vitamin but a probiotic of sorts is a good thing to feed after the dog went through a course of antibiotics. Antibiotics kill bad but also good bacteria which the probiotic will help to replenish. Pro-kolin is good, and more natural sources like kefir.

Thank you monkey.  He has had Broadhurst Nature Probiotic paste and I have started mixing small amounts of kibble in with the mince and pasta.  Its been a horrible few weeks since his surgery but hopefully it wont be too long before he is back to the total nutcase boy I know and love.

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Rowena Summers says:  Have you tried him on a raw diet? My Flatcoat seemed to be a very fussy eater until I finally realised he HATED dried food.Since he's been on raw(in his case Nature's Menu) I have a clean bowl every time.

That is so useful information right there