Quote: Michael_Wise

Is she use to THK? Tolerates THK only meals well, and has good poops with it?

If so, then I say heck yeah. Best to keep as much normal as possible, IMO.

Big ditto on Michael's questions. Is she already eating THK? I ask this also because IME lots of dogs are suspicious of the texture at first. I always recommend against relying on a smooth switch to THK on a vacation or the like without first familiarizing the dog with it.

(My dogs salivate now when they smell it rehydrating, but only one loved it at first taste.)

Whatever you decide on (there are some excellent canned foods, and they wouldn't require a vet tech remembering to rehydrate THK), you will want to start the food at home.

BTW, not sure of the size or staffing of the hospital, but I recommend that you do all you can to make it easy for the staff to feed what you want your dog to eat. I would let the vet know, I'd get in in a tag on the outside and inside of her chart (file), I'd try like heck to get the size of container for one meal, and so on.

For example, you might find a good canned food and run into a choice between cans that are bigger and might last for one meal plus (or even two meals) OR cans that are not only exactly one meal, but also maybe pop-top. You might have a small box clearly labelled with her name and have those right-size cans in it, plus a bunch of disposable spoons to scoop it out with. If I settled on THK, I'd probably have it all redydrated in containers for exactly one meal each, done on the day I dropped her off and marked with her name AND "refrigerate." (Again, canned might be the best bet, but you can feel out the staff; if they look blank or sound a little glib when you bring up supplying the food yourself, then maybe simplest is best.)

IOW, the easier you can make it for staff not to just skip it and give the waiting-room food that they are giving most of the dogs, the better.

And I'd add that IMO, it's worth the trouble to ensure her getting good food (that she's used to and likes, too).

JMO!

That, too. I'd probably rehydrate it myself, package it, and only leave refrigeration and serving up to them.

I think it would be fine for 2 days? Can anyone confirm THK shelf life after rehydration as long as its in the fridge?

I've kept it refrigerated for over two days. I'd feel totally comfortable with that.

And then of course a fresh batch could be brought in.



From their site:

"Once re-hydrated, any leftovers should be treated like raw food and refrigerated or discarded."

Matt, which do you have? Force? I'm not sure whether you already have the THK, and if not, to be sure not to accidentally get the one (there's only one) with no meat, that HAS to be mixed with the protein and is not a complete food on its own (Preference).

I'd consider two days to be a very conservative safe period (under refrigeration) for most food, including raw meat.

Hi guys - yeah she's used to HK though she hasn't had it in several weeks now. I like your idea about having it pre-hydrated for them. If I remember correctly, when my mom's dog was in there for 2 weeks after his spinal cord surgery, they were pretty good about feeding what she wanted them to feed, though she was there most days and could take fresh food for them.

Any suggestions on which flavor? Maybe "love" since it has the highest protein, and then I could supplement it with some scrambled eggs and cottage cheese? She doesn't eat much canned food so I think that's more likely to cause her a belly ache (and gas!)

Love is beef, right? I would give whichever one she has eaten and liked before.

By the way, it is complete on its own, but scrambled eggs are a good protein add-in. The most important thing, I think, is to have the food with the add-ins be one she's completely used to and has good poops with.

Cottage cheese isn't well tolerated by all dogs, but if your dog does well with it and tolerates it well, then the unsalted version is fine. (Regular is very high in sodium.)

HI Connie - yeah the "Love" is the new beef one. She's liked all the kinds she's tried, but I want to stay away from the ones with carbs and it seems like the Embark gave her gas.

If you're interested in a simple way to add in protien, I know that Wellness makes agreat mixer/topper line - it's grain free canned meat. It's not a complete diet, but you'll be adding it to THK so I think it would work out fine for a simple way to get her some extra protien while she's recovering

Scroll to the bottom of the page -

http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/recipes.aspx?pet=dog&ft=2

I just went and got some - thanks for the info!

Wouldn't you know it - I forgot to leave the cans of food today when I dropped her off! They've got her Honest Kitchen though, and chicken treats, so I'm sure she won't starve.

So far so good with the surgery. Apparently it went well today. He took out one lobe of the liver and her recovery seems to be going ok at this point. I'll pick her up on Sat and learn more then. And next week we should get the results of the tumor analysis back from the lab.