Rotten dogs and herbal remedies

Those two things don't really have to do with each other. I'm just annoyed slash pissed off slash worried sick about River. She raided the bathroom trash can this morning. She may have eaten some tampons (gross). Or maybe not. Too late to induce vomiting, so we shall see what, if anything, comes out the other end. She makes me want to pull out my hair. I'll spare you the photo.

So two things happened with her. One, she got an Adequan shot about 10 days ago, so it should still be going good in her system, and two, her Herbsmith Soothe Joints ran out late last week. I decided to just wait and see how she's feeling without it. It's cheap enough that I'll keep giving it to her if it works, but expensive enough that I don't want to feed it unnecessarily.

I've noticed some creakiness, less enthusiasm to come upstairs, and she seems to be holder her head down a little more than she was recently. So while she feels good enough to get into trouble, I think the Soothe Joints was helping her after all. I guess I will go ahead and spend the money on the big canister. 

I mentioned several posts back that some interesting things were going on with Robin.


First, I want to brag on her success. Robin is extremely fearful of strange people. After many years of counter-conditioning (using clicker training) and some agility for confidence classes, we had a gorgeous, successful walk at the park this week. With people! Pushing strollers!! And children!!! I'm so proud of her.

Now onto the less fun stuff. She had some strange bowel upset recently. Not sure what she got into, but it involved some bloody stool and vomiting, which are fairly unlike her.

When these things happen, we always go back to basics-- super bland meat and bone, in Robin's case, chicken. And good quality probiotics.

That seemed to do the trick.

I know I've discussed her ongoing problems with UTIs. I had recently noticed that she dripped on occasion, but it wasn't enough for me to move to using Proin. Proin is basically Dexatrim, so it's not exactly my first choice for her if I can figure out something else. I ended up doing nothing, as it was really just a few drips here and there.

I did notice, however, that the dripping was causing her to lick herself a LOT. I think this may be the cause for continued UTIs over the years. Switching to raw reduced the frequency, and it nearly eliminated the crystal issue. But her dripping became more persistent, until it was finally puddles.

Poor girl was finding herself in little puddles on the bed.

My old guy Simon had old age incontinence, possibly brought on by some neurological problems and spinal arthritis. But I used a number of natural herbs to help him-- a blend made by NaturVet (Senior Bladder Support) and things like saw palmetto and corn silk to encourage complete bladder emptying. These things worked very well for a long time.

Now, spay incontinence, which is likely what Robin's issue is, is a hormonal issue. But I figured these herbs were worth a shot. Some folks treat it with soy isoflavones, and the bladder blend I'm giving her currently includes soy (I ran out and couldn't pick up more right away).

Still, even before that addition, it worked. I haven't been dealing with puddles and the dripping is pretty nonexistent. it may be that she needs the prescription stuff some day, but the later we have to deal with that, the better.

Andre has just this week been introduced to plain pork. He's been eating hearts and organ for a while now, but I cleaned out the freezer and found some old freezer-burned chops that I'd bought for us and he seems to have handled it like a champ. Normally, I'd say that most grocery store pork is pumped full of sodium and so not appropriate, but this was not the entirety of his meals-- he got organs, heart and turkey necks, none of which are enhanced with sodium, so I figure it shakes out in the end. No one at my house reacts badly to a little extra salt, and so the occasional inclusion is ok for us. Not to mention, I hate to see meat go to waste. I'll use it whenever I can!

And on that note, now that agility is over for Luna (did I mention she's a freakin' ROCK STAR???) Robin and Luna are turning their attention to the World Cup semis this afternoon. Who are you rooting for?

 

Supplement updates, etc.

Not much to report on Dre these days (thankfully...). Appetite is as, erm... voracious as ever.

Biggest problem we have right now is that he's discovered the plum trees and wants to eat them all. Thankfully he doesn't crunch the pits (inside is where the toxins are), but unsurprisingly they agitate his system, so he's being closely monitored.

As for River's hip, we have been continuing Adequan and she has been on the Herbsmith for several weeks now. And I do think it's helping her. I'm ready to dive into a big bulk canister of the stuff now. And once she runs out of Glycoflex, we may try Herbsmith's glucosamine supplement.

She is springy and spry and spending much more time upstairs with us.

Luna's yeasty paws seem to be continuing to do well with the spirulina and no chicken; I've faded out the Zyrtec for her and for Robin, so we will see how that goes.

Onward and upward.

What do you do with a hinky hip?

People always ask me how old River is. She's somewhere between 9 and 10. She was an owner surrender in April of 2009, and her age was listed as 4.

She's still excitable and feisty when we go out, and she doesn't have her grey face yet-- just a slight peppering of white hairs on her muzzle that you can see if you look very closely. She's still silly and pretty and giving us all hell. It is her life's work.

But we've noticed some slowing down. Some excess shedding. Some pain. She goes up the stairs quickly, but with a hop, and comes down a little cock-eyed. So we started the Adequan a few months ago, and I think it's helping her. 

We noticed yesterday that she cried much of the way down the stairs, though. I noticed a lot of resistance when I tried to manipulate one of her rear legs. So off to the vet we went. 

We did the first set of xrays that she's had in a couple of years. And this time, there was some arthritis visible in her hips and knees. It clearly hurt her to flex the hip for xray, so we didn't opt to take a second film that would show a little more. 

I had already been considering trying out Herbsmith's Soothe Joint as extra support to add to the glucosamine. It's a Traditional Chinese Medicine herbal blend. I jokingly mentioned to the vet that I know I'm a fruitloop, but I'm thinking of trying it out. She did not laugh. 

In fact, she told me about some success she has been having with her own ailments using a Chinese herb in tea form. And then she asked me how I felt about NSAIDs instead of just prescribing them and moving on. It made me really appreciate the relationship we've developed with our vets-- particularly this vet who seemed the most skeptical of our move to raw to help Robin's crystals. 

So River currently takes Glycoflex III, but I think Dasuquin works a bit better, and so when we run out of the Glycoflex, we'll switch back. She gets salmon oil, so we'll boost that and carry on. I have the Rimadyl on hand for rough days, as needed, but we'll likely look for a gentler solution. And she's really not going to like this one... I really think I need to reduce her food just a bit again. 

But she WILL like this one: we'll need to take more walks to work off this last 5lbs that she needs to lose. 

In the meantime, Andre continues to do well with beef, turkey and pork at home. He and Luna switched to an all-in-one probiotic/enzyme powder.

And Luna's nails are growing back yeast-free. We have put her on Animal Essentials Green Alternative, and so far so good. Her skin and coat look better, too. I think this is taking the place of her kelp nicely.

And a few interesting things going on with Robin, but I'll address those in a separate post. :)

New Ailments and Updates

That's perhaps a bit misleading. These aren't new ailments. More like a new perspective on existing ailments.

But first, the good news. Andre has been successfully moved to a homemade diet of ground turkey necks and legs, beef heart, beef tripe, beef trim, pork heart, and a variety of pork and beef organs. It takes the cost down from $3/lb for premade to more like $1.65/lb. I can live with that. Huzzah!

The only thing I've seen is a few lbs lost, but I think that's due more to the summer burn. We've upped his rations by a couple of ounces.

But this little nugget. This is my itchy girl.

Such a big day. Scratching is exhausting.

Her itchiness is miles better than it was when we found her a few years ago. We've had her on benadryl, then claritin, and now zyrtec. We've removed chicken from her diet, and the itchiness seemed to improve a tiny bit. She stays pretty well grain free (save the odd treat from the people in the drive thru).

About 6 months ago, she was diagnosed with a low thyroid. Twice daily Soloxine has done a lot for her. Her whole attitude and demeanor have improved. Her fur feels better. Her muscle tone has returned after she had become fairly suddenly flabby.

But she still licks her feet. Because of the thyroid, I give very little kelp, which I think was previously helping her allergies. And recently, her left rear paw has had a lot of cracked and split nails. Like all of them. She tore a paw pad on her front right foot. And was stung by something on her front left foot. And we just got back to agility, so the timing COULDN'T BE BETTER.

And she's had some itchy ears lately, as well.

We discussed all this with her vet. He felt like her rear paw definitely had a major overgrowth of yeast, and possibly a bacterial infection, and that this was likely making her nails brittle. Makes perfect sense. We are currently treating the infections.

Now, I had always assumed these were allergies. But something in the back of my mind popped up and I recalled reading that hypothyroid dogs frequently have chronic and/or systemic yeast infections as a symptom.

Maybe... just maybe this is what we've had all along. Not allergies per se, but overgrowth of yeast due to low thyroid. It's improved, not because we removed chicken, but because her hormones are leveling out finally. But it's systemic and I've pared her diet down so much that her body's flora just isn't balancing.

So we are on a major gut flora refresh. She'll complete the antibiotic treatment and antifungal treatment. Meanwhile, I'll continue her on probiotics, increase the amount and frequency of kefir, and add in some other things that are known combatants of yeast or are immune supporters: coconut oil (we started slacking on this one), spirulina (since we do very little kelp), nettle, MSM. I'll be trying out Animal Essentials Green Alternative, which contains several of those herbs. And we are tapering off the zyrtec.

Then maybe I'll begin reintroducing chicken.

Anyway, fingers crossed. Puts a whole new spin on her itchies.

Zombie Wednesday

And I will be its mascot.

He was doing so well. I think Andre even let me sleep past 6  Monday morning.

I had scaled back is homemade food-- 6oz/ Bravo and 4oz/ homemade and we added kefir back in on Friday. He was getting much better and letting me sleep later and later. I increased the homemade portion of his meals yesterday by one ounce. ONE OUNCE. Surely that's not the cause of him waking me up every 15-30 minutes starting at around 1:45, after a midnight potty break. Surely that's not it... Right? Ugh. He got play time yesterday. He was crated for a while, but this has never been an issue.

I can only see two ways that the food change might be the cause. One is that it's upsetting his stomach and it's making him antsy. That's not unheard of for him.

The other reason might be the fact that my homemade blend is basically very, very low carb. I add a spoon of pumpkin but that's it. Bravo has quite a bit of veggies. Perhaps he will need less of the homemade once he's totally transitioned. Too much energy from too much food? Is that crazy?

I'm gonna power through. Keep trying the homemade at 5 ounces. Maybe reduce the amount of Bravo so he's getting fewer calories overall.

Lord I'm tired. It's gonna be another loooong day.

When sleeping dogs won't lie...

Honestly.

This damn dog. Sleeping peacefully now...

Wasn't so serene at 2:20 this morning. Or 3. Or at 4:20.

He finally wore me down sometime after 4:30.

I don't know if it's the diet change, or the fact that we've been busier lately, or if he's just decided that snuggled up by himself on the couch with me is the place to be. I don't know. But who could say no to this face?

Actually, me. I can. It's the non-stop licking, mouthing and jumping on my face that I can't say no to.

All I know is I will need extra coffee, and it's going to be a long day.

Speaking of diet change, we made a pretty swift jump from Bravo to half turkey thighs, beef hearts, and beef kidneys. He's been getting about 2/3 homemade, and a few ounces of Bravo.

However, he's a wild child lately; he's taking FOREVER to decide to poop in the mornings or evenings. And he seems more interested in the other dogs' poop lately.

I'm hoping this is a combination of our busy schedule, less filler (so less voluminous and less frequent poop), and a slightly too swift transition. I'm going to back up and move a bit slower. Plus, I have 30lbs of pork hearts to contend with this weekend, 10lbs of pork liver, some beef liver... A whole lot.

On top of all this, we've put Luna on a chicken-less diet, as well, to see if her allergies ease up. She was on the lamb Taste of the Wild as a puppy, but has had chicken in her diet ever since. Here's hoping...

New year, new foods

In looking back on 2013 and forward to 2014, one thing is clear. Andre has been very adventurous.

No, he didn't get any New Year's Day mimosas. Or cinnamon rolls. Or coffee.

But he did try a lot of new foods, some were good, some were bad. We've detailed most of the bad here. But we've had some successes lately.

He got to have a bite of duck on Christmas day.

The big guy handled turkey necks with drumstick meat very well. So we tried Texas Tripe's turkey/pork blend (ground drumsticks with pork hearts and liver), and after an initial disappointment, we tried transitioning very slowly, and adding veggies (but not too many) to better mimic what Bravo does.

And since that was a success, we tried a beef organ blend from Texas Tripe. Beef liver, spleen, kidney... maybe some other stuff? He has had an ounce of that with each meal for 4 days. All good.

This morning, we started plain ground beef. Grain-fed, but local and otherwise antibiotic/hormone free. So we are starting with 1-1.5 ounces per meal and we'll go for 3-4 days before increasing the amount. Here's hoping!

Apparently, at some point, he ate a plastic bag. It was my super surprise on New Year's Eve. Happy new year to me.

We also added better probiotics-- Jarrow's Pet Dopholus.

All in all, Andre has been with us a little over a year now. He's had 3 surgeries, been through countless foods and supplements. But we ultimately found things that work and he has gained a whopping 20 lbs. FINALLY. He's huge.

So let's do this, 2014. I have high hopes for variety in Andre's future.

Food sensitivities: Why are they so complicated?

You all already know my conundrum.

Andre only eats turkey Bravo and it's god awfully expensive.

Thing is, EVERY time I try to change up his food AT ALL, he has an episode. Some episodes are worse than others-- vomiting, listlessness, etc. Lately, they are more of the occasional vomiting of bile and trying to eat inappropriate things. Like the other dogs' poop.

Lately, we've been trying to transition over to a blend that is turkey drumsticks (ground) and pork heart and liver. After several days, we saw the same things we were seeing when we hoped it was cottage cheese or lack of probiotics. It's nothing drastic. He still seems happy and healthy (not the scary listlessness) and he does a lot of this:

It's just really frustrating. And strangest of all, his poop is almost always perfect. So I have to base everything I'm doing on how desperately he's eating poop and leaves.

I'm going to take 2 approaches. One is to move much more slowly-- replace 2 ounces at a time, and spend several DAYS at each level instead of several meals. I will also be adding more veggies. Bravo includes broccoli, yams, and green beans. And I think the new blend is bonier than Bravo (it's also got too much liver to be his sole food source, but I'd be happy if I could get it to where it makes up half his meals.

We don't tend to add many veggies. A nice blend of organ meats and a variety of proteins takes care of most of their veggies, and my girls tend to do better with less vegetable fiber in their diets.

And the 3rd approach, for later, will be to start trying beef.

I would LOVE to hear from others who have tried to broaden a sensitive dog's culinary horizons. What helped and didn't, where did you make compromises?

This is simply crazy.

Andre update: Little critters

I'm amazed at the power of probiotics over and over again.

Somebody seems to be feeling better. 

No more cottage cheese. Added probiotics. He has regulated and isn't constantly trying to eat poop and leaves. 

I can't believe I haven't gone back to probiotics while changing up his food. I used to do that always. Too many irons in the fire these days...

Guess I'll go back to testing new foods!

Obey the probiotics: how to make your own yogurt

Well, folks. We may have a couple of setbacks.

On the one hand, Andre seemed to handle turkey necks and drumstick meat quite well. Then we took a few days' break and tried a blend of ground drumsticks, pork hearts and pork liver. He did ok with this, too, if slightly gassy. We only did this for a few days.

First issue is that unenhanced turkey is hard to get, so DIY will be tougher, but the blend is cheaper than Bravo.

Now, he's been slightly off, has lost a couple of pounds, I think, and has started trying to eat the other dogs' poop again. It's been many months since that was a problem. One change that might be to blame is that I've been out of yogurt quite a bit the last month, so he's had a lot of cottage cheese in his kongs. The only probiotic that he currently gets is the small amount in Missing Link. I'm hoping that the cottage cheese and/or the lack of probiotic is the problem. Until I can get some keffir, he will get more yogurt in his kongs and a powder probiotic-- we're giving 21st Century a shot (from Petsmart).

In the meantime, I thought now would be a good time for yogurt making instructions. With 4 dogs who get frozen kongs several days a week, and humans who like to cook Indian food, making your own yogurt is super economical. It also gives you lots of control over the texture, consistency, and sourcing of your milk. 

1. Equipment

We use a yogurt maker. It's not required, but it's not expensive and makes life a little easier. It pays for itself pretty quickly. This is a Eurocuisine model with a timer. It was maybe $30 or less and simplifies the final step of the process. It came with 7 little 6oz cups, but one big bowl of plain makes more sense for us. This model is one big open space, so you're only limited to the size that will fit under the lid. We use a 7 cup glass Pyrex container.

2. Cleaning

First things first: sterilize your container. Yes, that poor kettle was left on the stove a little too long one afternoon... And this is in our old house, so those of you who know me will know these are old pics. Anyway, I boil a kettle full of water...

...and pour it into the container. It can sit there sterilizing while I get the rest of it going.

3. Ingredients

For this batch, I have 42 ounces of organic 2%. It's ultrapasteurized, and I hear that makes for lesser yogurt. I haven't noticed, but I hope to try with local milk at some point. Also, full fat is going to be automatically creamier, but since this batch will be used for all of us in the house, I don't want the full fat. You will also need some plain yogurt as a starter culture. If I have some of my yogurt, I use that, but I just buy a single small container of plain at the store to get started.

4. The heat

I bring the water to 185 degrees-- this sterilizes the milk one more time and apparently does something to break down the whey. It's unnecessary (we never did this when I was a kid and made yogurt), but I think it probably speeds up the process and supposedly makes for creamier yogurt.

I like to keep it at 185 for 10 minutes. I didn't always do this, so obviously it's unnecessary. I keep it on medium high until I hit 180 and then turned it to low for the next 10 minutes. Some folks use a double boiler, some keep it at 180-185 for 30 minutes. I just do 10 minutes and I definitely noticed an improvement in the results- firmer yogurt with less whey.

5. The cool down

You can next turn off the heat and wait for it to go down to below 120 degrees... Or you can put it in a nice bath to speed up the process. I've always done the ice bath. I'm impatient that way.

6. The culture

While the milk was heating, I put 5-6 ounces of plain yogurt into my measuring container. Use any plain yogurt or you can buy starters at most health food stores.

Now that the milk is cool, pour some of that milk into the measuring cup with your starter and whisk lightly. 

Then pour it back into the warm milk and stir it lightly. 

7. The wait

Empty the sterilizing bowl, place it in the machine, and pour up the milk.

For full fat milk, I usually set it for 8-10 hours. This is 2%, so I'm giving it 11-12 hours. After it's done, chill it. If it's still not thick enough, it can be strained in a cheese cloth or in a colander lined with coffee filters. Save the whey, though-- it makes a great substitute for buttermilk in baking and can be used to add extra protein to smoothies, especially those that you'd rather not use yogurt in. 

You can also reserve a cup of this yogurt for your next batch. :)

If you don't want to spring for a machine, just know that the important thing is to keep it around 110degrees while it's culturing. Some folks use water baths in crock pots or keeping it in thermal containers, in warm ovens. Whatever works for you. For the $20-$30 the machine costs, it was worth not having to deal with that stuff. 

A dog, a grinder, a plan

Apologies for abandoning the blog. Life's been a little nutty. Vacation, hypothyroid, moving... Just... a lot.

When we all try very hard, these three can be such
patient little customers. They want to know, though,
why I'm taking pictures and not finishing dinner. 

My next post was going to be about equipment, and I'm actually glad I've held off. We are probably going back to grinding at least some of the meals. I'd love to get out of debt, and while recently time had been more valuable than money, that's changing. :) I got a great deal on buying 100lbs of a pre-made grind (beef trim, liver and tripe with chicken frames, hearts and liver) for $1.65/lb. I can use this for morning meals when I'm in a hurry. Our evening meals can be chicken thighs and other organs, hearts and gizzards. This should get us to around $1.30/lb. If I go back to chicken leg quarters, I can get it closer to ~$1.10/lb if I need to cut costs even further.

And Andre's Bravo is now $3/lb, even when I buy with a case discount, so I'm revisiting the prospect of making his food. Even a mid-range home grinder will not handle turkey, so we'll have to purchase a commercial grinder to do that, and I'll go through our decision process on that. I may get one anyway to up the speed on processing day-- if I can make Andre's food by buying lots of Thanksgiving turkeys and grinding them myself, it will pay for itself quickly. If I use it to do a lot of grinding with the chicken thighs/legs, it will pay for itself, too, just less quickly. I love the grinder we have and it was perfectly reasonable when I was grinding for 2 dogs. Three or even four dogs, and using a grinder that small and slow, means I never want to do it and it's easier for me to be lazy.

We've also discovered that Luna has some thyroid issues, and I am still working out what I need to be doing for her dietarily-- will post on that sometime soon, too.

Let me begin by saying that Andre is 60+lbs-- up from a low of 41 or 42. He's energetic, happy, and he's had only mild flare-ups in recent months. Nothing major at all. And he starts intermediate obedience classes in January. We've done his basics at home, but it's time for him to work around new people and dogs. And learn not to obsess over toys.

Park is Hell. All those tennis balls
behind the fence...

He couldn't handle the salmon oil for his omegas, so he gets Missing Link vegetarian formula, which is primarily flaxseed plus a little kelp. He's tolerating that very, very well.

He also can tolerate coconut oil well.

My first step here is to see if Andre can handle grocery store turkey, including dark meat. I bought some ground turkey necks from our supplier and a tray of turkey drumsticks. Both meals on Sunday and Monday morning, he had 2 ounces of his 10 replaced with 25% necks and 75% drumstick meat cut up with poultry shears. Tonight he got 4 ounces replaced; tomorrow morning I'll give him a break and do all Bravo. If we can get to 50-75% of his meals homemade, we'll be in great shape. I'll need to add in some veggies.

Next step will be to try some different (not chicken) proteins. Turkey livers/hearts/gizzards are hard to find in bulk. So I'll try beef and pork hearts and livers, kidneys, sweetbreads and see if he can handle the organ meats from them. Our supplier also makes a turkey drumstick/pork liver blend at $2/lb that we could perhaps try for his morning meals.

We can't sustainably pay these prices for Andre's food if it's going to stay more than twice as much as the others'. That said, it's still cheaper and easier than having him constantly having problems, having surgical procedures, constantly trying new foods... We'll keep going til we find something more workable. Hopefully that will be soon...

Andre update: Changing it up

Now, while I think that I will eventually need to address the B12 issue, the fact remains that Dre is gaining weight. That's right. Big Guy is up to 54lbs. That's from an all-time low of 41 after surgery. I think he's looking pretty good.

Seeing ribs on my bullies with their short coats, super muscle tone, and athletic builds is one thing; seeing them on a longer short-coat like Dre is another. We could also see his hip bones at one point. He wasn't even fun to snuggle with. Now you can see some tuck, but it's not overly tight. I'm pretty happy with his body condition right now.

That said, I wanted to document what we've done this week that's different.

On Wednesday, he threw up twice. I decided that we might need stronger probiotics than the yogurt and whatever is in the Missing Link. So we're adding kefir to his diet. Kefir is like a cousin to yogurt, but it's much more potent in terms of its probiotic qualities. If this continues to seem useful, I'll take up an offer from a friend to get some of her kefir grains to culture my own. We usually make our own yogurt, but this is a much simpler process.

We have also been substituting a few ounces of turkey with a packet of ground lamb that I picked up last week at the abattoir. So far so good. The turkey Bravo that he's been eating has gone up in price (as of today) to about $2.75/lb. when it costs more to feed one of the dogs than one of the humans, it's time to reevaluate. If it's what we need to do, we will. But I think it's time to start trying out some other things. I'd like to try slowly adding some heart, both beef and chicken, maybe gizzards, and chicken frames, particularly the chicken blend I buy at the farmers market, as it looks to be very low fat. 

His problems seemed to arise when given salmon oil or chicken legs-- fatty cuts of chicken. He did great on chicken breast only. So while hearts can be very rich for some dogs, they are also lean, packed with vitamins, and frankly... cheap. I'd love to reach a point where I can substitute maybe half his turkey with other things, both for the variety and the cost savings.

Andre update: test results

So Big Dre got his test results back today. 

He does not have EPI and his folate levels are good. His cobalamin (B12) is "low normal." ETa: B12 deficiencies seem to manifest in the form of GI trouble or it is a symptom of GI trouble, I'm not entirely clear. But this seems unsurprising all the way around. 

So the good news is that he does not have a disease that would have required us to incubate porcine pancreas on every bite of his food. 

The bad news is that we still aren't sure exactly what IS wrong with him...

Except that he is missing the part of his small intestines that normally absorbs B12. The lab where his tests were run at Texas A&M (yay Aggies? Oh. That felt weird...) recommends B12 supplementation for low normal results. I saw this after speaking to the vet. We left it at continuing to watch and see. He's not losing weight so that's good. I started him on the vegetarian Missing Link to get his omegas and probiotics. We'll see if he tolerates that better than the salmon oil. 

But I will be speaking to the vet more about B12 supps. The thing is, although it is water soluble and so overdose is pretty impossible, oral supplements don't work all that well. I could give them to him and see if he's one of the lucky ones that they do work for, but if that part of his intestine is gone, then what's the point? Injections work better, I'm told. The body has a limited store of B12 and if he's not absorbing it, he's using what he has and not replenishing it and, well, it's kind of important. 

Anyone out there with experience on this sort of thing, your input is welcome. Otherwise, I'll update when I know more and as we continue with the Missing Link. 

The Nitty Gritty: Supplements

Don't get scared. I don't use all of those all the time.

Ideally, if you can offer lots and lots of variety, you probably won't have to worry too much about supplementation. But I'm always a little worried that I'm not giving them everything, and sometimes they need a little boost here and there for various reasons. Here is Mary Strauss's DogAware page on supplements for dogs.

**One quick note-- when buying supplements designed for humans, read the ingredients carefully. Many tablets or caplets will contain things like xylitol and other artificial sweeteners that may be toxic for your dog. Always be aware of what you're giving them, especially when they are not specifically designed for dogs.**

Fish Oil
Minimally, when feeding a raw diet, you'll want to make sure that they're getting the right Omega 3s and 6s. These fatty acids support skin and coat, eye health and brain development in young puppies, immune system health, decreased inflammation, and lots of other things. Fish body oils have these omegas in the right ratios and are a very bioavailable way for dogs to receive these nutrients. We give capsules of human grade Alaskan salmon oil a few times a week in addition to one meal a week where I take the lowest sodium cans of salmon and mackerel and split a single can of each between the 3 girls. I make up the rest of the meal with cottage cheese, eggs, and sometimes yogurt, keffir, or vegetables.

If you're wanting to feed raw fish, there are some that can be fed, but salmon and trout carry the potential for a fatal disease, so we just stick with cooked.

Vitamin E-- this is also important to supplement with when feeding fish oils. The body needs vitamin E to absorb these oils, and so the body's store of E can be depleted. We do roughly 1-2iu of E per pound, and I add that by giving 200iu every 2-3 days (my dogs range in weight from 45lbs-60lbs).

If fish oils aren't a possibility, there are plants that contain these same fatty acids. They are not as bioavailable or as conveniently packaged together as they are in fish oils. The correct ratio depends on who you talk to, and ranges from 5:1 to 20:1 (omega3:omega6). This is not something I've had to really confront, but now will need to because of Andre. It's clear that he is not tolerating the salmon oil, and so I will be trying flax, perhaps with some other oils or meals. Which brings me to my next supplements...

Multipurpose Supplements
When I began feeding raw, I rotated between 2 different blends: Missing Link (we will try the vegetarian blend with Dre) and Solid Gold Seameal.

Missing Link is mostly good for getting those omega 3/6/9s and some other vitamins and minerals, and it uses a more "whole food" approach-- in other words, giving them what they need without adding lots of synthetic vitamins.

The Seameal is great for probiotic help and for trace minerals-- lots of little things they might not be getting elsewhere.

I would rotate between these 2 brands. And if I wasn't able to add a lot of variety immediately, I'd probably also add in a multivitamin. This may become necessary for Andre, as well, so I'll touch on that if we have to make some decisions that direction.

Once I got more variety going, and was adding in more fish for the omegas, I switched to adding...

Kelp
Kelp is great for so many things. It has all those great trace minerals. We have found that it helps with allergies and digestion. It's also good for glandular health. That said, you should be careful with dosing. Because kelp can be high in iodine (and that iodine level is certainly not uniform for all brands of kelp), adding it to a commercial diet can be problematic in regards to the thyroid. Dr. Jean Dodds has written a great book about canine hypothyroidism and is worth a read on this topic. Since we aren't feeding a primarily commercial diet, we add it to the food, approximately 1/2tsp a day. I buy it in bulk at the co-op. Because it is such a fine powder, it lasts a long time, and even at $15/lb, it's not very expensive on a daily basis.

We have also been taking some of the Pet Kelp line of blends for a spin. River has been taking the Joint and Bone blend, and Andre has been getting the Wellness with blueberries. I can't say for sure whether they are helping or not, but the price point is good and so it's been worth a try. I'll report after we use them for a while longer.


**Those are the ones that I personally see as truly essential. They are the ones that I provide to really make up for what the diet is missing. But there are several things that I add on a case-by-case basis or as "bonus."**


Coconut Oil
We love coconut oil. It's such a great addition to their diet. It has helped with allergies tremendously and has improved their skin and coat qualities immeasurably. As I discussed before, Luna used to have a terrible flea allergy, and really is allergic to everything. She now has only very mild reactions to bites and her allergic reactions clear up very quickly, and usually without the use of antibiotics, etc.

And the better their coat and skin quality, the less frequently we treat for fleas. Fleas don't really like healthy skin; broken skin is easier to infiltrate, so the reduction in fleas was a nice surprising bonus for us.

It's good for digestion, immunity, skin; it can be used topically. It's a medium chain fat and so it's processed differently by the body and has no cholesterol. It's just amazing stuff.

We buy it on a subscription from Amazon. It's solid below 76ºF, a bit like the consistency of candle wax. I just start a dog off with a very small amount, maybe 1/4tsp, and slowly increase that until they are getting a small spoon of it once a day. We increase and decrease this as necessary.

Probiotics/Digestive Enzymes
We stuff Kongs with yogurt (when I have time, I prefer to make my own) and we use keffir when I need to get a dog's gut back to good (after a round of antibiotics, etc.). I have also used a variety of doggie probiotics, and I can't really endorse one over another. They seem to work about the same.

I have found that often the dog needs digestive enzymes, rather than probiotics-- In Clover Fresh Digest is the one that we've found and like. I like the company, and while the product may look pricey, we buy it cheaper on Amazon and you use very little of it per meal. It's also a very fine powder and somewhat sweet, so it tends to be pretty easy to administer. It tends to make a big difference in stool quality and flatulence. Andre gets this at every meal; the rest get it when needed, after antibiotics or when adding in a brand new protein or changing foods or they received an abundance of treats, etc...

Cranberry
My girls who are prone to UTIs get cranberry capsules. Cranberry doesn't so much cure UTIs as make it more difficult for bacteria to take hold in the bladder. Same as for people. I just use CranActin capsules, just one day. I also occasionally give d-mannose specifically.

Glucosamine/Chondroitin/MSM
River and Robin are the two oldest, and they get joint supplements. River gets the Pet Kelp, as well as Dasuquin with MSM; Robin gets Dasuquin, though she'd probably be fine with something a little less robust. When River's having a hard time, we increase her fish oil and MSM, as these two help with joint inflammation, as well. Nutramax, who makes Dasuquin, is also the same company that has made Cosequin for many years. Their process is supposedly better than others. The Dasuquin is much like the Cosequin, but it contains avocado soybean unsaponifiables (ASUs), which are extracts that are supposed to help with the inflammation. We've felt like it's helped better than almost any brand we've tried. But there are many other brands-- Glycoflex is another good one, and we've like the Green Dog Naturals Healthy Motion.

L-Theanine
This is one that I take, and that my girls with anxiety take. It's an amino acid that just helps to level things out. It's marketed for dogs under the name Anxitane. I buy Enzymatic Therapies for people and we all share. This is one, though, that you should talk to your vet about if you want to add it.

Bonemeal
And when we have to go a while (like more than several days) without bone-in meals, I add bonemeal to the diet to make sure they are getting all their calcium. Here's some more information on how much bonemeal to add...


So that's a long post-- and I have used other supplements at various times for various things, from incontinence to anal gland issues. I'll touch on those as I have time. But these are what we regularly feed. Again, I'd say the fish oil and kelp are the only things that we add across the board and that I feel are quite necessary; I have long considered the addition of spirulina and alfalfa and will make note of that if I do make that change. But the others serve a great purpose for us and we tailor these to each dog. One of the great things about a home-prepped diet is the ability to tailor it as we see fit. And again, just like supplements for people, you should let your vet know about these things when they are prescribing medications or diagnosing problems.

Dre's July update

Poor Dre Dog.

After trying and failing to add salmon oil, TWICE, I went back to just turkey. I've been a little lax about treats, but other than that, his diet's been pretty straightforward. He threw up bile right before the first time we tried salmon, threw up food on day 3 of that, hacked and threw up bile with the second round, and threw up yard waste yesterday. After yesterday's episode, he really didn't feel well. He moped around the house and laid on my feet.

He started to feel better when his friend
came to see what was going on.

Anyway, we decided it was time to rule out bigger problems. We are concerned that he might have a pancreatic problem. Our vet still feels like all signs point to dietary intolerance, but we want to make sure it's not something more fundamental. I want to make sure we don't keep assuming the hoofprints belong to a horse when in fact the zebras made a break from the zoo, ya know?

I didn't allow him any treats since I knew he'd be getting a blood draw and wanted to be sure he'd been fasted long enough. God bless, he was not happy. I usually use vet visits as training opportunities. So when we showed up there and he got NO TREATS-- not form me, not from the front desk, not from the techs, not from the doc, AND HE COULD SEE THEM RIGHT THERE-- he wasn't thrilled. He barked.  A lot.

But he was nice and still and quiet for his draw, which is really what counts. His sample will be sent to Texas A&M's lab for EPI testing. The good news is that he still seems to be handling raw well. I hope he continues to do so.

I'll report back when we have results...

The poop factor

Before I forget to point this out... Don't worry. This post isn't illustrated. (though, maybe an illustrated poop guide would be a good idea... ;-) )

Because of Andre's issues, I always make sure he has a bowel movement in the mornings before I leave the house. When he went this morning, it was... well... a lot. And it was, er... moist. And really, really stinky. I mean, it was voluminous. That's the only way I can describe it.

I was shocked. Until I remembered the insane number of store-bought, non-grain-free treats that he ate this weekend. He went to the farmers market with me. He went to Petco with me. He rode in the car. We trained in the yard. And I lazily didn't boil any turkey. So he got bagged treats.

And this reminded me of one of the biggest reasons that I love raw. Aside from all the health benefits we see in our dogs, their poop is spectacular. I mean really.

It is small-- more nutrient dense food, more digestible, more useable means less waste.

It is dry and quite firm. Again, there's just not a lot of waste and there's not a lot of fiber sucking up moisture. If it's too dry or too firm, it's easy to add extra organ meat or add some canned pumpkin or other veggies, or reduce the amount of bone to help things along.

And it doesn't stink. If you don't clean up after a kibble-fed dog right away, especially when it's 95 degrees in the shade, the yard gets pretty unbearable pretty quickly. You might also find yourself stepping in it (ew) days later and tracking it everywhere. Raw fed dogs have very low odor bowel movements, and because they're dry and small, they dry up to hard rock then crumbled up status fairly immediately. There's no tracking poop everywhere if you can't clean it up right away. There have been times that I've gone into the yard to catch up on clean up, and can't find anything to pick up.

It's a glorious world of poop. Every time I've had a kibble-fed dog, I'm reminded of just how good we have it...

Rock the boat: Attempt 2

Isn't going so well...

Andre has stabilized well over the last week. So I decided to try the salmon oil again. Two nights ago I added it back to his meals.

Maybe I'm imagining it, but he seems to be trying to eat more crap in the yard and seems to be more ravenous in general. I was going to continue and see what happens...

Until this evening. He was just lying here in bed and started heaving like he would throw up. He didn't, but that's not a good sign. It's been on day 3 or 4 each time I try to do something new. Could also have been related to having had several biscuits, but I doubt it. 

I'm wondering how he'd handle the addition of whole fish to his meals once or twice a week. Since he does ok for a few days with the salmon oil and then he has trouble, as though it has built up in his system-- or like his stomach can only work that hard for so many days in a row, perhaps giving him fish once or twice a week, as we do with the other dogs, would be a better option...

He might get to sleep out of the crate tonight in case he's sick.

Think he's scamming me?

Boat capsizing?

Well, I've been wondering about Andre's behavior for a few days now. He's back to eating every blade of grass that he passes and taking a loooong time to do all his business in the mornings.

These can both be chalked up to two things. One is that the grass is getting tall, and whenever the grass gets tall, they all eat more. 

Also, I've been pressed for time in the mornings, and since he can't be outside unsupervised, as soon as he's finished he comes inside with me. I may very well have trained him that pottying means going back inside. 

However, he just threw up. A full, food filled vomit. No lethargy, nothing weird behaviorally. And he (sorry for the details) ate it after he chucked it, so it wasn't rotten food. When it's been a blockage, he never eats it. 

We've recently added salmon oil back to his diet. He did have the one incidence of bile prior to the salmon oil, but I think that was a one-off. The last time he threw up for real and had liquid diarrhea, it was after we had started to give him salmon oil (and increased the chicken fat in his diet, so we need to isolate what's triggering things). 

Oh yeah. And this morning's stool was mucus covered. We are worming everyone now, so we'll see what happens. 

The plan going forward is to back off the salmon oil, finish the worming treatments, and see if he stabilizes. Another vomiting incident, though, and we go in for testing. I don't want to spend a ton of time figuring this out while he loses weight or is miserable. 

Rock the Boat

Two nights ago, Andre threw up for the first time in a long time. It was just bile, and he has been eating a lot of dead worms (ew). He didn't have the staggering or lethargy or other problems that have accompanied these flare ups in the past.

So considering all that, we decided to begin changing up his food anyway. It's a small change, but a change nonetheless.

Well, I guess that's not the first change...

I changed the kelp that he was getting from just a regular kelp, to Pet Kelp Wellness, which includes flaxseed and blueberries. So far so good.

The change we've made this time was to add salmon oil. I usually give salmon oil in capsules, but the last time we tried to add it to Andre's food, he had a flare-up after a couple of days. We were also adding in more fatty chicken, so no real clue about what the problem really was.

This time, I bought a bottle of liquid with a pump. I'll be adding it in ONCE a day, slowly increasing the frequency and quantity over time. He got half a pump the last two evenings.

This is important because he doesn't get omegas from any other substantial source. This is important and something I need to remedy soon. I'm hopeful that the salmon oil works (it's the most bio-available way, along with actual fish, of him receiving those nutrients), but if it doesn't we'll look at flax in higher quantities.

That said, if it doesn't work, that's one more data point to indicate that he either has an intolerance of salmon oil as well as chicken fat, or it may indicate a problem with higher doses of fats in general.

Regardless, it's all information.

Dre's June Update

Just a quick update on the Big Man.

It's been about a month since we switched over fully to raw turkey Bravo!

At his skinniest, he was roughly 41lbs. He's about 23-24" at the withers, so that is tiny. He's now up to his highest weight yet, fulfilling his lifelong dream of being a 52lb lap dog.

We switched the kibble for his Kongs to Nature's Variety LID Turkey and Wellness Turkey for the wet food in his Kongs.

For crunchy biscuits, we've continued to feed the Natural Balance novel proteins-- duck or bison, usually. For moist treats we're using Wellness Pure Bites, turkey.

He still gets kelp. And we've added a digestive enzyme called In Clover Fresh Digest. This has been our go-to enzyme for years. It makes an immediate difference in stool quality.

Still haven't tried adding in omegas.

Since he's been very stable for over a month on this food, we're ready to start rocking the boat very soon. I'm trying to decide whether that should entail adding in omegas (either salmon oil or flax), or whether I should start trying other proteins. Beef will likely be next.

I would like to make sure that he has several proteins that we can rotate through so that he doesn't develop allergies or aversions to the only one he currently tolerates.

Right now, he gets the Bravo! original grinds-- these require a few supplements, which is why I add the kelp and would like to add salmon oil. But Bravo! does make a "complete" version of most of their foods. I need to investigate which proteins I can get this way locally.

Once I have 2 or 3 proteins that I know he can tolerate well and feel like he has comfortably stabilized, I'll start seeing how he does with chicken-- both higher and lower fat cuts.