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.

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.

Further reasons for raw

Sorry for the lapse here... I've been out of town and tied up in the preparations for going and the return to civilization upon coming home. Finally getting to the nitty gritty of what we actually do/did is coming up... in the meantime, I appear to have left off with our other reason for the switch to raw:

Luna
When we found Luna she was 4months old, or so. Her skin was in such bad shape that I thought she had mange; rather, she was just allergic to everything. Fleas, pollens, you-name-it. And we could never get a solid stool. She had worms, was skinny, had ear infections, and her flea bites ALWAYS turned into pustules and staph infections, so she was constantly on antibiotics. She has a Shar Pei horse coat, and topical flea treatments didn't work on her. Her nails were brittle. She was a hot mess.

Hard to see how patchy she is, but you can see how red and just "off" she looks.

But because we had no idea how big she would get, and I was new to raw, we decided to put her on kibble until she was done growing vertically. I might do things differently in future now that I know more, but I wanted to err on the side of caution.

With growing puppies, the conventional wisdom has always been to make sure that the calcium content of the food is appropriate so that they don't grow too quickly for their bodies to keep up with their bones. We tried premium foods with grains and could never get a solid stool. Upon removing grains, the change was immediate. Solid stool, weight gain. We were good to go. Her skin certainly improved, especially after adding coconut oil and salmon oils to her foods, but she, too, had a UTI and crystals, and her allergies just never quite settled down. She still got staph infections; Benadryl stopped working for her and we switched to Claritin.

When she was nearly a year old, we made the switch. And we haven't looked back. We have only had to treat for fleas a few times in the last few years; when she does get a flea bite, it's a bump, but it's not the end of the world. No drugs required.

People who normally are plagued by the Shar Pei coat comment on how she is the only Pei or Pei/mix that doesn't make them itch. She still makes me itch on occasion, but it's nothing like it was. She's no longer patchy. She remains trim, but healthy and muscular. She generally has solid stool. Her nails are far less brittle (she broke 3 or 4 over the course of about a year, all of which required vet treatment). She is happy, beautiful, and energetic.

When she went for her check-up earlier this year, I made sure I didn't need to put weight on her or anything. No, he told me she was perfect condition, don't change a thing. He said we know what we're doing, so keep doing it. :)

She still struggles with seasonal allergies, but they aren't nearly as problematic as they were.

River
A word on River. We'd initially hoped the change to raw would help with her anal glands, which were needing to be expressed more frequently than I'd have liked. Raw alone didn't help, but other dietary measures did.

That said, raw has decreased her shedding by quite a lot. And because she is now 8 or 9 years old, I went ahead and asked the vet to run blood work for her. And it looked great. :)

We'll do whatever works...

That cute little pink nose.

It used to be black. A total black crust of snot. Birdie wheezed and sneezed and snarffled and snuffled and snotted all. the. time. Even after all the vomiting had stopped. She also had a patchy, dry, dandruffy coat. She reacted to most topical flea treatments.

At that point, I thought, "Well hell. Getting rid of corn stopped the vomiting. I wonder what losing the rest of the grains would do?"

I assumed their coats would improve. And we got that. But we got so much more.

One day, I suddenly realized that Birdie wasn't snot-filled, and lo and behold, she had a pink nose. That "chronic respiratory infection" that she would never be able to shake, according to the vet, was gone.

Since then, she's been fine. Perfect. She has so far been fine with every totally grain-free food we've tried-- Pinnacle, Merrick, Solid Gold... And she has gone back to snotty and awful within a couple of days on any other foods with grain, even the "high-quality" ones, except Wellness Salmon. The rice and barley seem to treat her fine, so I suppose it's not a totally across the board grain-related issue. We've never done a dedicated food trial with her because just finding something grain-free has always worked so well, along with this Wellness variety that we'd resorted to when she was being picky. So we're happy with that. Someday I'd like to get everyone on raw, but I'll save that for another day.

At any rate, Birdie has been the barometer for the importance of diet. Our little guinea pig of a cat.