May 05, 2011

My dog is underweight so my vet believes it may be E.P.I but want me to up her food intake first to see if that helps her gain weight. What are your thoughts?

Full Question:
Hi:

I had sent a question asking about rabies vaccine yesterday...but we made it thru the vet visit ok...she was very adamant though that I get the Leptospirosis vaccine. She said its because we live in a remote area with a lot of wildlife and it can be transmitted to humans. The lump my dog has ended up being a sebaceous cyst. My dog is also underweight so they think it may be E.P.I but want me to up her food intake first to see if that helps her gain weight. She is fed a raw diet at about 4% her ideal body weight right now, so I am not sure that will help. I feed them raw with some veggies...but a lot of articles I read say they don't need veggies....its all so confusing...I am trying to do the right thing for my animals and I just need some advise. I have purchased 4 dvds and some toys and collars from you and I really trust your judgement and would like any advise you can give on the leptospirosis vaccine and E.P.I and raw feeding. My dog is a GSD female current weight is 65 lbs.

Thanks!
Carla
Cindy
Cindy Cindy's Answer:
Carla,

I would go ahead and get the blood test for EPI. I would caution you about getting a rabies vaccine IF your dog does have EPI. In our state, a condition like thyroid disease or EPI would warrant a waiver on the vaccine. In my opinion, many diseases like EPI are only made worse by vaccinations.

As for veggies, we don’t feed them. You can and I don’t believe they hurt anything. The 2 best books for learning about the raw diet are Raw Dog Food and Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats. We give both these books to our puppy customers and rarely have questions about the diet.

We also have a great section on feeding dogs, I think you’ll find a lot of helpful information there.

I hope this helps.

Cindy

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Expert Dog Trainer Cindy Rhodes
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