I just got a response from the vet after the testing done on him with bloodwork and X-Rays. Apparantly, at first there might have been a small pancreas problem, but that showed to be nothing after second test. Then the X-Ray showed he had a LOT of bones in his intestines with a lot of gas and fecal build up. The vet recommended to stray off of RAW diet...now I know that most vets just say to stay off of RAW food, but she wants the dog to be on some formulated food. I'm not a big fan of this formulated science diets because it's junk food. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Should I just go back to dry food (The problem was that he had diarrhea with the dry as well) or should I stay with RAW? I really don't know what to do anymore...any help is really really appreciated. Thank you.

- Ali

 Quote: Alex Madsen

I just got a response from the vet after the testing done on him with bloodwork and X-Rays. Apparantly, at first there might have been a small pancreas problem, but that showed to be nothing after second test. Then the X-Ray showed he had a LOT of bones in his intestines with a lot of gas and fecal build up. The vet recommended to stray off of RAW diet...now I know that most vets just say to stay off of RAW food, but she wants the dog to be on some formulated food. I'm not a big fan of this formulated science diets because it's junk food. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Should I just go back to dry food (The problem was that he had diarrhea with the dry as well) or should I stay with RAW? I really don't know what to do anymore...any help is really really appreciated. Thank you.

- Ali

http://www.leerburg.com/honestkitchen.htm

But also, I'd appreciate if if you would post exactly what the dog was eating, and why surgery (rather than S.D.) isn't the recommendation. ??????

I have heard of intestinal blockage like this, but they were big beef bones (recreational bones that the dog broke and swallowed) or pieces of toys, or plastic bags wrapped around food chunks, etc.

Well, that's the thing, there was no blockage. All there was very small bits of bone in his stomache and most likely from the chicken breast he ate last night. I had a very weird feeling from the vet because there technicians and the actual vet were telling me different things. The technician was telling me that Caesar had pancreatis by looking at his blood work, but the doctor told me that everything was normal and the technician shouldn't of said anything. What threw me off the most was when the vet recommended him to go on a dry food diet consisting of either Iams or Hills. Obviously I'm not going to use either.

My main concern here is that it can't be diarrhea because of RAW food because he had diarrhea when he was eating dry all-natural food. With the RAW diet, I was giving him anything from chicken legs, turkey neck, ground turkey, chicken breast, beef patties, venison patties, lamb ribs, pork chops, etc. He was doing fine with the raw, but he still had the diarrhea. One thing with the raw that I noticed though was that he was getting exceptionally skinny, and he seemed to get a bigger case of diarrhea the day after he had chicken.

So now my concern is whether or not to stick with RAW, or try Honest Kitchen. I personally don't know a lot about RAW and I'm afraid I'm going to mess the dog up by going with the raw by having an imbalanced meal, but at the same time I want to stick with it. So I'm not too sure..maybe I'll go with honest kitchen. Does that satisfy the dog's dietary needs just the same as any other dog food? If you Connie know what's the best route, please let me know. Or if anyone else has any suggestions, it'd be appreciated. Thank you.

- Ali

Not only is THK absolutely balanced as is, it's also safe to add in RMBs/meat/etc., per the instructions on the bucket.

But back to the vet.

This would make me VERY uncomfortable. I thought you were saying the vet saw a blockage.

Seeing bits of bones in the stomach is normal. That's where they went to be digested, after all.

First I would ask for plain English: Exactly what does the vet think is causing the intermittent diarrhea (which happened on kibble AND raw). How does the vet get from whatever that answer is to recommending an vet-office grain-heavy food.

I think I would ask for the x-ray (yes, it belongs to you if you want it) and then get a second opinion.

I would also get all the blood work and take that along too.

The vet needs to explain the recommendation and also exactly why the tech mentioned pancreatitis.

JMO.

Well that's the thing, the vet didn't know what was causing it. She just gave me a possible solution to the unkown problem. She "thinks" it's because of the RAW food...I dunno. I can't seem to find a decent vet around here.

I've been using THK for 3 weeks and no issues at all with THK, just some soft stools from intoducing chicken with fat and skin. I started him on it day one. The breeder fasted him one day for the plane ride. It's a great product, easy to use and Mojo loves it.

Yeah, I'm leaning towards THK because I honestly don't know enough about RAW to keep my dog on a balanced diet. He's gotten a lot skinnier than he was before and he's already a skinny dog.

Right now I'm just boiling up some meatballs, with white rice, and some of Dr. Harvey's vegetable mix to keep him fibered up and hopefully things will go easily in the next couple of days.

I really need to think of a nice long term plan that I can stick with. How long has THK been around?

- Ali

 Quote: alex madsen

I really need to think of a nice long term plan that I can stick with. How long has THK been around?

- Ali

http://www.leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=134&Number=136594&Searchpage=1&Main=14594&Words=business&topic=0&Search=true#Post136594

QUOTE: "People's animals are like their babies," says The Honest Kitchen's Postins. "They enjoy participating in creating a meal for their cat or dog, rather than scooping something brown out of a can." Postin's dehydrated, raw products, which look like muesli, require the addition of warm water to prepare.

Postins, who previously worked for a large pet-food manufacturer, says she launched The Honest Kitchen in 2002 with a $7,000 loan from her husband because she wanted to create a raw diet for her own pets. "I started it in my own kitchen. I intended for it be a cottage industry, but gradually it snowballed into this huge thing." END

 Quote: alex madsen

Well that's the thing, the vet didn't know what was causing it. She just gave me a possible solution to the unkown problem. She "thinks" it's because of the RAW food...I dunno. I can't seem to find a decent vet around here.

That's a poor answer, IMHO, since he had it on kibble too.

Is there a previous e-mail with more info on this dog's case? Age, how long on raw, is dog lathargic for example? Sorry I am new here and just learning my way around this big forum.

Cheers,

Jennifer