I have followed Cody's story with interest. Now that you are talking about changing vets, I would like to add something based on my own experience.

Long story short, I took one of my dogs to a well-known and highly recommended holistic vet due to chronic diarrhea and skin conditions. My long-time regular vet was stumped. The holistic vet:

(1) Did the (very expensive) blood allergy testing, which I have since learned is not considered useful by most vets, holistic or not.

(2) Told me that supplemental calcium is absolutely not needed by any adult dog, except lactating bitches, even in boneless diets. When I mentioned sources that said otherwise, he told me they were flat-out wrong.

(3) "Prescribed" hundreds of dollars worth of an expensive human brand of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and herbal supplements. At one point, I was giving my dog 11 pills in the morning and 12 at night.

So my caveat is: "Holistic" doesn't necessarily translate into "knowledgeable." In searching for a new vet, interview them, ask detailed questions, and if something doesn't sit right with your common sense, keep looking. Good luck, Sharon.

yep. When I first got Cody he was on processed dog food and began to loose his hair and was itchy. found out he is allergic to wheat. While researching learned about raw. went that way. All my dogs are on raw. Until now no problem. Cody only one who vomited. He did only vomit on one day, but he did it 3-4 times if I remember correctly. And he was shivering. So that is what made us take him to the vet. He got medication to stop vomiting (shot) and some fluids. Cody is a small dog only 18 lbs. so this hit him hard. But that was the last incident of vomiting. He never had loose stools. then a few days later he begin to vomit up bile in the mornings if he did not have his breakfast early once he had his breakfast he was fine.
sharon

Edited by Sharon Empson (03/25/2011 04:28 PM)
Edit reason: misspelling

This vomit 3 to 5 times happen once to Dexter. I called my vet (the old one) tolled me no food for 24 hr and no water for 12 hr then blen until poop is normal and no vomit. that blen diet for 24hr then slowly back to his normal food.

We (human and dog) get sick sometimes. I don't change my normal food if I get sick for a day or 2 S**T happen.

Sometimes even if you try( as a doctor) you just can't figure it out. "Idiopathic" is the word, and we used to laugh that the word means "there is pathology, but the doctor is an idiot". Seriously, idiopathic conditions, those we don't know the names or causes of, are a whole lot more common than problems that DO have names and causes and treatments. There is still a lot of mystery in disease.

 Quote: betty landercasp

"Idiopathic" is the word, and we used to laugh that the word means "there is pathology, but the doctor is an idiot".

Hey, I get that. Toadally!

My problem is prescribing for it ..... prescribing crap-in-a-bag, in fact.



I gotta remember that definition of idiopathic.

 Quote: Ariane Gauthier

.... We (human and dog) get sick sometimes. I don't change my normal food if I get sick for a day or 2 S**T happen.

Good point. Which of us has never been vomity and weak and shaky for a day or two?

And part 2, the bile vomiting: Of course it COULD be connected, but I honestly haven't seen any reason to think it was anything but an entirely unrelated thing, and one that is not at all uncommon or even difficult to fix with a simple tweak.

I probably would go with a homecooked bridge back to raw and I might even have another poop checked for sarcocysts after a couple of weeks on homecooked. Actually, I think this is overkill, but this is what I would do to be very very secure in my decision.

I wouldn't use the rice/chicken diet alone for that length of time. I would balance it with the necessary calcium, I'd have excellent efficient protein in it (like white chicken and white fish), I'd give fish oil and E and the best yogurt (unsweetened, unflavored, live cultures) and I'd probably use baby food vegetables for super-digestibility.

Then after all this went well, I would gradually move to his old raw diet. (Raw and cooked don't have the dangers of raw and kibble, so that transition can easily be as gradual as you like,)

JMO!

 Quote: cheri grissom

I have followed Cody's story with interest. Now that you are talking about changing vets, I would like to add something based on my own experience.

Long story short, I took one of my dogs to a well-known and highly recommended holistic vet due to chronic diarrhea and skin conditions. My long-time regular vet was stumped. The holistic vet:

(1) Did the (very expensive) blood allergy testing, which I have since learned is not considered useful by most vets, holistic or not.

(2) Told me that supplemental calcium is absolutely not needed by any adult dog, except lactating bitches, even in boneless diets. When I mentioned sources that said otherwise, he told me they were flat-out wrong.

(3) "Prescribed" hundreds of dollars worth of an expensive human brand of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and herbal supplements. At one point, I was giving my dog 11 pills in the morning and 12 at night.

So my caveat is: "Holistic" doesn't necessarily translate into "knowledgeable." In searching for a new vet, interview them, ask detailed questions, and if something doesn't sit right with your common sense, keep looking. Good luck, Sharon.

Wow, now that advice was certainly some really bad advice, make that dangerously bad advice.

The bottom line is you have to educate yourself from the get go.
Just think if you were an owner of new dog and feeding raw, and you were told that you didn't need any added calcium in a boneless diet?

Yes I plan on using a much fuller diet. while still cooking his food, I added minced carrot to the water I was cooking for the rice, and added the rice. I have also added a little pumpkin and he has been eating greek fat free yogurt plain. So, I have done that for about 2 days now and Cody seems to be doing fine.

I have been looking up and studying probiotics and digestive aids for dogs. Not sure what I will do if anything. But since he already has a deficiency and needs a b12 shot each week, I do not want it to get worse and am considering something to help his disgestion and aid in absorbing nutrients.

Still feeding three times a day, dividing his total food into 3 smaller meals.
baby food veggies are a good idea, or I was thinking of steaming some and blending them to baby food consistency for cody. Yes, we will see what happens. But I can not leave him on this diet for 6 months, that is something the vet did agree with, but they want him on kibble, but I can't do it.

Tonight I added a very small dot of fish oil to his food to see how he tolerates it.
So far so good.

Am getting Cody's stool sample done in 3 weeks. May get all my dogs done at the same time. I am interested to see what will happen. With all the creatures around my home it is possible he could have picked up the parasite from their droppings. I did change the way I freeze my meat. WHen I purchase it I divide it up and flatten it in zip lock bags. I then freeze it at a higher temperature. I turn my freezer up to 7 which is the highest. And I leave it for 3 days. -5c kills parasites. Then I turn the cold back down to 5 where I normally keep it. So that helps me to feel I am doing all I can do.. and I got that info on line from a couple of sources.
I don't mind cooking the food for cody right now. My main concern is his health.
The hard part has been not giving him any treats but chicken.
He has been a little bored too, raining here for a couple of days.
I have a puzzle for the dogs and have fed Cody's last little meal in the puzzle and he gets to work to get it out. He loves it! So do the other dogs.

Thanks for all your help. Monday Cody gets another B12.

I have a question. If I asked it before, I am sorry. Does anyone give their pups probiotics or digestive enzymes? Has any one heard of the best brands? Did you see good benefits from using them?

Thanks sharon

I agree about going to a vet, I always research everything myself and learn so I can be armed. I do that for all my family, humans too.

I used a Probiotic and digestive enzyme powder for a while. I think it was from Nutra-vet or something. I didnt notice anything, but the dogs are healthy. Its not very expensive, if you wanted to try it. Petfood express sells it.

Probiotic is always good.

I always give the probiotic during a food change or with any sort of antibiotic. It helps the dog so much that I have started using them myself. Animal testing!

Especialy for food changes it has worked a charm.