Connie,

You are a wealth of information.

Hopefully, not too off topic or stupid a question: If I am feeding a RMB diet as well as yogurt would I need to adjust the bone intake to accommodate the yogurt or is the calcium amount in the yogurt not enough to put the diet out of balance?

He may have eaten a stick in the yard or who knows what. The esophagus redness may not be "bone" related.
Soft would be good until it heals, for certain.
Let us know how he is tomorrow.

 Quote: sheila buckley

Hopefully, not too off topic or stupid a question: If I am feeding a RMB diet as well as yogurt would I need to adjust the bone intake to accommodate the yogurt or is the calcium amount in the yogurt not enough to put the diet out of balance?

Yogurt's calcium balances the yogurt.

Remember that dairy products contain phosphorus. Yogurt is fine (meaning in mineral balance) in and of itself, but it does not provide "extra" calcium that would either make up for a boneless diet or over-supply calcium.

It's fairly hard to provide way too much calcium giving a varied diet without using supplements. Using actual food, I can't even think of a way off-hand except maybe giving empty eggshells every day, day after day.

(Of course, it's easy to provide too little calcium for a dog with a random diet -- in particular, an all-muscle-meat diet.)

" And I think the vet was thinking boiled ground beef or chicken and rice to start, then switching to one of those home cooked diets... which I don't really want to do (I need to check out their references yet - they said they've got sample home cooked diets on their website...)."

I hope that you will post whatever is suggested. There are such excellent online sources for excellent and well-balanced home-prepared diets (Mary Strauss and Lew Olson).



"I'll see what I can do about "young chicken" backs"

Not as tricky as it sounds. Most chickens sold commercially ("broilers") are 8 weeks old (approximately). That is, it would be harder to find older ones with hardened bones that to find young ones.

Glad to hear Oscar seems to be doing better. I agree with your stress diagnosis. I had a GSD years ago that developed bloat, and the vet had no idea what the cause was. After doing some reading, I came to the same conclusion as you - stress.

I've been feeding raw for about 10 yrs, but in the last year or two, I switched to grinding most everything but chicken backs and necks. Just this morning, tho, Nettie hocked up a little of last night's dinner with a couple of small undigested pieces of chicken neck. I'll probably start doing the entire chicken from now on. I'm willing to accept less than perfect teeth for the extra piece of mind.

Mike

Sending good thoughts your way. Hope that Oscar is doing better this morning. It's tough not having your favorite dog to keep you company.

 Quote: mike armstrong

... I've been feeding raw for about 10 yrs, but in the last year or two, I switched to grinding most everything but chicken backs and necks.

Mike

Well, as Mike knows, I do too. I'm lucky enough to have the butcher at the natural-foods store completely willing to take whole birds I buy and "chili-grind" (a coarse grind) the legs, thighs, and wings, and leave the back and ribs as is for chewing. I too am willing to give up some some of the dental benefits for peace of mind with my Hoover dog (who Hoovers bones sideways, I think on purpose, then hacks them back and does it again). I do use a fingertip tooth brush on them, and that squirty stuff that you squirt along the gumline to help dissolve incipient tartar.

I hardly ever mention my own protocol here because the huge majority of dogs do just fine with weight-bearing chicken bones.

sending healing energy to you both...

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

...and that squirty stuff that you squirt along the gumline to help dissolve incipient tartar.

What stuff? It seems I would have to start brushing Connie's teeth after all

Natalya, I hope all is well with Oscar and he is improving.

 Quote: connie sutherland

 Quote: mike armstrong

... I've been feeding raw for about 10 yrs, but in the last year or two, I switched to grinding most everything but chicken backs and necks.

Mike

Well, as Mike knows, I do too. I'm lucky enough to have the butcher at the natural-foods store completely willing to take whole birds I buy and "chili-grind" (a coarse grind) the legs, thighs, and wings, and leave the back and ribs as is for chewing.

The only bones I feed currently are chicken backs... I'm going to need to think about this, as I'd certainly opt for more diligent tooth care as a trade off for lowering the risk of this ever happening again.

I picked up Oscar this morning. Truthfully, I woke up tired and a little annoyed that my weekend has taken such a crappy turn, I wasn't in a great mood and was a little nervous about what Oscar would look like when they brought him out (when I picked him up yesterday he was still lethargic from anesthesia, and of course still in discomfort because his belly was still hurting)... but we might as well have been in a field of daisies... Oscar came trotting out, alert, looking around for me - I called him and he dragged the tech over to me, then I got a facefull of kisses, and all my anxiety pretty much evaporated. We're both feeling much better now.

I came home with 4 meds: Famotidine (for the GI inflamation), Carafate (liquid, coats/protects the esophagus and stomach), Metroclopramide (for acid reflux) and Omeprazole (Prilosec OTC, also for acid reflux) - 3 of them don't get along with each other, so I've drawn up a little daily schedule to keep them at correct/safe intervals. I'm boiling up a big batch of chicken and soupy rice, which Oscar was very interested in while I was preparing, so his appetite looks to be good. He's currently curled up on a bed next to me sleeping normally.

Thank you all again for the well wishes, I feel so fortunate to be connected to such a wealth of good info, experience, and support. Oscar sure thanks you all too.

~Natalya