OK just to remind y'all I have a teacup Peke and I live in Bucharest Romania.

Tux is 9 months old and right now is skin and bones in spite of all my efforts. I have tried every commercial food available here. Tux refuses to eat anything but pedigree in the foil pouch. I was considering a raw diet but don't know how to get the supplements and was planning on picking everything up when I was home for Christmas.

I took the dog to the vet today b/c he refuses to eat anything but the garbage from any recepticle he can tip over...and pedigree in the foil pouch. The vet said pedigree was not a option so I needed to start fixing him chicken and vegetables. OK so I will translate that to a BARF diet.

He dewormed him and suggested 2 types of vitamins. One a K9 vitamin and a human "sport/recovery" (my translation) vitamin that I will buy in the morning.

SO now what do I do I will buy a book on BARF diets when I get to the states but what do I do in the meen time? If anybody has a list of suplements maybe I can find the equivalent here. I have seen some health food stores here so any suggestion of what the supplement is used for in the human population would be helpful it might be at a pharmacy instead of the grocery/health food store. I have not seen frozen chicken wings here. Any good cheap alternative? They sell very good quality chicken pieces as well as whole chickens but I have not seen wings. Maybe I will look a little closer next time I shop. I am just used to seeing them in the 5lb bags for hot wings. I am sure I can find soup bones. Do I buy beef soup bones?

Are there any websites I can research?

Thank you in advance for any help.

Debra

Read the Q&A sections on my web site about feeding raw diet http://leerburg.com/feedingdogs.htm

Use your search function on this web board and read - there is enough here to fill 3 books

This too:
http://leerburg.com/feedingarawdiet.htm

Hi Debra - I'm sorry I just asked about Tux's age on another thread - and now I see he is 9 months old.

This is just a suggestion, but have you had any testing done to see if he has EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency)? I think that's an "out there" suggestion, as that problem has to do with inability to digest and utilize food eaten (proper enzymes for digestion not being produced in the dog's body) rather than not willing to eat. But it's just a thought that came to me.

Here is one web link "on the fly" just in case this might be a consideration for you.. http://www.homevet.com/petcare/expi.html (not sure it's the best one). One of our training partners has an EPI dog that is doing very well - about your dog's age - with appropriate enzyme supplements and a great diet. I know there is a good discussion board out there specific to this problem. Let me know if this MIGHT be Tux's problem, and I'll ask my friend for the link.

This is a tragic problem as many vet's aren't up to speed on diagnosis or treatment, and dogs can starve to death in the mean time, just because they cannot process food.

Best wishes,

Beth

One thing about EPI is that often the dog acts (and is) starving, and this dog is lethargic and uninterested in food, I think.

Here are some EPI symptoms from PetPlace.com:

# Chronic diarrhea
# Excessive food intake
# Weight loss
# Flatulence (gas)
# Coprophagia (eating feces)
# Pica (eating unusual things such as dirt)
# Borborygmus (a rumbling noise caused by gas passing through the intestines)

Hi again Debra. In case the possibility of EPI is something you want to check out, here is the link to a Yahoo group that my personal friend has found very beneficial:

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/k9-EPIGLOBAL/

Beth