[Dori]

Shawna: I’ve been giving them whole house filtered water for years. Hadn’t been giving them HW medication until losul had HW diagnosis and I started in again. Stupid Stupid Me!!!!
I have read about the issues with HW medication and bladder cancer just yesterday and a few of the sites specifically name Sentinel and that is the brand I’ve used for years. Obviously I’m never ever using HW medication again. Dogs are all on 3 year rabies vaccination. Hannah at almost 15 years old and bladder cancer will never get it again. I have read everything I can and everyone’s posts here and well wishes and kind words and, of course, they all make me cry knowing everyone is so caring and loving. Just breaks my heart. I’m just a weepy mess right now. My husband and close friends keep telling me what a wonderful life Hannah and I have given each other for 15 years and, selfishly, I just don’t want to hear that kind of talk. That means everyone of them is resigning them to the fact that it’s the end for Hannah and I just can’t deal. She’s the only thing that got me out of bed after my son, Matthew, passed and she’s my last tangible connection to him. It’s just too damn hard. I’ve ordered tons of supplements today and read every site that everyone has guided me to, thank you, thank you, thank you everyone. I’m now concerned of having ordered too much and making matters worse my overdosing her on supplements.

Shawna, I know how crazed and consumed your life is with your family both human and furry, so please let me know when might be a good day and time might work out for you for me to call you. I’ve been feeding all the girls raw for over a year and I think that I want to continue feeding commercial raw as I’ve been doing. Just to let you know Hannah has never had a urinary tract infection in her life, no bloody urine and her urine tests are still clear. They only discovered this because of doing ultra sounds checking her liver because of all four liver levels being so high. They have all come down significantly. Still high of normal but not sky high like before. Okay. I need to breathe right now and attempt to pull my self together because all three dogs are too attuned to my stress. Love to all and from the bottom of my heart I thank you all.

[Shasta220]

What other brands have you tried? Have you tried supplementing with fiber (canned pumpkin or cooked sweet potato), digestive supplements (like probiotics), or extra oils (like fish or olive)? The reason why SD makes him poop so much is because of all the worthless fillers in there.

I went from a 1 star to a 4star food with my dog way back years ago. He went from making 7-10 BIG piles daily to only 3-5…

[Shawna]

Oh Dori!!!!!!!! I’m so very sorry.

I did a quick google search and found that apoptosis and antiangiogenosis are both effective treatments of Transitional Cell Bladder Carcinoma (which I’m going to abbreviate to tcbc for the rest of the post). Then I googled “Dr Demian Dressler tcbc”. Dr. Dressler owns the website “dog cancer blog”. There is a video of him and his partner (who is an veterinary oncologist) specifically on tcbc. They say it is very treatable!! GOOD Dr. D also specifically mentions it responds to apoptosis. GOOD The video is here http://www.dogcancer.tv/transitional-cell-carcinoma-what-you-need-to-know-about-your-dogs-cancer/

As a quick reminder — apoptosis is when the cells of the body get old, damaged or unhealthy (like cancer) and commit “suicide”. It is normal and supposed to happen but sometimes it doesn’t happen (due to certain drugs or bacteria/virus or other reasons). Angiogenosis is when new blood vessels are formed (this happens with healing but tumors also cause these blood vessels to grow to them which supplies them with the nutrition they need to grow). ANTIangiogenic products (medications and foods/supplements) cause those blood vessels to die which blocks nutrients from getting to the tumor and the tumor starves to death.

Dr. Dressler and Ettinger recommend a home cooked “cancer” diet. BUT, Dr. Martin Goldstein is well known for great success with dogs that other vets have given up on due to cancer. Dr. Goldstein recommends a species appropriate raw diet. That said, they both also utilize other treatments and supplements. If the finances allow, I think his office (Dr. Goldstein) would be a great one to get a consult with (by phone if nothing else – they are in New York (or is it New Jersey?)). I personally would stick with raw but you have to do what you think is best for Hannah.. Both raw and cooked are appropriate for different reasons in my opinion.

Okay, so we know that tcbc responds to apoptotic and antiangiogenic products. With that in mind I would DEFINITELY start turmeric or even curcumin (which is the anti-cancer active ingredient in turmeric). Turmeric also has additional benefits so maybe both versus one or the other?? If buying turmeric it MUST be organic as otherwise it could be irradiated. I would also start the enzyme bromelain away from meals as it induces both apoptosis and antiangiogenosis. As does fresh garlic (pending there is no blood loss, surgery, anemia).

Other antiangiogenic foods are blueberries, mushrooms, strawberries etc. More antiagiogenic foods here http://blog.ted.com/2010/02/10/dr_william_lis/ Dr. Li states that antiangiogenic foods work synergistically so the more you can add to the diet the better off. Not all in one meal or one day of course.

Some other supplements known, in the holistic world at least, to help with cancer are apricot seeds (due to their high amounts of vitamin b17), essiac tea (which includes a bunch of anti-cancer herbs), flor essence (a specific brand of essiac like tea), coconut oil (not sure it actually helps the cancer? but it will help keep the calories up in a pancreas friendly way and has so many other benefits), probiotics (help the immune system and have been shown to help “bladder cancer” I believe through the fatty acids (like butyric and lactic acids) they produce), enzymes given with the food will help for the most complete digestion and nutrient absorption plus allow (many think) the metabolic enzymes to be spared from having to help with digestion (especially in older dogs). I know there’s more I’m not thinking of. I’ll post again if/when I think of them.

Call or email me ANY TIME if you want.

[Shawna]

Oh Dori!!!!!!!! I’m so very sorry.

I did a quick google search and found that apoptosis and antiangiogenosis are both effective treatments of Transitional Cell Bladder Carcinoma (which I’m going to abbreviate to tcbc for the rest of the post). Then I googled “Dr Demian Dressler tcbc”. Dr. Dressler owns the website “dog cancer blog”. There is a video of him and his partner (who is an veterinary oncologist) specifically on tcbc. They say it is very treatable!! GOOD Dr. D also specifically mentions it responds to apoptosis. GOOD The video is here http://www.dogcancer.tv/transitional-cell-carcinoma-what-you-need-to-know-about-your-dogs-cancer/

As a quick reminder — apoptosis is when the cells of the body get old, damaged or unhealthy (like cancer) and commit “suicide”. It is normal and supposed to happen but sometimes it doesn’t happen (due to certain drugs or bacteria/virus or other reasons). Angiogenosis is when new blood vessels are formed (this happens with healing but tumors also cause these blood vessels to grow to them which supplies them with the nutrition they need to grow). ANTIangiogenic products (medications and foods/supplements) cause those blood vessels to die which blocks nutrients from getting to the tumor and the tumor starves to death.

Dr. Dressler and Ettinger recommend a home cooked “cancer” diet. BUT, Dr. Martin Goldstein is well known for great success with dogs that other vets have given up on due to cancer. Dr. Goldstein recommends a species appropriate raw diet. That said, they both also utilize other treatments and supplements. If the finances allow, I think his office (Dr. Goldstein) would be a great one to get a consult with (by phone if nothing else – they are in New York (or is it New Jersey?)). I personally would stick with raw but you have to do what you think is best for Hannah.. Both raw and cooked are appropriate for different reasons in my opinion.

Okay, so we know that tcbc responds to apoptotic and antiangiogenic products. With that in mind I would DEFINITELY start turmeric or even curcumin (which is the anti-cancer active ingredient in turmeric). Turmeric also has additional benefits so maybe both versus one or the other?? If buying turmeric it MUST be organic as otherwise it could be irradiated. I would also start the enzyme bromelain away from meals as it induces both apoptosis and antiangiogenosis. As does fresh garlic (pending there is no blood loss, surgery, anemia). Garlic could also kill bacteria and viri if an happen to be blocking apoptosis. Also help with bladder infections if that is a concern? Dr. Ettiger, in the above video, says that can be a concern.

Other antiangiogenic foods are blueberries, mushrooms, strawberries etc. More antiagiogenic foods here http://blog.ted.com/2010/02/10/dr_william_lis/ Dr. Li states that antiangiogenic foods work synergistically so the more you can add to the diet the better off. Not all in one meal or one day of course.

Some other supplements known, in the holistic world at least, to help with cancer are apricot seeds (due to their high amounts of vitamin b17), essiac tea (which includes a bunch of anti-cancer herbs), flor essence (a specific brand of essiac like tea), coconut oil (not sure it actually helps the cancer? but it will help keep the calories up in a pancreas friendly way and has so many other benefits), probiotics (help the immune system and have been shown to help “bladder cancer” I believe through the fatty acids (like butyric and lactic acids) they produce), enzymes given with the food will help for the most complete digestion and nutrient absorption plus allow (many think) the metabolic enzymes to be spared from having to help with digestion (especially in older dogs). I know there’s more I’m not thinking of. I’ll post again if/when I think of them.

Call or email me ANY TIME if you want.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 6 months ago by Shawna.

[Dori]

Cyndi: Thank you for sending all good thoughts our way. I truly appreciate it as I appreciate your kindness. No, I have not heard from Shawna yet but I am hoping to.

Losul: Thank you for your kind words and for reaching out to me. I have just ordered the K-9 supplements and am about to go to the Mercola site and check out the mushroom supplement that Betsy directed me. (How is your dog doing with HW treatment?)

Betsy: Hi Betsy, thanks so much for directing me to the mushroom supplement at Mercola (Dr. Becker). I’m going to check that out right now.

Denise A. Thank you for the information on K-9 supplements. I’ve ordered them a few moments ago. Hannah was weighing 7.5 lbs. Yesterdays weight at vet shows her at 6.8 lbs. They tried two different scales to confirm the loss of weight. How much turmeric curcurmin were you giving or that you think I should be giving. In her food??? Shark Cartilage? Where would I find that and how much to give? Anything else? Did you change diet yes or no? What were you feeding her if you changed her diet? Sorry for all the questions but I’m in panic mode at the moment. Been on the computer all last evening and night so I’m a little wired.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 6 months ago by Dori.

[Denise A]

The best price I found for K 9 immunity and transfer factor (they really go together – My Dad had cancer treatments with transfer factor too) was here: http://search.911healthshop.com/?p=Q&ts=custom&query=k9+immunity&view=list

How many pounds is your dog?

I also used tumeric cucurmin and shark cartilage.

Duchess was 14 when she was diagnosed and lived several months after that. The supplements really helped her.

[losul]

Dori, It pains me to hear this, yet I can’t imagine the immense pain you are going through, so so sorry. You have a lot of people in your corner wishing you and yours the best, I can be counted amongst those. As others have said, Hannah could not be in better hands, Dori.

I’m usually kind of reserved/cautious about the claims of some supplements, but the power of medicinal mushrooms is one I have previously researched and have some faith in. A few of them of them, I sometimes use in cooking. I decided that if my circumstances ever warranted, I would definitely consider giving them a shot therapeutically for my dog. K-9 immunity and transfer factors that Denise A mentioned, is one that I had looked into, and liked.

Dog Cancer Home

[Dori]

Denise, thank you for your help. Any info as to supplements, dosages and where to buy would be a Godsend. Also any other supplements you were feeding her. Did you switch her food? If so to what foods and how did Duchess fare on all? Thank you so much.

[Denise A]

I’m so sorry for your news. When my dog, Duchess, was diagnosed with cancer of the spleen I immediately put her on more supplements. I found out that shark cartilage and tumeric cucumin helps with tumors. I also got her K-9 Immunity Capsules and Transfer Factor wafers from Aloha Medicinals. I bought directly from them for several months and then found a cheaper place. If you want to know where, please let me know.

[pugmomsandy]

That site has a “yeast starvation diet” recipe too. And the recipes call for only 2 supplements!

[Akari_32]

I don’t know if I could do canned or not. “Good” canned food isn’t a popular thing around here. It’s pretty much Wellness or Natures Variety, or Mr. Pretend Good Blue Buffalo, as far as that goes. Everything else is like Pro Plan and Science Diet. Though Walmart does have Pure Balance…. And I can look online, and see of I can find anything.

And about the premixes, I think doing no carbs (or as little as possible) is best. This dog smells like a rag used to clean up milk that was left in the sun for a week @.@ So if I did canned, it’s have to be like the 95% ones.

I’ve been looking around at home made and raw sites. Kind of hard on my phone, but I’m getting ideas 🙂 I’ll look into that site, as well.

Does anyone have any links to good prices supplements?

[Dori]

Hi Bobby Dog. Yep! Hannah, my 15 year old Maltese (she’ll be 15 on 9/9/2014) has been diagnosed this week with Transitional Cell Carinoma in her Bladder. It was found incidentally because her liver levels were high and multiple blood tests and ultra sounds. Two ultra sounds back it was discovered and last ultra sound it’s still there, not any smaller but not any bigger. Next Wednesday she will have what they call a “Traumatic Catheterization of the bladder” do get a firm diagnosis. So far all vets that have seen ultra sound results are pretty certain that it’s cancer. Prognosis is 10 months at the out most. I’m beyond consolable. If possible, my husband is worse. I’m going to try to figure out about supplements and whether I should be cooking her meals or keep her on raw or what I need to be doing. Thank you Bobby Dog for asking.

[Akari_32]

He gets very little in the way of actual dog treats. He usually gets a bit of people food for treats. I yell at mom for giving him jelly beans quite often… Other than those, he gets veggies and meat scraps. Right now, his treats are Wellness Toy Breed cranberry something-or-anothers. They were on clearance lol Oh, and he steals the cats food if he leaves it and it’s not up high. Alec gets mostly Wellness Grain Free.

The only commercial raw diets locally available are Bill Jac (not sure how good that is) and Natures Variety, which is not cost effective at all (I’ve already looked into that.). There may be other brands that I’ve over looked, though.

What if we were to feed like, half raw, half Natures Variety Instinct kibble? That has freeze dried raw coating, and all sorts of good stuff in it. Would supplements be needed then? (Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to avoid supplements, I just know they can be costly, so if I can find a way to balance his diet as cheaply as possible, I’d like to take that route).

[Cyndi]

Akari, with the dog being so small, doing commercial raw wouldn’t cost all that much just for him. Then you wouldn’t really need to add any supplements, except maybe some fish oil, tinned sardines are great and coconut oil. Even raw eggs as a topper would be good. It would probably be pretty cheap to feed a small dog like that a raw diet. Good luck!

[Kay G]

I am currently feeding Fromm GF dry & rotate the proteins. I also had in raw toppers once or twice a day. I have 3 Springers and 1 Cavalier. My oldest Springer (7) has numerous health issues which I have been told are immune related, one being bad allergies/yeast. He has had double ACL surgery, sees a chiropractor regularly and on supplements for his joints, immune system etc. but he just doesn’t seem “right”. After doing research, Nature’s Logic was suggested to me because it does not have the starchy carbs that feeds the yeast (potatoes, peas etc.) that is in the Fromm food. My only concern is the millet in the Nature’s Logic. I bought a bag of Chicken to try, so we will see how he handles it. I am also leaning toward switching the other three dogs over to Nature’s Logic mainly because it is easier for me to feed all four dogs the same thing….. does anyone have feed back on this they could share with me?

[Akari_32]

You guys may recall, my moms dog, Bentley, is always itchy. Right now, his back half is almost completely bald, and his skin is bright red. No matter what we do, what foods he’s on, what protein and carb sources the food has or doesn’t have, fleas or no fleas (obviously we strive for no fleas, but we have some sort of freakish super fleas around here, and he’s so small he’s like a flea magnet in the grass). It just doesn’t matter. We yell at him for scratch so much that he actually goes and hides so he can scratch. Crafty little terrier… Lol

He also smells. Doesn’t matter of he just had a bath or not. He’s stinky. I think it’s a yeast thing?

I’m 99% sure most of it has to do with seasonal allergies, as he gets much better in the winter, and almost all his hair grows back by the time is warms up again for spring.

I always hear of these stories of these dogs that are doing terrible on any kibble, no matter what kind it is, and then they are put on raw and all their problems go away, or are greatly reduced to the point where they can actually be dogs again.

Does anyone have tips on how I can do an extremely cheap raw diet? And is it cheaper to go with a RMB base and not supplement calcium, or to do mostly muscle meat and supplement the calcium, etc associated with bones? Money is defiantly an issue, but we can’t have this freakish Chinese crested/poodle/terrier Frankenstein love child looking thing. There is a Save-A-Lot near the house, which I know would help with the cost, but I’m not sure the quality of their meats. We usually shop at Publix or SAMs Club for meat, depending on what we need. We also have Winn Dixie. I know they do great deals on meat, as well.

He’s about 8 pounds, very active (so fat isn’t too much of a problem), and loves him a good raw bone (I’ve given him chicken necks, pig knuckles, a few others before).

And back on the supplement thing again, is it possible to feed raw with no supplements? What supplements are some cost effective ones?

I’d love to hear of some of your recipes and weekly meal plans and such, as well 🙂

[Bobby dog]

Hi Kritterlady:
The only suggestion I have for enticing your dog to eat coco oil is trying to melt it and see if he will lick it out of his bowl.

Only one of my cats will eat coco oil in his food, but it can’t be mixed completely in (or melted) because he won’t touch it. I have to hide a small solid amount in his food. The other cats will not touch their food if something is hiding or mixed into it. Sometimes they eat it alone in solid form or melted, when all else fails I just rub it onto their fur. My dog absolutely loves it no matter what and if I don’t watch him he will lick it off the cats fur! lol

Sometimes added supplements don’t agree with our pets and he may also be telling you this by not eating it.

As for the honey I have never had a pet with seasonal allergies, but definately would try either local raw honey or local bee pollen if they did. Since honey doesn’t interest him, I would look into bee pollen. I would imagine it is easier to administer. Here’s a few links with more info on bee pollen and honey. Good luck!

/forums/topic/bee-pollen/

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/10_9/features/Bee-Honey-Products-Help-Canines_15967-1.html

http://ottawavalleydogwhisperer.blogspot.ca/2014/01/honey-good-for-dogs-cats-honey-is.html

[ab1028]

He never was on a bad food. He has always been on at least a 4 star food. We have tried to find the offending ingredients and found out that bison, beef, and many grains he reacts to. Jasper also likes the rotation because he tends to get tired of food after 2 small bags. We change the food every bag and he does well without any digestive issues. It could just be that it is an itchy dog that needs extra supplements to help reduce it.

[Case]

Another Recipe for Satin Balls:

Mix a pound of raw ground beef, an 8oz package of cream cheese, a jar of all-natural peanut butter, a dozen egg yolks, a 10oz package of wheat germ and a cup of flaked oats that have been soaked in heavy cream.

Form the mixture into balls and place in the freezer.

Feed the Satin Balls as treats or food supplements as desired.

[Raffaele C]

I have been feeding both my dogs raw food for a while now and they have been doing great on it. But lately my groomer has been telling me that she had to express their anal glands because they were filling up. Their stools are not always hard but it’s never diarreha either; it’s in between. I’m guessing though that their stools should be firmer to help express the glands naturally. I was reading some other posts on the forum and some suggested Glandex so I was thinking about that. But my main concern was that I don’t want to buy a bunch of supplements when I thought that a raw diet should be providing the proper nutrients for my dogs to thrive. So before I go buy a supplement for this issue or start feeding pumpkin regularly, I just wanted to ask you all about your experiences with raw diets. Does a raw diet typically cause softer stool? Is chicken a factor?

[crazy4cats]

Akari-
Sorry, I don’t have any recommendations either. I’ve not really ever had a problem with hairballs. Three out of four of my cats are short haired and one medium. I don’t see any of them licking or grooming much. Thank goodness. I don’t think that the oil sounds like a great idea, but I really don’t know. I remember seeing some sort of remedy at Mud Bay when I was looking at dog supplements. I don’t remember what it was called. But, I think it had some petroleum jelly in it? How is Kitty today?

[RescueDaneMom]

I definitely agree with Marie and C4C. Your GSD’s will need more than what is available in a food to help their joints. There are some threads in the Supplements forum on joint supplements. I am currently using some from Springtime Inc.

[Alex V]

I do not typically write reviews, but in this case it is necessary. I have had my 8 year old black lab on Dinovite for 6 months and have seen absolutely no results. Yesterday I took him to an allergist to have him checked out. He has a bacterial skin infection and a yeast infection. It’s really sad that we have had him on what is considered one of the best nutritional supplements that is supposed to alleviate and cure these types of problems in dogs…. and also very sad that our allergist vet said it was a waste of money. I would not recommend this product to anyone, don’t waste your money. And to top it off, the 90 day money back guarantee is a joke. They do not want you to return product before 90 days because they say that ” you haven’t given it enough time to do the job” but then after you exceed the 90 days and it still isn’t working, they say they can’t offer refunds because the refund period has expired. So ridiculous! Not to mention their customer service is some of the worst I have ever experienced! Do yourself a favor and stay away from this product and their bullshit scam company!!!

[Kate B]

Hey guys! This is my first time posting. I have a 15 pound schnoodle that I adopted almost three years ago. I’m not entirely sure how old Wilson is as his surrender paperwork had a few different ages on it but I think (as does his vet) he is between 6 and 8 and in good health.

He’s always, always, always been a picky eater. He’s my first dog and I honestly didn’t know anything about feeding a dog beyond kibble and canned at first. I fed him Vet’s Choice Health Extension for a while and then Acana but they took inordinate amounts of coaxing or soaking in water or additional treats (i.e. cottage cheese or some eggs, etc.) to get him to eat. Meal time would become sometimes a 15-30 minute exercise in who was going to be more stubborn. He would also occasionally throw the kibble back up (anywhere from 30 minutes to hours after he ate). Clearly, this didn’t seem like the best possible diet for him anymore.

I had considered transitioning him to raw, using a commercial raw diet like Stella and Chewy’s or Primal. Well, we tried for about a month and he really struggled with it. A) he hated the Primal with a passion and B) had trouble keeping both of the diets down. I instead decided to try home-cooked and use Grandma Lucy’s as a pre-mix. We’ve been doing this for about three weeks and it has been super successful so far which is a huge relief to me. I want him to have the healthiest life possible! I’ve been rotating him through several kinds of protein (chicken, ground turkey, ground beef, eggs, salmon, tuna) and it all seems easy enough to combine with the pre-mix. I give him 4 oz of the pre-mix and 6 oz of protein (I’m using Primal’s recommendation to give protein between 2-3% of a dog’s weight) split across two daily meals. I haven’t been following Grandma Lucy’s pre-mix recommendation (they recommend 1-1.5 cups per day for dogs between 10-20 lbs) because that seems really, really high to me in contrast to the protein. Any thoughts there?

Here’s my question: do I need to add any additional supplements? Like I said, this isn’t raw meat and it’s making me nervous that I might be screwing something up with the calcium and/or phosphorus. I’m assuming I should also add some sort of fish/krill/flax oil as well and would love some advice! So far, I had looked at Wysong’s Call of the Wild as a possibility but wasn’t sure if that was overkill (Grandma Lucy’s pre-mix has 1% calcium). Any advice would be much appreciated!

[camano43]

Hi: this is my first post to this website although I have been on the email alert list for food
recalls for quite awhile. I have 3 dogs and 2 middle age cats. I try to feed them all quality foods and this site is super to analyze the dog food companies. I have wished for a site such as this devoted to our feline pets, but have not had much luck locating one. Any suggestions? I live in an area that has several feedstores/pet stores but not lots of pet specialty stores for supplements, samples and new product info.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Yes – RMBs can most definitely be fed daily. My dogs get a ground red-meat based meal in the a.m. (I make my dogs’ meals from scratch – this is when I add items such as vegetables, fruits, yogurt, supplements, etc.) and in the p.m. they get poultry RMBs and some sort of offal (i.e. a turkey neck with a couple turkey hearts or a chicken back with a few chicken gizzards). RMBs are great for the teeth and also the joints as they’re high in glucosamine and chondroitin. Just make sure to feed an RMB that is an appropriate size for your dog because you want to minimize choking risk. The RMB should be larger than the dog’s mouth – my dogs are large (65-75 lbs.) so they only get large RMBs, I wouldn’t feed them chicken necks. For small dogs, however, chicken necks are great.

Both of these articles by Dr. Becker have some good information on selecting bones:

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2010/05/19/caution-bones-can-kill-your-dog-find-out-which-ones-are-safe.aspx

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/05/09/bone-supplements-for-pets.aspx

Also – if I’m not mistaken, it’s been awhile since I’ve ordered from Darwin’s – I believe Darwin’s actually sells duck necks. Duck necks are larger than chicken necks but smaller than turkey necks – they’d probably work out well for most small to medium sized dogs.

[Shasta220]

Shih Tzu… Sorry, couldn’t help correcting that one… XP

Maybe try the NutriSource….avoid Purina, as it is a very low quality big-name food. Possibly add some digestive supplements (like probiotics). Canned pumpkin is a great way for a quick fix as far as icky stools go, too.

[Nancy A]

Hello, We have a mini long-haired Doxie mix (with what, we wish we knew!) who has food protein allergies, and a long-haired Chihuahua mix (again, the mix is a mystery) who has had frequent bouts of pancreatitis (he has been stable for quite awhile now). We prepare the food for our allergic dog using a product called BalanceIT.
https://secure.balanceit.com/
BalanceIT was created by a vet (formerly on the UC Davis faculty) and products include supplements for making homemade food as well as a product that you simply add to a protein source (if vegetarian, either nuts or tofu) and gives you the recipe. I’ve recommended it three times on this forum today alone (I swear I’m not an employee, it just works for us). Good luck–when our little guy ends up in the hospital my husband thinks I need a psychiatrist (I probably do).

[Nancy A]

You may want to consider a product called BalanceIT. BalanceIT was designed by a vet (formerly on the UC Davis faculty). Products include supplements for making homemade food as well as a product that you simply add to meat if you want to make homemade food. I understand from our vets, as well as a recent peer-reviewed study, that it is extremely risky to make food for your dog without the proper supplementation:
http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=10666
The BalanceIT website includes recipes:
https://secure.balanceit.com/
Our little guy is allergic to chicken and has a tender tummy. Most of the beef-based dog foods are high in fat and also include chicken. We’re happy we found this product.

[Nancy A]

Hello, We have a mini long-haired Doxie mix (with what, we wish we knew!), who also scratched himself silly. We learned from the doggie dermatologist that food allergies rarely respond to steroids (the “P” in Temaril-P is prednisone). His scratching did not respond to steroids, which indicated a food allergy. His food had just about every common allergen (see article on this site regarding allergies). We switched him to a buffalo-based canned food (he hated it) because it was unlikely he had been exposed to that protein (he has a tender tummy and many of the novel proteins and hypoallergenic foods are higher in fat). It took about 2 weeks, but his licking stopped and he was cone free! After 6 months we were told we could add one of the proteins contained in his previous food. Because he loves, loves, loves chicken, I poured some homemade chicken broth on this food. Within about 24 hours, he was attacking his body again. He is now on an all-beef diet, which is hard to find because it seems like there is some kind of chicken in every food or it is too high in fat… sigh.

If you find that it is a food allergy–and you can figure out the offending ingredient–you may want to consider a product called BalanceIT. BalanceIT was designed by a vet (formerly on the UC Davis faculty) and products include supplements for making homemade food as well as a product that you simply add to meat if you want to make homemade food. I understand from our vets, as well as a recent peer-reviewed study, that it is extremely risky to make food for your dog without the proper supplementation:
http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=10666

With vigilance and a good plan to rule out problems, you will figure it out. Hope this helps. Good luck.

[USA]

Hi Mary C

The highest quality dog food would be one you made yourself using lean pasture raised meats and wild caught fish, fresh organic vegetables and a few supplements.

In commercial dog foods I would rate them as follows:
Raw
Dehydrated
Canned
Kibble

One of the issues with a very low carbohydrate food for dogs is the fat content. Most commercial foods with low carbs are high in fat, some are really high. If your dog doesn’t have any other health issues he or she might do fine with a high fat, high protein, low carb diet. If your dog has other issues such as pacreatitis a high fat diet might not work as well.

I strongly believe that with a diabetic dog the number one priority is to limit carbs as much as you can. After all, diabetes is a failure of the bodies ability to regulate and metabolize ALL carbohydrates and injected insulin cannot currently duplicate the bodies own production of insulin. Diabetes CAN be controlled with the proper diet, the proper insulin regimen and home testing of blood glucose.

So please tell me a little bit about your dog:
How old
Current food and amounts fed and at what times in relation to insulin injections
Current insulin regimen, what type, how often
Current blood sugar readings
Overall health and any issues besides diabetes

Once you develop a routine that works for you and your pup things get easier! Give your pup a hug for me!!!

[crazy4cats]

Hi Nicole-
The vet once prescribed this food for my pups also. It is so expensive for what is in the bag. My dogs were having loose stools as well. Turns out they had a terrible long lasting case of giardia. I assume that you have had a fecal test checking for parasites. If the high fiber helps your dog, you could always add it to another high quality food. You could add a little psyllium, chia seed or pumpkin to add fiber. If you decide to do this, please transition very slowly. I am currently feeding Victor grain free kibble. It contains montmorillonite clay which is known to help with loose stools. I have used different supplements that also help. I often use Gastriplex made by Thorne, Fruitables digestive supplement, Perfect Form made by the Honest Kitchen and probiotics that also help. There is a lot of information on dogaware.com for dogs with loose stools and intermittent diarrhea. Please let me know what you decide to do and how it goes. Good luck!

[Shasta220]

Hopefully you’ll have a success story as well!

Don’t feel too bad about the vet situation – we only took Cassy in a few times when she was younger. Not once did they suggest food/supplements, except for Beneful and flax oil (Beneful=garbage. Flax oil-they don’t absorb many of the nutrients). They just continued to give us expensive drops and washes, which seemed to make her worse.

We went several years without going to the vet since we knew it wouldn’t help… We finally had no other option when she got to the point of wearing the cone and sweaters.

The food change was night and day though. She acted /years/ younger, wanting to jump and play again. If I didn’t switch her food a year ago, I’m not sure she’d even be alive today (poor girl is starting to slow back down again. She spends most of the day sleeping on her fluffy bed lol)

[Ron M]

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this company?
I have looked over their site in the past and they have some interesting looking products.
But I’m can’t find very much info. on them. I know some website have begun to carry their
supplements.

The Most Effective Cat and Dog Supplements

Ron

[Positive Puppy D]

I also agree that Earthborn Primitive Natural is a food I would nominate. When I contacted the company they said their food had no GMO products, no vitamin supplements from China and that all the ingredients were grown in the US and the food manufactured in their own plant. They further support and advocate many ways to reduce our carbon footprint. One of which is that I see FAR fewer poops in my yard! I have been feeding “premium foods” for years and am totally impressed with how much of the food they are eating is digesting, instead of on the ground!

[weezerweeks]

I noticed when I bathed my yorkie today he was shedding a lot of hair.I noticed this last week but I thought it was because it was the first bath after he was groomed.The only thing different is I have added another canned food to his rotation that he’s never had before. It is Go Fit chicken,turkey and trout stew. He has never had trout before. I also started springtime joint supplements for a switch from mercola’s’ which I love.This is so unusual because he never has this much hair in the sink. I also give him Nordic natural fish oil every other night and krill oil the nights I don’t give fish oil. Any ideas what could be causing this. He’s not scratching at all. Thanks

[Mike M]

I could put this in one of several forums but chose this one since it has more posts.

Our dog – Wally, almost 15, small mixed breed, about 17 pounds, working towards 15.

Health issues – “sore joints” (we have set up a system of pillows where he jumps down from the couch or bed and in fact, I am considering having a trampoline floor installed though it could interfere with our getting around and cause some queasiness and vacuuming issues), collapsing trachea with an extra cough chaser that seems to have gone way down, after a course of antibiotics and changes in his diet and the addition of salmon fish oil.

I am brand new to making my own dog food, spurred on by Wally’s health issues and a change to the formula of Wally’s canned food (Wellness Chicken/Sweet potato) where they seem to be adding more “chicken broth”, effectively a price increase and it changed his poops. Anyway …. good that I’m doing this.

Have been researching and so far, am relying on (because they have the ring of truth):

Hound Dog Mom and others here
“Unlocking The Canine Ancestral Diet.”
Dogaware.com

Will be starting with the Urban Wolf mix and other supplements to add to my meats.

There is a lot to digest re supplements, fat balancing, meats, etc and I will have questions and comments as I go along. Appreciate any input – thanks!

[LexiDog]

When I bought my girl home she had demodectic mange. We did the Mitaban dip every other week just because I didn’t want to do the oral ivermectin. Looking back now I don’t think it would have made a difference if I did the dip or the oral meds.

Since Demodectic Mange is caused by a weakened immune system, I did what the vet prescribed (Mitaban dips) and did everything I could think of to help her immune system.

I started her on a grain-free diet (I believe it was Fromm Grain Free and then Acana Regionals), gave her BIXBI’s Organic Superfood Immunity Daily Supplement, Vital Digest by Only Natural Pets washed all of her bedding and sanitized her crate. I know that Demodectic Manage is not contagious but I just took the extra caution by washing everything.

I suggest you boost your puppy’s immune system with good food and some supplements along with your vets treatment plan.

[Kayley L]

Anything you can recommend from this selection?

http://www.renspets.com/dogs/health/supplements.html

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by Kayley L.

[Shasta220]

Ironically, I was just on the subject of Hills myself! It was a different forum, someone had asked what’s good kibble for their cat – said they were feeding Hills. I suggested DFA for some head starts on good brands, and warned about the gross junk in Hills.

What happened? A bunch of people chewed me out how “…if your dog needs a prescription diet, you have no other choice.” I still said that I would never feed such useless fillers to my dogs, and would rather look into home made diets for the “prescription” benefits. They said, and I quote, “…you just don’t understand, do you! THERE IS SIMPLY NO OTHER OPTION!!!!!” – eek! They tried to caps me to death! Ohhhhh the pain!

Eeeesh! I’m sorry, I don’t care how bad my dogs get and how “absolutely necessary” a prescription Hills or RC kibble is needed, I would never feed it to my dogs! I’d rather take time to find some sort of home made diet and supplements that had the benefits without that added trash.

Okay, my vent is over too 😉

(I use shudder for the description as well, I almost never use shiver except to describe when I’m cold lol)

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by Shasta220.

[Gloraidy R]

I’m also looking for a free of synthetic vitamins and minerals, grain free/good for sensitive dogs to allergies, and i can make it into a rotational dry kibble diet(cans are too expensive to feed to large dogs and i dont have the fridge space for a raw/home made diet). I recently heard of different studies (done with humans, not dogs so it might/not apply) where the researchers compared the health of people who took synthetic vitamins from pills and those that took their vitamins from their diet(vegetables, fruits, meats ect.). They found that those that took synthetic vitamins had higher occurrences of cancer than those who ate their naturally occurring vitamins in foods. Here are two sources where you can get this info from: http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/selenium-vitamin-e-supplements-increase-decrease-prostate-cancer-risk-201402287059 , http://www.cancer.org/healthy/eathealthygetactive/acsguidelinesonnutritionphysicalactivityforcancerprevention/acs-guidelines-on-nutrition-and-physical-activity-for-cancer-prevention-diet-cancer-questions
“Can nutritional supplements lower cancer risk?
There is strong evidence that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and other plant-based foods may reduce the risk of cancer. But there is no proof at this time that supplements can reduce cancer risk. Some high-dose supplements may actually increase cancer risk.”

so please help me find one >.< for my very special adopted senor furbabies.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by Gloraidy R.

[InkedMarie]

Bandits mom: yes, it works great for her. There are various supplements:

Neutricks: overall improvement in sleep, disorientation and especially house training. Very
Few side effects & no known side effects with meds. Improvements noticed with
In days.

Novifit: favorable response seen within one month & increased in second month. Reduction in
Problem behaviors including improvement in playfulness, less house soiling and
awareness. Moderate improvement in sleep patterns, disorientation & confusion.
Showed improvement in attention & cognitive process.

Senilife: significant improvement in sleeping problems, playfulness, apathy, response to
Commands & disorientation.

Cholodin: one study showed 9/15 client owned dogs had moderate to significant
Improvement in clinical signs.

That’s a little from the November 2012 Whole Dog Journal.

[SandyandMila]

Oh good. So it’s be better to break it up into several balanced meals during the week than having just the one day , like Sunday, with a big balanced meal (large turkey necks, large leg quarter, or even a whole prey) with organ/muscle/supplements.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by SandyandMila.

[pugmomsandy]

SandyandMila,

The 3 meals a week is approximately 20% if your dog eats twice a day. That 20% could be anything unbalanced like just a RMB, a whole sardine, some leftover table food, etc. Or if you like, a RMB + muscle/organ/supplements, or 2.25 lbs or raw for one week split up however you like. You could even split up a 2.25 lb whole chicken with gizzards over the course of one week.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by pugmomsandy.

[SandyandMila]

I’m actually thinking of doing the same at the moment. I was doing just raw (commercial and RMBs) for awhile but because of availability or cost I am now back to canned and dry with a periodical commercial raw (Answers recently). My dog is about the same weight and activity level as the dog above. If I make a meal from the RMB (adding organ/muscle meat, chicken feet, green supplements, fish oil, eggs, etc. ) would I have to feed it for the same 3 meals a week as the person mentioned above or is that if it’s not balanced? If I use a bigger RMB like a turkey neck or chicken leg quarter and make a meal of it would that be a one meal day, with her eating about 1 1/2 lbs a day? Would that be enough to fill her up for the whole day? Since chicken is easily available and usually on sale I wanted to start feeding RMBs again and eventually feed her more homemade raw. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Rudy –

I wouldn’t recommend Blue Buffalo products for a large breed puppy. Proper calcium levels are crucial during the first 8 months or so in order to minimize the chances of developmental orthopedic disease and Blue won’t disclose their calcium levels.

There’s a large breed puppy forum here. There’s a list of appropriate 4 and 5 star foods somewhere in that forum, I’m sure there’s something you could find at Petsmart.

I wouldn’t recommend adding vitamins to an already balanced food unless done so at the recommendation of a veterinarian. However, there some nutraceuticals that can be beneficial – such as probiotics, enzymes, omega 3’s, wholefood/superfoods (i.e. kelp, spirulina, bee pollen, etc.), coconut oil, glandular supplements, garlic, etc. I like to keep several of these types of supplements on hand and rotate around.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.
• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.

[LexiDog]

I am curious as to why everyone seems to love Dr. Tim’s. Is it the price point? I am not sure. When reading the ingredients for their Kinesis GF formula, it seems to have a lot of ingredients that I would not want to give to my dog. Most of the ingredients are dried. It has beet pulp, salt and canola oil. It has a very long list of added vitamins and minerals at the bottom…I understand that some vitamins and minerals have to be added to make a complete and balanced diet…but it just seems like this food has more supplements added to it than good ingredients in the food with the natural occurring vitamins and minerals.

I haven’t fed my dog this brand but don’t really see why I would want to. I have seen people suggest this food to others as a good quality dog food and can’t figure out why.
****this is NOT an attack on Dr. Tim’s****I just want to know why it is so highly recommended. Am I missing something?

I feed my girl Orijen, ACANA, Primal and Stella and Chewy’s. I know that a rotational diet is good for dogs so I have been trying to find another brand that I think is as good as Orijen.

What are your thoughts?

[crazy4cats]

Hi Cindy q-

First of all, have you had a fecal test at the vets yet? Sometimes parasites and worms can be the cause of loose stools. So, please rule that out first. Also try cutting back on the food a little. Maybe her growth has slowed down and does not need quite as much food any longer. Then… Have you tried adding any type of supplement to help? If neither one of the two first recommendations work, you could try to add supplements. I’ve used Perfect Form made by The Honest Kitchen, Gastriplex made by Thorne, Vetri-Pro BD made by Vetri Science, Fruitables Pumpkin Digestive Supplement and other digestive enzymes and probiotics that have helped. A website that was helpful to me when I was having these issues is dogaware.com. I wish you luck!

[jakes mom]

Bobby dog, Jake likes beef liver. I have not found beef heart yet but he’s eaten everything else so I’m hopeful.
I thought the usda site was very helpful. I was surprised that they mentioned raw food, would have expected it to be food that people usually eat, but I searched “calories raw chicken” and it came up. It’s the usda nutritional database if you look for it. You can search a category like poultry or type in a specific like chicken.
No time to check the ABC thing yet. We have 3 techs out on sick leave right now so I’m working a lot of extra hours. Sounds interesting,tho. Just what I need as I really don’t think I’ll go completely raw. Can’t afford the complete raw like Darwin’s and don’t want to get involved in buying supplements and trying to concoct a healthy combo. Will count on good quality dog food to supply the specifics and add in some raw. Certainly a bit of heart or liver is a better treat than most of those things in the store!

[weezerweeks]

I just started my yorkie on the springtime joint supplement and the fresh factors. He had just finished a bottle of the Mercola joint chews,which I love. I noticed he has a lot of gas today,something he never has. The switching of joint chews and adding fresh factor is the only thing I’ve done different today. Do you think it could be these? I will wait and see what kind of stool he has tonight on our walk. Hope it’s not loose.I wanted to rotate his supplements because BC nut says she does and I think she’s pretty smart along with some others of you on here. Thanks

• This topic was modified 4 years ago by Mike Sagman. Reason: Fix Duplicate Topic Title