[Spy Car]

My pleasure Ryan. I’d still palpate your dog as described above and decide how much of a fat layer you are willing to accept. It really isn’t about “weight” per se, but how much body fat a dog is carrying. Muscle “weight” (to a point) is beneficial in taking strain off joints.

Body fat, in contrast, is just a tax on the hips. I prefer my dogs run very lean while being athletically hard-muscled. That preference would only grow in importance were a dog showing signs of hip dysplasia. I’d want to trim body fat to the minimum while supporting muscle mass.

In my humble opinion, a 32/14 formula would get you just over the minimum threshold of protein but would be very deficient in fat. Such a formula would still have too many calories from carbs for my taste. I’d like to see a minimum of 20% fat.

If you are the researching type go to Google Scholar and search the veterinary literature for high-protein/high-fat vs high-carb studies. There have been many with sled dogs, hunting dogs, racing greyhounds, and even couch potato dogs. All the studies come to the same conclusions. Dogs burn fat with amazing efficiency and it is sustainable energy. In contrast, carbs load the muscles with blood glycogen initially, but then the energy stores are depleted. This is a boom-and-bust cycle.

Carb burning also cuts aerobic capacity.

Humans are different. We metabolize carbs pretty well as a source of long-term energy. We also tend to think fat will make us fat. It tends to be the opposite with dogs. Obviously one needs to take care with portion control with high-calorie rations. But feeding less food (by mass) with a higher caloric content (ie higher fat) will provide sustained energy. Such a formula makes it much easier to promote a strong lean body type.

A 32/14 formula would still have too many calories from carbohydrates IMO. Read the research if you’re interested.

The one caution I’d make if you do decide to go to a high-protein/high-fat diet is to transition slowly. It is always recommended to transition foods, but often that’s being “cautious.” Transitioning towards fat burning is different than just switching between different brands of high-carbohydrate kibble. Many changes have to happen from the release of different digestive enzymes by the pancreas to changes in the mitochondria at a cellular level.

So go slowly if you do decide to follow this advice. Then keep palpating the dog and checking the tuck with the aim of hitting that optimal balance of leanness and muscle. It is the kindest thing one can do with a dog developing hip pain or hip dysplasia, save surgical interventions for dogs who require it.

I hope this is helpful to you. Best with your dog.

Bill

[Matt O]

Which Victor do you recommend for non-puppy large/giant breeds? Do you still use the NutraPro?

Also, in the last few months of using puppy food (ProPlan) our Presa got a little finicky, deciding he didn’t want to eat the food he typically scarfed down. He worked through it, but it kept us thinking about trying to rotate one or two different brands/types of food to keep him interested (and flexible should pricing change).

Any thoughts on introducing and using a secondary food? How would we think of transitioning (same typical 1-2 weeks of mixing)?

[Patricia A]

Feeling good about transitioning over to freeze dried primal recipes for my two Chihuahuas. Just have problem with kickstarting my three year old picky eater. I know it’s not the flavor because when she started getting picky with her fromm and canned topper I went through about 15 flavors and different brands of advisors 5*’s. She’s waiting for bits of the boiled chicken, steak, salmon, veggies etc. which I gave them from our meals. Once she starts eating she gobbles down her venison, rabbit, duck etc. But I don’t always have the extra cooked food available. Just would like to know what else I can use to stimulate her eating on the days I don’t have the cooked food available. I’m going to try some plain low fat yogurt which she like. Any other suggestions please that I can keep in fridge . Don’t want extra calories because she’s good weight now and want to keep it that way. Sweet potato good? I also read low fat cottage cheese? Thank you for any other topping suggestions .

[Anne D]

Hi there! I’ve been through the same thing. I’ve been feeding raw for over 2yrs now & my 3 would never allow me to buy kibble again! HAHAHA
Nor would I want to, since it was the best decision I’ve made for their health.
I agree with the previous poster about the fat content. Small amounts are ok, but watch leaving the skin on since they really can’t chew it up. It’s basically a glob in the belly, which can cause upset.
Don’t worry about the bones, as long as you’re not cooking them, you’re doing everything right. Their digestive tract is set up for this.
The only thing I didn’t see suggested for you was canned pumpkin. I always keep that in. Just in case. Dogs get upset stomachs. Just like us. The pumpkin helps to bind them up. I also add slippery elm bark to the pumpkin. Clears them up really quick. Just make sure that you’re buying canned pumpkin, not pie filling.
I know you’re aware of transitioning proteins, just be sure not to keep them on 1 protein too long. Always rotate. Green Tripe is an excellent way to soothe his belly too. It just might make you incredibly nauseous! HAHAHA Bone broth is great too & if you don’t want to make it, honest kitchen sells a powdered version w turmeric. Nice to keep on hand.
So sorry I’m rambling on. I just hate when our best friends aren’t well & feeling at a loss as to what to do for them. I would post the same question in every raw feeding FB group I was in & was lucky to get a response the next day.
I hope your puppy is feeling better.

[BaileysMom86]

I’m not sure how to edit a post, but my date was incorrect in my post. I started the homemade diet at the beginning of March and I started transitioning to the hydrolyzed vet prescribed food on April 30th.

[pitlove]

Hey Matt-

Thanks for the update. Sounds like your boy is doing well.

Yes he should be ready to begin transitioning to an adult food now. I do use proplan for my adults too yes. I’ve used the savor, focus and sport lines. The sport line is my favorite, specifically the 26/16 formula. However if you want to you can go to the large breed adult and they even make a giant breed adult too.

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

[Patricia A]

I’m also transitioning to Stella Chewy’s baked kibble for my two chihuahuas’ with a little topper of Stella’s freeze dried. They were always on Fromm with topper but my younger one just stopped eating it. I tried the Fromm grain free which they both ate but I believe because of the above average fat caused weight gain in the older one. I still have my 16 year old Hannah on Fromm regular Four Star with the topper and would NOT switch her since she’s done very well on this. I now noticed that Stella’s freeze dried toppers are MUCH higher fat then Primal freeze dried. Primal states on their website that when freeze dried is hydrated it would be approx the SAME fat as their frozen in the same protein. They do not list product rehydrated analysis so I have to believe them when they say it’s the same as frozen when hydrated. So my comparison showed as an example:
Primal Rabbit frozen(should be same for hydrated freeze dried?) Protein 17% Fat 5%
Stella’s Rabbit freeze dried Protein 15.5% Fat 10%
Primal Venison 19% Fat 5%
Stella Venison freeze dried 15% Fat 10%
The only freeze dried from Stella’s which is higher protein and lower fat is the Chicken
Am I understanding this correctly that Primal IS lower in fat?. Tia is getting frequent walks and back yard trips now that winter is over and keeping an eye on hubby not to give any treats to get her weight down, I want to keep this great topper and not go back to canned or now even switch to Primal.

[CockalierMom]

I think the acid reflux is probably due to the condition of his gut right now. I feed THK base mixes, and my girl will get acid reflux if there is too much fat in her food-she does not tolerate fish oil at all on THK. You may want to try a little Kindly base mix and add your own turkey and see how he does. The base mixes are not ground as fine as the complete mixes, such as Embark, and I hydrate those a lot longer, 4 to 12 hours.

I had was giving my girl probiotics for over a year and mentioned to the vet that I did not think they were helping her, and he suggested adding the kefir. I took her off the pet probiotics when I could not add 3 kibbles to her food without getting diarrhea, and then added kefir and had no problems at all transitioning to another kibble. (She does better with a few kibbles mixed into the THK).

Since the THK is bothering him right now, and he tolerates potatoes and sweet potatoes, you may want to try a little of that with the turkey. White potato has less soluble fiber than sweet potatoes and might be a good choice. I strongly suspect the squash and oatmeal are too much for his system.

Have you tried the Wellness Simple Turkey or Natural Balance Duck and Potato?

With the journey I have been through with my girl, I definitely know what it is like to feel defeated and ready to give up–every time I get a good combination that is working formulas are changed or discontinued. I don’t know that I will have any answers for you but can help get you pointed in the direction to head.

[stacey k]

Hi,

I started my dog on raw diet about 2 weeks ago, I did the slow transition because he’s old and we just adopted him from the SPCA not long ago. So he did fine when we were transitioning, but now we are on almost 100% raw (with exception of treats), he has been passing VERY stinky gas and his poop is extremely stinky.
He did have diarrhea when he was first fully switched, so I added more bone, calcium, and pumpkin to his food. The diarrhea is much better. I’m just wondering why the stinky gas and stool? Does this mean he’s not able to digest the raw meat? Do I have to add probiotics? Any suggestion is appreciated, if you have experienced the same, please help.
Thank you.

[Lindsey T]

Our 11 week old Newfoundland puppy has just had a rough go with his belly. When we got him he was fine, eating a large breed puppy food. After a couple weeks home he started having really loose soft poop. Formed, but mush when I scoop it from the yard. It turned to mush, so we went to the vet. Vet said he did have some campylobacter in his fecal so he prescribed antibiotics and a probiotic and put him on a science diet r/d formula food that is high in fiber. His poop was solid within a day and stayed solid for the 3 days he was on it. We started transitioning to a grain free all stage dog food with beef and lamb. His poops have started to go soft again. Again, not diarrhea…but soft enough that when I scoop it it kind of mushes and leaves residue.
The vet says to go back to thr weight management formula but he is only 11 weeks old and lost a lb last werk on that food so im not comfortable doing that.
Should I just give this more time to transition? Or does this sound like he is not tolerating the food? I am running out of money with all the food changes. I really want something that will help keep his poop solid and help him grow as well.

Any input would be appreciated

[Tamra S]

I have a 4 year old male Dalmation who had a urinary stone problem at age 1. After doing a lot of research on this topic over the 20 years we’ve owned male Dals, 3 years ago I settled on Blue Buffalo BASICS (Grain Free) Salmon and Sweet Potato dry kibble for him. He has not had a stone issue since. The past two years I have been VERY disappointed in this product, but I have been too afraid to make a change. I WILL NOT put him on Hills Science Diet or the like “tailored” for dogs with this issue because they are absolutely out of my price range. I feed my other dogs premium dog food (Merrick Grain Free) so I have no problem with a 25lb bag costing $50 – $55.

My Dal has suffered digestive issues several times over the course of his BB diet, always within a day of having opened a new bag. His coat is dry and dull. He and his Basenji sister have dry, dull coats and both have taken to eating poop whenever they are outside. I want to get them both off of BB as I read that they do not have a “Fixed Formula” and I have certainly seen the effects in all my dogs due to ingredient variances.

Does anybody have any experience with transitioning a male Dal with a history of stone formation to another brand of dog food and, if so, what do you recommend?

Tamra S.

[Alex D]

We just took home our 10 week old Vizsla puppy and were sent home with some of the Pro Pac Ultimates food she’d received since being weened, along with some TruDog Boost as a topper for the dry food (1 tablespoon per meal).

I’d not heard of Pro Pac before and checked the review here and discovered that he puppy formula appears to receive 5 stars. That said, we’d given our old girl, who recently went to the Rainbow Bridge, grain free food (Blue Wilderness Senior among others over her life) and she seemed to perk up when we moved her to grain free. I also am not able to get Pro Pac Ultimates locally whatsoever–I’d be relegated to online ordering only which isn’t a problem (I’d always ordered from Amazon/Chewy/etc. in the past) but it’s nice to have the option to pick up locally in an emergency.

Accordingly, before we picked up our new little girl, I’d looked at the potential dog foods from the Editor’s Choice list and was contemplating Wellness Core (puppy) given it’s high rating, relative availability both locally and online, and the fact that I’d have a better idea about where they source their ingredients.

Pro Pac Ultimates is certainly cheaper than Wellness Core, and is likewise cheaper than the Blue Wilderness we’d fed our old girl, but my wife and I are willing to spend more for a better product if needed (and within reason).

Curious for input on whether Pro Pac Ultimates is a quality natural dog food (especially for puppies and with/without the TruDog Boost) or if I should consider transitioning to Wellness Core or another grain-free brand. Alternatively, would it be best to keep her on the Pro Pac until about a year old when we’d move her to a non-puppy formula anyway and try a different brand at that point?

Any input is greatly appreciated.

[Marla G]

I’ve had the same frustration. I hope the food your transitioning to settles things down completely for both. I had a Standard Poodle who has now passed, but I had her on the canned pumpkin for years along with FirstMate Lamb. It’s not for every dog, but it worked for her. Let us know how your dogs are doing. Good luck.

[Ryan K]

Hello!

My 8 year old dachshund/terrier mix has recently had a bout of bad vomiting that I wound up bringing him in to my vet for. He has been acting so strange for about a month now. I started him on Royal Canin HP and despite it working so well for his skin I almost instantly noticed him acting super unlike his normal self. He seemed…agitated and his stomach would be audibly grumbling. Well, I switched him off of that and didn’t transition slowly…I wound up putting him on Tuscan Naturals Chicken Meal & Rice recipe…he ate it but wasn’t thrilled so I switched him right away to Zignature’s Catfish recipe…this was the day the vomiting began. I did do something a little unusual when starting this food in that I put the kibble in warm/hot water to soak it in and make it more appealing. Well, He wound up throwing up once earlier in the day and then a second time later on in which a ton of liquid and balled up grass he had been eating in the yard came up. The vomit smelled slightly foul…far more pungent then normal vomit…so I brought him in to the vet. They did an x-ray and said they didn’t see anything. I mentioned that he had also been “wretching” and “gagging” a lot lately so they examined him for Kennel cough but said it seemed super unlikely since he hasn’t been around any dogs and he wasn’t responding when they pressed into his throat. They told me to put him on a bland diet which I have had him on for 2 days now. He hasn’t thrown up again but I have noticed him doing the “gag-cough” thing and he still seems…unhappy. Just so you know, the cough he does looks and sounds just like what I have seen on youtube for kennel cough but my dog truly is never around other dogs so I have no idea where that could come from if it WAS that. Should I be concerned about Heart disease? I remember my Australian shepherd growing up had that and was always coughing when he got excited. My little guy now just seems to randomly hack for no reason. How concerned should I be? Could this just be a case of me being really bad about the transitioning of the foods and making him sick? Should I get blood work done? This vet (she’s not my normal one-my normal vet was out of town) didn’t seem concerned about that being done but I was nervous that maybe it was his pancreas or something else that would cause vomiting that could be seen in bloodwork. Am I going crazy or should I just let him adjust some more to bland food? Is he just sensitive now that he’s a senior dog?

Side note about my dog…he slipped a disc last year and I did at home treatment to get him better. The surgery was far too expensive and I was just not able to come up with the cost of it. Luckily, keeping him bedridden for 2 months worked and he went from fully paralyzed in the back legs to walking within a week and has moved fine since with the help of laser treatments for a couple weeks and keeping him totally confined. But, during this event my vet and I discovered that he is SUPER sensitive to any pain meds and to gabapentin and all those things that he NEEDED during this period. He actually developed CRAZY pica and wound up scarfing down 3 full tube socks when I wasn’t looking. He threw them up whole. I had to leave him there to make sure he was ok for a whole day after that incident. He just gets really sick on those drugs. Had to share that bit of history about his stomach issues.

Sorry this post was so long. I’m rambling. I wanted to fit a lot of his recent medical history in here. I am probably missing something though. Haha

[Derek D]

I usually get either the chicken, beef, or turkey benefuls wet dog food for my dog as a sometimes treat instead of just kibble as she gets bored of eating the same thing. they didn’t have any the last time I went to DG but they had the Mossy Oak Chicken, Beef, or Salmon flavored wet food. One thing I’ve always noticed with the beneful wet food is she always burps really loud after eating it, then about 1/2 an hour later if that she’s at her food bowl eating some kibble and it does make her stool soft but still formed. With the Mossy Oak wet food (only tried the beef and chicken, don’t know that she’s ever had fish) not only was she full after she ate it, but there was no burping or gas or anything of the sort. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen her lick a bowl so clean before. For anyone noting that their dog’s poop is orange, have you seen the sizes of the carrots, etc. in the Mossy Oak food compared to the other wet foods? With the size of the chunks in that food I’m not surprised it might be turning their poop orange, but I haven’t seen any indication of my dog having an issue with the food, like I said it seems to go down better than the benefuls. The other thing I’ve noticed is when she eats the Mossy Oak wet food she seems to have a more complete bowel movement. Every dog will react differently to the same exact food so just part of being a responsible slave to their puppy overlords err I mean pet owner just keep an eye on how they’re doing with it and how much you feed them at a time when transitioning foods. Many dogs can have a sensitive stomach, irritable bowels, etc. and you’ll never know it until you feed them that one certain thing, etc.

[Jessica W]

Hi all,

I just wanted to follow-up and thank you all again for your suggestions and help. I THINK WE FOUND THE ONE!!!!

After some shopping around we ended up going with Petco’s new brand called WholeHearted. Its a grain free, NO potato, dry dog food. Specifically, we chose WholeHearted Grain Free All Life Stages Lamb and Lentil Formula Dry Dog Food. This food also contains probiotics.

1. HE LOVES IT
2. Solid poops for the first time since we got him, and he is now 6 months old. YAY!
3. It is way cheaper than any of the other brands we have tried

Eventually, once we can get a bigger freezer, I will be transitioning into cooking for him. I found some great French Bulldog food recipes on YouTube that I would like to try. Below I have pasted a link to he product page for the food we have him on currently. I hope this can help someone else who may be struggling with some of the same issues we were.

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/wholehearted-grain-free-all-life-stages-lamb-and-lentil-formula-dry-dog-food-25-lbs-2739327?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&adpos=1o1&scid=scplp2739327&sc_intid=2739327&cm_mmc=PLA-GG-_-PTC_P_SUP_PLA-GG_FY17_SCShopping-Branded-_-Non+VIP-Branded-_-58700003751703094&kwid=p29415747012&device=c&gclid=CjwKCAiA24PVBRBvEiwAyBxf-YbQ094R4-Y9fsrCe9ot5GKCeAa817a29CkfUhrpOZt-pmJVFpUToBoCCPsQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[Gillian W]

I know this is an old post, but was wondering if you ever sorted out your pup with these allergies that you were having with your pup, I would like to hear your testimony or others whom have gone through similar issues with this.

My dog is been having similar problems, but not to the extent as yours did, but he’s been having ear infections, which appeared during this summer season, (I live in South Africa) he’s 2 years old now, but during the winter, his ears did not seem to bother him, so this could be an environmental allergy.

About a month ago, I took him to the vet, as his ears was sore, so they decided to flush them out, under anaesthetic. After this procedure was done, they put him on Prednisone (3 tablets twice daily for 4 days, then 2 twice daily for 4 days, then 1 tablet twice daily for 4 days, until we got down to 1 a day for four days), but when that finished the vet did not give me any more, but only continued on with the 750mg Cephalexin twice daily, after several weekly check-ups. I decided to go to another vet, because I was not happy with him being on antibiotics for such a long time, 23 days at that time, and the 2nd vet put him on Medrol, and took him off Cephelexin. 1 a day for 2 days, then 1 every other day. I saw a difference on the 3rd day, but on the 4th days, his ears seemed to gunked up again. Also, I am now busy/transitioning him to a grain free diet, a fish based one only, with no meats or chicken etc.

[Marie D]

Hello all,
We recently adopted a dog, and we’re trying to transition him to another dog food. I want to feel good about feeding him a high-quality nutritious food, but I also don’t want to fall prey to a lot of marketing and hype and over-pay. After all, high cost doesn’t always mean equally high quality. His previous owners fed him a mix of Natural Balance chicken & sweet potato formula with a little bit of Orijen mixed in for extra nutrition. We wanted to simplify his diet and switch to a single dog food that would hopefully be both nutritious and reasonably priced. (Orijen is too expensive for us to make that his main food.) Based on research and lots of positive reviews and recommendations, we decided on Earthborn Holistic Primitive Natural. It seems to be overwhelmingly recommended and highly rated by lots of different sources and user reviews, and seemed reasonably priced for the apparent quality. However, our dog doesn’t seem to be processing the food as well as we hoped/expected from what other people have described. While most people seem to describe their dogs’ poop getting smaller, firmer, and less smelly on the Earthborn Holistic food, our dog’s stool has been the opposite — it has become larger, softer and wetter, greener, and smellier. Yuck. We’re still in the process of the transition, slowly increasing the amounts of the new food so he’s not yet 100% on the Earthborn Holistic, but we’re almost there. We’re a little over a week into the transition. Do we need to give it more time for him to fully adjust, or should we take this as a sign that this particular food just isn’t right for him for some reason? I can’t figure out what ingredients might not be suiting him well or how to figure it out, so not sure what other highly nutritious but also affordable foods to try as alternatives. Any thoughts, suggestions, recommendations would be appreciated — thanks!

[Karen G]

Hello Everyone, It has been almost 2 weeks since I have posted about Abby and I thought I would give an update. According to the clinical nutritionist at the Veterinary College here in Ontario, Abby is doing quite well. She and her supervisor were not really concerned with any of the slight abnormalities in Abby’s bloodwork, with the exception of a low B!2, something we all knew would be an issue for Abby as she lost her ileum (the section of the small bowel that absorbs B!2). Therefore we have restarted B12 injections every 2 weeks.
Abby’s appetite has picked up now that we are almost exclusively feeding her small meals of Hills z/d kibble (both canine and feline mixed ~75%/25%). we “flavour” the meals with ~ 5-8gm of a slurry of boiled lean ground beef (I boil 1 lb of ground beef in ~300-400 mL of water, after it is cooked and cooled in the fridge I remove as much fat as I can and then pulverize the whole pot of water and beef into a rather thick beefy broth. I freeze it in small containers and then measure it out per meal) We heat the slurry in the microwave for 5 seconds so it is warmed and thinned and then we coat the measured dry kibble with it before setting it down for her to eat. She loves it. I suppose it sounds like a lot of work but really boiling a pound of ground beef, separating the fat, blending it then freezing it is really pretty easy.
We have decreased the daily Fortiflora doses as I was concerned that it could be contributing to Abby’s diarrhea. The envelope that contains the daily dose is the same amount for a Great Dane as it is for Abby who is only about 6.35kg (14lbs) and I thought she might be getting too much. However there was really no difference in her number of poops after I stopped the Fortiflora so now I give her a bit on her morning feed every 2nd day or so just to give her a little healthy bacteria top up and that seems to be fine. Her weight loss has levelled off and we have seen a slight increase in the last 2 weeks.
I spoke to our clinical nutrition resident about soluble vs insoluble fibre (Thank you Susan) and since we had such bad luck with soluble fibre (metmucil) her suggestion was to just try what we can from natural sources (veg, fruit etc) but to always maintain a rule of 90% daily nutritional content from her kibble, and no more than 10% nutritional content from other things (ground beef and/or fruit veg etc). Now that she is getting the ground beef we no longer give Abby any canned z/d. We also discussed other hydrolysed dog foods and alternative protein source dog foods (again, thank you both pitlove & Susan) and the CN is going to modify Abby’s original diet report with alternate options, all under the supervision of the assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the OVC. We are pretty lucky to live so close to such a high level of care for our pup.
Abby continues to poop 4-6x a day, thickest in the morning, most watery at night. Our CN reminded us that because Abby has lost so much of her small bowel she will always have diarrhea and our goals should be to see a decrease in frequency, to maybe only 3x a day and hopefully one day poops that are consistently only a score of 5 on the Purina fecal scoring system chart. Currently Abby’s poops are usually a score of 6-7 with an occasional 5. http://www.epi4dogs.com/poopchart.htm
Just this past week we passed the 3month anniversary of Abby’s torsion and surgery. This date was a real milestone for me as everything I read online re:veterinary studies of dogs that had bowel resections and a loss of a large section of small bowel, would show that a dog that survived the first 3 months generally lasted until they were no longer being followed by the authors (i.e. a couple of years). Because Abby lost 70% of her small bowel, she is on the borderline of good vs bad outcomes. So three cheers for our wee Abby…she has survived the acute recovery period and now we are transitioning to chronic mode.
I have to admit this has all become quite an obsession for me this last 3 months but I am feeling pretty good right now. Abby is a happy active little dog, her quality of life is very good. Other good news is that the CN at the OVC also reviewed Abby’s BCS and gave her a 4/9 instead of a 3/9 as our family vet’s practice partner did. (I shouldn’t have even asked for it that day, she was a vet that didn’t know Abby and a BCS can be quite subjective) The CN told us that family vets often underestimate Body Conditioning Scores because they are so used to seeing dogs that are overweight. So a 4/9 is pretty perfect and I’ll take it!
The next steps are the modified diet plan, and Abby will be discussed at internal medicine rounds this week at the OVC re: would she benefit from another round of metronidazole and/or would she benefit from a low daily dose of an antidiarrheal. I know those seem like simple actions that any vet might do, but the opportunity to discuss it with a number of professors and vets at a university teaching hospital may have far reaching results…who knows, Abby may be the subject of a journal article some day.
Once again, thank you pitlove, Susan, & Tyrionthebiscuit for reading and offering your supportive comments and knowledge. It has been very helpful for me. I realize this is a rather long winded post but I am hopeful that if ever anyone else has to go through a similar experience with their dog, they will find this post and know that there are people out there willing to share their knowledge and experiences to help that family have a positive outcome. As our CN said, a lot of this is trial and error because many dogs don’t survive post surgery or their owners can’t afford the surgery so there isn’t a huge amount of information out there. I will continue to post updates about Abby’s progress, thanks all….Cheers for now

[Tyrionthebiscuit]

If Merrick is too rich for your dog, but you still want to stay with the Purina companies, I would try Whole Earth Farms. Made in Merrick’s facility and is a little lower protein. If you aren’t married to that idea, I would suggest Under the Sun Whitefish. It’s very easy on the stomach during transitioning.

[Kimberly B]

Our 5 month old Labradoodle is having a hard time transitioning from Blue Buffalo to Nulo. Vet said Blue Buffalo is too rich and too much salt for Moose. I see a lot of good things about Purina Pro Plan but am confused that it doesn’t get 4-5 stars on this site. I thought being a member would help me choose something affordable yet good. Food is very important to me. We lost a 7 year old Lab to cancer this summer so I want to do everything I can to make sure this pup has a long healthy life.
Any input would be greatly appreciated!

[anonymous]

The goal of prescription food is to stabilize the dogs, hopefully stop the vomiting and diarrhea. Then, if and when he is doing well for a few months you can talk to your vet about the possibility of transitioning him to another food.
Senior dogs often do best on a simple, bland diet. Such as the appropriate therapeutic diet.
I think some of your confusion is because you are listening to homeopathic vets vs traditional vets.
Views, opinions, treatment differ greatly and often interfere with each other.
Best of luck

[Dario P]

I’m transitioning my 2-yr-old, 30-pound doodle to Zignature from Wellness Core and I’m a little confused since, until now, I’ve been feeding him slightly less than 2 cups per day and according to the Zignature label, they suggest 3 cups per day (if I’m reading correctly). Should I just keep going as is? Or when Zignature references “Serving Size” do they mean total cups PER DAY?

[Anita L]

Kind of interesting that anon101 dismisses “homeopathic” (actually holistic, not homeopathic) sources of information and their own source happens to be quite biased too. The availability of vets who are aware of kibble-alternative diets may depend very much on where you live. Where I live, there are many holistically trained vets do not use only traditional veterinary knowledge, as helpful as that can be for many people.

A well-researched post about transitioning from a brick & mortar organization specializing in raw pet foods: https://sfraw.wordpress.com/2017/02/09/transitioning-to-raw-sfraw-recommends/ Hope it’s useful!

You can get the meats & bones at any butcher you would go to for your own meats. Bones are really inexpensive – just get small bones such as chicken necks, feet, to begin with, and avoid weight-bearing bones.

Personally, we give our 15 lb dog at least 2-3 meals of meaty chicken bones a week. We just approximate her usual 1/2 cup serving size from how big the bone looks. This is as a supplement to high-quality kibble and homemade (cooked) food, using Dr. Richard Pilcairn’s recipe. You may find his book helpful if you wish to learn more about alternative diets.

We have also fed prepackaged foods such as Primal brand, which comes in frozen patties. If you are open to freeze-dried, Stella and Chewy’s is also great. Ziwipeak is air-dried and an amazing food for the money (considering you can use it as a treat since it comes in little squares and is apparently delicious). All are more expensive than feeding raw sourced from grocery stores but those are premium brands for minimally processed food.

[Blkdoodle]

I had been looking for a dog food that did not have the products my Goldendoodle was allergic to. She’s borderline on many things and positive on a few, those being potato, chicken, peas, green beans, beef, etc.. I had her on lamb but found Venison which she is not allergic. Sport Dog Food, Elite Series, Venison & Sweet potato. She loves it. After the transitioning to this food I am looking forward to her not continually scratching.
PLEASE check out this dog food. Thank you

[anonymous]

“Do dogs known to be having sensitive stomach? How did dogs in the wild survive?”

They didn’t, they didn’t live very long and suffered greatly.
“Dogs are not wolves”
http://skeptvet.com/Blog/?s=dogs+are+not+wolves

As far as transitioning foods, it depends on the dog. I have changed the brand of food cold turkey with no issues. Some dogs may have a loose stool or two.
Once I find a brand of kibble that agrees with the dog, I stick with it as a base and always add a little warm water.

[shawn b]

Thanks Nadine for your response. I may be transitioning over to the eagle pack too fast, because she has diarrhea now. I am thinking I shouldn’t just give up on the new food yet. She is eating 1 cup Pro Plan and 1 1/2 cups eagle pack, twice a day. Her weight is about 70 lbs. and she seems slightly under weight to me. I bought some rice today and thought maybe I should add that to her food for awhile. Please help, and thank-you so much!

[Atlas T]

Hi all,

Another vet appointment, another update. Nothing really new though. Vet says he clearly has food sensitivities, and that I shouldn’t worry so much about him being on the adult food. I should keep him on this food for several months in order for his gut to stabilize. That’s pretty much all the advice I got…

So, I’ll keep him on this food for some time (even if it breaks the bank) and then maybe I’ll try transitioning to another food. My biggest issue is with the treats. I need to train him on so many things, and yet all of the treats throw his stomach for a loop. Not sure what to do.

Thanks!

[CockalierMom]

Glad to hear Atlas is doing better. It will take time for his tummy to heal and for the bacteria to get better established. For bacteria to flourish in the gut, it needs to be inflammation free and a diet with plenty of soluble fiber. It was after my girls were eating the Natural Balance Kangaroo and Potato for several months that I was not able to transition them to a new food without adding the kefir, even though one had been getting a good pet probiotic every day. It is a good food as far as digestion, but in my experience was not good for promoting gut health. (I never had a problem transitioning foods prior to the NB).

You may want to consider Purina Pro Plan. If you take a look at some of the threads on here, there have been several people with large breed puppies that were having poo issues, and they said their dogs do better on Pro Plan.

Good luck with the new vet and hopefully he/she will be able to help get Atlas on a more appropriate diet.

[Timothy B]

I’m transitioning my 1year old from puppy chow. Being on a fixed income i was looking for an affordable premium food. Found this at Dollar Gen and compared labels with RR Nutrish. Pretty similar and undoubtedly better than most others there. Got home and mixed 1 cup of new with 2 cups puppy. Wow she gobbled it up like it was a treat lol. Have had many dogs so i am very aware about transitioning from 1 food to another. Every dog is different. This food is much different from whats shes used to…higher fat and protein and more digestible ingredients so i wouldnt be surprised if she has some loose stools. Looking forward to seeing her reponse long term.

[Timothy B]

I’m transitioning my 1year old from puppy chow. Being on a fixed income i was looking for an affordable premium food. Found this at Dollar Gen and compared labels with RR Nutrish. Pretty similar and undoubtedly better than most others there. Got home and mixed 1 cup of new with 2 cups puppy. Wow she gobbled it up like it was a treat lol. Have had many dogs so i am very aware about transitioning from 1 food to another. Every dog is different. This food is much different from whats shes used to…higher fat and protein and more digestible ingredients so i would be surprised if she has some loose stools. Looking forward to seeing her reponse long term.

[Jeff S]

So I have a 14 week old Australian Labradoodle puppy who I was possibly transitioning to raw or at least mostly raw—want to keep some kibble to make it easier for travel and friends watching her. Anyway started transitioning her to Raw about a week ago. Have been using a sample pack from Darwin’s as well as some Primal Raw frozen–both chicken. She seems to be doing generally ok, although it seems that for about 1/2-1 hour after she eats, she gets very hyper–sometimes running in big circles with her tail between her legs and/or being very restless. Spoke with Darwins’ but they said they haven’t heard of this. has anyone experienced this? So far I have been only giving her commercial raw, except for yesterday when I gave her a piece of raw turkey wing (which she enjoyed and chewed up pretty well). Yesterday about 3 hours after eating the turkey wing she did regurgitate with much of the turkey looking undigested (she re-ate it). She then seemed fine. After playing for a bit and taking a nap she seemed very hungry so gave her a handful of kibble (Acana). About another 2-3 hours after, she threw up agin–mostly partially digested kibble. She was good the rest of the night (slept through until morning). Fed her kibble this morning and she was good most of the day. Fed her some more raw (Darwins chicken at lunch) got a bit hyper again but was good most of the rest of the day until after dinner–which was some more Darwins and a bit of Allprovide. Again shortly after eating she got very hyper, racing around the yard picking up sticks, etc.

So, is this normal? Am I transitioning her too quickly? is the hyper ness possibly an upset stomach (she sometimes seems to run and sit quickly–once and a while dragging her butt a bit (has been dewormed plus saw a tapeworm before i stated the raw and she was dewormed for that as well).

Also, since we’ve had her she has been a bit itchy/biting around the base of her tail and back legs, although the vet could not find any fleas and didn’t think it should be any more worms. Since starting the raw nothing has really changed with the itching (I realize it is kind of soon to expect any change in that–just bringing it up in case it’s a sign of something else).

Anyway, anyone have any thoughts. Not while I’m writing this, she has been panting a bit heavily and looked like she was going to vomit again although nothing happened.

Thanks

Jeff

[Joyce D]

I bought a large bag with the intention of upgrading my dog’s food. I also made the mistake of not transitioning him slowly to it. I have changed up food before without doing so & have not experienced a problem. This food did cause a reaction in him. Lots of snorting, scratching, wheezing, gagging (no vomit luckily), & diarrhea. Put him on a bland diet over the last 4 days & he is getting back to normal. A relief for both of us. I’m going to try a different brand I got on chewy.com American Journey chicken & sweet potato recipe. This time I will transition him slowly & keep our paws crossed! Wish is luck!

[Heather C]

Thank you so much for the suggestions, Susan. I use a liquid Omega 3 in a pump called Omega-Tri-V (purchased from the vet, brand is Henry Schein). I store her dry food in an air-tight container inside the house, but I agree, I need to try a different food. I’ve tried a few salmon-based dry foods but she turns her nose up at fish; however, I haven’t tried the brands that you suggested so maybe one of those will taste better to her. l’ll look at both of the food recommendations and start transitioning her over to something new this week.
I still bathe Daisy with her oatmeal puppy shampoo that get at Petsmart. I’ll check out Malaseb.
Poor girl, she acts like she feels fine but I still worry that she doesn’t. Oh how I wish they could talk!
Thanks so much – I’ll let you know how it goes.

[Anne B]

All right, at first this CleanLabelProject report threw me for a loop. I started looking for another brand of kibble based on CLP’s findings. What they deemed to be healthier for our dogs have corn meal as the first ingredient for starters. They included primarily plant based proteins and other carbs that I do not eat let alone our dogs.
As we are transitioning our two dogs from kibble based diets to primarily raw diet and the occasional kibble included meal we are not changing from Orijen. I think about how unhealthy it was for my husband and I on a high carb diet so why should we subject our dogs to the same high carb, high fat stuff?
We give our dogs Organic Bragg’s ACV, prebiotics and probiotics, Organic Coconut Oil and minimal kibble that has a low carbohydrate percentage ratio. I believe in the “everything in moderation” along with a nice piece of beef rather than this report as gospel and a grain of any kind.

[pitlove]

Hi Ashley-

Congrats on the new puppy!

The good news is your puppy does not have a sensitive stomach. Whenever you first get a puppy it is important to keep them on the same food the breeder was feeding for 3-4 weeks. Although we try our best to make them feel at home and comfortable, a move to a new environment is stressful for young dogs and sudden changes in diet can cause stomach upset like you’re experiencing. Only transitioning from Puppy Chow to Pro Plan for 2 days is not long enough and plus it was done too soon.

She will need to go back on Puppy Chow for 3-4 weeks and then you can begin a 7-10 day transition over to Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy again. I would not recommend a second diet change (to Fromm) in such a short amount of time. It will not help. Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy is an excellent food, she just needed more time to adjust to her new home and family before switching to another food.

[Dana F]

I had no luck transitioning my dog from the Canadian version of Orijen to the U.S. version. Even with a slow transition my dog developed diarrhea. I tried more than one formula/recipe.
This was very frustrating because he had been doing remarkably well on the Canadian formula. Starting over and I am now trying various other foods including Holistic Blend.

[Lindsay B]

My German Shorthair is turning 8 and we think it’s time to start transitioning her to a senior dog food. Any suggestions for a mid-range food that is low calorie? Are there any other factors we should consider?

[Teagsmom]

I tried a few different kibble and the winner is Natures Variety Instinct Raw Boost for small breed. The kibble is the size of Fromm (tiny). She absolutely LOVES IT. I used it as a treat (testing to see if she would insist on something better) and she gobbled it up. So I’m using the Instinct raw boost (it has pieces of freeze dried in it) with a Primal topper. I toss in a few pieces of Acana to make sure she doesn’t get sick from transitioning but she’s absolutely fine. Stools are perfect and she gets so excited for her meals. Fingers crossed this lasts!! 🙂

[InkedMarie]

Dee: unless you know for a fact that your dog can go from one food to another without stomach upset, transitioning gradually is what you do.

I know nothing about this food but that is probably the reason your dog had trouble.

[LuckyLab]

anon101,

I think that’s good advice. My vet’s office does not seem overly concerned, while they haven’t seen him specifically for that issue we had him in last week for his wellness check/2nd vaccine and they said he checked out perfectly. They left me with the “bring him in if you want, but it doesn’t sound overly alarming” response more or less.

We are going to still watch it and wait another week before slowly transitioning him into a new food. I’ve had a lot of people in my area say allergies are worse this year than they’ve been in the past. He’s only chewing/licking 2-3 times a day at most and it’s quick then he’s done. I’m guessing it doesn’t warrant a special appointment unless we see an escalation. He has to go in later in July for another round of vaccines, we may just wait till then and ask.

I think we are going to transition him into a new food sometime next week very slowly (Fromm Gold) but stick with the grain version for the time being. No need to exclude that unless the vet advises.

[Simon W]

I’ve been feeding Beneful to my 15 month old Dachshund since April. We had some issues when he was a puppy with certain foods causing hyperactivity or vomiting, and his coat tends to be dull. He doesn’t have either problem on Beneful, everything seems perfect, and I know it’s not “highly rated”, but I was in a financial bind recently and had to temporarily downgrade.

Even though Beneful worked for him, we’ve been looking to get him onto something better, but still budget friendly, and are slowly transitioning him to Canidae. Today was his first 100% Canidae day. He’s been “mushy” all day, not very active or alert. But about two hours ago, the neighbors shot off fireworks, which he both heard and saw from the kitchen window. Normally, he’s technically not afraid of fireworks, but they unnerve him a little bit. Soon enough, he’ll get over his fear and starts yapping at them like he’s so brave (lol!), then gets over it in a few minutes.

Tonight, though, he FREAKED OUT. Almost broke his neck trying to run away, could not settle down or be comforted, and had to be locked in a windowless part of the basement (where his toys are and he usually sleeps at night) just to get his behavior slightly under control. Two hours have passed, though, and he’s STILL barking every few minutes, pacing, and unsettled. I have never seen him behave like this before. We had some difficulties in finding a good puppy food for him, and after trying Iams, he went off the walls and became aggressive. I thought it was crazy to suspect the food in that instance, but the behavior did go away after it was removed. Now I’m wondering if this extreme reaction to the fireworks, which is completely uncharacteristic for this dog, could have something to do with his recent diet change? Any help or advice is appreciated!

[pugmomsandy]

Sign up at gravatar.com for your avatar. For pictures, they need to come from a photo hosting site.

I’ve used Pro PAC Ultimates Grain Free and Nutrisource Grain Free while fostering and it worked well. Fosters didn’t have any GI issues with transitioning but my personal dogs get around 35% (sometimes more or less) protein and various levels of fat as well. They stay muscular and they’re 10-12, maybe 13 yrs old.

[Christie]

Well it look like my original thread was closed to new replies and feel free to delete this one if creating it is out of bounds, but I just wanted to comment on some of the suggestions.

Other than the grass eating, neither dog is exhibiting GI symptoms. I dealt with drooling and licking associated acid reflux issues with my 8 year old Chance back in February. I had previously tried switching them to Zignature (which made the acid reflux worse). The issues stopped after switching him to the Fromms. So I’m hesitant to switch him to another brand because the drooling and paw licking was out of hand before.

I did receive a new bag of the food from Chewy on March 24th. I wonder if it’s just a bad bag.

It’s strange that it’s happening to both dogs. I would have chalked it up to Chance’s acid reflux, had two year old Lexa not been eating grass, too. Both dogs are eating normally and still enjoy a treat now and then. There’s no drooling or vomiting or any outward sign of distress and that makes it so frustrating. I called my vet. He suggesting trying a new food (he ‘recommended’ royal canin, which is what they sell in their office– no surprise there) to see if the grass eating stops and to make an appointment if they start showing signs of GI distress. He also said that I could have gotten a bad batch of the food.

I guess I’d have to start with transitioning the food over (which is a shame because I think the Fromms was really helping to slim them down) to something more easily digestible and see if it makes a difference.

Thanks for all the suggestions and sorry that the thread veered off topic.

[Rene P]

Tripe is not an organ meat, it is considered a muscle. Also, I would not just feed chicken (even for a little while). It was recommended in “Raw and Natural Nutrition for Dogs” by Lew Olson, that you vary the meats in order to maintain a healthy diet. She recommends feeding tripe 2x weekly, beef, 1-2x, chicken(meat) only 1x, and lamb/pork/rabbit the other days. Her book is full of great info for the raw food neophyte and I HIGHLY recommend it. I’ve been transitioning my dog to raw for the past 10 days and he is already partial to his raw meals and bones. If you get the book but would prefer to make your own supplements (instead of purchasing hers), I can provide a good recipe for that. Hope this was helpful. René

[Christie]

anon101: Nothing showed up on the bloodwork. We did the Pepcid twice a day for 10 days 30 minutes before meals. I was in the process of transitioning the dogs from Wellness Core Reduced Fat kibble to Fromm Weight Management. I also stopped giving the dogs apples and sardines with their meals.

So far, there have been no abnormal issues. He still drools like crazy in the presence of food, which is normal for him. But he hasn’t had any issues with drooling or settling down at night since.

I have a followup appointment with the vet tonight to check on the ulcer that was on his lip/chin (that may have also contributed to the drooling).

The vet still thinks that it’s something that he’s eating. I haven’t had any issues since I finished transitioning to Fromm. But neither dog likes the kibble.

[Christie]

Ok. The drooling is back. Noticed last night that he was drooling excessively after dinner and he didn’t want to settle in for the night. So I took him back to the vet today. He has some tartar on his canines (not terrible though) and his gums were a little red but not swollen. He has some ulcer on the outside of his lower jaw. The vet doesn’t think that the mouth is the main issue. Since I started to notice the issues after switching him to Wellness Core Reduced Fat dry kibble, he wants to eliminate the possibility that it’s food related. The vet told me to give him 20mg of Pepcid 2x day for 10 days to see if there is an improvement.

In reply to Susan, I don’t think it’s the Zignature, because he started to have the issues while eating the Wellness and I switched him to the Zignature immediately on the suggestion of someone else in the forum. But yes, Zignature has 435 Calories/Cup, where the Wellness Core only has 360. I’m transitioning him off the Zignature to Fromm Gold Weight Management which only is 341 kcal/cup.

If the pepcid doesn’t help, he’s going to do a full blood work up to check his liver and put him out to clean his teeth and do a more thorough check of his mouth, teeth and gums. And if he still has issues, then we’re going to look more closely into his food.

So what I thought was a done deal is back to being a mystery.

[Acroyali]

I am a raw feeder, so I can’t suggest much in the way of kibble but I have noticed that there have been some tummy-related complaints with Blue Buffalo. This isn’t to say it’s a horrible food, it’s just that some dogs seem unable to utilize it as they should.
I know that Wellness has a very limited ingredient line (4-5 ingredients only) that can be of a big help when it comes to food intolerances. (I believe most of the line includes novel protein sources like duck, etc.)
http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/categories.aspx?pet=dog&cat=3#Simple Dry Limited Ingredient Diets Dog Recipes
I don’t believe it’s formulated for seniors, but it’s just my (personal) opinion that senior diets are kind of gimmicky unless there’s a serious medical reason that specifies a low(er) protein diet.
Fromm is an excellent company that, if I fed kibble, I would feel 100% comfortable feeding. They have a beef formula, no chicken.
https://frommfamily.com/products/four-star/dog/dry/#beef-frittata-veg

Also, it might be worth checking into giving this dog some probiotics and/or digestive enzymes to help digestion. The metronydozale is a helpful drug in this instance and can stop the problem in it’s tracks, but re-feeding her gut with beneficial bacteria might help even out the occurrences of diarrhea. Both probiotics and D.E’s can be VERY helpful when transitioning a dog with a sensitive gut over to a new food, too, so that might be something to consider.

I don’t know if you’ve ever given her pumpkin, but many people swear by it to help with chronic diarrhea and firming the stools.
Hope this is helpful.

[Christie]

My 8 year old American Bulldog/Pit mix is 115 pounds and my 2 year old Catahoula Leopard Dog Mix is about 45 pounds. My vet thinks their healthy weight should be around 90 and 35 pounds, respectively. To address the weight issue, I slowly transitioned both dogs to Natural Balance Fat Dogs, because it had much lower calorie counts than other reduced fat/weight loss foods. My big guy has had some issues in the past with food allergies and I noticed that within a few weeks of eating the new food, he was having issues with his ears and licking his paws. I looked up the food on this site and saw that the carb percentage was very high and my vet had said in the past that high carb foods can cause allergy induced ear infections.
I tried transitioning to Wellness Core Reduced Fat with the same results. I don’t know if he has a poultry allergy or just a chicken allergy but both of those foods list chicken and turkey as main ingredients. And I have yet to find a quality dry food weight loss formula that uses a different protein source (and yes I do know that chicken and turkey are the leanest animal protein choices)

Does anyone have a suggestion? I was going to just try transitioning to a quality food (maybe the beef based Victor hero) and just limiting the amount of food that they consume. Both dogs prefer smaller sized kibble and I heard Victor is pretty small.

[Kay W]

I have never written on any of these, but ALWAYS have read and researched dog foods and topics etc. I am so grateful for this site and finding ALL the information. My girl will be 3 on Feb 14th. She has been sick since Christmas day. I found it odd that she had calcium oxylate crystals and a UTI after a vet visit. True I read that with Orijen, they need to drink more BUT….she acted so different too and less energetic and alert. After I read a guy’s article about his dog getting crystals on the Orijen, I called the distributor and asked about the Acana……after all “Orijen is the best as I thought”. I had fed my 75 lb baby Orijen the last 2 years. First year, I fed her the supposed “best” new Blue Wilderness until she got lethargic and hair started shedding……then learned/read how they sold the co. at that time and went with cheaper products. So then went with Orijen Regional Red the past 2 years. Crystals went away and normal PH thank God. I didn’t realize at the time that it might be connected to the food. Had just bought a NEW huge bag of Regional Red….along with the Acana for lower protein. This past week, she got 3 bumps on her rear that then turned to larger bumpy rashes. She started chewing on her tail obsessively and scratching, ate to the bloody skin on all three places, and scratched ALL over. I didn’t know if it was a yeast infection from the antibiotics which it was NOT. I then started giving her the Acana food, bought at the same time, just about 2 weeks ago. OMG…..very lethargic, less alert than before, red eyes and insane itching….even after the new organic “itchless” shampoo. Was scratching her face and sides of her mouth yesterday and today this evening after her “supper” of Acana, which she has NEVER done. She woke up throwing up at 4:00 am yesterday. I found this info and site tonight and now I know FOR SURE that it is this food, and from that new plant. I had called the distributor to ask “where” the food came from…they said KY, not Canada anymore. I had read that on another site also. I “had” felt so assured and happy that she had Orijen and I had found a great food. I’m just praying hard on her to feel better, and throwing away BOTH huge bags tomorrow, the Acana and Orijen! Forget about “transitioning” to a new food…I’ll risk the diarrhea and clogged anal glands instead of giving her this nasty food. I have read hours and hours trying to find a good SAFE Grain Free for her. Will do chicken and rice, but NOW getting the Grain Free Candidae Duck. They have NOT had a recall since 2012, and it was the company that made the decision just for precautions. I pray this food will work and hope the potatoes don’t cause an issue relative to starch/sugar/yeast etc. My heart goes out to anyone and everyone that has had any heartache with their pets/loving part of the family, that has suffered in any way. It TRULY is horrible that more people and companies don’t care more about our pets. These are like our “children” to most of us! For me I know! Thank you truly for sharing your stories and experiences to educate and spare other people and their 4 legged babies etc. I’m praying hard on my baby girl to get back to her old self SOON! Take care, God bless!