[Christina K]

Oh, he also hates the coconut oil now. I bought a huge new jar, and he decided that it wasn’t good enough. So, I switched to a healthy yogurt and his skin/fur still look and feel nice

[Christina K]

I know it’s been a super long time, but I remembered this post today when I went to order new food for Chance. I took him to a new vet and they got his infection all cleared up. He’s now on an allergy medication and he ears have never looked better. He’s out of the cone of shame and I hardly ever have to clean out his ears. He still has a hematoma in one ear that won’t go down. The vet didn’t seem too worried about, so I’m trying not be. So far, I’ve tried the Hollistic Select in all of the flavors available. He liked them all (at first) and now he doesn’t like eating them as much. He apparently only likes junk food, because he gobbled up the food at my parent’s house when we went to visit.

[Christina K]

Wow, that is very much like my situation. The vets were able to clear up his ears, but then everything just comes right back. I felt like a really awful pet parent for not taking him to the vet every single time, but I knew it was useless. It’s good to hear that everything worked out well.

Chance’s new food should be here tomorrow and I’m giving him the yogurt (or Kefir) with some sardines, pumpkin, and the coconut oil mixed it. It sounds gross to me, but I’m sure he’ll love it.

Hopefully I’ll be back with a success story soon.

[Christina K]

You guys have been so helpful. I’ll get some plain yogurt, pumpkin, and sardines to give him for the weekend. The Holistic should be here tomorrow, but it might make sense just to have a few days of transitioning before heading straight for the new food.

Something that I gave him yesterday really bothered him, so I’m not going to give him any of the treats he had yesterday. I’ll continue with just chicken for today. If he has the same problem tomorrow, I’ll know it’s the chicken. He was shaking his head all night trying to get his cone off.

[Christina K]

I might have to try those ear drops. It’s really hard to use anything on his ears, because he’s a big baby and he runs away when you say the word “ear.”

I just wanted everyone to know, I got the coconut oil (unrefined) and Chance LOVES it. I obviously don’t know if it will work yet, but he couldn’t get enough of it. I’m glad that I don’t have to force it on him

[Christina K]

I ordered the Holistic Select in the anchovy, salmon flavor. Until then, I’ll be feeding him chicken so that I don’t have to give him any more of the Dog Chow. Hopefully the transition goes well, I really don’t want to get anything too close to Dog Chow since it is so terrible. I also think I saw that the Holistic Select comes in a canned food, so I might do a mixture of dry and canned. I’m sure that he would enjoy it.

I also managed to fined the THK Beams on Amazon, so I got those too. Until then, I have some fruit based treats that the Pet Smart employees recommended. He seems to like them, and they certainly haven’t made anything worse.

I’m going grocery shopping tonight, so I’ll look for the Coconut Oil. I’m assuming that I’ll be able to find it in the organic section.

[Christina K]

Thank you, that sounds a lot easier than hunting down the exact ingredients in the forms listed. Should I add something new each day or try each meal for a couple of days? I know that he won’t eat tomatoes. He just spits them right out, but I might be able to mix it up enough to hide them. He’ll lick them a lot, so I know he likes the taste, but he must dislike the texture or something.

Awesome! There’s a store not too far from me, so I should be able to go get those beams within the next few days.

[Christina K]

He only had fleas the one time. My parent’s back yard turned into a swamp after their neighbors drained out their pool. That’s when the fleas (and turtles!!) took over the yard. Chance is living with me now, so I don’t think they’ll be a big problem.

The price isn’t really a concern for me any more. My boyfriend offered to buy the food and he told me to get good food, regardless of the price. Dog Chow is certainly worst of the worst according to the reviews.

Okay, I’ll try the elimination diet first. I fed him just chicken this morning, because that’s all I had other than a little bit of leftover Dog Chow. He was thrilled, so hopefully he doesn’t have any intolerance to it. It looks like I’ll need to get some anchovies, sardines, and salmon meal type ingredients to be sure that he’s not allergic to the fish before making him eat the Holistic food.

Do you know what I can get THK beams?

[Christina K]

Those ear drops sound like miracle workers. That’s what I need for instant relief. I’m sure that Chance will hate me for an entire day, but he’ll get over it. I’m going to try the Holistic food. It has rave reviews and there are very few controversial ingredients. If it doesn’t work, I’ll try the elimination diet, but it sounds like it would be a great choice for him. Thank you so much. I don’t feel as overwhelmed by the options now.

[Christina K]

I might have to try that elimination diet. He’s just on Dog Chow right now, because he was living with my parents and their 3 other dogs. I really want to get him on a healthier diet. I started pouring a multivitamin on top of this food the other day. I thought he was going to take off my hands to get more of it.

I also got Chance some fruit based treats, but I’ll definitely be picking up those Honest Kitchen’s Beams. I saw the worst case of fleas on him too. He was far more affected by the fleas than the other 3 dogs. Hopefully the fish and coconut oils will help rid him of his remaining wounds.

Thank you so much for the advice. At least now I can narrow down to fish-based foods. I think that will help him a lot. My goal now is to get him out of that cone.

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