Zoe By My Side- Our Journey with Cushings

You are right Marianne. Absolutely right. I guess I thought if I could get away with the lowest amount of it then when I switch food I maybe would not have to go back to the high dose which caused side effects.

Maybe it is better to leave it as it is and perhaps then the food change won't be as much of a drama.

I did promise to trust the IMS and here I am again planning to not follow her instructions:rolleyes:

Thank you for reminding me:D I do need reminding:o

Do you think I should not change her food? If I don't do it soon, I am afraid it will never happen. Then I will always wonder is the raw food the reason she has to have metronidazole in the first place.

Hugs,
Addy

If the specialist has finally OK'd the food change and Zoe seems to be stable right now, if it was me, I think I'd go ahead and give the change a try as soon as you're ready. As you've said, otherwise you'll always wonder. And this does seem as though it is the time that you have a window of opportunity. I'd leave everything else status quo, though, including the metronidazole. That way, the only variable that you are altering is the food and you'll be better able to judge whether the change presents any new problems.

Marianne

Dear Addy
You have made the best decision for the situation at hand. Like you, I needed to eliminate different possibilities with Apollo. So from Dec 1,2010 through February 25th or so, I stopped treatment on Apollo.
I will post on my thread were I am at. It is a roller coaster ride. We do the best we can. Our fur balls will give us the signs we need to do what is best for them.
Hugs Sonja and Apollo

Hi my friend,

I'm keeping everything crossed that everything goes well.

Thank you Marianne, Sonja and Terri.

Does anyone have advice on switching from commercial raw? I mean going on to it I know we had the detox period. What happens when you take them off raw? Zoe gets commercial raw turkey patties.

I did a mini test with a different treat to gauge Zoe's reaction. She had no problem. So, I will go slow and make sure she is stable. I don't want to switch to a Hill's prescription diet and want to try Honest Kitchen Zeal as it is a fish protein. I am a bit worried it has too many ingredients in it for her. IMS thought the reason I has so much trouble with the Hill's ID is that it was such a highly digestible food and she did not understand why Zoe's vet at the time even gave it to her when she wasn't throwing up.:confused:

I know when I took my Koko off Stella and Chewy freeze dried raw it took 3 months for him to adjust to Embark and I was switching his food all the time. He does not have Zoe's issues. When we switched to raw with Zoe, I did it cold turkey.

Any input would be appreciated.

Hugs,
Addy

Hi Addy,

I saw on a website for aussies where they rated food. One of the high end ones was Dick Patton's dog food. I might have told you about this. If I can remember who it was and find it again I will do a screen shot and send it to you. I would stay away from anything Hill because it is part of the Purina family or maybe that is sciene diet, but I think Hill is one of the commercial brands also. I always found it funny to see science diet in vet's offices.

I went with a no grain brand I think Evo has some and their brand has many different brands in their family of food.

You can continue to give the raw but cut back and add a little dry or whatever it is you will change to--kind of the same method as before.

Good luck with the change over--I think it is the best time to change over--good thinking!!!

Take care!!:):)

Hi Addy,

I'm just seeing that you are changing Zoe's food. My dogs have been on commercially prepared raw food for three years and so have all of my fosters. If handled properly, there should be no issue of bacteria. Did something happen that made you think Zoe may be having trouble with bacteria in her food?

My buster had chronic colitis before switching to raw and I was really worried about him being able to handle it. He not only handled it, he's not had one attack since going to raw food and this is a dog that was at the vet's office at least once every three months. We too went cold turkey with no transition to raw and nobody had any bad effects. We've had a few bouts of loose stool on those occasions when I fed them too much kibble as a treat so I'm convinced they would have trouble going off of raw without transitioning very slowly. Be very careful.

Hi Marie,


If I am switching from raw is it better to go to a no grain or starch canned? The thing is, I can't switch her to that and then switch again. Whatever I pick is what she is going to be eating the rest of her life. You just can't change her food much. Poor baby. I really like Honest Kitchen. I would rather feed her Honest Kitchen if she can handle it. That is a big if. She has never had fish or sweet potatoes so both would be new. That why I wanted to try Zeal.

I looked at Dick Van Patton's Vension and sweet potato canned. It has minimum ingredients but it has a few different oils in it. I could go back and look at Evo but I think Natura was bought bt Nestle so worry are they going to start changing formulas which is how Zoe started this mess 3 years ago. Maybe I should go back and look at canned protein no starch to refresh my memory. Ims says she needs more fiber. I don't want too much fiber.

I researched all this food last June when I told IMS no Hill's K/D for Zoe. So I was looking for a similar food that I felt better about for her.

Marie, I know Maddie did not have digestive problems- was there any problems for her going off some of the raw food?

Hugs,
Addy

Hi Addy,

I never took her off once she started, but at the end she wouldn't eat it so I was making regular chicken and rice adding in the pumpkin to help with the soft stools.

Wow, I don't like the idea of Natura selling out to such a commercial company. It all seems to be about $$$$$.

Talk to you soon!!!

Sorry Gylnda missed your post.

I am worried that Zoe's commercial food says right on the package that I should "cook the diet" if my dog has a compromised immune system. I hope that is right, I am at work. Her diet does not contain bone so the bone can't help firm up the stool. It is made by a small local company and the original owner sold the company to the plant that makes the food so NEW owner. Time to pause and be concerned, will new owner=change in food. So when Zoe was diagnosed with Cushings and her colitis would not abate I thought not all dogs can eat raw. She did well for six months and maybe that's it. And I can't rotate proteins, can you feed raw and not rotate proteins?

So now I need BIG SIGH ICON to insert here= Just got done reading Mary Strauss's (Dogaware) email to me and thinking hmmmmmmm. Also got some Stella and Chewy carnivore crunch all freeze dried beef, nothing else but has bone in it for a mini test. Day one she ate 3 tiny pieces= no problem. Day 2 she ate 3 tiny pieces= problem. Day 3 she ate 1 tiny piece mixed with her snack= problem. I thought it is just a different protein, nothing else in it and it even has some bone and she already has soft stool with mucus in it.

I WANT TO CRY, need crying icon to insert here.

Addy