Well, Thursday was Dog Food Day (DFD) here at our house. Mandy has now been sharing her food with the other two smaller dogs in our family, Ruby and Maxxie. Ruby is an American Cocker Spaniel, and Maxxie is a miniature schnauzer. Maxxie is a little bit of a picky eater. Sometimes she won't eat at all, if her stomach is bothering her. We haven't been able to figure out why, for sure, but the vet thinks it may be a stomach acid problem. Lately, Ruby has been drinking A LOT of water, being extra hungry, shaking, and her nose is really dry. Originally, we thought maybe there was a urinary tract infection going on, and took a sample to the vet. They didn't find any infection, but they thought maybe there was some inflammation, possibly from fighting an infection. She always has ear troubles, so they gave her some antibiotics and told us to limit her water, which she didn't like at all. We wondered if she could be starting a kidney problem, and since the blood work doesn't show kidney problems until they're 75% shut down, we started her on Mandy's diet. She hasn't improved, and yesterday morning my father (her "Daddy") thought maybe she has pyometra. Since Mandy had this about a year ago, I of course immediately thought of all the brown liquid Mandy had leaked at the time. I asked him, and he hadn't noticed any, but it seems there are two types of pyometra...open cervix, and closed cervix. If it is closed, the pus doesn't leak out, but the abdomen becomes distended. He hadn't noticed that, and of course she won't let us check her. (She only likes him.) We dropped her off at the vet, and after an x-ray, they said she did have it, so she went into surgery. She came through well, and we were able to bring her home in the afternoon. She was pretty miserable last night, and somewhat today, but not as bad. Both love Mandy's food, by the way. Not sure if Ruby will stay on it after this, since we now know the cause of her problem, but probably, since she really, really likes it. I didn't feed her yesterday morning, because I thought if she did need the surgery, it would be best if she hadn't eaten. She looked really sad, and almost as if tears were welling up in her eyes. Pretty pitiful! So anyway, here's what I did on Thursday the 11th of April, 2019. I started out with 3 cloves of fresh garlic, chopped, and two tablespoons of Organic Refined coconut oil. Heat in a cast-iron skillet over medium-medium high heat. The coconut oil I used... Once the oil is completely melted, add the meat. I used 3 lbs of ground turkey I put in a teeny bit of turmeric and a good sprinkling of parsley. This isn't absolutely necessary, but it seasons it. Just be sure any seasonings you use are safe for dogs. Mix and completely brown the meat. Make sure to break into small crumbles.
I had more pictures, but somehow they were lost. Basically, the rest is pretty simple. Add your vegetables of choice...in my case frozen green beans and fresh chopped parsley. Cook well, and add 1 1/2 cups of cooked rice. (Or whatever amount you need.) Turn off heat. I added 1/2 tsp of Licorice root powder and 1/2 tsp of Nettle powder to the food after turning off the heat. These are both good for bladder control. They are not necessary, but I think they help, in addition to the supplements, which I will talk about next. Supplements... I may have touched on this before, but here it is again. If you're feeding your dog a homemade diet, you'll need to give them a doggie multivitamin every day. I use Pet Naturals of Vermont's "Daily Multi". In addition, Mandy and Ruby each get a NaturVet Bladder Support PLUS Cranberry and a Pet Naturals of Vermont "Daily Probiotic." Mandy gets a couple of things for her arthritis...ProSense Hip and Joint Support and Salmon Oil (Specifically for dogs.) Also, Milkbone's Good Morning "Total Wellness" treats. They support cardiovascular health, and since Mandy has an enlarged heart, I thought this would be a good idea. So they get quite a variety of things. But it's better than drugs from the vet! You can get these online at Vitacost or Amazon. I usually buy the bladder support from Amazon since they have 3 bottles for cheaper than it would cost to get the same at Vitacost. But Vitacost is very reasonable. Anyway, that's all for today. I hope you've enjoyed this post, and I hope to see you soon! ~Dorothy and Mandy (And Ruby and Maxxie, too!)
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AuthorI'm a full time dog owner, who enjoys knitting, reading, writing, and music making in my spare time. Archives
May 2020
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