Petz foodzz to grain or not to grain
Meatball has celiac disease. http://www.ehow.com/facts_5802396_canine-celiac-disease.html
"Definition
Celiac disease is an intestinal disease. It is essentially an intolerance to gluten (found in wheat, rye, barley and oats, which are found in most pet foods but are not natural to canine diets) that can lead to malnourishment, autoimmune disorders and other ailments in your pet. It is not contagious.
Symptoms
Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, skin lesions, weakness and fatigue and a bloated stomach. Watch how a dog behaves after it eats. Is it sluggish? Bloated? It may have a gluten intolerance."
Other symptoms included absolutely toxic farts and poops, continual weigh loss, depression, stomach cramps, lack of interest in food alternating with eating until his sides stuck out and anxiety attacks. Celiacs can develop areas of the intestine that must be surgically removed if they persist in eating wheat. They can die from it, altho its a long and painful way to go.
He's part Setter, the #1 dog breed for celiac. And really, why should a dog have the ability to digest grain? I think his #1 food group is actually mice this time of year.
We put him on an elimination diet. One time we needed a new food to try him on, and I found that a loaf of bread was a little stale, so I gave it to him. It nearly killed him and I sincerely mean that. Not in the "my shoes are killing me," sense, but that half a loaf of bread nearly ended a great big dog. Took him days of boiled chicken and broth to recover from that.
That's celiac, the lack of ability to digest gluten, a component of several common grains.
The treatment entirely revolves around not giving him any grain. Most kibbles are based on grain. You have to buy speshul dog food to not get any. You have to ask for it at pet stores. There are several kinds. To be sure he doesn't accidentally poison himself, we feed it to all 3 dogs and 2 cats. They've all improved in health.
Why is this important now? Today Lulu got spayed. At her check-in, the vet said she showed great improvement in her overall condition in the 3 weeks since her previous visit. My friends were feeding her standard kibbles with grain as the #1 ingredient. Your bag of kibble will break down the grain into several components to try to make it look like grain is not the #1 ingredient, but added all together, grain is generally the #1 component of a dry pet food. They even sneak it into the canned stuff.
She looks less bony, but has lost weight. Which is to say her bones stuck out 3 weeks ago enough to concern me (and when I got her 5 weeks ago), but she has lost 3/10ths of a pound while padding the bones, which is a lot on a lapdog. I could have sworn she gained weight in the "good, you are no longer a refugee" way.
So I wonder what giving up grain would do for me. I'm sure its not magic, but I am thinking about this.
This entry was originally posted at dreamwidth.org
"Definition
Celiac disease is an intestinal disease. It is essentially an intolerance to gluten (found in wheat, rye, barley and oats, which are found in most pet foods but are not natural to canine diets) that can lead to malnourishment, autoimmune disorders and other ailments in your pet. It is not contagious.
Symptoms
Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, skin lesions, weakness and fatigue and a bloated stomach. Watch how a dog behaves after it eats. Is it sluggish? Bloated? It may have a gluten intolerance."
Other symptoms included absolutely toxic farts and poops, continual weigh loss, depression, stomach cramps, lack of interest in food alternating with eating until his sides stuck out and anxiety attacks. Celiacs can develop areas of the intestine that must be surgically removed if they persist in eating wheat. They can die from it, altho its a long and painful way to go.
He's part Setter, the #1 dog breed for celiac. And really, why should a dog have the ability to digest grain? I think his #1 food group is actually mice this time of year.
We put him on an elimination diet. One time we needed a new food to try him on, and I found that a loaf of bread was a little stale, so I gave it to him. It nearly killed him and I sincerely mean that. Not in the "my shoes are killing me," sense, but that half a loaf of bread nearly ended a great big dog. Took him days of boiled chicken and broth to recover from that.
That's celiac, the lack of ability to digest gluten, a component of several common grains.
The treatment entirely revolves around not giving him any grain. Most kibbles are based on grain. You have to buy speshul dog food to not get any. You have to ask for it at pet stores. There are several kinds. To be sure he doesn't accidentally poison himself, we feed it to all 3 dogs and 2 cats. They've all improved in health.
Why is this important now? Today Lulu got spayed. At her check-in, the vet said she showed great improvement in her overall condition in the 3 weeks since her previous visit. My friends were feeding her standard kibbles with grain as the #1 ingredient. Your bag of kibble will break down the grain into several components to try to make it look like grain is not the #1 ingredient, but added all together, grain is generally the #1 component of a dry pet food. They even sneak it into the canned stuff.
She looks less bony, but has lost weight. Which is to say her bones stuck out 3 weeks ago enough to concern me (and when I got her 5 weeks ago), but she has lost 3/10ths of a pound while padding the bones, which is a lot on a lapdog. I could have sworn she gained weight in the "good, you are no longer a refugee" way.
So I wonder what giving up grain would do for me. I'm sure its not magic, but I am thinking about this.
This entry was originally posted at dreamwidth.org