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BPO Medical Forum => Medical Conditions & Diseases => : lins_saving_grace December 04, 2008, 11:46:08 AM
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Dr. Hottie called about 30 minutes ago. I just walked in the door from having talked to him at 4.
They got a late start with the specialist driving over here from Detroit catching a bunch of snow.
She's on morphine now and is resting. The leg "came together nicely". BUT...her kidney levels were up. He is pretty sure it's a dietary thing since I called and spilled the beans.
She had a lot of turkey this week and we polished off the bird Monday and Tuesday. She LOVES cheese and milk and chips (and we had a late night chips and dip snack last night). He's pretty sure I'm the one to point the finger at. He wants her food changed (he suggested Iams before he read her blood levels today) or a kidney sensitive food and for me to knock it off with the goodies.
He had me worried this after noon when he called to say the levels were up even after the antibodics she started Monday.
I get to bring her home tomorrow. :) Pupper is gonna be so cranky.
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Lin, there is no way cheese and turkey will cause kidney issues...IT'S THE FOOD YOU HAVE BEEN FEEDING HER
You have been on forum loooooong time to learn about quality foods. If you really love your dog and care enough, go and buy something that will not kill her
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Lin, there is no way cheese and turkey will cause kidney issues...IT'S THE FOOD YOU HAVE BEEN FEEDING HER
You have been on forum loooooong time to learn about quality foods. If you really love your dog and care enough, go and buy something that will not kill her
Fit n Trim came highly recommeded by the other vet we had been going to. I had been asking him about this food for almost a year...constan tly asking him if it could be to blame for her ears and bladder infections and weight. He preached about it too. I've only been going to Dr. Hottie for a week.
We are done with Purina immediately.
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Lin, there is no way cheese and turkey will cause kidney issues...IT'S THE FOOD YOU HAVE BEEN FEEDING HER
You have been on forum loooooong time to learn about quality foods. If you really love your dog and care enough, go and buy something that will not kill her
Fit n Trim came highly recommeded by the other vet we had been going to. I had been asking him about this food for almost a year...constan tly asking him if it could be to blame for her ears and bladder infections and weight. He preached about it too. I've only been going to Dr. Hottie for a week.
We are done with Purina immediately.
Yet again, Lin, you have been on forum for a long time and you probably heard that most of the vets know NOTHING about nutrition...PE RIOD!!! They just don't! Why do you think we have tons of specialists, including a nutritionist, and dogs only get a VET and maybe few more for real serious issues :-\
So you are done with Purina and move to Iams...Good for you! :(
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it's not that i don't believe all the research everyone here has done and posted. I guess I believed that vet...i really grilled him about all the thing Holly had pointed out too. He fought me and made his case. Dr. Hottie had a different opinion. You know what opinions are like. He said he's got something called KD to send me home with. If that's not a food then I'm picking up a bag of Iams on the way home.
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Glad Grace is doing well. Wishing her a speedy recovery :-*
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He said he's got something called KD to send me home with. If that's not a food then I'm picking up a bag of Iams on the way home.
KD made by Hill's...JUNK!!! You are basically going from junk to junk Lin ::)
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He said he's got something called KD to send me home with. If that's not a food then I'm picking up a bag of Iams on the way home.
KD made by Hill's...JUNK!!! You are basically going from junk to junk Lin ::)
See? It's frustrating when the vets disagree and everyone else disagrees. :(
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Lin, I know how frustrating and confusing it might be for you to hear so many opinions. But, when it comes down to it, you've just got to use your common sense! Over the past year, I've seen many posts about your concerns about Grace's health problems. And, despite all vet visits and your care for her, the health problems continue. Something's gotta change, girl! :) Please, no Purina. No Iams. No Kd. Nothing you can buy at a grocery store.
I know when I started researching foods (when I wanted to switch from Canidae), it was kinda overwhelming. It was nice to know what others were feeding, and then I did my own research from there. I decided to go with California Natural, as it is a good quality food and was rather economical (I buy it at Pet Supplies Plus and there's a buyer's reward program). Just take the plunge and start somewhere!
Good luck, and I hope Grace feels better soon.
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Lin, I know how frustrating and confusing it might be for you to hear so many opinions. But, when it comes down to it, you've just got to use your common sense! Over the past year, I've seen many posts about your concerns about Grace's health problems. And, despite all vet visits and your care for her, the health problems continue. Something's gotta change, girl! :) Please, no Purina. No Iams. No Kd. Nothing you can buy at a grocery store.
Amen to that!!! You could have noticed long time ago that some major changes are needed in dietary care of Grace. It's not about agreeing or not, it's about using a common sense :-\
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I'm so glad to hear that the surgery went well. Whew!
I hope you can find a good solution to the dog food. I have tried really hard to do what I was told was best for Luke's diet. I feed him what I learned would be an "acceptable" food and it is costing a fortune. And most of the recommended foods I have never heard of, or don't have available to me. I am doing the best I can with the knowledge I have gained.
I have alot of respect for the people on this board who work hard to provide the best insight and information. We are fortunate to have their input so readily available. I have learned so much. But I have to make a comment. If I am out of line, I am sorry. I don't think anyone should make a statement prefaced by "if you love your dog". That's very unkind.
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I feel so horrible...lik e I'm killing her with a simple thing like the brand of food...and table scraps. I'll definately tell Dr. Hottie tomorrow that I've heard this Hill's diet food sucks.
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Please don't feel horrible. It's very obvious how much you love Grace. I feel horrible cuz Luke spends most of his time outside. I spend as much time as possible with him outside and he does come inside. But I feel guilty because everyone else seems to have things better managed than I do.
Just see what you think about the foods recommended and make your own decision. All of us are just doing what we think is best for our babies.
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Oh the vet will still preach about the great qualities, and how she needs the KD for her kidney issues, and that crap is NOT cheap either.
See what you can find in your area, but California Naturals is a good food, so are Solid Gold, Innova there really are a lot of great foods that you can get that dont cost a small fortune.
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I don't think anyone should make a statement prefaced by "if you love your dog". That's very unkind.
What's unkind is to see your dog having ear infections, raised kidney levels, going through multiple surgeries and ignore all the advise people have been given for YEARS now :-X
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Good Morning Lin,
Pet food choices are difficult when your beloved Grace's Dr is pushing a particular BRAND of pet food.
Please just keep in mind that vets get a hefty percentage of the profits from ANY Hills products...whi ch includes KD. I do allow my dogs to have Hills TD as a treat, but only because they like the extra hard crunch, and it's one TD per day.
Just read the labels carefully and you'll be able pick the right dog food for Grace. It is frustrating. :-\
With my 4 girls-all was great with food until "Miss Greta Picky Pup" came aboard. I finally took her *hungry* to my pet store of choice (H3 Pets in Meridian, Idaho) The owners (WE LOVE THEM) opened several sample bags of dog food that I'd consider feeding Greta, and made little piles in front of her..she turned her nose away at what I *thought* she would eat and she chose Wellness Super 5 Mix.
:-* You'll make the right food choice :-* Just hang in there!
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Glad to hear Grace's leg is fixed!
I wouldn't even bother telling the vet that the KD sucks. He'll just try to convince you otherwise. I'd just tell him your looking for a corn free food or one with less grain.
I have a cat that requires low phosphorus food due to kidney failure.. I'm not sure which brands of dog food are low phosphorus though. I'll search around and see what good quality foods I can find for you.
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So very happy Grace is doing well. I hope she recovers quickly too!
Give her big hugs and kisses for a speady recovery. :-* :-*
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Hmmm, I'm not having an easy time finding low phosphorus dog foods. :-\ I'm only finding junk filled vet diets. Most seem to be home cooking for their dogs.
If home cooking for Grace is an option Lin.. ask your vet for a recipe since he knows her blood work numbers he would be the best one to give you a diet plan. Even if it's a temporary one until her numbers are back to normal. Then you can put her on a quality kibble afterwards.
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I was just assuming the vet wanted Grace on a low phosphorus food to get her blood values back to normal? Not as a long term diet since Lin said he thinks it's dietary.
I definitely agree though Grace needs to get off the fit and trim regardless.. For one it's loaded with junk and 2 it IS high in phosphorus according to a chart I found. Surely it's not helping matters.
Personally I think she'd be best off with a grain free kibble..
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Boy Miss Grace has had a rough year! Heres to a quick heal!
Love Bryce and Marina
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I don't think anyone should make a statement prefaced by "if you love your dog". That's very unkind.
What's unkind is to see your dog having ear infections, raised kidney levels, going through multiple surgeries and ignore all the advise people have been given for YEARS now :-X
Wow Lin, are you ever getting beaten up! I kind of thought the purpose of BPO was to offer helpful suggestions and share mutual love of our bubs. Not chastise its members.
Most of us are not suggesting you do not love your Gracey girl. And the food issue goes on and on. Most of us want to trust our vets as knowing what to do for our bubs. And let's face it. Dogs have and will continue to thrive on all kinds of food sources. There are herders in Whales who feed there working dogs whatever the people eat that night and the dogs are quite healthy.
That being said. Yes, health issues can be attributed to food quality in some dogs. So IMO it is better to be safe than sorry by feeding a quality food to begin with. However once health problems occur it can be very difficult to find out which component is the culprit. I had a dog with severe protein allergies. He was on quality food and we had to keep trying different kinds to finally find out he could only tolerate venison. All other proteins, chicken, beef, duck, salmon he reacted to.
It is a pain, but you may need to try several starting with Holly's list to find what works best for Grace.
But please be assured we know how much you love Grace. Here are some much needed hugs and kisses to tide you over while you figure this out. :-* :-* :-* :-* :-* :-*
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i have shown 2 vets over the last several months Holly's food disertation. The dog nazi recommended Fit N Trim and Dr. Banks is h*ll bent on this Hills perscription for the kidney sensitive JUST until we can narrow down what the problem is. We're all hoping it's dietary. she gets no table food from now on and we'll recheck the kidney levels in 2 weeks. I haven't ignored advise. In fact, i've beaten up a few vets with food concerns.
I'm sorry if i've offended anyone...but i have gone to bat for Grace a lot.
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it would be nice to see this not be an issue. We got on the fit n trim because she was gaining weight and this was the path the other vet and i chose to take. there's a reason I've been looking for a new vet for so long and the food thing is one of them. He didn't knock the Purina, but he also said it wasn't his choice in not so many words.
we'll see what happens.
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with every ear infection I told the vet that it had to be the food...with every other thing i told him the same thing. It could also be the people food she gets.