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Originally Posted by addevo  Many thanks to you all for your thoughtful replies.
The home cooked diet was developed with help from a woman who runs a local store that specializes in holistic and natural pet care products. She gave us the basic formula (chicken, rice, beef kidney and/or hearts, smaller amounts of sweet potato, kale, peas) plus calcium supplement and digestive enzyme supplements.
Yes, dwerten, dry skin is MUCH better than another flare up. When you put it that way, there really isn't any choice, so I'll stick with the Purina EN. And thanks for the info about chicken being bad for IBD. When we were in the early stages of diagnosis with Tina, her specialist mentioned that she might have that. But no one ever told me to avoid chicken. The Purina EN dry food contains chicken meal. The canned, however, has beef. I think I tried out the canned version, and Tina didn't like it, but maybe I'll try that one again.
I did see a product on the Purina website though, that might help. It's called Fortiflora Canine Supplement, which contains a probiotic and is recommended for dogs that are on "antibiotic therapies." Tina has a vet appt this Saturday, I'll ask about it to see what she thinks. Have any of you had any experience with it?
EllieMay, thanks for point about fat content in the premade raw diet. It sounds too risky.
But that brings up another question I've had. I have a hard time evaluating the fat content on labels. Many of them say "Minimum 8%." So what is the maximum? Does a food labeled "Minimum 8%" always have less fat than one that has "Minimum 9%?" And what percentage of fat is considered "low fat" when it comes to dog food?
WinstonsMom - The Carnivora web site is a real gold mine, especially the "Learning Centre." The section on caprophagia was great - I loved how she ended it "To a dog, poop, apparently, is just another snack on the big green lawn of life."
Again, thanks so much for your help! |
You may just want to stick with the rx then.
However, if you don't (which is totally understandable), homecooked could work. It sounds like the diet that was formulated was not a good one in this case. When homecooking, beef seems to be a source that triggers pancreatitis (no research to give you on that, just what I've heard and experienced). And because this person is not a veterinary nutritionist, they may not have been qualified to give you that recipe (for a sick dog). Do you know the fat content on a dry matter basis?
Yes, you are right, the minimum fat % is just the minimum. It could contain quuite a bit more. You'd have to talk to a company rep to see if they could give you actual content. Also, when feeding wet food (canned, raw, homecooked), it has to be converted to a dry matter basis (mathematically remove the moisture content) to find actual protein, fat, and fiber content.