{Please correct me if i'm wrong but from what i've gleaned off of your posts your dogs have had a myriad of health problems,have you ever thought the food could be contributing to this.Could your dog who died of the proheart injection perhaps survived had his immune system been stronger? Thats another thing these types of food denegrate,the immune system,good solid nutrition is so important when it comes to this all important function.) ---quote from Christine
Ozzie, you must not have read my posts. My Buck is is 11 years old. Outside of welness and dental and Vax, his only visits to the vet has been for rattle snake bit to the face, reaction to ground wasp sting on the lip, remove a skintag from each elbow, a year ago for his first hotspot ever. He has NEVER been in for any kind of illness or real ailment. Low thyroid was discovered a year ago when he had his full blood panel. He has also had a melanoma removed from his lip. I do not believe that feeding him Purina caused the snake to bit him, his reaction to the wasp sting, his skin tags, his hot spot, nor the melanoma on his lip. His blood panel was perfect last time and he is due another in about a month. He only walks when on leash--trots the rest of the time. He chases and often catches squirrels. I would like to know what all his "health problems" are considering he is 11.
Honey is 4, we have had her three years and she was heartworm postitive when we got her. We had her treated and she has not had a single prolblem or ailment since. Her only visits to the vet have been her wellness and vax. I would like to know what all her "health problems are". Oh, I did forget, a year ago she ate some rat poison that accidently got knocked out of the attic when we were taking some stuff out. That is the only place we put poison because of dogs, cat and grandkids. We saw her throw up and i knew what that green stuff was immediately, called the vet, got her right in, they gave her something to make her throw up more, gave her Vitamin K injections, and a 50 day supply of Vitamin k pills. AFter the pills were gone, we had the test done for blood clotting factor and she was fine. However, brand of dog food had nothing to do with her eating the poison or her recovering with no problem.
KayCee, well she has cost us. But not for one second do I think feeding her Purina caused her to have luxating patellas that required surgery, that one bad ear infection (only one in 6 1/2 years does not mean it was brought on by Purina ), that one day illness that we had all the blood work and test done for and it turned out to be a virus, which i learned on my dog boards many dogs had, and some were sick for more than one day. Her allergies to fleas and Bermuda grass have nothing to do with dog food. She did have a severe reaction to her 2ed set of annuals and my vet feels it was the lepto part. But seeing as how many dogs, no matter what they are feed, have reactions to vax, I don't believe Purina had anything to do with it. But at any rate, by no means would I call this a myriad of health problems. So I have no idea where you got the idea i had dogs with all kinds of health problems.
And as for Hunter. No, I know
roheart would have killed him regardless of what feed he was on. We will never know for sure what went wrong that it killed so many dogs and caused so many reactions, some that require treatment for the rest of their lives. But many of us had believed that in some cases, the time release spheres all released at the same time, more or less causing an over dose. Then in early 2004 we learned that some batchs that had been put on the market starting in July 2003 (Hunter got his Aug. 28, 2003) had been recalled due to "problems with the time release (whatever they called it) spheres." But there was no explination as to what the problem was. We that had always believed that is what happen were more convinced than ever after the recall. Oh, Hunter also had liver damage, which was also another leading cause of death. Many dogs had 2-3 of the reactions. Hunter fought so hard to live, but he could not beat both the AIHA and liver damage. When his HCT dropped to 9.7 my vet said he should have been dead. But he wasn't. My vet's opinion is that he wanted to live for me. And for the record, just a couple of weeks ago my vet and I went over Hunter's record because Fort Dodge had reported his health status as FAIR to the FDA (of course, Fort Dodge did a lot of underhanded stuff). I was upset when i got the evaluation from the FDA and found what Fort Dodge had to say.
Anyway, Hunter had just turned 4 when he died. My vet and I went over his record page by page. Hunter had never been in for any kind of illness. he had a a birthmark removed from his side (about the size of a pencil earser) because he had made it bleed a couple of times scratching. He had been in for a pulled muscle in his shoulder and for a knot on his leg (never did know what he ran into to cause it) and a couple of times early on for hot spots. It was noted after each visit that he was in very good condition, maintained his weight between 77 nd 79 pounds his entire adult life--until he got that ProHeart6 injection.
True, I am set in a lot of my ways. I refuse to have a cell phone. They irritate the life out of me--people weaving all over the road while talking on them, walking around in stores talking on them and not paying attention to where they are going (I have been bumped several times by grocery carts because people were not paying attention), going off in church (this happened twice in church Sunday) going off at every second table in resturant. Everyone i know that SWORE they would never drive and talk on the phone does. My hubby has one in his rig as pay phones are getting hard to find and he often has to call the plants to get directions, check in with his home terminal, etc. But he turns it off except when he wants to call home or elsewhere.
But at 58 I leanred to use the computer....I learned to do research on Proheart6, AIHA, etc and then to warm people about it. I finally got a DVD player and have learned how to operate it. I may have been born in the stone age (LOL) but i am pretty modern in lots of things. I still do the old fashion thing of doing my baking (pastry, biscuits, cookies, cakes) from sratch because i prefer these to boxed, frozen, pre-made slice stuff.
Oh, I don't know how much you know about golden retrievers, but they are prone to fatty tumors, cancer, allergies, hip problems. Food has nothing in the world to do with those problems. I am on 6 different goledn boards. There are some that breed and show their dogs, some are in Search & Rescue, some are therapy dogs, a couple are even service dogs, some are in agility. Many are fed top of the line food, many are home cooked only, some a raw, some are on Purina, etc. I have only been on these boards 2 1/2 years and during that time something like 5 have been lost to cancer, the oldest being 9, the youngest being 2. Of these i know a couple were on top of the line food (one was on Timberwolf) Almost every week one is having a fatty tumor removed. A few have had total h ip replacement. Only one other beside my KayCee has had the luxating patella surgery as that problem is not that common in Goldens. Right now a number are battling hot spots. And several are on thyroid tabs.
But no matter had I been born in 1945, 1960, l980, l990, i would still feed as i do because it works for my dogs. As long as their blood work and tests are prefect, their coats beautiful, they are full of energy, my vet tells me their are healthy, I have no reason to change. A thought just came to mind---What is one man's junk is another man's treasure. Maybe "junk" food is just what my dogs need.