Filling Emma up

Willow's really gotten into the 1st or 2nd stage babyfood jars.  I usually just get the sweet potato and either the turkey or ham for her.  When she was on high Prednisone she would just lick it right from the jar.  The jars are all less than 100 calories. 

 Oh, that's a good idea. She'd probably like them, too. She's become a big fan of the dried apple bits.

jennie_c_d

I've got a BIG pot of brown rice, on the stove, with double the water. I put in a bag of frozen green beans, coursely chopped, and a can of pumpkin. I'm going to throw in a couple of cans of fish, when it's done, and mix it with a 5 lb roll of Bravo lamb. That'll be some bulk, anyways. I'll probably get some more greens, to throw in there, before I give it to her. 

I was just thinking about how that concoction would smell and taste like....lol.  I am sure Emma would love it. 

 It doesn't smell too bad, actually. I chunked in some garlic. I added the fish after it cooled. It's not bad at all, and it's HUGE! Emma does like it, and Ena B does, too. I think that mixtures like this will be perfect to get Ena back into eating fresh foods, and hold her weight up (plenty of complex carbs from the rice). If I keep doing this (oh, the pain! I hate dog food prep, but the girls LOVE being tossed the tidbits they get, while I do it), I will transition her at the first of the month (when her bag of kibble is finished).

Many veggies will do.  Do some research however on the ones that are implicated in seizure episodes.  And be careful with loading her with the carby rice for the same reason.   

One of my fav "bulk" veggies is winter squash - or rather I should say the whole group of them. 

 Oh, yeah. I know about the grains, but.... it'll fill her up, LOL. It's not a gluten grain, so it's not AS bad. I think I'll do potato/sweet potato after this batch. That's what I used to do, for her.

She just had a BIG bowl of food, and she seems happy. She's not still scavenging, at least. I gave Ena a small amount, on her food, too. She loved it, of course. That little dog will eat anything!

 Dogtor J reccomends against beef and fish, for dogs with signs of allergies. This is interesting, to me, because I always considered fish to be a very safe food.

Anyhow, I may try to feed her just lamb, rabbit, and turkey, for a bit, and see how she does. Of course, she's eating rice, right now, LOL, because I made her a HUGE portion of it (4 cups dry, brown rice cooked in 20 cups of water, with a bunch of green stuff and some pumpkin added...very mushy) . Whenever we're finished with that, I'll do potatoes and sweet potatoes. They're a little more labor intensive, but that will be fine. *sigh* Whatever the brat needs. 

He doesn't say anything about veggies (just grains, soy, dairy), and I can't find a whole lot of other info, at the moment... of course, that was just with breif surfing.

 I've heard about particular veggies from people with epi dogs.  Spinach sticks out for one, for some reason.

I don't get fish either.  I'd stick, if I were in your place, with white meats, just in case this is all liver related (God forbid).  Ie, the rabbit and turkey and other poultry, pork, and fish I'd think would be fine too.

Maybe he's thinking of heavy metals with the fish?  But if you stick with wild caught cold water stuff (cod, whtiefish) you'll be pretty much all right. 

 She just had bloodwork done, and her liver looks great. I may go and do a bile acid test, to be sure. I've not decided, yet.

I don't feed her spinach, much, because of her arthritis. She might get a bite, if I'm eating it, but it doesn't go into dog food (I eat it all, anyways, I love spinach and apparently am a masochist). I'll do a good bit more poking around before it's time to make the next batch of dog food. I talked to the nutritionist at the health food store (who I know, personally, from working there) and he said I'm already doing what he advises for people with seizures. Gluten, corn, soy, dairy gone, calming herbs, and acupuncture.

Dogtor J is doing phone consults, now. I thought that might be interesting, but it's $75 for 30 minutes. An email consult would be better, for me, because I could read what he said, and digest it, before I responded. Meh. It's hard to type with a Chinese Crested on your shoulder, and a PRT on your lap, head up on your other arm. Maybe that's why he does it over the phone.

What about Mordy (Sabine)?  Epilepsy is one the basic challenges in holistic nutrition.  I know there's a couple people on (shh) her forum who have seizure dogs.  In fact, that's what got me going over there initially - I had a rescue that started having seizures and I'd decided that I'd be keeping him when the crisis was over.  Sadly, he never came out of cluster seizing. 

But I knew I'd need some one-on-one help developing a diet for him and my local holistic care provider was getting harder and harder to get appointments with (three months in advance now!).

I'm such a pusher.