I argue with myself

 Stop being vain!! If it works for Emma, leave it be! Lol

 Stop being vain and still with what works! LOL - you're welcome, anything I can do for a friend.

Seriously, I felt guilty for about two months over the fact that my first kid ate nothing but baby cereal, soy formula, and soy protein shake stuff, plus multivitamin/mineral drops. Then his doctor reassured me that since he was doing better than he ever had, since he was born - HE was saying that was working and I should stop second guessing myself and listen to HIM.  :)

He didn't eat "real" food for almost another year and then we found his problem - he had a clostridium overgrowth. The GI doc told me it was amazing he had not only continued to be healthy, but had developed a defense against it and was growing in height and weight. Usually that's a problem that doesn't resolve on its own and causes a snowball effect of real issues.

 It makes me all twitchy, LOL. It's only 14/10, but with added fat and protein, and that as a base, she looks awesome! 

And you know, I was reading that if you're allergic to dust mites and cockroaches, you probably shouldn't eat shrimp. When I took her off of joint supplements (made of shellfish), her arthritis got BETTER. *shakes head* I guess she just needs something fairly simple, without a lot of "stuff" added in.

Your being vain! There I got that out. Took me a long trying time to find food that agreed with Kords allergies. I make sure to know who is selling it in town at all times. I never EVER want to go through that again.

Willow gets canned z/d, some mashed veggies she can tolerate, and either turkey, salmon, beef OR --guess what ---SHE CAN EAT CHICKEN IN MODERATION NOW!!! 

This is the way I feel about it.  Over the years, I've tried just about every brand you can think of.  And, she'd do fine for awhile then be sick again.  And, yes, even with Natural Balance she was sick after about six months.  Did great right up until then. . .

Now, even after a long bout of an immune disease her blood work is good, her stool is FINALLY--it only took me SIX years---firm, she vomits but it's rarely.  And, this is probably the most important thing. . .she feels good and she eats.  Remember how much trouble I had getting her to eat before???  The vets I took her too all told me it was behavioral. . NOT!  When she's feeling good she doensn't miss a meal. 

It's up to you, if it makes you feel better to give NB one more try.  Go for it.  And, if it doesn't work you can at least say you did what you could.  That's the way I feel about it now.  And, when I think about changing I just remind myself she wants to enjoy her life not be sick. 

You know maybe Willow will live less time then if she was raised on a good food and contined it for her lifetime.  I don't know.  I wanted so much for her to live as long as she possibly could that MANY times I sacrified her quality of life.  Now, I want her to be as healthy and happy as she can be regardless of what it takes to get to that.  I don't want to look back and say yes, she lived to 15 but she was sick for most of it.  I'd rather she live to 12 and have enjoyed every second.  I know that might sound weird to some people but after many years of trying and illness you sort of come full circle with the food thing. 

Hope that makes sense. 

 I think what I'd do in you case, now that I've given it some thought, is figure out what whole foods she's okay with first. Then open a satellite branch of the Callie Cafe. Pick a meat and a carb she tolerates well, crockpot, and mash. Maybe give her a multivitamin/mineral supplement too. Of course provide a source of calcium, too.

But otherwise, to heck with balance. A dog's gotta eat - given the choice between scientifically balanced alien food and natural food that's maybe not perfect - well, that's what I did with Ben the last couple years. He ate strictly animal products, mostly raw. He was so healthy when he passed away that the vet herself commented that it was a real shame his tumor was pretty much inoperable.

I did track what I fed him and use individual supplements to provide as much balance as possible, but I'm convinced now that what helped him most was the fresh food.

Have you tried beef heart, now that you've exposed her to beef? That is SO cheap and amazingly, it's also one of the most complete meats around (lamb heart is even better but good luck finding a lot of that).

Somebody stopp me. I'm such an enabler.

 She's allergic to lamb, Becca. *sigh* I'd suspected it, and the test confirmed. The issue with homemade is that she didn't do this well on it. Raw, with bones, yes. She can't eat her own bones, they must be ground. Sabine says that the nutrient balance in most of the already-done ground foods (that are just meat and bone, without other junk to irritate her) is so far off, you can't even make a decent diet out of it. So, that leaves me the option of buying whole animals, and grinding them, I guess. 

Or doing the crock pot route, which might be where I end up, again (it's where I started). She just never looked that great on a diet with bonemeal or supplemental calcium. You did remind me, though, that I need to go pick her up some beef hearts. She'll enjoy that. She got steak, for lunch, today, and LOVED that. I ordered a fajita dish, yesterday, at a restaurant, and asked for the steak part, unseasoned, in a box. LOL 

Also, in the interest of adding one ingredient at a time, fish is fish, right????? Please tell me that I don't have to add different fish as seperate ingredients. They only tested her for catfish, which isn't something I'd really feed, and I want to start her on fish this week.

I do it too, don't feel bad.  I know which foods work best for my dogs (primarily Calif. Natural Lamb/Rice AND Petguard Lifespan), but that doesn't stop me from looking for a so-called better food, or better method of feeding them.  I generally come back to this same way of feeding though.

If it works for her, leave it alone. I think that by adding the extras to the rx food, she'll get whatever else lacking, plus, her tummy won't be hurting her trying to digest a different fancy 'holistic' food.  you're a great momma, and she's doing great as is.

But I totally get what you're saying!

I believe they can be fine with one fish and not others. 

jennie_c_d

Or doing the crock pot route, which might be where I end up, again (it's where I started). She just never looked that great on a diet with bonemeal or supplemental calcium.

Jennie, I've been "friends" with you for years on here.  And, as your friend, I'm going to say, read what you wrote above again.  Why would you do that again?

willowchow

I don't want to look back and say yes, she lived to 15 but she was sick for most of it.  I'd rather she live to 12 and have enjoyed every second. 

Lori, I can totally relate to this, & I agree 100%.

BEVOLASVEGAS

willowchow

I don't want to look back and say yes, she lived to 15 but she was sick for most of it.  I'd rather she live to 12 and have enjoyed every second. 

Lori, I can totally relate to this, & I agree 100%.

I agree as well.  I think sometimes we have to feed what works. We'd all like our dogs to eat the "best", but when the best makes our dogs ill, sometimes we have to do what works for them.  From what you've posted, it seems she looks and, it would seem, feels the best she has in quite awhile. I think if she were my dog I'd focus on that result and try to ignore what's in the food. 

 I'll say this - if I had found that Ben did as well on some trashy diet as he did at his very best, and stayed that way consistently, I'd have no trouble sticking with it. I'd just laugh HA HA HA! at the nay sayers. The trouble with Ben was I'd find something commercial, and he'd do okay on it for a while, and then they'd fool with it and he'd start looking crappy again.

I finally decided the only way to ensure he wasn't exposed to things that would harm him, was to only feed him whole foods.

But he could never eat rx diets. I would imagine they have more of a responsibility to inform their customers if they make changes. I'd hope so, anyway.

 They don't, unfortunately. Louie, the Chinese Crested, is in serious trouble if his Mom can't find more of his food. Royal Canin changed the main ingredient from fish to pork, and Louie cannot eat pork. It's the ONLY food Louie can eat, and maintain any sort of "ok" physical state. She made a site at savelouie.com. It's really terrible.

I think I'm just going to have to close my eyes, when I make her dish, LOL. The Z/D, with whole food toppers, seems to be working better than anything else ever has, which is completely shocking. Hopefully, they don't change it, ever.