So, some people were interested in the new vet that I took Dakota to today. This vet specializes in geriatric dogs and nutrition. I was skeptical about the nutrition part but wow, was I impressed! First off, every appt is 1 hr long - no rushing you in and out the door. It was nice and quiet in the office and had big exam rooms. Of course, all of this comes at a price of $42.50 per office visit but I think that it was worth it to have that 1 on 1 conversation time with the vet.
She looked over Dakota's records from her previous vet and we talked about what has been going on for almost a year now. Her conclusion is that it is not lymphoma like the other vet thought, but IBD instead. I was sooooo happy and relieved to hear that. I can deal with IBD but cancer....bleh. So anyway, the plan is to keep Dakota on Iams Low Residue for now. The problem with that is that Dakota pretty much refuses to eat it unless she's starving. So I'm adding a bit of canned low residue to entice her to eat. Her diet is going to be seriously restricted from now on - very few bland treats, no more Natural Balance food roll, no high fat high flavored chewies, etc. The vet suggested that I take a can of the low residue, roll it out as if it's cookie dough and bake it and use that as treats. I thought that was an interesting idea.
Eventually, we might switch her to a Hills product with a protein that Dakota's never eaten before, we'll see. For right now I'm not playing with the idea of switching her food any time soon. I just need to keep coming up with ways to get her to eat it. Oh and she also needs to lose 6 lbs.
What impressed me the most was that as we were talking, I mentioned that at first I was treating Dakota's diarrhea with pumpkin to which she replied "that's my favorite go to treatment for diarrhea". She was really happy to hear that I tried it. (Thank you idoggers!)
Then we got to talking about Neiko's diet and his issue with not being able to keep weight on. She agreed that I should be feeding him Innova Evo! I was floored. To hear a vet actually recommend something like Innova Evo is practically unheard of. She said "That's the best food out there for dogs who are so active they can't keep weight on. I'd never recommend the food to a dog that needs to keep weight off though". So she really does know her nutrition! yay!
I asked about the green poo issue with Innova Evo and she said that as long as the poo is normal otherwise not to worry about it.
Anyway, back to Dakota. I found a new lump on Dakota so the vet checked that and it's just another fatty tumor. That dogs has fatty tumors on top of fatty tumors, I swear.
Also, in 2 months we are going to do a super duper full panel on her which test for something like 28 things including thyroid and all that. It's expensive but I think it'll be worth doing one time (maybe I still might change my mind on this). She'll be due for new blood work by then anyway.
I talked to the vet about my upcoming work trip where I'll need to either board Dakota (and the other dogs) or send them to a friends. Right now the plan is to send all 3 dogs to a friends house (nice friend, eh?). The vet really didn't like the idea at all for her. She thinks that the stress of boarding or sending her to a friends house will cause a flare up with her IBD. She would rather I have someone come stay at the house. I might do that but we'll see. It just depends on if I can get someone to do it or not. Either way, I got one of those pheramone (sp) collars for her to wear when I'm gone. That was $27 but if it works it'll be worth it's weight in gold. I almost think that I should get one for the other dogs too.
I think that's it...long wordy story, sorry! It was a great vet visit though and I'm so relieved to finally know the root of our problem.