home cooking!

[riodogmom]

Wouldn't you know. My husband left for China for two weeks on Friday (10/11) and Saturday Rio's sister Nanuk starts feeling "under the weather". She started having diarrhea Saturday and then yesterday she wasn't interested in eating (she's on pred and we all know what types of appetites high cortisol dogs have!). I knew something was up. She slowly ate her breakfast but within 30 minutes it was back for a visit. The vet said she has high bacteria counts in her stool so he gave her some antibiotics and some anit-nausea medicine. I was a basket case yesterday because I had flashbacks dropping her off at the vet. It seems like whenever my husband is out of town (or out of the country) Nanuk has serious problems. He was out of town when her lungs collapsed and they didn't expect her to live. He was out of the country when she broke her leg. He was out of town when she drank stain. And the list goes on! You know the look they give you..."please don't leave me...MOMMY!" I was choked up on the way to work and had a rough time concentrating. But she is doing much better as of this morning. She raced down the stairs for breakfast and did her "I'm hungry" dance. Makes me smile!

Needless to say I'm cooking rice and lean beef for her. Which of course means she is in hog heaven - loving the special attention. BUT, this got me thinking about her being on prednesone. She takes 10 mg every other day for the rest of her life (she has the allergies and lung condition). So she is like a cushings dog when it comes to her liver. Other than the milk thistle, is there any thing else that anyone has done or is doing in the way of cooking food for the dogs? Or should I say, cooking with their liver health in mind? I figure Rio could benefit from it. I'll do anything to help my babies.

This can be our "recipe swap"! :)

Thanks gang!
Kim

[acushdogsmom]

Don't really know much about "liver diets"... I was told only that high quality, easily digestible proteins (like egg and cottage cheese) are good to feed dogs with Cushing's and/or Liver problems.

I do give my dog a couple of eggs per week, usually hard boiled and mashed up, then I sprinkle half a mashed up egg on one of his meals and half on another meal the same day, which he loves.

For dogs with diarrhea or just who have soft stools, they say that mashed up cooked fresh pumpkin (any squash will do) is good to help firm up stools. Since it's also good for him (provides fiber) my dog gets a couple of tablespoons of cooked squash mixed with his meals, even when his stools are fine.

I slice a squash, scoop out the seeds and strings and then and turn the two halves over so the insides are facing down onto the cookie sheet, then bake at 400 degrees F for about 40 minutes. Remove from oven ans let it cool, scoop out squash and mash it up in a bowl (like mashed potatoes), then spoon into mason jars. I freeze most of the cooked squash in the mason jars till needed and I always just keep one jar of squash in the fridge to add into his meals, a TBSP at a time usually.

Another good thing for dogs who get diarrhea and especially if they are on antibiotics is plain yogurt.

My dog weighs only about 20 lbs and gets 2 tsp yogurt per day as a treat if his stools are loose and still gets 1 tsp per day even when stools are fine. (we don't want to feed him too much calcium-containing food since his breed has a tendency to form calcium oxalate crystals, but 1 tsp a day of yogurt is fine for him per our Vet).

One other thing I've heard to do for dogs with Liver problems is to feed several small meals a day instead of one or two large meals per day. Easier on the liver that way I've heard.

Also, many dogs with liver issues take SAM-e (also called Denosyl). This can be given even if the dog also takes Milk Thistle.

Hope this helps...

If I think of any good recipes for you I'll let you know.

[riodogmom]

Thanks for the info. Nanuk is still on antibiotics so I'm going to give her some yogurt tonight. Heck, they say it is wise for humans to have yogurt while on antibiotics so it makes sense for our furry babies too.

The girls do get pumpkin a couple of times every week. It's a neat treat for them. I like the idea of freezing in mason jars though. Thanks for that tip! (I cook down pumpkin this time of year for pumpkin pies and breads so I can easily cook more for the girls! :) )

When I had Nanuk in last week I forgot to ask about the SamE. I'll have to do that this week.

About the eggs...how is it on their gastrointestinal tract? Oh heck, I'll get to the point...does it make them have gas? Nanuk made my eyes water last week (when she wasn't feeling so good)! I'd hate to add any "fuel to the fire"! :)

Again, thanks for the info. This will be useful for both of my girls. It is rather strange sometimes that both of my girls have "similar" conditions. One is by nature (Rio and Cushings) and the other is induced (Nanuk with giving her prednesone). Can't hurt to try to give them some goodies that not only taste good but they are good for them!

Chat with you later!
Kim

[Cushy]

Hi Kim,

Eggs are supposed to be a source of high quality protein but we don't feed him eggs every day, he only gets an egg mixed with his food about once or twice a week and so far so good --- my dog has no problems with the eggs ... ie no gas :D

re the yogurt make sure it's PLAIN yogurt (not the flavored kind) and the one we use has "active acidophilus and bifidus cultures" in it.

Hope it helps.

To my dog it's just a treat, but I like feeding him human foods that are actually good for him. :)

[ragsjpause]

An old message here.. the boards still have the messages in a strange order. .. not by dates of posts?.

Anyway, I give Rags some eggs sometimes... IF she will eat them. usually she won't. I used to share some Yogurt with her, too. I like the plain yogurt in a glass jar.. forgot the name... it is more tart flavored than kind in a butter dish. Plus it has more acidophilous and bifidus cultures. "Blue Mountain" is pretty good too. , but not as good as the kind in the jar.

Rags used to like my home cooked meals.. (boiled chicken, rice and flax seeds.)
She always gets some upset stools when I give her only chicken, Flax seeds help with that. Plus the omega 3 acids are good for her. Unfortunately, she doesn't like it anymore. Now, I'm just happy to get her to eat anything, ... for some reason she likes subway sandwiches. She won't eat bread that I make on a bread machine, or store-bought bread, but will eat subway bread with sandwich meat. I tried other things, like vienna sasuge.. she liked that for a while. I dodn't give her much , 'cause it has loads of salt and probably msg.
Nowdays, she likes Nutro with oatmeal. Her favs change from time to time. At least she will eat this. She stopped eating the Iams brand, which was her previous fav. Rags does not like any dogfood with "gravy and chunks" .. while it looks good to me, she just won't eat it. She spits out the chunks on the carpet, picks it up again in her mouth, spits it out again...making a mess on my carpet.