35 Days
For 15 months our hearts were breaking. It was like watching Bruno die in slow motion. Two regular vets, two internal medicine specialists, ultrasounds, endless blood work, two different antibiotics, probiotics, extremely expensive prescription food, all with nearly no improvement as he continued to waste away. For the doctors, the next (and only) alternative was invasive surgery to collect biopsies of Bruno's intestinal tract, which terrified us. Feeling there was nothing to lose we decided to try transitioning Bruno to a raw diet. It was the one thing all the doctors never seemed willing to suggest.
I'll cut to the chase.
35 days ago we started by giving him a raw turkey neck in addition to the ground beef and oatmeal the second specialist had him on. Under close supervision, he knew exactly how to eat it, mashing it up very well before swallowing. The same on day 2, but this time he was not so interested in the ground beef/oatmeal. This was very surprising because he loved it. On day 3, he would not eat the ground beef/oatmeal. We were shocked. What we had planned to be a slow transition over several weeks was over in three days. His condition has improved dramatically almost overnight. He has not had blood and mucous in his stool, he has stopped vomiting and has gained three pounds. We're fine tuning the diet to get it well balanced nutritionally, but this is not difficult as dogs' bodies are able to get nearly everything they need from meat, fat and bone.
I know he's not completely out of the woods, but this turn around has given us great hope and tears of joy.
35 Days
For 15 months our hearts were breaking. It was like watching Bruno die in slow motion. Two regular vets, two internal medicine specialists, ultrasounds, endless blood work, two different antibiotics, probiotics, extremely expensive prescription food, all with nearly no improvement as he continued to waste away. For the doctors, the next (and only) alternative was invasive surgery to collect biopsies of Bruno's intestinal tract, which terrified us. Feeling there was nothing to lose we decided to try transitioning Bruno to a raw diet. It was the one thing all the doctors never seemed willing to suggest.
I'll cut to the chase.
35 days ago we started by giving him a raw turkey neck in addition to the ground beef and oatmeal the second specialist had him on. Under close supervision, he knew exactly how to eat it, mashing it up very well before swallowing. The same on day 2, but this time he was not so interested in the ground beef/oatmeal. This was very surprising because he loved it. On day 3, he would not eat the ground beef/oatmeal. We were shocked. What we had planned to be a slow transition over several weeks was over in three days. His condition has improved dramatically almost overnight. He has not had blood and mucous in his stool, he has stopped vomiting and has gained three pounds. We're fine tuning the diet to get it well balanced nutritionally, but this is not difficult as dogs' bodies are able to get nearly everything they need from meat, fat and bone.
I know he's not completely out of the woods, but this turn around has given us great hope and tears of joy.