Camilla, the italian-AIHA golden retriever, wants to greet Sheena and all of you

[eleonora]

Hi everybody and hi Sheena! Do you remember me and my Camilla? How are you and your furry babies? Camilla is quite fine as always. Her RBC are still in the lower limit of the normal range…. sometimes about 5.4 sometimes 5.9…we still do blood tests every 4-6 months. i have a question for you: camilla until now has been eating industrial dog food. I’m thinking of switching to a natural diet …. a dog who has been diagnosed with IMHA can follow a raw food diet (like BARF or similar) or is it better a cooked diet? what dr. Dodds think about it?

• This topic was modified 9 years, 9 months ago by Vally.
• This topic was modified 9 years, 9 months ago by Vally.

[Vally]

She looks fabulous Eleonora. I think raw food is great, but introduce it slowly, maybe try adding 1/4 BARF and 3/4 what she is eating now and gradually add in more.

Vally
xxx

[eleonora]

Hi Vally thanks! yes gradually! I have already met a veterinary expert in natural food and she suggested I also come gradually to raw passing through a week of slightly cooked food. she is a great supporter of the raw diet … I had some doubts related to the risk of contracting bacteria that could alter the balance of Camilla’s immune system … but if you tell me that the raw diet is good also for a dog diagnosed with IMHA then I’m quiet :) as Camilla is eating US Grain’s Regal petfood that is made with turkey and rice the nutritionist suggested I start to base her diet on the turkey and the vegetables and fruit that she eats already sometimes as snacks (carrots, fennel, pumpkin and zucchini, apples, oranges, tangerines, grapefruits, pears and bananas), and then gradually introduce bovine offal as the heart and the spleen. at last i’ll put any bones. She will send me these days to email the program for the first 5 weeks, to fix as we try it based on how Camilla responds….. But first of all I have to buy a chest freezer :D

[Vally]

Eleanor’s, is Camilla on prednisone any more? That would be my only hesitation. I was told not to feed raw while on high dose prednisone because the immune system has been shut down. Once the prednisone was decreased to only a small dose daily, my specialist had no problem with my going back to raw feeding.

Vally

[eleonora]

no, Camilla does not take any more medicine from 1 March 2016 but this is a very interesting thing to know and keep in mind in case she has a relapse (I hope not !!!). so if I switch to a raw diet and she had to have for some reason a relapse during treatment with prednisone I should give her cooked food (or back to industrial dog food), is this right?

[Sheena]

Hello Eleonora

It’s so LOVELY to hear from you & I’m thrilled to hear Camilla is doing well. I think it’s a great idea to change her to a more natural diet – as Vally says – slowly in case something upsets her. It must be more healthy to give her fresh food.

Sorry to have to tell you we lost Ollie to prostate cancer in August& we are still feeling his loss. A big empty hole in our hearts.

https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/forums/topic/ollie-crossed-the-rainbow-bridge/

Worzel is fine, except a picky eater at lunch time & we think he is missing the “competition” for food. We comfort ourselves that Ollie was rescued & had a happy & comfortable life without being hit by his previous owners.

Apologies for the bad news, but the great news is that Camilla is in good health. It always cheers me up to hear from you!

Love Sheena & Worzel xxxxx

[eleonora]

oh Sheena i’m so sad for your lost! :'( ollie in the photos seems such a good, sweet and faithful dog….it’s not difficult to understand your despair…they are piece of our hearts and when they cross the bridge they take away with them a piece of us. It is a small consolation but think ollie lived happy with you, you have given him a beautiful life, and he will surely be grateful for this. he looks at you from the other side of the bridge waiting for the day when you will meet again <3 a big hug to you and your family (including Worzel of course)

[Patrice]

Eleonora,
Good to hear Camilla is doing so well!

As soon as Chance was showing good recovery I switched him back to his raw diet. Going forward his health improved significantly. I recommend you do begin transitioning back to raw.

I always make sure the raw food diets I feed are made with human grade food sources. That is one way to reduce exposure to bacteria. But the real truth about dogs that eat raw is that their stomachs naturally begin secreting much lower ph acid in response to raw bones and meat. This can be as low as 1-2 ph! Humans tend to have ph around 3-4. This higher ph in dogs digestive systems is protective against bacteria and is why healthy dogs can tolerate bacteria in their diets not only in the wild but also in domestic dogs.

The critical element in a raw diet that provides balance is calcium. Many owners feed raw meaty bones, while there are some that use other sources like crushed egg shell. In either case the calcium needs to be greater than the phosphorus that is in the other foods like meat. This balance is important in the diet. Without that proper balance the diet can have a negative impact on health.

Mary Strauss website Dogaware has an incredible wealth of nutritional resources to help owners prepare many variations of home diets, whether completely raw or somewhere in between. We partner with Mary and have a link on this page to her site, just click on the picture of her page. I can spend hours reading here and I hope you will find it helpful.
https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/nutrition-resources/

There is also a link to an article written by Dr. Dodds about transitioning to a home diet, but I suspect you are already past this initial stage. She has greater concerns about raw diets.

One caution. Many dogs that have had AIHA or bone marrow failure may have some degree of hypothyroidism. Foods like broccoli etc and spinach contain certain enzymes that in the raw state can have a negative effect on the thyroid gland. Use these foods in small quantities and cook them and rinse thoroughly to rid them of these enzymes. I use spinach in my raw diets but it is well cooked and rinsed.

It is always great to hear about successful recovery and I think transitioning to a home diet will be extremely successful!
My best Patrice