Originally Posted by
Jared
My wife and I have a 3.5 year old small dog (like 8 pounds). Last year, he started having these "digestive incidents." Basically, it goes like this. He vomits twice, like clockwork always twice, then has diarrhea. This happened last year in January, March, and May. We took him to the vet each time, and they pretty much shrugged their shoulders, gave him some medicine, told me to give him a tablespoon of yogurt a night until he was better and sent us on our way. Finally, in May, I decided if the yogurt was supposed to help his digestion, I'd just give it to him every night permanently. That actually seemed to help, all the way until December, when it happened again.
This time we took him to a different vet (who my wife and I both wound up liking much better). He did blood work (all normal). Gave us some medicine, but suggested he may have a food allergy of some kind. So, he told us to feed him Purina EN Gastroenteric blend exclusively, and nothing else. We followed his advice. Late last week, it hit him again. They gave us some medicine, etc.
Throughout this, I've been hearing about these high protein, low grain (or no grain) dog foods. Specifically, I keep hearing and reading that they're a lot better for the dogs digestive system since they're supposed to be closer to what their wild cousins actually eat. I have to say, I like the sound of it. Today, while in town, I stopped by our local TSC, and looked at a few of them. I walked out with 3 cans of Taste of the Wild, the buffalo and venison blend. I'm seriously wondering if our dogs problems could be an intolerance of the grains in the other foods we've always fed him, including this prescription diet the vet gave us.
I intend to speak with our vet tomorrow about trying him on a diet like this. That said, I'd like to hear from you guys if you've either A. had a dog with problems like this, or B. feed your dog one of these high protein low grain foods.
I'd also like to be clear that this isn't about me trying to be smarter than our vet, I really like this guy, I just want my little buddy to be happy and healthy. Thanks!
ETA: I also realize that if we switch him over, we'll have to spend 7-10 days doing it gradually. I haven't opened any of this stuff yet, so if this is a bad idea, I can just take it back.