 Barked: Fri Dec 23, '11 1:23pm PST |
 | |  | | Hi everyone, happy holidays! I've been feeding my dogs a ground raw diet (grind up bones, organs and muscle meat together), or taste of the wild kibble if I'm in bind for time for three years now. My oldest and most beloved dog, Hippo got GDV or gastric torsion Sunday night. His stomach torsed and then filled up with gas (instead of bloating then torsing). Luckily I caught it right when it happened and we were able to get him to a vet who could do the surgery and gastropexy in time to save his life (running total right now is $6000). I think feeding him a raw diet high in Omega-3 fatty acids helped save him too as his heart suffered no trauma pre and post-op. I did everything in my power and during his lifetime to prevent GDV with a raw diet, making him wait to be active after eating, even keeping his stress down, but alas no one really knows the cause (if there is one cause or many causes) yet besides genetics which may be involved. His stomach torsed at 1:10 am, seven hours after he ate. He wasn't even active that day either.
Thinking of writing up a post/informative guide of some warning signs (you read about it, but many people still don't know it's happening when it does) and steps to take to find a vet who can do the surgery and what to expect pre-surgery (they had to Trocar, or insert a needle into Hippo's stomach to relieve some of the pressure from the gas) and post-surgery.
At any rate because of the trauma from the torsion, surgery and the fact that he had some post-op complications with gastric motility and acid build up I must feed him a cooked diet for the next few weeks or possibly for a few months (he's nearly 10 years old). The first few days was boiled chicken, he only licks at cottage cheese and refuses to touch yogurt (thought I wish he wold eat it as it would help him digest his food).
Any nice blander balanced recipes out there since he's getting sick of chicken. I'm very familiar with raw recipes and how to balance that diet, but organs are a bit too rich for him yet (unless there are some organs out there that I am un-aware of). Going to start eggs and maybe a little hamburger this afternoon as he's tired of boiled chicken. He's pretty picky eater still. He would normally dance if he could for yogurt, but now he doesn't even want to give it a lick. I have to feed him 4 meals a day right now.
Again, looking for formulas that would balance the diet or recipes that are balanced. Bland or easy to digest is good. Posting here because of the communal and peer-reviews knowledge you guys all have!Edited by author Fri Dec 23, '11 1:26pm PST
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