Gut Issues: Cleaning things up and Getting Healthy

Luckily I haven't had to work with many foster dogs who had food sensitivities but in the past when I worked at a natural pet food store I helped many a customer get a plan in place for an elimination diet for their dog.

Mr. Rigby definitely has something going on related to food so we have started him on a single protein/single carb diet along with some supplements to see if we can get things under control.

I know the previous foster mom who temped Rigby for me in California said that when he arrived he was much worse and wouldn't stop chewing on himself because he itched so badly. She put him on a grain-free kibble and that almost completely ended the itching and the rash subsided quite a bit.

As you can see though, he still has a lot of redness so here's my current plan. I'm going to try to approach this from a holistic point of view and if in a few weeks we still have some lingering issues then we'll have to visit the vet. My experience in the past though is that most vets turn immediately to low quality prescription food and steroids and I think that is a bad path to take unless absolutely necessary to give the dog relief.

Currently Rigby is only eating a fish and sweet potato based limited ingredient kibble with a fish/sweet potato LID canned food mixed in. Mixed into that he is also getting salmon oil to boost his Omega 3s and hopefully get his immune response under control. I've also added a high potency probiotic powder (30 billion CFU) to get his gut cleaned out and help him break down his food and get more out of it. I've seen probiotics work miracles on dogs with chronic yeast infections and Rigby's paperwork mentions that he has a history of yeast problems.

Yeast feeds on sugars so keeping grain out of his food bowl is also a key step to getting him healthy. That means ALL his food. The mistake that most people make when trying to manage food sensitivities is that they get the mealtime stuff fixed but then they keep giving treats that have wheat or other grains in them, or a protein that the dog isn't currently supposed to be eating.

Since we pay dogs for good behavior at our house it's important to have treats that Rigby can eat. These bits of freeze dried salmon are perfect and he definitely loves him. 

The one thing that I have thrown into his food as an extra supplement is kelp because his teeth are stained and have a bit of plaque build up but not enough that he needs a full dental at this point. Combining kelp and then regular chewing on bully sticks (or in the case of a dog with allergies, specialized chews) can work wonders on cleaning up a dog's mouth.

The last thing I'm going to try is massaging his belly and groin area with a colloidal silver salve that I have. Colloidal silver has anti-fungal and anti-biotic properties so I'm hoping this will help with his rash. I'll keep you posted on how things go. It can take about 3 weeks for a diet change to show results but I'm hoping that with all the things we are trying, we'll start seeing a change sooner than that. Wish us luck!