When I first got Conker he had all sorts of digestive issues. He didn't have worms so that was ruled out as the cause and had no symptoms of other stomach bugs, it was just plain diarrhea. He has the issues on the Science Diet he was on at first (shelter gave me a bag) and on Orijen, even though I gradually switched him to it over a period of about two weeks since he was so sensitive to new stuff.
He couldn't handle new treats much either. Any treat that contained chicken, wheat, corn or potatoes sent him into explosion mode (chicken, wheat and corn also made him itch like mad.) The only treats that didn't cause problems were the Zuke's Mini and Jerky Naturals. He could only have very small bits of cooked beef, pork or turkey. Anymore than a small bite and he'd have a blow-out. Even most chews causes problems. Bully stick were okay though.
I decided that instead of juggling around different brands of kibble that I was going to try the raw food thing. For the first month it was somewhat unpredictable. His transition wasn't the best, it took him a while to stop having digestive problems. I added in a probiotic and his problems lessened. He would still have occasional diarrhea but it basically went away upon starting that.
I kept Conker on raw foods only for several months with the exception of the Zuke's treats. Anything else I tried to give him would result in more splosions. So I stuck to that very strict diet and would harass anyone I caught attempting to sneak Conker something.
Then something happened. One day I didn't have any food for Conker. I'd miscalculated the amount of food I'd made up and was a day short and nothing I had frozen was small enough to use. Crap, what do I do now? I looked around the house for something he could eat but we had no meat in the fridge, I had no money and I couldn't buy any so I was stuck with a tube of oats, a can of sardines and some eggs.
I had a sudden thought. What if Conker can eat oats? He is fine with sardines and eggs, but those together in such a high amount could cause an issue. But the oats... They are in his Zuke's treats and he's never had a problem with those and if he doesn't they might stop a sardine/egg reaction.
I whipped up a small pot of oats, dumped in the sardines, added an egg, some probiotic powder and his usuals and gave it to Conker. I instantly regretted it, knowing Conker would have an explosion that or the next day. But you know what happened?
Nothing bad.
He was fine, perfectly fine. Better than normal actually. He digested the meal better than most meat/bone/organ-only meals and didn't have any itchy reactions to the meal like he'd had in the past. (chicken, wheat and corn)
I was amazed, and that's when I decided to mix things up and start trying different treats, even some that contained potatoes and chicken, and adding in other grains (rices, barley). I still have yet to test anything with wheat or corn in it, but so far everything has gone very smoothly. I also have yet to give an actual potato or hunk of cooked chicken a try since all attempts in the past were miserable failures.
But this recent development in Conker's digestive system has really caught me off-guard. I was sure he would never be able to eat anything other than raw meat and fruits and knew that the prey-model diet wasn't entirely complete since I cannot find organs other than liver and kidney. I figured I was going to have to start supplementing certain vitamins and minerals, something I really don't want to do, and would have to stick to that for the rest of his life. Unless something like this happened.
I have no idea what made his system decide to work and I'm very glad it did. However, I will not attempt to feed Conker kibble unless it's a dire emergency. I really enjoy making food for him and he will continue to eat raw and now homecooked food for as long as he lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment