barbponies- if you don't mind- more raw help?

[elegy]

this is not a pit bull question, so please nobody shun me!

i have a little 16 year old mini poodle. she has fairly advanced heart disease and also mild kidney disease. plus some minor allergies of the itching feet and itching face variety. she also spent 6 days hospitalized for vomiting/elevated pancreas values about three weeks ago but the vet thinks that was viral.

she's supposed to be on hill's k/d, but, well, she's not been in the entire 16 months i've had her. she won't eat it and i don't like it. i've looked at the other prescription foods out there, and i don't like them either.

currently she's eating luce's canidae, which i'm pretty sure is way too high in phosphorus for her, but she eats it and she's keeping weight on. she's a very picky eater.

i've been thinking about switching her to raw, and my question is not so much how/what to feed her (i've been reading), but more *should* i? and if so, how do i go about switching her?

i've you don't mind weighing in on this- i'd like advice from somebody i've come to trust to be knowledgeable and rational.

thanks so much!

[barbponys]

Hey Elegy,
16 years old eh? Lucky you. In my opinion, when you are dealing with advanced geriatrics like this little girl the here and now is far more important then 6 months from now. If you want to do raw, and I think you should, then stick to chicken and turkey, with occassional beef or lamb. I believe red meats are higher in phosphorous. If she eats raw and really enjoys it, good for her. It's really hard at this stage of the game, I know. I would give her a bit of chicken when you are making dinner, or set aside some in the fridge and over a few days use it as treats so she can develop the enzymes to digest it so there's no vomiting or diarrhea. Even though her heart disease is advanced a raw diet will help some, may not make a huge difference but her body will use it a whole lot better. With luck it will stop the kidney issues where they are, or perhaps reverse them all together. I think it's well worth the try. It is indeed possible it could give you a few more years with her, I sure hope it does.

[elegy]

thanks pat!

i'm thinking that even if it doesn't make any real difference in her health problems, she'll probably enjoy it a lot more, and that's important to me too.