QUESTION:

Pancreatitus but under control. No flare-ups in several years.

CURRENT ISSUES: Collapsing trachea which just started a week ago (on meds); had knee surgeries (patellas) plus a torn ACL which is fixed. We stopped walking her due to the harness aggravating her trachea. She is now stiff and taps or carries her one foot; seems stiff with the other. Just started this yesterday. Ongoing allergies forever. Yeast in ears which is causing ears to swell. Using ear drops. Not helping. My question is that I would like to put her on a more natural diet. She is on ZD for her allergies, and I do not see this helping. Vet says that we have to watch the fat in her diet so the pancreatitus does not reappear. The leg stiffness is concerning. She is about 2-3 pounds overweight although I have decreased the amount of food she eats. She sounds like a mess, but I think a lot of this is due to diet. What would you suggest she be able to eat that doesn”t mess up allergies, pancreatitus, but yet helps her joints. Don’t know if trachea can be helped.

I love her very much! Thank you!

ANSWER:

Hi Linda,

This is somewhat complicated. ZD is often used as a treatment for suspected food allergies, however, many times dogs are having adverse reactions to certain components of the food (such as preservatives, meals, etc) but are not truly allergic to an actual protein or carbohydrate. Selecting a natural diet will eliminate your pet’s exposure to artificial colorings, flavors, preservatives and other harsh or synthetic chemicals which may be causing an adverse skin reaction. Many natural diets are quite high in protein and fat, however, and may not be ideal for her pancreatitis issue. Probably the best idea at this point is to make a home-cooked diet which would obviously put you in control of the quality of ingredients and amount of fat, etc. in your pet’s food—this is often very helpful for getting allergic-type reactions under control. When making a home-cooked diet it is very important to work with a veterinary nutritionist to get the proper balance of protein, fat, carbohydrates and vitamin-minerals for your individual dog.

If you are interested in that option you might consider calling the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Nutrition Service at 530-752-7892 for more information and pricing. As far as her arthritic joints, you might try a glucosamine.