My boy has turned vegetarian...

[Artos]

Trax, my 13 year old corgi boy- has turned vegetarian.

He has a lot of skin problems and the vet told me that in addition to his daily dose of iodine, antihistermine, steriods (dosage going down now...)- he has to take a mix of some of the following each day:
1 Tofu
2 Zen Addiction Vegetarian dry dog food
3 carrots (cooked)
4 pumpkins(cooked)
5 apples /pears
6 papayas
7 celery
8 potatoes (cooked)

I have been putting most of these into a blender and giving Trax the whole lot in paste form. There are times when he would eat chopped up pieces of the above. Its a lot of work but I noticed that his skin is getting better and he is losing some weight (he was obese at 20kg).

Any suggestions as to what else I can give him?
I am told I cant give him yogurt (in case he is lactose intolerant), mango or durian (two tropical fruits). Thanks!

[Dillydoodle]

I am kind of surprised by the addition of tofu, some dogs have difficulty processing soy... I dont know a lot about feeding a vegetarian diet... what is the allergy to? do you know? usually the vets will test to see what the dog is actually allergic to and then you can avoid those things. Was Trax allergy tested? I will be interested to see what others say about this too- Dillon is going in for allergy testing at the end of the month ( i think he is allergic to grass) and the other dog ,Gus , has pemphigus an auto immune disorder that he will be seeing a specialist (dermatologist) to see if we can get under control, but anything allergy related i keep my eyes open...

oh and on a side note Durian? why would someone feed a dog durian? isnt that the fruit that is really powerfully strong smelling ?
Emilie

[MVons]

My preference is brown rice instead of potatoes to give the Vitamin B.

Yogurt is the only milk product my lactose intolerant SIL can have with zero problems.

http://www.kefir.net/intro.htm because I posted on another thread, said:
For the lactose intolerant, kefir's abundance of beneficial yeast and bacteria provide lactase, an enzyme which consumes most of the lactose left after the culturing process.

If the skin problem involves thrush or candida problems, yogurt or kefir is essential to staying well. But I don't know if animals get that problem as they don't consume the sugar we do.

Just another note, you could check the sheltie sites because they have skin problems. A breeder said she fed lamb and rice for the skin and chicken and rice for the sensitive stomach.

Merrie

[Artos]

Thanks. Trax is allergic to different kinds of food and places. His vet says tofu is good for him but bans durians (yup, thats the strong smelling fruit that is greatly loved here. It tastes great and my dogs would beg for it), rice.
Got to ask him about yogurt though....
Trax's fur is now growing back. A month ago, clumps of fur would come off his lower back. His head and shoulders had lumps. He had a musty odour and his fur felt 'oily'. I know he has a thyroid problem as well. Now it seems to be better.

[Fluffypants]

Poor Trax! I hope this works for him!

[Artos]

Poor Trax! I hope this works for him!


Ha....poor me. I have to prepare the food twice a day and when he goes on strike, I have to blend everything together and feed it to him via a big fat syringe. He seems to enjoy this kind of 'nursing'. +SAD+ :ARG:

[taflar]

Just another note, you could check the sheltie sites because they have skin problems.

As I understand it the skin problems that some shelties and collies get is a genetic thing and you'd know much sooner, as a puppy if this were the case. It's not a generalized skin problem that they have and not common to other breeds.

Peggy

[bunnybutts]

Poor Trax,

Glad to hear he is responding to the new diet