Update on Bosco...
Submitted by cohenmh on April 12, 2016 - 1:20pmHi everyone - hope spring is coming to wherever you are! Anyhow, I wanted to update everyone on Bosco...sigh. His diet has not gone according to plan. He does not eat chicken or any poultry and we had a hard time finding a "fat dog" food that did not have birds as the primary protein source. We fed him 1/3 less dry food and that did not work either because Bosco was hangry! We have cut back on his cookies for carrots and are bulking up his TOTW kibble with veggies vice wet food but his weight loss has been less than what we hoped. We joke and say that he is taking his time losing it so he keeps the weight off. Then the poor guy got a nasty interdigital cyst. This is his ssecond one but this one is just taking its sweet time going away. It looks so sad and puffy at night; he gets his paws soaked in epson salts and then we put some anti-bacterial ointment on the cyst itself, eventually it will go away. It bleeds a little after the soak but it does not appear to bother him at all. And then this weekend we noticed that he has developed, for the first time, seasonal flank alopecia. Two palm sized balding areas on either side of him. Sigh. Hopefully they will get better as we get more sun; we recently moved to Ottawa, Canada, so he had less sunlight than he did in Virginia. Hopefully Bosco feels better as it gets warmer...he does like to lay in the sun!
Aw, poor guy!
Hope he starts feeling better very soon!
Amy and Sophia
Poor guy...
there are a lot of fish based foods that are naturally lower in calories than poultry based foods. We have our guys on Zignature trout which has no potatoes in it either and they are doing well on it. Also, Chester is on Fromm Gold Weight Management which is whitefish and salmon based. He does really good on that, not itching, tear stains or any kind of allergy problems. It does help keep his weight down too since it's lower in calories. Fromm is a little pricier but they do have a frequent buyer program which gives a free bag after buying 12.
You may want to have his thyroid checked
weight issues and thinning hair are common symptoms of a thyroid issue. Quick, easy, cheap blood test.
Good luck
Lynn King CPDT-KA
Great idea!
Thank you for the tip! Bosco is going to the vet next week for a check up and weigh in and I will ask them to check his thyroid. I'll let you know how the test comes out.
If his thyroid test comes out low normal...
ask them to put him on a low dose of thyroxine anyway, I know from experience that low normal isn't great.
Awww.......(( hugs )) to Bosco! Meaty used to have the
worst interdig cysts....poor fella !!!! We'd do the epsom salt soaks too, which he hated! LOL remembering
hubby using alllll our strenght to I hold his paw(s) in the small plastic container we used!
Meaty also used to have the alopeica, and since he was put on Thyroid meds, it's healed. Ooooh, and
I hope Mr. Bosco gets some niiiice sunshine soon! As we all know, it's great for the alopecia, plus----they
just LOVE soaking up sun in general---! UGH, the ONLY thing I HATE is that once the TEMPS get too warm,
goodbye sunbathing!!! Since Spring came, all 3 of ours have been LOVING laying on the deck. I HATE
it when I have to FORCE them to come inside once it hits about 70----- poor babies!!!
Our sweet Archimedes "MEATY" Bones (or as we say...boneSHHH!) ---born 11/28/08---- our first bullllyyyy!!!
And SOPHIE Bubbles *Rapscallion* (LOL!) ---born 4/3/11----our second bulllllyyyy!!!!
Thank you...
...for all the good wishes and tips. I think (hope) that Bosco will feel better soon. Between finding an indoor sunbeam to lay in, a thyroid check and meds, as needed, and possibly switching him to a fish based food, he will be on the mend. He is so good natured and it makes me so sad when he us not feeling his best.