Preliminary schedule for Chicon arrived this evening. I don’t want to post times/dates yet because it may change. So far, it’s a reading, autographing, a kaffeeklatsch, and something called Writers Under Glass:
Writers volunteer to sit in a certain place for 30-40 minutes each and write serially on a collaborative story. Each takes up where the previous left off throughout the run of the convention. The resulting manuscript will be printed out only once, signed by all the writers, and entered into the charity auction as a contribution from all the writers.
I hope I get to keep this item. Looks like fun.
In other news, attendance at WFC looks iffy. At least one semi-significant house repair will hit this month. Then there are King’s health issues. If he winds up needing abdominal surgery, I will likely need to bag the con.
Holding out a little hope, but not much.
How is King doing?
Fingers crossed. He’s still slow in the morning, but that’s just Old Guy, I think. By afternoon/evening, he’s more energetic. Playing with Gaby.
I’m switching his food again. He lost his liking for Taste of the Wild venison/bison, and was refusing to eat it or eating it grudgingly even when I jazzed it up with a little wet food. Either he simply doesn’t like it, or his gall bladder still bothers him a little and he blames the food. In any case, I’m switching him to Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula, a chicken-brown rice kibble with lower fat than other brands. I figure if his gall bladder has become an issue, a lower fat food can’t hurt.
Saturday, I take him in for his Adequan shot. He still has a couple of weeks of Ursodiol to go, so he’ll likely have repeat bloodwork toward the end of the month.
On one hand, lower fat might mean less discomfort for the pet. On the other, increased fat stimulates a stronger contraction of the gall bladder, promoting bile flow and “clearing out” of the sludge. It is difficult to know which one to recommend in these cases. But, King needs to eat so probably comfort is a good idea. I’ve had my own gall bladder out, so I completely understand his side of things.
::goes to check bags::
The Eagle Pack that King was eating when things first went pear-shaped was NLT 12% fat. The Taste of the Wild that I switched him to because he had to eat something and he seemed to like it is NLT 18% fat. That may have been why he went off it–maybe it was making him sick to his stomach. I still have my gall bladder, but both my folks had theirs removed, and I do have some sensitivity to butterfat. Super-premium ice cream makes me sooo sick. If King felt like that, it’s no wonder he wouldn’t eat.
The food I’m transitioning him to, the Blue Buffalo, is NLT 6% fat. I top it with a little Blue Buffalo “Backyard BBQ” canned food, which smells good enough to serve over noodles with a nice cabernet.
I spoke with his vet today. Liver panel at the end of the month to see whether we can stop the ursodiol or continue it. Repeat ultrasound in October to check the spleen.
Never thought I’d see the day when Gaby was the low-maintenance one.
Unfortunately, you cannot compare different foods by their guaranteed analysis. You need to do it on a dry matter basis because the different foods have different moisture contents. In order to calculate this, you need to know the % moisture which only a few companies actually print on their bags. If you call the company, however, they should be able to tell you.
Here’s a site with an explanation of how to do the calculation: http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/choosing-dog-food/dry-matter-basis/
And unfortunately, pets seem to take turns…
Thanks–I checked out the article. It discussed comparing dry and wet foods, not two different brands of dry food.