# So excited.



## BoxerParty (Nov 9, 2011)

We meet our new raw-friendly vet today! I could not be more excited!!! :biggrin: :cheer2: :roll:


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

I'm very excited for you. It has to feel great to think you will be able to work with a vet, not against them.


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## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

Wow! Good for you! :thumb: Let us know how it goes. :whoo:


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

definitely jealous.


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## DeekenDog (Aug 29, 2011)

YAY!!! That's so great.


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## BoxerParty (Nov 9, 2011)

We're back! Our new vet is BLISS. I adore her. 

She is 100% supportive of feeding raw, and while she agrees that Malcolm and Lila are TOO SKINNY, she said they are otherwise doing great. We created a plan to put weight on them together. 

You may remember that I was concerned about Malcolm's thinning fur. She thinks it is 100% related to his being ill over Xmas and not getting any nutrients in his system due to the vomiting and diarrhea. I agree, and am relieved to hear that she thinks it will resolve itself as his diet and weight get back on track.

She is educated in Chinese medicine as well as having a conventional DVM, so she said she was pleased to see that the dogs do not have "blood deficiency" despite being so skinny. 

She was happy to hear that we are now slowly adding some red meat into the diet, and agreed that treating the time since Xmas as starting our transition over was the right choice.

She struck just the right balance for me - obviously knows her stuff, relies on Western medicine principles where that's appropriate, draws on her knowledge of Chinese medicine to assess their underlying health without doing invasive tests, and is totally behind their being on a raw diet.

:hail:


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## liquid (Dec 28, 2011)

She sounds awesome, Im so jealous! Sounds like you found the holy grail of vets, lol! :thumb:


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

She sounds wonderful! I am very happy for you and very jealous!


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## twoisplenty (Nov 12, 2008)

Woot woot!! Congrats on finding a vet that you feel comfortable with!


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## NewYorkDogue (Sep 27, 2011)

Oh my gosh--- if I were to conjure up the perfect veterinarian for me at this moment in time, it would be her. Dang-- you did good!


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Wow - the perfect vet. Combo of east and west.


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## BoxerParty (Nov 9, 2011)

Thanks everyone!

I'm so pleased with this vet. She was very positive in her approach - didn't even suggest that I'd been making any mistakes, just worked with me on how we could increase their weight and reassured me that Malcolm's hair loss didn't look like a cause for concern. 

Her advice was to work in some more red meat (as much as they will tolerate), which is consistent with the advice that I've gotten from all of you DFC experts! She also suggested that I feed 3x per day instead of 2x, so that I can increase the volume of food they're getting until their weight is back into an appropriate range. Obviously this will all be done pretty slowly so we can avoid digestive upset, though I'm expecting (and willing to deal with) some soft poop while they adjust. 

A great experience overall! 

Interestingly, it's Malcolm's weight that was really concerning to me, but she was more concerned about Lila. Here are some side and top-view pics for comparison. Obviously both have MAJOR weight to gain, but I was thinking that Lila was not looking all that bad (these pics make me re-think that... hwell: ).


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Did they get so skinny because they are having trouble transitioning over to raw food?


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## BoxerParty (Nov 9, 2011)

xellil said:


> Did they get so skinny because they are having trouble transitioning over to raw food?


No - they were in quite reasonable weight before Xmas (on the thin side, but that's normal for young boxers). They got sick while in boarding over Xmas, and both lost a LOT of weight. 

I don't have great comparison photos, but these will give you a vague idea of what they looked like in December:


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i am so jealous that you found a vet who gets it....but i'm really glad for anyone i can vicariously live my vet experiences through.

they'll gain weight....her advice on feeding three meals a day is a goodie...but honest?

i would, when you're including red meat and eggs and such...which is a good thing...and will help with fur re growth...don't be afraid of fat...

anyway, i would increase the amount of that stuff slowly, maybe an ounce at a time...it's rich stuff.....

hearts and eggs and some coconut fat and some fat you trim off your own foods.....num for them.


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## hmbutler (Aug 4, 2011)

congrats on finding such a great vet, and definitely take Re's advice on slowly upping the actual fat content they are getting, good fats will be good for them and help them gain weight :smile:

and since you have such a perfect support base with your pets, perhaps now is a great time to adopt the fawn boxer you showed us from that rescue? complete your collection? haha :wink:


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

hmbutler said:


> congrats on finding such a great vet, and definitely take Re's advice on slowly upping the actual fat content they are getting, good fats will be good for them and help them gain weight :smile:
> 
> and since you have such a perfect support base with your pets, perhaps now is a great time to adopt the fawn boxer you showed us from that rescue? complete your collection? haha :wink:


such an instigator....LOL


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## Makovach (Jan 24, 2012)

Congrats on finding a new vet that works with you and isnt against what you are doing for your pups!


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## DeekenDog (Aug 29, 2011)

I would guess the reason she's more concerned about Lila's weight is because she's still really growing?


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## BoxerParty (Nov 9, 2011)

magicre said:


> i am so jealous that you found a vet who gets it....but i'm really glad for anyone i can vicariously live my vet experiences through.
> 
> they'll gain weight....her advice on feeding three meals a day is a goodie...but honest?
> 
> ...



^This is pretty much how I'm planning to go about it. We decided to increase the volume of their food to 3% projected weight (both were getting 2%) and to work in some richer stuff like beef.

Eggs and hearts are both a great idea - I'll come up with a strategy for adding those in. I'm already giving some coconut oil occasionally (the air is dry in here with the heat on, so we can all use a little extra moisturizing), so I'll plan to make that a regular thing.

Clearly I won't be making all these changes at once.


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## BoxerParty (Nov 9, 2011)

hmbutler said:


> congrats on finding such a great vet, and definitely take Re's advice on slowly upping the actual fat content they are getting, good fats will be good for them and help them gain weight :smile:
> 
> and since you have such a perfect support base with your pets, perhaps now is a great time to adopt the fawn boxer you showed us from that rescue? complete your collection? haha :wink:


Yes, CLEARLY now that I need to increase the amount of food I'm giving by 50% AND feed more expensive proteins, the right idea is to go out and get another dog. 

ETA: Strictly speaking, my Boxer collection wouldn't be complete unless I added a fawn and a white. And I think there's an argument to be made for a needing both a classic fawn AND a flashy fawn... I have a problem


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## frogdog (Aug 10, 2011)

Couldn't be better than finding a wonderful vet supporting raw and eastern medicine...*TERRIFIC.

*Wow, I could really tell a difference in the before and after pics...looked great before Christmas. Here's to ease of adding proteins and weight!


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## BoxerParty (Nov 9, 2011)

frogdog said:


> Couldn't be better than finding a wonderful vet supporting raw and eastern medicine...*TERRIFIC.
> 
> *Wow, I could really tell a difference in the before and after pics...looked great before Christmas. Here's to ease of adding proteins and weight!


Thanks for the good vibes! 

I'm not well-educated in Eastern medical traditions (my mom is a Western-medicine-educated doctor, so that's been my medical paradigm. To her credit, DrMom is always open to using non-Western knowledge as complementary therapy when her patients choose to do so.), so I'm pretty neutral on using it for myself or my dogs. I'm sure it has merits, but I don't know enough about the field to state authoritatively what the benefits of it will be. But more knowledge is always better than less, in my mind, so I'll be interested to see how the new vet uses Chinese medicine to approach the dogs' health and to learn more myself about that practice!

I have a good feeling about it - I KNOW we're headed in the right direction. I have done the research, I have a plan, and we have the support of a great vet and ALL of the amazing DFC folks! Talk about setting yourself up for success!

The pre-Xmas photos were a great reminder for me of how good they looked before, even with our few missteps in the transition to raw. Even now, they're much too skinny, but they otherwise glow with good health. So I'm 100% confident that we are on the right track.


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