Fighting Fit

It's been a great week with sunny weather for the most part and some much needed time to myself, I've managed to capture lots of new photos of the boys both together and also individually, I'm finally getting used to the camera on my Pixel 9

I love to use whatever is available as a prop for the boys to stand on and delivery day from Paleo Ridge is always the perfect opportunity for a fun photo, the box is the perfect size and the lighting is always great by our front door

Image Description - Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel and Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel side by side laying atop a large cardboard box with WOOF written in bold black letters across the front on a bright sunny day. Both are facing towards the camera, Eko has his front paws curled under his chest like a cat whereas Boris has his front legs stretched out in front of him, only Boris is looking directly at the camera whereas Eko is transfixed by something out of shot to the right hand side 

The boys love posing for photos together although I find it strange that when left to their own devices Eko always gravitates to the left hand side of shot, he seems much more relaxed on the left than when I need to place him on the right so that we don't lose Boris in poor lighting or too a dark background

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

In other news Eko is now fully transitioned back onto a raw diet again, he's doing so well now that it's hard to believe he was so unwell

Unfortunately after all the scans and testing at Lumbry Park Eko's results were found to be inconclusive, Eko's case remains open but it's suspected he has some type of Inflammatory Bowl Disease (IBD)

It was recommended by the specialist vet to keep Eko's diet as bland as possible and to feed him a hydrolysed prescription diet for at least 6 weeks before we started slowly reintroducing novel proteins back into Eko's diet again

This left us in a bit of a quandary as the specialist vet was anti raw and with Eko being exclusively raw fed his whole life she was recommending against feeding him any raw

I'm not one to go against vets advice as Eko's welfare is my top priority, Himself and I had already previously discussed the possibility that if  Eko needed a prescription diet then that's what he'd have to have no matter what we felt about it, we then spoke to our own vet Dr Tania about the three options we'd been recommended and which would be most suitable for Eko

It really went against the grain to pay out for one of these expensive prescription diets, the ingredients list is an absolute horror show but if that's all Eko could tolerate then we were prepared to do anything at this point to get him well again

It was all very daunting, as a Brand Ambassador to Paleo Ridge I contacted them directly about the changes we'd been advised to make to Eko's diet, Esther was most helpful with advice about feeding a low-fat diet and which meals would be most suitable for Eko once he was well enough to transition back onto raw food again

Eko understandably wasn't a fan of the prescription diet, it was just tiny cream coloured balls of air that looked more anemic than Eko was, plus it was exactly the same for each and every meal, no wonder Eko didn't like it he's used to eating a gourmet menu every day

I wracked my brain for a suitable compromise to the prescription diet, if Eko didn't eat how would he ever get well again, which led me down the rabbit hole of home cooking Eko's meals of chicken breast and sweet potato to keep his diet as gentle as possible to give his gut bacteria and stomach the rest it so desperately needed as it slowly started to recover

Recover Eko did, slowly at first as I religiously cooked his meals every day twice a day for 4 weeks, I swear Eko was eating better than we were at this point, we weren't getting two cooked meals a day that's for sure

Then just like that our 6 weeks were up and it was time to start Eko on the very slow transition back to a raw diet again

That first week I added a dessert sized spoonful of Paleo Plus Special Diet into Eko's cooked meals and I monitored him very closely for any changes of which there were none

The Special Diet has been instrumental in slowly transitioning Eko back onto a raw diet once again, it's also an excellent choice for dogs that need a low-fat, low-purine, or low-phosphorus diet as it contains many super foods that are in the Paleo Plus Berry Good 

Image Description - Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel sitting amongst dead bracken out on the common, which is funnily enough the exact same colour as Eko. In his mouth Eko is holding the distinctive black and gold packaging of the Paleo Plus range, with the pinkish coloured label on this one indicating that it's the Special Diet

It took approx 4 weeks to fully transition Eko back onto a full time raw diet by adding a little more each day to his cooked meals, normally I'd transition onto raw in about 7 days but it was essential I didn't rush this and move faster than Eko's recovery could cope with, as a result Eko's now been fully transitioned back onto a fully raw diet for 5 weeks

Eko's doing really well and is back once more to his happy go lucky self and is happily bouncing his way through life one walk at a time

Hopefully Eko's illness was just one of those things that happens sometimes and you never find out what caused it, maybe he ate something he shouldn't have on a walk we'll never know, but as a precaution Eko is now permanently on a low fat diet and is slowly starting to regain some of the huge amount of weight he lost from being so unwell

One change I've noticed has been in Eko's appearance, he now has a quiet calmness behind his eyes and his glitter highlights are no longer few and far between, but more pronounced patches of grey around his eyes and muzzle

Image Description - Head shot of Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel as he gazes calmly into the camera on a sunny spring morning sitting in the boot of the car, showing the tip of his tongue comically poking out of his mouth

It could just be the natural aging process as unbelievably Eko will be 7 years old next week, but I think the pain and stress of him being so unwell could have played a large part in making him appear to age so quickly

But the strangest thing of all to come out of all this, Eko the little dog who absolutely hated going to the vets to the point he'd climb over my head in a panic to get off the table or would lock his paws onto the door frame when trying to get him in the front door

Eko now loves going to the vets to the point he unceremoniously drags me across the carpark, bursts in through the front door and can't stand still on the scales because he's so desperate to get down the corridor to go and see Dr Tania

I only wish I'd moved Eko to the same veterinary practice as Boris years ago, but he so rarely saw the vet it was just easier to stay at our old practice for those rare visits, the staff at Brookmead have definitely won Eko over at a time in his life when most dogs would probably learn to hate going to the vets

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, until next time

Dawn, Boris & Eko xxx

 

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