Raustyk's appetite is starting to come back. I can get her to eat some of her regular diet (raw) and she'll even eat some EVO. So for now, no more cooking or "spicing" up her meals. She's also beginning to drink more, so no more broth added to the water to entice her to eat.
The bad news, her gait is not any better. We have an appointment with a specialist on Monday, 4/16. That's the soonest they could get me in. (Or at least with one of the doctors I preferred). She goes back to my work Friday to see a Dr that hasn't looked at her lameness problem yet, but she did do the ultrasound. Then she will come back again with me on Tuesday to see yet another Dr., one that hasn't even sen her yet.
I pray and hope they find something that is curable, if not curable at least something we can treat the symptoms for her to make her more comfortable & so she can enjoy a little more time here.

We think that her 3 main problems (lameness, kidney/liver/appetite) are most likely unrelated. Although we still need to keep all three in mind & try to treat them so they can all work together again to make her healthier overall.


Quote Originally Posted by crow_noir
Poor girl. *hugs*
The protein dilemma reminds me of some of the reading i was doing in King's last year. Whether or not the protein issue is real is actually a huge topic online. You might want to try looking into the difference between protein strands. I read something that dogs needing a diet of low protein supposedly actually did well on non-red meat proteins. I couldn't find any studies done using nuts as a substitute. (I can't imagine feeding a dog as a vegetarian, but if it would help a dog with these problems I'd be interested.)
Thank you for the well wishes (and everyone else too!). And thanks for the advice too! I have been researching my butt off, about everything that is going on with her. lol I've actually (re)discovered that it is not really the amount of protein they get, rather than the type of protein. Genreally speaking; useful protein (coming from meat rather than fillers), moist protein (fresh meats), etc... are examples of quality protein. Commercial diets are dry and are filled with filler (corn, etc..) like proteins because it is easier to mass produce and non meats offer lower protein levels, making those types of diets lower protein diets.