If you have been “here” regularly since August, you know that Karl has had some health issues. If you’ve been here recently, you know he is looking darn good :)! He is feeling good as well, evidenced by his energy, gorgeous coat, clear eyes and general demeanor.

See Karl’s Good News for the run-down on Karl through November.

At the end of that post we had no conclusive “No cancer” information, but ultrasound showed no tumors so except for a urinalysis test that is prone to false positives there was also no evidence of cancer. The symptom that started the whole scenario was slightly better, but still there…some difficulty (stop if you are eating breakfast…) pooping and small volume…frequently.

At the beginning of December we visited for a check up, again a clear ultrasound but another UT infection. I pushed for a consideration of what else it could be, i.e. put aside the cancer thing and what might be causing the symptoms and might we have 2 things going on. That pointed to colitis. We tried a medication for that but in the process of thinking about that, I wondered about gluten. I have benefited greatly from a reduction and sometimes complete abstinence of gluten. And it is as pervasive in most dog food and treats as it is in human food.

And “Whaddya’ know???” as I did some research, just like for people, wheat and corn are a top food allergy for pets. As is beef – a surprise. It was a “no harm, no foul” change to remove gluten and corn from Karl’s diet. And a huge thank you to reader, Hilary, who cooks for her dog and gave me great guidance. It took me awhile to find a kibble I was happy with and in the meantime, I started feeding Karl my own concoction, based on Hilary’s experience, of chicken, quinoa, kale, cauliflower, pumpkin and psyllium with the occasional scrambled egg. I now feed him about 2/3 home cooked and 1/3 of a kibble Castor and Pollux: Organix . And just recently (link at the end of the post), homemade gluten free treats!

The GF/Corn free diet made a difference, nearly immediately. And things have gradually improved since. I added a senior multi-vitamin, an immune system booster, a G.I. supplement and U.T. supplement – adding each at least 14 days apart. The supplements include probiotics as well as digestive enzymes. Slowly, but surely things continue to improve.

This past week we changed primary veterinarians to a 1 vet clinic 20 minutes away versus a 5 vet clinic 45 minutes away. Dr. M. is encouraging of a grain free diet and herbal/homeopathic treatments. He has a super ultrasound machine which allows him to “mark, measure and save” images for comparison. He said there is no TCC – the cancer that threw the positive from the urinalysis. It is nearly 7 months from the first positive test. His opinion, based on his experience is that if there were TCC, he would be seeing it, even with the medication Karl was taking.

He did see a larger prostate than expected for an older, neutered male dog**. However, because of the shape (normal, just a bit large), the kind of “stuff” inside (crystals), Dr. M. diagnosed infection vs cancer. Intestines showed inflammation which points to IBD/IBS/Colitis. The “bad” news is that to really clear the prostate infection requires a long (6-10 weeks) course of antibiotics which is hard on the system, wiping out the good along with the bad bacteria. The good news is I am better prepared with nutritional support and I have 2 vets (Dr. M. and Dr. Calm ) that are 100% on board with the feeding path. My hope is that with Karl on a better (for him) eating program we’ll get through the long course of antibiotics with minimal discomfort. As always, your prayers and support would be much appreciated!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Dog Biscuit Recipe

These biscuits have brown rice flour, flax meal (I subbed chia seeds), pumpkin, eggs – simple, easy, no added sugar (there is sugar “naturally” in pumpkin) and best of all Karl likes them :)!

**Enlarged prostate in older, neutered male dogs is almost always an agressive prostate cancer – becoming fatal very quickly (4-6 weeks max) with no real treatment. Karl’s prostate was enlarged on Aug 1, sending us all into a tizzy but it was normal after the first round of antibiotics and he continues to do well, not regressing, no lymph node involvement – adding to the liklihood that we are dealing with a tough albeit unusual infection vs. cancer.