Hi
I am new to the forum. Also new to adopting a rescue dog, and on a steep learning curve. We adopted a dalmatian in November. The shelter thinks she is about four. She has a lovely nature but can be quite timid. She is just learning to play and really coming on well. She has bonded really well with the family. We started feeding her Hills Vet Essentials on the vet's recommendation. She seemed to do ok on it, but was always looking for more food. In December, she got a bout of colitis and became quite bad, on a drip for dehydration etc, so she had a couple of days of Hills I/D tinned food. At a cost of €9 for 24 hours, feeding this tinned food was unsustainable. So I started to research dog food and came across this site. We fed home made rice, chicken and sweet potato until she was over the colitis. About 2 weeks later, she had another bout of diarrhoea and we whipped her off to the vet for more antibiotics and anti inflammatories. A stool sample was taken and showed up nothing. Blood tests were taken and though her results were not good, they were inconclusive. More and more tests were suggested, and I thought we have to look at this more closely. Particularly we have to look at what we are feeding our dog. Oh, and unfortunately, we do not have pet insurance. We fed home made food for a while (really the dog was eating the best quality food) but I was concerned that she was not getting a balanced diet. Also, with home made food, I was concerned about over-feeding as I think her system can only handle so much food, though she is always looking for food. We had another bout of diarrhoea that lasted about 5 days in January and we got her through it. We transitioned her onto Markus Muehle dry food and she has been on that 100% (with fruit for treats/training) for about 10 days. I am now noticing she is itching a bit, and see small rust coloured patches on the hair on her tummy. I wonder whether to get a supplement from Luposan, but would prefer a complete food. What do I do at this stage. Complete dry food is best for our dog, I think, because we are less likely to over feed. I am getting samples of Simpsons to try and have been looking at Acana and Orjen (but worried about purine level if food too high in protein). Completely bamboozled but wanting to do right by our dog! Please help.