Hoping this works…

I’m still feeling my way along as I try to learn as much as possible about how to help Pete’s ailing liver.

My search led me to Dr. Dodds’s Liver Cleansing Diet, created by Dr. W. Jean Dodds, a Santa Monica, Calif., veterinarian.

Here it is:

• White potato + sweet potato (50/50) cooked

• White Fish lightly cooked e.g.: cod, halibut, mackerel, smelt, snapper etc.

Ratio is ⅔ of potato mix with ⅓ of fish. Season with mixed Italian Herbs or fresh parsley, salt and pepper. Later chopped carrots and green beans (both cooked) can be added as can scrambled eggs. Yellow squash can also be added. Give a liquid child’s multivitamin or a supplement such as Missing Link (source of calcium)

Dr. Dodds says:

I have some patients that have been on the diet for 7 years now-- that were near death before-- and are thriving! Testimonials are numerous, without one negative comment other than some won't eat fish and so we give chicken to them.

With that thought in mind and recognizing that Pete isn’t very interested in wet dog food, I went shopping at Hollywood Feeds where I found Fromm’s Whitefish & Potato. There are no therapeutic claims on the package, but it has the right stuff – white potatoes, sweet potatoes and whitefish – in a dry kibble, so I bought a five-pound bag.

I put some into Pete’s bowl and he sniffed it and walked away.

So I picked up a few pieces and offered them to him one-by-one as a treat. He took the first one after eyeing and sniffing it suspiciously, then begged for the rest of them with increasing enthusiasm.

Then I directed him back to his bowl and he decided this was good stuff worth eating. As his interest flagged, I dropped a dollop of cottage cheese into the bowl and he wolfed it down along with whatever kibble it touched.

I also gave him a tablespoon of hemp seed oil, just for good measure.

Keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for a miracle.