The Pete report–back from the brink

Here’s Pete, snuggled up to Maria on the couch while she quilts and watches TV.

Pete has come back from the brink in six short weeks, largely through a liver cleansing diet. He was near death and in liver failure when we rushed him to the Animal Medical Center in early August.

The prescription wet dog food the vet gave us didn’t appeal to Pete and he seemed intent on starving.

I did an internet search for information on canine liver problems and found 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.

We started out giving Pete a mix of sweet and white potatoes and a can of tuna, which he ate ravenously. I later bought a bag of frozen whitefish from Hollywood Feeds that’s closer to what Dr. Dodds has in mind. I’d cook it, but Maria can’t stand the smell of cooking fish. Doesn’t seem to matter to Pete.

We found Fromm Whitefish and Potato dry dog food at Hollywood Feeds that we add to the mix, along with a garnish of hempseed oil.

I also backed off on his daily dose of Leventa for his thyroid deficiency because I think it was curbing his appetite at a time when he needed to gain back some of the 30 pounds he lost earlier this year.

Tonight, I’m pleased to report that Pete is happy and more energetic than we’ve seen him in a year or two. (He’s dozing on the floor of my upstairs office and, judging from the way his legs are going, he’s dreaming about chasing something.)