Klondike,
I'm glad Poco is doing better; I know what you mean about the fruit - I've learned with mine, careful how much banana or how much apple skin. Home cooking can be a challenge! I have also noticed with home cooking, less eye goop. Hopefully your vet will have some ideas, geriatric dogs can be a challenge but they are the best!

Land of Pure Gold is a really good site - glad you posted it. Here is another one with lots of information:http://www.smilingblueskies.com/    Again goldens, but unfortunately they have the highest cancer rates. Suzi provides a wealth of info. on cancers, diets, cancer studies etc.

Katie

We saw his buddy, Dr. Nancy, on Monday and she was certain the symptoms indicated colitis.  She advised us to stick with raw if that is working better, though she wishes we could use raw lamb rather than buffalo.  We might try the raw Primal lamb again and see if the dark eye discharge comes back.  His eyes still look good.  I could also try making homemade raw lamb.  We'll see.

I have to get more details, but she left a message that his bloodwork has improved.  Wonder if she will think it was the homemade food he was on?  (Even with the colitis side effect.  )

She did say that the calcium citrate could have been a culprit in irritating the stomach and maybe the eggshells are not for him, either.  I did just realize that his Vetri-disc has 25mg of calcium carbonate and he has taken that for years with no problem.  So I think I could find a calcium that works if I homecook again.

Happy to hear that Poco's blood work has improved!  Amazing what food can do!

Klondike, I'm glad to hear Poco's day at the vet was a good one! Looks like good food is giving you positive numbers, same thing I found after a year of home cooking. Glad it's just colitis - we had a problem with that yesterday; Reddie decided to make a meal of mesquite beans..... so today it was a meal of white rice and chicken only!!! Colitis is a lot easier to deal with than IBD.

I could be wrong.. but I believe egg shells are pure calcium carbonate. Problem with egg shells, you need to grind them to a really fine powder. The shells are very hard and can irritate or even scratch the intestinal wall. I found that out! Some people swear by the brand NOW calcium - which can be purchased in various forms.

Curious why she is in favor of lamb over buffalo?

Again, glad Poco is doing well.

Katie

Good to hear that our little candidate is doing better.  Whether it is home cooked or raw, you are giving him the best diet he could have.  He is blessed with a staff who are aware of even slight changes (although issues with both ends isn't slight) in his health.  I wonder if the lamb would have less fat than buffalo? 

What a good boy our Poco is!!

Turns out that Poco's bloodwork improved so much that Dr. N consulted with a couple of internal medicine specialists about it.  His ALKP liver value dropped from 1400 last September down to 173.  High ALKP is common in Cushings.

The vets think that Poco is in a group of dogs that have a Cushings syndrome response to a toxin.  Could even be the body's own toxins backing up from the digestive tract.  But since Poco was very itchy last summer and is not at all troubled this year, we think it might have been an outside toxin.

We don't know if it was environmental such as an herbicide or a food toxin.  There is no way to figure it out now.  I'm just trying to avoid exposing him to anything again.

He is eating mostly commercial raw now and was for about 10 days prior to his bloodwork, so I don't think my short stint of homecooking did the trick.  However, it did clear up that eye drainage and interestingly, it has stayed cleared up even though we are back on the commercial raw. 

It's so strange and I can't explain it.  That started last summer, too, during the itchy time.  If it ever comes back, I'll do a stint of homecooking again.  I did try an homecooked lamb and pumpkin meal again and he had no problems.  I used the Optagest but no additional vitamins other than the usual he gets.

Klondike, that is such fantastic news.  Adorable Poco is feeling much better and eating well, and his blood work indicates he is somewhat out of the woods!!!  As for toxins, I can totally empathize w/ Poco and w/ you as far as trying to track them down.  I'm allergic to pesticides, insecticides, herbicides.  All those are sprayed around here liberally.  I'm even allergic to most commercial fertilizers.  We don't use any of those things at home but that doesn't mean I do not encounter them on a somewhat regular basis during certain seasons of the year.  At least I know immediately w/ most things.  Poco might know but not communicate the situation, or he might not know at all.  Food, environment, even things as innocent looking as one of his coats or blankets could even bother him somewhat.  I know you'll keep thinking but pls don't drive yourself nuts, because the answer may be impossible to ever know.  I hope there is no recurrence, and then we can just put it away like past history.

Meanwhile, time to celebrate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Many (((((HUGS))))) and XXXXX for Poco.

I'm so happy to hear about this fantastic improvement for Poco!  It's obvious that you are doing the right things.  What did Poco eat before last summer?