I have a really special puppy named Gidget. I grew up with her since I was in grade school, and we have made a lot of memories. She never left my mama's side through her struggle and defeat of breast cancer. She helped me through the depression I struggled with after the psycho came to my school. How do puppies know how to do that? They are always there at just the right time, quietly comforting you when you need it most. We have definitely bonded!
But I never thought we would share such a strong bond or that she would share in one of my struggles in a very different way. You see, my Gidget has Celiac Disease. Well at least that's what I call it. The vets call it a gluten allergy, but gluten is gluten, and it destroys both of us just the same.... so I'd say that is a quite a bond to have between a human and a pet.
Celiacs love to share stories about their diagnosis. So you may be curious... How did you figure out your dog had Celiac?! It started with her constantly biting at her feet.... my goodness... it was as if she wanted to chew them off! She also had A LOT of ear infections, and would scratch at her ears all the time. She was having digestive issues as well, and our puppy who was usually so good and pottying where she was supposed to was having accidents. We never really considered the possiblity, or the coincidence, that she would have celiac! But when the vet said to try a gluten free diet and see if it helped, I just knew that it would..... and it did!
Now she is a healthy almost 17 year old puppy! She can't hear well, and can't see out of one eye because her sister scratched it when they were playing, but other than that the vet says that she is extremely healthy for her old age! Yay Gidget!! We are all so proud of you!
Me and my girls on our wedding day!
I'm sure that she wouldn't be fairing so well had we not figured out that she had Celiac... like so many others that struggle with this disease that can be such a pain in the you know what to diagnose. But as many of you know... once you recieve that diagnosis and get over the shock of a complete life overhaul, you feel one million times better! And that was our Gidgey girl! Once we switched her treats and food she was acting like she was a puppy again, and still does to this day... even at 17! So it is something to think about if your pets are having symptoms that resemble your own, or symptoms that just seem to want to hang around. I know it made a world of difference for our Gidget, and it really isn't that difficult to ensure that your pets are gluten free. My parents ensure that both of their girls are all gluten free, and my Penny Su is also GF, just for the simple fact that it is better for her, and then I don't need to handle unneccessary gluten when caring for her.
It is more expensive to go this route when it comes to caring for you pet. You do get what you pay for when it comes to dog food, but I feel that it is more than worth it, and here's why... Dogs are carnivors so grains aren't a part of their natural diet, and their simple digestive systems aren't designed to deal with the grains that make up typical dog foods. This means that regardless of whether or not your pet has issues with gluten it is much better for their digestive system and overall health to be fed a grain free, or at least gluten free diet. I could go into a whole big scientific explanation, but I'm sure you don't really want that so we will keep this short and sweet. Bottom line is that today most pet foods on the market are made up mostly of grains or carbs. When you take all those fillers out there is much more room for real proteins, fats, and just more vitamins and nutrients! So when you go grain free you end up getting nutrient packed food that is actually easy for them to digest and absorb all the good stuff in it. Otherwise you are feeding them a bunch of carbs that are hard to digest and all it is doing is making it really difficult for them to absorb the little bit of good stuff that does make it into the food. Sounds like a no brainer to me! I know my girls are all definitely worth the extra money!
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| Penny and I both sleep better knowing that she is GF! |
You are probably wondering what choices you have and what we feed our girls. There are a lot of options out there for gluten free pet foods, and also completely grain free foods. Same goes for treats. Here are a few of our favorites....
BLUE FREEDOM: This is completely grain free! They have wet and dry choices for both dogs and cats. Penny is currently loving the formula for small breed adult dogs.
BLUE BUFFALO WILDERNESS: Another completely grain free food from Blue for both dogs and cats. They line also has some options for treats.
Taste Of The Wild: They offer a lot of flavors of grain free foods, I'm sure you can find at least one your pet will love.
EVO: They offer different flavors for different life stages that are all grain free.
There are A LOT more options out there depending on what your pet likes and what your wallet allows! These are just some of the ones that we have tried and our girls have approved of! Stay tuned to learn about what kind of treats our girls get!
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