BygonEra
Well-Known Member
Don't blame yourselves! Many people think they're doing their dogs a favor by allowing them to stay intact, but truthfully, it's in the dogs best benefit... not just to lower the risks of cancer, but dogs (males and females) are FULL of hormones... spaying and neutering eliminates the dogs desire to breed and makes for a much happier pooch (imagine being stuck in a compound wanting nothing more than the have sex but never being able to lol). But hey, your dog lived a long happy life, and who's to say the cancer wouldn't have originated elsewhere had you neutered him. Don't beat yourself up over it.I and my ex partner blamed ourselves and I still feel guilty for possibly robbing him of a few more years,he was 13 and obviously apart from the damned cancer and arthritis which was relatively under control with meds he had no other health issues.
Bayley who was his best dog buddy is 8 now and she was neutered at a year old just before I got her.Her weight has ballooned over the last year or two,she now weighs 90+lbs,her appetite isn't huge for a big dog so I put it down to the neutering,I feed her boiled chicken,lots of fish and some red meat at times,I also have some dry prescription food which I give every 3rd or 4th or so but I'm not sure how good it is for her because she becomes really flatulent and sounds like a plane taking off for most of the night after and also really stinks.
If anybody has some healthy homemade dog food recipes they'd like to share I'd love to see them.
Sorry to hear about your girl also,it is a truly painful experience.I know that neutering a female is a lot more invasive in terms of surgery so it is always something that is best done young,that's just my opinion though.
As for food, have you ever heard of the Raw diet? Here's a link that gives a basic overview: http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/guide/raw-dog-food-dietary-concerns-benefits-and-risks
It allows dogs to have a more natural diet and helps their digestive system perform the way it should. Also, many of those "prescription" dog foods have a lot of grain which many dogs can't properly digest or process... almost like Celiac's disease in people. My dog was having major skin allergies and was super gassy... switched to a grain free food per our vet's recommendation and he's symptom free.
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