Akiva has always been smaller than Zuka. He’s got a much bigger frame and muscular build. She is more slender and wiry. They’ve pretty much been that way since they were puppies. But recently we noticed Akiva getting a bit bony.
It happened slowly. At first we thought we weren’t feeding her enough, so we upped her food amount. It got to a point, though, where we were feeding her more than Zuka (who weighs about 20 pounds more than her), yet she was continuing to get bonier and lose weight. She seemed a little sluggish, not quite as perky as her usual self. She even stopped joining Zuka in the nightly ritual of trying to jump on the bed with us. Clearly something was wrong. Very wrong.
We went into mini panic mode. Jake started researching all of the things it could possibly be, and we immediately assumed the worst. I swear we’re not generally downers, but we love our dogs like crazy. And I’ll be honest. If you knew Kiva, you’d love her too. She’s pretty great. So seeing her seem to shrivel away made us scared…
I took Kiva to the vet the following morning. She laid her head in my lap, and we sat listening to the footsteps pass outside the door, the whimpering and meows coming from other rooms. A pair of footsteps came closer. I watched as the door handle turned and the vet walked in. I held my breath, waiting wide-eyed for the diagnosis. She smiled sympathetically at me, and told me it could be a myriad of things. Then, as if she could read my mind, said we shouldn’t assume the worst. Even though I felt like screaming Can’t you see my dog is DYING?! We looked it up on the internet and that’s what it said!! (Pets make you do irrational things, like tell them how vewy pweshus they are, believe everything you read on the internet, and scream at vets.)
Apparently vets know what they’re talking about, though. They did go to med school, after all. She recommended we try a different food for two weeks, food without wheat or grains. She explained that Kiva might be eating food her stomach can’t fully digest, therefore it just passes right through her and she doesn’t retain the nutrients. This was music to my ears.
And after one week of a different food, Kiva seems to be on the mend. She’s not out of the woods yet, and we might have to do a few more tests to find out for sure, but after all that worrying it seems like the problem might simply be an intolerance to wheat. Like owner like dog…
And yes, she has been working on her modeling. Thanks for asking ;)
