okay, i am required to tell you i am not a veterinarian, licensed, certified, whatever, (yet
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) so anything i say should be taken with a grain of salt and NOT be viewed as medical advise, etc.
having said that... no!! you are NOT too cynical! science diet is basically crap. in general i try really hard not to show too much bias when it comes to this sort of thing because people are obviously touchy about their kids (pets)
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but yeah- science diet sucks ass. they also sponsor (read: PAY) vets to carry their posters, Rx and non Rx food in their office... so exactly what you're thinking is true. if you Google reviews for Science Diet food or something similar you will see why. basically - dogs are opportunistic carnivores, meaning they will eat meat when possible but they'll also eat other stuff that seems tasty, if given the opportunity. BUT - think of it this way... if a dog was hungry, do you think he'd go looking for corn? NO lol, he'd go hunting for some meat until he happened upon something else to eat. corn is the #1 ingredient in most pet food... it is a starchy carb and similar to humans, it's good for a bit, but it doesn't fill you up for long and it's not a main course.
yes, we have that medication here
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it's an NSAID, similar to stuff humans use for arthritis! you are wise for dosing her infrequently; i believe in medication for sure but i am also kinda a hippy when it comes to that sorta thing.
losing weight will help her arthritis, but it very likely won't cure it. sheepdogs are fairly chunky like you said, and they're not small dogs, so her weight isn't tragic. i bet if you stopped feeding her Science Diet and started on a more limited ingredient diet, limited to things like white/pink meats (fish, pork, chicken, not beef) and supplemented it with veggies and fruits she'd experience weight loss and significantly less gas, if it weren't eliminated altogether. lol maybe the occasional chocolate gives her gas! one of the side effects of chocolate/theobromine is digestive distress, so perhaps that's it? i would never ever recommend someone give their animal(s) chocolate but i *completely* understand where you are coming from
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just make sure it's a very small amount. also, the cheaper the chocolate the better, as cheapo chocolate contains less theobromine (the bad ingredient) than expensive chocolates, lol.
the supplements you give her may be giving her gas, specifically the cod liver oil. maybe try experimenting by removing one supplement for 2-3 days, then the second. only if you think it won't hurt her or cause her pain of course.
finally, it could always be something else entirely. perhaps she's eating something yucky she finds outside occasionally or whatever.
sorry for rambling lol i could do this all day... oh wait!
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feel free to PM me if you ever have questions. or anyone here really