Hugh is a two-year-old Weimaraner who became unwell and required an emergency operation. Following his recovery, Hugh quickly lost weight and had an incredibly sensitive stomach, leaving owner, Lisa, unsure where to turn.
This is the story of how Bella & Duke raw dog food helped Hugh the Weimaraner gain weight and helped him to become a much calmer dog.
Hugh’s diagnosis
At around the age of six months, Hugh became fussy with his food and his poos began changing. His owner, Lisa, struggled to get him to settle on any food. Before long, Hugh was rushed to the vets for a life-saving operation.
“At the end of the year, he woke up one morning and was really sick, vomiting yellow bile and he had become bloated. We rushed him to the vet, he was taken for an MRI and we found that he had a diaphragmic hernia.
His internal organs had gone through to his chest cavity through a hole in his diaphragm. He had a huge operation to put everything back in place and ended up with a wound all the way up his body where they had to cut him open.”
An ongoing problem
Following his operation, Hugh continued to struggle to keep food down, rapidly losing weight. Lisa tried him on countless different foods but there was very little that Hugh could stomach.
“He had a lot of tummy problems and lost a lot of weight. I did a process of elimination and took his diet back to chicken and rice, then eliminated the rice, as even that was making him sick. Every time I added kibble, he’d be ill again.”
Hugh also suffered from separation anxiety, having become used to Lisa being at home more during lockdown. This behaviour made it difficult for Lisa to leave him for any significant period of time.
“Leaving him became a nightmare after lockdown because of his behaviour. We put a camera in the living room and he would howl, pace, stress and bark every time we left him. We couldn’t leave him for more than an hour.”
Trying Hugh on Bella & Duke
Lisa knew that Hugh’s dad was fed on Bella & Duke raw food, so decided to give it a try. Beginning by feeding small portions of raw alongside his chicken, Lisa gradually increased the amount of Bella & Duke in each meal.
Immediately, Hugh’s appetite increased and before long, it became clear that he was gaining his weight back.
“He eats it straight up every time and is on three meals a day to help him get weight back on. He would never eat breakfast before and he loves Bella & Duke… he even tries to help me open up the boxes when it arrives!”
Gaining weight back
Switching to Bella & Duke has enabled Hugh to finally get his strength back and helped this weimaraner to gain weight.
“He’s been fantastic ever since I tried him on Bella & Duke. His weight has come on and we’re noticing the condition coming back onto him. He’s lost his scrawniness and is now looking the best I’ve ever seen him.”
Noticeably calmer behaviour
As well as gaining weight, Hugh has also become a lot calmer since switching to Bella & Duke. Lisa spoke about the differences that she has noticed in his behaviour.
“The biggest transition for me is how well he’s looking after everything he has been through and his separation anxiety is now non-existent.
I can’t believe how quickly that happened. He’s more settled and is still excitable, but not overly. Since I’ve put him on raw, his behaviour has totally changed. He goes to bed and relaxes or sleeps when I’m not here and I can leave him for 4 or 5 hours now.”
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