Then she ate a bunch of bones, and they were sitting in her stomach, taking their time passing through. She totally ran out of energy, and was sleeping all day. She wouldn't look up when we returned from lunch, and there wasn't even a wag of the tail to greet us.

Her arthritis kicked in, and she just didn't want to move. We were all very worried about her, because she stopped being the dog we all knew and loved, and aged about 5 years in one day. She was still pooping (dry, bone-filled poops) and peeing, and didn't have a fever. Aside from that, she was a mess.

I gave her a little bit of freeze-dried raw food I had left over from a test, and followed it up with a couple of meals of very high-powered dog food. Usually the dog with the cast iron stomach, the result this time was a bad case of diarrhea. And it happened when we were out of town at a vet convention. Pity the poor petsitter in this situation!

After a few days of diarrhea, we all decided to have the petsitter make a vet visit. The exam and blood test showed a dog in perfect health, despite her symptoms. The vet gave Chops Flagyl®, an anti-protozoal, used to kill things like Giardia. We gave her one Imodium® caplet, to make sure the diarrhea stopped.

Ever the conscientious dog food tester, I noted that this episode gave us the chance to try out some of the veterinarian-prescribed dog foods that our normally-healthy pets wouldn't ordinarily get.

After the exam, the vet put Chops on Hill's® Prescription Diet® i/d® canned. Those of you who know me well know that I'm not a big fan of Hill's Science Diet® foods, and Chops has never done well on the brand. Not that the foods are bad, mind you, but they could be much better for the money. I was really curious to see how we'd do with Prescription Diet.

Prescription Diet i/d

Prescription Diet i/d really helped Chops turn the corner. By the time we returned home a few days later, Chops was pooping moderate-sized stools, which were just a smidge wetter than I would have liked. Her stomach was evidently settling down, and the i/d had done its part.

Canned Prescription Diet i/d contains highly digestible protein from egg and turkey, has moderate levels of highly digestible fat, and contains digestible carbohydrates (rice). It has extra potassium, and extra fiber (soy fiber). The food also contains ground corn, liver, vitamins and minerals.

The dry version, which we didn't use, contains corn, rice, egg, poultry by-product meal, corn gluten meal, animal fat, and soy fiber.

The food is designed for gastrointestinal conditions, including gastritis, enteritis, and recovery from gastrointestinal surgery. It can also help with colitis, pancreatitis, and pancreatic enzyme insufficiency.

Eukanuba Veterinary Diet Low Residue-Adult

After three or four days of this intestinal recovery, Chops still had no energy, and crippling arthritis. She didn't want to move: When she was standing, she didn't want to lie down, and when she was lying down, she didn't want to get up. This was one exhausted old dog.

We took her back to the vet clinic, this time to see Dr. Elizabeth Barkin, a young vet we've really come to trust and respect over the year we've been going to her. She did another exam, and a whole round of X-rays. Those showed the intestinal tract to be clear, other vital organs to be normal, and some slight arthritis in the knees and elbows -- but not bad for a 12-year-old dog who played Frisbee® for 11 years. She also has some spondylosis, which is a kind of arthritis of the spine. The vertebrae, instead of being separate from each other, grow some extra bone which bridges the gaps. Chops has some of that happening, but again, nothing surprising for a dog her age, and certainly not a debilitating amount of it.

Dr. Barkin suggested continuing on Prescription Diet i/d, but also proposed an alternative: Eukanuba Veterinary Diets® Nutritional Intestinal Formula™ Low-Residue™ Adult dry food. Yes, that's a mouthful, but that's the name.

The food is a typical dry kibble, made from corn grits, rice flour, chicken by-product meal, fish meal, dried beet pulp, chicken digest, dried egg product, chicken fat, and vitamins and minerals. It also has fish oil and flax for extra omega-3 fatty acids (5:1 omega-6 to omega-3 ratio minimum) to help reduce inflammation and speed healing. There's also FOS (fructooligos-accharides), a prebiotic that feeds the good bugs in the digestive tract, leaving little room for the bad bugs.

The food is designed to be easily digestible, and to actually help fix intestinal problems, while leaving little behind (that's why it's called Low Residue). Beet pulp enhances the health of the large intestine, while low fat levels and highly digestible ingredients make it easy to take.

Low Residue is supposed to work on a variety of small and large bowel disorders that lead to acute or chronic G.I. distress. These include diarrhea, acute gastroenteritis, "dietary indiscretions," small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, inflammatory bowel disease, colitis, constipation, malabsorption or maldigestion, pathogen overgrowth, pancreatitis, and exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.

Chops didn't want to eat the first meal out of the bag -- I think it was too fishy for her. For the second meal, I mixed in another food. After that, she had no problem eating the Eukanuba straight, and was eager to get it.

The net effect of this was to produce perfect stools within a weekend. But more importantly, Choppy's energy returned completely in just two days. Coupled with some heavy doses of glucosamine (about 1500 mg per day for my 81 lb. girl), she quickly returned to normal. She came back to work in the office, putting paper in the recycling bin, delivering faxes, and taking interoffice mail down the hall. She started playing a bit again, wagged her tail, and had that happy look in her eye once more.

We reversed the effects of her instant aging. We even went for a 15-minute walk to the park -- a miracle considering just two days before we thought this dog would never go for a walk again.

Once more, we've proven that feeding the wrong diet to your dog can be bad, and can open the door for other diseases. For example, your dog may have been coping with some arthritis pain, but the pain can become overwhelming with poor nutrition. A high-quality diet, made with high-quality ingredients, can get your dog back on her feet again.

Eukanuba Veterinary Diets Low-Residue did just that for Chops. Low Residue is a scientifically-advanced diet that provides the energy and ingredients a sick dog needs to get better, and is very digestible.

And just two weeks after this episode, Chops had more energy and interest in playing than we'd seen for months. Good food really makes a difference!

Prescription Diet i/d Canned

Ingredients: Water, Egg Product, Turkey, Rice, Ground Corn, Liver, Soy Fiber, vitamins, minerals, salt

Metabolizable Energy: 544 kcal/can

Average Nutrient Analysis (not Guaranteed Analysis minimums and maximums) As Fed:

Protein	7.6%
Fat	4.1%
Carbohydrate	15.4%
Fiber	0.2%
Guaranteed Analysis: Not available

Prescription Diet i/d Dry

Ingredients: Ground Corn, Brewers Rice, Dried Egg Product, Poultry By-Product Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Animal Fat (preserved with BHA, Propyl Gallate and Citric Acid), Soy Fiber, Natural Flavor, Iodized Salt, Vegetable Oil, Ethoxyquin, vitamins and minerals

Metabolizable Energy: 379 kcal/cup

Average Nutrient Analysis (not Guaranteed Analysis minimums and maximums) As Fed:

Protein	24.2%
Fat	12.7%
Carbohydrate	47.9%
Fiber	1.1%

AAFCO Guarantee: Feeding trials. For growth and maintenance lifestages

Manufacturer: Hill's Pet Nutrition (800) 445-5777 or http://www.hillspet.com/

Availability: Sold by veterinarians only

Eukanuba Veterinary Diets
Nutritional Intestinal Formula
Low-Residue Adult Dry

Ingredients: Corn Grits, Rice Flour, Chicken By-Product Meal, Chicken, Fish Meal, Dried Beet Pulp, Chicken Digest, Dried Egg Product, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid), Calcium Carbonate, Brewers Dried Yeast, Fructooligosaccharides (FOS, a prebiotic), Fish Oil, Ethoxyquin (preservative for the fish oil), vitamins and minerals

Metabolizable Energy:	328 kcal/cup
Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein (min.)	22.0%
Crude Fat (min.)	9%
Crude Fiber (max.)	4%
Moisture (max.)	10%

AAFCO Guarantee: For intermittent feeding only, or as directed by a veterinarian. (The company says the food provides "outstanding nutrition for long-term use under a veterinarian's supervision." Not for use during growth, lactation, or reproduction.)

Average Nutrient Analysis (not Guaranteed Analysis minimums and maximums) As Fed:

Protein	23.41%
Fat	9.8%
Carbohydrate	51.3%
Fiber	1.9%

Manufacturer: The Iams Company (800) 535-8387 for Eukanuba Veterinary Products or http://www.iams.com/

Availability: Sold by veterinarians only