when diego sanjana madappas rescue rottweiler turned two he started having seizures she gave diego the regular medication that her vet suggested but like most medication it had side effects like muscle weakness which led to arthritis in his hind legs diego also started developing a tolerance to the meds which meant sanjana had to keep increasing the dosage when it got to a point when diego couldnt walk any more sanjana knew she had to make some changes i took him off conventional supplements and gave him natural supplements like moringa powder a turmeric paste apple cider vinegar virgin coconut oil which i give in rotation i also changed his diet i removed anything that was inflammatory and put him on a pure proteinbased diet with a few veggies in three weeks diego got his energy back and was up and running around says sanjana who has also made these changes for the dogs at the cupa second chance adoption centre that she runsspeciesspecific dietsanjana learnt about what would work best for diego from animal welfare worker chinthana gopinath whose dog also had joint issues all of chinthanas seven dogs are given fresh home cooked food which she alters according to their species regardless of my food habits my dogs get animal protein in their diet because they need that they all get meat veggies and an appropriate type of grain one of my dogs is on a ragi diet because rice doesnt suit him i give them all a lot of natural supplements which i make at home such as a turmeric paste and fermented veggies says chinthanano packaged foodlike most people chinthana also used to give her pets kibble as one of their meals but after a lot of research she has completely cut out packaged dog food and her dogs couldnt be happier they love the real food since its mental stimulation for them as well dogs perceive the world through smells so when i add a different herb to their food its exciting for them i have found that their immunity is better their coats are shinier and eyes are brighter they are in the prime of their physical fitness chinthana addsthis is something that technical escalation manager melissa marak also noticed with her seven dogs who are all seniors i used to feed my dogs chicken and rice but realised that they were not getting enough nutrition as it was a diet of only carbs and proteins the other essential vitamins were missing also i wasnt proportioning their meals and gave it randomly which led to some dogs losing weight while others gaining it i started supplementing their diet in terms of meat veggies and rice and figured out the right amount of food to give each one of my dogs this has helped them reach their ideal weight after i made the switch to a more balanced diet my dogs skin got better and they werent as bothered by arthritis after giving them