Thanks everyone - this is hard and I just want to do what is right for Tayda. Tayda just turned 8 years old. She was diagnosed when she was 6.
Quercus - that is exactly what I thought - my husband and I were talking about this in the store and we compared feeding her SD to us eating Taco Bell everyday. Certainly not GOOD for you but if you are starving, will you turn it down because it's not top quality food? I wouldn't. I plan to look into making food for her… right now seems like it will be labor and time intensive, but I'm sure it's like anything, once you get the hang of it it's not so bad. I spend quite a while everyday trying to get her to eat the food, and to keep Lenny from eating her food (he will swoop down on it at any chance)... I suppose I could use that same amount of time making the food if it will make her eat it right away.
Debra, as for the cyproheptadine, I will ask my vet about it. I'm already having to give her about 20 pills a day, and she is not always great at takin them. She goes through phases, and right now she is resisting the pills. So, I'm hesitant to add any more. But I will ask her about it. (the vet, not Tayda, ha ha)
It is possible she could be a little dehydrated right now. For the last 10 days we've been on a cross country road trip (we moved from CA back to CT!) and they have been crated in the car while we were traveling. We of course stopped for breaks and such, and there is a bowl of water in the crate for them, but they tend to not drink much when they are crated. Now that we are here, and she is back to drinking all that she wants, maybe it will get better? I hope so.
Speaking of protein content - right on the bag of the Science Diet - it lists the "minimum" protein content as 16%. Which is great for Tayda - I've been trying to keep her under 20%. But then I look at the Science diet website and it lists the "average" protein content as 22%. UGH! So which is it?
http://www.hillspet.com/products/sd-canine-adult-healthy-mobility-dry.html
Average vs. minimum? What kind of spread do they have with these protein contents? I have an email into Science Diet about this.