[Acroyali]

Hi LovelyBear!

All my dogs use their feet when eating, yet my cats don’t. Go figure 😀

I wouldn’t be surprised if she catches onto the crate games soon and remembers that her crate used to be a place she enjoyed. Some dogs just kind of get weirded out by something they haven’t seen in awhile. My overly visual herding breeds are like this. One of them will stare at something new as if willing it to move!

Truthfully I don’t think all kibble is horrible, but I’m like you–I’d rather know what I’m feeding my dogs and cats, as well as know where it’s sourced from…most of it is farm to bowl. The suppliers I’ve used for the many years I’ve been doing this have never left me anything but satisfied. I don’t feel a raw diet magically “prevents” or “cures” cancer, nor will keep a dog from dying of anything but old age when they’re well into their 30’s (but wouldn’t that be awesome….), but I consider it another form of insurance, along with environmental factors that can potentially increase or decrease those risks. We do our best.

I don’t notice a huge difference between my young or young-ish raw fed animals vs. their non-raw fed friends, but as they age I see subtle differences between the two. An NR breeder I work with has generations of dogs and her seniors look (and act) pretty much like the younger generations do. The most striking difference was between one of my dogs (then 7 years old) and another dog of the same age and breed who appeared to be much older. Maybe we just got lucky genetics but my dog was often guessed to be between 2-4 years old because of his coat condition, clean teeth, etc.

Wishing you the best of luck!!