[Lisa]

After about 4 months of various symptoms my 18 month old male GSD was down to 64 lbs(normal weight was 80-85 lbs) we finally got a the EPI diagnoses from our vet. He was originally on Eagle Pack, then Taste of the Wild eventually we tried to Go!Sensitive and Shine and Grandma Lucy’s Goat. With these 2 foods he improved a little and gained about 5 lbs in 2 weeks. The vet prescribed enzymes but after doing some research we decided to try raw food including raw beef pancreas. We ordered beef pancreas and green tripe from http://www.hare-today.com and from the very first feeding we saw results. Green tripe is totally gross but Reggie absolutely loves it!
It took about 3 weeks for him to completely stabilize, he went from 3 meals a day to 2, his poops are perfect and he goes about 3 times a day, no gas or stomach rumbling, he sleeps through the night again. Now he is about 100 lbs and is full of energy he probably runs/walks about 5-7 miles a day, barely sheds and his coat super soft and shining.
We are been able to reduce the amount of beef pancreas per feeding so a 16 oz tube will last a few days and his diet is probably about 70% raw he likes ground meat,organ,bone mixed with Taste of the Wild kibble or Grandma Lucy’s with a occasional egg. We switch the type of protein(fish,chicken,beef, turkey, goat, even llama) he eats every few days and their is no change in his bowel movements. He gets coconut oil as a supplement as well as 8 Gentleman Chinese herbs. We got the Chinese herb from a local holistic equine vet, we believe it was a key component in his recovery.
I love to watch him eat RMBs he throughly enjoys laying in the grass and slow tearing into the meat and savoring every bite, just like his ancestors did..this is the way canines are supposed to eat!
Raw feeding takes a little extra work but it is definitely worth it. We have a freezer in the basement and we have a small refrigerator where we keep the raw food separate from our food. I know every dog’s situation is different but this solution saved Reggie’s life.

[DogsAreMyLife]

I mentioned to someone that I supplement my dogs’ meals with Grizzly Salmon Oil, and give them vitamin E a few times per week. This person acted like I was the worst person ever, and told me I’d end up with 3 dogs with mercury poisoning! Is there any truth behind that?

[DogFoodie]

Hi Dori,

I hope I didn’t come across as rude, that was definitely not my intent!

My point was that I frequently hear, from lots of folks, that allergy / intolerance, yeast or skin issues can be helped by fish based foods. I think that for many dogs that don’t have an intolerance for fish, that may well be true. Heck, if you search limited ingredient foods on any of the pet food shopping sites, you’ll find lots of them are fish based or have fish meals or fish oils added for the omega 3’s, and its often stated that it’s for skin and coat health. I wish Sam could eat fish, because he could surely benefit from the omegas. I think fish intolerance / allergy isn’t terribly uncommon, as far as those issues go.

I’m trying to find some kibbles Sam does well on before I start adding an algae oil to his food. He is not a fan of raw and I’m having trouble with canned foods as a result of his sensitive tummy. He does like raw, green tripe, so that’s one of the few toppers I use. In addition to fish, he can’t have garlic, flax, chickpeas or lentils. He also gets fresh eggs at least a couple times per week.

He does great on Nature’s Variety Instinct LID Duck – he likes it OK. He did fine on California Natural Lamb and Rice, but he didn’t really seem to care for it. And, while I hate to even admit that I tried it, he did well on, and liked, Canidae Pure Sky; although his anal glands started smelling a little strong near the end of the bag, his ears started clear. Right now, we’re in the process of trying Go! GF Turkey, and I’m really hoping this works. In the past, he hasn’t done well on foods with lots of fruits and veggies and this food has them. And, the Go! contains lentils, but they’re pretty far down the list of ingredients and the fiber is within a good range for him; so I’ll see pretty quickly if it gives him gas. I have big bags of NVI LID Turkey and Duck on deck to use next, or in case we have to make a quick departure from the Go!

I’m constantly searching for foods for him. I get a little frustrated at the lack of options for him. I wish that limited ingredient foods contained only one animal protein.

Thanks for asking, Dori! Sorry for the hijack, Lori!

[DogFoodie]

My Sam is so very intolerant of fish, so it always seems counter-intuitive to me when people recommend fish based foods for food intolerance / allergy dogs. My dog has reacted to numerous types of fish and even fish oils. I can’t give him any fish in any form. He would have a gunky right ear within days of eating fish. Fish shows up in so many different kibbles that it’s actually tricky to find one without it.

It’s why I always “preach” keeping track of ingredients and figuring out what your pup’s individual triggers are. Until you figure out his triggers, you’re just going ’round and ’round. Triggers can be obvious, like Sam’s fish, or more obscure, like his flax and garlic.

[Bobby dog]

P.S.
It would really be interesting if you had a pre-diet change picture to post to. I took one of my kitty before I started adding kefir, fish oil, msm, vitamin E, and pumpkin to his diet. I am glad I documented his progress with pictures.

[Susan]

Hi Tiffany, when I first rescue my boy he was doing sloppy poos with jelly on then & mucus, did the blood tests for parasites all blood test all came back good, vet said Colitis & he was put on Metronidzole for 2 weeks, I went back to feeding him chicken necks for breakfast & his Opitmum kibble & tin food at night again every 13 days he would be up early hours of the morning with his stomach/bowel making gurgling noises & he’d have to go out & do his jelly poos, I called them, then finally vet said looks like he has IBD, he can’t just eat anything, no more chicken necks there’s too much fat & just bone, he needs to be put on a stricted diet, so he was put on Vet prescription Royal Canin Hypoallergenic cause he also has skin problems being a Staffy but the fat was 19% in the R/C HP it was too high fat% then he got Pancreatitis, in the end he was put on Eukanuba Intestinal Low residue kibble, this stopped all the jelly poos stopped his gurlging bowel, I also cooked him boiled chicken breast mixed with a little pumkin, rice & a boiled egg, now Im giving him Wellness Simple Lamb & Oatmeal its a limited ingredient kibble & his poos are excellent better then when he was on the Royal Canin & Eukanuba Intestinal Vet diet, maybe look at the Wellness Complete Health range they have a large breed puppy formula & also give a cooked meal but keep everything the same, very simple once he gets use to the cooked or new kibble dont just change it or rotate it until you’ve worked out what he can eat & what he cant…once I had him just on the Eukanuba Intestinal & he was doing real good for 6moths, I started an elimation diet for breakfast only & his kibble for dinner & I found he couldnt eat Potatos or sweet potatos, he got a rash all over his chest & had diarrhea, if he ate a biscuit with wheat in it his paw would get real red & swollen.. unless thats what you do start an elimantion diet, you start with 1 protein normally boiled chicken & add rice then after 1 week & their poo is good add something else new to their diet for the next week, I saw an reaction within 2 hours of adding the potato, so the next morning I added the potato again to make sure it wasn’t from grass his rash & it was the potato, you can google elmination diets for dogs….
Have you tried a kibble where the protein% & fat% was lower then the Taste of the Wild & seen how he goes..
if you do cook make sure that he has the same meal for at least 4 weeks to settle everything as soon as Id change something in Patches diet he’d be pooing sloppy again, so I started watching what he was eating & writing it all down…can tin fish is good but not in oils, I use tuna in spring water & drain the spring water, I add a little boiled pumkin & a boiled egg you can also get salt free Salmon
another good site is yahoo group called “K9Kitchen” run be Monica Segal..also Lew Olson Book called “Raw & Nutrition for dogs” it has cooked recipes for dogs with health problems, that’s where I started with her book, its only cost $12 on Amazon she explains about using the egg shell after boiling the egg & drying the shell out & crushing the egg shell for their calcuim…..

[Kathy J]

Thank you. What a relief. If I have to cook for some time then that’s what I’ll do – she’s definitely keeping it down, recovering, getting a little spunk back and even reminded me it was time to eat tonight which I haven’t seen in a couple weeks. Before you know it she’ll probably be back to trying to fool us into a second dinner. As long as she’s doing good I won’t worry about the bland diet and we’ll go at her pace I guess. I am surprised about the potato though – I thought I was told once that potato was no good for them. Man, she going to get so spoiled :), but she’s worth it. Can’t wait to see what she thinks of pumpkin. In the meantime I’ll check out the canned options and Wellness and fish based stuff too a while and see if I can come up with a plan for what we’ll try when we want to start weaning her over. Thanks again.

[Naturella]

I use extra-virgin, organic, cold-pressed coconut oil at breakfast every other day. My Bruno also gets canned sardines in their own juices once/week. Haven’t used any type of fish oil specifically, but when he was on fish-based kibble with regular coconut oil intake, his skin and coat became the best they’ve ever been and the effect is still lasting even though the fish food has been switched out 2 months ago. So far I am satisfied with the effect of sardines once/week, raw egg once/week, and coconut oil every other day. Plus, I rotate kibbles, so every few months he gets a fish-based kibble. 🙂

Oh, and I also use a coconut oil-based concoction as a “conditioner” after a bath, as well as for minor wounds/cuts/scrapes. The blend is: coconut oil-olive oil-tri-vitamin oil (A, D, E)-chamomile oil-tiny amount of a Garnier blend of olive, shea, and avocado oils. It works miracles for softness and shine of the coat, and for healing small play wounds. I use it on myself as well, for my hair, or for wounds. I usually treat with just coconut oil the first 2 days, then with the blend.

For the paws I use tree oil – propolis mix (from Bulgarian honey bees) and it also works really well in soothing chapped paws from heat or cold.

[Paul B]

Krill oil or any fish oil that has higher omega 3 than 7 also coconut oil and kelp and turmeric pro and pre biotics with digestive enzymes and trace elements.

[Naturella]

Vianca, I am not a pro, but from what I know, different breed puppies mature differently – a small or toy breed puppy can be considered an adult and fully-mature at 6 months of age; large and giant breed puppies can continue growing and be considered puppies for up to 2 years! So I don’t know where the 5-month mark came from. I do know that adult dogs just don’t need the extra calories from puppy food, that is why the amount should be reduced, but as with every dog, you need to watch activity levels and overall body condition and adjust accordingly – for example, reduce food if she’s getting chunky or is in general not very active, and increase food if she’s too thin and/or very active. As for the dog being spayed, I don’t know if you have to reduce her food, maybe one of the pros here will jump in on that part. For my Bruno, I only reduced his kibble 1/4 cup from his 1 cup/day allowance after being neutered, but that coincided with him being 6 months old and an “adult” now. Also, now I complement the loss of kibble with various toppers (wish I did that when he was a puppy, but oh well, he got his fair share of bully sticks, fish skins, etc.), so he hasn’t really lost the calories, but he burns them just fine.

My Bruno is 13.5lbs and he’s at moderately high activity level. He is supposed to get 1 cup at most of food, I think, for his weight group. I feed him 3/4 (heaping) cup of dry food plus The Honest Kitchen as a topper and coconut oil/yoghurt every other breakfast, and a raw egg, canned sardines, and a raw meaty bone once/week for each. He is lean, muscular, and in good body condition.

I wouldn’t worry too much about the actual amount – just observe your dog and adjust accordingly, and eventually you will find an amount that works for her.

[Melissaandcrew]

Jan..google petbrosia reviews..it is very clear from those that there are several base formulas and one is choosen from those base formulas that most closely meet your pets needs. I thought it was fully customizable but it actually does not appear to be. One woman said her dog was allergic to fish and fish oil and she was told it was unable to be removed from the product. If truly customized for each pet it would be…

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by Melissaandcrew.

[Susan]

I have found VetPro5 Kangaroo & Vegies, invented by a vet, (probably just a market thing to sell more cause its made by a vet).. in the dog & cat fridge section in supermarket, they’re little bite size balls in a 800gram tray, the little balls look cooked, this is what its says Guaranteed Composition per 100grams
Crude protein min-13% Crude fat min-8% Omega-6 min-1000mg, Omega-3 min-200mg, DHA & EPA min-20g, Lutein min-3mg, ,
Ingredients, Kangaroo, chicken, turkey, high protein cereal blend, vegetables (peas,carots,beetroot) vegetable oils, gelling agents, vitamins & minerals, marigold extract, yeast, salt, parsley, fish oil, green lipped mussel extract,
This is where I don’t understand, when I read a kibble bag, it will say protein min-23% fat min-10% but it doesnt say per 100grams like the VetPro 5, I dont know what kibble is based on, is it per cup, the Guaranteed analysis..
With this VetPro5 Kangaroo & vegies would it be like a wet tin food & if converted to a kibble the fat % would be very high at 8% fat….

[Dori]

LOL Cyndi. I was going to jump in on the amount of food you first mentioned. When I first read your post I thought. That’s a heck of a lot of food. That can’t possibly be right. Then GizmoMom jumped in.

Akari. From all that I know about pork, you absolutely have to freeze it a minimum of 2 weeks (longer probably better) to rid it of any parasites. Very important. Even if you buy it frozen at the store you still need to freeze it at home because you have no idea how long they froze the pork. I’ve got a 5 lb. Yorkipoo, a 6 lb. Maltipoo and a 7 lb. Maltese. They each get 1/4 cup of raw diet twice a day. Two to three times a week I split a small can (grocery store tuna fish aisle) of sardines in water to their meals. I don’t give them eggs because my Maltipoo is intolerant to any and all things poultry. On days that I do not give them sardines added to their meal I give them once a day a little squirt of Sardine Oil which I keep in the refrigerator on top of their meal. I use Nature’s Logic. I like the company and trust them. I also give them two or three times a week once a day only maybe about 1/8 tsp. (maybe a little less) of coconut oil. I just put it on their food and they eat it. I don’t give them more than that with the coconut oil because their poops will immediately get kind of soft, dark and gooey (sp?). Sorry for that poop description but that’s the only way I know of explaining it. Just in case it happens to you. I don’t think any of my gals digest the coconut oil too well. I have to say that sometimes weeks go by that I don’t bother with the coconut oil. I don’t see that it helps them one way or the other. I have tried the coconut chips that are sold but they come out looking exactly the same way they went in. White coconut chips in and out.

Oh! I forgot to mention that I feed commercial raw diets. I don’t feed any poultry whatsoever. Remember no bones that contain marrow. Way to fatty is the marrow. Beef ribs with a bit of meat (not a lot) are fine. If he actually eats the bone then you don’t need to also feed the meal. If he just chews the bone for entertainment value then, yes, feed the meal. Mine just think they’re toys. Will chew for a bit and then leave them laying around. The only dehydrated food that I feed (haven’t for a while) is The Honest Kitchen Zeal. The Zeal formula is because Katie (Maltipoo is intolerant of all things poultry. I don’t feed anything with potatoes in it. I had to stop feeding THK because of the alfalfa (again, Katie’s issues with alfalfa). They have started producing the Zeal without the alfalfa but are still trying to clear out their old stock and also their old boxes. Until their web site ingredient list does not include the alfalfa and the boxes do not say alfalfa then I’ll wait them out. I will go back to the Zeal at that time. OK. Sorry for such a long post. Anything else I can help with just ask, if not me, then someone else. Hey also I’ve been thinking for the longest time that you should change your name to The Coupon Lady or just Coupon Lady. Anyway anytime I see your name I always think…Oh? It’s the coupon lady. LOL!

[DogFoodie]

Hi BRT,

My dog with food intolerance issues sometimes will have a reaction to a food that slowly creeps us on us. It’s confusing and frustrating.

I still think I’d try another limited ingredient food, my two favorite bands of which are Wellness Simple and Nature’s Variety Instinct LID.

FWIW, one of mine reacts to fish; including fish meal and oil but he also doesn’t tolerate chickpeas, lentils or flax. NVI LID doesn’t contain any of those things out tomato pinnacle, another common problem ingredient. I would definitely consider that your pup’s problem ingredients could be another ingredient, like flax or something else.

If the Natural Balance worked previously, have you compared the ingredients of that to those foods you’ve tried? I just wonder if it could be a combination of problem ingredients beyond primary protein iin foods.

Coconut oil and diluted ACV might both help, but I think right now, I would eliminate supplements (non-prescription) and treats and just focus on finding one food that yours do well on.

One other thing, using kibble doesn’t make you a bad dog mom! I felt the same way, but when it came down to it, I just wanted to know my dog felt good.

[Holly C]

Hooray! I’d definitely go with Taste of the Wild (the fish one, probably for her coat). I think Chicken Soup for the Soul dog food is a good choice too. When I have budget issues, I always buy it. It’s the best bang for my buck, but I prefer ToTW when I can buy it. I also like Earthborn Holistic. Wellness and Castor and Pollux are great foods, but really pricey.

Stay away from Blue Buffalo (too much for what it really is, and it always gets my dog sick!), and the Rachel Ray food. I have tried both before, and it made my dog itch like crazy.

If I were you, I’d go for a smaller bag of ToTW. A 15lb bag of TOTW lasts my 55lb dog about 2 weeks (he eats 300 grams a day), so don’t buy big dog food bags. It might spoil and you’ll lose more money than you’d save.

Good job with helping this dog!

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by Holly C.

[Nancy C]

A couple of thoughts: My 10 yr old Golden R will eat about anything but not in a gobbling it up sort of way. HOWEVER, I have just lately been adding TO the bowl some sample packs of The Honest Kitchen flavors (which they sent for free in a box) and I have mixed that tog with Fromm’s Four Star Salmon, Dr Tim’s Kinesis GF, and Acana Grasslands, and she has LICKED every food molecule out of THE BOWL every time! Each pack has about 100 calories, so I reduced the calories in the dry kibble to make room for the HK food. THK food is wet such that it will coat all the kibble in a nice way if you stir it. also, I have added Coconut Oil to the food, putting little dollops on top of the food. Both my dogs LOVE coconut oil and it is SO GOOD for them. (The substitute mailman just commented yesterday how beautiful the Golden’s coat is — that it is noticeably thicker and prettier. I told him I’ve been giving her coconut oil. He said it has made a difference.) Dr Becker recommends 1 tsp per day for every 10 to 20 pounds of weight. It’s like CANDY to them and I think makes contents in the bowl more interesting and tasty. I sometimes snip large fish oil capsules and drop the drops on the kibble. Also just bought some very high quality Norwegian Salmon Oil. The woman at the pet boutique said several pumps of this on top of kibble really upgrades the flavor.

[Naturella]

Liz S, I also think adding canned will do much, much good! When I use canned, I prefer the pate-style ones, and I add a bit of water with the canned and kibble (I mix dry and canned usually), and make it mushy/porridge-like/soupy, and this way I try to counter the dryness of the kibble.

My dog is small too (Jack Russell-mini Rat Terrier mix (we think, as he was found in the bushes), 13.5 lbs), but I never really fed him a small-breed specific food except for his very first one when we adopted him. Foods I have tried that he did good on (and could eat the kibble with no problems) are: Blue Buffalo Wilderness, Vets Choice Holistic Health Extension, Dr. Tim’s (slightly bigger kibble, but oh well, he managed it just fine), Nutrisca, Earthborn Holistic Grain Free, Victor Grain Free (lots of samples), Nature’s Variety Instinct (samples), Now! Fresh (sample), NutriSource Grain Free (samples), Annamaet (samples), Wysong (samples), and I have a lot lined up – Back to Basics, Canidae Pure, Dogswell LiveFree, Wysong, NVI, more Victor Grain Free (which, in my case (heads up to LabsRawesome), told me I could PURCHASE the samples at $0.33/baggie, but wouldn’t send me free ones, AND I had to pay the shipping… But I stocked up at 5 samples/food, lol).

All the kibbles aside from Dr. Tim’s were small enough and just fine to manage. For canned I have fed Wellness Core, Nutro Natural Source and Nutro Ultra, and now I feed The Honest Kitchen (THK) dehydrated with water instead of canned. I also add a raw egg once a week, coconut oil with some lukewarm water every other day, and yoghurt/kefir every other day, as well as a canned sardine and its fish juice from the can once a week too. So you can use some of these for variety and to cut the costs of canned.

[Lance B]

Hello,

I’ll be picking up my Great Dane puppy in a few weeks and was wondering if there are any supplements I should begin giving him?

When he got to 10 weeks, I was going to begin giving him Glucosamine/Chondroiton, along with fish oil, for life. However, is there anything else you all might recommend, particularly for a Great Dane?

[DogFoodie]

I’m not quite sure how I feel about those test results.

For example, in the green column it lists “fish,” herring/anchovy and salmon, but in the red column it lists “fish meal,” ocean whitefish and tuna as well as salmon oil.

I’d be curious to know how you did the elimination diet and what you foods you fed. Did any of them work?

I know how frustrating ear issues are and getting the food intolerances figured out can be even more frustrating. I know it wouldn’t stop the cycle and obviously, you’re doing the right thing trying to figure out the cause, but have you tried Zymox to keep it at bay somewhat? Works like magic.

I think I’d also try raw if I were you. I’m fortunate that I could find a couple of kibbles that worked and I do have to top them to keep mine interested because raw was going to be too cost prohibitive for me as I use commercial raw foods. I didn’t see whole ground turkey at My Pet Carnivore, but you might find another protein you could use: https://mypetcarnivore.com/index.php?lang=en

[crazy4cats]

Hi Akari-
No, I have not received it yet. I will try to contact them if it doesn’t show up today. It’s been almost two weeks since I ordered it. I agree, not too much info on their website. I was planning on just using ground turkey with the mix once a week.
I have emailed him twice with questions and he has responded both times within 48 hours. I’ll let you know how it goes if I ever get it. LOL!
I have been feeding sardines once or twice a week instead of adding fish oil. I got frustrated on trying to figure out which oil to buy and how much to give and if I had to give vitamin E with it too or not. Glad you found something that works for you!
Take Care.

[Akari_32]

BTW, this is the fish oil I use:

http://www.naturemade.com/supplements/cod-liver-oil

[Bobby dog]

It’s raining again, Bobby’s sad. 🙁

Akari:
aquariangt recommended Sojos pre-mix earlier in this thread; maybe catch up with agt and ask about it. Are you planning on feeding a pre-mix for each meal? Or will you be rotating canned with a pre-mix daily or weekly? Feeding a pre-mix a few meals a week rather than for an extended time would help keep the cost down and provide variety.

I posted links about eggs & fish oil on page 4 of this thread on 6/25/14 @ 2:14 a.m., to Anita that you should check out. Looking at info I have about feeding eggs I would feed a dog that size ½ egg/week; or as C4c suggests 1 egg every other week. Maybe someone else will have a recommendation for you. /forums/topic/maybe-its-time-for-a-diet-change/page/4/

Here’s a few links to fish oil supplementation, brands, and dosage. The link from Tufts contains information on how much to dose pets with heart disease; I only used the information from them to find a brand of fish oil with certain %’s of EPA & DHA and to help determine dosages for my cats’ and Bobby’s weights:
http://dogaware.com/diet/supplements.html#fishoil

http://vet.tufts.edu/heartsmart/resources/omega-3_supplementation.pdf

[Akari_32]

Bentley doesn’t like THK made straight for more than a day in a row. He also doesn’t like it too thick. God forbid the dog actually have to work for his food (rolls eyes). He doesn’t mind it, though, as long as its not too thick. He’ll eat it, but you can see that he’s not overly happy about it lol He happily eats it when I mix the rest of his canned food in with some every other day, though. Maybe it doesn’t taste meaty enough on its own?

I haven’t tried eggs yet, no. I don’t know how much to give him. He’s so little, only about 7 or 8 pounds, I can’t figure out how to feed him! I’m so used to my dogs where I just throw some food at them and adjust accordingly to their weight every few weeksLOL I also want to give him a fish oil pill like I give the big dogs every day, but again, he’s just too little for me to know much to give him and how often. Back to the eggs, I’d rather give him a raw one, so that it mixes nicely with his canned and THK (and I don’t have to screw with trying to not add too much water lol), but I know that too much raw egg can prevent them from absorbing protein, or something. I used to give the other dogs raw eggs every night before I realized that! Whoops! LOL

Whats the most cost effect pre-mix? I was looking at Urban Wolf, and thats pretty expensive. I don’t know how $50 a month (at the least!) would go over for mom. How do you guys like PureFormance by Grandma Lucy’s?

http://www.chewy.com/dog/grandma-lucys-pureformance-grain/dp/46165

I’d have to look a little more into it, because I recall their complete mixes being really low calorie, and a dog Bentley’s size would need a whole pound of it, which seemed crazy, but for now, the price point is good, and might be a good choice. I like that something sugary isn’t the first ingredient, given his yeast problem (Urban Wolf starts with carrots, and others I’ve seen start with sweet potatoes or white potatoes).

The Urban Wolf, how much does a 3lb bag make?

I’ll also be looking at Sojo’s, but I think thats low calorie, too. And I’ll see about SSLL, as well 🙂

[Naturella]

Lihan, there are many good foods out there. The best thing to do is rotate between brands and also protein types – some well-regarded foods are Annamaet, Dr. Tim’s, Victor, Wellness, GO!, Now! Fresh, Earthborn Holistic to name a few. I don’t think all of them are GMO-free, but they are quality foods nonetheless. You can also supplement with canned sardines, fish oil, coconut oil (those three do wonders for skin and coat), probiotics/digestive enzymes/yoghurt/kefir/canned plain pumpkin, cottage cheese, and if particularly “adventurous” – a raw egg here and there and maybe some raw too or Raw Meaty Bones (RMBs – like chicken wings, legs, necks, backs, pork neck bones, beef ribs, etc.) Or, even some good-quality canned or dehydrated will do the trick! 🙂

Shopping online is usually easy and convenient and websites such as http://www.petflow.com , http://www.chewy.com , http://www.wag.com , http://www.petfooddirect.com , etc. usually have good deals that you will know of if you sign up for their emails.

Good luck, happy feeding and rotating, and don’t hesitate to post any and all questons you have – the crowd on this site is amazingly knowledgeable and supportive.

[Kristin C]

Thanks for responding! She went on the meds last night after watching the rash ourselves for 2 weeks. At first we thought it was from the harness we left on her one weekend we went camping. There is some hair loss and grayish discoloration. At this point it’s definitely not worse, it’s better than when I first noticed it but took her to the vet because it’s not going away entirely. She has one hot spot on her back leg. I have added some additional fish oil plus coconut oil to her food at this point but not going to do anything else right now, not even the consult. Thanks for the input on that.

Dori-thanks for the info on your dog. I will keep that in mind if this rash goes away and then comes back. Guess I was just wondering if I am doing too much variety, the vet seemed to think so.

I’m not a fan of the medical community myself. I actually like our vet but was irritated she didn’t do any troubleshooting on this rash. Since my husband took her to the appointment I am letting him take the lead. I actually wonder if it was a harness rash she scratched, ran through all the woods at our house and got some bug in her system. She’s a very sensitive dog.

[Kristin C]

As a follow up, I feed Darwin’s and Nature’s Variety raw and Orijen 6 Fish kibble. I usually add cottage cheese or yogurt to the kibble meals. My homemade consists of 65% meat, 10% organ, 5% liver, 15% pumpkin or sweet potato, 5% veggie pulp from my juicer, plus eggs. I add a half teaspoon eggshell per each pound of meat and some fish oil and vitamin e. RMBs consist of chicken backs, turkey or duck necks. My homemade is chicken and beef, beef I can get more variety of organs. Sometimes I use a pre-mix (Sojos grain free) if I don’t have time for the veggie pulp. I usually give 1 or 2 small dried beef trachea during the week too, not too many other treats.

[USA]

Hi Leah

These are the ingredients from the MSDS sheet for the Allerderm EFA-Z Plus:
Sunflower Oil 85 – 95%
Fish Oil 1 – 10%
Borage Seed Oil 1 – 10%
Zinc Sulfate Monohydrate <1%

The fact that your dog’s “itching decreased by 90% or more” is remarkable and you are very lucky!!!!

If I were to evaluate this product based on the ingredients alone I would say that the Fish Oil (Omega 3’s EPA & DHA) and the Borage Oil (Omega 6, GLA) are two very good oils for reducing inflammation in a dog’s skin. The Sunflower Oil makes up most of this product and I think the Fish and the Borage oil are far superior for itch relief. Zinc Sulfate Monohydrate is actually a skin and eye irritant and I am not sure why it is in this product. It is sometimes used as a zinc supplement.

I would have recommended a Human Grade fish oil product first and a Borage oil supplement second as these are proven to relieve skin irritations.

Bus since you are achieving such amazing results with the Allerderm EFA-Z Plus I say count your blessings and if the time time comes when the Allerderm is no longer doing a terrific job I would try the Fish oil and the Borage oil.

As for changing her diet you might not get as good results or any results at all because we don’t know if the itching is food related but upgrading her to what you consider a better food is always a good idea!

Good Luck and give your little girl a scratch and a belly rub for me!!!

[Hound Dog Mom]

Omega 3’s are great for inflammation. I definitely don’t think it would be too much to use a joint supplement, fish oil, probiotics and enzymes. All of those supplements are generally well tolerated and have minimal side effects.

[Mike M]

Wally stopped liking the taste of the Urban Wolf mix, even though he was doing well on it so, I’ve substituted:

Nutri-Pet Research Nupro Dog Supplement and
Solid Gold SeaMeal Mineral and Vitamin supplement for Dogs and Cats
(these 2 supplements seem to be providing him with the necessary fiber – his poop looks “good.”)

Have also added ground turkey to the main protein items. Have also added TriCOX soft chews.

So, we now have:

Main proteins:

– Canned Crown Prince Natural Pink Salmon, no salt added
– Ground Turkey

Secondary proteins (in smaller amounts):

– hard boiled egg
– water packed sardine
– dollops of organic, plain yogurt here and there

Supplements:

– NuPro Dog Supplement, recommended servings for 15 pound dog
– Solid Gold SeaMeal Mineral and Vitamin supplement for Dogs and Cats
– Animal Essentials Seaweed calcium
– Salmon fish oil
– TriCOX soft chews
– Nutri-Vet probiotics

• This reply was modified 11 years, 8 months ago by Mike M.

[Susan]

Hi Kelly T, I belong to a yahoo group called “IBDogs”, a lady on the site uses horse meat, I too was a bit shock & thought poor horses but she said its been the only meat that has stopped the diarrhea & allergies with her boy, she uses Gabazo beans aswell, she has a balanced diet but I cant remember what it was..If I’m on the site I’ll ask her.. I remembered that she lived Perth Austraila, so it wont be too hard to find her again as we have to sign name & address at the bottom of our post…..I wanted to try a fish oil or Flaxseed oil with Patches itchy skin but I was worried about the oils giving him diarrhea again, I read when introducing a oil use an eye dropper at first & just add a couple of drops of oil with meal then after 2 days if poo is still good then slowly increase drops till you reach proper amount needed…

[Dori]

Hi Scottsmoma. Love your name. When you are done with the Wild Salmon Oil you should consider switching to Sardine Oil (Sardine’s don’t live long enough to accumulate a lot of issues that other fish do). Please make sure that you keep any fish oils in the refrigerator and add to the meal at the last moment. Fish oil goes rancid if left out too long pretty quickly. I use Nature’s Logic Sardine Oil (great product by the way) and keep it on the door in fridge. Prepare meals, squirt some in their dishes on the food and put oil back in fridge.

As Sandy suggested, you can add sardines that are sold at the grocery store packed in water two or three times a week. Don’t add other fish oil on the days you feed sardines. Scott will love the sardines. You didn’t mention how big Scott is so use your judgment as to how much of the can to add. I have three small dogs so I use one small can of sardines in water and separate into three equal parts. I do this three times a week. I feed twice a day, so only one meal of the day, not both.

I don’t feed raw other raw fish anymore because there have been too many authenticated stories of contamination in the waters so I just don’t want to take any chances. I also stopped eating sushi myself for that same reason.

[pugmomsandy]

It would still be ok to add the oil daily. Alot of kibbles are lacking in sufficient omega 3 or are not in a proper ratio with omega 6. But also, the fish oil in the kibble can lose it’s potency or start to become rancid once the bag is opened. Proper storage is a must. Another option if you want to add variety is to just give some canned sardines or other oily fish a couple times a week. Or you can even give raw fish.

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/15_12/features/Fats-Chance_20658-1.html

[Barbara O]

Bobby O

I am aware of the fish problem. The cats don’t get any more fish than the two humans in this house eat…I limit our fish due to mercury and now we have to worry about Japan’s radiation being sent to us via the sea…I agree that most Junk goes into a lot of our cat and dog foods…I know they would pick up spoiled meats from food markets, not unwrap a great deal of the food…just toss it into the pots with the styrofoam and plastic still on it…hopefully this has changed but I doubt it with the cheaper feeds…Purina was guilty of doing this…I took several meats courses in college and I won’t touch weiners….not eating something that mold grows on, then is cleaned off with a chemical and package and sold to the unsuspecting public…if they do this to humans, what do you think they’ve done to the animals?

I am also aware of the law regarding Taurine…there are actually some breeds of dogs that need taurine daily in their diets…You’ll note that Nature’s Variety canned food is the same for dogs and cats…and taurine is in both…

I also know if you withdraw taurine from wolf pups, they can develop cardiomyopathy, juvenile cataracts and reproduction problems…as will foxes….Provide them with the taurine early enough and all of these things can be reversed….

The problem with homemade raw diets is getting enough taurine included…that’s why I’ve always kept taurine capsules on hand…I actually sprinkled it over my foxes’ food several times a week. I know mealworms provide taurine but they still got a shot of the stuff weekly in their food…They were never ill…cats, like foxes have to have it and if a raw diet is used, jut add it.

[ScottsMomma]

Am currently using Wild Salmon Oil on top of my dog’s food to help with his dry/flaky skin..and it does seem to be working. Thinking of switching him over to a fish based kibble. Now-since it’s a dry food, would it hurt to keep adding the salmon oil on top of that every day? Or if not-a few times a week?

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Kelly T –

I’m a little shocked that your vet didn’t provide you with a balanced recipe to go along with this recommendation and I’m equally shocked at the ratio of lentils to meat recommended. The general rule of thumb is to use between 15% and 25% fruits/veggies/starches – with a ratio of about 50:50 being he highest I’ve seen recommended. But since this is what your vet suggested we’ll go with it!

What I would do is as follows:
1/2 C. Horse Meat
1 1/2 C. Lentils
1 Multivitamin Crushed*
1,000 mg. Calcium
1 tsp. Fish Oil
1 tsp. Hempseed or Walnut Oil or 2 tsp. Canola Oil

*My multivitamin of choice is Twinlab Daily One. I’m not sure if this is available in Canada. If not you want something designed as a “one a day” type multivitamin for humans. Look for one with under 10% DV calcium so it doesn’t skew the calcium to phosphorus ratio. If you do choose a multi that has a significant amount of calcium that’s okay but you need to account for it by reducing the amount of added calcium. For example, Centrum brand would be acceptable but contains 200 mg. calcium per capsule so you would only want to add 800 mg of calcium.

This recipe will provide roughly 300 calories per cup (will vary slightly depending on how lean the meat you’re using is).

The oil shouldn’t bother her – it’s generally the protein in an item that causes the reaction not the fat (although it’s possible). Getting the fats balanced should help out her coat issues as well.

By the way, nice name! My grandmother has a yorkipoo named Phoebe. 🙂

• This reply was modified 11 years, 8 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.

[Cyndi]

Thank you Dori! I already give Bailey sardines a couple times a week and she loves them. Do you think that’s good enough or should I still get some fish oil and give her that on days she doesn’t get sardines? I could even give her sardines 3 times a week, instead of 2, I just don’t want to give her too much.

[Dori]

I use Nature’s Logic Sardine Oil. It comes in a pretty good size container. I keep it in the fridge and right after I prepare their food I just drizzle a little on it then put the oil right back in to the fridge. It should be the last thing you put in Bailey’s food. Fish oil can go rancid pretty quickly (reason to keep it in fridge). I like using sardine oil because sardines don’t live long enough to become toxic with whatever crap is in the waters. I know some use salmon oil but I don’t feed my dogs salmon (to much fear of the waters that they live in and possible contaminations) so I also don’t use salmon oil. Oh, on the days that I add some canned sardines to their meals I don’t use the sardine oil. If you buy Bailey sardines at the grocery store (they are pretty cheap) buy the ones in water, not oil. I buy the small cans and divide it between the three dogs. If you’re only giving it to Bailey then you can probably get three days worth. Only add sardine oil or sardines for one meal a day, not both.

If you find that he starts to get loose stools then back up a bit and give him the oil every other day or just 3 or 4 meals a week.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 8 months ago by Dori.

[Cyndi]

Thanks Dori, I’m pretty sure, so far, that is was the laundry soap. My son, when he was little, was allergic to unscented Tide of all things. He broke out in hives real bad. So I switched back to Dreft and all was fine. My vet is a moron, lol! I do really like them there, they are all so good with Bailey and stuff, but they more or less look down on me for the way I choose to feed my dog. Heck, they even had me considering going back to KIBBLE! So happy I didn’t!

I’m going to stick with what I’m doing, although the vet did suggest to start using fish oil, so, if anyone can recommend something good I’d appreciate it so I don’t have to go thru all the forum posts to find what people recommend. Dr. Dennis can kiss my ass!!!! 😀

[Holly C]

I guess I phrased that odd. By “fish flavoured” I meant one that tastes more like fish, like Salmon, Krill, Cod oil, etc. I also take the fish oil I give my dog, and I have to say, it doesn’t taste very pleasant, and he doesn’t like it much either. I used to give Salmon Oil but with some budgeting I just buy 1000mg capsules of fish oil. I’ll have to try sardines sometime- my dog would love that!

I also give 600 iu of vitamin e, and a joint supplement. My dog has joint and hip issues, and he has a completely torn ACL. He’s due for surgery soon >:

[Mom2Cavs]

Hi, Betsy. It very well may be seasonal….Laverne has started with some itching and anal glands again, even though her stool is normal!? She was just at the vets this past Thurs. because I noticed a bump on one of her front legs. The vet expressed her glands and said they were bad, ugh. Vet said it’s probably staph and could even be caused by shampoo being left on and not drying properly or fully (this was said because of where the infection is located). She gave me some muricin salve to rub on the bump. But I may call and get an oral antibiotic for her, as well. Don’t usually like them but want to be sure this doesn’t turn into something even more difficult. Laverne is mine that has allergies, of course, and who snores a lot. She also does reverse sneezing at times. She has a murmur, about 3-4/6, (came on about 2 years ago) but doesn’t cough . Her nose runs sometimes (again allergies). She is eating Wellness Small Breed Simple for kibble and Wellness Stews or Weruva or Simply Nourish for canned topper. I have been giving the Firm Up, but was wondering if she has become intolerant of it? It could be lots of things. I do also give them coq10 3 times a week (30 mg). Right now I decided to not change anything in her diet except removing the Firm Up for awhile, and switching probiotics up. Hazel was checked as well and the vet could barely hear her murmur and rated it a 1/2…..she’s had a murmur since birth with no meds. She has no symptoms of anything and doesn’t snore at all. Rupert, who is on enalapril twice a day and has heart disease (MVD) and a grade 5/6 murmur is doing great. He snores occasionally but not that bad and does not cough at all. He has no other symptoms. I would say this is probably seasonal, but if I were you, I would have your vet or Cardiologist (if you have one) check things out thoroughly. I don’t want to scare you, but I think these things can come on suddenly. According to Rupert’s breeder his came on suddenly, but not really sure…maybe just wasn’t caught before now. I also decided to not really try to reduce the sodium (just making sure it’s not on the too high range). Like I said before, the only heart supplement I have been using regularly is coq10. You could also try adding other things, like fish oil, hawthorne, l-carnitine, coq10 and of course taurine, if you’re not doing so already. There are some all inclusive supplements like Bio-Cardio by Thorne, Vetri-Science Cardio Strength. Also Standard Process Cardio is one my vet likes (but they always prescribe Standard Process). I’ve used the all inclusive ones in the past, but recently have been trying to keep things as simple as I can. I’ve probably not answered your question but hope I’ve helped some.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 8 months ago by Mom2Cavs.

[pugmomsandy]

There are raw foods with added minerals like Stella & chewy’s and Primal to name a few. Nature’s Variety’s chicken recipe has actually passed feeding trials so I would assume their other recipes are formulated similarly (but it’s just an assumption). Answers (Detailed) has a pork recipe. And fortunately, there are more protein choices as well for raw foods like rabbit, bison and goat. You should be able to find lamb and pork relatively easy. The book “Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats” also includes a recipe for a vitamin/mineral mix to make complete diets. Check out Hare-Today Gone Tomorrow and My Pet Carnivore for meat, organs, grinds and whole prey. A non-fish oil option for omega-3 is algae oil and calamari oil if he has a sensitivity to fish oil as well. There are some dehydrated or freeze-dried options as well like Grandma Lucy’s (not raw) and ZiwiPeak (air-dried).

[DogFoodie]

My two year old Golden is intolerant of fish, he also appears to react to fish oil as well. Fish oil, in theory, should’ve be problematic as the protein has been removed, but he’s reacted to foods that contain fish oil.

[texasniteowl]

Thank you Betsy for replying. I too wonder about all the foods going to chickpeas and lentils. I don’t know at the moment if it is an issue for Wilson or not. The Orijen Adult does contain them, but fairly far down the list. I’ll post the ingredients below. It is primarily poultry and fish based.

Thanks for mentioning the NVI LID. I had considered trying them though I wished the protein was a little bit higher. He has had both duck and lamb before so even though they wouldn’t be novel, I could try them. And at 32% dry matter protein they are worth trying. Other than that, I have more ingredient checking to do. His most recent kibble before the Orijen was fish based (Fromm’s Salmon Tunalini) and of course, he had a month of chicken and rice.

Firm Up? Who makes that? I assume it is similar to THK’s Perfect Form?

I will check out the Swanson BioCore enzymes and I know Swanson probiotics have been recommended on these boards a lot too.

Thanks!

Orijen Adult Ingredients
Boneless chicken*, chicken meal, chicken liver*, whole herring*, boneless turkey*, turkey meal, turkey liver*, whole eggs*, boneless walleye*, whole salmon*, chicken heart*, chicken cartilage*, herring meal, salmon meal, chicken liver oil, red lentils, green peas, green lentils, sun-cured alfalfa, yams*, pea fiber, chickpeas, pumpkin*, butternut squash*, spinach greens*, carrots*, Red Delicious apples*, Bartlett pears*, cranberries*, blueberries*, kelp, licorice root, angelica root, fenugreek, marigold, sweet fennel, peppermint leaf, chamomile, dandelion, summer savory, rosemary, Enterococcus faecium.

[DogFoodie]

For us, lentils and chickpeas are a no go. I really hate the way all these pet food companies are creating such legume heavy foods.

I’ve dealt with food intolerances with my Golden since he was a tiny pup and he’s just over two now; and I’ve finally found a food, specifically Nature’s Variety Instinct LID Duck, that he’s doing well on. It’s far from perfect, but he’s doing great on it so I’m keeping him on it for a bit in order to get him stabilized. It has just a few ingredients, and that’s what I’d recommend you try, a limited ingredient diet; ie: NVI LID or Wellness LID are both great brands to try. Orijen has so many ingredients, it would be anybody’s guess what the problem ingredient was. I know my dog has a problem with fish, fish oil, chickpeas, lentils, possibly garlic and possible flax. So, the problem ingredients aren’t always just the meat proteins.

So, a couple of thoughts, Firm Up is great – so much easier than canned pumpkin. I also added Swanson’s BioCore digestive enzymes to his meals and the difference was amazing. Try a quality LID diet and while it doesn’t have to be a totally novel protein, it just needs to be something different than what your dog has eaten in the past.

[nan p]

I went by same guidelines Hound Dog Mom suggested. I have a 15 lb westie. She ate 3 meals a day to get it all in the first 9 months. I used Gradma Lucy’s with the blue ridge beef but mostly used Bravo Complete with fish oil and enzymes.

[Melissaandcrew]

John-LOl. I have the largest size chest freezer you can get, plus a smaller one. the small one houses the marrow bones and ribs(5lb/$3) I think my problem is that I get carried away with things. I grind the quarters and backs as I have major gulpers and I feel its safer for them, so its time consuming. I don’t want to have to break out the grinder three times a month, so I try to do all at once when I can. For ex, at the beginning of the month, I ground up 240lbs quarters. Then next day I cut up 180lbs beef heart into chunks.. I grind quarters every month, but other items I try to get 2-3mths worth of to cut down on days spent prepping. right now, I am making their meals out of what is in the freezer to try and use some of it up as its a pain digging to the bottom to be sure to rotate. Yesterdays meal was ground duck necks, and ground beef. Today is beef heart chunks, liver/kidney mix, ground chicken with their veggie blend(this time sweet potatoe, kale, spinach, dandelion greens and raspberries) a little fish oil/vit e and they should be good.

[USA]

Hi Liz and Mr Lou!

You have very good instincts and Mr Lou is lucky to have you! And of course you are lucky to have Mr Lou!

The frozen green tripe is an excellent source of digestive enzymes and should eliminate the need for adding digestive enzymes to Mr Lou’s diet. Because he received an antibiotic shot which kills the good as well as the bad bacteria I would add probiotics to help replenish his gut. I use this one from Vitacost and it looks like they deliver to Canada.

http://www.vitacost.com/vitacost-probiotic-15-35-35-billion-cfu-60-vegetarian-capsules-9

Start slowly. Half a capsule every other day added to his largest meal. If everything is Okay after 6 days you can go to 1 capsule a day sprinkled on his food. After a month you can reduce it to 1 capsule every other day if you’d like.

k9choicefoods looks like a good food. I couldn’t find the numbers for Protein and Fat but I like the way they raise their animals and their quality seems outstanding.

I would stay away from kibble for multiple reasons. It is a super processed food that is as far away from raw as you can get. The quality will NEVER come close to the raw food you are feeding Mr Lou and feeding a whole food in it’s natural form without any alterations or processing is the absolute best in my opinion.

The Honest Kitchen uses quality ingredients but their foods are too heavy in carbs for my liking. And with any food that has it’s moisture removed who knows exactly how long it takes to re-hydrate it 100% or if it is even possible to re-hydrate it 100%. I just wouldn’t take the chance if I were you. But if you do use a dry food use very little and re-hydrate at least for 24 hours.

The water you understand so just keep up the GOOD WORK and keep drinking while eating or after exercise to a bare minimum. There is mixed evidence on raised feeders but I tend to agree that if you use raised bowls it will allow more gulping or air so I don’t recommend them.

Sardines contain the fish oil you are looking for in a whole food form which is always better than a supplement. Mr Lou is a big boy so after starting really slow a 3 oz tin (packed in water) once or twice a week should be good. If Mr Lou doesn’t like sardines then 2 fish oil capsules daily should be fine.

For supplementing plain raw meat I would use Steve Brown’s dinner mix and not a dehydrated food like Preference by The Honest Kitchen (carbs and re-hydration again)

Here’s to a healthy and happy life for both Mr Lou and you (it rhymes)!!!!!!!

[Liz W]

Thank you Cyndi for “bumping me up” as you can see if you follow this thread “USA Dog Treats” has given me some very good suggestions and validated what I’ve already been trying to do.
Thanks so much for the suggestions USA Dog Treats! I didn’t realize that even after I hydrate the Honest Kitchen and Kibble well, they could still swell more or cause bloating. Thought that by hydrating the HK the day before and keeping it in the fridge it would be fine. Something obviously was NOT fine and I too have wondered if I didn’t soak the kibble long enough or what. I don’t want to make the same mistake again.
I started back on the three meals a day NO Kibble and NO HK for now… I may have to adjust the amounts as he has some catching up to do but I don’t want to increase the amounts too fast. I think an ideal finishing weight to keep him a bit leaner would be between 110 and 114. That is what I’m going to shoot for. I am presently feeding him about 12 -13 oz morning and supper and a lunch of about 8-10oz. I will adjust the amounts as slowly as I see if he begins to put on weight.
I just introduced frozen fresh green tripe to each meal… so far only about an ounce or two in any one meal. He loves it and I was told it’s extremely easy to digest and will provide all needed enzymes to his stomach. Do you agree?
I haven’t introduced probiotics at this stage as I’m not sure what to try or when… don’t want to make too many changes too quick but he just came off of an antibiotic 12 injection. I’m not sure if that’s as hard on the stomach as taking it orally but I’m sure there is some adjusting that is going on in his whole system. What do you think of using Acidophilus & Bifidus that I keep on hand in the fridge for myself as a probiotic for him?
The meat source I have found here in Canada that I like, is called K9 Choice (www.k9choicefoods.com) They sell in bulk 40lbs which is a bit more affordable for some of what I feed but what I like most is that the balance is right (approx 80/10/10) fat % is also very good and the animals are all raised on their own farm land and are grazing, free roaming and living long lives before they are humanly slaughter in a very non-stress producing, fast, humane way… away from the other animals. I like it that all the animals get to be the way nature intended, not crammed into feedlots/pen or horrible conditions. Although they are not listed as “human” consumption, I have talked to the owner and he said he believes his meat products are far more “healthy” for man or dogs than what is being sold in grocery stores due to the condition and treatment of their animals and the way they are “processed”. I would really like to believe him.
I will look into Steve Browns pre-mix when we travel in the States. I’ve never seen it here in Canada but I will check the website and see if they deliver here. I know Honest Kitchen also makes a premix (same hydrating issue I guess) but they did tell me to rehydrate and then refrigerate and it would not swell in the stomach. It would work for me to just take the pre-mix when I travel and then just add hamburger or what ever kind of ground meat I could get. Something I didn’t think of, so thank you so much for that tip. If I do the premix and ground meat, or on sale roasts!… how much sardines would you feed a 110lb dog? I used to add sardines and then stopped and substituted fish oil tabs that I was taking but couldn’t tolerate. (lousy fishy taste after)
I have never exercised before or after eating… my dogs always have rest periods of an hour or more before or after even if we are only taking a gentle stroll.
Another thing I do think you are right about… he drank too much water after his meal the night he bloated. I am now a fanatic to remove all but a cup of water because he likes to kind of rinse his mouth after he eats. Then I put out about a 2 cup bowl and freshen it up in between meals. I do believe this was another contributing factor to that horrible event.
Yes, the vet did attach the stomach to the rib wall and explained that it should never flip and twist again. He did say bloat however was still a possibility. He also had his spleen ripped away so it had to be removed which I guess is another bad thing that doesn’t always happen. My poor boy.
I did give him a big HUG from you… you are a saint to take the time to help me and encourage me. All I want is for this boy to have a few more good years with us.
Thanks so much for all your help… much appreciated.
Liz and Mr. Lou!

[Lilmonster]

Hi everyone!

Another lurker here eager and (almost) ready to make the switch to raw. Like other newbies, I have so much respect for everyone here for not only committing so much time and effort to their fur babies, but also taking the time to answer endless, potentially stupid questions from nervous dog moms like me! I would never even have known about raw diets, let alone been able to work up the nerve to take the plunge if it weren’t for this forum, so thanks to all of you!

Some background info: My fiancé and I just adopted our little one, Lily, two months ago from a rescue. She’s 41 lbs and the vet estimates her age at around 1, much younger than the rescue thought – her teeth were pretty yellow when we first got her but presumably because she wasn’t given anything to chew on to clean plaque, so they thought she was 2 yrs 8 months (!), which leads me to think she sadly may have been malnourished as a puppy since they were feeding her as an adult. As soon as we gave her bones and chew toys her teeth became pearly white. Anyway, we switched her to Fromm’s Surf and Turf kibble when we got her, but we noticed she started itching more and more. Took her to the vet to ask about the itchiness as well as a suspected UTI, but the diagnosis for the itching was understandably vague. We’re not sure if it’s a food allergy or environmental – she doesn’t have fleas, and we’re pretty sure it’s not a yeast issue. She doesn’t smell yeasty at all and I think the vet would have picked up on that. So after a recent bout of diarrhea due to too many high fat treats after a training session, I figured it would be a good time to begin the transition to raw after her system cleared up. I fasted her for a meal then fed her a mixture of white rice and pumpkin for two meals, which brought her poos back to normal, then began feeding her a 50-50 mix of ground turkey and pumpkin with the See Spot Live Longer mix added in. The vet is holistic and also trained in Chinese medicine, and she suggested that I switch to beef instead of turkey since chicken and turkey is considered “hot” and could be contributing to the itchiness, so yesterday I made the switch to ground beef and her poo was still fine this morning. But then I remembered reading somewhere (I think on preymodelraw) that it’s not recommended to start with beef, but I think for the time being I’ll stick with it just to avoid changing her diet too many times (unless anyone here would strongly advise against starting with beef?). At the moment, her daily food (divided into two meals) is 1 lb 90% lean ground beef + 2 tbsp SSLL + 1/2 tsp hempseed oil + 1 tsp coconut oil (just started adding it) + 1 human probiotic. She is also currently on a one week course of antibiotics for the urinary problem.

I have Steve Brown’s Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet, ordered the Dr. Becker’s book, and have read through many of the threads on this forum but like other newbies I’m getting lost in all the information and feeling as overwhelmed as Cyndi was in the thread where she first started, lol. I’m thinking of sticking to the ground boneless meat with the See Spot Live Longer mix for a bit while I figure out all the supplements that are needed and place my meat orders. A few questions that I’d really appreciate if someone could help out with:

– I know you can’t add the See Spot Live Longer dinner mix to bone-in meats, but am I also correct in assuming that if I begin adding RMBs in the PM and continue to feed boneless ground meat + See Spot Live Longer mix in the AM that it would be too much calcium? Ideally I’d like to continue using the SSLL simply because it’s the easiest way for me to not have to worry that her nutrition is unbalanced while I’m still learning to balance her meals myself. I did see the most recent topic mentioning CarnivoreRaw but that’s a bit out of my budget. Hound Dog Mom, do you use the Twinlab Daily One with or without iron? Also, I noticed the Twinlab does have calcium in it, does that not matter because the amount is so low? If I choose to go the multivitamin route, can I then add other things like fruits and veggies and such without worrying about overloading on a specific vitamin/mineral or will I have to be careful with what I add?

– This may be a bit much to ask, but if one of the veterans has the time to respond I would be so grateful. Could someone make a list of the essential vitamins/minerals (or alternatively, foods that will provide those vitamins and minerals) that MUST be added to a diet that consists of boneless meat in the AM and RMBs in the PM, and the approximate amounts? This is the part I’m feeling especially in over my head with. Vitamin D, vitamin E, fish oil, manganese, so many different things I’m seeing that they need, it’s hard to not feel kind of scared to do it all from scratch, which is my eventual goal. I think I’m having a hard time figuring out what is absolutely necessary vs. optional but ideal.

– So from what I’ve read so far it seems to be a good idea to start her on chicken backs and quarters, then begin alternating boneless meat every other meal. How many meals should I feed the backs and quarters before I begin incorporating boneless meals? Also, should I already be giving her supplements during this time, or should I wait until she adjusts then begin adding supplements. As for stuff like organ meats, heart, and green tripe, how long should I wait before beginning to incorporate those? I promise I have read the other threads, but I’ve seen a few different recommendations on timelines so I thought I’d pose the question again just so I can be clear about it.

Thanks in advance to anyone willing to take the time to answer my questions!

[Susan]

Hi Regina, My Patch didnt do good on the Eukanuba tin low residue, I looked up the Eukanuba tin low residue & the Iams Tin low residue & they have the same ingredients, also when I put it in the fridge the next day you’d see the white fat that had hardened on the side & top of the food, the fat is too high at 4.5%.when you converted to kibble fat thats around 21% fat thats high…There’s too many ingedients also in the low residue tin, there’s fish, chicken liver, chicken & beef..Have you tried cooking a low fat meals….I give Patch light Tuna in spring water drained then mix in a bit of boiled pumkin for breakfast, he does real well on the Tuna better then on the boiled chicken breast…also have you looked at the Low fat diets in the review section, look for something lower then 3% fats in wet foods….also you say that Alf wont eat kibble, have you tried soaking the kibble in water to soften, then draining the water off.. I do that with Patches Eukanuba Intestinal kibble & the Wellness Simple Duck & Oatmeal kibble, have you tried adding some low fat tin food or some tuna on top of the soften kibble, to make him eat…..I know when Patch had his gurgling stomach/bowel I’d make him a piece of dry white toast with a little bit of thinly spread honey on the toast & his bowel would stop gurgling & rumbling, its gases going tru his bowel, also Royal Canin make a tin food called (Gastro Intestinal Low Fat) its only 1.75% fat, maybe try the Royal Canin low fat tin food, Ive read a few people on the Dogpancreatitis yahoo group use the Royal Canin low fat tin food with great success…I hope Alfie gets better…but look at the fat % content, it took me 1 year to realise that it was the higher fat% making Patch ill, the stupid vet didnt even realise until I saw another vet that said lower his fat under 9%..I did then Patch started to get better again & no more rumbling & gurgling stomach/bowel..