[Molzy]

Awesome, thanks. I wi definitely give it a try. I have a dog who I think needs a more liquid diet, I have him on canned food now but would prefer to support a company like honest kitchen. Eventual goal is raw, but might not be affordable at the moment. I’ll give the thrive a shot once he is doing ok for a month.

[InkedMarie]

I feed The Honest Kitchen. I’ve fed it to 8 or 9 dogs over the years, varying thk products. I think I’ve had two or three that had more poops on THK. I do not agree that it is indicative of low quality food. Most of THK’s are very high quality. I don’t like the Verve or Force, too low in protein and such but I feed Zeal and Embark and they’re 5 star foods here. I also feed Thrive and it’s 3.5 or 4, I think.

[Hound Dog Mom]

I’m like Sandy, I group dehydrated/freeze-dried/air-dried all into the same category.

I find that freeze-dried foods tend to not rehydrate well – the only exception being Grandma Lucy’s.

As the for best dehydrated type foods, my favorites are The Honest Kitchen, Grandma Lucy’s and Ziwipeak. I also really like Addiction’s dehydrated in terms of ingredients and digestibility (for my crew it digested better than a lot of other brands I tried, poor digestibility is a common problem with dehydrated foods) but if you feed Addiction I’d highly recommend mixing it with a high protein canned or raw food because the protein levels are too low for my tastes. I also like Wysong’s Uncanny but it’s ridiculously expensive and as far as feeding as an exclusive diet, I don’t believe it’s complete and balanced (could be a good mix in for a lower protein food like Addiction though!).

• This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.

[InkedMarie]

You can’t find good brands???? The Honest Kitchen is fantastic! Go to their website, there is a lot of information. They are transparent about their ingredients, sourcing, if you have questions, they’re very helpful. They are one of two dog foods that can call themselves human grade, the other is Weruva.

Another dehydrated is Grandma Lucy’s.

THK is smoother, GL is chunkier.

[pugmomsandy]

Are you saying you want to switch them to a boneless meat & veggie diet? Because meat & veggies is not a good diet for long term use. If you do just want to feed meat and veggies, then I would suggest the recipe book “Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats” by Karen Becker/Beth Taylor. It has boneless recipes (meats and organs) and gives you the amount of calcium supplement or bone meal to use along with a vitamin mix recipe. Your dog needs a source of calcium if you’re not feeding bones. Another option is to use a premix where you just have to add boneless meat and some oil like Urban Wolf, See Spot Live Longer, The Honest Kitchen, Grandma Lucy’s.

[weezerweeks]

He’s on honest kitchen zeal and canned merrick. So you’re saying the merrick is better than the zeal. What are some other quality canned foods that are not high in carbs.I personally like the canned better and so does he. How about wellness core and 4 health canned. We have all of those at the tractor store. I was also thinking about ordering a case of werva. Are these quality canned foods. He’s small so he doesn’t eat too much. Thanks

[RescueDaneMom]

Hi Chuck,
I started the switch by adding The Honest Kitchen dehydrated food and Stella and Chewy’s or Primal freeze-dried patties to my dog’s kibble to change it up and keep him interested. I think it should be adequate nutrition as long as you’re adding the complete formulas. Just make sure you look at the calories and replace the appropriate amount of kibble with Primal. The dehydrated and freeze-dried foods tend to be a little more calorie dense. I’ve been feeding about 2/3 kibble and 1/3 Honest Kitchen, Primal, or Stella’s going on 2 years now and my dog loves it and is in the best shape he’s ever been in.

Good Luck!

• This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by RescueDaneMom.

[theBCnut]

Hi vizslajo
If stools are huge and gas is sticky, that can mean he is not getting everything out of his food that you cound wish. Try adding digestive enzymes and probiotics to his food. Chip is right, the Honest Kitchen is a better food, but I wouldn’t mix it with BB other than to switch foods. If you start feeding a rotational diet, your dog will be better able to digest foods, variety supports a wider range of probiotics in the gut. Good Luck.

[weezerweeks]

Has anyone had any experience with this food. I know that is made in Canada. I am using honest kitchen zeal and love now but want to try other dehydrated foods. Is it as good as THK. Thanks

[Chip]

Hi there, I just posted a question right before you about some problems my dogs are having as well. My advice would be to check out Honest Kitchen. It really helped my dogs with digestive issues until recently when I screwed things up by trying to introduce a different brand of food because they were getting bored with my mixture of Blue Buffalo Freedom and Honest Kitchen that I had been feeding them for the past two years. Here is a link… I really love this company, how it conducts business, treats it’s workers, and creates awesome food for you good buddy: http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/products

[Chip]

I have two dogs, both German Shorthair mixes… one is an older male (11 years old), the other a younger (5 years) female. I love them both very much, both were shelter/rescue dogs. When we adopted the younger dog, we switched from feeding her Hill’s Science Diet (which is what we were sent home with from the shelter) to some sort of Purina Dry Kibble, since she wouldn’t eat the Hill’s. Since then and after finding this website (my knowledge about dog food and their ingredients greatly increased), her menu evolved from the low quality kibble to a mixture of Honest Kitchens dehydrated raw food (a company that I love) mixed with Blue Buffalo Freedom. I consider both of these foods to have above average to excellent ingredients and I feel good when I buy it for my two dogs. The problem is is that they both have very sensitive stomachs… when we started with the HK and BB it seemed to FINALLY fix the problem with terrible diarrhea that they both were experiencing with all the foods we tried (Castor and Pollux, Nature’s Recipe, and so on). Their bowl movements (I feel strange talking about this) were FINALLY healthy… fluffy yet firm, regular, didn’t stink. It was a miracle. Unfortunately, after about two years of eating various styles/flavors of HK mixed with BB, the younger dog “Jessie” decided that she absolutely didn’t want to eat it anymore. I got tired of preparing it only to have to dump it out (it’s very expensive) and then wash her dish (as I did after every meal since it’s a part raw diet). So, we tried some different brands thinking that it would add a bit of diversity to what they were eating. We went with Wellness Complete Health kibble and canned but soon found out that the diarrhea had returned (we introduced these foods slowly). We tried going back to the old food but she couldn’t shake the diarrhea (the older fella was having some problems as well, but not nearly extreme). We finally took her into the vet, which I dread doing because I know exactly what’s coming… a fecal exam (which is always negative), a bill for $100, and a lecture about how the food I feed them isn’t quality/adequate because it wasn’t “formulated” by veterinarians and pet nutritionists (in their words) as Hill’s Science Diet is. I don’t have a problem with giving the HSD Prescription i/d gastrointestinal a try… my problem is that the ingredient list is full of low quality foods and chemicals, yet they charge more per can/bag than the food with (what I consider to be) high quality ingredients that I was feeding my dogs. I’m sick of being treated as though I’m being insolent because I actually question what it is specifically about Hill’s that is supposed to calm my dog’s stomach. Is it the corn? The iodized salt? The food coloring? I know it sounds as though I’m being snippy right now, but this has been an ongoing problem as I’ve brought the dogs to the same vet in the past few years every now and then with small bouts of stomach problems and am told the same thing every time and mad to feel as though I’m an ignorant and irresponsible pet owner for not switching to Hill’s and I’m sick of it. I don’t have any other options to switch to a different vet, so that won’t solve anything. It has been three days and there hasn’t been any improvement so far on the HSD and, sorry it has taken me so loooonnnnngggg to get to the point, here is my question: Does anyone have an alternative to HSD i/d that actually has quality ingredients? Or, does anyone have any useful advice about what our next course of action should be? I thought I read something in one of the comment sections a long time ago about how German Shorthair Pointers are sensitive to a certain ingredient that is fairly common in most dog foods… does anyone know anything about that subject? And, is it just me, or do veterinarians actually know anything about dog nutrition, or do they just espouse what they are told by the salespeople from Hill’s? I don’t doubt that Hill’s probably does make some important prescription foods that certain dogs need, but the i/d just looks like crap to me. Thank you for taking the time to read and respond.

[jinxykb]

Update: Just started the Preference (adding own meat) this week and I like it much better. The poops are back to the normal amount, and I like that I can alternate the type of meats used. I cooked the meat on day 1 and froze it in daily serving sizes, then put in zip lock bags back in the freezer. Super easy.

[jinxykb]

Nature’s instinct is a very good food! So is Nature’s Variety Prairie. I fed my pup prairie for years and she did well on it. We have also used Halo, which was great. Now we are on Honest Kitchen Preference–mixing in cooked meat, but you could do raw as well.

[theBCnut]

I understand that for areas that have affected deer, you have to be careful what parts you feed raw, so do research before using anything. I have heard that it is brain, spinal cord, and some organs that you have to be leary of, but I really don’t know for sure. The Honest Kitchen Preference, See Spot Live Longer, and Urban Wolf are all premixes that are good, and I believe that you can add cooked meat to them as well, if there is a worry about your venison. Darwin’s and Aunt Jenny’s have great commercial raw diets. Check out Grandma Lucy’s products too. If you want to order grinds that are not balanced and add your own stuff, Hare Today and My Pet Carnivore are great.

• This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by theBCnut.

[pugmomsandy]

1. Is it better to get a premade mix of raw food online or buy meats from the supermarket or meat market? Or is it better to have a mix?

As a newbie to raw, I think it would be better for you to feed a food that is complete and balanced whether that is commercial frozen raw like Nature’s Variety, Primal, Bravo, Stella & Chewy’s, Darwins, and others, or dehydrated/freeze dried raw (but more expensive) food like Orijen freeze dried, Primal, Stella & Chewy’s. Meat by itself is not a good diet. For beginners, I would buy a commercial raw or use a Premix such as Urban Wolf, See Spot Live Longer, Grandma Lucy’s, The Honest Kitchen. You add meat and some oil and that’s usually it. No additional vitamins needed. You can make these in advanced in big batches and freeze in serving sizes or a couple days worth in one bag/container. You can feed up to 20% of an unbalanced food without having to worry about additional vits/minerals. For example, topping kibble with some meat or scrambled egg (but not more than 20% of the meal). As you become more comfortable with raw you can give homemade a try but be sure to use a recipe book.

2. Is ground or whole better? Your dog might like the texture of some chunks, versus ground. But in any case, raw meat has enzymes that also helps keep teeth clean. The ripping of the flesh and tendons from the bone cleans the teeth too. I have small dogs so I use a coarse ground. My dogs don’t have a preference for meat sizes. They eat it all.

3. I keep seeing people talking about feeding bones, including chicken bones… I was always told that chicken bones are dangerous? This is going to be the one that the hardest to get my wife on board with.

Raw bones are edible. The cooked bones are dry and splinter. Also there are recreational bones versus consumable bones. Most small animals can be consumed whole (chicken, rabbit, quail, turkey). But dense, weight bearing bones from larger animals are for gnawing only (marrow bones/leg bones). For heavy chewers, they can break teeth. For instance, my small dogs eat chicken legs, turkey and duck necks and feet and pork baby back ribs. They gnaw on beef/bison rib bones and marrow bones/femur for the enjoyment and it keeps their teeth clean. I feed these outside and don’t worry about cleanup when the weather is nice. You can train your dog to eat bones in the house on a towel, blanket or tarp. This winter, I’ll be feeding my small dogs in a crate or I could feed them on the bathroom tile and mop.

4. Do you need to add supplements to these meals? If so are they included in the premade mixes or am I adding them?

If you use a complete and balanced commercial premix, no additional supplements are necessary. Although there are a lot of people who give whole food supplements like supergreen foods (chlorella, kelp, barley grass, etc), bee pollen, and herbs, a complete vitamin E.

5. What is the best site for ordering?
I’ve heard Chewy.com is good. I’ve always used Petflow and amazon.

6. Does someone have a schedule or process I can literally follow to the letter?
Sorry, I am sure this has been answered over and over again but I would really appreciate the help. I am not too concerned about the cost as Wellness and Core are not cheap, however if I can pre-make these and feed her in the morning because we are often in a rush and it’s so hard to get her to eat kibble before we leave.

At my house, they eat raw if I have it thawed out. If not, they get other foods (kibble, canned, freeze dried). Darwins comes in convenient packaging and serving sizes and most commercial products come in patties or small bite sizes or chubs (which are the least convenient for me). You just have to remember to thaw! You can put 3 days worth out to thaw in the frig. I also use dehydrated foods (The Honest Kitchen, Addiction) where I just add water and let sit. I make some ahead of time and put it in the frig. But these are not raw.

• This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by pugmomsandy.
• This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by pugmomsandy.

[pugmomsandy]

Tripe has a high fat content. I would feed with caution if your dog has had a problem with high fat before. For an easy homemade raw (while your taking the time for alot of research) there are some premixed you could use like Urban Wolf, The Honest Kitchen, Grandma Lucy’s. You generally just add meat and oil. I just used CarnivoreRaw (from Young Again Pet Food) on my last batch of raw. It has vitamins, minerals, etc.

[jinxykb]

My pup, who recently recovered from abdominal surgery, is on HK Zeal. It’s good stuff, but like Marie said, lots more poop. It has worked out a little better adding steamed chicken–2/3 HK, 1/3 chicken. I have not tried Embark–as embark is higher in fat, and we need to be careful of pancreatitis.

[theBCnut]

“Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats” by Dr. Karen Becker is a great book to start with. Dogaware dot com is another good spot.

[yellowwdaisy]

Thank you for the replies.
GSDsForever, do you feed home cooked meals? How do you know you put all the right nutrients in the food? Is there a book where you get recipes? Do those recipes meet AAFCO guidelines? I would like to start making food for my dog as soon as I can but I have no idea how to make food formulated for a dog.

[GSDsForever]

yellowdaisy,

I think HK is an excellent company, with quality foods and high standards (including safety). The formulas are pretty gentle and I’ve never known dogs to have trouble with it, especially sensitive/touchy stomach dogs. I like the Zeal formula best (which many sensitive dogs do well on when they can’t on other foods), then the Embark. Zeal is HK’s highest protein and uses a very high quality source, though the fat is very, very low — which some dogs do best with and others need to add back.

The only negatives I encounter with HK are that some formulas are grain inclusive (when owners don’t want that), some dogs aren’t crazy about the soupy texture, and high cost . . . esp. grain free Zeal & Embark. I would like to see, at their higher price point, their base ingredients be organic (like Stella & Chewy’s) when it’s a known heavily pesticide contaminated ingredient or preference for less contaminated fruits/veggies/greens chosen when organic isn’t feasable/prohibitively expensive — kind of like how I shop at the grocery store. But they are still very clean, high quality foods and I would feed them + highly recommend the brand.

In Nutrisource/Pure Vita’s defense, I really don’t think that their food can be blamed for tumors. Something triggers cancer to start in the body and that can be many complex factors, usually involving toxins as insults to the body and the immune system + some genetics. From there, we do know from research that cancer feeds selectively off sugars/simple carbs and need an acidic environment to be active . . . but that’s after the cancer has taken hold. Certain breeds (and their mixes) currently have very high incidences of cancer, like Goldens or Bernese Mountain Dogs; or there is a breed specific cancer like hemangiosarcoma. Some stats show more than half of all dogs and cats now die of cancer.

Pure Vita does pretty clean sourcing, for example using more expensive wild caught fish exclusively (protecting against toxins like PCBs in farmed salmon) and imposes a good bit of safety testing and quality standards. Many dogs seem to do really well on the food, esp. those with allergies/sensitivities or needing a bland diet and limited ingredient diet.

At the same time, virtually all commercial pet foods have significant contamination with bacterial toxins (enterotoxins, endotoxins, cytotoxins, etc.), from the meat, processing and handling, sanitation issues, storage, heat or lack of heat processing, moisture spoilage (like aflatoxins, etc in grains), lack of freshness, rancidity of fats/oils, etc. (You can read more about this in texts like UC Davis Vet School’s/DVM Strombeck’s Home Prepared Dog & Cat Diets, chapter 3 on commercial pet foods/food safety & preparation.)

Nevertheless, I do think homemade diets (balanced) using a wide variety of fresh foods in rotation, cleanly sourced (wild fish, grass fed & free range, organic), are best. So I think you are on the right track. Good luck!

[InkedMarie]

I’ve been feeding The Honest Kitchen for 7-8 years. Every dog I’ve ever had has loved it. The only downfall is some dogs have more stool.

[yellowwdaisy]

My dog is currently eating PureVita grain free turkey kibble but I want her to eat more naturally. I am eventually going to cook for her, but until then I was thinking of trying The Honest Kitchen- Embark. Has anyone ever heard of dogs having bad problems with The Honest Kitchen? My tiny dog has a very sensitive stomach.

I want to get her off PureVita also because I read that someone’s dog got tumors after switching to PureVita and they said that the company said 4 other dogs had the same thing happen. That very much worries me so now I am extremely careful with what I feed her. It is hard to find food for my dog because she can’t eat grains or chicken. So I would love opinions on The Honest Kitchen. Thank you! 🙂

[GSDsForever]

I would think that most high quality, non vegetarian dog foods will not contain soy or navy bean (this one would be a rare ingredient even in vegetarian kibble!).

For lowfat foods, I would look through DFA’s list of lowfat foods, particularly the grain free ones. For dry foods without white potato, InkedMArie has posted here in forums a list of grain-free and white potato free foods and I would cross check it.

High carb foods, more than high protein/fat foods, show in studies to put more weight on dogs. So I would keep that in mind. But even among the reduced carb/higher protein grain free foods, there are some that are low fat. Two that come to mind are Honest Kitchen’s Zeal and Wellness Core’s reduced fat formula.

[pugmomsandy]

RescueDaneMom,

I don’t use the grinds, so no advice there. I was just going to suggest something easier and less time consuming to begin with – Urban Wolf, Grandma Lucy’s or Honest Kitchen premixes. You just add meat and some oil. There’s also a product called CarnivoreRaw (from Young Again Pet Food) that you add to meat. It’s a raw food supplement with everything in it. All you do is use meat and oil and the powder. That’s what I used this last time around in my batch of raw.

[silkwingspapillons]

I’ve been making my own raw dog food for 12 years now. I travel with my dogs and have tried to dehydrate their food but have found that there is so much oil in it that I can’t get it to a dry consistency. I got a sample bag of Honest Kitchen this weekend and their food is like powder. I’m wondering how they do that with raw meat. Does anyone have any experience at this and can offer suggestions?

[jinxykb]

Can he do sweet potatoes? IF so, Honest Kitchen Zeal might work—you can amend it with some beet pulp and other steamed vegetables. http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/zeal

I think the trade off for low protein diet is lots-o-poop! It’s what I am dealing with at the moment with my pup, albeit only temporarily.

Good luck!!!

[jinxykb]

It sounds like you are looking for training treats and not a good meal for your pup.
As small dogs are prone to pancreatitis you need to pick something small and lower in fat. If you try to train your pup with his food, I don’t think it will go well, and you are sending mixed messages; Training treats should be special–that’s why they are called treats!

My 7 lb chihuahua will do tricks for frozen banana slices and frozen green beans. She will also do them for pieces of chicken and salmon, so, we mix it up to keep her healthy. If you want to keep it portable Honest Kitchen Peck’s are good. http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/pecks. They have a new one called quickies which looks great, but we haven’t tried it yet. http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/treats/quickies. Both are low calorie.

As for moist food, Patty is right. The stopped making ‘Gains Burgers’ for a reason.

Good luck!

[InkedMarie]

Kobe’s dad: look at the list of appropriate foods for large breed puppies, right here in this thread, for foods.

FYI, Honest Kitchen is not raw.

[kobe]

Hi HDM and Patty Vaughn,

my berner pup has finally recovered from his diarrhea —i am thinking of switching him to raw food —the stores near me carry
Bravo
Honest Kitchen
Natures Variety
Vital

ARE ANY OF THESE APPROPRIATE FOR A LARGE BREED PUPPY OR SHOULD I STICK TO KIBBLE?

thanks so much,
Kobe’s dad

[theBCnut]

If you want easy, Darwin’s, Aunt Jenny’s, and Answers for complete frozen raw foods foods. Or you can get The Honest Kitchen Preference or Steve Brown’s See Spot Live Longer dinner mixes and add your own fresh meat to them. This is a really easy way to get started feeding raw. Or if you want to do the work of learning about what to add to balance your dogs meals, you can order several different meats from Hare Today.

[Becky]

It’s also available as a generic–cyclosporine. It’s still kind of expensive, but much cheaper than the brand name. Have you looked into that? Even if you can get her on it for a little while to give her some relief. I’m serious when I say it’s a miracle drug. Another place you could check is http://www.thehonestkitchen.com They’re not real cheap either, but they have some good info on there about nutrition. You mentioned Hills Science Diet–that’s not the same as the Royal Canin Hydrolyzed Protein. One bag of that cost me about $36 which is about what I was paying for the Nutro, so it’s not a whole lot more than a good quality dog food (and less than some of them!) Worth looking into…. Good luck! I know how frustrating it is.

[weezerweeks]

He’s on honest kitchen zeal and canned merrick. I have honest kitchen invigor would that work as a wholwe food supplement?

[pugmomsandy]

Start with something like AvoDerm Revolving Menu. It’s single protein and “medium” protein. Other “medium” foods are Nutrisource grain free Heartland Select and Seafood Select or PureVita. If budget is not an issue, check out The Honest Kitchen Zeal. It’s grain free, potato free and single protein (fish) but “high” protein or Sojo’s grain free or Natural Balance LID (both single protein, low protein). I would just recommend a simple ingredient food for a few weeks to see if it helps. If she does ok with that type of food, then slowly add a different food and watch for reactions. Also give probiotics. This will help seed the gut with beneficial organisms for better digestion and less gas. Herbsmith has an herbal allergy formula and quercetin is for allergies too. She can always work her way up to a 5 star food. Some dogs just can’t do it right off the bat.

[pugmomsandy]

For easy homemade, use a premix like Urban Wolf, Grandma Lucys, The Honest Kitchen, and there’s another one by Steve Brown – can’t remember what that one is called. All you add is meat and some oil.

For some recipes, get “Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats” by Dr Karen Becker/Beth Taylor or Steve Brown’s “Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet”. “Real Food…” has cooked and raw recipes and a vitamin mix recipe and when made to recipe, it exceeds AAFCO/NRC guidelines.

For something simple, there’s http://homemadedogfood.com/easy-cooked-dog-food-recipe/ It uses a vitamin/mineral supplement and a fat supplement. Although I wouldn’t feed this single recipe forever. I’d give some variety.

You don’t have to stick to one product or recipe long term either. Try Urban Wolf and some other brands for variety.

Homemade food cannot be taken lightly. Although it’s the best, without proper vits/minerals/EFA’s, a poorly balanced homemade diet can be harmful. Do alot of research. I would say use some of HoundDogMom’s raw recipes, but since your’re a little squeamish of raw…that probably wouldn’t work out! She ran her recipe through a nutrient analysis and it is complete and balanced.

When I started raw, I used “Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats”. And I have dog food grinding parties at my house!

[pugmomsandy]

Grandma Lucy’s and The Honest Kitchen have some pea free foods. Also Great Life grain free/Pioneer Naturals. Here’s some pea free foods I had written down last year. I’m not sure if they’re still pea free:

Timberwolf
TOTW Pacific Stream (canola)
EVO red meats
EVO turkey & chicken
Pinnacle Peak (quinoa)
Grandma Lucy’s Pureformance
Natures Logic – millet, no potato
Great Life
Canine Caviar
I and Love and You by OnlyNaturalPet.com

[weezerweeks]

I have this box of Honest kitchen zeal and my yorkie who will ANYTHING looks up at me at meal time with that please give me something good to eat look then slowly eats it. I can’t stand this, I want him to enjoy what he eats and he loves merrick canned, natures variety instinct canned. Do you think it’s because it’s dehydrated and he’s never had dehydrated before. Should I continue with it or maybe just add it to his canned until its gone. What is in zeal that has a spicey smell? My husband says don’t make him eat that junk. I said its good food and expensive. Any thoughts?

[weezerweeks]

Is honest kitchen herbal supplement invigor considered a whole food supplement? Do ya’ll recommend it?

[InkedMarie]

Regulars may remember that Boone, who hasn’t had an ear issue in years, has had recurring ones, in the right ear, since the spring. On August 5th, I took him to the vet, who diagnosed bacterial and yeast. She put him on meds and it cleared up. Yes, I did try to fix it myself with Zymox, that worked when he was getting them as a puppy. He’s seven now. I don’t know whats causing them, food or environmental (humid up this way this summer).

So, he has another icky ear but this time it’s both ears. Whats new is adding canned into his rotation (new over the last five days is http://weruva.com/dog-cuisine-kurobuta-hero.php. It’s turkey, which he has eaten for seven years with no issues, I see nothing in there that should cause him a problem. It’s also been more humid over the last six days or so.

I’m discouraged. I honestly don’t know what to do. Part of me says to try him on The Honest Kitchen’s Zeal full time but I’d hate to have him eat that only. He has eaten Embark for years, I thought maybe stopping potato might be good but maybe I should rotate him through just THK. He also eats Darwins that he’s eaten for a year (the ear issues are new as of the spring).

Eh. Any suggestions, advice, anyone want a cute pbgv? <G>

[weezerweeks]

My yorkie is on merrick canned and honest kitchen zeal. I want to add another food,thinking about dr.harvey’s oracle or grandma Lucy’s. which one should I try? What’s the difference between artisan and pureformance?any other dried froze or dehydrated food that u would recommend?

[InkedMarie]

Pacer: Brothers is a great food, mine do great on it but yes, it is more costly. That’s what’s great about rotating: you can buy the more expensive one every once in awhile. I try to buy dr Tim’s, honest kitchen, some other canned & kibbles when I see them on sale online.

[weezerweeks]

I’m having a hard time with giving him a different food twice a day because of the amounts and keeping it in the refrigerator too many days so my question is this. Can I give him one food for a month then a different food the next month and so forth or should I give him say honest kitchen for 2 days,then merrick for 2 days(it takes me 2 days for 1 can) then a3rd food for 2 days then start over like this in about 3 months with 3 different foods .Would this still be rotating?

[weezerweeks]

So I should rotate instead of feeding him just honest kitchen? I thought it was suppose to be better than canned.no it’s not the heat!

[weezerweeks]

I took my yorkie off kibble 3 months ago. He’s been on merrick canned(all varieties) and nature’s variety instinct. I received my honest kitchen today so I gave him 1/2of 1/4 cup and 1.6 Ounces of merrick canned going to do tonight for a daily total of166 calories. He weighs 7lbs and has a tendency to get fat. What amount should I feed him? Iwas thinking about going all honest kitchen but I’m not impressed with the way it looks or smells. he’s on the zeal. Should I rotate with cans or use only this? Please tell me again that this is better than kibble because I miss kibble and my yorkie seem to have more energy on it. I s he considered active or average he walks a mile in the morning and at night. We play in the back yard some but he sleeps a lot. What do u think? Thank u for all ur help!!!

[Colorado huntress]

My sister, who lives in Covington, LA, almost lost her 9 month old Great Dane/Weimaraner mix recently due to a poisonous mushroom, so obviously it is a possibility – my dad is a doctor & he didn’t know about the mushroom, but he knew something was horribly wrong & sent her to the ER vet clinic & they said if she had gotten there 5 mins later the dog would have died….
I am so sorry about you losing your dogs- I lost my 22 month old British lab import in March & we still don’t know what killed him 🙁 He woke up next to the bed w/me yelping, running around, & w/in 2 mins had a major grand Mal seizure ( this dog was NEVER sick a day in life – I got him @ 8 weeks) – he came out of the seizure a little bit, but w/in a min or so had 2 more smaller ones back to back & never came out of them – I kept his airway open, but there was nothing I could do. He died w/12 mins of waking up. He had been eating EVO grain free RIGHt before the recall, but after his autopsy, food testing, they still don’t know what killed him. The pathologist thought it was definitely Clostridium Perfergens UNTIL he got the anaerobic cultures back & they came back negative, so I will probably never know. What I do know, however, is that we have sheep herders who still put out poison for coyotes even though it is illegal – after a LOT of research I have found that not all poisons will kill a dog immediately – there are a variety of rodenticides that are second-generation & although most dogs will show symptoms & you can usually get them to a vet in time, there are quite a few cases where the dog has absolutely NO symptoms ( no vomiting/diarrhea, etc) like mine did. I did send the pathology report (autopsy) to a number of vets in the country & most say they have no idea what killed him. Did have one vet who said that even though he showed no aneurysm in the brain (I had them do brain tissue slides), it is still possible that he had a stroke that was so severe……found out later they didn’t dissect the whole brain, so unless they happen to cut right into where there is damage, they can miss it…
Anyway…..sorry for the long post, but it has taken a VERY long time for me to recover from this, so I can not imagine how you must feel after losing both of your dogs – my heart goes out to you…

I just got a British lab (22 months old) in mid June, & rescued a wire-haired doxie mix (9 months) from Crowley, LA in July from a kill shelter & I now feed them Honest Kitchen Preference (base mix)supplemented with our raw game meat & they are doing great on it & love it.

There is invaluable advice here in this website/forum & I hope you find some answers – I am a newbie here, wish I had found it sooner….

Again, I am so sorry for your losses…..
Suzi

[gmcbogger38]

I think Blue Ridge Beef is pretty decent if you are on a budget, especially if you live in the south where most pet boutiques will sell it, like where I work. I would mix the bone and muscle meat grinds with some sort of fruit/veggie dehydrated mix like Sojos or Honest Kitchen, or you could make your own mix. Most of their grinds, like mentioned above, do not contain organs. I think that is a little silly, but it is what it is.

• This reply was modified 12 years, 3 months ago by gmcbogger38.

[weezerweeks]

I have another question. I just ordered the honest kitchen zeal and I was wondering would it be better to just give him this alone without rotating with canned foods. I have a psychological problem giving him so many different things.I guess I’m from the old school but I’m trying to change!!!

[InkedMarie]

I second Sandys Natures Logic. I was surprised at how small it is. I do agree with Patty about canned and also, pre made raw and dehydrated. Grandma Lucy’s is chunky, the Honest Kitchen is smoother.

[Colorado huntress]

Hi Patty & anyone else who wants to jump in, lol!
I’ve started my Brit lab & wired- hair doxie mix on Honest Kitchen Preference w/ our game meats (venison/elk/rabbit/duck/goose, etc) & they are LOVING IT!!! Sounds like I don’t need to give enzymes since I feed raw meat, but I think I saw that you guys recommend Swanson’s probiotics about 3 times/week, is that right? Anything else I should be adding? I do get fresh eggs from my neighbor….
Your advice is most appreciated! Oh, did you see the article today on natural news about Pedigree & they gave THIS website!! as a great place to get educated about dog foods! Knowledge is power!

[theBCnut]

“Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats” by Dr. Karen Becker and “Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet” by Steve Brown are the best books. Steve Brown’s See Spot Live Longer is a great premix and so is The Honest Kitchen’s Preference. I’m using Dr. Harvey’s Veg to Bowl right now and I like it.

[dogmom2]

Well this year is turning out to be the year of the foot for Hank. I feel bad for him…we get him back up and running (so to speak) and then his foot flares up and won’t heal. Interdigital furuncles are not for the faint of heart I will tel you that.

So we went to see the vet for his adequan shot, and chiropractic adjustment today. His foot flared up big time a week or so ago and it looks terrible, so the vet took a look at it, cleaned it up and trimmed the hair around the opening…and she decided to try a new antibiotic. We are concerned that this years occurrence is so persistent. While we were there I was going to pick up a bottle of the probiotic and enzyme support I use, only to learn that the manufacturer is no longer making it. (Iflora pet probiotic and enzymes by Sedona Labs). We have been using it daily for a few years for both boys…Hanks skin and allergy and Dewey’s digestive issues both benefited from it.

I am very bummed and having a hard time finding anything comparable. I picked up the Honest Kitchen probiotic that just came out, but there is no digestive enzyme component. Also, it is not super cost effective for 2 big boys.

We are still feeding Darwin’s, with some honest kitchen preference and local pastured meats etc..
They get brothers kibble with Merrick canned for most dinners. We feed green tripe about once a week. They get coconut oil, fish oil, spirulina, kefir and curcumin pretty much daily.

So what are you all using for probiotic and enzymes???

In happier news…we have had a nice Summer overall. We bought a used canoe that the boys love to cruise around in…and the sun has been out around here this year! ( we live on the north coast of ca do it is often foggy ). Hank turned 11 a few weeks ago, and is doing really well aside from his feet. Dewey is approaching 8 and is still a youngster at heart. DH took him for a nice beach run this morning.

Thanks for listening, and for any ideas you may have..

Laur

• This topic was modified 12 years, 4 months ago by dogmom2.