[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi beagleowner –

According to Dr. Karen Becker:

“Lipomas are benign fatty masses that are incredibly common in dogs. The traditional veterinary community believes there is no breed, sex or age predisposition for the development of lipomas. And it’s true any dog can grow a lipoma – young, old, spayed, neutered, obese or thin.

However, holistic veterinarians believe there’s a correlation among the quantity and size of lipomas, the vitality of a dog, and how well she metabolizes fat. If a dog doesn’t have a vibrant, thriving metabolism, what tends to happen is that dog lays down fat in what I call ‘glumps.’

When you or I gain weight, we tend to gain it in several places on our bodies. When a dog with inappropriate fat metabolism gains weight, he adds glumps of fat in one spot. These glumps of fat are lipomas, or benign fatty masses.”

Dr. Marty Goldstein believes that high carbohydrate, processed (species-inappropriate) commercial foods cause some dogs to lose the ability to metabolize fat, resulting in lipomas. He recommends feeding dogs as close to their natural diet as possible.

Dr. Shawn Messonier recommends supplementing the diet of dogs having lipomas with immune-strengthening herbs such as alfalfa, burdock, goldenseal and thistle.

On Holistic Pet Info, Dr. Colleen Smith claims that there is a correlation between high carbohdyrate diets and lipomas.

Given this information, I would say that you’re on the right track by moving towards homemade food and high protein, grain-free kibble. However, the homemade diet you described above is extremely unbalanced and in the long term will likely cause more harm than good. If you’re going to continue to feed this recipe keep it to no more than 20% of your dog’s total intake and feed the grain-free kibble as the other 80%. If you would like to venture into an entirely homemade diet (which would be wonderful!) I’d recommend checking out some balanced recipes. There are many wonderful books available on homemade diets – “Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet” by Steve Brown, “Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats” by Dr. Becker, “Optimal Nutrition Raw and Cooked Canine Diets” by Monica Segal and many more (check out Amazon – look for books that are written by veterinarians or nutritionists or that contain AAFCO compliant recipes). Dogaware.com is a great resource on health issues and on homemade diets. You could also utilize a pre-mix (i.e. The Honest Kitchen’s Preference, Urban Wolf, See Spot Live Longer Dinner Mix, Birkdale PetMix, Dr. Harvey’s, etc.) – pre-mixes contain all the nutrients your dog needs, all you need to do is add fresh meat. I’d also look into supplementing whatever food you decide to feed with immune-boosting herbs, as mentioned above. Good luck!

• This reply was modified 12 years, 7 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.

[Anonymous]

Since your dog is currently on a limited ingredient food, which is often recommended for IBD, you might look at other LID foods. Our vet wanted us to specifically avoid blueberries, and a few other things. Natural Balance is one that comes to mind. They have a sweet potato and fish food. When I was buying NB for one of our dogs that had suspected IBD we paid about $50-55/bag. I also used Honest Kitchen, which the dog loved. and really helped her stomach. It’s pricey though. Change very slowly with a dog with IBD.

[LeahT]

I had looked at The Honest Kitchen, but that was another one that used rosemary as a natural preservative. There might not be anything behind the connection with rosemary and seizures, but I would like to try finding something without rosemary for now.

I will definitely check out those other sites though. Thank you!

I have been reading about Darwin’s raw, and those don’t seem to have rosemary. They are also running an introductory offer for 10 pounds for $14.95, so I thought I would try that with her. She has become a bit of a picky eater since our lab passed away, so I want to try finding a smaller amount before investing $90 in something she won’t eat.

The problem is though that I live in the middle of nowhere in Kentucky, so there aren’t all that many natural dog food options offered around here. Even Feeder’s Supply, Pet Smart, etc. has a limited selection and most of that is Blue Buffalo. Chances are we will have to order whatever we feed her online.

With the cost of any store bought raw I’m still hoping to maybe feed her half raw/dehydrated and half dry. Hopefully I can narrow down the dry foods I am considering once we get an allergy test.

[satobrinn]

I like adding my own protein to my dog’s food, and at first I tried Dr. Harveys but learned it may not have enough calcium, so I tried The Honest Kitchen, which has several varieties, and I’m much happier using a grain free, dehydrated food that’s more complete: http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/dog-food

DogFoodAdvisor has reviewed this brand and 3 of the varieties earned 5 stars. Preference requires that you add a protein so you can prepare quality meats and add it to the food for a complete meal. On days I don’t have meat on hand I use one of the varieties that has meat, and I sprinkle a boiled egg or some other goodie. I love it, and it’s not processed so I feel much better about it.
/dog-food-reviews/honest-kitchen-dog-food/

[DieselJunki]

I too was very nervous about starting raw. It seems overwhelming at first. I’m starting mine on it next week. I asked a lot of questions and then read some more, joined a few raw food forums and Yahoo Groups. When I finally put together a menu for a month I put it on here and got lots of wonderful feedback. I adjusted my menu accordingly (well hound dog mom helped Alot with that) and put in an order.

But before, while I was researching, I’ve been feeding The Honest Kitchen. Reading about them (reviews on this site and others as well) and going to their website seeing that they only use human grade food in their food just kind of sealed the deal for me. However it is a bit pricey. Around $95 for a 10lb box. But your dog being on the smaller side it will last you much longer than it lasts me.

Some sites you can order raw food and have them ship it to you are:
My Pet Carnivore
Hare Today Gone Tomorrow
Carnivore Feed Supply (this is a yahoo group)
Or if you live close enough you can go and pick it up and save on shipping.

• This reply was modified 12 years, 7 months ago by DieselJunki.

[Hound Dog Mom]

I feed a homemade raw diet. Prior to feeding raw I fed a variety of 4 and 5 star kibbles, canned foods and dehdyrated foods. Some of my favorites were Orijen, Nature’s Logic, Nature’s Variety, ZiwiPeak, Tripett, Addiction, The Honest Kitchen, Merrick, etc. I also added scrambled eggs and tinned sardines for omega 3’s once or twice a week, plain yogurt or kefir for probiotics 2 – 3 times per week and mixed in any leftover lean meat or healthy veggies I had from dinner.

I would recommend checking out the following videos made by Dr. Karen Becker:

How to Choose a Dog Food Part I:

healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/05/10/my-top-3-pet-food-picks-from-an-upscale-boutique-shop.aspx

How to Choose a Dog Food Part II:

healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/05/17/the-quality-of-pet-food-ingredients-part-2.aspx

The Best and Worst Pet Foods:

healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2010/07/21/13-pet-foods-ranked-from-great-to-disastrous.aspx

[InkedMarie]

A prior dog of mine had these crystals. My vet did not mention a diet change, thankfully. She prescribed one 500 mg of Vitamin C daily and to up his water intake. Wht I did was add canned & warm water to his kibble and we then switched to The Honest Kitchen, a dehydrated. Make sure your dog has ample fluid and ample opportunity to urinate.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi intheclouds –

I would look for a 4 or 5 star grain-free food with a single protein source and supplement his diet with a high quality multi-strain probiotic supplement and digestive enzymes. There are many limited ingredient grain-free foods such as Nature’s Variety Limited Ingredient Diets, The Honest Kitchen, Grandma Lucy’s, Addiction, etc.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi ramroxy –

If the allergy issues didn’t start until you moved and she was eating the same food prior, I’d be more inclined to assume the allergies are environmental and not food related.

Have you done or considered doing a food elimination trial? It’d kind of a tedious thing to do but it would be the only accurate way to determine what ingredients (if any) are causing the symptoms. It involves feeding a novel protein and starch to your dog for a period of time and gradually adding in new ingredients, monitoring the reaction to each, to determine what ingredients (if any) cause a reaction.

As far as limited ingredient foods go, try to find a food that features a single novel protein and is free of common allergens such as corn, wheat, soy and dairy. Acana singles are good and I wouldn’t be concerned about the avocado in Avoderm – the fruit and oil (which is what is used in dog food) is not toxic, it’s the bark, skin, pit and leaves that are toxic. Some other good hypoallergenic foods are: Nature’s Variety Limited Ingredient Diet, The Honest Kitchen, Grandma Lucy’s, Addiction, California Natural Grain-Free, Artemis SOS and Artemis Osupure.

[Hound Dog Mom]

I fast my dogs every Sunday – so they go without food Saturday night until breakfast Monday morning (about 36 hours). I give them broth morning and night on their fasting days – 1 C. warm water, 1 tbs. The Honest Kitchen Ice Pups and 1 tsp. Swanson’s GI Detox. Once your dog gets the routine down, she should stop begging. My dogs begged a lot when I first started fasting them, now they just know what day is fast day and what to expect. Also – remember you need to compensate for the fast during the rest of the week by feeding more food. I notice my dogs are much more energetic the day after their fast.

[pugmomsandy]

I know she doesn’t have teeth but are you afraid of feeding her kibble for that reason? As dogs don’t chew food anyways (most, can’t say all). But I don’t think a dog of her size would have any issue with small kibble. Many old foster pugs are toothless or only have a few and not the ones to crush food with anyways. I don’t know what all she has in her pantry, but just some Honest Kitchen with another one of her foods so she just gets the fiber/veggie bulk from HK to help with the slow poop. Whether that is HK with raw or HK with canned or HK with kibble. And are you still using olive oil? Or the herbal?

• This reply was modified 12 years, 7 months ago by pugmomsandy.

[pugmomsandy]

Give her a spoon or two of Honest Kitchen with whatever else you’re feeding her if it makes her poop. I’ve been feeding my 14 yr old Sojo’s with eggs and kibble. He’s still such a food hound so the added volume of food from Sojo’s helps him stay full too.

• This reply was modified 12 years, 7 months ago by pugmomsandy.

[InkedMarie]

I dream of winning the lottery so I can open a dog food store. I’ve thought about what foods I’d bring in. I’d choose companies that haven’t had a recall. I’d have Fromm, Earthborn, Dr Tim’s for starters. They’re good foods, good price point. I’d have Annamaet as well. I’d probably have Acana and Orijen because some think higher price automatically means better foods. I’d have some dehydrated as well. I’m an Honest Kitchen fan so I’d have that as well as Grandma Lucy’s. I’d have Primal pre made raw, probably Stella and Cheweys. Canned too.
Educated staff is of utmost importance.

[DieselJunki]

Oh wow. I really hope they get better quickly. So sorry you and your babies have to go threw this. Is it possible to find a holistic veterinarian around your area? I find them much more knowledgeable and less likely to throw you some pills that you really don’t need. Maybe they can answer what went wrong with the trying of the raw diet. It really is trial and error sometimes especially with dogs that might have other conditions. I know it was difficult to find a food that didn’t give my dog diarrhea or super soft poops until I switched to Honest Kitchen. It has been smooth sailing since then and I do plan to switch to raw sometime next month for sure. Good luck!

[DieselJunki]

So I am going to be switching to completely raw here shortly as I just bought a chest freezer (best investment ever). I was wondering if you all could help me out in figuring out what kind of muscle meat/organ meat/bone I would need to get for a whole month if I were to order it from a site such as MPC.

My dog Moose is around 7 months old and I usually feed him about 1.5 cups of honest kitchen 2 times a day. Right at the moment he is being boarded for a couple weeks and when I get him back I’ll double check his weight but I’d say he weighs 50lbs or so right now.

Now if I were to feed 3% of his body weight I would be feeding him 1.5lbs of food a day. If I were to say I needed a months worth of food (30 days) I would need 45lbs of food . That doesn’t really split it up between what I would need for organ meats, muscle meats, and bone. I am not so good with math and was hoping you guys could walk me through the process of figuring this all out! I would very much appreciate it so later on I can do the calculations myself.

From reading around it seems if your not feeding a whole prey model diet you should go with food consisting of 80% muscle meat, 10% bone, and 10% organ meat, 5% of which must be liver over the course of 1 week. But from my understanding you don’t have to feed it balanced everyday. You could feed straight muscle meat one day and then maybe a few turkey necks or something (I understand they are mostly bone) another and then give them some liver or other organ meats. So long as by the end of the week you met the 80/10/10 percentages.

[Fallow]

Pugsmomsandy- Thanks for your suggestions. I had been doing food homework for the last hour or so and it definitely seems like Wilderness and Core are both excellent bets. I’m not familiar with Honest Kitchen Zeal and don’t believe it’s sold anywhere near me.

[pugmomsandy]

Fallow,

Blue Buffalo Wilderness and Core have reduced fat/weight management recipes. Also with the higher protein foods I have always fed less than the recommended amount. There is also The Honest Kitchen Zeal formula which is high in protein and low fat and it is a dehydrated food so if you fed 1 cup of dry you would need to add at least 1 cup of water with it so you’re feeding extra volume which might help your dog feel full.

[InkedMarie]

Experienced raw feeders, help! A recap: Gemma is our senior sheltie who we got in January. No teeth. Was on Grandma Lucys dehydrated, got stopped up. Unsure why so we went to The Honest Kitchen and I added in Bravo Balance. Decided to do all raw for her so did one meal of Bravo, one of Hare Today grinds. Still having trouble pooping, found out Bravo is high in bone so went all Hare Today with her. For most days, it was:

Am meal: 1oz boneIN and 3oz boneLESS
PM meal: 3oz boneLESS
She gets chicken, turkey, duck, beef….herring twice a week. I have beef/chicken & turkey organs here and also tripe but have not defrosted it yet. She gets tripe in the beef with bone.
Most of the time, she only poops every other day, last week, she had two full days of no poop. The third day was her first day on the Great Mender, a chinese herb that she got from the holistic vet. She warned me that it can cause diarrhea but she’s taken it from the 19th on, with no diarrhea on the 20th, 21st and 22nd. Then today she had diarrhea. It’s mucousy if that matters.
A friend online who feeds prey model raw has been helping me. She has had me give olive oil three times to get her to go. I don’t know if this is something harmful or if this is what is causing the diarrhea when she does go. I just don’t know what to do next. I want to do prey model raw.
Any advice as to what to do? It’s like she doesn’t go for a day or two, then when she does, its either soft or ends up as diarrhea.
I’m also wondering if I should just put her on canned, something grainfree and mostly meat. I’m just getting discouraged here.

[InkedMarie]

A recap. Gemma is almost ten, we got her in January. She came to us toothless. She was fed The Honest Kitchen with Darwin’s. Two or three weeks after we to her, she got “stopped up”. Had to go to vets where he got an enema. The Darwin’s had larger pieces of bone, we didn’t know exactly what caused the issue but we bought Bravo Balance that has smaller pieces.
I had grinds from Hare Today for the other dogs….in talking with Hare, she advised me that Gemma probably needs more meat. No more THK, we started adding some Hare to the Bravo.
She has trouble pooping, now she goes one little poop every other day. I realize that raw fed dogs don’t always go daily but I’m not anxious to repeat her being stopped again. I called Bravo, was told the Balance is 10% organ, 15% veggies….of the rest, 60% is meat and 40% is bone. Too much bone for Gemma. She’s off the Balance now, going on all Hare, both bone in and bone less.
Can’t just be easy, eh?

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi tonwol –

If it were me, I’d just start trying high quality, grain-free, fish-based foods and see what works. There’s no way to know what will work and won’t work unless you try. With that said, I really do think Sandy’s suggestion to make homemade food would be your best bet (you could use a pre-mix or vitamin/mineral supplement designed to balance homemade diets if you aren’t comfortable making food from scratch). All the brands you’re looking at are good brands and would be worth a try, however if your dog is prone to pancreatitis you may find she can’t tolerate the fat levels in some of these foods (the RC is only 10% fat). The Honest Kitchen’s Zeal might be worth checking out – it’s a grain-free dehydrated food with haddock, whiting and salmon and it’s only 8.5% fat.

[Hound Dog Mom]

The Honest Kitchen’s Zeal would be another great food for a pancreatitis prone dog – 35.5% protein, 8.5% fat. and 5.8% fiber. As would Acana’s Light & Fit – 35% protein, 10% fat and 8.5% fiber.

[Hound Dog Mom]

I’m not sure about the Kobe/Korubuta line but I know Weruva’s Human Style line is certified human grade (Weruva and The Honest Kitchen are the only two companies to sell pet food that is certified human grade). So quality-wise, Weruva is probably about as good as it gets when it comes to canned food.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi suresh.pm –

I understand your concerns about meat quality in dog food. I’ve settled on making a homemade diet for my dogs with human-grade meat. If you’re really concerned about the quality of meat your dog is consuming this could be an option. You can buy meat from the grocery store and make your own food from scratch, utilize a vitamin/mineral mix (See Spot Liver Longer Dinner Mix, Wysong Call of the Wild, U-Stew, etc.) or pre-mix (The Honest Kitchen’s Preference, Urban Wolf, Grandma Lucy’s, etc.). There is a company called The Honest Kitchen that makes certified human-grade dehydrated food and a company called Weruva that makes certified human-grade canned food. I agree with Patty though, I personally feel meat should comprise a large portion of a dog’s diet. If you do go vegetarian be very careful. It’s important that you get a food from a reputable company or have a homemade diet formulated by a veterinarian or nutritionist or your dog could be missing out on very important nutrients.

[Anonymous]

A few things come to mind as we have dealt with this in the past with our dogs. Has your dog been treated for whipworms? Sometimes a fecal test won’t show positive for whipworms as they go on a cycle, but the dog may still have them, and throwing up is one of the main symptoms. A dog may also have a rough coat, blood in the stool, etc., but not always.
Did they do an ultrasound and bloodwork to rule out a blockage or cancer?
How is the vomiting being managed? There is a drug, cerenia, which is a dog motion sickness drug that is often prescribed for vomiting. It really helped one of our dogs. She was miserable with vomiting, and this drug controlled it when nothing else worked. I don’t know how long a dog can take this drug, but the vet should know. A couple of other things that helped were Perfect Form, a supplement made by The Honest Kitchen as well as the Honest Kitchen dog food. You might also talk to a holistic vet.
If all the above issues have been addressed, I would ask the vet about IBD. One nutritionist develops homemade diets for dogs that end up with this diagnosis, as well as other things. Her name is Monica Segal, and she has a blog as well as a yahoo group.
Hope this helps.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi cashmyhorse –

If home cooking for your dog is something you’re willing to do and can afford, I strongly feel that a balanced homemade diet utilizing fresh, low glycemic ingredients would be the best option for your dog.

Here is some information on diet and diabetes:

dogaware.com/articles/wdjdiabetesdiets.html

As far as balancing the diet, there is a company called “Balance IT” that has vitamin/mineral supplements designed to balance a homemade diet. There is a recipe generator on their website in which you can enter information about your dog, including any health issues such as diabetes, and a recipe will be created to suit your dog’s needs – check it out at balanceit.com. There are also some pre-mixes with low glycemic ingredients that would be suitable for a dog with diabetes – The Honest Kitchen’s Preference, Grandma Lucy’s Pureformance and Birkdale Petmix. With the “Balance IT” supplements and pre-mixes generally all you need to add is meat and water, all the vitamins the dog needs are in the mix. If you want to feed a completely made from scratch diet, invest in a good book with recipes that conform to AAFCO nutrient standards. My favorite book is “Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet” by Steve Brown. Another great book is “Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats” by Dr. Becker. Dog Aware has some great tips on homemade diets as well.

[pugmomsandy]

The Honest Kitchen has a couple of grain free foods and the ingredient lists are quite short compared to alot of foods and both your pugs can eat it. My pugs eat the Zeal formula on occasion. The pugs at my house also eat Brothers Complete, Nutrisca and Nutrisource Grain Free for kibbles. You might want to give (if you’re not currently doing so) daily probiotics/digestive enzymes to both your pugs to help with gut health and immune system. For canned food, Merrick 96% grain free is very simplistic as well and has vits/minerals so can be fed daily as a meal not just as a topper. Also you might want to give tripe a try – raw green tripe. You can find this in the frozen section at the pet store. It is very easily digested and has natural probiotics in it already. I’ll attach an article about it when I get home if someone else doesn’t do it first! Go to greentripe.com and use their store locator. Some better pet boutiques and feedstores will have it. If you join a yahoo group such as a BARF group, the members can probably help you locate a local source for tripe. There’s also canned tripe although not as good as raw tripe. Merrick and Solid Gold and Tripett have canned tripe. The pugs absolutely love tripe. They even get tripe spring chews instead of bully sticks. For raw tripe my boys eat 6 oz a day. For canned food they will eat one can a day.

How much BB were you feeding and which formula? When I used BB Wilderness the pugs only ate 2/3 cup a day total. One of my fosters lost 10 lbs on a diet consisting of canned food and raw food only. He started at 38 lbs.

[InkedMarie]

Thanks Sandy and Patty!
This class was mostly a joke, I’m so thankful it was only 2hrs long. I couldn’t even leave because Steve had dropped me off. When she started talking about alpha dogs, I wanted to be out of there. She never talked about raw foods but instead talked about cooked foods. Had Pitcairns (sp) books there so that was a good thing.
Someone brought up constipation in dogs and she mentioned chia seeds. She also mentioned psyllium but said some dogs don’t like the taste. I don’t know if you gals remember a couple weeks after we adopted Gemma, she was “stopped up”. I still don’t know if it was from eating a stone, from too much or too big bone in the Darwins she ate at the time or what. She has not had that problem again but it does take her awhile to poop. No straining but she does stand in the poop pose, for usually a couple minutes, before she goes. Stool is not hard, not soft, nicely formed. No idea what causes this but I wondered if the chia seed might be worth trying. She eats The Honest Kitchen’s Embark in the morning and Bravo Balance pre made raw in the afternoon. Gets various supplements and a dollop of pumpkin on top of her meals.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi JenRose –

You may want to consider a dehydrated food, it’s much easier to find dehydrated foods that are lower in protein and fat than canned foods. Dehydrated foods will have the same consistency as canned foods when re-hydrated (as I know MegaE dogs tend to do better on foods with a “gruel” consistency). Some options:

-Addiction: They have a line of dehydrated foods with protein levels ranging from 18% -22% and several options with under 15% fat.
-The Honest Kitchen’s Verve is 22.5% protein and 8.5% fat.
-Sojo’s has two formulas that both have 22% protein and 8% fat.
-I and Love and You has three dehydrated options with 22% protein and fat levels ranging from 8% – 10%.
-Only Natural Pet’s Easy Raw dehydrated foods have 22% – 23% protein and 8% – 10% fat.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi JillMcN –

Please be aware that using a pre-mix will not necessarily ensure that your dog is getting all the nutrients it needs. There are a few pre-mixes available that meet AAFCO nutrient profiles when prepared per instructions (The Honest Kitchen’s Preference, U-Stew, Urban Wolf, See Spot Live Longer Dinner Mix), but many have no claim of meeting the AAFCO’s nutrient standards and many of these – like Sojo’s, for example – don’t appear to be conplete and balanced when prepared according to the instructions. These unbalanced pre-mixes would be fine to use intermittently, but to feed long term you would need to know what supplements to add in order to balance the recipe. So if you’re planning on using a pre-mix long term, please make sure it meets the AAFCO’s nutrient standards.

The recipe you posted actually appears to be quite balanced, only a few things that I’d tweak. I’d cut the liver from 8 oz. to 4 oz. and give 4 oz. of another organ (kidney, lungs, spleen, etc.) I’d add another whole food supplement (such as alfalfa or wheatgrass) in addition to the kelp. I’d also highly recommend rotating in red meat for the poultry 50% of the time – this will help balance the fats as poultry is high in polyunsaturated fats (particularly linoleic acid) while red meat is high in saturated fats and low in polyunsaturated fats. Red meat is also much higher in iron and many micronutrients than poultry. There are several books available that contain complete and balanced recipes that are AAFCO compliant. “Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet” by Steve Brown is my favorite – the recipes are for raw food but could easily be converted to cooked by substituting muscle meat for any RMB’s and adding 800-1,000 mg. calcium per pound of meat.

[Hound Dog Mom]

There are several brands that manufacture pre-mixes. These are some of the most popular:

-The Honest Kitchen
-Sojo’s
-Grandma Lucy’s
-Urban Wolf
-Birkdale Pet Mix
-Dr. Harvey’s
-See Spot Live Longer Dinner Mixes
-U-Stew
-Wysong’s Call of the Wild

[InkedMarie]

NectarMom, I feed a variety but only after they are on one kibble for a whole bag, one Honest Kitchen for a whole box, etc. I see no reason why a dog should eat the same food day in and day out.

[Mom2Cavs]

I’ve found a great chew that my dogs love! They are small dogs so I buy the smaller size but the treats are made in a larger size, as well. These treats are The Honest Kitchen Beams….dried catfish skins! Even Lucy, who generally hates all chews and most treats, loves these!

[weimlove]

All of the brands you’ve been feeding are very low quality. The best diet for your dog is a raw diet. If you don’t want to go the raw route, try to find a kibble where atlesdt the first three ingredients are meat and that is grain free. Some quality brands are orijen, acana, taste of the wild, natures variety, and blue wilderness. Another great option is freeze dried food which all you do is add water and it re hydrates. A great one is the honest kitchen. When transitioning dry dog foods, gradually mix in the new food and then add more new food and less of your old brand over a one or two week period. If you are switching from a low quality to high quality, you may experience some loose stool at first, but you will be very happy because you don’t have to feed as much because there are more nutrients in higher quality foods. Hope that helps!

[Mom2Cavs]

I have Cavaliers, who by nature of the breed, can have heart problems. One of mine has a murmur, last time assessed at a grade 2. As far as I know, atm, the other one is currently fine. My oldest was heart clear until about 10 years old and then I was told she had a grade 5 murmur and probably heart disease. She actually never really had any problems of note, though, with her heart. She just recently passed to the bridge at 12 years old, but it wasn’t her heart….she had a neurological disease (SM) that Cavs also are prone to and that caused her death. Actually, having a Cavalier reach double digits in age is great! Anyway, on to your question……while I don’t feed a “heart diet” I do try to feed as top of the line food as I can (which my holistic vet is fine with). I know that prey raw or homemade is probably the best, but either is not my choice. I have fed a variety of different kinds of food over the years. I’ve fed premade raw, freeze dried raw, dehydrated raw, canned and kibble. I’m currently feeding Acana Singles (Duck & Pear or Lamb & Apple) topped with either Primal or Stella & Chewy’s freeze dried raw or The Honest Kitchen Embark. Sometimes I top with canned foods like Instinct, Wellness Stews, Weruva, etc. I was using Merrick grain free kibble until I had an issue with a bag of the Pork grain free (strange looking and colored kibble pieces caused diarrhea). I’ve also used Merrick canned but have decided to go away from them, too, as they contain carageenan, and ingredient I’m not too comfortable with. I do know about BPA in cans, as well, and that’s why I like the freeze dried or THK. With each kind of food I have often supplemented with a heart targeted supplement (again at the advice of my holistic vet, who btw carries Nature’s Variety in his clinic). Some of my favorites are: Bio Cardio, Cardio Strength, Nature’s Farmacy heartwise and Standard Process Cardio Support. I’ve also given pre/probiotics and enzymes which I think can’t hurt. The heart supplements often contain things like COQ10, hawthorn, taurine, L-Carnitine and omega 3’s. You could also supplement these things individually. Please note that I’m not a vet, but a furmom with babies that more often than not have heart issues. I hope this helps some and gives you something to think about. 🙂

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Judy –

Gertie (the dog in my avatar) travels with me. Last time we went on a trip we went to North Carolina. I packed her homemade raw meals in tupperware containers and packed them in a cooler with ice for the first few days of the trip. Whenever the ice started to melt I stopped and changed the ice and I made sure all the hotels I stayed in had refrigerators. For when that ran out (I brought enough for the first three days) I brought a pre-mix with measuring cups and dish soap to wash all my utensils and stopped at grocery stores to buy fresh ground hamburger and turkey – I just mixed it up in my hotel room and kept it in the fridge. My other two dogs stay with my parents when I travel and I leave them with The Honest Kitchen. Freeze-dried, as Jan mentioned, would be a great option for traveling as well if you have a smaller dog. Unfortunately it’s not practical for a 70 lb. bloodhound like Gertie that eats 2,500+ calories per day – I priced it out before the trip and it would cost me over $500 a week lol

[Mom2Cavs]

Hi Judy! I don’t feed the premade raw atm, but I used to. When I traveled and took the dogs I fed either the freeze dried version of the premade raw or a dehydrated food, like The Honest Kitchen. I’m currently using freeze dried raw and thinking about buying some of The Honest Kitchen, as well. I usually use it to top my dogs’ kibble but sometimes I will just feed a meal solely of the FD or THK.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi thesamster –

I wouldn’t look for a large breed specific food – large, medium and small breeds don’t have different nutritional requirements, size/breed specific formulas are just marketing. I also would focus on finding a high quality (high protein) low fat food and not worry about the fiber content of the food, the fiber can be added as a supplement (either psyllium or plain pumpkin). High quality low fat foods are few and far between which is why I recommend just worrying about the fat and protein level and supplementing the fiber, if you also look for high fiber you’ll likely end up having to settle for a lower quality food. In order to reduce the fat content most companies remove most of the meat and replace it with filler (grains, starch), there are only a few foods available that keep the fat levels low while keeping the protein levels (meat) levels high. Some low fat 5 star foods: Wysong Epigen Original, Venison and Fish formulas (all 11% fat), Wysong Epigen 90 (12% fat), California Natural Grain-Free Chicken (12% fat), Wellness Core Reduced Fat (10% fat), Blue Buffalo Wildnerness Healthy Weight (10% fat), The Honest Kitchen Zeal (9% fat), Grandma Lucy’s Pureformance Chicken (9% fat), Annamaet Lean (8% fat) and Acana Light and Fit Fit (10% fat).

[Hound Dog Mom]

Okay, in that case your vet’s suggestion makes sense. A liver shunt would be one of the rare instances in which a low protein diet would be preferable.

I would suggest checking out Addiction. They use high quality ingredients, however their foods are fairly low in protein. They have several dehydrated foods ranging from 18% – 22% protein. Sojo’s has 2 dehydrated formulas that are 23% protein. California Natural’s grain-free venison is 21.5% protein, the kangaroo formula is 21% protein and the lamb is 21% protein. The Honest Kitchen’s Keen is 21% protein and Verve is 22.5% protein. Blue Buffalo Basics grain-free is 22% protein.

[BryanV21]

I would indeed stay away from common ingredients, particularly chicken, lamb, and beef. However, I would dump the Royal Canin as soon as possible. Your vet probably put your dog on it as it doesn’t contain any meat/animal-based protein, which is fine as that should allow your dog to heal up from the allergic reaction. But I would NOT feed it long-term, since dogs should be fed meat.

You can search the 5 star foods here at DFA, then weed out the ones that contain chicken. Some may not be available in your area, but you can always find places on the net to buy it for little or no shipping cost.

If you have questions about specific foods, then feel free to ask. But make sure to put it in the proper forum, so that way it’s seen by more people.

And FYI, here are a few I’d suggest if you were in my store, as they are grain free and don’t contain any chicken, lamb, or beef…

Merrick Grain Free Duck or Pork
Zignature Trout & Salmon or Turkey
Acana Pacifica

You may want to check out a dehydrated/freeze-dried food such as those made by Honest Kitchen and Grandma Lucy’s, or even raw.

[tina b]

My 3 1/2 year old Lab, Major, has suffered from bloat and intestinal issues since he was 6 months old. He had GDV surgery at months’ when he bloated and his stomach twisted…he’s also had 2 bouts of HGE to date and has had daily issues with diarrhea, watery stools, bloat, smelly gas, rumbling intestines, etc.

Major doesn’t have SIBO or EPI…all tests come back negative for infections and worms. Major is basically “healthy,” but his vets conclude in addition to bloat he has either IBS or IBD. They want to confirm this diagnosis via biopsies…but I don’t see the need to put my dog thru that considering he already has issues with sensitive intestines.

Major has seen great success switching to Nature’s Variety Instinct. My vet put him on an Iams probiotic Prostora, it helped, but didn’t fix all of his ailments…and it is costly $$150 monthly, so the vet switched him to OTC Culturelle, and it seems to work at least as good as the Prostora. His diarrhea stopped when I added pumpkin to his daily diet (2T 3x daily) and Perfect Form by The Honest Kitchen (1 1/4 tsp 2x daily). He still has smelly gas and gurgling intestines, and I’m thinking I need to add digestive enzymes. Since Major sometimes strains to go to the bathroom, yet produces nothing…has had HGE…and has smelly gas (from fermenting protein)…I feel like the answer might be dietary enzymes.

Has anyone ever had a dog with these issues and used a dietary enzyme with success? If so, please recommend one…I’ve read a lot of information, but there are so many it’s hard to choose the “right” one.

Thanks for the help, Tina

[tina b]

Panda…

My 8 year old lab used to lick her feet ALL. THE. TIME. We switched to a grain free with no potatoes and it helped, but the miracle was Grizzly Salmon Oil. Within two weeks she had completely stopped licking her feet and her coat became super-silky over the next couple of months. It was like magic. We feed her according to the package…3 pumps squirted directly on her evening meal.

Also, I have a 3 1/2 year old lab, Major, who has suffered from bloat and other intestinal issues since he was 6 months old. One of the issues is diarrhea…in fact, he has had 2 bouts of HGE where he came close to dying. In the past few months, Major has started eating Nature’s Variety Instinct and taking probiotics…but he still had daily diarrhea and often times it was like brown water. I added 2 T pumpkin puree to each of his three meals daily. The pumpkin was the key to ending the watery stools…but he still had frequent diarrhea. I purchased a can of Perfect From from The Honest Kitchen…and HOLY COW! No more diarrhea…it’s been two weeks and his stools are perfect. (Yes, I spend way to much time looking at doggie stools…but when you have a pup with issues, I guess it becomes “normal”…lol) I add 1 1/4t (mixed with just enough water to make a paste) and put it on top of his food. Because the paste looks and tastes like dirt…I put the pumpkin on top of the paste…Major heartily eats it with no problem. I wish I would have discovered Perfect Form 3 years ago.

[InkedMarie]

Gemma has been here 3 weeks tomorrow (she’s a 9.5yr old sheltie) and this past week, she has finally come around. I’m pretty sure the foster person told us what we wanted to hear. I have a feeling, from how she acts, that she was either an outside dog or spent a great deal of time in a crate, or both. If anyone remembers, she had her remaining teeth removed a few days before we got her. I am pretty safe to say she wasn’t well cared for in her last home and I don’t think in her foster home either (she was there for two months or so). They claimed she loved kids, loved other dogs, was housebroken, etc. She IS great with kids, she lights up when one of my grandaughters walks in. Other dogs? Wants nothing to do with them. When we went to meet her & Mitch, the other available sheltie, they didn’t interract with each other and we were told they lived together. Housebroken? Nope. I realize dogs have accidents in new homes but just by some things she’s done, I don’t think she was ever truly housebroken. We don’t care, we have all hardwood but she’s doing much better, no accidents this week.
I don’t think she was ever allowed on laps. We pick her up because she doesn’t seem able to jump up on the chairs….her hips are a bit arthritic and her front legs look kind of “bull doggy”, if you know what I mean. We’ll bring that up at the holistic vet appointment she has in a week. So, we put her on our laps and for the first week or more, she sat up, uneasy. Slowly, she started laying down, then finally sleeping on us. I think she finally realized she is home and safe with us.
Eating is fine. We had an issue last week, can’t remember if I mentioned it here but she couldn’t poop. I don’t know if it was the food (Grandma Lucys at that time), the raw (Darwins) or what. She ended up at the vets and needed an enema. The day after this happened, I saw her put stones in her mouth (we have stones, 1/2″, in our kennel). We now have astroturf stuff over the stones, no more stones for her! I was told that Bravo has smaller bone pieces than Darwins so I will be starting her on that next week and we changed from the chunky Grandma Lucys to The Honest Kitchen.
A little interesting thing: I was scrolling thru FB last week, saw someone I know with a sheltie. Had to ask about the dog. Long story short, the dog is Mitch, the other available dog we met, with a new name. The foster home is over an hour away yet the adopter of Jamie aka Mitch lives five minutes away! They are supposed to come and visit tomorrow but since we’re having a blizzard, I don’t know if that’ll happen.
Anyway, thats my update.

[PennyLanesMom]

You may want to try the Honest Kitchen’s Zeal. It is hypoallergenic, made with fish, and low fat – high protein. Freeze dried, no chemicals. I wish our dog could tolerate it and liked the taste of it. Seems like an amazing food!

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi sheeklouch –

Orijen is a wonderful food (it’s actually the best dry food out there – imo), however (unfortunately) none of their formulas are appropriate for large breed puppies – they are all much too high in calcium. For this reason, I’ve never fed Orijen to any of my pups but I have fed it to my adult with great success.

Gertie my now two year old female ate The Honest Kitchen (Zeal, Love, Thrive) and Tripett until she was 8 months old. Mabel, my newest addition, who just turned 7 months old has been on a controlled calcium homemade raw diet since she came to me at 8 weeks (my other two dogs eat raw now as well).

I think that most dogs do well on high protein foods (Gertie and Mabel both ate >40% protein on average) – if your dog is having loose stools with high protein foods I’d suggest trying a spoonful of plain canned pumpkin, a multi-strain probiotic and digestive enzymes at each meal.

Assuming you want to stick with a dry food, here is a list of recommended foods. Sometimes it’s trial and error and you may need to try a few foods before you find on that works for your dog. Some dogs are just more sensitive than others.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwApI_dhlbnFY183Q0NVRXlidWc/edit

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi sharyorkie –

I’m not sure what your budget is – but raw, homemade, fresh cooked (like Fresh Pet), dehydrated (like The Honest Kitchen), freeze-dried raw, air-dried (like Ziwi Peak) and canned foods all seem to appeal to picky dogs more than kibble. They are all more expensive to feed than kibble, but also healthier and more species-appropriate.

If you need to stick with kibble, I’d recommend trying something like Tripett (canned green tripe) – you can add just a spoonful or so to some warm water, mash it up to make some gravy and then completely coat the kibble. I’ve never heard of a dog that didn’t love green tripe. I’d try this trick with any of the 4 or 5 star kibbles.

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I feed Grandma Lucy’s Artisan and Pureformance. I LOVE these foods, but I’m confused as to how cooked they are. It would be nice if GL’s website could be more clear on which ingredients are raw – if any – and how processed others are.

Anyways, Pureformance uses peas and no potatoes and might have slightly more protein. The lack of potatoes is what makes me use it more than Artisan but I sitll gladly use Artisan. The dogs love both. What I like is the consistency after hydration is strong and firm and ‘blob’-like, so the dogs can suck it up very well without having to lick the bowl and get their noses dirty. This is in comparison to The Honest Kitchen, which my dogs get extremely dirty faces as they try to lick the mush up.

Compared to the prices of similar foods, Grandma Lucy’s is a good choice.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi dave and AngieH –

The difficult thing with colitis is that it can have many different causes and it can be acute or chronic. Dietary changes often can help ease the symptoms of colitis. Most dogs with colitis respond well to increased levels of dietary fiber and/or a hypoallergenic diet. Many dogs with colitis also seem to better tolerate foods that are lower in fat. When trying a new food make sure that you don’t feed anything else to your dog during the trial period (no treats!) and give the diet three to six weeks to see if there is improvement (remember, the improvement won’t be immediate and in some cases your dog’s diarrhea can even worsen in the initial stages of the switch as the dog is becoming accustomed to the new food).

For increasing the fiber level, rather then looking specifically for a high-fiber food, I would recommend just adding some canned pumpkin or psyllium to a high quality food. Both are high in fiber and will increase the overall fiber content of the food being fed.

For choosing a hypoallergenic diet you want to pick a food that has a protein source and carbohydrate source (if applicable) that your dog has never been exposed to. Making a homemade food is a great option here.

Two supplements I would definitely start immediately
1. Probiotics – these will help replenish the good bacteria in the dog’s digestive tract and keep pathenogenic bacteria in check.
2. Digestive Enzymes – These will give the dog a boost in digesting their food so the dog’s already stressed digestive system doesn’t have to work as hard at producing its own enzymes.

Some other supplements you may want to try that have proved successful for some dogs suffering from colitis:
1. L-glutamine – An amino acid that helps to repair the mucosal lining of the digestive tract.
2. Slippery Elm – An herb that helps to sooth the digestive tract and relieve inflammation.

I think in the case of colitis, that a high quality home-prepared diet would be best and most easily customizable to the dog’s individual needs. However, here are some commercial foods that are hypo-allergenic and lower in fat that may be worth considering:
1. The Honest Kitchen’s Zeal – Dehydrated, fish-based food, 9% fat on a dry-matter basis.
2. Grandma Lucy’s Pureformance Rabbit – Freeze-dried food, 15% fat on a dry-matter basis.
3. Nature’s Variety Instinct – Limited Ingredient dry foods are all under 20% fat on a dry-matter basis and include a turkey, duck and lamb variety.
4. Addiction’s Dry Foods – salmon-based, venison-based and lamb-based options, all around 13% fat on a dry-matter basis.
5. Addiction Dehydrated Foods – brush-tail, kangaroo, venison, lamb offerings, all around 9% fat on a dry-matter basis.
6. Addiction Canned Foods – brushtail, venison and salmon are only 10% fat on a dry-matter basis.
7. Great Life – Dry foods Buffalo Rx and Duck Rx are both 13% fat on a dry-matter basis.
8. Tiki Dog – canned food with some low fat hypoallergenic options.
9. California Natural Grain-Free – kangaroo, salmon, lamb and venison options, all 13% fat or less on a dry-matter basis.

*Some of the foods I recommended are a little low in protein for my taste, unfortunately when feeding a commercial food most of the foods that are lower in fat and that contain a novel protein also contain less overall meat and thus less protein – this is why I think homemade is the best option. If you are feeding one of the lower protein dehydrated or kibbled foods I’d highly recommend adding one of the recommended canned foods to boost the overall protein content. Also, this is not an exhaustive list – check out the foods Dr. Mike has reviewed on DFA and you’ll likely be able to find more – these are just some brands that first came to mind.

Good luck!

[Mom2Cavs]

I would second HDM….The Honest Kitchen is a “wet” diet after it’s hydrated and I think its ingredients are stellar! I would use it, but my crew just doesn’t like the “garlicy” smell of it. Like I said before, I use canned and freeze dried raw that’s been rehydrated for extra moisture.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi risuchan –

If the two foods you are considering are The Honest Kitchen and Flint River Ranch I would DEFINITELY go with The Honest Kitchen. THK is one of only two pet foods that are certified human-grade and it’s minimally processed (much more species-appropriate than kibble). I fed two of my dogs a rotation of Love, Zeal, Embark and Thrive for about 6 months before switching them to a raw diet – it’s a great food. FRR is mediocre and incredibly overpriced for what it is – with FRR you’re paying a premium price for a mid-grade food, THK is expensive too but at least with THK you get what you pay for.

[risuchan]

Thanks for the replies so far! Here’s an update: only struvites, no infection or bacteria, so the vet wants her to switch food. She of course put her on science diet C/D, and I will have her on it for the two weeks until the recheck but no longer than it takes to clear up the current crystals, so after that I am still looking for a new food. So far I am considering Honest Kitchen and FRR. Thanks for any more input y’all can give!