[lovemypuppy]

I’ve tried warm water, I’ve tried hot water, I’ve tried cold water, lol.

Thankfully, the raw food diet is continuing to go great! She is gaining weight and her coat already looks much better. Her stools are healthy, consistent, and they stink less. Her gas is less than it was on quality kibble and the stink isn’t there. My guess is it’s the apple cider vinegar and the natural enzymes in the food that are taking the smell away.

I need to figure out how to load a picture on here. I have pictures on my phone but don’t know how to get them onto my computer. I need to figure it out soon 🙂

[Kate F]

Thanks for all the great questions and it’s wonderful to hear about all the dogs doing well on our food! Here are some initial responses to some of the questions but I also encourage you to give us a call so we can get more in-depth answers for you: 866-437-9729

@Dog_Obsessed:
For a more active dog, we recommend increasing the ratio of meat to the dry mix. This provides more calories from the protein and fat, and less of the fruits and veggies, which offer less calories per gram. The guidelines are offered as a place to start and we strongly believe that each and every dog is an individual. So, we recommend that you start with these amounts and then adjust in time to suit your dog’s individual dog’s needs.

You may increase the ratio of meat to base mix by as much as 2:1, two parts meat to 1 part dry mix. You may also increase the total amount of both meat and base mix as needed, as long as you feed within our recommended ratios, which will keep the nutrients in balance. The minimum is 1:1, maximum 2:1 (meat:base mix). If fed within our recommended ratios, you may create a meal that meets AAFCO guidelines.

If Lily needs more than what is recommended, please feel free to increase her daily portion to suit her calorie needs.

@cheryl-pepper-millie-belle:
It may be helpful to know that the stool created from a diet of colorful whole foods will naturally be more colorful, too! It will not look the same as a the stool created by a homogenous dry kibble or a mostly meat raw diet. A whole food diet allows the GI system to efficiently absorb the nutrients the body needs and move the rest on out, including the insoluble fiber in fresh fruits and veggies. Your dog’s overall body condition and health will determine if he/she is getting the nutrients they need.

While most dogs with a healthy and balanced digestive tract are easily able to digest and assimilate the nutrients from our dehydrated whole foods, some may need a little help. If the GI tract has been compromised in any way due to a variety of chronic ailments, courses of antibiotics, medications, stress, etc., the addition of digestive enzymes and probiotics can help a dog regain balance and the overall strength of the GI system.

For Pepper, it may help to blend the mix using a food processor or blender prior to feeding to break the larger pieces down a bit. I’ve heard a few customer doing this for their very sensitive pups and it works great! We’re happy to hear that Pepper is doing well with the food!

Hope this helps! -Kate, THK

[Kimberly C]

Wow Dori! Thanks for sharing……I’m definitely starting to feel more comfortable about feeding raw. However, I live in a small town and sometimes order his food online. We have a Petsmart not too far off, but we don’t get out that way much. Which flavor of the raw instinct do you use, and do you buy the freeze dried or the frozen? And I saw you mentioned The Honest Kitchen “Zeal”…did your dogs take to this flavor pretty well? My Pepe is a very finicky eater, but I’ve got to get him on a better diet. Also, what do you think of Stella freeze dried?

[Kimberly C]

Hi Dori….looks like you have a dog similar to mine…is yours a Maltese? I have a Maltipoo. I’ve had other dogs in the past, both big and small, but have never had a dog with seizures until I got my maltipoo. He is almost 4 years old and most of his problems started about 2 years ago…..it has been one heck of a rollercoaster ride and many trips to the vet, however, I wouldn’t trade him for anything…..he is such a joy to have even with all the challenges. I was glad to hear you mention not giving him grains because that seems to be such a controversial subject. I’ve been wanting to try him on raw food, but like you, I don’t want to prepare it myself. The Raw Instinct sounds like a good start as well as using a rotational diet…..just makes sense.

[Dori]

Hi Kimberly C. It sounds as though your dog is having food intolerances/sensitivities. First off he should be on grain free foods. Avoid corn, soy, white potatoes, rice and all poultry. That’s for starters. You also mention that your dog has seizures. Very important is to avoid any foods that contain rosemary in any form.

I have three small dogs all of which are on commercial raw dog foods. One of my girls has a multitude of food intolerances which is what led me on the road to raw feeding about three years ago. I started by eliminating all the ingredients I mentioned above. I feed commercial raw foods. I’m not inclined to make my own because, well…. truth be told I just don’t feel like doing it. Here is the list of commercial raw food companies that I have researched to death over the years and that I trust. Primal Raw Pronto, Primal Raw Formulas (these are Primal’s complete and balanced foods…you don’t have to add anything to them in the way of supplements). Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw Dog Foods, Vital Essential Raw Foods, OC Raw Dog Food, Answer’s Detailed Raw Frozen. I also from time to time have on hand their freeze dried foods (they’re raw and you can feed as is without hydrating). As for dehydrated foods, the only one I use is The Honest Kitchen’s Zeal formula. The others contain some type of poultry or white potatoes that I choose not to feed. I feed what is called a rotational diet. I rotate different brands and different proteins within the brands with the exception of any and all poultry. I also do not feed any commercial treats. For the most part they all contain some sort of grain and there have been way too many recalls of dog treats for me to take a chance with my dogs. For treats I feed them little pieces of fruits and vegetables. Sometimes I puree them. Sometimes they’re cooked from our dinner. For the most part since I use them as treats for them I’m not particularly concerned about how much nutritional value they get from the fruits and veggies. The enjoy them, as they would a commercial treat, and that is my intent in giving them to them. If they get some nutritional value from them, even a little, that’s great; if not, that’s not the purpose I give them the treats. Of course you know you can go on google and just google what fruits and vegetables you can feed your dogs or go in reverse and type in what fruits and veggies you should not be feeding your dogs. Always, of course avoid onions, grapes, raisins. As for fruits, never feed anything that still has it’s pit or seeds. They tend to be toxic. As for apples I always don’t feed the peel. Apples are sprayed continuously to detract worms. They are also highly waxed to appear pretty for the consumer. I think I read somewhere, but don’t now remember where, that the skin of an apple has more bacteria than any other fruit on the market. That would probably hold true for cucumbers on the market due to the same reasons. I feed both but I peel them. Hope any of this has helped you. If you have any other questions, please ask.

Please remember to check any and all foods you feed your seizure dog so that you avoid rosemary in any form. Studies have shown (in people so far as no study has been done in animals as of yet) that if one has a predisposition to seizures, rosemary can trigger a seizure.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 1 month ago by Dori.

[Kimberly C]

I want to try raw for my seizure dog, but am highly concerned about the quality of the commercial ones. However, I don’t want to prepare it myself. I have researched and researched soooo much and spent a small fortune on dog food, homemade diets, etc. My dog loves the homemade cooked recipes I cook for him, but hates the supplements I have to add to balance it out. He doesn’t seem to thrive on anything…..he scratches, has ear problems, chews his feet, you name it. So, the only option I seem to have left is raw, although it does scare me……guess I’m looking for support and reassurance.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 1 month ago by Kimberly C.

[Sam D]

Hi all,
We have a 15 week old Aussie and he’s been doing well on his rotating diet. I want to get him used to different foods but I also don’t want to upset his stomach. So far he’s been tolerating the following pretty well.

Mon-Fri – Kibble Taste of the Wild Puppy. Sometimes his kibble dinner is topped with TOTW canned food or Merrick canned food.

Sat & Sun – RAW – Either instinct raw frozen bites (turkey or beef) with Honest Kitchen Topper OR Aunt Jenni’s raw (turkey or beef)

1-2 days a week I’ll give him a lunch of canned Tripett

His 30lb bag of Taste of the Wild Kibble is almost up and I wanted to get Orijen large breed puppy. Does this seem like overkill on variety? We watch his stools. When he’s on raw his stools are dark, hard and once or twice a day. Kibble he poops up to 4 times a day. More gassy on the kibble too.
THANKS!!!!

[Lyndel M]

Hi Gloria,

Yes, there is certainly a lot of confusion amongst the raw and the cooked dog food camps. I have been reading heaps about it. Those in the raw food camp put forward for the raw food diet. I shall do my best to summarise a few of the key points that are important to me. First, they say that the dog’s metabolism has changed very little from the wolves, the original wild dogs. They suggest that when we provide our dogs with the right proportions of meats, organ meats, vegetables, fruit matter and bones, they’re digestive systems have the best chance of exacting the nutrients they need for shiny coats, healthier skin and teeth, stronger bones, and decreased chances of modern-day ailments and diseases that dogs in the wild rarely if ever have. Some of these ailments include itching, skin irritations, including dryness, fleas, hip dysplasia and arthritis.

In the other camp, there is some criticism of the raw diet saying that giving a dog only food i.e., meats risks feeding contaminated food, that people don’t take enough care in raw food preparation, that dogs today have evolved to adjust to modern (cooked, commercial) food and that dogs are at moderate – high risk of injuries from bone which become lodged in the throat or gut.

I am definitely against using any commercial dog foods. There are some great you-tube documentaries disclosing the shocking truth about the poor quality of nutrition of kibble and canned dog foods and the associated illnesses. In addition, that most Vets receive very little real knowledge of nutrition in their veterinarian studies and are just as influenced by the unregulated marketing and commercial dog food producers as GPs are by drug companies.

Regardless, Jean Hofve & Celeste Yarnall “Paleo Dog” is one book that has been recommended provide excellent information for providing your dog with all of the information needed to provide our dogs with all of the nutrients required and how to do so, if we want to go down the raw food pathway. Also there is the BARF raw foods that you can purchase and other online info about this pathway. And there are heaps of recipes for cooking our dogs food as well. Andi Brown “The Whole Pet Diet: 8 wks to great health for dogs and cats”, which is also excellent for going down the cooked food pathway. They both recommend certain supplements and they both provide enough evidence to suggest that just like for humans, if we give our pets fresh wholesome, organic foods (either raw or cooked) we will be doing our beloved pets a great service.

Given I have been a passionate advocate of healthy, unprocessed foods for more 40years, I certainly want to extend this to my pet. People on this post have just been concerned that I was being cruel to our new puppy for placing his food into chewtoys. However, I made the mistake of saying that we would be putting all of his daily foods into chewtoys, whereas that won’t be the case. But I will definitely using chewtoys together with crate training, self-soothing, stimulation and entertainment as I mentioned in my previous post. I am definitely not an expert, but a concerned pet owner who has done lots and lots of reading in order to do the best by our new puppy in terms of nutrition and training. All the best!! :0)

[Rebekah W]

I have a 5 year old Chihuahua and his health was not very good so I decided to look into getting him a better brand of food. I stumbled across a raw food diet for dogs in which you bass the weight of your animal to how much raw meat they eat. I’ve heard many miracle stories about this diet where animals who have cancerous tumors which are expanding. Once they started the diet, their tumors stopped expanding. So I decided to give the diet a try and I created a website to show my progress!
http://pudders-chow-time.weebly.com
Check out my website if you want to hear my story with the raw food diet and get a schedule for the food plan.

[Lyndel M]

Hi again,

Thank you for all of your comments. However, can I say that I was responding to another member’s query as to how to stuff chew toys when she is using a raw food diet and I provided with options from my own my own research and provided a link.
However, given some of the confusion that, i) it is cruel to make a puppy work so hard for its food by giving all of its food in a chewtoy, ii) that they can’t get all of their nutritional needs met from a chewtoy due to the difficulty of getting all of food out, especially the raw meat out; iv) the raw food may go off or the chew toy become contaminated with raw food left in there and cleaning difficulties etc. Yes! I agree to most of those responses.
A puppy has very specific needs indeed. He/she needs a balance of 70% protein, 20% carbs !0% veg/fibre. Their protein should also include 10% organ meat, with only 5% of that being organic liver.
I am going on my own research and as most of your know there are many benefits to using stuffable chew toys and food puzzles. Dr Ian Dunbar (a UK vet and one of the first positive dog trainers) recommends that for the first few days to a week only feeding you puppy either by hand or in chew toys to teach them i) bite inhibition;ii) to teach the a chewtoy habit so they only chew on appropriate chew toys. However, in his day in the 80’s kibble was viewed as the best food for all dogs and he did feel his puppy’s chewtoys with kibble.

We do not intend to feed all of my puppy’s meals in a kong and we will not be leaving our puppy unsupervised…ever! We have used chew toys with previous pets and of course know the importance of cleaning. While our puppy is getting positively conditioned to his portable crate, his chew toys will be in there for him to chew on for entertainment and teaching him to self-sooth for those times in the future when he will need to be on his own. Outside of his crate (which by the way, will only be used in this way for the first few weeks), his food will be hand fed and given as treats in his training sessions.

I have found and spoken to a holistic vet in my area and will of course be guided by her expertise. We will also be supplying certain omega -3 & 6 rich oils for a shiny coat and skin health and other vitamin supplements. We love and have always loved dogs, however, this will be the first time that we will be introducing raw food into the diet after our growing awareness of how poor the quality (even premium) commercial dog foods are. Given the controversy around raw vs cooked food, my partner and I have decided to offer a mixture of both home cooked and raw food.

As most of you know that daily physical exercise is essential for a healthy pet, I am a big advocate of not allowing our pet just sit all day with nothing to do except sleep and wait anxiously for us to come home for his walk. So chewtoys are great for reducing anxiety and boredom and providing mental stimulation.

As our pup grows, we will of course be providing some of his meals in bowls and some in puzzles, kongs etc and some still by hand.

It is great to see though that some of you who are concerned about the issue of animal cruelty are being outspoken about this, we are all definitely on the same page there. I am passionate about preventing cruelty to all animals and humans. Have a good day!

[Kate F]

Hi everyone! Kate from The Honest Kitchen here. I just wanted to help try and clear up any confusion. All of our diets (excluding base mixes) are complete meals that are balanced to AAFCO standards. This means you can feed them as stand alone diets and know that they have the appropriate amounts of nutrients – including protein – that dogs need. If you want to look at the specific nutrient breakdown, you can find the nutrient profiles here: http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/help-center/nutrient-profiles/

The reason that you can’t actually see pieces of meat or fish is because we ground our protein down to almost a powder so that it is evenly distributed throughout the recipe. This ensures that every scoop of food will have protein in – whereas if it was chunks, they could all settle at the bottom of the box and you wouldn’t always have the right amt of protein in every meal.

Our base mixes are different in that those DO require a protein to be added. The base mixes have a balanced amount of nutrients and vitamins except protein – so that all you need to add is meat or fish (cooked or raw) and know that you are feeding your dog a complete diet. This takes the guess work out of trying to feed a raw diet and wondering if your dog is getting all the nutrients it needs. These recipes are great for raw feeders, people who like to make homemade diets or dogs that have severe allergies & can only eat specific proteins like rabbit.

Please feel free to give us a call at any time and we can discuss this in more detail with you. Our customer service team is amazing and happy to answer any questions. 866-437-9729

Hope this helps!

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

I would add 25% of the commercial raw to his diet for say 1-2 weeks, transitioning is a personal thing, some can do it rt away, some not.
But in my opinion with raw I would do it slowly, say after 1 week cut back on the blue buffalo by say another 25%,add more raw, see how his tummy takes to the new food. Also monitor his stool for any change, if you see a change cut back on raw & wait until his stomach settles down.
You might want to add a probiotic or digestive enzyme during the transition -the honest kitchen makes a so called transition enabler called “Perfect Form” which worked for me. TheHonestKitchen.com
I will check back later to see if you have more questions, 1 of my angels needs her walk ,so i must go.
Good luck

[Dori]

My concern aquariangt with the OP is that she is talking about a puppy that she will be getting in a couple of weeks. Feeding out of a Kong is perfectly acceptable to me as are slow feeding bowls for adult dogs, not puppies. Puppies have needs that must be met by feeding three or four times a day. She has also stated that she wants to feed a raw diet. In my opinion it is completely inappropriate to have raw food for a puppy stuffed into a Kong not knowing how long the food will be in the Kong while the puppy tries to figure out how to get it out and if, in fact, the puppy is even capable of getting it all out and then there is the problem of thoroughly cleaning the inside of the Kong. I have no issues whatsoever if she wants to hold out one of the puppies daily meal and put that into a kong (only if it’s a dehydrated or freeze dried food). I love Kong’s . I use them myself for my three. I make up a batch of dehydrated and freeze them. They are a great source of entertainment for dogs of all ages. I just want to make sure that the rest of the days meal the puppies nutritional and caloric needs are met.

[Katrene J]

Hi, I have an 8 yo, male English Springer with the same problem everyone here is describing. My sweet guy started with the gulps about 5 years ago. The frequency at first was once every 3-4 months. It gradually increased to every 2 weeks or so. Or it had up until last November [2014]. Since November he’s had two bouts and both were mild – no deeply scared, frantic grass-eating dog those two times. He was definitely uncomfortable and seemed kinda worried it might get worse but a little throat massage and he could go back to sleep.

Like a lot of folks on this and a couple of other wonderful, helpful forums, I’ve tried a ton of things and even thought at times we had the problem solved, only to find a few weeks or a month later that I was wrong and had to go back to the drawing board. It’s been 3 1/2 months now since Tommy’s had a bad night. Instead of the predicted 7 or so episodes you’d figure he’d have had at the every-other-week frequency, there were only the two mild ones. I changed only one thing.

Now it may be another wild goose chase in the end but with a hiatus of almost 4 months I figured it’s worth sharing the change we made at this point. I hope it can help another dog. The last thing I want thought, is to give anyone false hope. This may be something or it may be nothing and we all know that each dog is so very different what works well for one may do nothing for another.

With that part out of the way let me tell you what has worked so far for Tom. Back in early Nov Tommy and I were up with a night of the gulps. I scanned the web for any new info that might have been shared since his last bout of the gulps. One person had posted. She [I think] said the only thing that worked for her dog was Pepcid Complete – not regular Pepcid, Not Tums. Only the Complete formula helped. I didn’t have any Pepcid complete on hand so I went online to check the ingredients. It turned out that Pepcid Complete is basically Pepcid plus Tums plus magnesium. Those things I did have on the shelf. I gave Tom the equivalent. He shortly seemed somewhat better. Not good enough so we could go back to bed but somehow less worried, less desperate.

I started to research Magnesium. I had had it on hand for leg and foot cramps. It’s amazing for relieving muscle spasms. Could a throat spasm be part of the gulps problem? The dogs do seem to be gulping like they’re trying to swallow something stuck in their throats… One friend had had success with a very powerful anti spasmodic years ago with her gulps dog, an Aussie. A magnesium deficiency could be a cause of GERD too, I’d read. There sure seems to be some stomach problem with the gulps too… It seemed worth investigating.

I’m NOT a vet nor do I play one on television so please take what follows with that understanding. First I took some magnesium myself as a supplement. That went ok and I learned that, as mentioned in the research, too much creates loose stools. Good – that gave me a gauge to know when to cut back.

I began to give Tom magnesium as a supplement. This is plain magnesium we’re talking about here, nothing fancy. It’s regular grocery store magnesium, 250 mg tablets. Started Tom on it slowly, etc. He weighs about 55#. When he was getting one 250 mg tablet in the morning and two 250s at night I held it there. His stools were still fine and that dosage felt right – not a scientific reason but sometimes I think my subconscious notices things my conscious mind doesn’t and I’ve earned to pay attention.

Since being on that regimen of 250mg AM and 500mg PM Tom has had only the two bouts of the gulps that I mentioned earlier. One was over Christmas when I’d backed off on the Mg to about half the dose for a few days [we were guests and the loose stool potential was weighing heavily on my mind!]. The second was about a month ago. That was the time I never had to even wake up completely. He began soft gulping but was only mildly concerned. I gently messaged his throat for a minute or two. He sighed and curled up next to me. We both went back to sleep. One more momentary massage about 4 hrs later and the gulps were over.

My gut feeling is that some dogs have or develop a magnesium deficiency. If that’s the case Tom’s may have started when I had to take him off a raw diet. Or it may be it’s that the land that grows our food is so magnesium poor at this point the dogs are simply not getting enough no matter what they’re fed. Whatever the cause, for Tom at least so far, the magnesium supplement seems to be working. He and I both hope our experiences can help someone else’s good dog.

[Nancy A]

I would like to nominate Small Batch Dog Food. The company is based in San Francisco and sources its food ingredients from sustainably raised cows, chickens, turkeys, lamb and rabbits; and the produce is organically grown. It is a raw food diet that is frozen and comes in patties for larger dogs and sliders for smaller dogs.

[InkedMarie]

I feed ground raw, prey model diet. I don’t think dogs need fruits & veggies in their diet. I buy grinds from Hare Today & Reel Raw. RR has free shipping; the amount you must buy depends where you live. RR has four different complete & balanced meals: chicken, turkey, beef, pork and a mix of all. Hare has a better selection of proteins & a good amount of boneless. I have one 33 pounder who gets about 3.5 bony plus about an ounce of boneless per meal.

[BulldogMom]

Hi all! My puppy is 8 weeks and I’m wanting to get away from the dry dog food and feed him a raw diet. I’ve been researching for hours and I cannot find a good raw recipe to start him on. It seems like everyone just feeds in whole rather than mixing… I did find one recipe with ground beef and rice but I’m wanting something with chicken, veggies, fruit, etc. Can someone PLEASE help me? I have no idea where to start. I need some recipes, a menu, something! I’m feeling absolutely discouraged. I was looking for something I could freeze in bulk rather than spending a ton of money on whole chicken, turkey, etc. for different days.

He’s an 8 week old American bulldog.

Thanks in advance!

[BulldogMom]

Hi all! My puppy is 8 weeks and I’m wanting to get away from the dry dog food and feed him a raw diet. I’ve been researching for hours and I cannot find a good raw recipe to start him on. It seems like everyone just feeds in whole rather than mixing… I did find one recipe with ground beef and rice but I’m wanting something with chicken, veggies, fruit, etc. Can someone PLEASE help me? I have no idea where to start. I need some recipes, a menu, something! I’m feeling absolutely discouraged. I was looking for something I could freeze in bulk rather than spending a ton of money on whole chicken, turkey, etc. for different days.

He’s an 8 week old American bulldog.

Thanks in advance!

[kgoble78]

Hi! I’m a newbie who needs help. A little background… I have a weimaraner named Ruby who will be 5 yrs old May 8th. Originally she was on Nature’s Recipe Healthy Skin formula due to her having a skin allergy that we think is because of a tall weed like fungus that likes heat (I live in the South) and has a black powdery top that when you touch it it makes a black powder on you. It’s VERY annoying. Anyways, she kept throwing up from time to time when I realized she likely had a food allergy. (This dog is allergic to everything it seems!) I’m not sure what she’s allergic to in foods. All I know is I switched her to Natural Balance L.I.D Sweet Potato and Fish formula and it cleared right up.

Fast forward to last week.
She had been peeing a lot for a couple of weeks. I knew she needed to see a vet when she peed in her crate a couple of times. I take her in and she has a UTI and struvite crystals. The vet puts her on Royal Canin SO for urinary problems. I inform her she has a food allergy so she sold me the smallest bag she had. I slowly presented it to her along with her normal food until she was eating only the royal canin. So of course she’s throwing up at least once a day now. I looked at the ingredients and the food looks like rubbish. Seems like every ingredient that a dog could be allergic to is in it. Being that I don’t know which ingredient she’s allergic to it makes it tricky. I lucked out and bought a LID food that worked right off the bat.

So what is your suggestion as to what I should feed her? I saw in another post someone didn’t switch foods but just started giving their dog cranimals original formula http://www.cranimals.com and it cleared the crystals right up. All the info I’ve read about crystals said a special food/diet would be needed so I was nervous about doing that. Does anyone think that would be a good route? It’d be so much easier on myself and Ruby if that’s a possibility.

Also, I read something that made it sound like feeding a fish based dog food can cause crystals to form. Can anyone confirm that? Is fish not something I should be feeding her? Any suggestions on food if not?

Sorry for my LONG, drawn out post. I wasn’t sure what info would be helpful so my apologies.

Thanks!
Kristi

[crazy4cats]

Hi Corey-

I’m sorry to hear of your dog’s troubles with stones. While I have no oxalate stones experience, I do with the struvites. But, I have read about the oxalate a bit when doing reserch on the struvite crystals due to my cat’s blockage.

I have learned with any type of crystals or stones, it is best to get the most moisture in their diet as possible. And they also need plenty of opportunities to pee. I would try to feed as much canned or raw food to your pup as possible. Some vet therapeutic diets actually add salt to encourage the dogs to drink more water to dilute their urine as much as possible. Another thing that has been mentioned with trying to keep the pH levels stable is that it is best to feed a few smaller meals throughout the day rather than one or two large meals. Also minimize the amount of calcium being fed to your dog.

At least the struvites can be dissolved with some types of vet foods, but the other types of stones and crystals cannot. So it is best to prevent them to begin with. Here is a site that has some decent information on it. Good luck! http://www.2ndchance.info/oxalatedog.htm

[Kimi_forever]

Dori: most of those commercial raw diets are probably out of my price range, but do you mind sharing 1-2 of the ones you’ve found to be trust worthy over time?

[Akari_32]

I feed my 13 lb cat higher quality foods like Wellness and Halo, for about $20 a month. He does get some junkies foods like Friskies Special Diet and such to help keep cost down, but it is possible to feed good foods on a budget. Keep a look out for coupons and sales, and stock up when you find a good deal.

Right now, I’m switching mone to raw and am finding it be much more economical than even mid grade canned food. For example, on canned he eats 9-10 oz a day. On raw, he eats just 6 oz, and you actually want cheaper meats because of their fat and taurine contents, so you can get away with chicken thighs and quarters and pork and hearts. Might be something to look into 😉

[Dori]

Gloria. Definitely proves my point. You never know when a recall is going to pop up but you know darn well it will. I do my best to avoid the obvious. It’s also the reason that I avoid any manufacturer that has had multiple recalls. You know that eventually they are going to have more recalls and I don’t intend for my dogs to get caught up in the disaster. I only feed high quality commercial raw diets from companies that I trust completely because I have spent literally years researching commercial raw manufacturers that are made in the USA sourcing their ingredients only from the USA. Nothing GMO. No soy, no corn, no white potatoes, no grains, no poultry. I’m sure there are other things on my list of ingredients that I do not feed.

[Akari_32]

Hi, Kimi! What are you feeding now? And is it dry or canned? Canned or raw are the best when it comes to feeding cats. Cats do not have a high thirst drive, which can lead to sever cronic dehydration while on dry foods. And not enough water can lead to all kinds of health problems, such as the ones you are seeing. Most health problems, especially in cats, can be fixed with a simple change of diet, under the direction of a vet. So, yes, go see your vet, but express that you would like to not do all the crazy meds if it’s not absolutely necessary (I have to remind my vet of this quite often lol).

[MIKE B]

Sorry for the long history, but the situation is complicated; I’ll stick to info that seems essential to this mystery.

Our 15.5 year old lab/setter mix has been on a raw food diet for about the last 14 years, since being diagnosed with mild hip disp. For all these years, he has eaten his nightly dinner with joy, mostly frozen raw chicken on the bone, lots of leg quarters, drumsticks, backs. Breakfast has also always been an eagerly awaited treat, a mix of ground turkey, tuna, fish oil, eggs yokes, and ground veggies (brocc, carrots, and other) and apples w/out seeds. I’m probably forgetting something, but you get the idea.

His regular blood work has also delivered exemplary results from a doc sympathetic to but not knowledgeable about raw feeding.

As recently as this last summer we were needing to feed him a bit less to keep his weight down (approx. 60 lbs) because the warm weather really slows him down. He has always gotten two walks a day, totaling about 3-4 miles, off leash, though as he slowed down it was sometimes tough to get in 2 miles a day in 2 walks.

Then we tried some laser therapy on an arthritic wrist, which didn’t help, so we tried adding Tramadol to help w/ the arthritis. He has been getting daily Rimadyl, also, for probably the last year or more.

The Tramadol seemed to help, but he really hated the taste, and soon even hiding them in his morning breakfast wasn’t good enough, so we put them in fish oil capsules, until he detected the hated pills and stopped eating the fish oil caps that came with his breakfast.

Since the pills helped, we decided to hide the pills in very small Lean Treats, which did the trick, but soon after he started losing interest in breakfast and eventually his nightly chicken on the bone. He still ate, but seemed less enthused.

Now things get really complicated. To combat a growing problem with nightly incontinence, we started giving him testosterone shots. The results have been phenomenal. The shots not only got the incontinence under control, but they, along with cold weather, have him walking with great enthusiasm, speed, and vigor, so now we’re up to 4 or more miles a day between the two walks. Great news.

Except that even as he was getting much more exercise, his appetite has been greatly reduced. He still eats both breakfast and dinner as described above, but he will typically only eat a half portion, which has lead to significant weight loss.

When his ribs began to show we started trying different meats including beef and liver with some but not enough improvement. Finally, about a week ago, in desperation we did three things: 1) we started making silky balls for him as a supplement, and sure enough, he likes them; 2) we started adding canned dog food to his breakfast and 3) we started giving him some Iams dry dog food AFTER he ate as much of his chicken on the bone as he was willing to eat.

The latest is that he seems less and less interested in his raw food breakfast even when mixed with canned dog food, and while he can still be coaxed into downing a couple of raw drumsticks for dinner most (but not all) nights, he loves the silky balls and his kibble.

At this point I need another bag of dog food but I hate using the stuff and would rather see him back on a BARF diet, but if he won’t eat enough of it, well, he’s got to eat! At 15.5 years old, I’m tempted to say, okay, whatever you’ll eat, pal, that’s fine, but if anyone has experience with a situation like this I’d love to hear some suggestions.

In particular, I’d like to know a) are changes in taste common to older dogs, as they can be in people?,; b) does anybody recognize in the story above a causal explanation? (we have our own theories, but I’ll reserve them for now); c) does anybody have suggestions for how to get him back to enthusiastic BARFing?

Thank you.

[Riley T]

I have two French bulldogs and have had an issue finding a grain free chicken free or anything with feathers for that matter that is also potato free.
I am going to try out Earthborn Grain Free kibble and see what happens. I’ve tried them on Orijen (too rich) Acana ( they wouldn’t eat it), FROMM Gold (loose stinky stools & itchiness), Merrick Bison & Sweet Potato (good stools but still itchy), Taste of the Wild High Prairie ( made them gassy).
So this is one of my last options before going to a RAW diet, wish me luck lol.

[Sally C]

I am new to this site and a fairly new dog owner. Here’s the history of my pup: we adopted a 9 month old yorkie from a local rescue in November. He came to us eating Eagle Pack dog food which I kept him on. He was also coughing a lot, then he started itching and chewy his hind legs. He developed severe ear infections, then diarrhea and then he finally started vomiting roundworms. This was all over the course of 6 weeks. Before the worms were found (despite 3 stool samples), we were certain he had allergies. So, I tried him on Blue Buffalo Basics which was not helpful and caused diarrhea then switched to Nature’s Variety limited ingredient Salmon meal. He has completely quit scratching and the hair on his hind legs is starting to grow back. His skin is also less dry. The problem is that he really smells, he has gas, his breath is awful and his stools are very soft , large and smell awful!!! Now I don’t know if he really has allergies or if it could have been been getting worms.

I have read about raw diets but I just don’t know if I could do it. Maybe if it was already prepared. Dry kibble would be my first choice, but I don’t know if it will help him. This has been a very long process of trial and error and any advice would be wonderful! I have wasted so much dog food!

[Nikki J]

Hello everyone, I have just joined this very interesting website forum. My name is Nikki and I currently have one dog, a low content wolf cross. I have owned wolf crosses for the past 15 or 16 years, and for most of that time have fed a raw diet, preferring BARF to prey model.

I believe passionately that ALL dogs should be fed raw, but in particular the northern breeds and mixes. None of my boys have ever been able to tolerate kibble, especially my first dog, Hal, who was a higher content wolf cross.

I am looking forward to joining in on discussions and generally getting to know everyone. It looks to be a very friendly site.

[Michael C]

Morning! My question is about fish. Where I shop I have the option of Ground Herring/Mackerel mix, Wild Caught Whole Portugese Sardines, and Whole Spanish Mackerel. I want the best Omega3 fish I can get that will feed a mastiff puppy growing bones :p

[charles h]

Hi Glen,

How did the change of diet happen, for example was your dog on kibble then one morning changed to raw food?

Any change of diet even going from one type of kibble to another instantly without a weening period can result in an upset stomach.

Bacteria does not affect dogs as it normally affects the intestines not the stomach however dogs have a much shorter intestinal track than humans so bacteria can not grow to cause issues.

I would guess you changed diet too quickly, persistence will ease any stomach upsets your dog has however you can use some human anti-diarrhea tablets in the meantime to make sure your dog does not loose too much liquid.

Bones such as chicken bones can also be used a binding agent to solidify stools so you can feed less meat and more bone to harden up your dogs stool then introduce more meat carefully monitoring their stools.

Hope this helps

Charles

[Chloe j]

i am starting a raw food diet with my dog panda, i am looking for good supplements to feed, i will be feeding a variety of lean meat, RMB, and organs, veggies,fruit, i was looking at these supplements, to feed daily, how do they look to you guys? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002AYL6M/ref=gno_cart_title_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A34A7V6YS432AV


if anyone has any suggestions i would be really gratefull, thank you
chloe

[Dori]

Happy belated birthday Haley. So sorry I missed your actual day.

My girls had THK Zeal for breakfast today. They also had a couple of blueberries and a little piece of banana each just now. My three love to eat which is so funny because you would think they would all be a bit obese and yet they all maintain their weight and are all actually on the lean side. I think it’s probably that they are on raw diets for the most part. They don’t bother to stop and sniff. Lola whines the entire time I’m preparing all meals or cutting up fruits and/or veggies. Katie twirls in circles (vet calls her our circus dog) and Hannah sits and stares at me and every move I make.

Thought I’d mention that Katie and Lola have never ever turned down any food. There has been only one food that Hannah has refused to eat and that was Grandma Lucy’s Pureformance Goat. First time she ever sniffed a food and backed up and would have no part of it. That was the one and only time she’s ever done that. If it hadn’t been that Lola and Katie ate theirs just fine I would have thought their was something wrong with the food. I offered Hannah something else just to make sure she wasn’t sick and she ate her food just fine. With my girls being such eaters, if one of them misses a meal I figure there is either something wrong with the food or she’s sick. That was a couple of years back when I was constantly in search of foods that Katie could eat. Needless to say I never bought Grandma Lucy’s again. I hadn’t liked the food anyway so regardless of whether Hannah had eaten the food or not I wasn’t going to buy it again.

[Dori]

Hi Tracy. I’m a commercial raw feeder to my three girls. Maltese, Maltipoo and a Yorkipoo. If the food you are feeding is complete and balanced than no supplements are required. When you say that you were told that the food contains no cheated minerals, are they saying they contain synthetic minerals or just no minerals at all? That’s an important thing to know. With probiotics, once again, if it’s a truly complete and balanced food than, no, in my opinion there is no need for probiotics. Have you been to their web site and read up on the food itself and checked out ingredients and guaranteed analysis. If not, I would suugested you do that. Whatever food you are going to switch to please remember that since your dog has been eating kibble and canned, YOU MUST transition him slowly to see how his gut does with raw so that he doesn’t have diarrhea or loose stools. Once you know he doesn’t then your good to go. Once he’s been on raw for a bit I would suggest that you introduce different proteins and then different brands. That will benefit his gut and he’ll be able to make the switch from one food to the other with no issues whatsoever. I rotate brands and the different proteins within all the brands that I feed with the exception of poultry of any sort as one of my girls has food intolerances and for convenience sake for me I feed them all the same. I believe that a rotational diet is the best and healthiest way to feed. Also less chance of them becoming sensitive to the same protein fed day in and day out. Also it makes meal times more interesting for them. Anyway, all this is my opinion and my experiences with my three. So very glad you’re switching to raw. Yay!

[Tracey K]

Hi! I have a 5 year old shih tzu/bichon mix that I have been feeding Fromm Grain Free kibble and canned for the last 2 years and after much reading on the benefits of a raw diet, I went out and purchased raw dinners from a local company ( Big Country Raw) located here in Southern Ontario. I went with the dinners because they included vegetables and fruits along with the meat.
My question is do I have to add any supplements to this food? I’m so nervous he won’t be getting the required amount needed. I want to start him on it in the morning and is it ok if I don’t have the supplements if needed then?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated 🙂

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Naturella,
My late husband ADORED TRIPE their is a dish called Menudo (no not the group), that he ate like it was candy!!!

On another note has anyone ordered the tripe from “mypetcarnivore.com.?
If so can a recommendation be made as to which kind to get. Is the food offered on this site of good quality. And excuse if this next question sounds off the wall, this is giving real raw correct? Or is it the same as say giving Primal. I am a newbie to commercial raw but slowly trying to get my 2 girls on it full time.
I also wanted to try the ABC diet and see this website has the hearts I cannot seem to find anywhere else.
Thanks in advance for the feedback

[crazy4cats]

Hi Michelle T-
Have you taken your dog to the vet to make sure that she doesn’t have an infection or that the crystals have not returned? I don’t believe that any of the supplements that have been mentioned in the above posts will actually dissolve crystals or cure infections. I do think that they are great preventatives of these conditions. Also adding moisture to their diets is very important, either by feeding canned or raw or adding as much of it as possible to their kibble is very helpful. Plenty of opportunities to go potty is another important preventative measure. I have also read that stress and anxiety can lead to these issues as well. Have you had any big changes in your household lately?

I wish you luck on your quest to help your doggy!

[losul]

“http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19366336 Diffuse osteopenia and myelopathy in a puppy fed a diet composed of an organic premix and raw ground beef”

“Aimee, is there a way of knowing what pre-mix it was that the dog was fed?”
——————–

Akari, I recognized the name D Geiger as one of the authors of the paper.

It was Sojo’s pre-mix. According to Geiger, the malnourished pup was a patient back in 2006, and Sojo’s refused to reformulate or even acknowledge a problem, when it was clearly deficient when used as directed, UNTIL Geiger and colleagues finally published the paper in 2009.

IMO, Sojo’s current formula is STILL questionable whether the pre-mix makes a complete and balanced meal when used as directed, for some vitamins/minerals.

[Akari_32]

My guess is that the kibbles are too hard for such a small puppy. Try canned, dampening the kibble with some warm water, or smaller a smaller kibble (or a combination of the three).

That said, this puppy is going to stay pretty small. Some dogs, with good reason, just do not like commercial dry diets. You could try a raw diet, either commercial or home made. I’m currently using See Spot Live Longer premix (which is off the market for a few months right now while they set up to be able to produce a larger quantity and other formulas) and various meats for my 8 lb Jack russell mix, at about $20 a month. There are other premixes as well, and they’re pretty easy to find, with a google search. If a raw diet isn’t something you want to try, there are also premixes for home cooked diets.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Akari –

Tripe is not considered an organ mean, it’s considered a muscle meat. Additionally, any tripe sold at a grocery store or butcher shop would not be what you’re looking for. Tripe sold for human consumption is bleached and thoroughly cleaned (why it appears white) – this removes all the benefits of raw tripe (e.g. enzymes, beneficial bacteria). What you want is green tripe (uncleaned), but this can’t be sold in places that sell product for human consumption. I order it from Hare Today or My Pet Carnivore.

Obviously the wider variety of organs that you can feed and the more protein sources you can attain them from the better, however liver and kidney are the two most crucial organs and if you can get them from a red meat source and a poultry source you should be okay – especially if you are still feeding a commercially balanced diet. Feed 5% liver and 5% kidney and rotate between beef and chicken a few times per week.

If you want to go ahead and add a multivitamin to the homemade meals you don’t need to be concerned about adding organ meat all (although you certainly still could).

[Naturella]

@Peggy, you’re very welcome! I am not by any means the epitome of healthy dog eating, but I try to keep his diet varied and healthy on a budget! 🙂 Hence the dang near stockpile of kibble in my bathroom cabinets! LoL.

Bruno will eat ANY fruit or vegetable, raw or cooked, lol! Glad your pups at least eat the ones you mentioned cooked. I forgot, peanut butter is also loved by Bruno but he only gets it in homemade doggie treats or doggie ice-cream. 🙂

As for flax seed meal, I would just buy the cheaper one to be honest. I keep mine in a glass jar in the fridge for storage to prolong shelf life.

[Dori]

Hi Deanna. Life stories are always welcome. It lets us all know background stories and whether one is old or new to the world of companion animals.

If your vet is a traditional vet than he/she will give you all the cons of feeding raw. Bacteria, yada yada yada. None of that, in my experience is true. All dogs have a bit of salmonella in their guts. It is dogs that have been fed kibble and/or inferior foods that will or could have an issue with salmonella in foods. A healthy dog (gastrointestinal health I’m speaking of) have no issues with a commercial food that may have a little bacteria in it. I’ve actually never known or heard of a commercial raw fed dog that has fallen ill from bacteria of any sort from a commercial raw diet. The issue with salmonella contaminated raw foods is more of an issue with the animals owners (humans) and not the owners. We are the ones that will get sick BUT only if we are slovenly. I’m sure cooking for yourself and your family now or in the past you have handled raw meats and poultry. When done you are always cautioned to clean all surfaces, clean all utensils and scrub your hands and all surfaces that the raw foods have touched. It’s the same thing. Raw meat and poultry is raw meat and poultry regardless of whether your feeding it to yourself and loved ones of the human variety or your animals. A lot of the traditional veterinary community seem to think that commercial raw feeders are indiscriminate as to what we feed our animals. I’m not sure where some of these vets are getting their education from or lack thereof. They don’t really keep up with the times and would prefer to just scare you off.

As to how much I feed my dogs, specifically Hannah, as she weighs 7 lbs. like your yorki does, it depends on what I’m feeding. If I’m feeding Primal Pronto (it’s a complete and balanced diet from Primal made in little “kibble like” bits frozen) then I scoop out 1/4 cup in the a.m. or p.m. just as I would have done with a kibble. If it’s in a pattie form, then I read the packaging for her weight and feed her accordingly. Typically it’s 1/4 of the pattie per meal. For varying meals even though all three of my girls weigh a little bit differently I pretty much feed them all the same amount. Lola, my 5 lb. girl is very very hyper so she burns everything off quickly. If she’s awake, she’s in motion. Katie my 6 lb. girl is tall for a Maltipoo and very petite in structure. She was the runt of the litter and due to be put down before I rescued her into our family. She has a lot of issues food wise, environmentally and muscoskeletal so I’m always making sure she keeps her weight on. Hannah, my true couch potato, and at her age that’s okay with me, she stays on the lean side. Because she is 15 1/2 years old and a touch of old age arthritis I keep her on the lean side. I’m not big on having a scale to weigh them on a regular basis. I feel my dogs. If they have a little bit of coating on their ribs that I don’t mess with the amount I feed them. If I feel one of them and can too readily feel their ribs where with my fingers I can actually feel an identation then I know that dog needs a bit more food. If I have to press down too much to feel ribs, then I feed a little less for that dog. Kind of like ourselves. We have heavier days and lighter days. Winter we’re indoors a bit too much in the summer we’re very active.

I got both Lola and Katie both when, I guess I was around 61 or so. I thought I’d go insane. Literally, I was shedding tears all the time. I then thought it was one of my bigger mistakes. It was tough going having to 9 week old puppies at the same time. I hadn’t had a puppy in so long I’d forgotten the colossal amount of work let alone having two. Well, now that all is said and done I have to say that Lola and Katie are the best of pals. They are not siblings in the true sense of the word but you’d never know it. They sleep by each other, they rough house, play, everything together. But honestly I didn’t think I’d make it through those first couple of years. Hannah was none to happy about any of it either. Now they all pal around together. When I call them to let them out in the back Hannah won’t go out until she waits for the other two to catch up. All three wait for each other by the back door before they’ll come back in. Very very cute. Of course, if one of them barks, they all start barking even though the other two haven’t got a clue why or what they’re barking about. Very funny. Some times irritating but mostly have given me so much love and quality to my life. At 66 I’d probably be able to handle a puppy again but certainly not two at a time. Though I think I would rescue a senior at this point in my life. At one point in your life you want babies and are all about babies and as you get older you see the need that seniors (whether they be humans or dogs) need.

One last point on commercial raw feeding. Once you do it you’ll wonder what took you so long and what you were so worried about. Also, feeding commercial raw foods is not at all what you think it’s going to look like. It’s not like you’re going to toss a whole animal at your dog for dinner. I couldn’t possibly handle that. Really it just looks for the most part like ground meats in shapes of hamburgers. Other than the “kibble like” bits that are meant for the squeamish kibble feeders trying to make a transition into raw and also because they defrost so darn quick.

[Dori]

Hi weezerweeks. Thought I’d jump on in the conversation since all three of my girls of teeny tiny also. Lola 5 lbs., Katie 6 lbs. and Hannah 7 lbs. Have you ever given thought to feeding commercial raw foods to your yorkie. I know that commercial raw foods are way more expensive than kibble but you don’t feed kibble at all. You feed canned foods which aren’t typically cheap. Since you’re only feeding a 7 lb. yorkie the frozen food would last you a good long while in the freezer. Just take out the night before what you would feed him for the next day in the fridge to defrost. All three of my dogs were a little on the chunkier side before I went to commercial raw diets. Since feeding commercial raw diets (3 years now) they have all thinned out to their present weights and maintain that weight all the time. I also give them organic (when possible) fruits and veggies as their treats. It doesn’t seem to change their weight at all and Hannah is a real couch potato. Hannah, my 7 lb. 15 1/2 year old Maltese, is hypothyroid and has been for probably half her life if not more and her thyroid level always tests normal. The diets are high in protein, fairly high in fat and very low in carbs. Some people think that because the fat % is so high they will get fat, or have all sorts of medical issues, pancreatitis, etc. etc. In actuality, the opposite is true. As to the fat content in foods. I have said this so many times I need to make a recording…..It is not the amount of fat in their food (or ours for that matter) it is the quality of the fat in the food. Your dog will lose the weight, stay at a nice lean weight, will not act like he’s hungry or starving day in and day out. I can’t say enough good things about the commercial raw dog foods. They have made a world of difference in all areas for my three dogs.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Phillip O
Did you happen to ask your vet what the rationale behind not feeding a rotational diet was?
Does he or she eat the same exact thing day in day out their entire lives?
I suspect many may agree or disagree but here goes if you pups stay on the same food day in day out and suddenly develop itchy ears, eyes ,paw licking they will say an allergy has developed and an elimination diet is necessary or even better they will want to prescribe a prescription diet, while visits ,tests etc and you feeling helpless and your wallet gets thinner and thinner.
From most of the reading I have done eating the same food can actually cause problems for some dogs. That’s why offering different proteins different brands is actually beneficial.

I know how overwhelming this site can be,if i may I would suggest you first decide on what TYPE of food you want to feed: Kibble, canned, freeze dried , commercial raw, dehydrated, home cooked, real raw,and then look at the 4-5 star rating within the food,
I feed kibble but I lightly cook a topper of turkey chicken beef to up the protein or you can do kibble with a topper of canned. Kibble w a raw patty. so many varieties. I used to stay on this site most of the night trying to figure out what to try, plea don’t to that.
There are very helpful knowledgeable folks to guide you on this site
Good luck.

[Dori]

Cheryl,
Don’t let the fact that Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw is sold at those large stores deter you from using this food. It has a very good reputation and I feel comfortable feeding it to my girls. Though I don’t shop at large box type pet stores, at least three of the local “boutique type” dog food stores that I shop at carry the food.

As for Fresh Fetch, it’s been on Susan’s list for a while. I did research them at one time and their shipping prices were astronomical. Shipping cost more than the food did. If they’ve changed their shipping prices (which I doubt), I’m still not sure why anyone would pay their prices for food and shipping when you can research complete and balanced cooked diets and make it at home for a heck of a lot less. As to Frenchie’s Kitchen, again very expensive for a cooked food. If my memory serves me correctly, the shipping on frozen food was free but the cost of the food was crazy high. Again, one can cook a complete and balanced diet at home from recipes found on this site and others and many great dog books. That is if you want to feed cooked or supplement raw feeding with cooked meals to bring the cost of feeding down. Though I have no inclination to cook complete and balanced meals on a daily basis for my dogs, if that’s what I chose to feed my dogs I would make them myself. I don’t cook on a regular basis for hubby and I anymore so I’m not about to start now.

I’ve renovated probably every home we’ve lived in and so I know what you are going through. It’s exhausting and takes up almost all your waking and sleeping thoughts. Whenever I start a renovation project it is pretty much all I can think about. Glad I can help you in my small way.

OH! Just wanted to say about the Primal Pronto, any place that sells Primal will also sell the Primal Pronto. It’s actually the same food as the Primal formulas just made into small “kibble like” bits so you can scoop out and serve. The real plus of the frozen foods that are the little bits like is that if you’ve forgotten to put the days frozen meals in fridge to defrost, you can just scoop them into their bowls, leave on counter and approx. 15 minutes later they are soft and ready to serve.

[pugmomsandy]

Yes, Raw Meaty Bone (RMB) is actually raw meat and bones. My personal dogs are raw fed (ground to whole prey) and eat dehydrated foods and my fosters eat kibble, canned and dehydrated foods. I’ve used Amicus, Back to Basics, and currently use Muenster Grain Free and Pro Pac Ultimates Grain Free and Nutrisouce Grain Free regularly and all the dogs’ stools have been solid, even with the addition of canned foods. How much are you feeding of EVO BTW? Also, you might find a Rotational Diet beneficial. My dogs always have solid stool no matter what I’m feeding since I change regularly.

http://urbanpawsmagazine.com/archives/59

For a dry, shelf stable dehydrated raw product, check out Stella and Chewy’s, Primal, Nature’s Variety, and Vital Essentials.

Here’s the raw feeding pictures topic:

/forums/topic/pictures-of-dogs-eating-raw-raw-meals/

[pugmomsandy]

Over the last five years, I’ve used Amicus, Back to Basics, Perfect Balance Grain Free, Nutrisource grain free, and Pro Pac grain free. I haven’t had any soft stools on these from my foster dogs. Since your boy is small, you might consider adding some real bone to his diet and reducing his kibble some. I’ve found that adding a Raw Meaty Bone 2 or 3 times a week firms up stools. Even something as small as a chicken neck or wing. He can even have a meal out of a drumstick. Another option is to feed a premade raw nugget like Primal nuggets or Primal Pronto and Nature’s Variety Instinct has a small nugget formula. These raw foods have include ground bone and you can just give him one 1 oz nugget with his kibble meal or a couple pieces of the small nuggets.

[Susan]

Hi Sherri, I’d be careful with raw, sounds like your boy has IBD, like my boy, how long has he been on the cooked chicken & rice?? I’d leave him on the chicken & rice only if poos have firmed up, so everything can start to heal (Bowel) when they have bad diarrhoea they call it a “flare” then you must let the bowel start to heal & get better…I’d wait a good 2 months before starting anything new…
Dr Karen Becker has a book called “Dr Beckers Real Food For Healthy Dogs & Cats” she writes you take 3 months to introduce raw meat to dogs with sensitive stomach/bowel, first you cook the meat same meat all the time, then after about 1 month on the cooked meat you boil the meat less then less all along watching their poos, if poos are still firm, then just soak raw meat in boiling water for around 20-30sec just to kill any bacteria & the fat will dissolve….

Boiled rice can irritates some dogs bowel cause of the way the rice is shaped with sharp corners, Patch has very sloppy poos when he eats boiled rice, but he can eat grounded rice in kibbles…. Susan Lauten a dog naturalist said to try rice noodles instead of rice, you just soak them in boiling water for 10mins then drain water, I buy the thick flat rice noodles also some boiled pumkin about 1 spoon has helped Patch, start with 1 teaspoon then see how poos are going, then I add 1 big spoon with every meal… Pumkin soothes the stomach & bowel…
I’d get Oliver stomach/bowel settle first, the Tylan powder should be firming up the poos, the Tylan made Patches poos perfect just after 2 days but he was on a vet diet as well but the Tylan made him feel sick, he kept licking & licking his mouth, then I put 1/8 teaspoon in capsule & gave the capsule halfway thru his meal at night but the next day he was licking mouth, have you tasted the Tylan it taste awful, I also got a bad headache after making up 20 capsules, I stop using the tylan as Patches poos are firm already, if I stick to his diet….. the Hills I/D Low Fat GI Restore wet tin works excellent for Patch not the Hills I/D Gastro the fat% is too high at 14.3% the I/d Low Fat GI Restore has only 8% fat, High fat diets can cause bad diarrhoea also, that’s why I have never tried raw cause of the fat is tooo high…stick with meats that are lower in fat…

[Vanessa K]

Hi All! Doing the research to start my pups on a raw diet! My GSP/Pit Bull mix, Keisel, has had an allergy to chicken since we adopted him as a pup. Has anyone noticed that perhaps chicken allergies are only to the chicken in kibble or all chicken in general? Might be a dumb question? Haha, but I wasn’t sure if fresh/raw might be different than processed.
Hope that makes sense! Thank you!

[Dori]

Cheryl,
The commercial raw frozen foods that I use in rotation are:
Answer’s Detailed Raw Frozen (if you can’t find it, please call them and speak with Jacquie, she’s the owner, and she’ll let you know who sells the food in your area. Don’t go by the store locater on their website because a lot of stores carry their goat milk but not their food and they are listed in their store locater because they do sell Answer’s Detailed just not the food).

Primal Pronto and Primal Formulas. Vital Essentials Raw. Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw.

Stella & Chew’s Raw (I feed this once in a blue moon. My dogs eat it but I’m not crazy about it. I come back to it periodically to give it a try because it does get good feed back from posters and is highly reviewed on this site and wonder if I’m just missing something). I will say that the company has a great reputation.

Commercial Frozen Raw foods are, by nature, high in fat. None of my three toy dogs have issues with high fat so it’s not a concern of mine. Beef, in my experience, will always be higher in fat than other proteins. If memory serves me, I think Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw and Vital Essentials Raw are probably lower in fat than most others. As I said, my girls don’t have issues with high fat diets. I have always contended that it is not the quantity of fat in a diet, it is the quality of the fat. Now, with that said, I don’t feed foods that have a higher level of fat than they do protein. I’m not paying high prices for fat. You have to keep in mind that the lowest % of fat that I feed is probably around 38% and up to around 58 – 59%. You have to know your animals and what they will be well with and can tolerate and thrive on. That goes not only with fat but protein and carbs as well. Also I think I’ve told you that I do not feed any food that has poultry, fowl, of any sort. One of my girls is highly intolerant of all forms including the different chicken and turkey fats that are put in some foods. Interestingly enough, she has no problems with eggs so long as it is no more than once every two to three weeks, maybe longer.

Moving on the Freeze Dried, I feed Primal Freeze Dried, Vital Essentials Freeze Dried and again, once in a blue moon I’ve wanted to like Stella & Chew’s Freeze Dried.

Dehydrated Foods: The only dehydrated food I feed is The Honest Kitchen. I’ve tried a lot of the others and for one reason or another I don’t like them.

There are, of course, foods in all categories above that I don’t feed for my own various reasons but that doesn’t mean that because I don’t care for them or how my dogs do on them, that they are not going to do well for other dogs. Katie, my allergy girl, has a list of food intolerances as long as my arm that I must avoid. Katie is the reason that I went to commercial raw foods and my other two dogs were lucky enough to come along for the ride and thrive on their diets. Dogs, like people, are all different. We all react to different ingredients differently. Some issues I have with some foods may not be an issue with others or may not be any issue for their dogs. (I don’t mention cats because I don’t have any. I’m allergic to animals which is why my dogs have always been of the hair variety and not fur). I am, fortunately, in a position that I can feed all 5 star rated commercial raw, freeze dried and dehydrated foods from companies that I trust that (in my opinion) have quality ingredients and quality customer service.

Ask away, I’m happy to help with my experiences and my trials and errors of which there have been many along the way. I’ve pretty much got all the kinks worked out for Hannah, Katie and Lola. I’m hoping that Millie and Pepper are well. Though you didn’t take Shawna’s advice years ago I’m glad you’ve jumped on board now. Better late than never as the saying goes.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Dori,
would you mind if you could give me some choices for a dehydrated food beside the honest kitchen or in your opinion is that about the best available? I know you mentioned Sojos.
As for commercial raw beside Primal & Vital Essentials any brand that comes to your mind with some lower fat offerings. i don’t think I will be able to get the OC Raw seems very hard to get and they don’t ship to consumers.
I just like to have options for them-I guess there are enough varieties within the same brand, but I want to make sure there diet is balanced overall.
Thanks so much Dori.
I have so much going on right now, it is so hard for me to devote the time I really need to research all the various brands.
I so appreciate all the information you have given me.