[Katie J]

Thanks guys! I was wanting to introduce all of the potential raw ingredients through his puppyhood before making the leap. I keep reading that making the switch to raw is a lot easier than it seems. But boy, it sure looks awfully complicated going through this thread!

In reference to SSLL, am I missing the serving size guide on the website? My iPad doesn’t zoom the bag picture correctly. I see that it’s highly recommended, but I want to see what it’ll actually cost me to feed.

$90 for a grinder is very reasonable. I hadn’t started looking yet, but I was thinking that would be quite the investment. I could supplement with grinds from another source and grind chicken in house. I am just looking to be as inexpensive as possible. I may not be factoring everything right, but it sounds like feeding raw could be cheaper than the kibble I have been experimenting with. We haven’t settled on a kibble that the pup loves. And my terrier has been taking a liking to wet food over his kibble.

I have a sample of Steve Brown’s book saved. I have been debating on purchasing as I wasn’t sure if I was ready for it yet. The other book sounds promising.

Maybe I’ll get some things from the co-op to try. Also I think I saw someone say that they buy from the grocery store. I work at an Aldi. Not sure if anyone is familiar with the store. We don’t have a butcher but have a decent selection of pork, beef and chicken prepackaged. Is that safe for dogs?

[RescueDaneMom]

I started feeding raw as a topper then went 50/50 then switched to full raw. Some dogs can handle kibble mixed with raw and some can’t. If yours can’t, then you can do kibble for one meal and raw for another meal.

With smaller dogs, I would guess that it will probably be easier for you to feed grinds. You can purchase a cheap grinder on Amazon. I just did this recently and got a good grinder for under $90. It grinds chicken bones with no problem. Turkey bones are too hard for small grinders so you can’t grind those or beef bones. The only bones I’ve tried thus far have been chicken. You may also be able to get already ground meat/mixes from your co-op.

You may want to look into purchasing Steve Brown’s book called “Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet.” There are raw recipes with and without bone and he specifies what you need to do if feeding a puppy.

Hope this helps.

[USA]

Hi Cordell

You deserve to be praised for the time and effort you take to prepare your dog’s meals!

Personally I would not mix raw with cooked. I believe that over time a dog who eats only cooked foods will develop changes to his digestive system that will make it harder to deal with the bacteria in raw food. For senior dogs I think this problem could be even worse.

I would think about about adding digestive enzymes tor your dog’s diet to replace the ones that are lost during cooking. I would also read Steve Brown’s book “Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet”. While your homemade supplement looks wonderful, Steve’s book will help you make sure you are feeding your dog’s a diet that is perfectly balanced and nutritionally complete.

Keep up the good work!

[theBCnut]

Since I have squeamish people living in my house and they may have to feed, I use raw as a topper, actually I feed about half and half, but I still mix kibble and raw. I know several people who do likewise with no problems. Or you can feed it as a seperate meal.

To use See Spot Live Longer, you can adjust the amount you make as you need to. Two tablespoon of SSLL per 1/2 lb of boneless meat, one tablespoon of SSLL per 1/4 lb of boneless meat, whatever works for you. DHA is in fish oil and if you don’t feed a meal of oily fish once a week, you need to give fish oil.

You can also give raw meaty bones as long as you don’t exceed 20% of the diet with unbalance foods..

[Katie J]

So I have went through this entire thread (skimmed a tiny bit) and couldn’t find my answer surprisingly enough. I have been toying with the idea of going raw for my new pup that I mentioned in the Editor’s Choice forum, but worry that I could screw him up if I get the balance off. The puppy stage is too important to screw up. I keep researching raw anyhow because I want to switch to raw eventually for him and my terrier mix. I even recently found a co-op that delivers close by.

My bug question, as I see most people are feeding medium – large dogs, is how I maintain balance for small dogs? My terrier is 15-20 lbs (just guessing but I can weigh him), and my pup is 8-9 lbs (he weighed 7 lbs about two weeks ago at the vet). For those who haven’t read the other thread, he’s almost a 4 months old Shiba Inu/Akita Inu that I purchased secondhand but was a pet store pup. Yes, he is very small for his age, and no, I have no idea how big he’ll be. He seems to be growing like a weed though! Anyhow to maintain the proper balance for the pup, would I have to rely mostly on grinds? I assume I can find a proper balance for my terrier without solely using grinds. I haven’t even looked into the cost of a grinder yet. If I were to use a premix like See Spot Live Longer, do I give these little guys 1 lb of boneless meat? Seems like an awful lot! And on the topic of supplements, I know a lot of puppy foods have added DHA. Would I want to add that in a puppy raw diet? I was also toying with the idea of placing an order with the co-op for a few things to try to add in to the current diet of kibble and wet my pup is getting to help him transition. Is it safe to use raw as a topper on kibble? Or should I feed raw as an exclusive meal?

Thank you for all of this information! I discovered this website about a week ago and have since made it my personal mission to find out how to give my dogs the best!

[theBCnut]

If you are counting on the probiotics or enzymes in the food being of benefit to your dog then you should only add water that is warm, not hot, and add it immediately before feeding. If you are adding extra probiotics or digestive enzymes then wait to add them until after the food has started to cool, and feed immediately after.

I always add 1/2 cup ofwater and 1/2 tablespoon of raw apple cider vinegar per cup of food.

[Cordell N]

Hello,
I home cook for my three dogs. A 7 month old Australian Shepherd, a senior Boston Terrier and a senior Bassett Hound. I make their food in a crock pot twice a week.
I use a combination of meats which usually include chicken thighs or chicken quarters and ground beef and chicken gizzards. I also add ground lamb if I can find it in the discount area.
I throw in carrots, green beans and other vegetables from my garden like squash and tomatoes. If I have some fruit that needs to be eaten I throw that in also. I add some water and cook until done. I remove the everything and debone the chicken and mash with a potatoes masher and mix well. I then cook my carbs in the liquid. Sometimes rice, potatoes, lentils, oats or barley. I least that cook until very well done add a can of pumpkin and mix it all together. I would estimate that the meat comprises about 75% of their diet.

I add a supplement I make at feeding that includes ground egg shell, nutritional yeast, kelp powder, lecithin granules, ground multivitamins, salmon oil, yogurt, apple cider with the mother and Brazil nuts. I also put a cube or two of cooked beef liver or canned sardines on top a couple of times a week.
I would like to add some raw food and bones to their routine.
I bought the following at the Asian and Mexican markets.
Chicken and turkey necks
Pork neck bones
Beef feet cut up
Pork heart.
My questions are can I give a neck a couple of tomes a week as a treat?
Are raw pork neck bones and cut up raw beef feet safe as treats?
Should I cook the pork heart in the crock pot with my other meat or serve a small portion raw on top of their cooked food?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Cordell

[theBCnut]

They can eat all of those either cooked or raw. If you are going to cook them, make sure you do not give them the bones, but if the game meats are going to make up more than 20% of their diet, you need to add back calcium to rebalance the food. Two good sized egg shells per pound of meat.

[theBCnut]

The issue with the raw boost is that it has very little of the raw part, so you are better off just using the plain kibble and giving a meaty bone a couple times a week.

[deca d]

I am something of an outdoorsman, and I was wondering if the following types of meat would be okay for my shih-tzu mix to eat:
Rabbit
Squirrel
Dove
Frog (Legs)
Crawdads
Various types of fish (Catfish, Bass, Bluegill)

The meat would be baked. Would organs such as heart or liver be okay raw? Or should that be baked as well?

[jakes mom]

Bobby dog, I’m not a berry fan myself, but maybe I should get some for Jake! That little piglet will try anything.
Dustin, my hyper-t kitty, is a pretty good eater luckily. And I can usually get a few extra calories into him because he’s also quite nosy, lol. Whenever I’m in the kitchen he comes in to see what’s going on so I’ll give him a bit of the Freshpet. He and Julie, my girl who loves raw, are the 2 that like Freshpet.

[Dannie F]

Looking for anyone with experience good or bad with this brand.

All our adult Shepherds are feed raw, but want to start puppy 8week old on some good quality dry food until he is older and teeth are set.

[BRT]

Thanks everyone. I researched everything except the cost!

I feel like I’m going to mess them up with going back and forth. What a learning process.

Was just on the NV website and was looking at the Venison Raw Boost kibble or the Salmon Grain Free Instinct kibble.

[crazy4cats]

Yes, he kept gagging like he was trying to bring something up. I thought he had something stuck. Then he started drooling excessively. Doing much better today.

Dori-
I can totally picture you with your hand on your hip scolding me! I love it! You will be glad to know that I put my foot down today to get our back yard cleaned up. We cleaned up two old wood piles. I saw very many creepy crawlies and the biggest fattest snake I’ve seen in the yard. I hope it was a garter snake! We cleaned out their crates and washed their beds. I plan to continue the clean up. Yes, on antibiotics due to the drain. I’m wondering if I should give probiotics while on them or wait until he’s done with them. Thanks for thinking of me! 🙂

[Dori]

Buy the large patties. Much less expensive. If you need to then once you figure out what kibble they are ok with you can feed kibble one meal and raw the other.

[Susan]

Hi, Patches vet said no to raw but that was cause he has IBD, he said too much fat & bacteria..next time ask ur vet why he said NO, what are his reasons…I’m reading Dr Karen Becker book called “Real Food for Healthy Dogs & Cats”, she explains that when changing to a raw diet it takes up to 3 months for dogs with digestion problems. here’s a link to her probiotics for dogs, her probiotics have 14 strains.. http://probiotics.mercola.com/probiotics-for-pets.html

[crazy4cats]

Brt-
Heck no, you wouldn’t be an awful mom. You need to eat too! Those medallions are expensive! I feed kibble and use the Northwest Naturals frozen raw nuggets a couple meals a week. You are doing great!

[RescueDaneMom]

I am using See Spot Live Longer and Urban Wolf right now. I like both and will continue to use both. My Dane gets bored quickly with food flavors so I have to rotate a lot. The Honest Kitchen Preference has too much sweet potato in it for him, he gets yeasty from it. He didn’t like the Grandma Lucy’s Pureformance at all, guessing it’s the chickpeas.

Edit: Sandy, the Carnivore Raw looks like a good option for me. I like that they make a version you can add when grinding bone. It looks like it will go a long way too. 1 jar makes 40lbs worth of raw with bone. Thanks for sharing about Carnivore Raw. I will definitely be looking into it more.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 9 months ago by RescueDaneMom.

[jakes mom]

Thanks BCnut. The ABC diet for the dog recommends salmon and sardines. He loves it but of course the cats beg, too! I have been offering the cats some raw as well, but only one will eat it. She adores it, screams when she sees it!
Bobby dog, you said it! If I could at least find a couple of things that everybody liked! Especially important for my hyperthyroid guy, I’m constantly trying to get extra calories into him.

[Katie J]

He actually watches the other dog eat. So I asked my boyfriend, who he apparently eats better for, if he bring my terrier in for feedings. He does not. I thought he had been being that I told him to… Lol. I had been separating the pair in the bathroom of all places. It was just a convenient place at first. It is quite crowded with the three of us. But I do have to keep any dog getting something special out of sight of the spaniel as she is very territorial over food/treats/anything special. Perhaps the extras I having been giving my terrier will just have to be after I feed the pup for now. I don’t have an ideal situation currently. Eventually they will have special places to eat.

I had planned to switch to 2 meals and found out that the boyfriend fed lunch today. I will just give him a very small dinner to hold him over. We’ll go to 2 tomorrow. I am nervous about having him eat just dry as he hasn’t been forced to suffer that torture in about a week. 😉 Would doing a mostly dry meal in the AM and a mostly wet meal in the PM be a good compromise?

I had a sneaking suspicion that I was totally getting played with the spoon feeding. And there is a reason that I have furry kids and not the human kind. I guess I would be that mom forcing food down her kids’ mouths! It’s been several years since I’ve had a puppy as opposed to an adoloescent or adult. I have been extremely paranoid and concerned with every bit of him.

I did a bit of online vet work to see about his water habits. And I was figuring that he just hadn’t understood that water isn’t just a boredom thing. His potty training has been coming along so I was thinking about letting him get a few more water breaks so he can get the hint. I will discuss his habits with our vet just to be sure as he acts like a normal puppy.

We just picked up some new goodies for him tonight: 2 samples of Signature and two cans of Wild Calling. And since the price was good on the Orijen Treats, he got those too. We almost picked up a small bag of the Stella raw, but we were wanting to try a small bag of the rabbit before committing to a big bag.

Crazy4cats – Thank you. He’s my little special man. I just want the best for my little guys!

[theBCnut]

I have squeamish people in my family that have to feed sometimes, so I feed kibble and raw. My dogs don’t have any problem with both.

[BRT]

Thanks for the replies. Everyone has been so helpful and supportive here.

Almost two weeks in and stools are still soft. Plus, I’m feeling like I might not be able to afford this route. I’m going to stick it out as long as I can, though.

The 4 lb bag of instinct raw bites lasted a couple of days short of two weeks. I’m having the hardest time finding the venison in local stores, but was able to find a bag of medallions yesterday.

I used the food calculator on the NV website and put both dogs weight and activity level (not active and I want to maintain weight) and it said to feed 8 medallions/day each! There are only 48 medallions in a bag. That seemed like a lot so I went with 6 medallions each today (3 in the AM and 3 in the PM). My maltese/poodle acts like he’s starving. I know he’s not though.

Would I be a terrible mom if I had to add kibble back along with raw? Do people feed both? One meal kibble, one meal raw? Maybe it’s too soon to decide. I also think I need to definitely buy more than one bag when I go out. I’ve already spend $62 on food in less than two weeks and I’m really feeling it.

Thanks!

[theBCnut]

A lot of vets are against raw diets. I think it is a lack of education on their part. They always bring up the possibility of pathogenic bacteria, but look how many kibbles have been recalled due to pathogenic bacteria lately.

Like Betsy, I wouldn’t add anything to the elimination diet until it is the thing you are testing.

[Dori]

Thanks for your reply HDM. I’m not sure why I thought Freshpet was raw. I totally missed Primal, one of the foods I feed.

Anyway, thanks for the reply.

[Dori]

I use Nature’s Miracle. I would suspect either eating too fast or more likely you’re feeding them too much. Don’t forget that when feeding raw they need much less food then on kibble or canned. Some dogs will stop eating when they are fully BUT most dogs, in my experience, will just continue to eat until they explode. Dogs??? Gotta love em. We’ve all at times had a fabulous meal and continue to eat even after we’re full and later we feel sooooo sick and wonder what we were thinking. But it was so good.

Again, the amount for raw feeding is much less than other foods. I know when I first started I didn’t take that into account either. When I started feeding less and less, those issues went away. I will admit that I would look at the bowl initially and think they were gonna starve with so little food. Two years later on raw and their all still here at perfect weights and thriving.

[FreeholdHound]

The CarnivoreRaw is something I keep wanting to look into for mixing with bone in grinds, but I keep forgetting (DOH!). Harry gets all sorts of excited when I give him the GL Goat recipe. Honest Kitchen brings back the all too common sweet potato problem 🙁

[Terri M]

Thanks so much for your replies. Yes, my vet said NOTHING else, not even chew bones, while doing the elimination diet. I’m going to give it a try. I’ve also done quite a bit of reading about boosting their immune systems with probiotics. What are your thoughts on this? My vet said “NO RAW”. Not sure why….the holistic store I’ve been going to gave me a sample for him to try and you would have thought I had put crack in front of him! He loved it! Do y’all know why vets are so against raw? My vet did mention a homemade diet as well. If this doesn’t work, I’m SO there!

[pugmomsandy]

So far I’ve only used CarnivoreRaw from Young Again Pet Food. It’s a powder so there’s no chunks at all. They have a product with calcium and without (for people who grind meat with bones like me).

I’ve used regular Grandma Lucy’s, not the premix, and preferred the texture of it compared to Honest Kitchen.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 9 months ago by pugmomsandy.

[Cyndi]

All 3 of those are good and are used by most of the regulars here. I myself, currently am using See Spot Live Longer and the Dr. Harvey’s Veg-to-Bowl, although with that one, I am using the fine ground veg-to-bowl. I like them both alot. I always worried that I wasn’t giving my dog everything she needs with her raw meals, but with the pre mixes, I don’t worry.

[Susan]

Yes terri, Elimination diets are best, but you can do ur own home cooked or raw, instead of the kibble, I found my boy cant have Potatos or sweet potatos makes him itch more, I started with just boiled chicken breast & pumkin, then after 2 weeks I added some sweet potato & within 2 days his ears were itching, so I stopped the sweet potatos & his ears stop itching, then I added a boiled egg, he was fine, I started gaving him a little bit of banana as a treat he was fine but I noticed that he started to get his yeasty stinky smell again & I looked up bananas & they are a high carb fruit that converts to sugar that causes yeast, so now Im stopping the banana, he’s not a happy camper, he loves his banana, Im sick of cooking & freezing chicken every 10 days, Im using tuna or salmon now instead of the chicken, my vet said try goat, I went to the butcher & he said that goat is dearer then lamb, around $35 a kilo, that idea went out the door, The vet did skin scrapping & got stuff out of his ears & he too came back negitive for yeast but he itched & stank like a bread shop, real stinky yeast smell..so I dont understand, Ive googled high carb fruit & vegies & I stay away from them…I will not try the steriods as I saw on one of Dr Karen Becker videos the steriods just mask the problem, a band-aid as soon as u stop the steriods the problem comes back, I think the enviornment adds to Patches itch problem as well, we walk alot so just rubbing against a plant, grass or sniffing pollen in the air can set them off, next dog will not have any white on their bodies, the vet said white dogs are normally more prone to skin problems..
If your dog can stomach raw, then raw is best for elimination diets, there’s no carbs, that’s why Id say alot of dogs have these itchy problems….also alot of these grainfree kibbles have potatos, peas, sweet potatos, lentils, barley, legumes…

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Dori –

Freshpet isn’t raw.

There are two raw foods currently on the list – Stella & Chewy’s and Primal. The list will be changing in the future as some companies are taken off and new companies are added so we’re always considering new companies to add.

Keep in mind that it’s also important for the list to represent brands that the average reader will want to feed their dog and that are readily available. The majority of pet owners do not feed raw. Many raw foods also have a limited distribution. So, while we definitely don’t want to exclude any raw foods deserving of recognition from the list, the bulk of the list is and will continue to be dry dog foods.

[Dori]

Hi Mike, Sandy, HDM. Just wondering why the only two raw foods are Fresh Pet and Stella & Chewy’s on the EC list. I have nothing against either brand, my dogs just don’t like either of them. Are you considering in the future any of the other 4 and 5 star raw foods for the EC list. I hope so.

Thanks to all of you that do what you do in order that we can be more knowledgeable in what we feed our dogs. Also, this site has allowed us to make friends with a wonderful group of people. Knowledgeable, kind and caring. Thank you for this site is what I’m trying to articulate.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 9 months ago by Dori.

[theBCnut]

The only tooth issue like that that I have ever had was from a dog biting on chainlink fence. No amount of listening would have prevented that, but we all have to decide what we believe is best for our own dogs, so best of luck to you.

You definitely have to be aware of what type of chewing style your dog has. One of my old dogs was a golden mix with the typical soft mouth of a golden, except when it came to bones. He could crunch up the big thigh bones from cows in no time, he never broke a tooth, but I had to quite letting him have any bones because I was afraid of him breaking off a big piece and swallowing it. The dogs I have now don’t even try to bite off big chunks of something like that, they just lie down and quietly gnaw. I do feed raw, so my dogs eat bones as part of their regular meals, just not weight bearing bones of large animals.

[Katie J]

A little over two weeks ago, I brought home a new pup for my boyfriend. He’s a Shiba Inu/Akita Inu mix and coming up to 4 months old. I have very little background on him as he was a pet store pup that I bought second hand. It’s a long story for another thread. I know the stigma with pet store pups as well though I have a 13 year old English Springer Spaniel that was purchased at a pet store that has never had anything but a routine vet visit and lives on Purina of all things. Anyhow back on topic. My little guy is little. He weighed at 7 lbs about a week ago at the vet’s office, but I am guessing he’s sitting closer to 8-9 now. Yes, I know he is shockingly small for his supposed breeding. But everyone that meets him guesses either one of this mix, but no one knows why he’s so small. We’re guessing that it could have a lot to do with his pet store past.

Now that that’s out of the way, time to talk food. I got him with a bag of Eukanuba puppy. He ate that fine until he caught wind of the Purina. Our adult dogs (the spaniel and my terrier mix) are free range because we lead a very busy and random life at the house. This is something I plan to change for my terrier and this pup when my boyfriend get our own place. I knew that I didn’t want the pup to eat adult food as he has special puppy needs. I nearly just bought the puppy formula for Purina until I food this website. Since then I have done more reading than I would care to admit on dog food. I decided to pick a food that wasn’t going to be a big jump in quality or price and bought 4Health Puppy. I know some people are leery of Diamond. But at the price and star rating, I grabbed a bag along with one of each of their rice free cans. My plan was to do kibble and a can topper. He licked the bowl clean for three meals. Meal four, he ate half and walked away. I switched the topper to a new flavor. Same result. We were trying two meals a day but broke it down to 3 thinking that I was trying to feed him too much at a time. No change. Though I was able to get him to finish if I spoon fed the last half of his food.

Three days ago I stopped by a local dog boutique and came home with several samples and goats milk as a probiotic. His stools had been soft too pretty loose due to the changing in foods trying to find something he liked. After the milk thawed I gave him a little in his nornal meal with the same result: ate half, spoon fed rest. Stools have firmed up since. The night before last we started samples. I have a lot of Earthborn as I had went to another store and got even more samples most of which was Earthborn. I think it was the prairie formula first that he nearly finished on his own without the milk. I only give the milk once a day. Apparently he nearly finished his next two meal with my boyfriend. I wasn’t there as I was working. But I know that he will not spoon feed. With fireworks last night, the pup didn’t get his dinner. It was too late, and he had a late lunch. I expected a hungry puppy today! Nope. Same result with goats milk. This was his second feeding on a new flavor of Earthborn. I forgot the flavor. But it was blue packaging. I still have the primitive flavor left to try from Earthborn. I also have Halo, two flavors of Fromm, Acana and Orijen puppy. I wanted to get through all of the cheaper stuff first in hopes of finding something he likes.

A few extra things to add, I am feeding him separately from the spaniel who is very food aggressive. But I feed him with my terrier as I want to start transititioning my terrier to a better diet as well for when we move out. Sometimes the pup seems distracted because the terrier gets something different (4Health adult and the same topper the pup gets). But he does want to eat the terrier’s. He gets awfully burpy when he eats. I am looking to add sardines and perhaps switching to plain Kefir for the probiotic. Switching to raw right now is not something I want to do. I am unsure about getting the right balance, and his puppy stage is far too important to screw up. I do plan on introducing him to all the raw elements I want to use in the future, and at around a year old, we may make the switch. And I cannot afford to do commercial or dehydrated food. I love the guy, but I can’t justify spending as much to feed him as to fees me not to mention it’s not in the budget.

Boy that was long just to get to what I wanted to ask. Is he training me to spoon feed him? It seems like all of my meals with him end with me begging him to finish so much so that I grab the spoon. His nutrition is so important to me. I can’t stand him missing a meal or wasting that food! Any ideas?

[pugmomsandy]

If you haven’t been through the DFA Library yet, there are some helpful articles there about how to choose dog food, ingredients, ingredient labels, canine nutrition, etc.

/helpful-dog-food-articles/

For me personally, I chose 1) a small kibble, 2) generally not less than 30% protein for kibble, 3) gluten free, 4) not less than 36% protein dry matter for wet food, 5) no by-products/sugar/food color/BHA/BHT/ethoxyquin/sodium nitrite, and I generally do not buy from the large corporations (the ones that also make candy bars and toothpaste and other household items).

Also, I feel diet variety and rotation is important so pick various proteins and types of foods (raw, canned, frozen, dehydrated/freeze dried, kibble).

[Amy E]

Thank you for all of your replies. I suspected it wasn’t the Frontline b/c my vet said the same thing, it would be a reaction at the sight of application usually, and that was not the case. And, that had not been the first time I’d put Frontline on him either. Fleas are not a concern in my area, I use Frontline for the tick killing power. Ticks are plentiful here and the ones that carry Lyme disease are too small to be seen, especially on a black dog.

Thanks for the heads up about starchy foods. I’ve been feeding him a lot of raw carrots! I will stop that to see if it helps. He’s already on Eagle Pack Holistic Salmon so I won’t switch foods just yet. He’s now on another round of antibiotics and more antihistamine. I’ll be giving him more frequent medicated baths again as well.

If the problem continues after this round of antibiotics is done, I’ll have to think about eliminating more ingredients. One thing….what are things that will boost his immune system? I fear due to his history he’s got a weak immune system so improving that may be a big key here.

Thanks again.

[Susan]

Hi Amy, its not the Frontline, frontline only penetrates the first 1-2 layers of their skin, My boy had a reaction to Advantage DO NOT USE the Advantage penetrates thru the skin to their blood, within 24hrs one side of my boys head swelled up his ear & his bottom lip swelled, & he was vomiting blood early hours of the morning, at first I didnt think the Advantage until I rung his vet. the best way to know whats happening is an elimination diet, for 1 month you just feed 1 new protein & say boiled pumkin or rice nothing else no treats nothing, thats if you think it could be foods, I used chicken in Patches elimantion diet but now I think Patch cant have chicken as the lumps on his head that look like hives got worst, Patches vet said that he has seasonal allergies & cause I just rescued him 19 months ago she said I’ll start to see a pattern, I noticed last winter Patch was good, no itch but the end of summer Patch got all his hive like lumps, itching & rubbing along the wall, this winter Patch has his hive like lumps again, so I look in Patches diary & last winter I wasnt feeding him chicken, this winter I was feeding chicken, so Ive stopped the chicken…Ive heard all these test are no good as they give false readings the best would be if you could try him on raw, Im just starting a new kibble called Wellness Simple it has limited ingredients, also watch his carbs, no potatoes, no sweet potatoes, no carrots no high carbs that turn to sugar that makes yeasty itchy skin.. If he can handle it i’d feed raw.. & google a good Raw diet for itchy skin..Ive been thinking of putting Patch on Raw but he has IBD & I have enough trouble trying to find a low fat kibble, so raw would have to much fat for Patch..also there could be a plant or grass in ur garden or on his walks that he’s allergic to, I’ve changed Patches walking route to see if that helps….Its winter here in Australia, so if Patch has enviornment allergies or seasonal allergies like his vet said, why is he getting them now being winter & he didnt last year, thats whats making me look at his food this year, I use Malaseb Medicated shampoo, & I use a cortisone cream when he gets some of the red itchy sores, I found the cortsone 1% cream is excellent Im just using my cream…just look at the ingredients in his kibble & see if there’s Potatos sweet potatos carrots, lentils any high carb foods…A friend from the dog park had a staffy that was so itchy he was red & losing his fur she tried the vet diets they didnt work then she tried the Holistic Select Adult health Anchovys sardines & salmon & her boy is looking excellent not scratching fur all grown back..so a few people from the dog park are using the Holistic Select with great results… Im also given Patch tuna & pumkin for breakfast to replace the chicken & his hives have gone. sorry for the book..Oh a good dog probiotic this will help too…good-luck

[Zach M]

I need help. My dog Ginger (52 lb, Lab/?) goes to the kennel when we take a vaca week. Now let me tell you, she isn’t the bravest dog, and gets REALLY nervous. She eats about 1/2 of her food while she’s there, but only lost 1 lb. She sits in the corner and is unsocial. When we got back, she stopped eating. She hasn’t been eating usual for about a week and a half. She will be given her meal. After about an hour, if she hasn’t eaten we take it away. When her dinner comes, she takes a few bites, and about 45 minutes after it was out, she eats it. She is a couple meals behind, because she won’t eat double meals. She is playing fine, and her stools are fine. She hasn’t lost any weight since we got back. She is eating BB Wilderness, (We are switching that out of the rotation for THK) with plenty of added toppers that HDM and others recommended, but under 20%. She will eat toppers, but not kibble. She eats on her ABC day just fine. She will also eat canned food fine, too. Raw is too costly for us, as well as canned. Any help on getting her to eat would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!
-Zach M.

[Amy E]

Hello, I’m new here.
5 months ago I adopted Moby, a 9 year old miniature schnauzer. He was from a puppy mill and weighed 7 lbs. when I got him. He now weighs 12 lbs and the vet says he’s a good weight. He came to us with ear infections, which we treated and cleared up.

He developed some small itchy bumps on his head, neck, legs and chest, which he licked, scratched and rubbed his body along the furniture. Vet diagnosed skin infection due to stress or allergies. Rx: zeniquin & clemastine for 10 days with KetoChlor shampoo followed by Allergroom shampoo daily for 3 days, then twice weekly for 2 weeks.

At 10 day recheck: All bumps healed and went away during the 2 weeks, except for one new bump on chest so 3 more days of zeniquin prescribed and continuing clemastine until winter arrives. Also supposed to bathe with the 2 shampoos once every 2 weeks.

Well… the bumps have returned on his head and neck. They started with just one here and there and have increased daily over this week. He’s starting to itch, rub and lick more again, even though he is still taking clemastine.

I feed him Eagle Pack Holistic Salmon kibble, but he also gets various treats (chicken based) and yogurt daily along with various other things like pumpkin, fresh veggies, fruit and sardines.

He came from Oklahoma and now lives in Minnesota. It just so happened that winter ended and spring began around the time we got him…the same time he started a new diet at our house…so it’s hard to know if his allergies are environmental or food based without testing (I’m considering doing a home-based test like Immune IQ). I suspect a life of poor diet and low exercise has weakened his immune system and now he’s more susceptible to everything, causing skin reactions. Besides the bumps, he has no other issues with his skin or coat (no hair loss, raw patches, etc). He has no digestive issues either. He’s a happy little guy, always wagging his tail, eats voraciously, sleeps like a log, potties on schedule (output looks good).

Do you think I should switch to a different food with fewer ingredients? If so, what? I’m going to eliminate the yogurt. We have another [senior] dog so feeding completely raw is cost prohibitive for me.

Thanks in advance for your help and advice.

[Glen B]

I recently rescued a 7-8 year old Pitbull that is too thin. I had him tested for worms and that came out negative. I think the problem is he runs around outside a few hours a day and would like to try and fix it with diet before anything else. I have no idea how much he weighs right now, but by looking at him I’d guess he needs to gain 10-15lbs.

He’s been on raw for a week. He was looking better on Taste of the Wild kibble, but for the price it was costing a week..it obviously isn’t cost effective.

I’ve been looking at “Satin Ball” or “Fat Ball” recipes in addition to his regular raw. My concern is that by putting grains in with raw meat, wouldn’t I be messing with his digestive system? Is the point of the grains wheat germ or oats specifically just for the carbs? I’d like something like oats since I could just get it out of the bulk bins at the health food store..but will it mess with his digestive system or is it just adding calories? I rather just add some carbs for calories rather than substitute with kibble.

Is it possible to go too high in fat? I’m also adding about 1/2 cup of whole milk yogurt to his food along with fish oils and 2 raw, jumbo eggs with shell a day..since I can get eggs super cheap.

Why do people say beef puts more weight on than chicken? I can get a case of chicken leg quarters much cheaper than I can full fat beef..ground or whole. I’d like to keep this as cheap as possible and am already a member of the local co-ops.

[Nancy C]

Oops I realize I am veering away from TOW…. but I AM actually moving toward RAW as well, just got Dr. Becker’s book and have watched her videos, been on field trip to local pet stores to SEE the foods. Here I can get NV Instinct, PRIMAL if necessary but they are out of sight $$. I have located a few drug free livestock suppliers here where I could get my meat, so I think I’m moving along in my education. We go back and forth to the coast a good bit. (I’m in NC) and we take our dogs — pack up all our food (have a little cottage on a quiet little island ) — so it will be difficult doing raw, driving 4 hours to then get on a ferry. NOPE. I need to find something EASY (more portable) that I can rotate on and off of as necessary. Had thought about The Honest Kitchen also but then read those reviews on DFA at Honest Kitchen Review, with the pictures of the large veggies in the food. There was a strange poster there. The discussion veered AWAY from THK to the identity of the multiple “poser” – Poster….. Consequently my search continues for a few easy but highly healthy, high quality (protein, fat, carbs all within a healthy range) food. I REALLY appreciate your comments as well as the more advanced people at DFA. Thank you!!

[theBCnut]

Hi Nancy

I wouldn’t give you the same advice at all. When someone is looking at TOTW, I automatically assume one of their considerations is price, so I listed decent quality foods that are also economical, which almost automatically means they are not really high in protein, which means they will be higher in carbs. There are really only a couple kibbles that I would consider low carb, the one Victor and Wysong. After that, you are looking at kibble and canned mix, or just canned, or kibble and raw, or canned and raw, or just raw, to get the carb level you want. I personally do kibble and raw.

[Rita P]

DARWINS raw organic

[USA]

Hi theBCnut

Nice list! I have used most of them except for the birch and the bergamot. My research has led me to these observations:

Geranium – Effective as a repellent mostly because of it’s Geraniol content. Ceylon type Citronella has a higher Geraniol content and is MUCH less expensive.

Eucalyptus – Powerful killer of fleas! Contains 1,8-Cineole. Rosemary has similar qualities (1,8-Cineole) and I use it because it has other ingredients that in combination I think make it a more effective flea killer. I also like the smell better! The Morocco type is my favorite.

Peppermint – Powerful flea killer! I don’t like the smell. It is often used in combination with Rosemary for the synergistic effect.

Clove – Powerful flea killer! I stay away from Clove because of it’s phenol content. Phenol’s are in my opinion pretty toxic and can be very irritating.

Cinnamon – Phenol

Tea tree – I don’t like it because of it’s toxicity. Oils that contain Geraniol have the same antiseptic qualities and they are safer and smell better.

Patchouli – Brings me back to the 60’s! Expensive.

Birch – The sweet version contains primarily Methyl salicylate (the wintergreen smell). Methyl salicylate penetrates the skin and I think it is pretty toxic. It is also a powerful flea killer.
The Tar version contains Cadinene which would put it more in to a Cedar type of oil and would also make it much safer.

Cedar – Powerful flea killer and safe to use!

Lemongrass – Repels and kills. Not as effective as Geraniol but it smells good. The citral version of lemongrass smells divine. Safe.

Bergamot – I would only use a Bergaptene Free version because of Bergaptene’s toxicity. It gets it’s flea killing properties from Limonene which is MUCH cheaper in Orange oil.

Spearmint – I love the smell! It contains limonene AND R-(–)Carvone which is also a flea killer and is what gives spearmint it’s characteristic smell. S-(+)-carvone, smells like and comes from caraway seeds

[theBCnut]

Hi Harper’s Mom

Giving it now would be close enough/just fine.

I always use therapeutic grade essential oils. I use in no particular order:geranium, eucalyptus, peppermint, clove, patchouli, birch, cinnamon, cedar, rosemary, bergamot, lemongrass, tea tree, and spearmint. Some of those are known for their insect repelling properties, others for their insecticidal properties.

I use raw like a topper. I’ve heard the same stories about mixing them causing stomach upset because of the different digestion times, but canned and kibble digest at different rates too, but nobody ever advises against mixing those for that reason. People digest different types of food at different rates too, and our stomachs and digestive tracts take even longer to empty, but we don’t have issues with it. Of all the people I know who mix raw and kibble, only one has one dog that can’t handle it, and this particular dog can’t handle a whole lot.

[Dori]

Yep! My three girls together probably make up one of yours. I’m so glad the poop situation is getting under control. Everything else will follow eventually. Your dogs are going to become so much healthier. Again, try to avoid any food that has any feathered friend in it. It takes a while to figure it all out. As I say, Katie came to me this way at 9 weeks old. She just turned 5 years old and something always needs a little tweaking with her. The other two girls can eat everything any anything with no problems. Do keep me posted. Glad things seem to be turning around. The one small poop a day is the way it’s suppose to be on a raw diet. The guts utilizing almost all the nutrients in the food and there really aren’t any fillers to mess with there systems.

[theBCnut]

Cats do best long term on wet foods. The most common cause of death in cats is kidney failure, which they attribute to an unnaturally dry diet. They do kind of imprint on the type of foods they are fed when young, so if you only feed dry, later they will refuse canned. Introducing raw and canned young is very important.

[crazy4cats]

Ysabella-
Yes, bless you, bless you, bless you! As my name implies, I love cats! When, I had my first experience with kittens, they were that young, but fortunately had their mamma. She brought them right in my house and I never had one before, and I’ve never been without one ever since! So, I’m not sure about the milk on which would be the best substitute for their mamma’s milk for a few more weeks.
But, I’m with Sharon, you should feed them canned, dehydrated or raw if you can. I feed my kitties (4 of them) as little kibble as possible now. I rotate several budget friendly canned food. I do supplement with kibble as the canned is expensive. My favorite is Wellness Core. But I also like Earthborn and Taste of the Wild. I have two favorite cat sites. They are catinfo.org and littlebigcat.com. Oh, and I wouldn’t worry a lot about the loose stools yet. She’s been through a lot and was just dewormed. Sometimes that can cause loose stools as well. It sounds like you are off to a great start!

[Ysabella J]

arwryu24, I have read that raw goats milk helps with digestion and is a good substitute for mothers milk. Are you sure I should stop this?

[Ysabella J]

TheBCnut. Thanks for the advise. I was thinking about switching from TOTW too because I am not a fan of Diamond. Would you recommend raw food for a baby though? Especially one experiencing very runny diahrrea?