Try mixing in some green tripe. Raw if you can get it (Hare Today and My Pet Carnivore sell raw) or a canned product like Tripett. Very few dogs will turn their noses up to green tripe.
Cook it, put it in boiling water for a bit or warm the raw food in the microwave maybe its too cold…
If you can afford the price of Hilary’s and the time to make it is reasonable then it’s a great way to feed.
The recipes I was using were, Prep and cook time equal 2 hrs. Assemble, package and clean up equal 1 hr. Total, 3 hrs.
Tomatoes, great if your dog can handle. Tomatoes promote acid in the gi tract which is not good for dogs with acid reflux, been there done that.
I cooked for a 60lb dog who has a high metabolism and had to eat 1500kcal a day. This equalled lots of kitchen time and lots of money spent. If I had to I would switch back if there were Specific reason why like needs low sodium levels etc but there are other foods out there that are JUST as healthy as Hilary’s, like Natures Variety frozen raw. Real raw meat, with no preservatives, no additives except other fruits and veggies, no colours, it is just like you made it yourself and threw it in a fancy bag to sell.
Saying all that I am actually thinking of starting one of her recipes again, but leaving the meat raw. And choosing one that does not contain tomato sauce or any grains.
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This reply was modified 11 years, 11 months ago by
Bunny B.
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This reply was modified 11 years, 11 months ago by Bunny B.
I have a picky miniature poodle puppy (9 months) who I am currently feeding Acana Regionals. However, I also want to incorporate some raw food into his diet. 99% of the time with raw food he just sniffs it and walks away. Is there some way to make it more appealing to him?
Yes it prove to be super expensive. My dog is 55lbs.
Try Natures Variety raw frozen. For a 40lb dog you should be around $5 – $6 a day, and it’s real food, raw, but you don’t need to worry about nasties and cross contamination from dog tongue to human because all of NV frozen raw food is HPP (high pressure processed) which is like sinking it to the deepest part of the ocean which kills all bacteria, without altering the quality of the ingredients. Only downside of that is you may need to add a probiotic back in kuz it kills good bacteria too, so far I haven’t had to. It’s real food like home preparing, but done for you, and bacteria removed. Of course you need to treat it like any food that rots because it’s real food, and you need to wash your hands and dog dish after but that is just common sense :-). I am willing to bet you will see a huge improvement all around after like 1 month on it.
Hey BunnyB, thanks for the reply.
Holy smokers. $16 a day? Really?? I hope you have a 240 pound dog. Then I can do it for $4 a day for our 60 pound guy. I had no idea homemade would be so expensive. We just got the idea about Hilary’s recipes from our vet. I had not costed it. The supplement alone is almost as expensive as a quality kibble.
We are not convinced yet to go raw. But we feel we should try to better than kibble. If the cost for home cooked is as you say, I wonder about one of the 5-star, “lightly-cooked” frozen, commercial foods. Surely it could be done for less than $16 a day, without the hours of cooking time.
Appreciate the reply from someone that has “been there, done that”.
You said that ur dogs itch none stop, you must start with an elimination diet, I started one about 1 month ago as my boy has Pancreatitis & enviornment allergies we dont know if he has food allergies that’s why I’d say the vet suggested an elimination diet, The vet said the first month just feed boil chicken but I knew my boy could eat boil chicken so I added cooked pumkin, then when I saw he wasnt scratching or rubbing his tummy on my beautiful white rug the next week I added sweet potato within 2 days Patch was rubbing on my carpet so I stopped the sweet potato & know he cant have sweet potato or a kibble with sweet potato…. then I added pasta another NO it made him itch then I read dogs with skin problems like yeast & bacteria shouldnt eat carbohydrates, potatos, sweet potatos etc, then I added half a boiled egg & he’s been good, Im thinking of adding broccoli next.. Im reading Raw & Natural Nutrition for Dogs by Lew Olson PhD she has help me understand alot of things & this group its a easy book to read & very easy recipes, she explains what foods aren’t good & what foods are good for certain illness, like Skin problems & what causes ur dog to itch, Pancreatitis Diabetes, Gastro problems, feeding senior dogs, getting a pup onto raw etc, she has cooked recipes & what supplements to add.. in the elimination diet you cannot give any treats nothing, just that one food for 2 weeks then 2 foods so on.. you must cook all vegetables so they are fully cooked, she even suggest to pulped vegetables as dogs digestive system weren’t meant to eat vegies, here’s one of her recipes for Skin allergies a Low Glycemic regular fats Diet..this is for a 50 pound dog to be divide into two or more smaller meals per day.
8 ounces 1 cup regular fat ground beef
2 ounces 1/4 cup beef liver or kidney
2 eggs scrambled or boiled
4 ounces 1/2 cup steamed or boiled broccoli
4 ounces 1/2 cup cooked yellow crookneck squash
4 ounces 1/2 cup whole milk yogurt
Serve meat cooked or raw combined with cooked vegetables eggs & yogurt if serving meat cooked wait until meat & eggs have cooled before stirring in the yogurt…..
What I do is I cook once a fornight & freeze everything except the egg then put in fridge the night before to thaw for next day…
What have been the best Dog books you have read & helped you with how to prepare Raw & cooked meals, What foods can cause Health Problems, What vitamins to add, Best foods for certain illnesses etc..
Carl L – I also have used Hilary’s Complete and Balanced
I have a high energy 2 year old dog and she burns lots of calories. I found I had to feed WAY more than the recommended amount than what Hilary says in her book. The supplements were $79 CDN for the big bottle and lasted me about 1 1/2 mo. It was costing me $16 a day and 3 hrs a night in the kitchen. I chose to do this anyhow because I have heard the benefits of real food for a dog and had seen the results on other peoples dogs. I did this for 5 months when I couldn’t stand the time and money anymore! I still strongly believe in real food, and that the real food has to be complete and balanced. Then I happened across NRG dehydrated food. This was the next best thing to home cooked. It cost me about $10 a day. And only 1 min in the kitchen!! She did fabulously on this for 7 months. Then she developed what I a, convinced of an allergy to grain so I put her on Natures Variety raw frozen. Which I just love, all the benefits of real food all ready made for me!
But now I am spending about $14 a day with Natures Variety and was thinking I should go back to Hilary’s…although I am a raw believer now on certain meats, but she says lots of her recipes (specific ones) can be fed raw. I happened across your post tonight out of coincidence!
I have to say Hilary’s seems to be great but I do NOT recommend her recipes that contain tomatoes or tomato sauce if your dog has a sensitive stomach or is susceptible to acid reflux. And if you are trying to find Safflower oil you may have to go to a health food store, it should be next to the olive oil. Alternately if you can’t find that I called and she actually picked up the phone which I thought was weird but she said you can use sunflower oil. And I find it hard finding cod liver oil, again I found this in a health food store. And the easiest way to pulse veggies is in a magic bullet btw.
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This reply was modified 11 years, 11 months ago by Bunny B.
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This reply was modified 11 years, 11 months ago by Bunny B.
Actually, I was at Wal-Mart looking to see if they had beef tongue or turkey necks, which they didn’t, so I saw a large package of gizzards and hearts for $1.33. I haven’t ventured to a butcher shop yet. There is only one in my area and it is a very trendy butcher shop. They have wine tasting and cheese making demonstrations so I am not sure what their prices are like.
I am going to take a walk down to a sheep farm by my house. They sell meat, eggs, honey, wool, and some other things I can’t remember. I’ll see what they have to offer (if anything) that I could try feeding my fur babies.
No big deal, I am going to lightly boil some and make who knows what else I can out of the gizzards and hearts. I am sure Bobby will eat them in a treat form. lol Three things he doesn’t eat raw carrots, gizzards, and hearts; I can’t complain about that!! š
yes, the liver was raw. I just cut it into smaller pieces and said, “hey, look what Mom has!”.
My 12yo girl Julie, was actually shrieking as I was cutting it up! I didn’t give too much, didn’t want any GI issues. I froze the rest in a freezer bag. Flattened it out and figure I can crack off a chunk when I want it.
Hi Jakes mom:
Yes, I agree we are doing better! š
I love the kids pool idea!!! You were a crazier cat person. lol
I don’t mind cheating once in a while. I am always thinking of what to give them for a meal a few times a week, other then cat food, that is good for them for budget reasons of course. Only a few of them will eat boiled chicken.
My hypo cat (11 yrs) is doing well also, has energy, seems happy, always loveable, but I have been battling dry skin. Fish & coco oil has helped a great deal and it is much better now that winter is over. Fingers crossed, Kefir will help also.
Did you give them the livers raw? I am so jealous, my cats walked away from the gizzards and hearts, Bobby just played with his. Maybe livers will be next to try, I am not going to give up. lol Let us know how the chicken back went.
Hi Nona – fellow Greyhound owner here, so sorry to hear about Halle’s issues. Hopefully some of the wonderful knowledgable people on this forum will offer some suggestions as I’m still learning the food ropes myself.
Harry has suffered from “milkshake poo” since I got him 2yrs ago. I think I tried everything that was suggested on the Greytalk Forum (Iams Green Bag, beet pulp etc) & endless bags of failed food. One allergy test & finding out about multiple food intolerances helped a lot. Probiotics / Digestive Enzymes have helped also. Things aren’t perfect 100% of the time but I can pick it up which is a major improvement. Harry also gets raw in his diet now and things are going well.
I’ve had my rescue dog for about 5 weeks now. His vet exam was excellent, bloodwork, fecal, urinalysis, dental all good. Vet said he needs to gain weight. He was 12 lbs 5 weeks ago, should be 13-14. So I used the dog food calculator on this site and have been feeding him enough calories for a highly active 13 lb dog plus giving lots of treats. I weighed him yesterday, 11 lbs! I realize it’s a different scale so could be some discrepancy so I’m going to the vet this week to weigh him there, but I’m trying to get him to gain and he ends up losing? WTH? He is very active, he’s a jumper, pacer and runs a lot with my other dog. My current rotation is Farmina kibble (it’s a winner!), Darwin’s, NV Instinct frozen raw, Whole Earth Farms, Nature’s Logic and By Nature canned. I know Darwin’s can be a little on the lower calorie side so I’m making allowances for that. His poops are a much bigger volume than my other dog’s are. My poor guy is so skinny! His ribs are prominent.
My plan is to order Abady’s granular to add into his food, maybe make some satin balls when I get the time. But here’s my question: do you think he’s more likely to gain if I add in more carbs? What he’s getting now is high protein, do you think that’s just not working for him for the weight gain. If more carbs are the answer, I’d rather give him home prepared additions to his food.
TIA for any advice!
I have been giving my kids frozen raw chicken thighs or legs, 2-3 times a week. I buy fresh, remove the skin and fat, then freeze. How long should they be frozen before feeding, to reduce the risk of salmonella? Thanks!
Can I ask 2 question Raylene was ur boy eating grass at ur old place on walks or where ever he could get grass or has it just started at ur new place & after eating the grass does he throw up or have any sloppy poos or diarreha?? maybe the fat content is a bit too high at the moment for his tummy.. I’d love to feed my boy raw but he needs a low fat diet so I cook instead & freeze the meals & do kibble at night…Maybe just try for 1-2 weeks lightly boiling the meat to get out some of the fats & see if he still eats grass after cooking the meat… its worth at try just to work out is he feeling off or sick or does he just like eating grass..
When I see my boy eating grass I know he only eats grass when he’s feeling off or has his stomach acid & has to vomit or when he has Colitis he’ll eat a heap of grass then 1-2 hours later he’ll poo & diarrhea everything out of his system & clears himself out..
Melissa, I wouldn’t want chicken feet either, too difficult and expensive to buy shoes!
I used a 3/4 HP meat grinder, fed raw chicken otb into it, easily chewing up 40 lbs. I would then add garlic, E, spinach and mackerel, place it in my Kichenaide mixer a few pounds at a time until all has been well. Then I use a digital scale to weigh each log for the dog. I changed main meats often.
Now that is funny, I don’t care who you are! You know it is a proven fact that “processed food” takes longer to digest (what’s digestable) in humans then raw fruits & veggies (which are actually fruit). I always respond/teach when they ask what I feed my dogs. In fact I like to feed chicken quarters once a week, I hope to add wild hog and deer to their plate this year.
Amy, this is quite helpful! As theBCnut said, maybe you can try 2 teaspoons/day of coconut oil, or continue with the 1 teaspoon/day when you switch to Primal Raw Turkey and Sardine (I’d give it a try because of the fish). Remember, you can always adjust the amount if her skin is still too dry and go on with the 2 teaspoons of coconut oil/day even with the fish Primal.
I am not familiar with brewers yeast so I can say nothing about it. Hope someone else chimes in on that.
Also, not all coconut oil is made equal… The best stuff with most benefits is cold-pressed, extra virgin, raw, UNREFINED, the latter being the most important part of the equation. Refining the coconut oil takes out a significant amount of its nutrients.
Sarah, true, I was looking at the BB Wilderness Senior Red Meat formula, which has lower protein and lower phosphorus than the Senior Chicken formula. The Red Meat one has the same phosphorus as the Holistic Select Senior. And I see about the protein. I supplement with raw and canned every once in a while, so Bruno’s protein amounts vary a bit, but he seems to be okay with it.
Also, keep us posted on how Holistic Select goes for your dogs. I would get a smaller bag first, to see if they would even eat it, and if there are any digestive issues with it before I go for the bigger bag.
Several, actually! You could really help us out by letting us know her breed, age, weight, and maybe hair length.
Also, I know fish oil is another supplement widely used by forumers to help with skin and coat issues. So are canned (or raw) sardines. Coconut oil is a great supplement, I use it myself, but you may need to adjust the amount depending on her weight. Fish-based foods are also known to help skin/coat issues.
As for my Rat Terrier mix (13lbs), I give him a teaspoon of coconut oil every other day, a canned sardine once a week, a bath every 2 weeks, and I “condition” him while he is still somewhat damp with a mix of coconut, olive, and sunflower oils, in which there are vitamins A, D, and E dissolved. So I rub that on his coat, trying to reach the skin until he doesn’t feel greasy and it makes him super soft and shiny. Also, he is currently on a fish-based food, so that will probably be good, but he has no particular issues to begin with. I did think he was excessively dandruffy when I brushed him, but that was supposed to be normal as I elevated all his dead skin by brushing him. Otherwise I don’t see any flakes.
Excess dandruff may be due to an allergy or something too, or just be how your dog is – sometimes, even all measurements do not quite help resolve the dandruff issue.
Hope others chime in with more advice or corrections of anything I may have misspoken about! š
My poor girl has dry skin. I need suggestions to help her out. She is 2 years old and has only recently started to get dry skin. She is on Orijen Regional Red, soon to be switched to Primal raw. I also give her a teaspoon of coconut oil in the mornings. I don’t bathe her too often. Maybe once a month or longer if she doesn’t get too muddy. When she does get a bath, I use an oatmeal shampoo. Any other suggestions?
Betsy Greer:
Thanks for the Natureās Logic product name. I am slowly looking into adding some raw food to everyoneās diets and this will be helpful. In the meantime, I have added this to the list of products pertaining to raw diets that have been mentioned on DFA. š
BCn:
Thanks for the info. Although I will not be feeding raw to my kitties for their meals (yet), thanks for the explanation on frozen meat. I started looking around for sites with info for feeding raw to cats. I would like to start introducing them to some raw just not a whole diet at this time. I plan on purchasing Steve Brownās book in the near future, in the meantime I had downloaded the PDF from his site a few months ago. I wish I could find something written as simplistic for cats.
Akari:
Too funny, was it on or off?
I conquer with BCn and Jakes mom; he seems to be getting enough liquid at this time. I would continue with preparing his food as usual and not add anything else. It may have just been the new litter. Some cats just donāt like change! Heās had allot of change lately so you canāt really blame him. š
I bought a huge package of gizzards and hearts today for $1.33. Two of my cats just sniffed it and walked away. lol Bobby snatched a few chunks from me, ran out into the yard, spit them out then began playing with them. I am not discouraged. I am going to chop them up a little finer and see how that goes. If they still are not interested, I am going to cook them lightly and see how they like that. I have a bunch of them to play around with so if nothing else I will be making some kind of dog treat out of them.
The problem with refreezing raw is that is one of the ways you get freezer burn, but that isn’t a problem usually for dogs. They don’t seem to mind a little freezer burn. Thawing, cooking, and then refreezing is definitely OK.
From their Shipping Info page (http://reelrawdog.com/pages/free-shipping):
HOW MANY DAYS NOTICE DO I NEED TO GIVE FOR NEW ORDERS?
10 – 14 days for shipments. Depending on product availability it may take longer to fulfill orders.
You mean if I order today, it could be the end of the month before it ships? I have three dogs but only one is on raw full time.
Oh, I’m ordering, next week. I love Hare Today but money IS an issue and free shipping and being able to order less is big,for me. My husband isn’t into prey model raw but he’s ok as long as it’s ground. I won’t do the pre measured, just ground with some added tripe and. Bones for dental health.
Is your shipping next day or two day? Is everything frozen when it arrives?
Hi – I was initially just looking for green tripe, and fell in love with ReelRaw (http://reelrawdog.com/), which has several different options for ordering raw food. I’m on the North Shore in MA. They recently relocated from Texas, lucky us!
Just when I thought I was doing the right thing! I use a company in ME that will pre-measure a variety of meats using the prey model, and they offer the option of raw meaty bones with each meal or a bone-in option. She isn’t a super gulper, but I’m still worried about her choking on a bone and thought I would switch to the bone-in option. This is an interesting point which leaves me wondering what I should do. I also use salmon oil and some say that too should be avoided. I would consider rotating oils, but I wouldn’t want to cut out salmon oil entirely.
Hi apologises if there is already a post regarding which puppy/dog food is the best but I am rather new to all this.
We are collecting our 8 week old Labrador puppy called ‘Charlie’ next week. He is currently on IAMs puppy food. When I researched puppy food to find the best online deals it opened up a whole can of worms. Lots of different brands started to grab my attention. Which would you say is the best dry food. As much as the ‘raw diet’ sounds appealing it is just not achievable. I am a busy full time mummy of 5 children ranging from 6-years to 2-years so do not want to commit to that sort of high maintenance diet.
I would be very grateful of any help. Never had a dog before
My boy has Chronic Pancreatitis & IBD & Allergies, Ive been doing alot of reading about Pancreatitis. Ive read that kibble isnt good as the Pancreas has to work harder digesting kibble putting more strain on the Pancreas, have you thought of cooking.. I’ve been boiling chicken breast & pumkin & an egg, I freeze the chicken breast in meals sizes & I freeze the little bits of pumkin, I take out the night before & put in the fridge for breakfast, I boil a egg every second day cause I only give him half boiled egg at breakfast, I shread the chicken & mash the pumkin & mash the egg all together so its all mushed up, easier to digest, also make sure any vegetables or grains are well cooked to make them easier to digest. I then warm in micro wave.. At night I give his kibble only..this has helped the chicken pumkin & egg his pain has gone that he was having under his right rib cage, he’s not coming over to me no more for me to rub his side like when I just had him on kibble.. I’d say that she’s having pain then not wanting to eat. maybe try a low fat can food if u don’t want to cook but I havent found a can food that is low enough in fat, thats why I cook..Ive read that Diabetes & pancreatitis are closely linked, Dogs with Diabetes are often prone to Pancreatitis & vice versa..here’s some Low-Glycemic vegetables you can cook with chicken breast or lean low fat ground beef broccoli or cauliflower, cabbage, summer squashes zucchini, dark leafy greens mustard greens & spinach.. I mite try adding some zucchini, I dont know about spinach I always was told if ur constipated eat spinach…Im reading a book called “Raw & Natural Nutrition for Dogs” by Lew Olson PhD.. it has easy recipes for Pancreatits, diabetes, bladder, liver, heart, cancer etc, she explains what not to feed when ill..also what vitamins to add, excellent read.. the book cost about $11 online..
I’ve been looking at Natures Variety for him, actually. The canned, and sort of the raw lol About how much do the different raw diets cost? I’ve got three or so of those $3 off coupons they just mailed me, so that’s a possibility.
Here’s a picture of one of the things of pee I pulled out tonight. This one is how big they usually are, much larger than how they’ve been the last few days.
http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx294/Akari53/740D3329-D7AA-45D0-90DB-F88C23A9B971_zpsvknjujts.jpg
Does this mean that maybe he doesn’t have a UTI, since he’s apparently able to produce this amount of urine?
Hello Dr. Mike:
Please consider Green Cuisine 4 Pets, made in Califiornia….raw frozen and..
Happy Pet Products made in Wisconsin (I beleive)…..raw frozen.
Thanks,
Ron
Can anyone suggest a low protein food that I don’t have to get from my vet? Right now my yorkie is on a Purina low protein prescription and his allergies are back. Previously he was eating Instinct with Raw bits. But since his diagnosis he can’t have a high protein diet. So now that seems to leave me with all these grain foods which upsets his allergies again. The food he is on now is 12% protein. Any suggestions?
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This topic was modified 11 years, 11 months ago by
Tracy O. Reason: wrong forum
My cat has been on a raw diet for the past two years. He was on canned with water mixed in previously, and has been on the Natures variety chicken medallions since then. I can feed him (9lb, 4 year old male) for less than $1 a day (I get 48 medallions for $17, would be even cheaper if I did the parties or chubs but the medallions are SO convenient!).
I mush his food with water the same as I did his canned food. He was easy to convert, but I’ve heard cats can be extremely difficult. He won’t touch the Honest Kitchen trials I bought him. He will still eat canned and dry (he only gets that when I have to travel overnight).
I started him on raw after he got a UTI. He has gotten one since then, when we moved last year (his are definitely stress induced), but the raw seems to help and his coat and teeth are great!
I think commercial raw might be a good way to start and try to transition, and I think you can usually get a $3 coupon on the natures variety website for new customers.
I also have a fountain…he doesn’t really use it much, I think because I add water to all of his meals (3 a day). But I keep the fountain since I have seen him drink from it occasionally.
New here…. Have recently added to Alaskan Huskies to our family. Have done some research and learning regarding commercial dog food, raw diet, a combo, etc. Still looking to locate a source for raw: chicken, beef, pork, beaver, goat, etc. I know that there are such sources in my area but I have yet to check in to them. I look forward to learning all that I can here!!! At first, when I thought about feeding my k9’s RAW food, I thought OH MY! Then I began to consider what they would eat, and have eaten, out in the wild š
Would I need to add a taurine supplement if I was just feeding something raw once or twice a week at most?
Hi Bcn:
I have a few questions about raw for my kitties too, if you donāt mind sharing. Honestly, I have not researched feeding raw to cats so please excuse my ignorance on the subject. I want to feed some raw to enhance their commercial food diet and help clean their teeth. I was looking for something I can pick up at the grocery store to experiment with.
Is dicing up beef or lamb a good choice? Or are their better options?
What types of meat on the bone are good for cats?
Would ground meat be okay to feed?
What other cuts/organs are good to feed? For example, are gizzards or hearts good for them?
Does the raw need to be frozen before feeding or can it be fed straight from the store?
I dunno. He likes any kind of canned food I throw down at him. I guess he likes how ever its cooked in canned foods, rather than raw or broth.
I’ll be weird and take a picture of what I scoop out tonight :p Why is fist-sized too large? What would that mean? Anything bad?
I don’t think he liked the taste of the raw chicken. He doesn’t really like those Temptation treats, but I can still get him to eat them when he’s hungry, and he was hungry when I tried the chicken wing with him. He took the bit off my finger, and got this “what is this stuff??” kinda grossed out look on his face LOL I don’t think he likes the chicken broth either.
I don’t think its the bowl or even the pump that bothers him, I think its just the fact that its water that puts him off. He was very interested and checking it out when I plugged it back in tonight, and watched intently as the pump started working and poured water. As soon as the water started flowing, he stalked off. Not without turning around a few steps later to see if it was still spewing out water and if it was coming after him lol
I am still adding water to his food, yes. What makes me think that he doesn’t like the chicken water is that I made his food just like I normally do, only I added a cube of broth instead of some of the water. Mixed it all up like normal once the cube was melted, and he snubbed it. There is a tiny bit more liquid than usual, but its not *that* bad! Most of the food is submersed, and like last time, he won’t touch it if its under the broth. We’ll see how it go through out the night. He still has a little more than half a can to eat tonight, so I dunno what I’ll do about that if he doesn’t eat whats out.
I don’t know whats normal for him! When we got him, he was peeing in about the same amount, but less often, and there was blood in it. After his treatment, was peeing A LOT. Like 4 or 5 balls, larger than my fist, a day. Then I changed his litter the other day, and he’s back to small pee’s, but there are a good amount of them. Like I said before, I can’t tell you if theres blood in there or not because this crap is brown. The whole laundry room smells like cat pee since changing to this walnut stuff. Lots of people complain about that. So I can’t say if its the litter not doing its job in deodorizing that makes mom think his pee smells stronger, or if it does actually smell stronger. I am getting rid of this litter little by little, every night after I scoop, I add in some tidy cats to replace it. Never ever again! I’ll call the vet in the morning and see what they think I should do.
Hi Akari:
I totally understand that you don’t have the best area to feed raw, me neither, but it sounds like Kitty may like raw to me. If you tore off a piece and he ate it, I would say he probably likes it or is at least curious. My cats do not even entertain the idea of eating something they don’t like. lol I would keep giving it a try, tearing the meat off of the bone might be more appealing to him, maybe even try a different meat. Try feeding a little peice of raw maybe once a week to start with and see how it goes. You can always freeze some portions so it doesn’t go to waste. I will be trying some raw for my kitties soon!
I have never used a cat fountain, but I would take the suggestions of Jake’s mom and Bcn and keep introducing him to it by leaving it off most of the time and turning it on little by little. Peaking his interest and getting him used to the fountain could just be a matter of more time and patience. I wouldn’t give up on it, give him time to get used to it.
I don’t know of any type of water additive.
Earlier in this thread you wrote you made his food almost soupy in consistency by adding water. Do you still do that? You can also try mixing the meat water into his wet food. That extra flavor might appeal to him. Did you make bone broth or did you boil the meat? Just wondering what you ended up making.
If he is not drinking enough water I would suggest doing anything to get fluids into him consistently (nothing harmful of course), so if it has to be fish flavored water then let it be fish flavored water! Look over the suggestions from catinfo for getting kitties hydrated. There’s also clam juice and Catsip too.
If you feel his urination habits have changed or seem abnormal I would not hesitate to take him to the Vet. You can’t fool around with UTI’s. I will add that the size of the litter balls you described are on average what I remove from my litter box; sometimes bigger, sometimes smaller. But what is normal for my cats might not be Kitty’s normal litter box habits.
I would have just let him keep playing with the wing in hopes that he would eventually eat a bit of it and then would accept some raw. And for the fountain, be careful that your behavior isn’t convincing him that it is a bad thing. Just turn it off part of the time so if it is the noise or moving water that’s bothering him, he can get used to the idea that it has good water in it without any other consideration. Try having it on for only half the day at first.
Background info: I have two dogs, Jessie (6yo, F, ACD) and Gus (9yo, M, ACD x Beagle). Both were adult rescues, Jess has shown many symptoms of canine PTSD, several of which have waned over the past year that I’ve had her.
I recently picked up extra shifts at work, which seems to be taking a toll on Jessie emotionally. Usually these shifts only consist of 4-5 hours, but I have been working more doubles which means I’m gone from 10am-7:30pm. During the day Gus and Jess are either in their outdoor dog run (very large) with a dog house and a few toys. If the weather is bad, they stay inside and upstairs because I am living at home (college) and my mother sells baked goods, so the dogs can’t be near the food we sell. My siblings are home in the afternoons, and my sister lets them out and plays a bit with them when she gets home from school.
Jess has gone off of her feed – she gets Nature’s Logic for breakfast and dinner and a raw chicken neck with her dinner. Lately she’s been refusing her kibble and eats only the necks. She has also gained a lot of weight, which leads me to believe she’s been much less active during the day than usual. When I get home, we used to play wrestle a bit, but she doesn’t want to do that anymore either. She won’t play with Gus either, so now he’s just a ball of wired up energy when I get home.
Any suggestions as to how I can help her feel better? I can’t drop hours at work or she’ll have to start hunting for her own food. I have a couple of puzzle toys for her, one of which I leave out during the day because it doesn’t have any loose pieces, but she quit playing with it. I’ve been thinking of getting some stuffable Kong-like toys. Any ideas? Herbal supplements? Games or exercises?
I have never dealt with that issue as my current and past dogs will eat anything at anytime! I hesitate to make any suggestions due to your pup’s health conditions. I’m not sure if you have checked this out, but on the review side of this site, there is a list of excellent low fat foods. Just click on best dog foods and it will bring up different categories of foods, including low fat. It is my understanding that with diabetes, that kibble is not the best form of food to feed. Canned, dehydrated, cooked or raw is best. I hope someone that can help will jump in. But, I’m not sure that anyone can predict which food your dog will like and for how long. LOL! I feed my dogs with digestive issues Victor grain free mixed with canned, eggs, or sardines or fresh pet select. I also give a digestive and probiotic supplements. I hope you find something that makes your pup better. Good luck!
Hi Annie J,
How did you find out those results? My dog has struggled with allergic reactions for about a year; we did some blood draw allergy testing, but it only tested for environmental allergens, not food. I would love to know more.
In the meanwhile, check out Infinia foods…
I’ve just kinda skimmed through the past few posts, but I read “Patch smells like yeasts my friend said it’s like mold.” I knew a dog once who had that distinct smell. They couldn’t figure out anything in his diet! and they bought an anti fungal shampoo (I believe it was Malaseb), have never had the problem since. The dog didn’t have any itching though, so I still think Patch probably has allergies… There’s that slight chance he might also have a skin fungus and shampoo would help clear it up.
If he has any outdoor allergies, have you any access to local raw honey? I know of some super allergy prone dogs that get a spoonful of raw honey every day and can now go outside in the worst allergy seasons without a problem.
Hi Dori
I feed half kibble since the squeamish people in my house could have to feed sometimes, so I don’t worry about upping the protein. Between the raw I feed and the freeze dried, I think mine get about 15-20% carbs, which is a very good level for mine. IDK how much carb is in the raw you feed or what kind of fiber yours need. That would play a part in whether or not it would actually be important for you to keep up with feeding fruits and veggies for treats. Mine get a fruit and veggie mix added to some of their raw and some of it already has some fruits and veggies added, but I really limit my dogs carbs because Micah starts having issues pretty quickly if he gets too much. Angel gets even less, she is basically on an anticancer raw, which means she gets next to no kibble and gets lots of antioxidants and supergreens.
Any raw is better than no raw. I know several people who don’t feed any raw except raw meaty bones 2 or 3 times a week for teeth, but they have notied improved coat too.
If your cats will eat raw, it is definitely better for them to get some raw. Mine would not eat chunks, but I got some whole prey grinds from Hare Today that they will eat. They won’t eat more than about 1 oz. at a time each though, never a full meal, which is funny because they both hunt bunnies and eat them whole.
Just because a dog is “senior” doesn’t mean it has these problems. All those problems can potentially happen at any age. I’ve fostered many dogs under 5 (even as young as 1 yr) with joint/eye/digestion/ear issues and have needed hip/knee surgeries and prescription eye and ear drops. A healthy senior can eat regular food (adult, maintenance and all life stages, puppy food). I have a 14 yr old with no active health issues. He is blind and deaf which he was already when I got him last year at 13. He is not on any medications and eats the same foods as all the other foster dogs I have. I use 3.5-4.5 star kibble and top it off with 5 star canned foods which is normally at least 43% protein. He even gets some raw food which I usually make without any plant matter. The dogs get joint supplements and vitamins, antioxidants, supergreen supplements and fish oil. My personal dogs don’t get chemical pesticides which has been linked to some cancers nor do they get unnecessary vaccines. You might want to research “over vaccination”. Try looking up Dogs4dogs dot com, b-naturals dot com, wholedogjournal dot com, dogsnaturallymagazine dot com. These are just a few of the sites pertaining to more “natural” care of dogs. If one of my dogs had late stage kidney disease, at that point I would change the diet, but I wouldn’t change the diet just because they’re a senior in general. Some things possibly connected to cancer is chemical laden commercial kibble, vaccines, the constant application of poisonous pesticides (heartworm and flea/tick meds, fertilizers), even air pollution.
http://dogs4dogs.com/
Hi “thenut”. I’m always concerned about giving freeze dried meats or fish as treats. Doesn’t “up” the protein levels. I’m already feeding the dogs pretty high proteins due to the commercial raw feeding. I originally started with the raw fruits and veggies (tiny amounts per day) because of Katie’s (yes I will say it again) allergies but then I started thinking that raw freeze dried treats would add more to their daily protein levels. What do you think on this subject? As always, you are one of the posters that I trust your judgement and experience. Thanks, Patty.
2 months, 1 week ago
