Taking her first the in the morning. She’ll fast this evening and overnight and asked me to bring her in at 10:00 a.m. and leave her there for a couple of hours. They’ll draw blood then I think they feed her a high fat food and bloodwork again after a certain amount of time. She said it would probably take no more than a couple of hours. I’m wondering if I should ask them to go ahead with the Cushing’s test also instead of wasting more time?
No mention of pancreatitis or anything else. She said everything was normal. I’ve just done a search on line of Cushing’s syndrome and she does exhibit a lot of the symptoms. I’ve printed some stuff out to take to the vet tomorrow. She seems to have more symptoms of Cushing’s than liver disease. Increased thirst, increased appetite (I thought it was cause she loves the raw), loss of muscle in back legs, hind-leg weakness (thought it was because two degenerated discs mid spine), hind legs trembling (again thought it was from disc problem), reluctance to jump on furniture, panting, thinning hair (thought it was her hypothyroidism), lots of skin tags (thought it was old age).
I don’t know if I’m just seeing things and putting them together or they are really all just the stuff I thought. I certainly know I’m driving myself crazy. I had mentioned the hind leg trembling but vet said it would be from the degenerated discs. I just don’t know what to think.
Did your Vet say anything about the beginnings of Pancreatitis? This is also a cause for Elevated Liver enzymes. Raw is a lot higher in fat than kibble and some dogs do well on it and others have issues with the higher fat. 2 of mine did not do well on it and developed Pancreatitis and one of my other ones just threw it up several times until I did not offer it to her anymore and the other did fine so 3 out of 4 it did not agree with and to be honest I was worried about them getting bad bacteria in which 2 of them ended up doing from Raw. I still have some in my outside freezer which I need to throw out. I don’t think I will ever find the perfect food for my girls and it is very frustrating. Maybe when I retire I can strictly home cook for the ones I have left or newly acquired ones if that happens. Oh and my girls were on Darwin’s for 8 months before anyone developed Pancreatitis.
I do hope it is nothing serious with your baby girl. keep us posted with the fasting results.
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This reply was modified 11 years, 12 months ago by
NectarMom.
When I fed Raw one of my dogs blood work constantly coming back like she had Cushings. We had to fast her and then her blood work came back only slightly elevated and now since we are back on kibble her blood work comes back perfect. Fasting really tells more. I do yearly annuals but no vaccines. It could also be the higher protein so which is another reason to fast to get an accurate reading.
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This reply was modified 11 years, 12 months ago by NectarMom.
Ok Patty. So your basically telling me to calm down and wait and I could be freaking out thinking there’s nothing that will be able to help but that in actuality if it is the liver then there will be some things I can do to reverse the situation? Damn, sorry Patty, I now realize I am babbling. I’ve been checking the protein levels of all the raws that I feed and, of course, they are much higher than kibble but I don’t want to put her on kibble. I also took a look at protein levels for the Nzymes and I’ve had her on two other supplements that I had forgotten about from Ark Naturals Grey Muzzle line. One for cognitive and one for heart health. I just thought since she was older she might need some heart health and, also, due to her age I couldn’t really tell whether she sometimes seemed a little more out of things because of losing some hearing to old age or cognitive skills were being affected due to age. Everything has added protein. Could all that contribute to high liver levels. I should have left well enough alone and just fed her the raw with her glucosamine and not added other stuff. I have been giving them all milk thistle but since it comes in capsules I was dividing one capsule among the three dogs. Should I have been giving each one capsule? It just looked like so much. I should have posted that question. I know we all talked about milk thistle when losul’s Turbo was diagnosed with HW but I don’t think it was ever discussed as to how much or I just missed that part. I’m kicking myself right now thinking of all the things I may have done wrong. Like I said, other than hypothyroid Hannah has never ever had any health issues.
What do you mean it’s rare for vets to do yearly bloodwork? If they don’t then what’s the point of the yearly physical? Why would I take them then? I could look and feel them as well, actually, better than she can? Hmmmm? I should have insisted on a 6 month bloodwork instead of yearly. I read something about that somewhere that when dogs get older they should go every six months instead of yearly but she didn’t think it was necessary in the least because Hannah’s always been so healthy. And here I go rambling and babbling.
Raw honey is supposed to help boost the immune system. I wouldn’t give more than 1/2 teaspoon per 10 lbs.
Somewhere there is a thread about bloat, but I don’t know where it’s hiding, but the take away is that they really don’t know what causes bloat. Every time they think they have a cause, they try to cause bloat and find that whatever they were testing doesn’t cause bloat. The current thinking is that there is no one reason that animals bloat, but that there may be several factors that have to be present at the same time to cause bloat. I can tell you that raw fed dogs are not known for bloating and they recieve a high fat diet compared to kibble fed dogs, so it can’t just be fat. Same with dogs fed canned foods.
They say that for bloat prone dogs that you should not feed a food with citric acid in it because this can cause gas build up in the stomach. And they also say to wet the food well before feeding it to allow it to absorb all the water that it can. And don’t allow your dog to drink water after eating, especially if fed a dry meal. I would always add digestive enzymes to any kibble being fed to a bloat prone dog, but I would strive to feed a more natural diet to these dogs.
Hi Clynne S,
We interview each company being considered for our Editor’s Choice list and inquire if they test their ingredients for preservatives and mycotoxins before these materials are incorporated into their products.
Most either test or insist their suppliers certify the raw materials are preservative-free. Unfortunately, testing by DFA is beyond the scope (or budget) of our service.
Thanks for your question.
Ok, so I’m really freaking out right now. Hannah, our 14 1/2 year old Maltese had her yearly physical on Friday and the vet called this a.m. to tell me that Hannah’s liver levels are sky high. Level came back at 436. I’ll admit I don’t know exactly what that means other than it is bad. She said that last year her level was just under the high level but didn’t mention it because it was nothing to be concerned. It was still high/normal. I have to fast her for 12 hours and have her back to vet in the a.m. to do a specific liver test where they’ll keep her for a couple of hours. If that comes back o.k. then they’ll do a test for Cushings. If that’s okay then a liver ultrasound. The only the that has changed in this past year is that I switched to an all rotating commercial raw diet for all three dogs. She’s had hypothyroidism for years and has been on soloxine for years. That came back fine and keep her on the same dose. I did add Nyzymes a couple of months back to her diet. She has not vomitted, doesn’t have diarrhea, her hair is very very thin but I’ve attributed that to thyroid and old age. She does seem to be drinking more water than normal, especially on a raw diet where they usually drink less water than on kibble not more.
So, what should I start doing immediately. I’m beside myself. Her yearly has only come back as being fabulous. Last year the vets told me her bloodwork came back like that of a 7 or 8 year old dog. So, yep! Freaking out here. HELP!!!
My girls were on Darwin’s for 8 months with no issues then one of the reps for Darwin’s said we could introduce Duck and when we did 2 of mine got Pancreatitis and hundreds of dollars later we dropped Darwin’s off our menu and went with Hare Today and one of mine kept throwing it up so I just gave up on Raw. I don’t want anymore of them sick and I do not need anymore vet bills.
Well now I don’t know what to do! Was just reading research on Bloat, and saw that the risk increases 100% in high risk breeds if one of the top 4 ingredients is fat. The 4th ingredient in Whole Earth is chicken fat, and I have a German Shepherd which is an at risk breed.
I am surprised to see very little discussion on bloat.
I am thinking about rotating Nutrisource (need to check prices) and Grandma Lucy’s with fresh meat. With 2 large breed dogs I just can’t afford the raw route, and husband gets the willies lol.
Honestly, I’d think that home made would be best for everyone. You could customize her diet more easily, and home made is much better in general – raw is best, too. There are many premixes out there. The Honest Kitchen is a favorite. Sojos and See Spot Live Longer are dehydrated foods that you add your own meat to, so you could buy a protein source she isn’t allergic to. Sojos isn’t the most complete, so it would be best if rotated out with at least one other.
If you do find a dry food that works, you can always soak it or mix it with a super wet canned food to make it easier to chew. I’d be a little nervous about having only rabbit as a protein source in dry food, as rabbit has zero animal fat (or possibly there’s chicken fat in the ingredient list as well, I haven’t seen it), and I believe that dogs need an amount of animal fat in their diets.
I still think that something home made is definitely best 🙂
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This reply was modified 11 years, 12 months ago by
Shasta220.
I give 1/2 tablespoon of ACV per cup of food, no matter what kind of food it is, dry, canned, raw, etc. You have to dilute it at least 50/50 with water, but I also add water to my dogs’ food so I dilute it more than that.
I use freshly crushed cloves of garlic, which is why I don’t use it daily. Freshly crushed cloves are more potent. Springtime has a high sulfur strain of garlic that is excellent for bug control and is probably safer for every day use than fresh garlic, but you lose some of the other benefits of garlic.
I know there are a lot of people who love bully sticks. I don’t use them simply because my dog turns his nose at them (I think he knows where they come from, LOL!!!).
I don’t think a raw bone would do much harm unless it was a big load-bearing one (shoulder, leg, etc). Possibly try giving him some chicken backs/necks, and even freezing them to make them last a bit longer.
I also like to stuff toys (good rubber that won’t tear, of course) with treats and peanut butter, then freeze. This keeps my heavy chewer busy for a long time 🙂
YES I want to know too. Have a 20 month old GSD. My vet does not like deer antlers and anything else hard which includes BONES because they can easily crack a tooth and then you REALLY have a problem. I was surprised but she said if I saw some of the problems she sees due to cracked teeth I would agree with her. Rawhide is not digested so I do not give them to my dogs. Greenies are supposedly VERY BAD- plus our GSD chewed the XL ones in one minute. I found the website BESTBULLYSTICKS.com and they seem to have good ones. Go read that site. They explain WHY theirs are better. I ordered some and he LOVES THEM and a 12 inch takes him about 30 min. I take it from him after 15 min. I put them in the freezer a few days, thinking it will help with ANY bacteria left on the sticks. THe company says there is no bacteria due to their processing, but you never know. When this dog started getting runny stools I quit giving them to him because it COULD be bacteria in the stick that he cannot deal with. Now I’m dealing with runny stools. I also bought him a VARSITY BALL which is at Amazon and on the net. They are expensive but honestly this is more entertaining than a chew toy could ever be. Watch the videos of dogs playing with that toy. Plus, it wears him out. He cannot get enough of it. You might consider spending your chew toy money on this great entertainment. Good luck.
I drink Amazing Grass Green Superfood. I was looking at the ingredients and it most of them are ingredients recommended by Dr. Becker to optimize a dog’s raw food diet.What do you think? Does it have “no-no” ingredients” or would it be a good idea to share this with my Susie?
All Products
Hi, I have a 12 week old puppy (Newfoundland and Standard poodle) mix who loves to chew on things. I was hoping to find something that I could give him to keep him occupied for some periods when he gets super hyper in the evenings. He is about 25 pounds and has extremely sharp teeth. When he gets hyper and I play with him he play bites a lot and the only thing that calms him is chewing on something else. I am giving him the made of 100% chicken nubz for now, but he goes through a half bone in about 15 mins.
Should I try rawhide or bully sticks? And can people suggest good brands? I am very worried about chemicals, and made in china products because there really seems to be no regulation at all.
Hey Shasta:
What bone-in raw do you give your kitties? I would like to try that on my kitties.
Thanks!
Hi All, I am finding this raw food forum so interesting, just read it thru from beginning to end! I’m not ready to feed raw yet, actually got started on DFA to check the rating for my dog’s kibble. However, I’m wondering about adding some raw to Jake’s diet. He’s a beagle mix, 30ish pounds, 9 years old, good health. Can I just throw a chicken liver or 2 in with his kibble? Give him a wing or back as a treat? A chunk of stew beef now and then? Can he have a chicken thigh for dinner in place of his kibble some days? And what is this 2 week freeze I’ve heard mentioned? Do I need to freeze all meat before I give it to him? Am I killing a parasite by doing this? He loves fruits and vegies , he gets whatever I’m eating that day. Better to cook/steam them or just let him have it raw? Will still give kibble, at least for now so not worried about him needing supplements. Also, can I feed my cats the same way? Some chicken or beef in addition to their regular food? Can a cat chew up a chicken wing safely? Or more likely, a piece of a wing? Thanks!
Sometimes Maddy gets some raw. We give Millie a piece of bone-in raw daily, and I encourage Maddy to chew on it a bit.
Hi everyone,
Thank you for all of the input. The update on my Gus isn’t good ( for raw food.) He started out wonderfully ( except for some gas) but then within the last few days, he’s become very restless and itchy 🙁 he’s even starting to tunnel on the floor and the bottom of the couch. Not sure what to do because my vet wants him on a HD diet and from what I’ve read about those, they aren’t good. Thoughts? He was on Natures Variety lid lamb kibble, but got tired of it and seems to want only beef, but he needs limited ingredient and grain free.
Are you still feeding Brothers? When I first started with the raw feeding I was concerned about the fat content but it doesn’t seem to bother them in the least. I’ve been feeding them Primal, Answers, Stella & Chewys, Darwins. I used to feed non raw THK but Katie became allergic to alfalfa so I had to stop that which was too bad because I really like the company. Where can I see pics of your dogs? My girls are my avatar and Hannah is the pic on my Facebook page. Dori Hassett on Facebook.
Glad to hear your babies are much better. After we resolved the water issue the red staining from licking went away but we still have eye staining and they scratch and lick their feet every now and then which drives me nuts. I edit pictures that I take of them on face book because of the horrid eye staining. We tried Darwin’s Raw among other Raw avenues and 2 out of 4 got pancreatitis so I am very afraid of trying raw again. Though I still worry about the eye staining and do not know for sure if it is environmental or food. It is so hard to tell but I know during Winter we still had feet chewing but not as much.
Hi Nectarmom. It’s nice knowing your still around. I hadn’t seen too many of your posts lately. My girls are doing better than I could possibly have imagined. A number of months back I did the complete transition to raw. All bad breath, gas, tear staining, goopy runny eyes has been history for quite some time. Their teeth are all incredibly white, I wasn’t expecting that they could get whiter since I’ve always brushed their teeth. Their hair (fur) is shinny soft and they all smell kinda sweet. It’s not their shampoo because I use soapless shampoos with no dyes or perfumes because of Katie and my allergies. The three of them have always been chow hounds but this is really ridiculous. They lick their bowls clean and leave them like they came out of the dishwasher. Lola who was getting a little chunky has lost some weight. Well, actually they all have on the raw. Lola was up to 6 lbs. maybe a little more, she’s now at 5 lbs. where she should be. Katie was a little over 7 lbs. she’s now at 6 lbs. where she should be, and Hannah was up to 8.5 lbs. and now weighs 7.3 lbs. Vet is delighted with all their weights and wanted to know what I’d done differently. So all is good here. Oh, they the water that they drink is from the tap at home, we have a whole house filtration system. I never thought it was the water. I always suspected it was the food for it to be happening to all three of them even though some were posting on the other site that it was clogged tear duct, hair in eyes, etc. For all three in both eyes, couldn’t be. I gave up the discussions, dropped the site, listen to the posters and moved to raw. I do add unrefined coconut oil, sardine oil (3 times a week, or sardines packed in water), organic fruits and veggies. No commercially made treats. How are your dogs doing? Still tear stained?
Our dog has acid reflux. He was throwing up ( I think he’s actually just regurgitating, not really throwing up) about once or twice a week in the middle of the night and every now and then during the day while we are at work. We switched his food to Nutro chicken and oatmeal formula a couple of years ago and it seemed to control it pretty well. He only had an incident every other month or so. We’ve tried to give him Tums, per the vets recommendation, but he never would eat them.
About 2 months ago our dog got worse. He was throwing up (or regurgitate) every day. We have found that feeding him chicken and rice for a few days clears up these episodes and he’s back to normal. I started researching raw food and cooked food diets for him and now I’m making his food myself. I use chicken thighs (they are the cheapest), sweet potato, carrots, green beans, and blueberries. I throw it all in a slow cooker and when it’s done I remove the bones and mash it all up. I add 1/2 cup of dry food and 1/2 cup of rice when I’m ready to feed them and they love it. No more tummy issues and their farts smell 90% better. Or, is it 90% less bad? Either way, both dogs could clear out a room before.
The only part of the diet I haven’t solved yet is the supplements. It seems like there are good and bad things said about Dinovite, but I haven’t tried that yet. I’ve been using Nupro, and it seems to work ok.
Gosh, sorry you have such a lousy selection. I entirely understand though. When my minimal budget, I can’t afford nearly what I’d like to. We have awful selection too – just a Walmart and a few little pet boutique shops. I’m sure my lab’s flaky skin is some sort of intolerance, but at least she is on a food that never makes her stink, itch, and lose fur. She is WAY better than she was on her food last year, and hasn’t had a foul odor or hot spot since!
I will have to second Dori though – dogs allergic to chicken will be triggered by about any poultry source. Have you ever thought of buying food online? I know there are several sites that will offer free shipping, discounts, etc.. Personally I’ve never bought food online, but everyone who does that I talk to seems to be content with it, and most of them say they’ll never buy from stores again.
If it is just seasonal allergies (always that slight possibility.), I’ve heard of people who swear by raw local honey.
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This reply was modified 12 years ago by Shasta220.
I’d like to second the oils thing – Bruno gets coconut oil every other day, plus a canned sardine once a week, and on occasion, some raw fish. Plus, he’s on a fish-based food now. Since the coconut oil addition, though, he has been super duper soft! 🙂
TJ. When I initially started rotating foods a long time ago I would switch every two or three bags, then I started switching every bag. Always very very slowly. I eventually switched to commercial raw foods for all my three dogs because one of them has many food intolerances and allergies. I feed all three girls twice a day as I always have regardless of what I feed them and can now say, and it’s been a few months now, that I can feed them different foods a.m. and p.m. with no issues whatsoever. No gas, bad breath, diarrhea, constipation, nothing. I rotate their proteins within a brand, I rotate brands and I rotate their supplements. Nothing seems to bother them any more. Just as humans eat different foods for different meals without issues, so do my dogs. I will also say that they are incredibly healthy. I have a 14 1/2 year old Maltese (she’ll be 15 on 9/9/14) and I have a 4 1/2 year old Maltipoo and a 4 1/2 year old Yorkipoo. Vet is always praising how well they are. They only go to the vet at this point once a year for physical and the only vaccine they receive is rabbi’s vaccine. Hope any of this has helped.
Once you get your dogs accustomed to rotation, it has nothing whatsoever to do with their age. It is never too late to start rotating foods and they don’t take to rotation of diets any easier because they are young or old. Just take your time initially and before you know it you’ll be able to feed them different things all the time. Initially, like theBCnut, I used to add a complete probiotic and a digestive enzyme every day (not every meal). I haven’t done that in ages. Good Luck to you. Glad to meet you and welcome to the site if your new. If not, sorry I haven’t picked up on your name before.
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This reply was modified 12 years ago by
Dori.
One of my dogs was very yeasty, the other two were mildly so. What worked for them was switching their diet and adding Mercola’s Complete Probiotics. The switch in their diet back then was to a grain, soy, rice, white potato, poultry free. All yeast, bad breath, horrendous gas issues, runny goopy eyes all went away. Also one of them had terribly dry skin. I later transitioned them to all raw and that is what they eat now.
Mercola Complete Probiotics is on the expensive side but I think it’s a really good company and product. It’s also a lot less expensive than being at the vet every time you turn around and being charged their outrageous prices for meds that don’t fix the actual problem, only the symptoms and then to add insult to injury they want you to feed your animals their horrible foods that the sell and get kick backs on.
Hi Gina,
My toy breeds (I have eight) and foster dogs (Boston Terriers and Papillons) all get raw or some raw. Between my own and my foster dogs, I’ve had more than 30 dogs on raw and never had a problem with even one of them to date. I actually have had two foster dogs that could not digest kibble well at all but did fantastic on raw.
For the record, I do have one dog that I will not feed raw edible bones to as she is a gulper and has choked on chew treats before. If she tries to swallow a chew treat that is too large she is likely to try to swallow a bone that is too large. I mainly feed ground, commercial raw but wanted to mention that..
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This reply was modified 12 years ago by
Shawna.
Instinct Lamb, Instinct Lamb Raw Boost, LID lamb and LID rabbit, Grandma Lucy’s Pureformance, Zignature, Great Life Grain Free and Pioneer Naturals grain free (doctorsfinest dot com), and Smack Caribbean Salmon Fusion (hard to find, I bought from Long Leash on Life in New Mexico, they ship).
thank you so much everyone! 🙂 it always helps to hear from paople who have had experience with the product, or of like products. I’ve been on the fence for so long about raw ( I am the nervous nelly) but from what I’ve read and now heard from fellow parents of fur babies , this eases my mind. I haven’t heard much about the Natures Variety raw, but I have read on this site that there have been recalls in the past.
You were very nice not to laugh out loud at the comments “That, like our bodies, they can better digest processed foods (she brought up how when we were cavemen we ate a lot of uncooked food and just sat around digesting it all day)”. Please do not give in to the pressure and continue to feed your baby what you know is best for him. I’m no raw zealot, but the evidence is overwhelming. Most dogs thrive on a raw diet. I know that my two Pugs do.
Dori,
I’m a huge THK fan..you know they had a recall last year, right? I’m okay with it, it was parsley, they took care of the issue & I’m excited to try the new products they have coming later this year. I generally trust every company until given reason not to. Regarding commercial raw, Bravo had a recall as well. I’m using what’s left of Darwin’s for Ginger and Boone eats grinds from Hare Today.
Marie, there have been a number of what is known as a “silent recall” through the years and, unfortunately, you have to be googling and constantly researching and get on every dog food recall list on line that you possibly can in hopes that sometimes those in the know get wind of them. That’s what I do, anyway. I don’t rely on any one site for recalls. As you know The Truth About Pets is a really great one. I check that site out every single day as well as others. Anytime I find out about any company or brand that has done that I cross them off my list of foods. I don’t adhere to the thinking that anyone can have a problem so let’s give them another chance. Nope! Any company that has recalls worse, a silent recall, are not getting a chance to injure my girls. I’ve stopped feeding kibble and commercial treats for those reasons. I have been feeding commercial raw and now some home made with supplements and their digestive systems are now strong enough that if a commercial raw food company has minor issues I know they’ll be fine. I don’t really trust any kibble company. I’d always be nervous. The only company that’s not raw that I trust is The Honest Kitchen and I rarely feed that anymore because it contains alfalfa and Katie has recently become intolerant or down right allergic to it.
LOL, Thanks Shasta!! 🙂
I actually have eight small and toy breed dogs ranging in size from 4 to 14 pounds. Five of the eight get raw with a little canned topper for variety. (I’ve been a raw feeder for about 10 years.) The other three get a quarter cup of kibble with a large teaspoon of canned and a large teaspoon of raw. All but one of mine are adopted–one from humane society, two rehomed to me at six months of age (both ill) and the other four came in as foster dogs and never left. 🙂 The one we got from the breeder has had kidney disease since birth and reacts to beef bone, beef tripe and barley (or gluten) which I was giving her for her kidneys (long story). I feed a lot of bison, venison, salmon, lamb, pork, rabbit, eggs, no bone-in beef etc.. Mimi, one that gets kibble regularly, seems to react to lamb so I only give her very small amounts of raw lamb infrequently.. The others may have issues with certain ingredients too(?) but I rotate so frequently that if they do they aren’t on the food long enough for symptoms to appear.
Luckily, none of my pups are finicky or the least bit picky. They all eat anything I put in their dishes. 🙂
PS — all my current babies are small breed but my heart dog is the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. My goal is to have another Staffie (grew up with one) at some point in my future.
My Pomeranian Gizmo is also “poultry” intolerant. She gets bloody, liquid diarrhea (ulcerative colitis) from chicken. Duck, turkey, pheasant, quail and even ostrich cause eye goobers and coughing but doesn’t seem to affect her digestive tract (at least that is noticeable). At least not with short term feeding. She has absolutely no issue at all with any form of egg though. Not saying your baby will be the same just saying it is possible to be intolerant of poultry muscle proteins while being okay with egg, liver and other proteins from poultry.
After getting Gizmo off of chicken (she was about two at the time) it took about a year for her immune system to calm down. It took several months before I stopped seeing mucous in the stool if I remember correctly. Sometimes the stool was also a little partially mushy, or off and on, during the withdrawal (or detox) phase.
I used a fish based product called SeaCure to help repair her gut faster (again, it took about 2(ish) months for the gut but about a year for the immune system). Having your girl on medications could slow the healing process as the body also has to filter the drugs?? OHHH, NSAID’s of any sort (like Rimadyl) still to this day cause colitis in her after being on it for more than two to three days.
Pepcid AC makes protein digestion harder as it neutralizes the hydrochloric acid that is required in the process of breaking down proteins. For this reason some feel it can be counter productive. At the very least it is going to make the pancreas have to work harder to get the protein from the food. Glutamine is a supplement that is given to help with stomach damage. Glutamine is also an amino acid in protein. If the protein can’t be digested than the glutamine is not released for the body (and gut) to use. Many of us chose to use apple cider vinegar instead of an antacid. Here’s an article written by a Certified Nutrition Consultant if interested (she mentions the use of ACV for dogs in the article) http://www.naturalnutritionadvisor.com/blog/?p=73 (SeaCure helps in much the same way — it is simply fish protein that has been broken down to its simplest form allowing for the glutamine and other amino acids be easily utilized by the body.)
Hoping you are able to get it all figured out and get her healthy very quickly!! I can honestly say I know what you are going through!!!!
Edit — I agree with Shasta. If you can do raw (or a commercial cooked diet) it is SO much easier to control the ingredients!!!
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This reply was modified 12 years ago by Shawna.
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This reply was modified 12 years ago by Shawna.
Have you tried any other home made diets? I think there are a few other raw premixes out ther. See Spot Live Longer and Sojos are the two I can think of right off the top. A home made diet would probably be a lot easier to adjust the ingredients on to keep those ones out.
Edit: have you tried all the commercial raw foods? /best-dog-foods/raw-dog-food/ I haven’t looked at them all to see if there are any free of poultry, but there’s a chance…
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This reply was modified 12 years ago by Shasta220.
No, they aren’t East or West brands, you just either have to read more here or find exactly the right store or order online dog food. Most of these brands aren’t available anywhere within 100 miles of me, but I am aware that they exist and where I can get them online.
Great Life hasn’t had a recall because when they had an incident that should have resulted in a recall, they very quietly did a product withdrawal instead, so if you weren’t paying attention to your brand at exactly the right time, you wouldn’t even know that there might potentially be a problem with your food. I wouldn’t buy from a company that does that, because I know they wouldn’t inform me or anyone else of real issues. No trust.
I like their treats that they have that are beef tripe! I haven’t tried their frozen raw yet, but have heard good things about the company. I live in WI and they are in Green Bay, so I also like to support a local company. I feed my mini Schnauzer Baxter frozen raw rabbit from Stella and Chewy’s which is also local in Milwaukee. I like the idea of feeding him something that is his natural prey (rabbit), but probably should rotate protein sources.
What have you all heard about Nature’s Variety frozen raw? Good or bad?
I haven’t used VE’s frozen raw, but I use their freeze dried and I love their products. Definitely rotate food brands and protein sources.
Thought I would just add my experience with Earthborn grain free. One of my dogs can’t eat turkey, so I tried Earthborn’s Great Plains and Meadow Feast, only to learn the hard way that he’s also allergic to peas, which the second ingredient. Since I have avoided foods with peas any higher than 4th or 5th, he’s had no problems. So while it’s very affordable, sadly I cannot buy this brand.
Am a little bummed after splurging to join that I can’t use most of the foods on the editor’s choice list due to these two allergies. Budget is also an issue for us feeding two adult dogs and one puppy who will soon be bigger than the grownups. We give raw once or twice a week.
So, I just started my little guy on frozen raw beef niblets from Vital essentials. I have read lots on the company, and feel comfortable???? I’m such a nervous nelly….can anyone give thoughts on this subject? Thank you 🙂
Hi Melissa,
Vet Dr. Karen Becker has a video interview with a Newfie breeder who is also a human and pet chiropractor. He has very sound dogs and feeds a HIGH protein raw diet. He had one female Newfie live to age 17. Of course not everyone is in a position to feed raw, especially to a Newf, but wanting to demonstrate that protein isn’t an issue. They have scientific data supporting that conclusion as well.. That same data lists excess calcium and over feeding as problems. It’s in the forum comments HDM mentions.
http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/04/05/how-a-newfoundland-pet-dog-reached-17-years.aspx
Try mixing in green tripe. I order frozen raw green tripe from Hare Today and My Pet Carnivore. You could also use a canned product like Tripett. Dogs go nuts for it.
I was looking around in a pet boutique today, and saw Sojos brand premix. You just add water and your own meat. https://www.sojos.com/products/dog-food/sojos-original-dog-food-mix
Is that a good one, or is it just too high in carbs? I’ve never had the chance to do a home made diet mainly because of the high cost and resource issues. But this stuff looked very affordable. I think a 10lb bag (supposed to make 48lb when mixed with raw meat/water) was $25.
I know there are much better options out there, but I’m just wondering what your opinions are on it. Would it be worth looking into as a start for home made? Or would a 4-5 star kibble still be better?
I think my favorite name will have to be Delicious Organic Goodness. I think I’ll change it to D.O.Goodies, though. Congrats, Aleksandra! Message or post a favorite pic of your dog on here and I’ll draw him! =D
I agree with the others that fresh food is better be it cooked or raw — if you can do fresh that is. Kibble is the hardest form of food to digest and it may make him uncomfortable??
I agree with Dr. Tabitha about adding digestive enzymes and probiotics.
Canned or especially raw tripe often will entice a picky eater. It is very pungent but dogs seem to love the stuff. If you get a complete and balanced kind you can feed it as the sole food. If not balanced you can mix it in with the other food to coat it. Sardines might be worth trying. Smelly and a good source of omega 3 fats. Some dogs find Parmesan cheese irresistible (as long as there is not a sensitivity to dairy). Answer’s makes a fermented goat milk product that dogs really really seem to like. The kibble could be soaked in it. I started adding a little bit of “BLUE ICE Infused Coconut Oil” to all eight of my dogs’ diets several months ago. Not only do they LOVE LOVE LOVE the stuff but their teeth are cleaner since using and my Pom with OCD has really come out of her shell. At first I thought I was imagining it but it is so obvious that everyone in the family has commented on it. It is pricey up front but a little goes a long way. http://www.greenpasture.org/public/Products/InfusedCoconutOil/index.cfm (Thanks to HDM for mentioning this product.)
Hope you find something that works for you and your little one!!
I agree with the others about feeding a rotational diet over just one food. Three of my eight dogs get a rotational kibble diet with canned and raw toppers. I use Orijen, Acana, Earthborn Primitive Naturals, Nature’s Variety, Nature’s Logic and many others off and on (Wellness, Fromm, Merrick, Back to Basics etc).
Raw egg with the shell is a really good and inexpensive topper. Another is beef, deer or chicken heart mixed with Steve’s Real Food premix. Heart is usually inexpensive to begin with but a friend gets free beef hearts from her butcher for me… And a hunter friend gives me the parts of the deer he doesn’t use himself.
I’m assuming he’s had a check-up and is healthy.
Something else, in addition to the suggestions above (especially canned, home-cooked, dehydrated, commercial raw or pre-mixes) would be Abady granular. Here’s a link to their site: http://www.therobertabadydogfoodcoltd.com/ToyBreed_5.htm
OK, their website is strange and no, the product has never been reviewed on DFA; but, I have used it and there are other regular posters here who have used it with success. If you’re interested in the product, I’d call Abady directly, they’re very helpful over the phone. I’ve called them myself and they were very friendly and knowledgeable.
Abady granular is a different texture than kibble, it looks very much like soft brown sugar but, it still contains starch. Your dog would just sort of lap it up. The bonus is that Abady granular is a very high calorie food at about 735 kcals per cup. If your pup tried this and liked it, at least he would be getting his calories.
When I bought it, I got mine here: http://www.1800whiskers.com/, but I’m sure there are other places you could find it.
2 months, 1 week ago
