[Shasta220]

I love apple cider vinegar, coconut oil, raw eggs, and I always keep a good joint supplement around for my old girl.

I’m curious – most glucosamine/chondroitin is sourced from shellfish, correct? Would crayfish count as well? Whenever we go camping, we catch loads of the lil buggers. Would it be safe to give the cooked shells to a dog (consistency is a lot like an eggshell), or would they need to be ground…or should they just be avoided altogether?

[Naturella]

Kvee,

I haven’t made treats recently, but note taken – no more nutmeg. Bruno didn’t seem to have any problem or reaction to it though – it was a fairly minute amount for the amount of treats rendered.

As for wheat flour, my goal is to eliminate it completely. I would try chickpea, quinoa, or coconut “flour” (meal), or tapioca starch next time and see what works how. Bruno also likes raw fruits veggies – carrots, celery, radishes, apples, pineapple, mango, banana – he’s a mess, but at least easy to satisfy.

We don’t have much space in the freezer, but frozen treats are something I have sort of tried, and would again.

[Naturella]

At the moment we feed Bruno about 75-80% dry mixed kibble and about 20-25% additives: pumpkin, yoghurt, cottage cheese, flax seed meal, coconut oil/butter, canned sardines, and one raw egg/week and an RMB/week (right now I rotate between chicken backs and pork neck bones).

With the amount of dry food brands I want to rotate between, if I don’t mix it would probably take AT LEAST 1/2 of Bruno’s life to go through all of them ONCE, if not more time than that. There are many high-quality kibbles out there and he seems to adapt well in rotation. He does love his raw too though! 🙂

It is my husband and I’s dream to own land and a farm one day – doesn’t have to be huge, just enough to raise goats, some sheep, chickens, rabbits, and, if by a lake – ducks and maybe fish. We would like to grow our own fruits and veggies, at least some of them. (I only have 10 fruit/nut trees in mind, no more. LoL Not counting the bush fruit/nut-giving plants.) We would like to hunt our food – deer, ducks, geese, pheasants, rabbits, fish, whatever, and know where our food comes from. So THEN, I would like to be giving maybe 80% or more balanced raw with supplements. I really hope we get there some day. 🙂

[Dori]

Hi Kvee. I should also add that although initially raw (at least commercial raw) may seem more expensive than kibble, you feed much less raw than you would kibble so that makes up for a lot in the cost. Also it’s astounding how fewer visits you make to the vet which is always incredibly expensive. Since my dogs have been eating raw they only go to the vet for their annual physicals. My older girl (14 1/2 year old Maltese has hypothyroidism so she goes ever six months for a thyroid panel check).

[Dori]

I happen to think that The Honest Kitchen is a fabulous food. It’s not a raw diet. It’s dehydrated. You add water to it and let it rehydrate. It’s the only non raw food I feed my dogs. The Honest Kitchen is one of only two pet foods that can legally say they are 100% USDA human grade food, mostly organic fruits and veggies made in a human food plant. They other is Weruva canned foods. Weruva can no longer guarantee that their cans have no BHA so I don’t use them, besides the bha they also contain carrageen (sp?). I always keep The Honest Kitchen on hand in case I have forgotten to defrost raw. Typically I keep Zeal on hand. One of my dogs is allergic to ingredients in their other formulas. Another of their formulas that is good is Preference. All it’s missing is the protein so you an add any protein you want. It’s also good for a change for them to lower their fat intake. Raw has a high fat content. Darwin’s (a home delivered only raw food) has the lowest fat content that I am aware of. I rotate everything with my dogs. Food, supplements, oils, etc. Whatever ingredient they may be missing or low on one product I’m hoping they’ll get from the next. Also I feel it gives them a healthier gut and immune system.

[kvee]

I hope to feed her 100% raw at one point. I am still learning about it.

dchassett, what is your opinion on The Honest Kitchen food as an alternative to 100% homemade raw?

[kvee]

I bought this awesome bone shaped ice trays from safemade pet. They fit perfectly in the stuffing octopus (from the same brand). I do not own a Kong stuffing toy but I’d figure this could work.

I think it’d be a good idea to grind up her raws and some veggies and freeze them?

I love this product for stuffing toys, it is long and narrow and the molds are made with safe silicone. You can freeze it or put it in the oven!

http://shop.safemadepet.com/products/Treat-Tray-Bone-Shape.html

If you do not trust the link just google: safemadepet and go to products for dogs, the treat tray is on the second page 🙂

[kvee]

Aleksandra, I have seen some information on nutmeg being toxic for pooches. Mostly, I remember this warning during thanksgiving (warning not to feed them pumpkin pie). How are your dogs reacting to it?

I do not make any treats with any flour for my dog — although I tried to use garbanzo (chickpea) flour because it allegedly has high protein and it is very cheap. But I am a horrible baker and couldn’t make the concoction work for me.

What I do for treats is buy different fruits and veggies on season and sale. Soak them on water and vinegar and rinse them, throw them in the blender and then freeze the. Susie loves to munch on these.

I also make bone broth. I simmer a whole organic fresh raw chicken with filtered water and a tablespoons of Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (with the mother) for 24-48 hours. I freeze the broth into ice cubes and give them to Susie whenever she’s not feeling to hot about eating (it seems to open her appetite) or when it’s hot out. She loves those things too.

I hope this help. BTW, lesson learned on the bone broth. I went old-school and did it stove top.. Susie’s father and I had to take turns to watch the pot boil (literally). I am buying a crock pot soon.

[Dori]

I’m doing 100% raw. They seem to do best on raw. I’m not messing with a good thing. It’s taken me too many years and too many grey cells to get to this point. There’s no going back now. Also vet loves how healthy and great they look.

[kvee]

I’m doing 100% dry until she’s 2 y.o. after that I’d do raw homemade (unless I am dazzled by THK). I do not buy Susie treats, instead I give her frozen liquefied fruits and veggies and bone broth.

[kvee]

I’m curious to find out good human consumption grade Bone Meal to use to raw-feed my pup. Any suggestions?

[Naturella]

My first ventures in both coconut oil and coconut butter were from TJ Maxx. My next coconut oil will be the big jar from Costco. Coconut butter I find at a decent price in Kroger. I also only use unrefined (most important criteria), extra-virgin, and cold-pressed. If possible, organic. If not, meh. I put it in my coffee and in Bruno’s food every other day.

But I want to follow this thread and see if there are other options. I may try the whole coconut thing too and let Bruno play with it and then break it and share with him! I LOVE coconut in any shape or form, y’all have no idea… Especially as a raw fruit. NOM! 🙂

[pugmomsandy]

I would say 75% raw/25% processed of some type (kibble, canned, dehydrated). Tonight’s dinner is just tripe with a little canned food just to mix in some supplements.

[Melissaandcrew]

Just curious how/what every one is feeding these days. In other words, mainly all dry, all raw, 50-50 etc.

We have gone from about 75% dry/25% raw/toppers/canned etc to just the opposite. We feed more raw than dry now.

Favorite dry foods to rotate-Acana,Nature’s Variety, Hi Tek, Nutrisource, and a few others sporadically.

Whose next?

[pugmomsandy]

My dogs didn’t have any UTI’s but had a high pH and some struvites. They take Wysong Biotic pH- alternating with Mercola Bladder Support in one meal almost daily. They don’t get it when they eat raw food. I use it when they eat kibble/canned meals. I would recommend getting some urine pH test strips so you can monitor that at home or take in a urine sample to be tested monthly. The urine pH relates to the type of crystal. And my dogs did see a vet, a holistic one. I wouldn’t recommend cranberry juice especially it it has sugar in it. Try a D-mannose supplement. D-mannose attracts a certain type of bacteria from the bladder wall. It’s the active ingredient in cranberry and some other berries.

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

[crazy4cats]

Hooray! I’m glad the infection was caught before it got out of hand. Sounds like you are doing a great job. The cat is very cute. And BTW, I don’t think 11 lbs is really that much for a male cat. Mine are about 13 and 15 lbs and they are not fat! The girls are 9 and 11 lbs. however, the 11 lb girl is chubby. I am trying to work on that! Lol!as for the water, I just turn my faucet on a very slow drip and it just seems to draw them in. I think authority and friskies will be just fine. He probably wouldn’t even have lived much longer had you not rescued him. Good luck.

[Shasta220]

I’ve not dealt with weight problems much, but the only logical thing I could think of is to get some extra fat and protein in there. Possibly adding coconut/fish oils and raw meats? Abady sounds like a good additive as well.

[Naturella]

Bobby dog, thanks for the kind words!

Yes, shopping on a budget is a necessity for both my friend and I, but finding fantabulous deals for quality food is a hobby. Luckily, she has 2 dogs – the lab and a Chorkie (chihuahua-yorkie, although he looks more like a bichon…), so she likes to stock up for both of them… She feeds them different stuff, which I find slightly odd, but to each their own, they both eat really good food. The Chorkie is stocked up with Holistic Health Extension Small Breed, Earthborn Holistic Small Breed and Coastal Catch, as well as a bag of Whole Earth Farms – Pork (I think), Halo, Simply Nourish, and Evanger’s. The lab also has a bag of Earthborn’s Ocean Fusion as well, I forgot about that.

To add to that, we both have a bunch of PetCo coupons and wipll be using them throughout the year.

As for me, my little JR-Rat Terrier-maybe Chihuahua in there-mutt is on a mix of Dr. Tim’s Kinesis-Nutrisca Chicken-Holistic Health Extension Grain Free-Now Fresh-Victor Yukon Salmon Grain Free-Nature’s Variety Instinct Chicken + Raw Boost-Nature’s Variety Turkey, Duck, and Chicken (TURDUCKEN! 😀 ) + Raw Boost. Some is from his initial mix of the first 3 foods; the HHE bag I got for free from Petland; the Now Fresh I got on sale for $3 for 0.5lbs; the Nature’s Variety and the Victor are free samples. For treats I use those kibbles, or free samples of Victor Joint Health Grain Free and Victor High-Pro Grain free, mixed together. Lined up I have Earthborn’s Coastal Catch, Primitive Natural, and Great Plains Feast to be mixed with ALL FREE bags of HHE Original, Grain Free, and Lamb and Brown Rice, respectively. For later on, I have Victor Ultra Professional lined up to mix with Back to Basics Open Range, and the foods that I have PetCo coupons for, such as Wellness, Canidae, Blue Buffalo (Bruno has done well on it in the past), Avo Derm, Solid Gold, Nature’s Variety, and Merrick. Those last ones I will buy in the end of the year, so they will be next year’s stash.

As for the pet boutiques, I would not purchase food from Store A, even if it’s good. But Store B I really like.

And thank you for the compliment – Bruno is our first “real” dog (when I was little, I had a min pin for about 2 weeks, but my dad couldn’t stand her, so they gave her away… Gina was “real”, but not “mine” for very long…) and I really try to learn about what is good for him and what’s not… We really love the little guy and definitely take better care for him than for ourselves (which is not entirely good, but… eh…). 🙂

[Bobby dog]

Hi b l:
As this site is my go to for my dog’s diet, catinfo.org is my go to site for my cats’ diet information. Dr. Pierson has a great list (and why she recommends them) of freeze dried choices, canned food, and great information on feeding a semi-raw/raw diet to cats. I highly recommend this site to anyone who has cats. If nothing else, it would be a great starting point to find what you are looking for. Catinfo has an abundance of information on other health issues and general cat care that you might find interesting as well.

My cats’ “kitty crack” has been greatly reduced but they still need their dry food fix. They are older and fairly set in their ways. I hope you check out the site and find what you are looking for!

[pfeiner]

OK – so have been doing some reading etc. about RMB and feeding to my two Labs who presently eat a commercial raw diet. I am looking to start making my own and am fearful of smaller RMB. They eat beef shank/marrow bones regularly with no issue – the older boy is more aggressive w his bones (typical Lab) and the pup is more mellow with his. So… are chicken & turkey necks safe for Labs? What about chicken feet – found them at a market the other day. I had read somewhere that I should avoid wings as they are too small. My market often times has frozen organic chicken bones. Can I feed them? I guess Thanks loads for your feedback!!

[Shasta220]

I don’t know too much…but I read an article once of someone who added activated charcoal and chlorophyll to fix bad breath. I personally haven’t tried it myself (my dogs get kinda smelly breath too, especially after their raw eggs, so I got into the habit of regular brushing/water additives/gel/etc.). I definitely understand not wanting to risk a food switch again. Hope you find something that works!

[Naturella]

Oh, and I forgot – he also told me that I am going “way over the top with all these
“all natural” dog stuff” I get (I assume he referred to not only the additives, but also my all-natural chews (bully sticks, tracheas, hooves, antlers, raw marrow bones, etc.))…

[Naturella]

Hey, guys! I need to vent… sorry to burden you all, but it’s happening…

So today I was grooming Bruno (with the Furminator – that dog sheds like an avalanche!), and my roommate saw me so he came to offer precious advice. He did help me finish Bruno up cause it was a bit of a struggle – he doesn’t like being groomed and I wasn’t doing it quite right – he was in my lap when he should have been in front of me. Either way, it all went ok, until my roommate was almost done with Bruno and noticed his doggie dander.

And then…

He began lecturing me on how I feed my dog “a bunch of random crap” (referring to the additives I have been giving him to help with his hard-ass stools, and just for general health supplementation, such as yoghurt, pumpkin, flax seed meal, coconut oil, canned sardines, raw egg, RMBs, etc.)!!! He then continued on saying how his brother’s dog (a rottie) lived to 14.5 years old (“when the average lifespan of rottweilers is 10 years”), and how he thrived on ONE food for his WHOLE life, and it was… Can you guess? THE SCIENCE DIET!!!

His next advice was that I need to not mess with my dog’s GI tract by giving him my random crap, because:
a. I will spoil him and he won’t ever eat just dry kibble again.
b. I will mess his digestion up
c. I will mess his skin and coat by adding the stuff I add.
He then went on to brag about his dog, who has only been on Science Diet as well, and how she has no pet dander and how she is the “epitome of health” according to his vet and how whatever he’s doing, he shouldn’t change ever (and he plans to do exactly that); how she never has tummy troubles because he has found one food that she likes and does her so much good and he will never change it… And how I SHOULD DO THE SAME, how I need to choose between Nutro, Blue Buffalo, or Science Diet, and find something Bruno likes, and keep him on it forever!!! GAH!

In between some of his tirade I managed to sneak in a word or 2, such as: “The random crap I feed him is to help with his stools, and is carefully researched and selected to fit my dog’s dietary needs” – response “Yeah, but you give him too much of it, plus, hard kibble is designed to be balanced and give the dogs all they need, so they don’t really need any other crap, additives, or soft food, for the a, b, and c reasons above.”
Me – “I am about to put Bruno on a fish-based food soon” (referring to his pet dander).
Him – “Why?”
Me – “Because fish is really good for dogs’ skin and coat, and has Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, just like flax seed (minus the Omega 6) and coconut oil.”
Him – “… Yeah, but lamb is better. Casey (his dog) has been on brown rice and lamb and her coat is so shiny and soft (not nearly as much as my dog’s, I promise), and she has no pet dander, and she loves the food, and you really shouldn’t switch his food so much.”

Maybe he is right, maybe lamb is indeed better, but can someone please explain how it could be better than fish, in regards to Omega 3 and 6, and skin and coat benefits?

As for the rest, the convo ended with him saying that he doesn’t usually like to tell us (my husband and I, which he NEVER tells him – he only speaks to me about the dog) how to take care of the dog, cause he feels like “we” (read “I”) get pissed off, but he wants us to do what’s best for Bruno…. I don’t know how I didn’t lose it and yell at him that I already am, and that all I do and feed is because I do daily research on it, and educate myself on what is good for Bruno… I just thanked him for helping me with the grooming and went to wash my dog…

Sigh, annoyed… The other problem/reason why I didn’t pour some emotions and knowledge down his head, is because:
a. he clearly won’t take it
b. he is helping us financially with the place a lot, i.e. paying more than us
c. I’m a chicken (or, how I like to think of it, I pick my battles).

SO, this is it… I just really needed to vent… Sigh, I will go walk my “messed-with” dog… Poor guy, having all kinds of variety with his food… I should be ashamed of my dog parenting skills… LoL,.. Sigh….

[Susan]

Hi Andrew, I too have a staffy with Cannie Atopy Demtosis, first as soon as u see her start to scratch stop her, as soon as Patch goes to scratch I say ‘no scratch’ & go & get his cream & apply where’s itchy also I bath him every 5 days in Malasab medicated shampoo, this is excellent, my boy also gets the yeast itchy ears when he has certin tin foods, ur dog needs a diet the she has never tried before eg..duck, kangaroo,venision,etc they say a hydrolized kibble.. Royal canin has the Hypoallergenic or Sensitive Control, The Hypoallergenic was OK with Patches itch BUT not with his red swollen paws that he’d get after some walks, In the end my boy was put on Eukanuba Intestinal this has cleared his skin cleared his paws as long as its not raining & he doesnt get his feet too wet, no more red swollen feet, but its a vet prescription & yes it has corn, but it seems to work for Patch.. People believe in the raw diet but my boy also has irritable bowel as well & vet said no to the raw as there’s to much bacteria…U’ll have to just keep trying different foods & start looking at the ingredients, & remembering what u’ve tried.. I write it all down.. Patch has a diary.. start to look for kibbles that dont have certain ingredients thats what Ive been doing, Like the carbs.. I was told potatoes are a NO NO. Most of these natural diets have the Patotes, Ive just Introduce the Nutro Natural Choice I think in America its the LID, Im in Australia, this so far has been Good, it has grounded rice, no potatoes or corn Poos are excellent he hasnt started the itching YET & has ears are good but its only been 2 weeks & Im still giving some of the Eukanuba Intestinal kibble with the Nutro, Eukanuba has the Dermatosis FP have you ever tried that I tried it but my boy got the runs from it cause of his IBD…. she may not have a real bad food allergy, it may be more the Pollens & grasses that affect her skin, Google ‘Cannie Atopy’ it will give you the 5 main things that cause skin allergies…but what may work for my dog wont work for ur girl… OH have u tried Antihistamine Tablets that humans take for allergies..My vet gave me a list that I can buy from my chemist when Patch gets the swollen lumps on his body again but so far he hasnt gotten them back this yr.. U’d be into spring now the worst time..Good Luck

[andrew b]

So I have a Staffy who is almost 18 months. She has already been allergy tested, and on a scale of 0-4 scored a 2 on numerous things, different types of grasses/weeds, dust and so on, with yeast also registering. We have also done a food trial prior to intradermal testing with Royal Canin HP and her itching really never got better on it. The main issue is she scratches herself bloody. Her neck, under her arms, her face. It’s a sin. We use Temaril-P when needed and it does help, have tried Atopica which didn’t work at all, have tried a new medication called Apoquel that didn’t work at all. Usually when she’s extremely bad(she was at the vet Tuesday, she sees a dermatologist at UPenn), she comes back positive for a yeast infection on her skin. She also started immunotherapy 5 months ago.

The worst of foods(on a relative scale) she has eaten would be Taste of the Wild as a puppy, and when the itching started around 4 months, we have tried, all for nearly 2 month periods, Earthborn, Acana, Nature’s Variety LID and now back to Earthborn since it doesn’t seem to matter.

Where am I going with all of this? Before I fully delve into trying a raw or cooked diet and seeing if it helps, should I just try the lowest carbohydrate food I can find to try and cut down on the yeast issues? If this doesn’t work, I am going either raw, freeze dried or cooked at the end of May. I was going to try Brothers Complete Allergy Formula but I’ve read it’s fairly high in carbs. Would I be better going with something that is 25% or so carbohydrates based on this site’s calorie weighted analysis, perhaps Orijen or Nature’s Variety Raw Boost, or something else?

We’ve tried so much…supplements, oils, she gets Phytovet CK baths 2-3x a week, and it doesn’t improve unless she’s on Temaril and we obviously don’t want that, but when she’s bleeding and will scratch herself for minutes straight unless you stop her, you have no choice.

Any ideas welcome, especially food related. Thanks all, love the site, been lurkin forever.

[Shasta220]

Bumping and following this one. 😉 I definitely know there are! I’m not experienced enough to recommend anything yet though…what does your dog eat? If it’s a very well-balanced home made/raw diet, then he shouldn’t need too much extra.

[Shasta220]

I know raw bones are the best, but I’ll face it: two of my dogs don’t like raw meat NEARLY as much as cooked, so the raw bone (off of the deer/elk we hunt usually) just stays outside in their kennel, and starts to stink the place up. So we end up smoking the bones (using our own wood chips…) #1. The dogs seem to like it more #2. It’s a lot easier to leave the extra ones on the shelf when they’re smoked (and there’s no room in the freezer to hold extra raw bones usually).
I wonder if smoking them just long enough to preserve the meat-scraps would keep the bone at the same “texture”?

We learned the truth of weight-bearing bones the hard way. Poor Cassy has a nice big hole in her head now, LOL!

[Shasta220]

I know pumpkin is a great addition for a dog lacking fiber, but is there a general rule of thumb for how much to add per pound (or 10-20lb, etc) of dog.

Also, I’m very curious about apple cider vinegar. On a FB page, there are several bull-breed owners who add acv, claiming it’s helpful for joints. I’d like to add some to my dogs’ diets, since it’s very cheap (even for raw/organic), and anything to further help my old girl is great.
Is there anyone on here who gives their dog acv? If so, what are all the health benefits?

[Naturella]

Dori (and everyone),

Bruno is doing much better! Last night poor baby must have been starving because he tried to eat my roommate’s dog’s food, and turned over his empty food dish and was chasing it around and licking it in the bathroom… It was pathetic, so I took it away. He slept all through the night and when taken out this morning, he didn’t poop. I fed him some of his kibble softened with warm water, and left home because I had to attend an event. When I just came home, he looks fine, no poop in the house, and when I took him out, he pooped a good amount and it was soft, but normal-soft, not weird-soft. It was formed and everything!

I think we are on the right track, so I will feed him the same for dinner too. He should be like new by tomorrow, if he keeps going this way! 🙂

Thank you all for the advice and concern, we really appreciate it! 🙂

P.S. Dori, in my research and in speaking with some vets, I was told the total opposite – that small dogs mature faster than large dogs, and can be considered adults by 7-8 months. I am confused now… As far as food goes, he was on puppy food until he was about 8 months or so, then went to all-life-stages food and will be on that for a while. How long should I consider him a “puppy”?

P. P. S. Also, before the treat incident (which were also good for him treats, with freeze-dried liver, bananas and carrots, not like a hot fudge sundae, lol), he was doing great on a variety of additives to his kibble to help with his usually extremely hard stools. He would get a canned sardine once a week, one raw egg/week, an RMB/week, coconut oil every other day, and pumpkin, ground flax seed, yoghurt – a couple times/week, and cottage cheese once a week. Also, natural chews, such as ears, bully sticks, piggy snouts, etc. (not all at once, maybe 1-2/week). So when can I reintroduce those, since he was fine with them (we have been doing this for 2+ weeks).

[InkedMarie]

Aquarian: well, my reasoning is sometimes when a dog is used to a lower quality food and go right to five star, it doesn’t always sit well. I frequently read where dogs go that route, get sick & owners throw their hands up, saying give star food isn’t so good.

The money is an issue, now that you mention it. I’ve fed food that sells for $78 +/- and ground raw that I don’t want to calculate lol; I can’t imagine paying $25 a bag and going up to even $45-50 a bag. It’d be sticker shock!

[Lena]

My 13-14 year old Chihuahua has been eating raw food ( basically turkey, oats and carrots with salmon oil, Vit C, yeast, etc. added ). I would like to feed her a good canned food which is low in protein considering her elevated kidney levels, heart murmur and remaining one tooth. She is picky and recently decided not to eat the raw food. BTW, I always heat the raw food so it is a bit warm though still raw.

[jen.mcco]

I have a 5 yr old male Boxer– about two-two and a half years ago we began having issues with him– at first it was vomiting once in a while- then went to vomiting everything he ate– We ran blood test-did xrays-barium series-ultrasound-tried meds- almost did surgery however after ultrasound we figured out no obstruction so no need- All the sudden he was fine again-this continued off and on for another year before blood work finally came back with HIGH lipase and amylase pointing us towards pancreatitis. Switched from Rotation diets that he had been on his whole life to LOW fat food- Even on low fat food issues continued repeated bloodwork/xrays/ultrasounds and so on over the last two years- ONLY thing out of normal was Pancreas enzymes and they have come back HIGH every time- during these episodes he seems painful in abdomen/refuses to eat/some times will vomit–during this time we tried to keep him on ONE food only and stop rotation diet–but with refusal to eat we switched to other low fat foods- when switching he was very interested in his food and would eat for a bit and then stop again unless food was switched– We at that time thought He is used to rotation diets lets try it and see what happens– Found low fat diets/raw to rotate and episodes would come and go (usually lasting 1-2 days) Each episode we re-ran bloodwork- NO episode required hospitalization- Finally something else showed up on bloodwork– His platelet count was dropping– ran again it dropped more (still HIGH lipase and amylase) At that time we ran Accuplex 4 for Tick Borne disease. Came back Positive for anaplasmosis *he has always been on prevention but obv something didn’t work* HE showed NO other signs than the above stated– At that time we put him on a 30 day round of doxycycline—after that round of meds re-ran bloodwork and for first time in since this started and his amylase and lipase was HIGH IT all came back NORMAL!! Including Platelet count– Since then we have decide to take him off Low fat diets and see IF Pancreas issues rise again– We have NOT had any noticeable issues other than the fact at times he will refuse to eat– Seems normal other wise– We cont. to rotate diets and when we start a “new” one in the rotation he is very interested and eats but after a few days he is back to not being all the interested in it again— We have used many diets in the rotation with NO other issues with both our boxers (other has NO issue eating anything you give her) We have used Nature’s Variety Prairie and Instinct– Wellness Core= Natural Balance LID–Grandma’s Lucy’s Freeze Dried Raw–Natural Balance Raw Rolls=and rotated between different proteins- from Chicken/Beef/Lamb/Duck/Buffalo/Salmon… DOES anyone have any ideas of WHY he is doing this and seems uninterested after a couple days— HE even does it with RAW===We are thinking the pancreas issues was due to tick borne disease but at this time are only testing that and aren’t positive since it is NOT a known affect of it–however anything is possible– I am lost on this– have done everything medically that I know to do- Spent TONS of money testing and retesting and buying different foods- NOTHING seems to matter– This is a almost 6 yr old male INTACT boxer=-he was trained in Schutzhund so was always fit and trim but has since been pulled from field due to health years ago and I can NOT get weight on him for anything- He goes from 50-60 lbs at most times– I ONCE got him up to 68-70 lbs but that never last long– SORRY so long but want to give us much information as possible. Anyone ever dealt with something like this– Any ideas?

[Melissaandcrew]

Just wanted to update this. Have been grinding raw components since Oct and MOSt do well with it. However, I do have two 14 yr olds and a 16 yr old who do NOT do well with raw-They lost a bunch of weight which was quickly regained once they went back on dry. No way would they eat the volume in raw to keep weight on. Lesson confirmed-raw does NOT work for all dogs.

Secondly, Hubby helped me grind my chicken pieces the other night-it will be at least a week for it to be shipped to the company, have gears replaced and get it back. Thankfully its under warranty and the company I bought the Tassan from does not void the warranty for grinding chicken bones in the Tassan.

On the bright side, Hubby thought the food making was taking way too much time away from other things we need to do, so he just ordered a new one. After watching some videos of the Wesson’s grinding, he ordered the Wesson 32 since it said it was good for large volumes. His thought is we can process en masse once a month or every other and save a bunch of time!

I still recc the Tassan for those grinding a small amount, or those looking to try a grinder out before committing to an expensive purchase. I figure with this one I can grind whole turkeys without worrying about damage.

[theBCnut]

/dog-food-reviews/grandma-lucys-pureformance/
/dog-food-reviews/stella-chewys-raw-freeze-dried/

I would assume it is because Mike decided not very long ago how he was going to categorize freeze dried and dehyrated foods, so he hasn’t got to all of them to add tags for the dry list, since they aren’t really like a regular dry food. You should go down to the bottom of the page and shoot him an email about it. He likes to be informed about the things like that that we find so he can fix them.

[Shasta220]

Ah, sounds like cats are quite the problem causes LOL! Usually we buy small enough packs of meat that they don’t need to be frozen, she eats them before they go bad (if I ever add organs, then they usually get frozen since one package lasts a looooong time for Ms. Picky Britches). Millie is our raw eater, refusing ANY commercial foods, then her younger brother, Panda, loves his dry (it’s hilarious – he’s always been on the dirt cheap dry food and /only/ liked his Cat Chow. We finally switched to Chicken Soup, and it took him a few days to adjust. We still keep cat chow around as treats for the ducks/chickens, and when we left a scoop of it out, Panda was there munching away on the food! The little dork prefers the cheap taste over quality lol). Then Maddy is the least picky, she doesn’t like raw, but that’s fine since she eats canned daily.

Well, I will just have to keep playing around with proportions for the goofy kitty.

Does anyone know how to post pictures? I’d love to show her to you guys, she is a very very unique kitty. Cream/chocolate tortoiseshell and has a perfectly split face (half white, half brown). Big blue eyes, white feet.

[theBCnut]

What I know and what I can get my cats to eat are 2 totally different things. 🙂 They just don’t really want to go along with raw feeding. At least I’ve been able to get 2 of them on canned food. My oldest is dry all the way, she won’t even smell canned or raw foods. The 2 younger ones will eat about 1/2 oz of raw, then they’ll just walk away. I can’t begin to tell you how much raw cat food my dogs have had to eat for me. Gideon has a “clean up the mess” command.

[teslarocks]

I have been feeding my dachshund Nature’s Logic canned food (various protein sources) exclusively for past 6 months and she doing well on it. However I just noticed on label that is “intended for intermittent or supplemental feeding only”. Hopefully I have not hurt her. I want to stay on a canned diet only as she has trouble chewing kibble and I don’t want to go raw. Are all canned foods like this or does anyone know what cans I can try that are a “full meal”?

Thanks

[Melissaandcrew]

Salmonoids carry a parasite that cause salmon poisoning..tnis includes trout. Porgy is sold by Pawfectly raw for dogs. I just don’t know if its edible for dogs guts and all. Its an atlantic oceean fish I believe.

[Shasta220]

Honestly, I wouldn’t get too concerned. Just keep an eye on him, and if he acts weird then go ahead and take him in. I never give my dogs sugar, but I honestly don’t think a couple tablespoons would /kill/ a dog, as they make TONS of dog treats w sugar (it really annoys me – why the heck do they make strawberry and peanut butter flavored dog treats, complete w a sugary cream filling that smells good enough for me to eat? Dogs seriously have different tastes than people, ugh.) and I know many dogs who eat them daily and are still alive.

I’ll be perfectly honest though, I really don’t know what sugar does that’s hazardous to their health (other than the horrid breath lol).

[Shasta220]

I don’t know too much about fish, but whenever we go fishing, we cook the whole fish in tin foil and give our dogs the remainders. Usually we gut the fish and throw the remainders away, but I’m sure if you cooked it then it’d be fine.

I honestly would never feed my dogs raw fish, as my lab has come within a few hours of death from eating a raw fish, and my dad once had a Dalmatian that died from eating a live fish.

Sorry for adding a question – but can anyone explain to me how/when/why raw fish can kill dogs, and if it’s ever safe to give a raw fish to a dog? The vet explained it when we took our dog in, but that was almost 10yrs ago, so I honestly can’t remember a thing he said.

[losul]

Hi Dori, I’m doing a little better, thnx, and Turbo’s O.K.

My agony peaked when the hard realization came that it was my fault, I already pretty much knew it, but I think it helped to finally get it out. It’s been a little more uphill now.

The fleas, i don’t know what to say. You’re situation with the fleas/insects in the area, and having several dogs is different than mine. Shawna and the others could suggest some alternatives vs. using chemicals, if you can or want to go that route. I don’t really know what I would do for sure in your situation.

I don’t use anything on turbo at all, haven’t had any problem with them here. I didn’t intend to use anything on him at all, but he’s already got insecticide on, or in him, now from the advantage, and I hate it that fact. I can’t really see keeping him on this very long because of that. I always figured if fleas become a problem here, I would only deal with them then, but not before. I know we have/had chiggers in the yard, several years ago, I had a bout with them, itching badly for several weeks. Never had a problem though on Turbo knock on wood. We have alot of ticks here, but again i don’t use anything on Turbo except some body checks, and I wasn’t always diligent about it. I only found I think 2 crawling ticks on Turbo this past season, until that last embedded one him that somehow survived through several bouts with hard frosts and cold weather, and I didn’t find until after it had been feeding for several days. I found more ticks than that on myself, seriously. Maybe some of them were crawling off Turbo and on to me. I hate it that he got worms, and now I hate that i have to give him all these harsh chemicals to try to make them go away. I think Turbo is young and healthy enough to come through it, but I still worry about damages and longer term consequences.

X-rays are set up for next week, and I agree, they will definitely be worth having done.

Hang in there with Katie, i think your determination will get it all figured out!

[Shasta220]

Sandy, I doubt she’d eat tripe. We don’t have access to it anywhere to see, but if she’s refused all other organs we offered, I doubt she’d eat it.

I’ve not tried giving her feeder animals…I honestly doubt we’d buy live animals for her, I’m far too squeamish. Occasionally when she goes outside and catches a bird/mouse, she’ll eat most of it, but usually not.

I knew about taurine and how important it is…I’d look into buying a supplement of it, but gosh she is so dang picky, I just don’t know if she’d accept it. Where is taurine naturally sourced from? Is it an animal-product?

I’ve thought about commercial raw, but we don’t have access to it here, and I sincerely doubt she’d eat it, as she detects any extra stuff we grind in her meat (egg yolks, supplements, etc.)

Gosh I feel so bad for her though! Her pickiness is keeping her from being the healthiest she can be… -_-

[pugmomsandy]

Dried chicken is dehydrated chicken meat (like jerky). Chicken is unprocessed raw chicken with moisture content (like ordinary raw grocery store chicken). Chicken meal is processed chicken that has been heated and cooked down into a powdered meal. Then when added to make kibble it is cooked again. This one is the most processed of the three.

For me, in a kibble, ideally I would chose chicken and dried chicken. Second choice would be chicken and chicken meal. Next choice is chicken meal as chicken by itself loses much of it’s weight after cooking so you end up with not much chicken after it is cooked down. There is a few good foods without meals like Now Fresh. Halo is ok too but it has alot of plant matter in it. And if you chose a food with just chicken, then you can always add a high protein topper to the kibble whether that’s canned food or fresh food like eggs and meat or sardines.

It just really depends on what level of animal protein you prefer to feed your dog. I feed varying ranges.

[Jackie B]

Cats, especially males, need plenty of wet food. As people have already stated. If I was able to have a cat, I would seek out a brand like WildKitty where you can make your own raw at home. I feel like it is the optimum food for cats. That being said, if you want to do kibble and supplement with canned, any can is better than none. But a canned food without red-flag ingredients (same standard as for dogs) would be my pick.

A friend of mine who fosters many cats and kittens says Authority is her budget-friendly but still quality canned food choice.

Also, you can get a pet watering fountain. Cats love them. I have a CatMate brand one for my dog.

[Bobby dog]

Hi, congrats and he is gorgeous! As far as how much to feed your kitty, if you are going to feed wet and dry food I would suggest you check out the feeding guide on the dry food you are feeding him. For example, Wellness has a guide on their bag suggesting how much to feed your cats if you are feeding only dry or a combo of wet and dry according to your cat’s weight. When you decide on an amount just observe your cat’s body condition and adjust your food amounts accordingly.
I have had cats ever since I can remember and still have lots to learn. I have two 15 yrs, one 14 yrs, one 11 yrs, and one 6 yrs, all stray cats. I wish I never fed them wheat, corn, soy, fish, or dry food. I lost two that were 15 years old about four years ago to illnesses that bad nutrition surely contributed to; digestion problems, obesity, and the male had urinary tract issues throughout his life. I have one cat that was diagnosed about five years ago with a hyperthyroid; he requires daily meds now. I have slowly changed their diets over the past five months, but at their ages change is difficult so they still need their fish and dry food fixes. Most importantly I have weaned them off of Friskies. I might not ever be able to completely ween them off of fish or dry food. If I paid more attention to their diets I truly believe I would not have had the vet bills I had over the years. About four years ago an emergency room visit in the middle of the night for my male cat’s urinary tract infection cost me about $2,000 to get him well.
My advice is to feed them the best wet diet that fits your budget. Avoid soy, wheat, corn, and fish. Stick to poultry, lamb, rabbit or beef if possible. If you are going to feed dry find a good quality GF dry.
I am with Crazy4cats, my go to website is catinfo.org. My other favorite is the naturalcatcareblog.com. They have a great list of dry and dehydrated foods and the reason they recommend them. I feed wet three times a day (totalling about 3-5 oz./cat) and give them a small scoop of dry once a day. I am on a very tight budget as well so I only buy food that I either have coupons for, on sale, or on the 50% off shelf. I feed Natures Variety raw (when they e-mail coupons), 4Health from Tractor Supply, Merrick, Wellness, Tiki Cat, Weruva, Soulistic (chic only, K3 is in the other varieties), Blue Buffalo, and Evo. I am always trying new canned foods using the information I learned about food from catinfo as a guide. I also feed them boiled chicken two or three days a week as one of their meals to help keep costs down. For dry I have been feeding Wellness GF Turkey & Duck meal (bought with the $5 coupon from their site of course) because there is no fish meal in the recipe. I just bought a bag of Merrick GF chic on sale which they seem to like.
Sorry for the long post, maybe something I have written will be helpful for you. Good luck, he’s one lucky kitty!

[Mom2Cavs]

Yes, definitely wet food is better than dry. I do feed my cat dry and wet. I believe I’ve posted before that she gets wet (canned food, and sometimes premade raw) in the morning and evening and dry is left out all the time (I replenish it if she doesn’t finish it in a timely manner). She likes to eat this way. She loves nibbling the dry food in between breakfast and dinner. She also drinks plenty of water. So, if you can give wet along with any dry all the better. 🙂

[Molzy]

He is gorgeous!! Congrats!

Wet food is SO important for male cats! Luckily they are a lot smaller than dogs – I can feed my 10lb cat a commercial raw diet for less than a dollar a day. His coat is gorgeous, and it keeps urinary tract infections at bay! Ralph is on natures variety raw chicken. But even canned food is better than dry (Ralph only gets dry if I leave overnight without a pet sitter).

I could do natures variety even cheaper, but the medallions are SO convenient!

[Cyndi]

From what I know, you definitely need to get “taurine” in her. I believe that’s what it is that cat’s can suffer a deficiency from. There are quite a few reviews I’ve read on Hare Today, where I get my raw meat for my dog, from people who feed their cats a raw diet. They sell mice, and baby chicks and whole sardines and stuff. You might want to look into that…

Good luck! 🙂

*Edit* & Hare Today does sell a Taurine supplement.

https://www.hare-today.com/product_info.php?cPath=24&products_id=291

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

[Dori]

Have you tried feeding her a commercial raw for cats? There are a few out there. She might like that. I don’t have cats but I thought I’d put that suggestion out there for you. My sisters and brothers have cats. I’m the only dog person in the family now. I’m allergic to cats, also to dogs which is why I have “hypoallergenic dogs” Maltese, Maltipoo, Yorkipoo.

[Dori]

I, too, use much lower doses than suggested on the different supplements. My girls are all toys, and I feel that they don’t need the dosing recommendations of the jars. I also don’t add them to every meal (they eat twice a day). Depends on what I’m feeding them on any given day. I don’t use a protein booster because they are all on a raw diet and their diets are all pretty high in protein to begin with.