[Angeldogs]

Yep….have one big guy here that is allergic to peas, white potatoes, venison, chicken and turkey. Confirmed by allergy tests by Spectrum Labs, which I highly recommend if you are struggling with food issues and skin rashes.

You’d think that I’d have an easy time of finding him a kibble? Nope. I have been doing ingredients research on every brand of food that is relatively easy to find…..shocking! Just because it states sweet potatoes……well, I keep finding potato gluten or white potatoes on the same list of ingredients. Or LID foods that list lamb or beef as the protein source with chicken fat in them.

So far, after two days of reading ingredients on websites, I found ONE kibble: Canine Caviar Lamb and Pearl Millet.

I’m currently feeding him raw ground beef mixed with Sojos Grain Free, and being careful about treats, which are mostly raw beef bone treats.

Really frustrating that the names of the food indicate limited ingredients, but they are NOT.

[theBCnut]

LMAO!! I can picture that! Too funny! Maybe she thought you should just give it to her raw.

[davinoj]

Ok, davinoj again, on second look the calcium looks a bit high. We are struggling because we are trying to feed a product without any fillers like tomato pommace or “natural flavors” in the listing and can’t seem to get a product with everything in it. I guess that’s why some go Raw. We just don’t have the time. We seriously need some help trying to decide. Also, we need to avoid chicken and turkey we’ve been told for our Bouvier and to stick with foods they would have had in the wild such as beef and fish. Help!

[CSollers]

IMHO, the FDA’s issues with raw products are based on the fact that the big money companies don’t sell them.

[crazy4cats]

Well, I’m using NW Naturals frozen beef nuggets right now. I believe they have chicken also. My problem is that I keep switching so many things, such as food, supplements and toppers that I’m not sure which is making the most difference. But, with the combo I mentioned above, their poops are always good except after exercise. They are then a little soft, but not runny. I think if you are not opposed to raw, the Nature’s Variety frozen raw medallions would be great, but expensive. They have the clay in them that I believe helps with colitis. Have you checked out the dogaware.com website? They have a lot of information and tips on digestive disorders. Good luck.

[Moonskimom]

Been making this for my dogs for years, slight variations of what is on sale in the veggie dept. Vet fine with it b/c they are super healthy!:
BIG POT (I freeze 1/2)
3 lbs ground chicken or turkey or ground pork (or mix)
2 lbs ground beef (total amount 5 lbs of meat)
Organic: dried lentils, split peas, brown rice, barley, apples, squash, spinach, kale.
No salt V-8 juice, tomato paste, organic flaxseed meal, organic virgin coconut oil, cranberries, frozen mixed vegetables, water added as needed but goal is nice thick stew; often add oatmeal if not quite thick enough.When cooling I add a few fish oil pills to pot (same as I take). Served with plain organic yogurt & add powder in caps of pro & prebiotics. Heaviest on the proteins, veggies, & fruits. 2 cups/ 2x’s daily with water added too. CHEAPER than Orijen but use that occasionally- they don’t like it as much. Glucosamine/chondroitin a couple x’s a week, not sure if helpful, mm.
Both dogs rescue lab/hound etc =pure-bred mutts, both approx 55lb. Both 6yo Therapy dogs & both get TONS of exercise in woods & parks. Raw femur bones a couple of x’s a week & I make my own treats too for when they are working. LOVE MY DOGS!

[crazy4cats]

Right now I am feeding my dogs that have IBS Victor grain free which contains montmorillonite clay. I use a small amount of frozen raw beef nugget topper. To that I add the supplement Gastriplex by Thorne that includes slippery elm and L-Glutamine in its ingredients. So far, it’s the best they have done as far as their poops go. I have also used The Honest Kitchen’s Perfect Form and Vetri Science’s Vetri-Probiotic BD supplements with success. I never thought my world would revolve around my pup’s poop, but sadly it does. lol!

[RescueDaneMom]

I’m not sure if you are feeding grains or not. I’ve fed my big guy Annamaet and Earthborn Holistic with great success. My grain-free picks from the list would be: Annamaet Aqualuk (fish), Earthborn Meadow Feast (lamb) or Earthborn Coastal Catch (fish). Canine Caviar Wilderness (venison) or Open Sky (Duck) look good too- never personally fed this brand but I like the looks of it. My grain-inclusive picks would be: Annamaet Option (salmon and venison) and Victor Select Lamb Meal & Brown Rice. I’ve never heard of Pet Pantry dog food so I googled it. It looks like a pretty good food. I think the Buffalo and Duck would be worth a try. I’m currently feeding The Honest Kitchen and raw to my Dane and he is loving it. The Honest Kitchen Love is beef (though it’s pricey). Let us know what you end up with and how it goes. 🙂

[Sue’s Zoo]

Feeding my extra large pup his first turkey neck. He’s in heaven! I bought a roll of plastic for him to eat on but his front paws are now covered in ‘raw’. Doesn’t seem too sanitary. How do others deal with it. Our younger pup is going to want to eat his legs. She hasn’t transitioned to raw yet.

[lk]

I think I have sooo confused myself, and I would greatly appreciate it if someone could look over how I am feeding my dog and let me know that I am doing it right? or wrong?
I have a 12 year old 50 lb guy with a few issues.
I feed him one pound of food a day.
he gets
8oz cooked meat
2oz cooked liver
4oz cooked veggies
1 raw egg
1/2 cup raw goats milk
fish pill
vit e
Calcium is an issue he has and the Vets monitor his calcium levels closely.
I plan on adding in the mulit vitamin and getting rid of the vitamin e
his meat and veggies vary every week.
does this sound like i’m on the right path? or do you think his meat should be more?
thank you
lk

[theBCnut]

Hound Dog mom’s list has commercial raw foods at the end of the list that have appropriate calcium levels.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?srcid=0BwApI_dhlbnFTXhUdi1KazFzSUk&pid=explorer&efh=false&a=v

[chewysmom]

Hi Angie and congrats on the new “baby”! You’re on the right track with choosing to go raw for your little guy. Neapolitan Mastiffs are prone to hip dysplasia which can lead to arthritis as they get older so it’s important to choose on a good diet as a puppy to prevent a lot of vet bills (and heartache) down the road. Here’s a good article from raw dog food diet guru, Robert Mueller that explains how diet can help prevent hip dysplasia in large and giant breed dogs: http://www.barfworld.com/blog/?p=2422.

Best of luck to you both 🙂

[sharfie]

Does any one know about the calcium levels in canned food? Would one be able to calculate using the same method as for the dry and raw? Also, is the canned food usually “all life stages” and appropriate for a puppy? Sorry if this has been asked and answered already.

[grouch_29]

I am researching what would be the best diet for a Neapolitan Mastiff. I have never owned one before but this is my all time favorite breed and hopefully soon I will be able to add a baby neapolitan girl to my family. I would like to get more information on what I’d the best diet for them. I know they are a giant breed and the diet plays a big role in their growth development. I wasn’t a strong healthy girl not a over weight girl with joint and hip problems due to inproper feeding. Please, if anyone has a mastiff and has suggestions or advisr I will greatly appreciate it. What I’d best? Raw or kibble? I’s it possible to do both? If I do just raw, how much do I feed? Do I mix different meats or can I stick to one? Help!!!!

Thank you,
Angie

[theBCnut]

HDM doesn’t come here very often. She is busy with school and other projects.

Here is her list of foods that are OK.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?srcid=0BwApI_dhlbnFTXhUdi1KazFzSUk&pid=explorer&efh=false&a=v

NVI raw is not one of them. The end of the list is the raw foods that made the list.

[Emastiff]

Question for Hound Dog Mom.

What do you think of feeding an English Mastiff puppy Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw Frozen food. We are looking to blend a kibble and a more convent pre made raw food. The dry kibble will be Nature’s Variety Instinct Rabbit
Would love some thoughts.

[theBCnut]

If the vet finds nothing, stop everything except the food for a few days and see if that helps. In a perfect world, you can’t give too many probiotics, however the probiotics have other things in them besides just probiotics. If he is sensitive to the other stuff in probiotics, or digestive enzymes, then taking him off of them for a few days should help. It may do nothing at all, but then you would know that they aren’t contributing to the problem. I would take him down to the normal dose of probiotics now anyway. By now he has got to have what his system can support in his system. Right now, I feel like straws is all we have to grasp at. Basically, this has been going on long enough that I feel like if you can think of something different to try, try it, just wait until after the next fecal check.

[kms]

So do you mean stay on double doses of Probiotics, regular doses of Digestive Enzymes and Perfect Form till vet appt – and then, if stool is clear, discontinue all of it or just the PF and pumpkin? Just want to make sure I don’t misunderstand.

A was thinking yesterday… could the twice per day double dose of Probiotics for 2 1/2 weeks be too much for him? I could back it down to a double dose once per day (that’s actually what the jar calls a “theraputic dose”). I called Mercola and asked if that could cause loose stool. She said that you really can’t give too much of Probiotics, but some dogs will end up with loose stool if they have too much of a build up in their system. Probably grasping at straws here…

[kms]

I made a vet appt for this coming wed – will have a fecal sent out. Also, I started Perfect Form last night. He ate it right up – no issue with taste. So far, he has had 3 stools – all 3 softer/runnier than normal. But he has only had 2 doses, so it’s prob too soon to tell. As far as pumpkin, I’ll stop that today.

I like everything I’ve read about Honest Kitchen products and would be willing to try. Also have been reading about Primal, Darwin and NV frozen and freeze-dried raw. My biggest fear is that things could get worse at a critical time in his development. I’d also have to face both my vet and breeder – who aren’t really in favor of my direction so far (in terms of going to a kibble rotation diet and also for heading toward raw down the road). But I’ll keep reading and taking baby steps. Another reason why I’m so thankful for this forum.

The NVI Rabbit uses chicken fat as a preservative and it’s 4th on the ingredient list. So NVI Rabbit is not 100% chicken-free, but it’s fat instead of meat. I don’t know if that changes anything. In other words, can I still rule out “chicken intolerance” – or could that small amount of chicken fat still cause a chicken intolerance? I really hope his system just needs more time to heal, as Pattyvaughn sugggested. It’s just that I’ve never had a dog who didn’t have worms or diarrrhea at some point – and it has always been remedied quickly. So I keep worrying that it’s something more serious.

I’ve read on threads where people go back to grain-inclusive and the stools get better. Why is that? I thought grains were not good for a dog. The reason I went grain-free is because I thought it would be healthier and the food would be less likely to trigger an allergy.

• This reply was modified 12 years ago by kms.

[theBCnut]

Mine have never had a problem with it and all different foods digest at different rates but they never mention anything except mixing raw and kibble. I do know someone that has one dog that doesn’t do well when she mixes raw and kibble, but all the rest of hers do fine mixed. Her dog that doesn’t do well vomits and has loose stools and shows other signs of being in distress, so I expect if your dog has a problem with mixing, you will know it.

[RescueDaneMom]

I don’t take stock in that theory about not mixing raw with kibble. I started out feeding raw by adding it as a topper to my dog’s kibble. He never had a problem with it.

[pugmomsandy]

I don’t look up the scientific stuff myself. I feed a mixture of foods sometimes. One meal can just be kibble or it can be kibble, freeze dried raw, raw and canned all together!

[Tiyapup]

I am feeding my pup a rotation of high quality kibbles, mixed with a balanced homemade raw diet. She is doing very well.. healthy growth, beautiful thick soft coat, lots of energy, pretty firm and very regular stools, etc. etc. I’ve read several times now that you should NOT mix kibble and raw in the same meal because of digestive issues. Has anyone really had problems with this, and can anyone give me a real scientific explanation why I shouldn’t mix them? I’ve heard they digest at different rates and (literally, I read this) “confuse the pancreas”. So what? Why does it matter how fast a dog digests something? She has firm and regular stools, and that’s enough to convince me that mixing is fine, but I’d still like to hear a scientific argument why mixing kibble and raw might be bad.

In case you care, the rotation is Taste of the Wild puppy, Wellness Core puppy, and Blue Buffalo Wilderness puppy, supplemented with a homemade variety of livers, hearts, gibbets, cheap cuts of venison or lamb, chicken necks, eggs, yogurt, pumpkin, salmon oil, a small amt. of an herbal supplement, and add Grandma Lucy’s grain-free no meat pre-mix. I was doing about 20% raw 80% kibble, but now its close to half and half.

[dogGirl]

Not only is the address the same, but the contact person is also the same: Steven Lea.

Check out the May 2006 planning board minutes from Iredell County if you want to know what Lea-Way does. The link between those 2 businesses is disturbing, especially for those of us who feed raw.

[Brittany Mom]

I feed the Force, Embark, Love, and Zeal on a rotating basis. They get Honest Kitchen in the AM and Bravo raw in the PM. I also give them beef knuckle bones, duck feet, bullysticks and trachea for their chewing pleasure. All of which come from Bravo. I too have a 3 yr old Britt, but I have to watch his weight because he has a tendency to gain weight.

[RescueDaneMom]

While I love Stella & Chewy’s, it is not practical for large dogs to feed as a sole source of food. Your dog would eat you out of house and home. If I fed my dog just S&C, I would be spending $15/day. You can use Stella’s as a topper for the kibble. That’s how I started feeding my dog raw.

[Melissaandcrew]

LOl. I try to buy food for the upcoming month to be at least 30 days ahead. I counted food bags yesterday and realized that except for a bag or two of “new try” products, I really don’t need to look until mid Jan or so. Especially now since I switched from premade raw topper to 50% homemade raw.

[pugmomsandy]

There are hundreds of foods to try out. Maybe your dog is not used to high protein grain free. What were you feeding before and how long? There are foods “in the middle” if you want to try that. I feed a range of 4 to 5 star foods and haven’t had any issues with more poop or larger poop. And actually my fosters have the largest and more frequent poops after being vetted and then I get them. I also give the dogs some probiotics a couple times a week. The best poops are on raw food with bones – small, formed, no smell like the size of little bird eggs. I have small dogs though. But what I’m saying is, try something else. My fosters do good on Nutrisource Heartland Select and grain free Lamb. I would call those “in the middle”.

[PippaY]

Hi all,

My 18lb Welsh Terrier has a mild-moderate case of Protein Losing Enteropathy.

Our Vet specialist has recommended a Purina HA diet that’s made of “hydrolyzed protein”. Unfortunately I’m wary of anything made by Purina and hydrolyzed protein sounds horribly processed. So I’m looking for suggestions.

I’ve read that MCT oil (for humans) can help. Not sure how much to give her..

What about kibble and/or raw food? Brands and types would be appreciated if you’ve had success with any.

I switched her from Purina Pro Plan sensitive stomach (salmon) variety to Orijen’s Fish formula and “Primal”‘s raw lamb wet food. Her spirits are good. She’s eating well and she doesn’t seem to be losing weight around the middle..though I suspect that she might be losing muscle mass.

Other things to note:
She’s allergic to chicken and starts to itch just looking at it. Not sure about turkey or duck.

Thank you!!

[RVPets]

We have a 7 year old German Shepherd and we have been struggling to control a systemic yeast infection for the past 9 months. Our old vet (I do mean old now) kept putting him on antibiotics, saying it was not yeast, but never doing a skin scrap. Our new vet checked first and immediately told us it was yeast. He wants him on a no carbohydrate/lo. starch diet and has suggested a more holistic approach to controling the problem. We are very pleased with the results so far. He’s grown back most of his hair and his odor has diminshed considerably.

We add Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar (with the “Mother”) to his drinking water and we wipe him down with a vinegar and water mixture (50/50) and we are cleaning his ears with the same solution daily. We have hi on a partial raw diet that we have been adding a high quality dog food too (about half raw half dog food).

My problem is that we are having a hard time finding a food that he can eat due to food allergies. Has anyone tried Canidae Grain-Free Pure Elements for dogs? It does not have anything on his “don’t eat” list, but I’m not too sure about having sweet potatoes in the top 5 list of ingredients.

Has anyone else tried this with a “yeasty dog”? Did it help or make it worse? We are trying very hard to find a solution, but we simply cannot feed an all raw diet right now.

This is a list of ingrediants:
Lamb, turkey meal, chicken meal, sweet potatoes, chickpeas, peas, chicken fat, menhaden fish meal, potatoes, suncured alfalfa, natural flavor, minerals (iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite), vitamins (vitamin E supplement, thiamine mononitrate, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid), choline chloride, dried enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, mixed tocopherols (a natural source of
vitamin E)

[theBCnut]

Hi ShelterGirl

Plaque build up on teeth is due to starch in dogs, just as it is in humans. Kibble is a high starch food. If you don’t want plaque build up on your dogs teeth, you brush them, just like you do in humans. Or you can try feeding raw meaty bones. Dogs that eat nothing but kibble still need to have their teeth cleaned regularly, so obviously kibble is not the answer to plaque build up.

No type of food leads to obesity, overfeeding any type of food leads to obesity. Weight issues are a matter of calories in, calories out.

[pugmomsandy]

If I’m giving a capsule that is a higher dose, I will give the whole capsule but then only give it a two or three times a week. I’ll buy human fish oil capsules to use on me and the dogs. Once in a while, they get a whole raw sardine too.

[theBCnut]

If you are giving less than 20% of the diet in raw food then buying from the grocery store is fine. If you are planning on giving more raw than 20% of the diet, then you have to start considering balancing all the nutrients.

[Naturella]

Thank you for the info, Melissa and Patty!

Now, I know there are specific websites where one can order raw dog food from, but is buying it from the local grocery store safe enough?

[theBCnut]

I have some things that came in 3 or 5 pound chunks and that’s what I do. I thaw just enough to be able to portion it out, then refreeze. Each day I pull out what I need for the next day.

I’m in the same boat as Melissa. I just got 1/4 of a steer and nobody else wanted the liver so I got the whole thing. Some of it goes mixed in with raw meals, but some of it is going to be cooked into training treats.

[Melissaandcrew]

I am new to the home made raw route so there may be a better method.. I buy in bulk thaw, portion it out and then freeze until needed. Right now I have way too much beef liver so its thawing to become treats.

[pugmomsandy]

There’s really not enough freeze dried pieces in the raw boost! You can buy some other brand of freeze dried like Stella & Chewy’s and break up a freeze dried patty into the kibble. I supplement with freeze dried Vital Essentials. I use it as treats throughout the day too.

[Naturella]

Dog Oatmeal Cookies

This is my very first endeavor at homemade dog treats, so the measurements may not be totally exact…

Ingredients:
1/2 – 2/3 cup cooked (baked/boiled/microwaved) sweet potato (with or without skin)
1 medium carrot (or 3-4 baby carrots), raw – shredded
1/2 cup chunky “raw” peanut butter (ground up plain roasted peanuts. If you can’t find any, peanut butter with no or little added salt/sugar will do)
3/4 cup unbleached flour (or whole wheat one, or brown rice one)
1/2 cup plain oatmeal
1 medium/large egg
1 tsp brown sugar
dash of honey
1 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients until a homogenous mixture forms (if mixture is too wet, add some more flour or oatmeal gradually until mixture is sticky but not at all runny)
3. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil.
4. Using a small ice-cream scoop, scoop balls from the mixture and place about 1 inch apart on cookie sheet. You can press them down and shape up in whatever shape you like
5. Bake for about 20-30 min, or until golden brown-ish.
6. Let cool down and feed to beloved pooches.

These can also be refrigerated for about a week or frozen for 4-5 months.

[Naturella]

Hello, guys! I have made homemade doggie treats a couple of times, so I decided to share my recipes in case anyone wants to try them on their pets!

Most recent, “Fall’s Abundance” frozen treats:
1 small fuji apple, without the seeds and stem
1/2 – 2/3 cup cooked (baked/boiled/microwaved) sweet potato (with or without skin)
1/2 – 2/3 cup cooked (baked/boiled/microwaved) butternut squash
1 medium carrot (or 3-4 baby carrots), cooked (boiled/roasted/grilled) or raw.
1/2 cup plain pumpkin (baked/boiled/microwaved/from a can)
1/2 cup plain/greek yoghurt
1/2 cup chunky “raw” peanut butter (ground up plain roasted peanuts. If you can’t find any, peanut butter with no or little added salt/sugar will do)
2 Tbs tahini (ground sesame seed paste/liquid)
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Place all ingredients in a large food processor or blender (or do it batches), and process until smooth or partially chunky. Place in freezer bag and cut corner off. On a piece of foil placed on a flat surface in the freezer, pipe little morsel shapes close to each other. Let them freeze for about 30min or so. Peel off of the foil and put in a plastic container (or another freezer bag) and store in freezer. My Bruno and his “roommate” (our roommate’s dog Casey) loved them!

P.S. I think that if oat/brown rice/whole wheat/any flour is added (and/or oatmeal), these could be baked into cookie treats, in which case I would recommend refrigerating them for up to a week tops, and freeze the excess to be used when desired in up to 4-5 months.

I will post my other 2 recipes soon!

[Naturella]

Patty, thank you so much for the response! I think Bruno is pretty healthy and would love some raw in his diet. He has had some raw liver and today I gave him a tiny bit of ground chuck – he loved it! So yeah, I think I will just have to let my boyfriend get used to it, and see how well Bruno does on raw additives. 🙂

Question about storing, I should pre-portion it and freeze, and just thaw whatever I plan to use for the day, correct?

[hamish]

Hey all

Been lurking for quite some time with great results in my dog food rotation. Over the past 2 years I’ve fed my Sheltie and Cocker; Orijen 6 fish, Fromm Surf and Turf/ Salmon a la Veg, Brothers Fish, Go! Fit, Annamaet Lean, and Annamaet Aqualuk. As you can see I have an affinity for fish based foods due to my Shelties sensitive skin and I love the coat it produces. The Annamaet, for me, has by far been the best. However, I’m only using Aqualuk and Fromm right now and in an effort to keep a good rotation I want to branch out into new foods. More specifically, I’m interested in dry with some sort of raw mixed in. I was about to buy a bag of Great Life grain free wild salmon until I saw the catastrophe with the recall but it wasn’t a recall ;). I’ve come across Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw Boost Lamb and Salmon. Before I buy a bag I wanted to know if you guys knew of any other options that include freeze dried with dry kibble. I don’t want to get too complicated so please just keep it to all in ones.

Thanks in advance!

[theBCnut]

I would try raw chicken or turkey necks. They are mostly cartilage, so they have all those cartilage building nutrients in a natural form.

[scotty]

Hi the best I know of is instinct raw boost. Its freeze dried raw and dogs love it filled with good things,but expensive made by Natures variety……….Scotty

[theBCnut]

Dogs with compromised immune systems can get bacterial infections from raw diets. And if a dog is greedy, it can glup too big a piece of bone. I like chicken necks for small dogs because the bones are already small and mostly cartilage anyway, but since they are all connected together, it encourages chewing. My JRT is used to raw and gnawing bones, so she can handle a pretty good sized chunk of turkey neck and even some ribs.

Most dogs have no problems. Their short digestive tract is designed to handle bacteria and their teeth are made for crunching on bones.

[MsDad]

Cherikeeusa, right now I’m feeding Nature’s Logic kibble to my F1 Goldendoodle but I’m getting ready to switch him to a raw diet. I’ve been doing a LOT of research and raw greatly reduces the risk of bloat. Pork and chicken are both fine for dogs. I’m looking at Tucker’s Bones as my raw diet and it is pork-based.

[Naturella]

Hello, everyone!

I have a probably dumb question, but what is the worst thing that could happen to a dog if fed raw food? Any chance of salmonella or e.coli? Anything else? I want to give my 8-month Jack Russell-Rat Terrier mix some raw in addition to his kibble (RMBs, some recreational bones, and organ meat), but my boyfriend is worried he may get something from it…

[dogGirl]

Blue Ridge Beef are dishonest in their communication with customers and the price is too good to be true. Think twice about feeding their product and do your homework. In my opinion, if a company won’t answer with integrity questions about their products, then I don’t want to do business with them

[theBCnut]

I believe raw fed dogs are much more able to handle eating something that is contaminated. But FDA, in all their infinite wisdom and desire to appear to be doing something, is pushing for zero tolerance for bacterial contamination in all foods. We feel that they are moving towards requiring HPP of all raw foods. I’m not happy about this apparent move.

[RescueDaneMom]

I just had an article from PetMD come across my facebook news feed: http://www.petmd.com/blogs/nutritionnuggets/jcoates/2013/nov/fda-finds-high-rates-of-contamination-in-raw-pet-foods#.Uo_AU8Rjum4

After reading the article, I find it lacks many details that would be useful to the consumer. It doesn’t tell you what brands of raw food were tested and which were positive for the bacteria. To me it seems like the purpose of the article is to scare people away from feeding commercial raw because there is supposedly a 25% chance that you’ll be feeding your pet contaminated food.

I’ve been feeding my Dane, Max, commercial raw for a couple months now with no issues. Has anyone feeding commercial raw ever had an incident with their pet getting sick because of bacteria?

[theBCnut]

I would wait to switch. Some dogs get stool issues when switching and that would not be pleasant while traveling, especially by plane. Rather than starting with prey model, you might want to consider using a premix that you just add boneless meat to, to start out with. Regardless of how you decide to start, most recommend picking just one type of protein to start with, like chicken, then feed just that for a couple weeks, then switch to beef and so on. Don’t start with very fatty types of meat, like mutton or high fat ground beef, wait on those until you know how he is doing on raw. Any meat from the grocery store is still leaps and bounds better than what goes into kibble so yes, use grocery store meats. Just remember, feeding raw is a lot more than just handing the dog a chunk of meat.