[pugmomsandy]

I don’t know what that product is (nutrident) but I wanted to suggest ProDen Plaque Off (a seaweed) and some oral gels (Petzlife Oral Care or Mercola and other similar products). Have you tried raw chicken feet? I’m not sure what the size difference would be to compared to duck feet. My boys also like beef rib bones, roasted trachea, cow hoof and pig snout. Just throw those away when they become soft enough to swallow whole.

[katj813]

I have an 11 year old 20lb dog. My vet isn’t happy with his teeth giving he chews very few things. After spending easily a hundred dollars or more in the past year experimenting (and I’m a college student) the only winners are duck feet and nylabone healthy edibles. I even bought a chicken flavored flexi-chew nylabone and no dice. I’ve already tried rawhides, bully sticks, antlers, the lot. My vet said greenies no longer work because they had to make the formula softer due to issues. I was wondering if nutrident was any better given I have no other option.

Could it at all be safe to just give him a one size up healthy edible as well? That way he would have to work on it longer.

• This topic was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by katj813.

[betsycam]

My sister has an older dog with the same kinds of problems and I suspect he has had a chronic systemic yeast infection for years. She feeds Taste of the Wild and the dog has not gotten better.

My dog is raw fed but he is old and he developed a systemic yeast infection for while. I started him on the Nzymes.com skin program, and took note of their food recommendations. Since sugar feeds yeast and carbs/starch are sugar, it is very important to eliminate those carbs! I discovered that one of the Bravo Blend formulas I had been feeding my dog contained sweet potatoes, and Nzymes discourages feeding grain-free foods that use sweet potatoes or even potatoes as an alternative carb source. I cut out that formula and fed a raw diet with no grain or starchy veggies, and he cleared up!

The other thing I did was give him a thyroid med that includes T3 in it (dessicated pork thyroid gland). This is trickier to do since vets will usually prescribe thyroxine which is just T4. My dog’s thyroid had been tested by hemovet.com’s lab (Dr. Jean Dodds) and his T4 was normal and his T3 was at the very low end of normal. The vets said he wasn’t hypothyroid, but I went ahead and used an over the counter porcine thyroid pill which I believe also made a huge difference. I would have this dog’s thyroid tested at any rate.

Go over Nzymes.com’s recommended food list for their skin program – they do recommend some diets that aren’t as difficult as feeding raw!

[pugmomsandy]

If you look at the ingredient lists, they are at the FAR OPPOSITE ends of the spectrum. It’s almost like for someone who hasn’t eaten meat in a long time, and then they eat a big bowl of chili or a big steak. Not saying that Beneful doesn’t have meat, but it’s not anything like the meats and organs and fish in Orijen and now it has a bunch of legumes. A dog has gut flora that adjusts to eating certain foods. Right now, he has the ones most adapted to Beneful. So it might be quite a shock to go to Orijen. Also Orijen has quite a bit more fat. I would put it in the high fat category. This also might possibly cause some digestive upset. But I’m just being cautious! You won’t know how your dog will do until you try it. And also try several foods. A rotational diet is (IMO) best. Find a couple kibbles, some canned foods, some raw foods, etc. Back a few years ago, I weaned mine off Beneful with regular Merrick (the old recipe with gravy) and Blue Wilderness mixed together.

http://urbanpawsmagazine.com/archives/59

• This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by pugmomsandy.

[koa’smom]

Sippmanir, Thank you for the link, but I already have seen it and that is what prompted me to switch to Wellness Core Puppy, but now I’m faced with an issue that, according to the vet, is requiring me to feed a low calcium AND low protein food. I’m just not sure what to feed because most foods have protein content of 30% or more, even the all life stages food. Earthborn Meadow Feast states no less than 26% protein , but what does that really mean? To me it means that it it is likely higher than 26%.

Another thing I find confusing is the protein content in the raw foods. For example, under the food analyisis of Primal Raw frozen, it gives a dried protein content of 47% and a protein content of 15%. What do I go by? I don’t know how to interpret that.

Sorry for all the questions, but I just want to get my dog kn the best food possible ASAP.

[Melissaandcrew]

Alright, need more help!! Picked up the first order from the processor(basically told her what ever she could save) and ended up with mish mosh of supplies. She used to toss everything so its going to take a while for her to “build up” a bit of variety.

I got(approx.) 12 lbs beef heart, waaayyy to much beef liver, lol(30lbs) 4 chicken carcasses, 10 lbs beef kidney, and a bag of misc beef/vension-about 15 lbs. I then got two bags full of pork heart and kidney(did not weigh it yet as I know it needs to be frozenfor 3 weeks). Total of products(and some recreational bone for bigger dogs) about 100lbs.

As you can see, I sm sorely lacking in the RMB category(no chicken necks). The recipe I am going to make(from the book) is the on Sandy mentioned. Amongst other things, it alls for 5.25 lb chicken neck, 3.25 boneless. I know someone mentioned “frankenprey”, o here is my question.

I am willing to do mix protein batches until I get enough supplies, but want to buy the minimum from market that I have to. I am assuming I can use the carcasses in place of the necks for a batch or two, and then thinking I can use chicken leg quarters for a few more batches with the heart and venison/beef boneless. Will this provide the proper bone in and boneless requirements? I am just going by what I googled, that quarters are RMB and assuming I can interchange those and necks..help!

[koa’smom]

Hound Dog mom, I just had xrays done on my 5 month old German Shepherd puppy beccause she was favoring her left hind leg on occasion. She has panosteitis. I have been feeding Wellness Core Puppy. The vet said I need to feed her a lower protein food, something 25% or less. What do you suggest for possible options. I prefer grain free and raw is ok too.

[Duke The Boxer]

Also I want to add that he said the treats were raw and then dehydrated so it still has most if not all of its natural enzymes and probiotics. The treats looks really good and the person who formulates all of biostareq’s products was super friendly and a answered any question I ha. He even asked for a picture of duke and he sent me one back of his new Australian Shepard. What I like most from their company is their customer service. But I ordered the honest kitchen beams to try them out since many people have had wonderful reviews of the fish beams.

[sippmanjr]

Hi Hound Dog Mom ( or other who know what to do )

I have decided to wean the wean the litter onto wellness core puppy. It was one of your 5 recommendations and they have been great to send puppy packs with samples for everyone. I will be rotating my dog with the NV instinct as well as Earthborn. My question is… How do I safely add sardines and eggs into their diet and my girls diet without changing the amount of calcium they will be getting. I have looked at nutritionals on sardines and it seems they do have a solid amount of calcium. Also what other raw natural foods do you think I should be adding into her diet and how do I go out about that. Obviously the base of the diet will consist of dry but I definitely want to add natural raw in as well as often as I can and as early as I can. I want to be able to have recommendations for all the new owner so they can continue these puppies on a healthy lifestyle. Thank you all for the info. This has been a great forum!

[Akari_32]

Just curious if anyone’s dogs had meat preferences. My jack russell mix seems to favor red meats (beef in particular) for dry foods, but doesn’t care what it is as far as wet and raw goes (although he really loves turkey necks). My other two just don’t care. If its food (or maybe even if it isn’t…) they’re going to eat it.

With Bentley, the jack russell mix, it took about three weeks to get him eating chicken based food when his Innova Prime was pulled off the shelves, first from clearance of the small bags (not popular in my area), then the whole recall thing– which is making me never want to go back to them again. He hates fish based foods, and they make him and his breath smell gross anyways. I guess it’s just too much fish for such a small body. I’ve never noticed it with the other dogs.

But yeah, just curious 🙂

[ellgee]

I have my fingers crossed! We, too, have tried so many foods including pre-made raw (Darwin’s). It is almost a joke with my husband. But I KNOW one day I will be able to say _________ changed Dudley’s life! LOL!

Does your friend feed just the Aqualuk or does she rotate with other foods?

[InkedMarie]

Glad you ordered the Aqualuk. Give it a month then update. I’m hoping it’ll help. My friend tried so many dry foods, then pre made raw but this food finally worked.

[Cynical25]

1 yr old neutered Catahoula weighs in at 68lbs. 5 cups a day (spread over 3 feedings) of Taste of the Wild is just barely maintaining the weight on this extremely active dog. I know he’s lean muscled from constantly going, but just a touch too ribby for me. Increasing the dry food just gives him gas, no more weight. Natural Balance required 6 cups/day to maintain his weight and he had looser stools (used it for 4 months before switching to Taste of Wild, due to cost.) The weight maintanance is a recent issue, presumably because his activity has increased even more after we aquired a 2nd dog.

11 month spayed Catahoula/Aussie weighs in at 38lbs. 2.75 cups a day (spread over 3 feedings) of Taste of the Wild has her at good weight, but she struggles to poop. We’ve had her barely 2 months so haven’t tried any other brands.

Coats are soft, personalities are bright, breath is fine, both drink well. Is it realistic to think I can keep both dogs on the same food? I was contemplating trying Merrick since I have a coupon, but it’s going to be a stretch for the budget with such hearty eaters. I’m not against rotating every few months, but I want to use quality dry foods. Raw isn’t in the budget.

[InkedMarie]

I have a friend with a frenchie that had horrible paws, red & raw. Vet prescribed Benadryl and she put him on Annamaet Aqualuk and what a difference!

[Pugmomma]

Hello,
I’ve been looking at some options of a pre mix to start my pug puppy on raw food. I have read great reviews on both pre mixes, Dr. Harveys Veg to Bowl Fine Ground (Veg-To-Bowl Fine Ground – Dr. Harvey’s) and Sojos Grain Free Dog Food Mix (https://www.sojos.com/products/dog-f…e-dog-food-mix) but I’m not sure which one would be better, Dr. Harvey’s has potatoes in it and Sojos’s has garlic… So I really don’t know!
Has anyone tried these pre mixes for their dogs? Any advice?
Thanks for reading and for your help.

Stefanie

[ellgee]

This is my first post although I have been an avid reader of DFA for a long time.

I am at my wit’s end with my French Bulldog’s allergies. I do have an appointment with a vet allergist/dermatologist on 11/1, but I just don’t want him suffering until then.

He has been on several 4 to 5 star foods over the years and is currently on Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw Boost (chicken) which I add some of the raw bites (duck) too. Yesterday I came home to soft stinky poop in the house! He hasn’t had an accident since he was a pup! I know he must have GI issues because we have to wipe his bottom after every poo and this isn’t anything new.

His skin is very red with crusty spots, he is losing tons of his hair. I am bathing him twice a week with Douxo chlorhexadine shampoo. Last time I took him to the vet, he told me that in looking over Dudley’s records, this happens at the same time every year leading us to believe these are environmental allergies. And due to a weakened immune system, he gets these skin infections and staph. Last go round, he was on antibiotics and steroids. I do NOT want to use steroids long term if I can help it. He is on a daily Benadryl which doesn’t do much as far as I can tell.

I was reading on the Supplement Forum and my head is spinning. So much information.

My question is since we don’t believe it to be food related (but who knows???) should I try to boost his immune system? Should I feed him an elimination diet?

Help!

[apriliamille]

mfulton7

i used pure canned pumpkin with my transitions. i believe pumpkin is considered prebiotic. maybe look at a prebiotic or use canned pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie cans). the transitions i have done are slowwwwww. a couple pieces for a day or two. then 25 percent of one of their meals for a day or so then 50 percent of their meal for a day or so.. and on and on. also i use a tablespoon or two of pumpkin with their meals. and their bed time crate kong treat is a frozen layer of pumpkin and peanut butter (if i use too much new food and nightly walk looks a little off)
im in the middle of doing a drtim kinesis and am up to half of her breakfast meal. her poop is kickable if that makes sense.

edit. oh yeah i forgot about our sundays which might play a factor in how our dogs are doing (we do a variant of the 5/1/1 meal plan). our dogs get a raw breakfast of venison, elk (compliments of a game locker here in our region) a baked sweet potato, cooked green beans, herring in plain water, and either a cored apple, cored pear or bannana depending on what we have that morning along with plain greek yogurt. dinner is a raw marrow bone

• This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by apriliamille.
• This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by apriliamille.

[gsdmommy89]

To Sully and Duke:

I used to work at a pet supply store that only carries super premium and premium brand foods (i.e: Fromm, Orijen, Merrick, Nature’s Variety, ZiwiPeak, etc). I did alot of research on every brand we carried because customers have a lot of questions about food, especially people that are switching from grocery brands like Pedigree and Purina since they want to know exactly why they should spend that extra money. I use Nature’s Variety, and I too am very wary of where things come from. As for their rabbit formula, I have used it and I love it. I know it’s sourced from China, but feel confident in it because of the testing they’ve done and also because for a while they did not carry the rabbit formula in the cans or raw. I called, emailed, asked many different representatives in many different ways, and researched as to why this was. I was satisfied to know that they didn’t want to source their rabbit from just anywhere. They’d rather not have any rabbit than to have questionable suppliers. Yes, there are U.S rabbits, but if what they use now is already pricey, could you imagine the price of it if it was U.S supplied? OUCH!! This is my opinion on NV Rabbit ( I’ve used all three varieties: kibble, raw, cans) and I am a huge fan of them. Of course everyone has their own reservations, I just thought it’d be nice to share my experience.

• This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by gsdmommy89.
• This reply was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by gsdmommy89.

[DieselJunki]

I actually know exactly whats in my dogs food. Chicken, Beef, Turkey, and Pork, including all their bone (well except for most of the beef, to dense), and organ! No euthanized pets in my dogs food! But then again I feed big chunks of raw meat and not kibble. I have watched that youtube video. It is very disturbing but something that will never stop until more people really start to care and research their CARNIVORES dietary NEEDS.

[Melissaandcrew]

Just wanted to throw this out there for others who might be wanting a reasonable grinder. I got the Tasan TS 108 from One stop jerky for $150 plus shipping. Since my books are not here yet, and I was dying to try it, I ground up a bunch of stuff to use as an unbalanced topper. The grinder had no problems with chicken leg quarters and necks. I did whack the quarters with a cleaver to make them smaller of course. With the medium plate, there was no bone to be felt in the final products, which made me very happy as that was a concern of mine. Grinder did not jam etc either. I m surprised, as I was not expecting it to work this well. Hubby came out and helped which was even more surprising, lol.

[Cyndi]

My Bailey is 50lbs. and has been on a raw diet for 5 months. I give her a half a turkey neck, along with gizzards or heart and liver, 2 or 3 nights a week for dinner. She has never had any problems with them. A turkey neck is basically one long bone with a lot of meat on it, not a bunch of little bones. I think they would be totally fine for a smaller dog. It would take a bit longer for them to eat it, I would imagine, but I’m sure they’d do fine with them… Good for cleaning teeth too!

[Sully’sMom]

Duke the Boxer: this is what they’ve told me so far:

“The rabbit protein we use in our canned and raw diets is from China. We employ a U.S. educated food scientist in China to oversee our rabbit sourcing. All rabbit protein is tested before shipment from China and again after it arrives in the U.S. for processing into our diets. We are very confident in how we handle our sourcing from China. We source most of our ingredients from the U.S. and turn to other locations only as needed. We are very stringent on our sourcing and have good relationships built with our vendors for quality ingredients.”

I replied that I was asking about the kibble and have not heard back. Personally, if the canned and raw diet rabbits are from China, I personally would likely not order the rabbit kibble….(aren’t there US rabbits??)

[Duke The Boxer]

Hey DFA community i wanted to see what you guys thought about this treat i found.
http://biostareq.com/formulas/canine/dog-star-fish-raw-food-treats
It says its made from Menhaden fish meal which ive read that supposedly arent exposed to high levels of mercury because of their depth that they live at. Only thing i saw is that it has 9.29% ash.
Serving: Per Treat
Crude Protein (min) 33.00%
Crude Fat (min) 16.7%
Crude Fiber (max) 5.85%
Moisture (max) 10.15%
Ash (max) 9.29%
They also have a liver meal dog treat for the same price with less ash. Also i might add that my dog is a puppy american bulldog boxer mix so hes gonna be a large breed and i am worried about high ash levels.

[Duke The Boxer]

Sully is your dog has no problem with foods with high protein I would really recommend the rabbit if you can catch it on sale. I’ve never seen my dookie’s coat so amazing. He also loves the taste of te nv. I think it’s cuz they have a raw freeze dried putter layer so dogs go crazy over. It was a little weird when I first gt the bag cuz the food was so black but it is how it’s suppose to be. Let me know if you have an questions about nv. I just order dr Tim’s kinesis Grain inclusive so I will be reviewing that in a couple weeks.

[Akari_32]

If I didn’t have such a mixed lot of dogs, I wouldn’t see a problem with it, but since I do, I’d like to ask and see what you all think. Prepare for super long post of stuff!

We have three dogs, one my moms, and two are mine. Mom has an 8 pound, 1 year old, Jack Russell/Maltese. He’s got a super high metabolism. Eats a whole cup of food, yet remains slightly (by less than a half pound) under weight, by my best guess, seeing as he was only supposed to weigh 4 pounds to begin with. It’s hard to keep any meat on him because he’s such an active nut. On top of regular food, he gets a couple treats a day (Zuke’s Hip and Joint and Denta Sticks), and every month or so, all three dogs get a raw meal replacement (turkey neck/back, pork hock, etc).

My dogs, 9.5 year old 130 pound Rottweiler/Austrailian shepherd, and 10.5 year old lab/retriever mix, are outside dogs, much to my dislike. I sneak them in a few days a week when moms working out of town. As soon as money starts looking better, I’ll be getting my own place, where they will be indoors, always. Haley, the lab mix, does have trouble keepig weight on when fed according to the bag these days, but is otherwise healthy. I’ve been feeding her about 5 cups, as aposed to the 2.5-3 she used to get, and that’s doing the trick. Dweezle, the rott mix, also eats 5 cups, for perspective. Neither of these two are very active, but I have recently taken to taking Haley and Bentley (the puppy) on nightly walks, because that dog can drive just about anyone up a wall! He drives poor old Haley nuts LOL Dweezle, do to his dog aggression, can’t be taken out often. He absolutely hates the neighbors dog (in his defence, no body in our neighborhood likes that dog), and has gotten in some trouble with them (thankfully they didn’t press charges…). Can’t risk running into them on a walk.

Because money is currently tight, I do coupon for my dog food. I try to keep the bulk of it Wellness Core (Original), but recently got a great deal on Racheal Ray Zero, so that’s what most of their food is right now. I also got paid to coupon for Purina One Smart Blend (both chicken and lamb for something different), so I have tons of that, as well. Because I do not want the Purina to make up the bulk of the diet, and I’m running low on the Racheal Ray, I need to buy either some more Wellness or more Racheal Ray. I have great coupons for both, so I just need to do some math and decide which is cheaper at the moment.

I have been trained over my research of dog foods to avoid reduced fat type foods because they are typically lower quality (those in my price and couponing range, anyways). Curiosity got the best of me, and i checked out the Reduced Fat Core on this site as well as a few others, and was surprised at how good it actually was, better, IMO, than the other Wellness foods. My concerns, though, are that with two outdoor dogs, and Florida’s “winter” creeping in on us, as well as a feisty littler terrier puppy, would the reduced fat formula be a suitable staple for my dogs?

As far how feeding time goes, I mix all three dogs food in a large bowl with a large can of Pro Plan (coupons for one free can, so I’ve got tons!) and an egg. Haley has some problems digesting large quantities of dry food, and Bentley has trouble eating lager kibbles when they aren’t a little wet (when he doesn’t get fed at the same time as the other two, he gets his food wetted with water). Their dry food is currently 6x 6 pound bags of RR Zero, 2x 6 pound bags of RR Just 6, and 3x 3.5 pound bags of Purina One (and 4 more bags of RR and about 30 more bags of the Purina stored). Their diet can also include, but is not limited to, Blue, all other kinds of Wellness, Hills (SD and Ideal Balance– neither ever in bulk), and anything else that gets store coupons to mix with manufacturer coupons (not usually much else, though).

Any thoughts on the reduced fat Core would be great. If you don’t think it’d be a good choice for my case, please feel free to suggest something else! I’m open to anything. Shoot all your ideas my way!

[RescueDaneMom]

I tried to post this in the supplements forum but it wouldn’t acknowledge that I was logged in.

I was looking through Starwest Botanical’s products on amazon for ingredients to make HDM’s superfood supplement. I came across a “GreenPower Blend” that they make.

Ingredients:Organic Barley Grass Powder, Organic Wheat Grass Powder, Organic Spirulina, Organic Spinach Powder, Organic Alfalfa Leaf Powder, Organic Kelp Powder, Organic Dulse Leaf Powder, Organic Barley Grass Juice Powder, Organic Orange Peel Powder, Organic Beet Root Powder, Organic Dandelion Leaf Powder, Organic Lemon Peel Powder, Organic Ginkgo Leaf Powder & Organic Wheat Grass Juice Powder

Would this be an acceptable whole food/ green supplement to add to a homemade raw or cooked diet? I wasn’t sure about the ginko leaf powder. Thanks!

• This topic was modified 12 years, 2 months ago by RescueDaneMom.

[pugmomsandy]

This video may help you:

/choosing-dog-food/karen-becker-best-worst-dog-food/

And some more articles:

http://b-naturals.com/index.php?main_page=index&main_page=newsletters

http://thewholedog.org/artcarnivores.html

You can feed any kind of food any time. Kibble one meal, raw for one meal, dehydrated for another meal, canned food the next, etc. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.

[laurieangel64]

does anyone know anything about raw diets?are they good?bad? can they be used in rotation or as a supplement with dry kibble?i have 2 dogs at the moment.an 3month old shitzu and a 1&1/2 year old poodle,peke,pom&american eskimo mix(lol,i know).they are both currently on a dry kibble rotation diet,2brands,3 varietys.iam considering the benefits of a possible raw diet but have some concerns as i know nothing about it.i did feed my 1&1/2 yr old raw goats milk from answers for 1st few weeks as he came 2 me young and wasnt ready 2 be weaned yet.but am a little leary of raw meats etc.if it is a good diet can it be used partially as in some raw ,,some dry kibble?or does it have to be one or the other only?thankyou in advance for any help/direction in this area

[theBCnut]

I look for raw green tripe or feed the probiotic with the most number of different strains I can find. Supposedly, probiotics can handle freeze drying and being frozen. All my tripe comes frozen.

[pugmomsandy]

The review of Tucker’s Raw Frozen was just posted yesterday. It has very few ingredients. Might give it a try. Do you use canned food currently? I’ve fed Sojo’s, The Honest Kitchen and Addiction dehydrated foods so far and no problems with those. Stuart Raw Science and Wysong Uncanny are two other foods I’d like to try. There are lots of options to use to avoid and a kibble-only diet.

[KiraLynB]

Hi, we have been feeding our bichon puppy raw food since we brought her home at 8 weeks. She has had some diarrhea problems here and there, and her stools are pretty much always soft. How long is the transition period for her tummy to get used to her new diet?
It is very messy! lol
We were feeding her Stella and Chewy’s frozen raw Duck, Rabbit
BARF store was out this week so now she is on Vital Essentials Rabbit.
She is also on EBarf from barfworld as I read somewhere it would help. I’m not sure if it is helping at this point.
Is it okay for me to switch from Stella and Chewy’s to Vital Essentials? The store owner told me it was fine.. but I’m assuming she said that because she was out?

[Melissaandcrew]

I have been reading that recently as well, especially pertaining to a raw diet. However, I have never been told to supplement E when using fish oil, when feeding a commercial diet. So, I am not sure if this is the case or not.

[Melissaandcrew]

Hi Huskymom-

Owning rescues, I have several with bowel issues. The one that is most severe is one of my dober gals. After years of trying every food I could think of, I discovered she did best with a lower fiber diet. She eats commercial raw, Victor grain free ultra pro, and Abady granular. Anything else and we are back to the squirts and weight loss.

[HuskyMom]

Just found this site, it is wonderful. I’ve learned so much. Here’s my problem: I’ve been feeding my 7-year old husky mix female IAMS Healthy Naturals (dry food) since she turned one. Never had a problem at all. About 2 months ago, she started having trouble with her bowel movements, moving from one spot to another. Then she got a little lathargic, stopped eating her regular amount of food. On August 15, she had been in the yard and came in licking the top of her front paw. We didn’t see anything, but the next morning, there was a bump like something had bit her. We immediately took her to the vet and he said it could have been a non-venomous snake and gave her steroids for the itching and swelling and cephalexin anti-biotics. After three days, she started having diarreah and he advised us to stop the antibiotics. She never got back to normal and started having bloody diarreah about a week ago. BUT, she had started having trouble before the bite. Otherwise I would think that it was from that or from the medication. A friend told me about an IAMS recall for salmonella, I researched it and it was in our region. I did not have the bag to check the numbers because I pour it into a tub with a vacuum seal to store. Took her to the vet on Saturday where blood was drawn and sent off, but she had a fever and he said ‘it looked like it might be salmonella, but would have to wait on the results.’ He gave her Metronidazole, Synacore digestive support to sprinkle on her food once a day, plus ProPectalin Gel. I had already started to feed her brown rice with some chicken 4 days before taking her to the vet. He told me to continue on that until she was finished with all her medicine. Three days later (yesterday), he called with the results and it is not salmonella; he said it was either a bowel disease or possibly cancer and said to feed her Hills ID or ZD when she finished the medicine, starting with a little mixed in her rice until she was eating solely the Hills. And to try to get a urine specimen and bring in, which I am finding impossible to do. My question is what else can I give her other than the Hills? After reading the information on here, I really don’t want to feed her that. She is eating very well right now – the rice and chicken and I’ve added some green beans and carrots. But where she used to go on 2-3 mile walks, she’s tired after just a few minutes and will lie down. Sometimes she doesn’t even want to go and before she lived for her long walks. I know it will take time to get over this, whatever it is, so I want to make sure I feed her the right food. Any suggestions? Thanks for reading my long post.

[theBCnut]

I know what you mean. Certain shaped packages store tighter and with less wasted space. It can make a huge difference in how much you can put in a freezer.

[Melissaandcrew]

Thanks Patty! I am trying to use as low fat ingredients as I can because of the schnauzers, within reason of course. Great point on the double wrapping. I will have to look into how to best store everything. the problem I see is the volume I will have to use every day, so trying to figure out how best to store it, taking up the least amount of space.

[FreeholdHound]

Yes, he’s quite the sight…looks like he’s posing for a Playgirl centerfold. I keep threatening to buy him a kilt (Irish bloodlines) as his blatant airing out of his “junk” gets a bit old. Add in the obnoxious snoring & dream rabbit chasing & he looks possessed. But he’s always good for a laugh.

Will check out the goat & mutton also. Attended a few Goat Roasts in Texas – I don’t remember if I liked it or not, but Harry’s not too picky w/ raw.

[theBCnut]

Beef heart is a dense low fat muscle, so adding it by weight, not volume is important, but just use it like a low fat meat.

As far as stocking up, the most important thing for storing meat longer in the freezer is that it be well wrapped. I like to double wrap when I expect stuff to be in the freezer more than 2 or 3 months. I’ve had double wrapped stuff stay very fresh for at least 8 months.

[theBCnut]

Whoa!! He definitely needs a LOT of floor space. Ours liked to curl up into little spaces. One loveseat was big enough for 3. I do understand the doorway sprawl.

[Melissaandcrew]

Awesome. And, I love the term Frankenprey, lol. I ama hoping to source the vast majority of ingredients locally, but figure worst case basis, I will get some of the prepackaged type stuff the local boutique pet store carries, or order online. I normally would not order online, but winter time “is a coming” so I will feel better about the shipping.

According to the processor, things are “seasonal”-meaning right now, there is more beef then anything being processed. In the spring/summer months its poultry, and of course pork year round. I am planning on stocking up during each” season”. Since beef heart is a muscle meat, is there a limit on how much I can use? My thought process is to use the chicken/duck necks, and then use the heart ground up as the boneless portion of one of the mixes(it dirt cheap and readily available from what the processor said)

[theBCnut]

Yes, you can mix things up. That’s where the term Frankenprey comes from. I might substitute a grind from Hare Today for all the bone in and boneless meat. And if it was a whole prey grind, I’d sub it for the organs too, just to get more variety in protein sources.

[pugmomsandy]

I think swapping the muscle meats and necks will be ok. Since I have beef and chicken heart, I mix those up too, and I use tripe for muscle meat too. I use chicken or duck necks in all the recipes. I don’t think it would unbalance the calcium/phosphorus. My last batch was duck neck, tripe, duck gizzard, chicken heart.

[Melissaandcrew]

Well, I ordered that book and the Sfeve Brown book to start with. I have been unable to locate s source as of yet for bulk rabbit, venison(the other will not be able to provide as much as I would need to do all venison meals) and other unique proteins. So, does any one see a problem with mixing the protein sources? For example, if I used the balanced chicken recipe, is there a reason I could not say add in a balanced premade? For example. 2 ounces home made chicken 2 ounces premade in order to offer more variety? In other words, freeze each recipe separately and at feeding time scoop 2 ounces of eah into the bowl?

Or, for that matter, if the recipe is based on chicken,(referring to the Becker one that is balanced) is there any reason I should not use the 5.25 chicken necks, but substitute the 3.25lbs boneless chicken for say 3.25# rabbit or venison etc? Would this unbalance the initial recipe?

[somebodysme]

But what are the autoimmune diseases? I keep hearing autoimmune but really I don’t know what that is telling me? I mean does she have AIDS? HAHAHA!

She doesn’t have any diarrhea and she was treated for giardia back in January and was then tested with a negative result so she shouldn’t have that anymore. She doesn’t get any grains or glutens. Her allergies manifest themselves as rashes and hives and raw itching feet. Just when things appear to be getting better, they will suddenly get bad again for no apparent reason.

OH and digestive enzymes…sheeesh, those gave her diarrhea. I gave it for a few days and she had diarrhea so to test if it was actually that, I stopped it and it went away and started giving it and it came back. They were the Swanson’s digestive enzymes. So now I’m taking them myself…HA!

Yeah the vet, they just know how to give drugs, same with doctors. It’s like they don’t have time to be bothered with actually figuring anything out or getting to the bottom of an issue.

It’s just so darn frustrating!

[theBCnut]

The honest Kitchen has an excellent premix to make starting out in raw feeding easier. Take a look at Preference.

[somebodysme]

I was just wondering if my dog could have some sort of disease/illness which would be causing her to be so allergic to everything. She doesn’t seem like she feels bad but I know that doesn’t necessarily mean anything with dogs.

So besides having her thyroid tested…what are some things I might have her tested for? It just seems ridiculous for a dog to be allergic to so many things like bones, antlers, raw hides, peas and no telling what else. It seems like every time she chews on anything, she breaks out in a rash. Now I even think she’s allergic to a chew ball that she was chewing on and maybe even her nylabone? GAH!

[Molzy]

I also spent a long time trying to pick the “best” dpg food. I finally realized that there are lots of good choices. We did nutrisource grain free for a long time. I’m from Minnesota. So I liked that it was a local company that tries to source ingredients from the Midwest. We’ve also done merrick for its local farmer push, though I don’t know how true it is. We are big on the local food movement, so our next step will be raw, though I think I’ll be doing honest kitchen in the meantime due to the human grade ingredients.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, there are lots of great dog foods. We have decided to try and support those which also operate under ways we respect.

Good luck!

[FreeholdHound]

I got my baby freezer today. But with clearance, gift card & employee discount it only came to $45! Hopefully I’ll get it plugged in this weekend & can get the raw food out of our freezer. Then I can figure out my next order 🙂

[pugmomsandy]

Dr Becker’s book. “Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats” 3rd Edition. It also has some organ meat and some liver in there too, along with the necks and boneless meat. Can’t find it right now. It’s like a scavenger hunt around here after the cleaning ladies come! I just used it a two weeks ago.

[Melissaandcrew]

Sandy-Which book did you get that first recipe you ever made from? the one that is 5.25 chicken with bone, 3.25 lb boneless? I want to be sure I get recipe books with bone in recipes that can be ground. Thanks!