What is the Himalayan salt for? Where do you get your juice concentrate?
At first, you may have to make a gradual switch, but as your dog gets used to the process and his gut becomes healthier, you won’t have to anymore. I used to have to take a month to transition with one of my dogs, now I just switch.
There is no one way to do a rotational diet. Some people switch bag to bag, some weekly, and some, like me, every meal. I have multiple dogs and go through a bag fairly quickly so I started having four bags open at once and as one gets empty I rotate in something else. I also feed some raw and change that every day too.
Since I have small dogs that cannot handle higher fat Raw meat right now I have started out with feeding Raw in the morning and kibble in the evening. Here is what I feed now
My dogs are 6,6,8,10 lbs. My shihtzu is the only one that requires more food because her metabolism is quite a bit faster than the other 3 Chihuahuas. So she 6lbs and could stand to gain a pound so she gets 1/2 cup of Raw Rabbit with bone and organs in the morning and in the evening we feed Brothers Turkey and Egg and she gets 1/4 cup a day of that and sometimes more if she acts still hungry. The others get 4oz of Raw Rabbit with bone and organs in the morning and 1/8 cup of kibble in the evening. We are going to slowly build up to higher Raw fats but for now we will be on Raw Rabbit for a month and then try young beef and then maybe Raw Turkey. Should I still add a Tsp of Raw sardines with the Raw meal once or twice a week since they are still on kibble too? So far this is working out but I am not holding my breath since its only been three days back on Raw but I hope it works out.
Please feel free to let me know if I need to change something I thought about adding green beef tripe too.
PS I am still giving Mercola probiotics and Enzymes and glucosamine tabs and spirugreen.
Yes, I’ve heard that too. I think that, generally speaking, smaller dogs require more calories per pound of body weight. However, this isn’t always the case (in fact, concerning my hounds I’ve found it to not be the case). Gertie eats 4-4.5% of her body weight daily in meat/organs/bone alone. In his old age Gus has slowed down on his eating, but as a young adult (2 – 4) he ate over 3,000 calories per day (generally 1.5 – 2X the recommended upper range on the kibble feeding charts). Some large/giant breeds are known for sluggish metabolisms (like Newfies and Saints) however others, like bloodhounds, are known for having very high energy requirements. I know that DieselJunki has been having issues keeping weight on Moose, so he should probably be fed at or above the recommended upper percentage recommended for his weight. Concerning both raw percentage guidelines and feeding charts for commercial foods, because I’ve always found myself typically needing to feed much more that what’s recommended I don’t pay too much attention to feeding recommendations. Feeding recommendations are useful as a starting point but not good for much more than that (imo). I much prefer calorie-counting as it’s accurate with any method of feeding (raw, kibble, etc.) and accounts for changes in energy density. If you know your dog needs 2,500 calories per day the dog will need 2,500 calories regardless of whether it’s eating a kibble or a high fat raw or a low fat raw, etc. It just doesn’t make sense to me to recommend that a dog eats a percentage of their body weight – some raw foods have as few as 30 kcal. per oz. while others have as much as 70 – how could a dog need the same amount of both foods?
Have to respectfully disagree, as Pudge Bear had way more energy after getting his annual cut. But Bongo doesn’t need a cut, his fur is just normal thickness & the heat doesn’t slow him down. So for me, it’s situational.situated
Double coated dogs are meant to have their fur to protect them from the sun. Shaving their fur off just exposes them to other things. After shaving a double coated dog several time you will notice his fur will not ever grow back properly. I try to tell people ahead of time at work but they never listen and feel they should shave the dog due to him or her walking around panting constantly but that is normal and how dogs release heat. shedding is also the reason why people do it so why not get a non shedding breed and leave dogs how mother nature intended them to be since they were born like that?
Hi Mylo,
You said he’s not outside much, but does he swim at all? My last dog, Pudge Bear a golden, suffered thru 3 summers of hot spots. Once he got his summer puppy cut he never got another hot spot. His undercoat took so long to dry that it resulted in hot spots. My current golden Bongo at 3 just got his 1st hot spot; his coat isn’t as thick so no summer cut yet.
So in all my research about raw food I can’t believe I haven’t caught this until just now. I was reading a forum when all of a sudden I caught “You must feed your growing puppy 2-3% based on his/her adult weight.”. This was in response to a new raw feeder that was asking exactly how much to feed.
Is this so? If so I have made some seriously calculation issues on how much I was planning to feed Moose when I started him on raw. I expect him to be around 100lbs ish since his mom was 90 and his dad was 120.
Sorry, but we enjoy talking about dog food. One topic often leads to another. “Just say’n.”
To get back to the topic of Bravo – My dogs just ate some Bravo Balance beef formula about two weeks ago with no issues (mixed 5 lbs. Bravo Balance Beef with 5 lbs. Green Tripe and 2 lbs. Bravo’s frozen vegetables). I also used some of their boneless salmon last month with Dr. Harvey’s Veg-to-Bowl and it was fine. Didn’t happen to check to see if the nutrient analysis on my food matched what was on the Bravo website. I don’t feed Bravo or commercial raw in general enough to care.
@Patty My old vet suggested the same thing bc he thinks I coddle her. I didn’t mention when she does eat, I have to hand feed her. She went over 3 days without eating and I switched vets. I’m not saying some of this couldn’t be behavioral, it could. I have no kids so, she’s it but, the dog isn’t giving herself loose stools. She may be throwing a fit and not eating tho, agreed. She hates that LID NV Turkey. So, now I have a new small bag of the lamb. We can do the kibble only pick it up after 15 mins again thing but I know this dog. She’ll walk Away with no problem and go to sleep. Then get up couple hrs later and puke. I adore her but this is really testing my patience. It may sound bad but her skin isn’t near my concern as the stools. I’ve got to get the loose stools fixed before I worry about her skin. That is secondary in urgency. Probiotics and enzymes should help with that tho I suppose.
@NM Well shoot! I just opened a new bag of NV LID Lamb and bought Stella and Chewys lamb fd raw to go w it. If lamb could be an allergen I could exchange it if there is any chance that’s the issue. Before I saw your post I ordered some of Brothers samples. I agree. It can’t hurt at this point. I’m just frustrated.
Really appreciate the insight! (:
Yes my dogs got Pancreatitis on the Duck from Darwins because Darwins told me and it states on their website that duck is lower in fat than Turkey. We were on their turkey meals for 6 weeks without any issues and then when we fed the duck meals BAM Pancreatitis. I am not saying that Darwins is a BAD Company and it may agree with some others dogs but trying the duck with 2 of mine caused Pancreatitis. I was only feeding Darwins and nothing else so I know it was the duck in their meals.
The customer service is not up to par and everytime I eventually got someone on the phone ( very rare) they were very short with me. When you own a business and want to sell your product you have to please the customer to some extent. If I call you and leave a message on your answering service I expect a call back and when I don’t get that then it is horrible customer service to me and then that proves to me that they are not in it for the animals but to make a damn buck.
Hare Today called me back the same day and even though she was busy she answered all my questions in a pleasant manner and to me this does matter when purchasing from a Company.
Today is our first Day trying Hare Todays Rabbit and so far no reactions except one of mine would not eat it but we are still going to do Raw part time and Brothers Turkey and egg part time and see where we go from there but we are in no rush.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 6 months ago by
NectarMom.
Hi HDM
That sounds like as good an explaination as any I have heard for what I have seen, I just don’t know how they could “know for sure” and apparently they don’t. Whatever the mechanism is, I believe fasting works and that it is as good for us as our dogs. Like everything else in a biological system, I don’t think we will ever know all the whys and wherefores, but we can know what works.
Hi Patty –
A study on fasting was conducted at the National Institute of Aging. The study was done on mice – the mice were fed nothing every other day and allowed to eat a much as they wanted on opposite days. The study concluded: “We think what happens is going without food imposes a mild stress on the cells, and cells respond by increasing their ability to cope with more severe stress.”
Whew! 🙂 Thank you so much!! I will be introducing more organ meat. Probably might get an organ grind from Hare Today. Just taking it slow though introducing that stuff. I’m also phasing out the Deli Fresh completely, because I have a feeling that might be causing Bailey’s ear problems, not sure though. & I watch her stools like a hawk, lol! & I have been very happy with them. I was just curious if I was doing everything else right.
Thanks so much, again, for all your help! 🙂
Hi Cyndi –
Looks good. 🙂
That Dr. Harvey’s wholefood supplement and 1/2 tablet one a day multi should take care of the gaps and account for the lower organ meat content. I don’t think it looks like too much bone. The Deli Fresh, beef grind and tripe all fed in the a.m. will have balanced calcium to phosphorus ratios. The turkey necks and chicken backs fed in the evening technically should be within the “safe” 1:1 – 2:1 C:P ratio but on the high side, with the addition of the gizzards the meat to bone ratio should be spot on. My rule of thumb when feeding RMBs is 2:1 RBM to boneless ratio – so if my dogs get 1 lb. turkey necks they’d get 1/2 lb. gizzards/hearts/etc. If you were feeding too much bone you’d probably know it, just watch the stools.
Thanks for your explanation too Patty. That makes sense as well. I just do what I’m told, lol! Ha ha!
I don’t know whether that is an apt discription of the benefits of fasting on the immune system or not. I don’t know if fasting actually puts mild stress on the immune system, but fasting does allow the secreting glands of the digestive system to have some down time and it allows the intestines and stomach time to completely empty anything that has been mixing around in there but hasn’t exited, before adding something new. It probably starves some of the bacteria that feed off sugar, if they have short life spans. And as was previously said it is natural for dogs to eat this way, so it probably does help to keep their system balanced.
Thanks for explaining that, HDM…..way better than I ever could. When you get a sec, can you take a look at my question to you a few posts up?
Hi NectarMom –
Fasting is beneficial for the dog’s immune system. I fast my dogs once a week. Feeding dogs daily or twice daily is a complete human invention – dogs are designed to live a lifestyle of feast and famine (this is why their stomachs are so large compared to their bodies and they can consume such a large amount of food in one sitting). The way fasting was explained to me was by comparing the effects of fasting on the dog’s immune system to the effects of weight lifting on muscles. When you lift weights you actually damage the muscles by creating microscopic tears, but when the muscles recover and heal they are stronger than they were before. Because about 70% of the dog’s immune system is in the gastrointestinal tract – when you fast a dog you put a mild stress on their immune system (a level of stress healthy adult dogs are able to handle). This mild stress in a sense “exercises” the immune system and leaves it stronger than it was before. It also allows for some of the energy that was normally be used for digestion to be used for healing.
It’s just what I’ve learned to do from people on here and reading elsewhere. Makes sense, in the wild, wolves don’t make a kill and eat every day. Sometimes they go days without eating. Also, I guess it’s good to give their body a chance to get rid of everything in it every once in a while. I guess the same reason some people fast sometimes.
The carbs from the fruits and veggies in Darwins are still much lower than any kibble and many other raws. And I, fortunately, have had the opposite experience with their customer service as HDM, because that would frustrate me to the point of being a deal breaker, too.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 6 months ago by
theBCnut.
I’m with you NectarMom, I’m not a Darwin’s fan either but not because of the fruits and vegetables (I think fruits and vegetables in small quantities are a VERY important part of a balanced raw diet). The reason I don’t like Darwin’s has nothing to do with their food really, I just found them to have extremely poor customer service. I had to call about 4 or 5 times on two different days during their business hours before someone answered my call – unacceptable imo. My favorite commercial raw foods and what I’d recommend are Aunt Jeni’s or Answers. I also recently tried a brand called HPP (it’s not high pressure processed, the HPP just stands for healthy pet products or something like that) and it was really fresh looking and reasonably priced (similar price to Bravo Balance).
My guys love little bits of raw sweet potato and apple. Also – sweet potato jerky – slice ti really thin and cook on racks in a low oven for an hour or two. Unfortunately they are so good last time I made it I ate most of it.
The thing with Darwins is that the website is misleading or misprinted , its a known fact that Duck is higher in fat than turkey but thats not what they say on their website or on the phone. I have gone to 5 legit people asking them about duck being as lean as they say and no one agreed and this is why my dogs got Pancreatitis. Plus I am not a fan of veggies and fruits in a raw mixture, especially when you have yeast build up. But thats just my opinion and my unfortunate experience.
Why do you fast? Honestly I see no reason for it other than getting your dog use to Raw from the beginning? Just curious
Oh & I forgot to mention, I do fast Bailey every Sunday evening. She gets her food Sunday a.m., and then doesn’t eat again til Mon. a.m.
I’ve spent about 2 hours reading dozens and dozens of reviews and q&a on this site. None seem to fit my situation so I’m posting it. Please forgive me if I missed a thread. My dog Josie is a 4 year old terrier mix. She’s a rescue so, that’s all we know. While I don’t have a lot of money, I would and have spend just about anything to get and keep her healthy.
She seems to have major diet, digestive, allergy issues. I don’t say I’ve tried “everything”. I surely haven’t. The short and skinny is, allergies have always been an issue. Flaky coat, itchy ears, scooting, ugh. Always with the scooting!! Anyway always been an issue. Then she got a hold of an ibuprofen bottle a year after I got her (I know, I’ll never forgive myself. I was gone 15 minutes and she got it off the table). She almost died, went to the ER, etc but all tests after that were normal and they said she was “fine and would have no long term damage”. Well I call bs on that. She has been a ridiculously finicky eater ever since. One day it’s fine, next day it’s not. If she doesn’t eat for 12 hours or more she’s throwing up bile everywhere. Not to mention her stools. She either strains to go and it’s tiny, it is super loose and smelly, completely loose, can’t go at all, I mean, it’s awful. You’ve never seen someone so excited when their dog has a normal stool. I’m jumping around the backyard, “good girl!” as if she controls it.
She’s recently been diagnosed with hypothyroidism so she’s on meds for that and now her left elbow is making a popping noise when she walks sometimes. Oh, and she’s overweight at least 5 lbs. The vet is so fed up bc we have wormed her twice, blood work, xrays, etc. Nothing. He says she’s fine. She’s not fine. I spend you can’t imagine how much time trying to get her to eat (so she won’t vomit) and coming home to let her out bc her her bm are so inconsistent. I can list all food she’s been on over the years but that would make this post too long. Currently, she is on (and refusing to eat) NVI LID LAMB.She was on the turkey, hated that too. I top it with with NVI canned. Hates that for the most part. Gave in and started topping it with NVI raw bites. Tried to pick out the raw and eventually refused it too. Stella and Chewys freeze dried she likes but will spend an enormous amount of time picking it out of her kibble. Even moistened I don’t think that’s enough moisture and due to cost, I’d really like to use kibble as a base. NV is not the issue issue don’t think but I don’t know. She did worse on other foods but I’m happy to switch her again. Considered Brothers but their use of turkey, beef etc concerns me since these are known allergens.
What a mess. And poor Josie. I’m a vegetarian and really don’t want to do full raw unless I have to. (Plus, she seems to have little interest in raw.) Sorry the post is so long. Thanks…
Some of the hard core raw feeders in my group avoid chicken during the summer months. They say it really helps with allergies/itchiness. They will feed duck instead as it is suppose to be a cooling meat. Although some sources say it is neutral or damp, I’m not knowledgeable on the Chinese theory of warm/neutral/cool meats). Not sure if this will help with the ear infections.
Henry is doing better. Eating chicken breast and vegetables and loves it. He has lost a little weight. For a treat we got a soup marrow bone and gave it to him raw. He has been busy all evening. Hopefully this will all agree with him. Also bought chicken hearts and livers. Don’t know how I will feed them–raw or cooked or use as treats. Welcome comments and suggestions. We take walks each evening and he is doing great on them. Thanks for your suggestions and support.
HDM or anyone else, I’d like to run down what I’ve been feeding Bailey on a regular basis to see if I’m doing ok & she’s on 13 days of solid, perfect stools, so that’s a plus.
I balance her days meals out to be about 1 1/2 pounds, what she’s supposed to be eating and I don’t do exactly 3/4 lb. for each meal, but I do get pretty exact for the day.
A.M.: about 1/4 Deli Fresh (working on phasing that out), 1/4 lb. Ground beef grind (from Hare Today)(Beef, organs, tripe and bone), & I just started mixing in more ground green tripe, every other day I give her either 1/2 pouch of sardines in water or 1 cage free egg w/shell, I scoop yogurt (usually every other day) & every day she gets Dr. Harvey’s Multi Vitamin Mineral & Herbal Dog Supplement, 1/2 tablet one a day vitamin & 1/4 tsp. coconut oil.
P.M.: Turkey neck & gizzards or 2 small chicken backs and a chicken foot and chicken livers & gizzards.
I think I got everything. I’m wondering if I’m giving her too much bone. Her poop is solid and not coming out white and powdery or anything. Do you think I’m doing ok? It’s been exactly a month since I started her on raw. I think I might have moved along too fast introducing new stuff, but Bailey’s been doing great as of late…
http://www.congoraw.com/products.html
Complete Dinners consisting of Meat, Bone, Organ and a Vegetable/Fruit Blend which is comprised of organic celery, blueberries, romaine lettuce, radicchio, banana and parsley.
He doesn’t stay outside a lot and he’s brushed everyday, the problems are in his inner back legs, not much hair there, it’s very fine.
I wonder if adding fish oil will help.
He’s getting heartworm/flea pills.
thanks for your comments, appreciate them
I don’t think Boone can have raw chicken; he hasn’t had any ear issues in years but in the past few months, he’s had two. For kibble, he did best on turkey or fish. For THK, he ate Embark & Zeal (turkey and fish). When he ate half Darwin’s, it was turkey, beef and duck. I think we had much less duck. On Hare, it’s beef, duck, chicken & turkey.
Ear issues back. He’s had more duck and chicken lately; is duck that closely related to chicken? I’d really like to have him never have another ear infection.
I personally wouldn’t bother with allergy testing. When my now 7 yr old dog was four months old, he started ith ear infections. An online friend gave me a list of ingredients to keep away from: chicken, corn, wheat, soy, rice & flax. I found out that he can have organic flaxseed, none of the rest but no yeast. Its lol trial and error.
He eats half raw and I was hopeful that raw chicken would be fine but its not. Oh, well.
Hot spots are not caused from diet. It can be caused from fleas and also double coated dogs are prone to hot spots if you do not keep the under coat brushed out. Does he stay outside a lot?
What is Congo Dinners? Whatelse is in it besides the proteins listed above?
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This reply was modified 12 years, 6 months ago by NectarMom.
It could be due to an imbalance in the raw. It might need fish oil added to it and if you aren’t feeding some tripe, I would add probiotics too. You’re dog could be sensitive to one of those protein sources. Chicken is a commonly allergenic food. Try putting him on just one protein source for a month and see how he does, then switch him to another and so on until you know if it is a particular one he is having a problem with.
I have a 4yr old Shiloh shep, he’s on the raw diet for over 6 months now, he loves it, i love it as his teeth are white etc etc. He’s got, it looks like hot spots. I had him on EVO before and he never had hot spots. Vet says it’s his diet, he’s against raw diet. I’m thinking of switching him back to EVO but i love the raw diet and benefits of it. Vet gave me pills and it cleared up but came back and i’m not paying $150 for pills all the time. Think i should switch back? He’s eating Congo dinners – chicken, duck, lamb, rabbit. Also eating duck necks, duck feet and lamb necks.
Thoughts?
Hi panda –
I agree with NectarMom – allergy tests are not accurate. I think they’re just a waste of money, they often give false “positives.” If you really want to find out if a food is causing the reaction you should perform an elimination diet. If you’re interested in feeding raw that’s great because elimination diets are much easier to do with homemade foods than commercial foods like kibble (due to the inclusion of so many ingredients). What you would do is feed your dog a novel protein and novel carbohydrate (something your dog has never eaten before) for at least two months. Once the symptoms clear up (which they should if the issues are food related) you would gradually start introducing new ingredients one at a time and carefully monitoring your dog’s reaction to each ingredient. This way you can pick up on what ingredients elicit the allergic response. There’s a lot of information about elimination diets online and your vet may be able to walk you through the process.
I hadn’t heard of “Mrs. Meady’s” so I just checked out the website. It looks like they offer quality products but you’re going to need to research prior to feeding a “food” such as that. They aren’t balanced foods (just different organ meats and RMBs, some vegetables) and you’re going to need to be knowledgeable about your dog’s nutritional requirements to create a balanced diet from items such as these. There will be some supplementation necessary when not feeding a pre-balanced raw food. Dogaware.com is a great online resource and “Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet” by Steve Brown is a great book for beginners.
Good Luck! 🙂
I work for a vet and even if you decide to do the allergy testing it is not 100% accurate and cost at my vet is $270. There is no perfect kibble out there and with Raw from my expierence my dogs cannot handle high fat Raw so we are going to try low fat Raw meat such as Rabbit and Young beef but we will not be adding any veggies due to my dogs right now are smelling of yeast more so than they ever have and from what I have heard from a long time Raw feeder CO is that some veggies such as carrot have sugar in it and that just feeds yeast. Its all trial and error and just doing research and learning what your dogs can tollerate.
I have noticed my 7 month old dog doing the same thing. It is so disheartening because I’ve fed what I thought to be good kibble, then switched to THK. I’ve noticed him chewing/licking his paw and you can tell because the redness of his skin sticks out like a sore thumb underneath his white short hair. I will be switching to raw here in a few weeks, got the freezer all stocked for a months supply. Hopefully it will help the issue, although I’m sure it could be worse, it’s just his white hair brings out the tiniest of skin irritations. Will definitely have to get some duck instead of chicken once he gets accustomed to the beef he will be on.
Just remember raw isn’t a cure all overnight type of thing, so don’t be disappointed if things don’t improve drastically over a week, but it is the best thing you can do for your animal.
I’ve never tested for allergies before but perhaps you could call your vet for a quote? Honestly I think you’d spend more money on different bags of food trying to figure out exactly what ingredients he’s isn’t good with.
Some folks in my raw feeding group do not feed chicken during the summertime. Instead they feed duck (a cooling meat) and this helps with itching/allergies. Also they have reccommended Herbsmith Clear Aller-Qi over herbal allergy products by Seven Forests and Tibetan Natural Healing.
Hi Everyone,
Its been a while since my last post. I wanted to update. I want to thank everyone’s support and well wishes.
Bailey our 7yo male yellow lab (as soon as I figure out how to add a pic I will) is still licking. We started with Royal Canin Lab years ago. Last year he developed paw licking, got worse last fall and this spring. Changed to grain free Nat Bal sweet potato/fish. Still licked, not as much. To save $ changed to Costco fish meal/sweet potato. Same result no change. He’s still licking. I’m not sure the food had a lot to do with the licking. Our vet prescribed vanectyl-p. That seems to help, he licks less. Called our vet to ask about a ‘shot’ and am waiting to hear back. I’m trying to find a solution that does not involve testing for allergies, which could be $$$$$. In the mean time I’m trying to do a little research on raw. Seems like raw might be the way to do. Have a pamphlet on Mrs. Meadys which brought me here. I’m anxious to hear what the forum has to say.
Nutrition deficiencies and sensitive stomach develop are usually due to eating the same dry food for months and years. Raw, high moisture food is best. There are commercial raw prepared food you can purchase if you don’t want to make your own at home.
I highly recommend the DVD ‘Functional, Fresh, Fast food for our furry friends’ by Dr. Karen Becker
http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2010/07/21/13-pet-foods-ranked-from-great-to-disastrous.aspx
http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2010/09/14/false-beliefs-in-pet-care-for-aging-pets.aspx
Ugh please ignore my typos. I wrote this up on my phone. Ps I I meant to say that I don’t think the raw food caused the itchiness.
So I’ve been noticing my dog scratching her neck and ears. More recently (past couple days), she’s been chewing on one of her rear paws. It’s not really intense scratching but it’s out of the norm.
I noticed the scratching after she was playing with another dog that she lives with. She kept in going into a patch of tall grass-like plants near a rose bush. (Several weeks ago)
I did give her a bath and I know the vet saying before that Codex has dry skin. But with the warm weather I’m suspecting something else.
She isn’t on flea prevention because I didn’t want to use the stuff you put on the dog’s back. I read they contain very strong pesticides. I finally got around to ordering Sentinel but I know I’ll need to supplement that with a flea repellent or something.
I took her to the vet on Tuesday for her 1 year checkup. I had to drop her off because the receptionist told me the whole thing would take about four hours…I didn’t feed or give her water that morning because I wasn’t anticipating her staying at the vet so long. Anyway, when I picked her up (5+ hours later) she was panting pretty heavily–with the air conditioning. I assumed it was because she was thirsty because Codex loves the vet. I found out they gave her rabies, lepto, Dapp, dewormer, blood test. She seemed pretty sore and tired. But she still had the energy to scratch.
Vet said everything looked normal and she probably has allergies–no fleas. He said I could give her fish oil and Benadryl (for vaccine reactions).
She’s been eating Earthborn Holistic Primitive natural with a little bit of instinct raw. I recently switched the instinct raw to duck. I introduced the duck after the scratching started.
Good to hear! I hope the homemade raw works out for you. Once you get a routine down in get more comfortable with it, you’ll be able to whip up your own balanced “recipes” with no problems. 🙂
Thanks for replying Patty! That’s why I’m using the raw goat milk, all the probiotics & digestive enzymes. Will look at the plain kefir at whole foods. It has to be cheaper.
Steve Brown says in his book that his mixes can be used with bone or without? I will email him again to make sure.
What about pouring some raw goat milk or kefir over the dog food? Those are both fermented.
Just wanted to introduce my self quickly here. I have a 3yr golden retriever who got IBD this past Jan. Had no idea it would take this long to fix. It was much quicker to fix Bongo when I rescued him at 10mths w severe malnourishment, tapeworms & eye & ear infections. VB12 shots & raw goat milk has helped the most. Switching him off can to kibble, but want to do half raw & half kibble for now. Thanks for reading!
I’ve been feeding raw goat milk to help Bongo’s IBD. Do you think Kefir is just as good? I love the goat milk, but $10 for a quart adds up every 5 days! Thanks for your input- I’m new here. Lauren
