Well scratch that idea. I can’t figure out how to post a video on here.
DoggieDoc22 –
You obviously don’t know my feeding philosophy – I don’t let any company influence my decision on what to feed. I’m not fooled by Blue Buffalo and Wellness commercials or the Blue Buffalo or Orijen rep at my local pet food company. I’m not fooled by dry weight versus wet ingredients or ingredient splitting, nor do I think white potato is superior to grains. In fact I wouldn’t feed any of the foods you mentioned to my dogs (Blue, Wellness, Natural Balance, etc.). My dogs eat real food. Raw meat, bones, organs and whole food supplements the way nature intended – no marketing spin there, no ingredient splitting, no reps selling me food and no need to worry about which ingredients are going in dry and which are going in wet. You’re bashing people for buying into the marketing of certain pet food companies when you are just as blinded by the marketing tactics of the big name pet food companies as anyone else is by the small “holistic companies.”
Well that didn’t work. I’ll try this.
I’ve noticed over the past week or so that, both here on the forums and on the review threads on dfa, several posters have had concerns about feeding rmb’s – what types are safe, how much should the dog be chewing, what if their dog is gulper, how big of a piece can a dog safely swallow, etc. I’m going to post two short clips of one of my dogs eating an rmb. The first is her eating a turkey neck and the second is her eating a chicken back. Hopefully these clips can give those that are either new to feeding rmb’s or contemplating feeding rmb’s an idea of what to expect and what it should look like. I know I was also very nervous the first time I gave my dogs rmb’s – I kept thinking “What if the piece they swallowed was too big and they get a blockage?” “What if one of the edges they swallowed was too sharp and they get an intestinal perforation?” etc. Also, weimlove has put together a great topic for listing what types of rmb’s people safely feed their dogs here: /forums/topic/rmbs-and-recreational-bones/
[URL=http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/a501/hagelult/MVI_1994_zps0b81e4c9.mp4][IMG]http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/a501/hagelult/th_MVI_1994_zps0b81e4c9.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[URL=http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/a501/hagelult/MVI_1997_zps67e39b25.mp4][IMG]http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/a501/hagelult/th_MVI_1997_zps67e39b25.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
Hi riverratdad –
This is EXTREMELY unbalanced – so unbalanced I don’t even know where to start giving suggestions. Get your dogs on a quaility commercial food IMMEDIATELY. It’s only been a month but if you continue this your dogs WILL start to suffer – they’ll develop nutritional deficiencies and their organs could fail. Research before starting a homemade diet. It’s not rocket science to make a balanced homemade diet – I do – but it does take some research. Check out the raw diet area of the forum, under the suggested menus thread I have several of my dogs’ menus posted. Invest in a good book suck as “Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet” by Steve Brown or “Real Food For Healthy Dogs and Cats” by Dr. Becker – both books include AAFCO compliant recipes.
Gemma has been here 3 weeks tomorrow (she’s a 9.5yr old sheltie) and this past week, she has finally come around. I’m pretty sure the foster person told us what we wanted to hear. I have a feeling, from how she acts, that she was either an outside dog or spent a great deal of time in a crate, or both. If anyone remembers, she had her remaining teeth removed a few days before we got her. I am pretty safe to say she wasn’t well cared for in her last home and I don’t think in her foster home either (she was there for two months or so). They claimed she loved kids, loved other dogs, was housebroken, etc. She IS great with kids, she lights up when one of my grandaughters walks in. Other dogs? Wants nothing to do with them. When we went to meet her & Mitch, the other available sheltie, they didn’t interract with each other and we were told they lived together. Housebroken? Nope. I realize dogs have accidents in new homes but just by some things she’s done, I don’t think she was ever truly housebroken. We don’t care, we have all hardwood but she’s doing much better, no accidents this week.
I don’t think she was ever allowed on laps. We pick her up because she doesn’t seem able to jump up on the chairs….her hips are a bit arthritic and her front legs look kind of “bull doggy”, if you know what I mean. We’ll bring that up at the holistic vet appointment she has in a week. So, we put her on our laps and for the first week or more, she sat up, uneasy. Slowly, she started laying down, then finally sleeping on us. I think she finally realized she is home and safe with us.
Eating is fine. We had an issue last week, can’t remember if I mentioned it here but she couldn’t poop. I don’t know if it was the food (Grandma Lucys at that time), the raw (Darwins) or what. She ended up at the vets and needed an enema. The day after this happened, I saw her put stones in her mouth (we have stones, 1/2″, in our kennel). We now have astroturf stuff over the stones, no more stones for her! I was told that Bravo has smaller bone pieces than Darwins so I will be starting her on that next week and we changed from the chunky Grandma Lucys to The Honest Kitchen.
A little interesting thing: I was scrolling thru FB last week, saw someone I know with a sheltie. Had to ask about the dog. Long story short, the dog is Mitch, the other available dog we met, with a new name. The foster home is over an hour away yet the adopter of Jamie aka Mitch lives five minutes away! They are supposed to come and visit tomorrow but since we’re having a blizzard, I don’t know if that’ll happen.
Anyway, thats my update.
Thanks for the replys, I feed my English Mastiff mostly raw with a daily cup or two of the Natures Variety Boost. He loves it, I just want to be sure of a top rating. Thanks again
Hi patvl246 –
I doesn’t appear that Dr. Mike has gotten a chance to review the new Raw Boost kibble yet, it’s still fairly new. I can tell you with almost complete certainty that it will receive the same rating (5 stars) as the other NV Instinct kibbles. The dry matter protein and fat levels are nearly the same and so are the ingredients. Hope that helps.
Is this what you are looking for? /dog-food-reviews/natures-variety-dog-food-raw-frozen/
I can’t seem to find any reviews or ratings on “Natures Variety Instinct Raw Boost” Venison and Lamb. Has anyone gotten feedback on this food? Thanks
Hi everyone, I’m wanting to add some raw fish to shadows diet. What fish is safe to feed him? Thanks!
IMO – Wag.com is hands down the best online site to order from. Big selection of food and non-food items and free 2 day shipping on orders of $49 and I’ve found that as long as my order is placed before noon, oftentimes I’ll get my order the next day. My other go to sites for online shopping are naturalk9supplies.com (free shipping), doggiefood.com (free shipping), petflow.com (free shipping), pethealthandnutritioncenter.com (flat rate shipping), thedogmaonline.com (frozen raw items), mypetcarnivore.com (frozen raw items), hare-today.com (frozen raw items).
Hi jnite –
I wouldn’t feed this food for a few reasons…
1) Supposedly this food contains nothing but meat and bone (with added vitamins and minerals). Therefore, it should have a very high protein content, moderate fat content and extremely low carbohydrate content. When I convert the guaranteed analysis to a dry matter basis I get that the min. protein is 29% and the min. fat is 26% (very very low protein for a food that is supposedly all meat). Assuming that the ash content is 8%, if I calculate the carbohydrate content (using the dry matter percentages: 100% – 29% protein – 26% fat – 8% ash) it comes up to 37%. Well there are no ingredients in the food that contain carbohydrates so there’s no way the food can be 37% carbohydrates (they actually state on their website “zero carbs”). So how can this be? How can a food with “zero carbs” be so low in protein? This leads me to believe the actual fat content is MUCH higher than the stated min. of 26% (and this is where that extra 37% of “assumed” carbohydrates is coming from). When you run into a situation like this where the fat content is so high, the company is likely using low quality fatty cuts of meat. The reason I say the missing percentages should be attributed to excess fat is because if it were coming from protein, the company would want to advertise that and would state a higher min. for the protein percentage.
2) The food contains menadione.
3) I personally wouldn’t feed a pasteurized “raw” food.
Hi-
I have been searching for a more economical kibble to feed my boys. I have seen whole earth by merrick recommended several times on this web site. I checked out their site and noticed that their puppy food has a little higher protein than the adult food. Would my dogs who are 18 month old lab/retriever mix be ok on the puppy food to get the higher protein? Or would they be missing out on something important? I also supplement with canned dog food and occasionally some raw nature’s variety medallions. Thank you for your help.
I am looking at this food….it is raw but it isn’t because it is lightly pasteurized. What are your thoughts? It has no ratings that I can find either.
That’s a big false. In general, breeders aren’t the best source of nutritional advice. Many are under the false assumption that high protein foods cause growth issues in large and giant breed puppies. However, studies show there is absolutely no link between high protein foods and developmental orthopedic issues. What has been linked to development orthopedic issues is high levels of calcium, overfeeding, overexercising and – the number one cause – poor breeding (I hope your pup’s parents had their OFA clearances!). I raise my bloodhound pups (another giant breed) on high protein foods with controlled calcium levels. My current pup (now 7 months old) has been on a high protein raw diet (45-55% protein) since a brought her home at 8 weeks and she is having nice slow and controlled growth. There is a topic area here dedicated to large and giant breed puppy nutrition and here you’ll find links to several articles on the matter written by veterinarians and nutritionists and a list of recommended foods.
/forums/topic/large-and-giant-breed-puppy-nutrition/
+1 for the Tripett! My puppy cannot turn it down and he will turn his nose up at kibble. I could put some on a piece of poop and he’d think it was the greatest thing on earth (of course puppies eat anything anyways… so not really sure that was a good comparison! 😛 ).
I’ve been thinking myself to try and get into the raw diet for my puppy but want to be sure I know the ins and outs before I take the plunge. So for now I will just keep adding Tripett to his food until I feel comforatble with my knowledge of a raw diet. I do Hound Dog Moms suggestion with a couple spoonfuls and some warm water and mixing. I bought a 12 pack at a store for 10% off because I bought it in bulk. After you try your first can look for deals like that. Most mom and pop dog food stores will have deals like that I’ve found in my search for foods.
Hi Stewiesmom1 –
If you want to continue with commercial food I’d recommend mixing in some Tripett. Most dogs can’t resist green tripe. Just mash some up with warm water to make a “gravy” and make sure all the kibble is coated.
Homemade is great for picky eaters too and is – imo – the healthiest way to feed a dog. Pre-made raw/cooked foods are very cost prohibitive and making everything from scratch is much cheaper (and higher quality). It’s not rocket science to formulate a balanced diet, but it does take a little research. If you check out the recommended menus on the raw food topic area you can see what I feed my dogs. Dogaware.com is a great resource. Dr. Becker has a great book called “Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats” and Steve Brown’s book “Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet” is a great read as well – both books include AAFCO compliant recipes. There are also pre-mixes (such as THK’s Preference, Sojo’s, Birkdale, Urban Wolf, etc.) that contain all the vegetables, fruits and vitamins your dog needs and all you have to add it fresh raw or cooked meat.
I spoke with them today. They have exceellent support staff
He seems to be feeling just fine, and so we will watch and wait. They had turkey today. I think I will feed them turkey again tomorrow and see how thinks look. Then go from there.
I love the looks of their product, so I hope it works itself out…(so to speak). 🙂
Thanks, HDM….I’m not sure I could “stomach” raw tripe LOL!…..couldn’t resist hahaha. I haven’t tried kefir yet, but I’ll look into it. It’s just very easy for me to add the powder stuff when I’m adding in Lucy’s SP Renal and the Fresh Digest is working great and a bottle lasts a long time with my dogs.
I feed raw green tripe and kefir for my dogs’ enzymes and probiotics. 🙂
But I like Jan and Marie’s suggestions as well.
Welcome to the forum! One of mine got mucousy stools when mine first went on Darwins. It went away. If you have any questions, give them a call!
Hi there.
I have been reading this forum and pet food reviews for quite some time, and feel like I know some of you quite well.
I am a dog mom, 48, married to a retired carpenter. We have two labs, Hank, yellow and is 10 1/2…and Dewey, black, who is just over 7 now.
Hank has always been itchy, required bathing etc fairly regularly. When he turned about 2 he started getting interdigital cysts on his front feet pretty regularly. ( two or three times a year). We did regular bouts of Cepha ( my vet would sell it to us in 500 pill bottles to use as needed. ) at the age of 9 he started having constant anal gland issues on top of the skin stuff. then about a year ago, out of frustration over an episode withnhis feet that just would not heal…I took him to the local
Holistic vet. We went over everything…diet, vaccines etc. she told me that innova ( the food I had always used) had been bought out and since we did not support P&G…we switched to wellness senior, and Merrill canned. We did laser treatments on his foot, and it finally healed.
Long story short, then the black dog Dewey started regurgitating his food, and bile. After a few months of this we decided to go back to innova, since Dewey tolerated it. Well!! After a few days Hank starts tearing himself up, licking his butt, and his ears flare up. We had not even noticed that he wasn’t doing that while on wellness. So we have two dogs and no food that they can share. So we decided to switch again…this time to Evo, red meat, despite being a P&G product…and they both did fine. Dewey not harfing it up, Hank not tearing himself apart. ( and no sign of foot blowouts).
Around this time I started experiment with raw frozen patties…NV lamb, duck etc. they seems to like it, but I did not like the smell. I started reading more, and bought some nice grass fed heart, tongue, etc at we would give them, along with their kibbles and Merrick. And I read…mostly here, and slowly over the last year we have moved further from kibble and more to primal raw frozen (duck, lamb, venison and rabbit), raw ground tripe, local pastured beef , pre and probiotic and hk preference. I still do Evo red meat once a day most week days, because DH prefers to let me do all the raw feeding.
No foot blow outs in over a year, which is a miracle….both dogs seem to be thriving and I am convinced this is the best for them and us.
We had one blip in the road last winter, when I decided I was going to go prey model and finally gave the boys their first chicken leg raw. Hank ended up sick the next day with a horrible case of gastritis that had him pretty sick for a few weeks. (holy giant vet bill!). I suspect the fat from the skin may have been the culprit…but I am gun shy now. Dewey was fine.
So…that is my introduction!!! Lol.
my question is this….we switched from primal to Darwin’s recently due to cost. Darwin’s product looks lovely, and they seem to like it. I fed the beef first, and then yesterday they had chicken. Today hank has gooey looking stool, not quite diarrhea but mucousy. Dewey’s is fine. We have not had this experience with any of the other foods, and yesterday his stools were fine.
Have any of you used Darwin’s had a similar experience??
After all the writing, My post wasn’t posted
Hello Everyone 🙂
I thank God for this site & Forum! I have a female JRT, she will be 6 yrs this March 2013. I have transitioned my beautiful JRT to “RAW” 9 months ago. I changed her diet because she wok me up at 3am in the morning whinning, scratching and the strangest thing I ever saw and experienced in my life. Her skin under her coat was a inflamed red and couldn’t believe how much she resembled a pug due to the whelps, bumps and hives she had all over her body. I could not imagine what could have brought this on??? I rushed her to the aspca emergency costing me a not so pretty penny! She was given an injection & some allergy meds. I held her and rocked her as the whipppering subsided.
Now nearly a year, vet visits, excessive shedding, scratching, ear infections, paw sores, excessive licking, more vet visits, more money, more money, 3 months wearing an e-collar. Just miserable. So as a MOM, I decided to do some research for these allergies she was yet properly diagnosed for and I read that an ancestral diet would be the best thing for her, so I have tried several brands from Steve’s to Nature’s Instinct, Darwin’s, Bravo’s Stella & Chewy, the list goes on. I had to elimnate dry kibble that consisted of glutens, grains, white & sweet potatoe, rice, flax seed, which increased the yeast growth in her ears which was almost like a cauliflower shap from the scratching, bleeding and infections. So here I am looking for much needed help because her allergies started up again. She scratched so bad under her front leg that she developed an infection there as well! she wouldn’t even let me touch her. She is still eating raw, but I don’t see any positive results nor changes. I currently have her on Instinct’s “Rabbit & Lamb” Buying anything and ordering from any retailer is practically hard to order due to the location of where I live. I have been reading the forum thread here & see that Primal & Bravo is the hot topic. I have her on Dr. Karen Becker’s Krill oil, Ubiquinol & probiotics. She is still shedding excessively! I can make another dog with all the hair on the floor & furniture of my home. I vaccum 3 times a week. I even had to change the shampoo I was bathing her with. If anyone comes by to visit, I tell them don’t wear black! LOL. I also have a Yorkshire Terrier, thankfully no problems with him Amen! So to all you wonderful people here, I could sure use your advice on what I can and should do??? As far as putting her back on Primal or Bravo’s???
Thank You ALL Sincerely,
Konamisan
Thanks for the info. HDM! Interesting..I’ve been toying with the idea of feeding Nature’s Logic to my crew. The dogs are eating Merrick grain free for their kibble atm. They love it and all are doing very, very well with it. No allergy issues like tearing, anal glands, etc. I’ve also been using Merrick cans (concerned about the carageenan, of course), S. Nourish cans, and recently some Instinct cans as toppers. As I mentioned before on the recent comments section, I’ve also fed some freeze dried raw. The dogs get Fresh Digest half/dosed daily (prebiotics and plant enzymes). Lucy gets Standard Process Renal Support, too. I’m currently not using any extra omegas. My cat is eating Instinct Raw Boost kibble (which she loves) and Merrick, S. Nourish, Fromm, Soulistic, and recently some Tiki Cat cans. I tried Instinct cans with her but she absolutely will not eat them! I find this strange….maybe it’s the smell, texture, or even flavor? She is kinda picky. I know that Nature’s Logic is technically not grain free but I like the fact they don’t use synthetic vits. I might start wih the canned as toppers for the dogs since I do so like the Merrick kibble for them. My cat also has some issues I deal with. She has a pharyngeal polyp (husband won’t okay $ for surgery…but that’s another story) and she does do some obsessive over grooming (back only). I leaning toward allergies (re the overgrooming) but she is very finicky and won’t even try the limited ingredient diets I’ve tried (Natural Balance, various flavors). I believe her sense of smell is not the greatest with the polyp and the LIDs are usually bland. I’m thinking of trying Instinct’s LIDs with her, though. Except for the overgrooming on her back her coat is like silk! I know that overgrooming can be an OCD thing in cats, too, and she does seem to have that personality (she’s a Tortie). Anyway, I think I’m gonna get some Nature’s Logic for her, too, and see if she likes it and does better without the regular vits. She also gets some freeze dried raw. Sorry for going on and on….haha, just wanted to vent. Thanks! 🙂
Yeah, it’s true. I believe the creator of Answer’s raw left NV as well.
That’s good to know about the rice in Steve’s. The last time I was at my vets I noticed they had changed to packaging for Steve’s and it was pretty different from the last time I bought it. I didn’t look at the ingredients to see if they’d changed.
Dear HDM (got that one),
THANK YOU SO MUCH for this long reply. It explained so much about the supposedly raw varieties out there, and they’re all expensive, but I think the days are long gone when any of us who value our companions can rely on the supermarket to help us out with their choices, except of course, WholeFoods, to name a few. Found this wonderful website via Val Heart’s entry: http://www.valheart.com/blog/dog-talk/dog-owners-blame-beneful-for-their-pets-illness/. I tried beneful twice in the past 2 years in an emergency, and noted each time they woofed it down – I was suspicious then (excitotoxins in their and our food…). I’m committed to either making or getting a high-quality food, since I am their only food source, and I love them. Many thanks!!!!!
Sincerely,
Hi Chloralu –
HPP stands for “High Pressure Processing.” HPP is a process in which extremely high pressure is applied uniformly around and throughout a raw food product. HPP is used to destroy bacteria and is said to do minimal damage to the flavor, texture and color of raw food (although if you ever buy a product that has undergone HPP and compare it to a non-HPP product you’ll notice that there is a sort of “rind” formed around most HPP products and the color is noticeably grayish – at least in my experience). HPP also extends shelf life. All the benefits of raw food without the risk of bacterial contamination, sounds great right? The downside is that beneficial bacteria, some enzymes and some functional proteins are destroyed as well. Because the “friendly” bacteria is destroyed along with the “bad” bacteria if the food is ever stored improperly and happens to get contaminated with “bad” bacteria there is no “friendly” bacteria to keep the “bad” bacteria in check and prevent it from growing out of control. Oftentimes re-contamination can happen during the manufacturing process (like during all the recent kibble recalls for salmonella contamination). The raw foods that are HPP are: Stella & Chewy’s, Nature’s Variety Instinct and Primal (poultry varieties only). Individuals with immune-compromised dogs may have no other option than HPP if they wish to feed raw, however for a healthy dog I think HPP should be avoided. A healthy dog is fully equipped to handle the bacteria present in raw meat. There are also steps that can be taken to destroy bacteria without altering the nutritional value of the food: apple cider vinegar, coconut oil, raw garlic and alfalfa all have antibacterial properties (not to mention a myriad of other health benefits) and can easily be added to raw food for those concerned about bacterial contamination. If your dog is on a raw diet it’s also a good idea to supplement with a high quality multi-strain probiotic – this will keep the colony of good bacteria in your dog’s gut strong so if bad bacteria ever does come around the dog will be better able to combat it.
Dear Group,
Thanks for this forum. I’m new to it, so could advise, what is HPP? Went organic 10 years ago after Science Diet gave my airedale a tennis ball-sized on her kneecap. Have been organic/raw for the K9ers about 6 years and want to take it all the way. Any info, please. Many thanks!
Hi Amydunn19
Oh your poor dog taking on a copperhead. I think it was a mixture of feeding our JRT small bites of people food ALL the time, raw hide bones, and predisone for allergies. Our Vet will do anything he can to help. I will ask him about your suggestions. Our JRT is on pepcid right now and I plan to keep her on it for a little while longer – I don’t want her to relapse again. She has been on medication twice as long this time. Have you ever used the Purina FortiFlora probiotics with your JRT? They were given to ours both times and I don’t know if I trust them. They have a 12% fat content and it just worries me a little. Would love to know any feed back.
Thanks so much 🙂
I wouldn’t consider a bully stick to be a high calorie treat – at least not for an active dog. My dogs each eat about 2,500 calories per day each and they all get either a bully stick, dried trachea chew or pig ear before bed. I estimate their chew treat to be around 200 calories – this accounts for only 8% of their daily caloric intake. Obviously the owner of a small breed or couch potato dog would have to be more conscientious – but this goes for any treats and meals too. I believe that natural chews, such as bully sticks, are – aside from raw meaty bones – the most species-appropriate chew for dogs. Chewing is healthy for dogs – it helps to clean their teeth and to stimulate them mentally by satisfying their natural urge to chew. Feeding a natural type chew is much healthier – imo – than any of those junk food chews on the market like Greenies, Dentastix and Busy Bones that are loaded with carbohydrates and often contain gluten, corn, gmos, sugar, propylene glycol, artificial colorings, etc. etc.
As far as natural treats being contaminated with bacteria like salmonella – this is old news. It’s been known for years and years that natural treats often are contaminated with bacteria. Does the fact that a bully stick may be contaminated with salmonella pose a risk to your pet’s health? I don’t think so and history supports that it isn’t a risk.
Excerpt from: “The Human Health Implications of Salmonella-Contaminated Natural Pet Treats and Raw Pet Food” [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16447116]
“To date there have been no published reports of salmonellosis occurring in dogs as a result of exposure to natural pet treats.”
Just as a healthy dog should be able to handle the bacteria present in raw meat, a healthy dog should be able to handle the bacteria that may or may not be present on a natural chew. Every dog I’ve ever owned (even as a kid) ate natural chews regularly and my current dogs have been on a raw meat diet for over a year and a half – I’ve never had a dog get sick and . People just need to use common sense here. If you have a small and/or inactive dog – limit their chews to once or twice a week. Don’t give an immune-compromised dog a natural treat (or raw meat) as their immune system ay be too weak to handle the bacteria. Know that your treat came from a reputable manufacturer. Always wash your hands after handling natural pet treats and disinfect any surfaces that they touch.
I feed him Nature’s Variety Instinct: Rabbit with a few spoonfuls of Tripett and an ounce of Raw Goats Milk in the morning and an ounce at night.
I have been looking into the probiotics.
However having a puppy and the problem with him having accidents in his kennel and then laying in it he will need to be bathed. I am looking for advice on a shampoo and conditioner that people have used with success that is gentle and if I should be adding a coat supplement to help things along (Like adding an Omega 3 oil to his food). I read that a high quality expensive hypoallergenic shampoo and conditioner that doesn’t contain soap and is low lathering to gently clean your pet’s coat while adding softness and body is what I need to be looking for but looking online there are just so many and not to many that say low lathering!
I had also read of people putting olive oil on their dogs food and they said it helped tremendously. Anyone have experience with this?
Having witnessed quite a few dietary trends in my years, I offer only the advice to keep an open mind. As Dr. Mike says elsewhere on this blog,we have to be careful not to fall into “nutrition-ism.” I would define nutrition-ism as allowing feelings from other segments of life to overly influence how we view nutritional information. Just one example of that would be to insist that dogs should have a vegetarian diet. (Nope, sounds silly to me!)
I’d like to respectfully suggest that having SOME carbohydrates in your dog’s’ diets is not advocating for a high carbohydrate diet. Further, vegetables have starches in them so we’re not just talking about grain Generalizing about all dogs is not helpful when each of us has one or more specific dogs, i.e. real individuals. We humans have different digestive and dietary experiences, right???? I know what my dogs can and cannot digest, and will continue to vary their diets to get them the nutrition they need. I don’t give my dogs grains in significant amounts, but their kibble does have carbs from sweet potatoes. And lots of vitamin A!!
I’ve met several dog owners who feed kibble to one dog and raw to another, based on real individual experience with each critter. Let’s continue to love one another and our dogs, and not get tensed up about dietary concepts.
Pax vobicsum from Richmond, Va, Y’all!
Bill
I’ll start you off then the rest will help you, switch to a high quality grain free food if not raw diet and also probiotics will keep yeast in check which may be the dandruff, a friend of mine’s dog had “dandruff” turned out to be a over flow of yeast, did the above and after a few weeks it cleared. but these are just suggestions. hope this helps
I currently use krill oil, probiotics and enzymes couple times a week. Mostly mixing it in with their kibble or canned food. I don’t supplement raw food usually although hiding a capsule in a ball of raw meat works very well. I’m currently using the Mercola brand but there are several others. Nordic or Grizzly for fish oils. Nzymes brand. OnlyNaturalPet.com has a selection. Sometimes I just give them a raw whole sardine instead of fish oil and then sometimes I just feed them raw tripe which has enzymes and beneficial organisms. Another brand I use is Garden of Life.
Hi sheeklouch –
Orijen is a wonderful food (it’s actually the best dry food out there – imo), however (unfortunately) none of their formulas are appropriate for large breed puppies – they are all much too high in calcium. For this reason, I’ve never fed Orijen to any of my pups but I have fed it to my adult with great success.
Gertie my now two year old female ate The Honest Kitchen (Zeal, Love, Thrive) and Tripett until she was 8 months old. Mabel, my newest addition, who just turned 7 months old has been on a controlled calcium homemade raw diet since she came to me at 8 weeks (my other two dogs eat raw now as well).
I think that most dogs do well on high protein foods (Gertie and Mabel both ate >40% protein on average) – if your dog is having loose stools with high protein foods I’d suggest trying a spoonful of plain canned pumpkin, a multi-strain probiotic and digestive enzymes at each meal.
Assuming you want to stick with a dry food, here is a list of recommended foods. Sometimes it’s trial and error and you may need to try a few foods before you find on that works for your dog. Some dogs are just more sensitive than others.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwApI_dhlbnFY183Q0NVRXlidWc/edit
My mixed breed, Lucy Mae, has a “mass” on her bladder. We don’t know yet if it’s malignant….didn’t want to do any biopsy yet (found it on an x-ray) because she’s acting great and kidney/bladder numbers seem okay for now. She’s also turning 12 years old and with her age, we’re in a wait and see mode. Anyway, she is eating Merrick grain free kibble topped with various canned food or freeze dried raw and water added. She is getting Standard Process Renal Support per my holistic vet. She also gets another urinary chew by Naturvet a couple times a week. So far, I have not reduced protein or anything like that and she’s doing fine. I know this may not be the same as your dog, but I still think a higher protein diet is best. Of course, I’m not a vet.
Hi sharyorkie –
I’m not sure what your budget is – but raw, homemade, fresh cooked (like Fresh Pet), dehydrated (like The Honest Kitchen), freeze-dried raw, air-dried (like Ziwi Peak) and canned foods all seem to appeal to picky dogs more than kibble. They are all more expensive to feed than kibble, but also healthier and more species-appropriate.
If you need to stick with kibble, I’d recommend trying something like Tripett (canned green tripe) – you can add just a spoonful or so to some warm water, mash it up to make some gravy and then completely coat the kibble. I’ve never heard of a dog that didn’t love green tripe. I’d try this trick with any of the 4 or 5 star kibbles.
Hi Dave-
Why is the owner looking to change foods? Its so hard to find one that works for an individual dog, that I would ask her that question first : ) My girl does best on lower fiber foods and flareups can be stopped by adding a raw medallion or two to the meals.
Oh, it’s fine – I just wanted to clarify about the hip dysplasia in case you didn’t understand. Some people actually think it’s something old dogs get.
All healthy dogs should be on a high protein diet, even the less active ones. I’d look for a grain-free food with at least 30% protein – supplementing with high quality canned food and/or healthy leftover and/or fresh raw is a great way to improve the quality of kibble as well.
Hi Altoid –
Cooked bones shouldn’t be fed as they are likely to splinter – they are more likely to cause intestinal perforations or blockages. Bones should always be fed raw. If your dog is a light chewer heavy bones such as marrow bones and knuckle bones would probably be safe, if, however, your dog is a strong chewer I’d stick with bones that are entirely consumable called “raw meaty bones” (chicken backs, chicken necks, turkey necks, etc.). Strong chewers can break and/or wear down their teeth over time if given dense bones such as marrow bones and knuckle bones. Don’t leave the bone out for more than an hour or so, whatever your dog doesn’t eat can be stored in the fridge – use within three days.
AnonymousInactive
Hello,
I feed Grandma Lucy’s Artisan and Pureformance. I LOVE these foods, but I’m confused as to how cooked they are. It would be nice if GL’s website could be more clear on which ingredients are raw – if any – and how processed others are.
Anyways, Pureformance uses peas and no potatoes and might have slightly more protein. The lack of potatoes is what makes me use it more than Artisan but I sitll gladly use Artisan. The dogs love both. What I like is the consistency after hydration is strong and firm and ‘blob’-like, so the dogs can suck it up very well without having to lick the bowl and get their noses dirty. This is in comparison to The Honest Kitchen, which my dogs get extremely dirty faces as they try to lick the mush up.
Compared to the prices of similar foods, Grandma Lucy’s is a good choice.
James- Although I respect that you are successfully managing your diabetes, dogs are different than humans and I think your suggestions are questionable for someone who doesn’t have a vet well-versed in diabetes. First of all, nph insulin most closely resembles the insulin dogs naturally produce which is different from humans. Most dogs are well maintained on this type of insulin and are not”impossible” to control at all. The short acting insulin(R) is sometimes needed for dogs that have insulin resistance but this dog has not had enough time to be regulated and to determine if resistance is the issue. Regardless of the insulin, diabetic dogs should be fed the same amount at the same time every day. To imply anything else is ridiculous. People who have had long term success managing their dog’s disease live by this principle. As far as food goes, a variety of different diets have been proven to work well for a diabetic dog but with Cushings (or pancreatitis like my dog) , a high fat diet is not recommended. A diet with “cheap” carbs is, of course, not good either. I prefer a food like Nutrisca because there is no potato or tapioca or rice or grain and my dog (dx five years now) thrives on it like no other food. Complex carbs work well with the nph insulin and they are necessary to have stable glucose levels throughout the day. There is an excellent article in the Whole Dog Journal which addresses diabetic diets and includes case studies of many dogs on a wide range of diets- raw, commercial, prescription, home-cooked and the success stories of those dogs. Diabetes is not a one size fits all with dogs and many times, you can analyze foods and labels and ingredients until you are blue in the face but you don’t get the results that you should. Personally, I think there are so many factors – metabolism, age, stress, infection or disease, etc that factor in.
James – While I agree with some of what you say in theory, it doesn’t always hold true in reality. I think Kristi probably would get better results with a long-acting insulin such as R, but without a vet who is well versed in diabetes, it is a dangerous proposition. Comparing diabetes in humans to diabetes in dogs is helpful in many respects as there are similarities, the flaw with that is dogs can’t communicate in terms we can understand until trouble is there. They can’t say they are feeling bad or shaky and short of checking their sugar many times a day, there is no way to know. If you can stay home non-stop with your dog, then great but most people don’t have that luxury. Also, to say diabetes is impossible to control with nph insulin is just wrong. I have done it for five years now and there are many others out there who have – in fact most dogs are maintained on nph. And just because someone uses a long acting insulin doesn’t mean you throw routine out the window. These dogs are best maintained on the same amount of food at the same time every day. As far as low glycemic foods are concerned, I have found just through my personal experience, that my dog’s blood sugar is just consistently lower and better since she is on Nutrisca. She feels better, looks better and it helps with her allergies. I actually tried Evo when she was first diagnosed and her bg was sky-high on it. The one thing I have found is that diabetic dogs react differently to different food. There was a series in the Whole Dog Journal last year about diabetic diets and the interesting part was there were many different case studies of diabetic dogs and almost all of them were on completely different foods. Some were on commercial diets, home cooked, raw, and even prescription diets but the owners all had great success by finding the food that worked for their dog. You can analyze the numbers and ingredients until your face is blue but if the theoretical “best” food doesn’t give you results, then you have to consider how your dog processes insulin and food.
Kristi, I would find an online forum for dogs with Cushings and/or diabetes so you can talk to people who are going through what you are with their dogs. There are tons of knowledgeable people out there who can really tell you about Cushings and diabetes who live it everyday.
I found a local butcher that has a variety of bones and other animal parts including, pig ears, aitch, bully sticks, pig toes, pig noses etc. They are all smoked except for the raw ones. So are the smoked bones relatively safe for my dog? Can I give them freely or use in moderation?
Also any information on providing and when to discard raw bones would be helpful. I did get one and gave it to her, but by the next day it was looking pretty discolored so I threw it out.
Thank you!
I do a whole lot of online shopping and would definitely considering doing it (I do it for the ferrets already) if I wasn’t going to be moving within the next 2 weeks. The Wysong will have to hold him over until I can get to my new address. Then any food is fair game. Hopefully I’ll have a freezer as well and can find someplace that sells the Answers pre-made raw.
Hi Aimee,
Through my own negligence (for not making myself clear), I’m surely not opposed to making quality control testing a criterion. As a matter of fact, routine quality control testing is, of course, a must.
However, by “expensive testing”, I’m referring to field testing (feeding trials). This is cost prohibitive and would prevent many well-designed products from ever reaching the market.
One criterion I’m most interested in (as you suggested) is the need for a real nutrient analysis — a laboratory analysis made available either on a company website or by request.
The label-based Guaranteed Analysis can be very misleading. We use it because it is both regulated and readily available on ALL products.
However, stating a fat “minimum” can be notably deceptive — and especially common with canned or raw foods. High fat content can be a tip off that a company is using fatty trimmings, connective tissue and other low quality by-products in their finished formulations.
For example, a stated GA for fat of 16% (a “guaranteed minimum”) could in actuality be 25% or more.
In summary, I believe in creating a list of “favorites”, we may wish to obtain a real and current batch nutrient analysis. Thanks for making this excellent suggestion.
SOURCES OF BIOTIN, FROM A WEBSITE ON DIET FOR PREGNANT MOTHERS, SURELY APPLICABLE TO DOGS AS WELL:
Swiss Chard – This green plant is a top producer of biotin. It’s also a great part of a healthy salad choice that will provide antioxidants and help balance a diet.
Carrots – Carrots contain a supply of biotin, as well as beta-carotene, which helps with general eye health.
Almonds, Walnuts and Other Nuts – A variety of nuts supply the body with biotin, and are a portable way to get proteins and other nutrition into a diet.
Chicken Eggs – Eggs are a source of biotin, although it’s important to note that eating a diet unusually high in egg whites can actually be a catalyst for a biotin deficiency. That’s because a specific element in the egg whites binds to the element and prevents it from being distributed properly. It’s important to always consider how eggs are added to a diet in order to prevent this kind of vitamin deficiency.
Goat’s Milk and Cow’s Milk – In addition to calcium and other healthy items, milks are also a source of biotin for the body.
Berries and Fruits – Some types of berries, including strawberries and raspberries, can get the body a significant amount of biotin. These fruits also provide antioxidants and health benefits, as part of a natural, whole food approach to eating. Experts recommend buying local and organic when possible.
Halibut – In addition to being “brain food,” this fish also contains large amounts of biotin. Think about adding it as an occasional entre.
Vegetables – Other vegetables like onions, cucumbers and cauliflower all contain biotin, and are healthy ways to fit this vitamin into meals.
