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Search Results for 'raw'
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Raw is critical for allergies/fungus. I used to be vegetarian so i understand (10 yrs but had health problems.) Primal Raw is freeze dried so there is no smell or mess. Just add it to the vegetables you are already feeding. I use the freeze dried cubes.
My dogs won’t eat Primal cubes by itself, they are too spoiled, so I add it to what ever else I am feeding.
Since I switched to raw 10 years ago, our dogs have had no deficiencies or medical issues. Absolutely ZERO! We don’t get fancy, just raw meat and veggies.To solve this problem and gain enough knowledge (and spend enough $$$$ at vet clinics) it took me 10 years. I am glad to say we have kicked this problem 100%. I am very sad though that my pets had to suffer for 10 years before we found the solution. Several of the answers here are on the mark, however, there are some missing pieces of information. Here are the components of the solution that results in the ear problems clearing up in addition to every other allergy issue a dog may have. You can’t do just one thing, you have to address all aspects of care:
1. Diet
2. Flea control poisons
3. Heartworm and Parasite poisons
4. Vaccinosis
5. Chiropractic
6. Vet type
We solved this problem when we started going to alternative vets and Chiropractic vets. I spent thousands at the veterinary clinic, hundreds at the alternative clinics and next to nothing at the Chiropractic vets. The alternative vets (3 of them) were all indispensable. One used Chinese herbs, another acupuncture and another (the best) used a combination of modalities including cold laser, acupuncture, Chiropractic, nutrition, and herbs. The Chiropractic vets gave the most bang for the buck but it took to a visit to five different ones to settle on our favorites. Yes, hard to believe, but a spinal adjustment can be miraculous in calming down allergies. The older the dog the more likely they need this treatment. Some Chiropractors also have cold laser treatments. Go to AVCA.org to find a pet Chiropractor. Some states require Chiros to be vets (like Texas) and others (Oklahoma) allow human Chiros to treat pets. There are advantages both ways.So bottom line, we now feed NO commercial food but instead feed raw chicken plus a home cooked chicken and vegetable stew. We freeze it in daily portion size containers. This raw food supplemented diet eliminated all parasites (fleas, ticks, heart worms, intestinal worms, etc.) thereby eliminating our need for poisons. Raw diet also eliminated our need for vaccines (titer testing proved this.) Eliminating vaccines eliminated the need for steroid therapy that the vets kept pushing on our dogs. Eliminating flea control like Nextgard, Trifexis, Comfortis, Frontline, and Advantage was a major step forward. These chemicals/drugs were a major cause of itching in our Pugs and we tried them all. These chemicals also caused sores and weeping irritated skin.
Once our dogs were already having out of control skin issues we had to use shampoos and aloe vera in addition to dietary changes. We switched to duck and fed only (USA) Merrick commercial dog food and this was a major improvement. However, the real change came with the raw. We eventually eliminated the Merrick except for traveling/hiking and emergencies. It took about 3 months to a year of proper feeding to stop the fleas dead in their tracks. We used flea combs and Ark Naturals Neem Shampoo to check for fleas.
In one dog, we had to get a prescription of Apoquel (new drug only at select vets) to stop the itching (instead of dangerous steroids.) This was an emergency measure because itching causes scratching which leads to staph infections in ears and on the skin/belly.
The ear itching and yeast infection eventually led to staph infection also from the dogs scratching their ears. To clear this up we used a combination of products over several months. I will list the products and their purpose.
1. Zymox enzymatic ear solution (green bottle) for yeast/bacteria
2. Olive Oil drops – extra virgin for yeast/bacteria
3. Colloidal Silver (10ppm) dropped in ears for yeast/infection
4. 7-Day feminine antifungal cream (yeast only, outside of ears and bumpy noses/folds)
Zymox was best for yeast. Olive oil was the best for everything including swelling of the ear canal. Colloidal Silver kicked the secondary infections almost overnight.
Moist ears is a side effect of yeast infection, not a cause. Swimmers ear is a result not of the water but of having a dietary systemic yeast infection before your dog ever goes swimming.
Taking our dogs swimming in a creek or lake had no effect on the ears, however, swimming in a chlorinated pool did aggravate the ears and skin.
The feminine yeast cream has been a real life saver. We use the weakest version and only apply it to ear flaps. If you want Miconazole ear drops, you’ll have to go to the vet for that. But honestly, the olive oil is just as good. The problem with prescription drugs is that they usually only treat one bug, unlike the first three items on my list.
I hope someone finds this useful.
Since this is a dog food website, i will give my two cents on dog food brands (never feed dry): Highest quality, readily available brands are Merrick, Nature’s Variety, Primal Freeze Dried Raw, and Orijen. No, I would never feed Blue. I’ve been in the pet business for most of my life and I know secrets about many brands that will make your skin crawl. I will not lookup or recommend any brands other than the ones I listed.
I am chronicling my personal experiences on a blog so feel free to visit as you like. Snortlepuss.com
DogFoodAdvisor.com is one of the best resources a person can have for learning about brands. Please take the ratings seriously and only feed to top rated foods.I have a 15 year old, 8 lb chihuahua named Joey. He’s basically been pretty healthy most of his life, very few problems. He does have bad teeth now, his last dental was over seven years ago because I’ve been able to keep it under control with brushing, but it now really needs to be done. He had a UTI in January that was found on routine exam, he had minimal to no symptoms. He was put on a course of antibiotics, and supposedly cleared, but I noticed no behavior change at all-he was active, good appetite and urinating and drinking normally. In February, I was a little suspicious, only because he was urinating a slight bit more often, but is 15, and it was barely perceptible difference. That test came back positive, and he had another round of antibiotics. Still no behavior change. Nothing that would tell me that he was any better, but he had no symptoms, so he was just his usual active happy self . Pre dental check of urine a few weeks ago showed UTI (still? Or again, who knows), and he was given a different antibiotic, which really showed results-my happy energetic senior because more active, more playful and running around all over! So then he was planning to be getting a dental this week, but it got postponed Wednesday because his blood values indicated that his kidney function wasn’t great. Creatinine 1.8 , BUN 51, phosphorus 7.7. He was put on KD diet, canned. He hates it, but ate it when I added scrambled egg whites. Also aluminum hydroxide twice daily-he hates that too. Question: prior to this, he was eating FreshPet grain free chicken, small dog bites. He absolutely loved it. I’ve read that raw may be beneficial with KD so would FreshPet raw instincts be a viable option for a food if he won’t eat the KD food?
Topic: Weird allergy in Basset Mix
we got a foster dog (basset, clumber, cocker mix?) from a rescue that erupts in hundreds of pimples that turn into spots that are like quarter size patches of dried peanut butter that grow into huge weepy raw spots. Thousands of dollars later, no answers. His first allergy tests showed about twenty allergens including foods and environmental. Two years later a second test showed almost completely different results. A bazillion treatments later, nothing has worked to slow it down better than baths. He does not seem very itchy, and the sores do not seems to hurt. It starts at various parts of his body and does not go away until it has traveled all over his body, with the first affected areas healing spontaneously but with horrible dandruff as it goes. After it has covered his entire body, it goes away for a few months, then whammo. We keep him shaved. We have tried three vets, tried everything they recommended to no avail. No one has seen it before. No fleas. He is a happy camper, the horrible condition does not seem to phase him. 15 different foods, booties in the grass, nothing changes it, it is never worse or better. Tried vinegar, probiotics, fish oil, selsun blue. Nothing changes. When he is well he has no skin issues. Rescue tried to put him down so we adopted. Going broke, help.
Deborah it’s gets tricky feeding small dogs like ours. They’re diet is so limited in the amount they eat that I can afford to feed them what I hope to be the best nutritionally. I’m relieved you said that he’s tolerating the S&C. Started with the S&C rabbit and venison a few weeks ago after using primal .So far so good with stools and no vomiting. I know they are intolerant of too much fat. I found this out when years back I would give them some hamburger over they’re kibble and the next day they had diarrhea. Even with lean steak meat. If I gave them little of broiled steak two days in a row over they’re kibble same thing with diarrhea. With canned beef same problem. I’m now hoping that the Rabbit has less calories and fat and my chubby one will lose. But I’m waiting for this raw feeding to all go south if I keep on feeding because of the fat. Stella also came out with a stew so I will look into that.Maybe less fat and I can alternate. Thank you for posting . I thought I was the only one who was concerned about the fat in these raws.
Thank you Spy for replying. Originally they were all eating Fromm grain free with a topper of health extension Vets Choice Chicken. Also toppers when I cooked of boiled chicken, salmon and steak if they were lucky that day. Its was a long winter and walks were very limited. Also when my three year old Chi put her nose up at the Fromm and topper Tia would steal before I had a chance to grab it from her. Hence the weight gain. My 16 year old is still her old food which at her age she’s been doing VERY well with. Of course she gets EXTRA chicken etc when others not looking at this point in her life. I finally gradually switched to the Stella’s kibble but really it’s a VERY small amount of her diet. Also cut down to tiny bit of the steak, salmon etc when we ate that because I think I was over doing the amount. So between the walks, treats cut out and her food being cut down I thought by now she would show a trimmer body type. So now you said Stella kibble is high in carbs. Even though it says low. I think her other food was average carbs so I thought I was doing better with that. Below is the list of foods I’ve been giving so far with the freeze dried. It’s ahttps://primalpetfoods.com/products/raw-freeze-dried-canine-duck-formula#variant=35868839058lways dehydrated with warm water. Thank you for your help. https://www.stellaandchewys.com/dog-food/freeze-dried-raw-dinners/patties/venison-blend https://primalpetfoods.com/products/raw-freeze-dried-canine-turkey-sardine-formula#variant=36371519122https://primalpetfoods.com/products/raw-freeze-dried-canine-duck-formula#variant=35868839058
Is this kibble recipe lower in carbs? https://www.stellaandchewys.com/dog-food/raw-coated-kibble/beef-recipe@aimee, they did not measure a high-fat ration vs a high-carb ration.
They measured two high carb rations (both of which lack the benefits of a high-protein/high-fat-diet) against each other and found a very marginal difference in weight loss. Differences likely attributable to the drastic differences in fiber in the two meals.
This study doesn’t resolve anything.
The reason that people like myself who’ve read the literature don’t endorse carbohydrates in the diet is due to the demonstrated consequences of high-carb diets negatively impacting aerobic capacity and cutting endurance in dogs, in addition to the obesity, bad skin, bad teeth, and stresses on GI tract and organ health.
There are no advantages to feeding carbs (aside from reducing costs of the feed). Only downsides to health.
I’m not going to take seriously a study that allows domestic dogs to consume as much raw food as they want as satiety test. LOL. There is enough of the primitive canine mind resident in dogs that I’d be shocked if a dog didn’t gorge when given the opportunity to eat raw meat, fat, organs, and bone. LOL.
But a raw-fed dog given calorically appropriate meals will not act food crazed. Ask me how I know?
Such dogs will be lean, vital, and hard-muscled vs the de-condition that results directly from feeding a high-carb cereal-based diet.
I’ve seen the differences with my own eyes. No comparison.
Thank you for your interest.
Bill
Raw food isn’t “disgusting.” LOL.
Good grief. Nothing could be more natural than a dog eating fresh/or frozen whole animal-based food.
What’s disgusting is knowing what little “meat” is in processed kibbles likely comes from products that were condemned at the slaughterhouse, including items from dead, dying, or diseased animals and contaminated by-products that are deemed unfit for human consumption.
All these are perfectly legal (and common) ingredients in commercial kibble. As long as it gets rendered, any of these disgusting ingredients are perfectly legal for pet food manufacturers to use.
Ther rest of the ration (the majority) is made up of cheap carbohydrates that have no essential place in a dogs diet and that contribute to ill health.
Some of the things one reads on this forum challenge credulity.
Bill
Ryan, I appreciate the spot you are in getting diametrically opposed advice.
In the years I’ve fed a PMR style raw diet I’ve come to be able to spot raw fed dogs when I see them. It has happened a good number of times when I met “strange dogs,” and usually getting the “how did you know…well, of course, you know” type responses.
And I’ve been on the other side, where strangers have approached me and known immediately that my dog is raw fed.
You can tell when a dog doesn’t eat carbs. Every part of their condition from the skin, fur, teeth, breath and especially lean muscle mass with low body fat is vastly better. They stand out markedly from the condition of kibble-fed dogs.
Second-best is feeding a kibbled ration that reduces carbs as much as possible.
Here is a link to the type of formula I’d like to see.
Disclaimer, I’ve never fed this food (as I feed raw) and I have no relationship with Victor’s. It is just an example of a reasonably inexpensive alternative called Victor Ultra Pro. It is a 42% protein/22% fat formula that they claim is 81% animal protein and has 14% carbs. Hard to do better than that with a kibbled diet.
It is nutrient dense (high calorie) at 479kcal/cup, so you’d probably need to feed about 2/3 the portion of a less dense food (depending). Maybe less. That also figures in cost. The volume of poop would also be cut significantly. Not just nice for you, but much kinder for a dog (especially one with issues) not to move extraordinary amounts of waste through their GI tract.
Since the fat provides a sustained energy supply, you could feed once a day (at days end) and your dog could then go to sleep instead of carrying around a belly full of food (which is actually really hard on dogs, especially breeds like yours with his conditions).
The fat in this sort of food would keep him satisfied (w/o the need for obscene amounts of fiber) and would supply steady energy.
I’d expect triglycerides to improve on the small chance the problem is diet related.
I would definitely ask for a thyroid panel to be run at the vet. I’m a little surprised they have not done so already.
I’d resist the low-fat/high-fiber-diet. I think your dog would suffer from such diet. It is no wonder he doesn’t like it. No diet could be more unnatural for a canine to eat. I’ve seen too many dogs on this misguided sort of diet, they never fare well. It is about the worst diet one could feed a dog in terms of nutrition.
I’m sorry you are getting contradictory advice. But there is no question which way I’d go based on the nutritional needs of dogs described in the veterinary science.
Best,
Bill
@ aimee, dogs are not people. We have evolved with very different nutritional needs.
Human beings have salivary amylase, for example, the digestive enzyme necessary to convert starches. Dog’s lack salivary amylase.
it is a common problem that pet owners anthropomorphize their dogs and (wrongly) believe they have the same nutritional requirements and same metabolism we do, but that runs against evidence-based science.
Fat is an essential nutrient for dogs, as is protein. Carbohydrates are nonessential. Completely unnecessary in a canine diet. Their needs are not the same as those of humans.
Your accusations of ignoring the veterinary literature are false. Satiety studies involving low-fat rations require loading rations with fiber, which is hellish for dogs. Moving that much waste (and creating that much poop) is very hard on dogs vs the efficiency of metabolizing much smaller quantities of fat and protein.
I think you are confusing healthful salads and greens that are great for people with what’s good for dogs. And that ain’t a high carb diet. Nothing could be a less appropriate choice for good canine health.
Carbs are in modern processed dog food to make food inexpensive. That comes at a cost to dog’s health. A dog fed a balanced raw diet will have a dramatically better condition, less body fat and more muscle. A high protein/high-fat diet that reduces carbs as much as possible is a distant second choice, but miles ahead of an unhealthful fiber and cereal-based “low-fat” diet.
Bill
I have been feeding my Chihuahuas Primal and Stella Chewy’s as a topper. The advisor listed both of these as his choices for his 2018 top choice food list and as being 5*. I was also looking into Vital Essentials and Wysong . Vital essentials has high protein low carbs but AVERAGE fat. Wysong freeze dried has actually BELOW average fat with the high protein and low carbs. Is there a strong benefit to having the above average fat in raw such as in the Primal and Stella’s.Why wouldn’t the raw commercial company strive for their product to be high protein average fat and low carbs. Wouldn’t MOST dogs do better being that some dogs are prone to pancreatitis . Also a good many dogs are overweight or are more sedentary during the winter months. So again..what IS the benefit of the higher fat since these foods have such a high ratings. Is it possible that the company is stating low fat when it’s not? Thank you . Hope I’m making sense with my questions.
Topic: Grinding mackerel?
Hello!
This is my first post. I’ve been lingering for a while and trying to absorb as much information as I can with raw feeding. I’ve started about a month and a half ago. I’ve been prepping using the BARF model. I want to introduce raw whole fish to their diet. I have mackerel that has been frozen for almost 2 weeks. I am very hesitant in feeding my 4 dogs mackerel with all that bone. Any opinions or thoughts with using a meat grinder to decrease the chances of getting bone lodged into their systems? I’ve read that mackerel is a bit of a tough bone. They’ve had canned sardines but I wanted to try a non-canned fish. Should I cook it and take the bones out? Anyone have any experience with using their meat grinder for fish? Thanks for any advice.
Hi Saundra…I feel for you. I have three chihuahuas. One being 16 who has one kibble and topper she eats(with EXTRA cooked food for her when the others aren’t looking) I then had to search for another kibble and topper when the younger one got very picky and stopped eating.Had to find topper and kibble that would agree with BOTH of them so as not to be buying like 6 different brands of food of wet and dry etc. FInally have them transitioned over to the Stella’s kibble and freeze dried raw. I’m able to get recipes like rabbit topper for the one that gains weight easily and duck for the picky one. Sometimes she still needs another topper on top of the topper to get her going. But so far so good fingers crossed. Don’t remember being this worried about what I was feeding my kids when they were little.. I really need some grandchildren. lol Hope the Merrick works out for you.
Topic: Switching from Kibble to Raw
Hello everyone,
I have a 10.5 week old GSD. He is an absolute beautiful pup. We are thinking of going raw. I made the decision to try out this brand:/dog-food-reviews/raw-wild-dog-food-frozen/
https://www.rawwild.com/I read in many places that the 3% of body weight in terms of feeding is recommended for adult dogs (and that seems to be the general agreed rule of thumb).
However, the guideline for puppies seems to be very variable. I see lot of places recommend 10% (my GSD puppy currently is 20 lbs, so I would give 2 lbs of this item (divided by the number of meals of course)). That seems excessive? Once again, I may be completely wrong so please excuse my unprofessional opinion and I apologize in advance. I see other places recommend 7%-10%, and some others recommending 5-8%.
I know that either answers could be correct and is dog dependent, and can always adjust based on how the pup is doing (if getting to chubby, cut back, and vice versa). However, if you guys a magic number for the percentage of body weight to feed, what would you guys say?Thanks in advance!
JohnTopic: Feed wet or dry food?
I have been feeding my 5 year old dog Instinct Raw Boost Dry dog food. I can afford to feed her Nature’s Domain canned but I’m not sure which one would be better. Its the only 5 star canned food that I can afford. Is it better to feed a lower (but still good) quality wet food or a higher quality dry?
Recent Topics
-
Easy Cat Pregnancy Calculator for Cat Owners
by 3 months ago
-
How do I keep a dog entertained passively?
by 3 months, 1 week ago
-
Best enrichment toys for a smart dog? Others are getting boring.
by 3 months, 2 weeks ago
-
Need healthier alternatives to Purina Moist & Meaty
by 5 months, 1 week ago
-
dog vitamins
by
2 months, 1 week ago