[kate r]

Raw diet is the way to go. watch pet fooled on netflix

[Susan]

Hi ac,
Years ago I never had any problems with any of my dogs or cats, I could feed them anything, raw, cooked kibble wet tin etc but after rescuing Patch & finding out he has IBD I was told by a few vets I have to slowly introduce any new foods kibbles etc to him so his gut gets use to the new ingredients plus he is sensitive to certain foods so I don’t know if it’s cause the gut/intestinal tract is 70% of our immune system, does this play a role in causing food sensitivities/intolerances??
Vets think Patch was feed poor quality cheap kibble & was sensitive to the ingredients & his stupid owner just kept feeding these ingredients to him or feeding him other cheap kibbles with the same ingredients he was sensitive too for the first 4 yrs of his life causing his IBD….I wish I got him as a pup he probably wouldn’t have IBD now..

I think pet food companies write “Introduce over 7-10 days” on their kibble bags now (they never use too) just incase dogs who have a sensitive stomach/bowel are slowly introduce & don’t get diarrhea, this way the Pet Food Companies are covering their asses…

With a raw diet I went thru a Nutritionist cause of Patches IBD & she said just start Patch on the home made raw diet the next morning like I was feeding his kibble but I didn’t add any bone or organ meat in the beginning, too much organ meat can cause diarrhea & bone causes sloppy poos for Patch, so I suppose we did slowly introduce the raw diet but if you have a healthy dog just start a raw diet the next day when you’d feed kibble but they do get real hungry at first cause their stomach is use to eating kibble that’s higher in carbs, rotate between different brands of kibble & different proteins…..
Now I can pretty much feed Patch anything as long as HE”S NOT sensitive to the foods I’m feeding he’s fine, so I don’t know is it cause I’ve strengthen his immune system? or cause I have worked out the foods he’s sensitive too? or rotating between different kibbles has this helped him?? & now I can feed a few different things?? something has helped him get better & heal his bowel..

[a c]

Do anyone know the real reason that there must a transition in changing dog food? I know it will cause upset stomach if I don’t transition slowly. But why? Does slow transition also applied to raw food or fresh homemade food?

As human can eat sausage for breakfast, chicken sandwich for lunch, and fish for dinner without any problems. Why switching dog food must be transition slowly?

[Anne B]

This is all such valuable information for me. I have followed this website for years but just joined up.
I have had our two dogs, a vizsla and a lab on amended Orijen kibble for years. Between a combination of information gained from: this website, Dog Naturally Magazine, Orijen (USA) rather than Orijen (Canada) and then Chewy.com losing a few lines (Orijen/Acana, Fromm) because Chewy.com decided to buy PetsMart AND the brew Ha Ha with the CleanLabel folk (but I digress).
All of the reasons above have brought me to the decision to eliminate kibble either all together, which is my preference or at the very most 1/4 to 1/2 kibble and mix with either freeze-dried raw or raw frozen (when we get a stand alone freezer).
I am a rookie to the BARF diet for our dogs. Historically, the vizsla transitions easily to new diets/foods (7 to 10 days) but our labrador has to transition more slowly 2-3 weeks for his GI system to tolerate the change without upset. To date he continues to get a tbsp of organic pumpkin mixed in his Six Fish kibble.
With our vizsla, I have been scaling back his amount of kibble and introduced Stella & Chewy’s freezes-dried patties (mostly 5 stars except for 4 star Duck Duck-he loves it), just ordered the Vital Essentials since it does not have all the additives.
I just have begun to explore the Darwin’s Natural Selection website. The name has a peticularily personal meaning for our vizsla. His sire’s registered name was “Darwin’s Natural Selection”, aka.”Darwin” .
I certainly need and want to increase my knowledge of what is best for our dogs. Looking forward to your input and exchange of ideas. Also the information about online websites for ordering their raw frozen and/or freeze-dried food as well as the kibble, now that Orijen and Chewy.com split the sheets.
Thanks to all.

[Susan]

Hi Tyla
it’s best to contact the raw or dehydrated pet food companies you’re interested in feeding & ask them which formula is recommended for a large breed growing puppy?? especially while she is growing or keep her on a large breed puppy formula then once she is fully grown start introducing raw & freeze dry to her diet… Here’s a fat, protein, fiber converter, so you know the fat & protein % when it’s converted to dry matter, 15%-fat, 15%-Protein is around 48% when converted, if it were a dry kibble. http://www.k-9kraving.com/resources/calculator.php
Have you joined any Raw Feeding face book groups, K-9Kitchen Monica Segal,
K-9 Nutrition- Lew Olson & Dr Karen Becker is bringing out her new book that will have special diets…

[FrankiesDoggie]

I use the patty with the kibble together. I don’t know whether it’s better to alternate, but the kibble/raw combo seems to work out well in my case. 🙂

[zcRiley]

Zignature Lamb limited ingredient formula (kibble). What would probably make it go away is ZiwiPeak freeze dried food (tiny soft flat squares), on the expensive side. So you can go thru a bag or two than switch back to kibble. Primal is raw blocks that have to be rehydrated with a bit of water, also very good. You want to significantly decrease the UTI with a cleansing diet for a few months before settling down with a formula of your choice.

[Tyla M]

It does help, thank you! So are you using the patty with the kibbble together as a meal? Or raw as 1 meal, kibble as another ?

[FrankiesDoggie]

I have a 35 pound dog, so for frozen raw I feed 1 patty a day (roughly 400 calories) for 50% raw/kibble mix. I haven’t tried freeze dried yet, but Ive had to eliminate a few options from some of my favorite brands because the ingredients don’t match their frozen raw counterparts (namely natures variety freeze dried complete meal versions, the supplemental though is great even if it’s not complete)

My freeze dried list is pretty short: natures variety raw booster mix (supplemental only), vital essentials and OC Raw. Vital essentials is the one brand I found where the frozen raw ingredient list is identical to the freeze dried versions. OC raw has a good ingredient list as well with no synthetics as well, so they also made the cut.

Hope this helps!

[Elise S]

I show, and breed English mastiffs. There are Hugh different opinions on what to feed!
This is a low energy, exstreamly fast growing, big boned breed.
We are talking about a puppy going from 1-2 lbs. at birth to 25-30 lbs. in 8 weeks, over 150 lbs. by 1 year. Adult average weight for a male is 210-250 lbs. I even have a 20 month old male that’s already 275lbs. He is exception to the rule. Correct exercise is very important even for these guys that grow so fast, low energy, and can get over heated fast.
For more that 8 yrs. I’ve driven myself nuts reading dog food labels. Most dog foods I find are for energetic dogs about 100lbs. Maybe up to 150lbs.
I’m not ready to go raw, it seems you can just as easy give them the wrong ratio of nutrients.
I have 8 mastiffs so cost is some what of an issue but I put there health first. Small pieces of kibble can be a problem with choking even for slow eaters.
I’ve heard there are some ingredients that are considered “hot” foods. “?”
You can have a 200lbs muscular football player or a 200lbs couch potato. Developing muscle without putting to much pressure on fast growing joints is a trick.
With all this in mind slow growth low protein is a must.
Low energy is easy to get over weight.

Dose anyone have any suggestions?

[A]

I recently had a training with Origen/ Acana and they have started to take the meal out of some of their things.
When it just says deboned chicken that’s including water weight, once you cook it, it falls lower on the list of ingredients and some things may be heavier than you expected.
Orijen is expensive to make and is good but there are definitely other large breed formulas I would consider first.

At my work we deal with more dogs with pancreatic and diabetes allot more now, it’s running rampid in the dog world now.

I used to feed my pitty large breed Fromm, she was always gassy and I never knew why.
Now she’s on firstmate lamb and rice in the morning and raw at night and I have a non gassy pitty.
They do also get answers fermented goats milk, cows, and fish stock to give them different beneficial benefits.

[Susan]

Hi Lindsay,
make sure you read the fat % on a wet tin foods, the fat in raw & wet tin foods hasn’t been converted to dry matter fat(kibble) here’s a calculator conversion link to help you work out the fat% protein & fiber %, higher fat can cause pancreatitis, weight gain etc. roughly 5%min-fat in a wet tin food is around 20%min-25%max fat % when converted to dry matter, so stick with wet tin foods 5% & under for fat…. http://www.k-9kraving.com/resources/calculator.php

I like smaller size kibbles, have a look at “Canidae” pure formula’s, they are grain free have limited ingredients & have single meat proteins, look at the Pure Wild, Pure Land formula’s, they both only have 7 ingredients & smell really good, no bad fishy smell… Canidae kibbles are easy to digest & soften within 20mins when soaked in warm water…
I would soak about 1/2 cup kibble in warm water for 15-20mins before your going to feed him, but make sure the kibble is soft all the way thru, so 20mins soaking should be long enough if it’s a Canidae kibble, Canidae kibbles are high in Kcals per cup, a 50lb-75lb dog that is exercise only need’s 2-3 cups a day, not much exercise 1-1 1/2 cups a day, the Canidae Pure Wild Boar is 454Kcals per cup, the Pure Land is 474Kcals per cup….

My dog doesn’t really like fish either but loves Bison, lamb, kangaroo & pork, he can’t eat Chicken or fish, change meat protein to 1 novel protein, Lamb, Bison, Pork, Kangaroo see how he goes.. Pure Land is on page 2, Pure Wild is on page 3 scroll down read ingredients & see kibble size, you need a small size kibble so when the kibble swells it isn’t real big don’t over soak & leave kibble soaking in the water for too long, no over night soaking the kibble it will swell & become too big & fill with water 20mins just softens the kibble & make sure it’s not hard in the middle, just squeeze a few kibbles to make sure they’re all soft all the way thru, so he doesn’t catch on to what you’re doing these dogs are very smart, lol
I just remember what I did with my boy when his IBD was real bad, I soaked the kibbles till soft then I fully drained out all of the water they were soaking in, I cuffed my hand in the bowl & pushed hand against kibble in bowl & squeezed out the water in the soft kibbles, then I put the soft kibbles thru a blender & this broke the soft kibbles all up, then you can mix thru the wet tin food, does he like treats?? when you first get the bag of kibble put about 1 cup kibble in a air tight container & give a few kibbles to him as treats so he gets to likes them…

Sometimes when food has cause pain or some type of health problem, the dog becomes fussy cause the food has caused some discomfort, gas, wind pain, diarrhea, acid reflux, vomiting etc so now he see’s kibble as bad……or he’s a very smart dog & knows how kibble is made, LOL
https://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products

[pitlove]

Tyla-

Raw and homemade are risky with large breed puppies and puppies in general. Very easy to off balance ratios of nutrients and create growth issues. I’ve seen it too many times. Best to wait til their done growing for that.

[Susan]

Hi Jude,
once a dog has had Pancreatitis then he’ll need to be feed a lower fat diet, so he doesn’t have another Pancreatitis flare, stay under 15%-fat for raw wet diet, have you tried raw kangaroo?? Cats & dogs love Kangaroo it has a strong beefy taste & it’s very lean in fat & very healthy, you can get this brand in America, its called “Gourmet Game, Marco Meats, Kangaroo mince, here’s the link, scroll down to the bottom & it’s in the middle, Gourmet Game Marco meats is the only company in Australia that makes the human grade kangaroo & export all over the world… http://gourmetgame.com.au/products/kangaroo/

You’re better off making his raw diet, instead of buying a pet food pre-made raw unless it’s a small business that makes human grade raw for dogs, but they normally add grounded bones, my dogs Naturopath said no to the grounded bone for Patch he has IBD & Pancreatitis & she also said NO to the Pre-made raw dog food she said you don’t know what your getting & the fat % is way too high for his health problems….. are you adding anything else to his beef? you can add 1 crushed egg shell a day for calcium, give him a Krill Oil capsule for his Omega 3 fatty acids & in a few weeks try adding some broccoli, carrot, celery & apple, peel & de-seed fruit & vegetables cut up then put thru a blender stop just before it’s a pulp, you add 1-2 spoons of the veggie/fruit mix to 1 cup of beef meat or I froze 1-2 spoons of the veggie mix separate in ice cube tray & cover with cling wrap & thawed when I needed the fruit/veggie mix, I also froze the meat in sections separate, this way you’ll see if he eats his beef with some added pulped veggies/fruit mix.. or just added the grounded egg shell & give 1 krill oil capsule 3 times a week & see how he goes, don’t start adding too much to his diet at once, if something causes diarrhea or vomiting you won’t know what caused what….

Join this face book group “Canine Pancreatitis Support Group” Lisa who runs the group feeds her Pancreatitis dog a raw balanced diet, she may be able to help you add certain foods to balance his diet a bit better, you can buy “Balance It” they have Nutritionist vet as well & free recipes for some health problems but if the dog has too many health problems it doesn’t give any free recipes you have to contact Balance It vet nutritionist. https://secure.balanceit.com/

Even if you buy the pre-made raw dog food it has too many different ingredients & your dog will smell all the different smells & probably wont eat the pre made raw food, I don’t like the smell it didn’t smell like real raw, my cat wouldn’t touch the pre-made raw, I bought the Rabbit first then took it back & tried the Kangaroo she still would not touch it, now I just buy her the Aldis cat fresh raw mince, it’s Kangaroo mince & chicken liver & she loves it & it smells like proper raw meat should smell, I do live Australia & by-product kangaroo is in a few of our cheaper brand pet foods & she also eats her air dried raw “Ziwi Peak” air dried raw & dry kibble + I give the Green Lipped Mussel treats, try the K-9 Natural Green Lipped Mussels, mussels have what he needs for his joints, eyes, brain, skin & coat, Green Lipped Mussel is lean in fat & give about 2 freeze dried mussels as a daily treat, this way he’s trying different foods as a treat..so its special when given as a treat.

[A]

I feed Grandma Lucy’s if I don’t have any actual raw on hand.
But prior I did feed honest kitchen and sojos.

Grandma Lucy’s is more kcal per cup so you’ll be feeding less.

When you feed by guidelines you want to feed the rehydrated amount.

[Tyla M]

New question ….does anyone do homemade food or dehydrated raw or a mix of stuff? I’m starting to think I don’t want to do all dry kibble.

[Jude N]

My dog is the same way. I’ve tried him on the following kibbles:

– Blue Buffalo
– Merrick
– Taste of the Wild
– Zignature
– Nature’s Varity Instinct
– Orijen
– Acana
– Legacy
– Wellness
– Fromm
– Nulo
– Earthborn
– ZiwiPeak
– PetKind
– Wysong
– Halo

I have tried numerous wet foods; the only kind he’ll eat is Merrick, which makes him gassy, and is expensive. He has tried Stella & Chewy dehydrated raw, Grandma Lucy’s, and Primal. He likes them all for about a week, and will then start going days without eating, to the point that he will vomit bile from being without food for too long.

He ate Nature’s Variety Instinct beef patties very well for several months; I made the mistake of trying to switch to Stella & Chewy’s venison raw patties, and he detests those. He now will only willingly eat actual ground, whole prey beef mixes from My Pet Carnivore, and beef tripe. I switched him to pork and he has eaten his dinner only twice since last Wednesday, because he’s refusing it.

So basically what I’m saying is that I feel for you, LOL.

Are you wanting kibble or wet food recommendations?

Something that you might try: sprinkle a little bit of garlic powder onto his food. My vet recommended this trick to me, and it’s worked a few times. Now I just make his meals into what can only be called “tripe sandwiches”, trying to not waste the pork meat by layering it between tripe. Sigh.

[Teagsmom]

I have a chi/mix rescue who was fed junk at the shelter. I put her on Acana grasslands and she loved it. I just started using Primal freeze dried. She gets so excited when she smells me adding water, she starts doing circles. You may want to try a good kibble with a topper of raw (I prefer freeze dried due to convienence but you could use raw patties). You could also do one meal kibble and one meal raw.

My dog wouldn’t go near Honest Kitchen. She literally ran away. I was shocked because she’s not a super picky eater. I’ve been obsessing over what dog food to give now that my dog had some teeth extracted. My last dog was diagnosed with Cushings at age 5, was on medication his entire life and lived to 15 1/2 yrs old eating Wellness. So I’m starting to question whether I’m thinking too much into this. Good luck!

[Jude N]

Hello,

My senior chihuahua/JRT mix had a bout of acute pancreatitis several years ago. He had bloodwork done a few months ago and didn’t have anything elevated enough that it concerned the veterinarian.

I’ve been trying to feed him a raw diet, but he only likes beef, and is clearly unhappy when he feels forced to eat anything else. He’d rather not eat for several days than eat pork, venison, duck, or chicken willingly. This inability to rotate him on proteins has me nervous about trying to stick with a “homemade” raw diet, and I’m looking to switch to commercial raw. Budget is a major concern for me.

There’s a good deal going on at Chewy’s right now for a food called Tylee’s. Here are the ingredients:

“Nutritional Info
Ingredients
Beef Heart, Ground Beef, Water (Sufficient For Processing), Beef Liver, Spinach, Broccoli, Zucchini, Sweet Potato, Mangos, Tricalcium Phosphate, Chia Seeds, Sunflower Oil, Ground Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Cod Liver Oil Powder, Dried Parsley, Ground Cinnamon, Dried Kelp, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Rosemary Extract, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate.”

I read in another post on this forum that it has a very high fat content…something like 34-38%. Yikes.

His pancreatitis attack was the result of a dogsitter feeding him a fatty, greasy, smoked ham bone that she had thought was a yummy treat for him. He was on a low-fat diet for several months afterwards.

Chip refuses kibble, wet food, re-hydrated raw, and Nature’s Instinct raw patties (I think he’s just bored of the Nature’s Instinct; he used to eat it well). Primal , THK, and Darwin’s are too expensive for me.

There’s another food called Ollie’s that I’m looking into, but I’m not thrilled about a couple of the ingredients (potatoes and peas, specifically).

Does anyone have any advice/experience on how long a pancreatic attack needs to be considered in a dog’s diet? Does anyone feed Tylee’s, or Ollie’s?

Thank you 🙂

[Jude N]

Hi all,

Thank you for the replies. As an update, we did take him into the vet. We brought x-rays from his original appointment; the vet didn’t think he needed new images, and was comfortable dx’ing him based on the originals. He said that the old back injury has likely become re-inflamed, and that there’s some thickening around his knee joint. We went home with a 7-day script of Vetprofen, and then a decent amount 1/4 tablets of a painkiller.

I bought a supplement from Chewy. Here are the ingredients:

Active Ingredients Per Chewable Tablet: Glucosamine HCl (Shrimp and Crab) 750 mg Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) 400 mg Chondroitin Sulfate (Porcine) 400 mg Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) 100 mg Manganese (Mn Proteinate) 5 mg

Inactive Ingredients: allspice, brewers yeast, chicken liver flavor, nutmeg, silicon dioxide, stearic acid.

He eats 1/2 a tab at a time. I smash it into a powder and mix it into his breakfast, which is usually just raw tripe.

He seems to be doing a little better. He’s definitely stiff in the mornings.

We’ve had some back and forth with him not seeming very hungry, which is very unlike him, but I’m curious if it’s just because I switched from beef to pork…and he prefers beef above everything else.

I’m going to make another thread in one of the health boards with a couple of additional q’s…not sure how stringent you guys are here about keeping topics in the correct board.

I’m definitely going to look into the green-lipped mussels!!

[Teagsmom]

She’s btwn 11-12 lbs- it wouldn’t cost as much but is still expensive. I’m having a difficult time figuring out how much kibble (she ate about 1/4 cup Acana twice a day) to give if I use half a Primal nugget per meal. I may do kibble one meal and raw for dinner. This could drive a person mad. Lol

[crazy4cats]

Hi Teagsmom-
I have been using frozen raw as a topper to kibble for three or four meals per week for about four years with no issues. I have two large lab mix dogs. I use either Nature’s Variety, Primal or NW Naturals. I’ve never tried raw coated kibble. I think it’s too expensive. Best of luck to you.

[A]

It’s the training we received from a vet we worked with that is not related. But that’s what I was able to find closest online.

To me it makes sense, if I’m constantly eating a fatty carb diet I’m not going to feel great, my skin will show it, I’ll be sluggish.

My vet has agreed that for my dog with liver disease she has done allot better on her Firstmate lamb and rice than she did on prescription or grain free, given my dogs all get raw fed as well. Every dog is individual.

[Susan]

Hi teagsmom,
why not feed wet tin food or cooked soft meals, even if its just 1 meal wet food then the other meal a kibble….. kibble is very hard to chew, the only kibble I know is small & very easy to digest & goes soft all the way thru when water is added is the “Canidae” Pure Meadow Senior but it’s Chicken, Chicken Meal Turkey Meal, Sweet potatoes…here’s Canidae’s site look at all their formula’s, there’s also their Pure Wild Boar, Pure Land, Pure Sea, Pure Sky all have no chicken, all Canidaes kibbles are very small & very easy to digest… https.www.canidae.com/dog-food/products
if you do feed a wet tin food, read the fat % & stay under 5%-fat, wet & raw pet foods aren’t converted to dry matter fat & protein, so 5%min fat is around 20%-25% max – fat if it were a kibble…

[Susan]

Hi Ginger,
Sorry its a long post but it’s hard to explain everything in 1-2 paragraphs hopefully some of this information will help your girls itchy skin…
Your girl sounds like my boy who will be 9 yrs old in November, he suffers with IBD, Pancreatitis, environment skin allergies & food sensitivities causing itchy smelly skin,paws, ears, gas & diarrhea, we thought he had diabetes a few months ago cause he was drinking & drinking water but blood test were all fine thank-god, I couldn’t handle another health problem, I feel so sorry for sick animals. 🙁
I wouldn’t try the Cytopoint injections with your dog yet, has your vet explained how Cytopoint works? My vet looked into the Cytopoint injections, she explained once you’ve given the injection it stays in the dogs system up to 6-8 weeks, so if it makes them ill there’s nothing that can be done to reverse any side effects cause Patch reacts to certain medications & it’s a newer drug we don’t have any real research results yet, after a couple of years vets will know more how dogs react that have certain health problems like our dogs have, when the dog is younger & heathier yes I think CADI is the best thing for itchy dogs better the Apoquel, now Apoquel has been out over a few years vets see all the side effects so in a few years when vets have used Cytopoint, they’ll know & can report any bad side effects if there are any?…

My vet said Apopuel doesn’t help when a dog has itchy skin from secondary Malassezia (Yeast) Dermatitis, Apoquel cannot resolve inflammation or treat yeast, she said Apoquel
has helped a few of her dog patients that have IBD but I was to scared to try Apoquel with Patch cause one of the side effects with Apoquel is nausea & vomiting, my vet did have a few dogs that become very sick while taking the Apoquel, so I changed his diet, bathed him weekly to wash off any allergens on his paws & body to relieve his itchy skin paws & I use creams. As they get older the allergies get worse..

They are finding Cytopoint works better then Apoquel for environment allergies & itchy skin, CADI blocks the receptors completely, where Apoquel blocks the reaction from the allergens receptors, there’s a good face book group to join “Dog issues, allergies and other information support group” with really good information about CADI & Apoquel.. a lady called Petra that runs the group can explain things better…

I would be changing her diet first, when my Patch was eating the Hills I/d wet & dry formula’s & other foods that had the ingredients he was sensitive too he got his red paws, smelly yeasty itchy skin & that’s only cause he’s a sensitive to the chicken, oats, barley tapioca, corn gluten meal in the I/d vet diet & other foods he was eating, once I remove these allergens he is OK thru the cooler Winter months then when Summer comes he gets his environment allergies so I bath more, I use hydrocortisone 1% cream to relieve the itch & feed treats that are high in omega 3 fatty acid like K-9 Natural freeze dried Green Lipped Mussels, ask your vet can your try the Royal Canine HP wet tin food the fat is 2.5% you’ll have to email or ring Royal Canine & ask them what is the max fat % when converted to dry mater?? it’s probably around 7-8% fat when converted to dry matter (Kibble fat), Hills have already converted all their wet tin foods on their internet site, I wish other pet food companies did the same cause people don’t no this & read 5%-fat on a wet tin foods or raw foods & think the fat % is low when 5% fat is around 20% fat when converted to dry matter, the Australian R/C HP is 3.5% in the wet tin food, when converted it was 13% fat, it has the omega 3 oils & everything needed for skin problems, or I’d say look at the R/C selected proteins formula’s PR-Rabbit & Potato or PD-Duck & Potato or PV-Venison & Potato but the R/C in the wet tin wet tin foods the fat is too high for Pancreatitis 4-5% when converted to dry matter is around 15-20% fat but the dry R/C select proteins kibbles are lower in fat at 10%max but your feed wet tin..

Have you joined the “Canine Pancreatitis Support ” Face Book group,
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1435920120029740/
join & look in their “Files” there’s 2 links “Low Fat Food” click on the first link & scroll down, all the low fat wet tin foods come up, on your right there’s the converted fat %, it’s been converted to dry matter fat % also read the ingredients in the Hills Wet tin food she is eating at the moment, try & avoid those some of those ingredients if you can, she is probably sensitive to a few ingredients in the I/d wet tin formula’s, that’s why I recommended the Royal Canine vet diet HP wet tin it’s a Hypoallergenic formula, your dog shouldn’t react & itch to any of the ingredients but Patch got acid reflux from the fish oil & his poos were soft but he always does softer poos when he eats wet tin foods, that’s why I feed 5 small meals a day 2 meals are cooked meal or a wet tin food & the other 3 meals are a kibble & his poos stay firm…
“Canidae” makes a really good small easy to digest grain free kibble, that’s low in fat 10.80%max called Canidae,Pure Meadow Senior grain free page 3 & Canidae Life Stages Platinum less active has grains page 4, https://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products….
It can take anywhere from 1 day up to 6 weeks for a dog to react to an ingredient & start scratching get yeasty smell paws. ears, skin gas & sloppy poos….Patch only reacts 15-20mins after he eats chicken he starts itching & scratching, gets red paws but with some ingredients in a kibble he takes about 5-14 days to start reacting with smelly yeasty skin paws & ears, carrots cause itchy smell ears.
Look for proteins like Rabbit, Venison, Pork, Duck & kangaroo in wet grain free tin foods, kangaroo is a lean novel protein & your dog probably hasn’t eaten much of the Kangaroo before. Can your girl eat a kibble even if you only feed 1 of her meals kibble then the rest of her meals wet tin food.

[Susan]

Hi Amanda,
sounds like your on the right track from reading your latest post, with sardines some people add them to their dogs diet 3 times a week, I prefer to give as a treat daily or I like freeze dried Green lipped mussels for my dog & cat not as smelly & messy, with apples it doesn’t matter which brand apple pieces you give as long as you don’t give the seeds, I get Delicious apples they’re more sweet & have less acid, with egg I cook the same way in the microwave, its quick & easy just don’t over cook then the egg is like rubber, raw carrots don’t digest & come back out whole in the dogs poo, your better off just using the kibble you’re feeding for meals as training treats…or small apple pieces….

[Parker W]

Not trying to sound like a dick but Jesus christ purina is literally the worst kibble you can get….. kibble is bad in general….. either feed orijen kibble or go with a premade raw diet or a balanced homemade raw diet

[Teagsmom]

Thanks for the info! I will be dropping Stella and Chewy’s off my list. That leaves me with Natures Variety Instinct. I’m thinking of doing Natures Variety Instinct with a topper of Primal. I will only use freeze dried raw. I need to compare the original Instincts to the Raw Boost. If I remember correctly, one of them only has small bites in chicken. My dog isn’t allergic but I’ve never fed her chicken.

[Teagsmom]

My head is spinning with all of the information out there. I’m switching my chi/mix from Acana bc she needs smaller pieces of kibble (had some teeth extracted). I’m considering Natures Instinct with a topper of Primal (she loves her topper of Primal now) or Stella and Chewy’s raw coated kibble or the raw coated kibble with a topper. She’s a 9 1/2 tripod and can’t move like she use to. My vet actually recommended Natural Instincts (no she doesn’t get paid nor do they sell it). Any recommendations? I don’t know if the raw coated is a homicidal. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

[FrankiesDoggie]

I’m having good success with Nature’s Variety frozen raw so far. The patties are the cheapest, and their frozen lineup has no synthetic vitamins. For freeze dried, I would only opt for the Nature’s Variety Raw Boost Mixers which is good as a topper (I plan to use this for travel when frozen raw isn’t viable).

Personally one of my criterion is food with no synthetic vitamins (or very little maybe one or two), and because so few brands have options without synthetics, it makes choosing out of hundreds of brands a lot easier. Some say synthetics are unhealthy, and it might be, but for me it’s just a good indicator of how overly processed the dog food was when they literally have to spray synthetic vitamins back on to it just to make it complete and balanced.

Unfortunately Stella and Chewy’s uses synthetics, so I’ve had to drop them from my list, which is fine because I still have plenty of options. For raw I plan to cycle through Nature’s Variety, Primal, Vital Essentials, Answers and Nature’s Logic (frozen raw). Nature’s Variety is the most widely available next to Primal, but there’s a few pet boutiques that carry the other brands at competitive prices where I live, so I’m happy.

Right now I have my doggie on Nature’s Variety raw and her stools are the best I’ve seen, that is, if stool could ever look good. X__X (firm but not too firm, and a nice brown color).

[Teagsmom]

I recently switched to Primal (freeze dried) bc Acana just isn’t the same since they left Canada. My chi mix absolutely loves it! We have been using the duck. I think some of the Primal formulas got 2.5 stars due to fat content or ratio of protein.

My vet actually recommended Natures Variety when I told her I had switched from Acana to Primal. I have done a TON of research and that is one that wasn’t on my list. I make sure to look at recalls in addition to everything else. Primal is definitely pricey and I will most likely use it as a topper if I decide to go with them.

Stella and Chewy’s is the 3rd on my list in addition to Primal and Natures variety. Their meal mixers look good in addition to the patties. In addition to freeze dried raw, Natures Variety makes a kibble with pieces of freeze dried raw mixed in called Instinct Raw Boost. They make a small dog version which smaller kibble which is enticing. I am leaning towards Fromm (small pieces) and using a raw topper. I have tried everything except the Instinct raw boost. Once I try that, I will make my final decision. However, for a raw food, I really love Primal.

Does anyone else have a small dog and use kibble with a topper?

[Amanda D]

I am so sorry I haven’t replied to everyone’s posts. We have had a bit of a crisis with our Bailey that didn’t turn out the way we hoped. If anyone is interested in the long story that it is I’ll post my Facebook post.

As far as food, I think I have settled rotating Fromm and Nutro Ultra Puppy kibbles. I’ll mix in defrosted frozen Peas and Carrots, in every meal, add an egg to breakfast and maybe mix in a little wet Nutro Ultra Puppy.

My question now, how should I prepare the egg? I was planning on scrambling one in my microwave in my Nordic Ware microwave egg cooker. Or is it better raw? I don’t think I’LL do tof many treats as we’ll be working on training with boiled Chicken throughout the day. Maybe some chopped Raw baby carrots.

Should I wean puppy onto people foods? I also want to use fruits for occasional treats like strawberries, blueberries, bananas and apples (unsure of what variety of apple is best … a sugary red delicious/Washington or a tarter baking type apple like granny smiths kinds.

I’mean intrested in fish oil or Canned sardines as well. But is that a daily or weekly supplement?

[a c]

Susan,

Thank you for your reply. He is a 12 weeks old miniature schnauzer. He has no problem with Orijen puppy kibble. His stool is like toosie roll, solid but soft. 5 times a day. He is also getting Freshpet select chicken and turkey roll and little vegetable as topper. I just want to rotate him with some other quality puppy food.

Both Holistic Select g/f puppy kibble and Eagle Pack kibble have Carbs at 47-48% in dry matter. Wellness Core puppy has Protein at 40% in dry matter. I am looking for kibbles that’s not too much on one component.

Besides Freshpet select roll, I have not introduced any raw or can diet for him. I know most of the raw diet have pretty high fat. I have learned my lesson from my senior dog with pancreatitis history.

[Susan]

Hi ac,
can he handle the high protein at 36% min, if poos are sloppy then maybe reduce the fat % again, email Horizon ask for the max fat%, there’s also “Wellness Core” puppy & Wellness Core Small Breed for when he’s older, both Wellness formula’s have a bit less fat at 18% min normally it’s an extra 1-2 % extra for fat & protein, it depends on the brand, you’ll have to email Wellness to get the max fat %, Wellness also has their Wellness Complete grain free small breed formula’s the fat & protein is under 30% for dogs that can’t handle higher fat & protein,
Wellpet make Wellness, Holistic Select & Eagle Pack, Holistic Select has a small breed formula but I think it has healthy grains, it’s good to rotate kibbles, Wellness are pretty good they email back & answer all questions, another thing if you feed wet tin or raw food the fat % is higher then it says on the tin or raw packet, it needs to be converted to dry matter (Kibble), so when you see say 5%min fat on a wet tin or raw packet is around 20-26%max fat after being converted to dry matter, a lot of people don’t know this until their dog ends up with Pancreatitis or diarrhea…. I always feed wet tin foods that are around 2-4% fat…
What small breed do you have??
Here’s the Wellness link https://www.wellnesspetfood.com/natural-dog-food
Wellness have toppers, their TruFood freeze dried raw you add water, I think the fat has already been converted to dry matter fat%, you’d have to ask Wellness, it’s best to rotate between a few different brands with different proteins so your dog gets use to eating everything, rotating also strengthens their immune system….

[ken m]

Hello,

I am looking to buy a dried raw meat only and then add my own vegetables. I prefer air dried, but would go with dehydrated if that is the only option. Does anyone know of a brand that sells just the meat only?

Thanks!

[Susan]

Hi Courtney,
Canidae is not manufactured by Diamond, when Canidae first started years ago I think Canidae used a Diamond plant to pack their new formula’s then Diamond shut down the Texas plant & Canidae bought Diamonds old plant in Texas & fixed it all up, Canidae is a small family run business that make small batches of locally sourced ingredients, here’s Canidae’s site, https://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products
click on “Our Story” then Click on “Our Journey” watch their video how they started….
My IBD boy does real well on Canidae on their pure formula’s & their Life Stages formula’s, his coat shines, I have so many people say, Gee he looks so healthy, but I do rotate all his kibbles at the time I was just feeding Canidae Pure Wild Boar… Canidae also make “Under The Sun” UTS it’s a bit cheaper probably cause they use chickpeas….. In Australia Canidae only gets shipped here once a month & by the 3-4 week Canidae is all sold out, so many people feed Canidae over the Australian made brands to their cats & dogs…
If you go on Consumer Affairs site there is NOT one bad complaint about Canidae foods…..

It’s best to rotate between a few different 4-5 star brands that both have a different proteins, this way your dog isn’t just eating 1 brand 24/7 & if something was wrong with the brand you are feeding your dog will have health problems, when you rotate between a few different brands your dog isn’t on a certain brand long enough & won’t have any health problems if that a brand isn’t balanced properly or has any contaminates & toxins etc if the kibble isn’t balanced properly rotating helps your dog get a more of a balance diet, plus it strengthen their immune system….
When I’ve read some of the Fromm formulas there’s a lot of different ingredients & some formula’s are pea heavy, pea flour, pea protein, chickpeas, lentils…I would lookfor a few different brands & I open 2 bags & feed one for breakfast & the other for dinner or I ask Patch which one do you want to day & show him the containers & he licks the container or I have one brand kibble in one hand & the other brand kibble in my other hand & he picks the kibble he wants to eat…
Have you looked at “Zignature” a lot of people love the Kangaroo formula & Zignature have just released a Pork & Catfish formula you could email Zignature & ask do they have samples to try or ask the pet shops that sell Zignature do they have samples…

You have a few really good brands in America, if my boy didn’t have IBD, I’d be feeding raw & kibble, a lot of people in Australia feed raw kangaroo + kibble, my cat loves her raw + her kibble, Kangaroo is very healthy & the Kangaroos are breed especially for humans & pet foods & don’t has any toxins like fish do, same as turkey & chicken is the cleanest meats to eat….

[a c]

Thank you for your reply. I will try to contact them.

I have contacted Stella and Chewy’s, Primal, Honest Kitchen, and BARF world. The fat contents on raw diet are too high. I need something with fat content around 10%.

[aimee]

Hi Kelsey,

Pitlove is right Petfooled is laden with misinformation it’s too bad really.. anyway here are just a few comments I made about it on the review section

” Here is an excerpt from the trailer and the film as an example of misinformation. In reference to corn wheat and soy “those are the things that cause overweight, diabetes, arthritis,chronic skin allergies, infections..”

The problem is, is that there is just as much evidence to say that beef, lamb, and chicken are the things that cause overweightedness, allergies, diabetes, and infections as there is to say corn, wheat and soy cause those things. In other words there is no basis to be making either statement. It is all “fake news”

“What was presented was very biased. For example in regards to rendering there were pics of body piles and dead stock and road kill but no real discussion that the material used in pet food is usually always from a USDA integrated facility leading the viewer to think that road kill and dead bloated cattle is the primary source for pet food ingredients.

Major blunders in facts ( they couldn’t even get the anatomy labeling correct ) and appeal to nature fallacy.

Dr. Becker incorrectly reported that the scientific name of the dog was
changed from canis lupus familiaris to just canis lupus because dogs
are essentially wolves vs them being a recognized subspecies.

She reported the change was because the only differences between wolves and dogs is “outer packaging”

Shesh!!
Fact check people, just don’t lift garbage off of raw feeding sites
and repeat it! What she said was pretty much verbatim from here https://www.balanced-canine…

What really happened was that the dog was canis familiaris and was
changed to canis lupus familiaris. Similar renaming occurred with other
domestic animals: separate species names were abandoned in favor of
classifying under the same species and assigning a subspecies name.

No mention of the Nature journal paper that reported on the genetic
adaptation of dogs vs wolves in regards to carbohydrate metabolism.Hmm
wonder why….

Implications that major pet food companies won’t disclose where they source from because they declined to be interviewed for the film. I understand why they would decline to be interviewed and if the producers of the film were interested in looking at sourcing info
they could have just lifted it from company web pages.

Did they not want the viewer to know that human grade 1 and 2 grains and meat from USDA integrated plants is used in pet foods?

All in all a waste of time. Not worth paying for and not worth watching.”

Also, did you know that the average debt for a person graduating vet school is upwards of $167,000 with 20% owing more than 200,000? Therefore this statement, “Vets push Science Diet so hard because Science Diet puts them through school. Science Diet is somewhat like a sponsor for the vet.” is complete “fake news” Oh sure they may get a pocket protector and some free pens or a back pack . Vet Students used to get a “hard” copy of Small Animal Clinical Nutrition. Don’t know if they still get a hard copy as you can just download it off their site, (You can too for that matter and if you are interested in nutrition it is worth your time to read it.) and I think vet students can buy their Hill’s food at a reduced rate. Big deal, nothing that would even make a teeny tiny dent in the cost of their education. Student loans are what puts vets through school not Science Diet.

[Susan]

Hi Steve,
the only way to know how these animals died & how the pet food is being made is buy free range organic ethically farmed meat & veggies & make your own pet meals….
If you lived in Australia we have a new ethically farmed pet food called “Frontier Pets”, the pigs, chickens & beef all run free & are feed a healthy diet, they live a pretty good life…Here’s “Frontier Pet Food” web page https://frontierpets.com.au/pages/our-purpose
There must be a few companies like our Frontier pets but in America… send Frontier Pets a email the lady will email you back & answer all your questions, ask does she know of another pet food company like her Frontier Pets but in America or Canada, she has just started & would of done a heap of research, so she may have come across another ethically farmed pet food company in America….

There’s “Ziwi Peak” an New Zealand pet food company who make high quality pet foods your dogs will love their air dried pet food & their wet tin foods, https://www.ziwipets.com/
there’s also “K-9 Natural” another NZ made pet food you add water I buy their Green Lipped Mussels. https://www.k9natural.co.nz/
Ziwi Peak & K-9 Naturals are both sold in America.
There’s “Honest Kitchen” you can use their base formula’s & add your own organic meat or buy the HK formula’s where you just add water….
There’s “Just Food For Dogs” they make pet food for dogs with certain health problems they may make an small breed all life stages formula, send them an email.. https://www.justfoodfordogs.com/vet-support-diets

Do you realise when you read the fat% & protein% on wet raw foods it hasn’t been converted to dry matter basis (kibble) yet, here’s a calculator, save this link so you can convert & know how high the fat % is in wet tin, raw food your feeding…. 5% min-fat when converted to dry matter is around 20-25%max-fat. http://www.k-9kraving.com/resources/calculator.php

Once you have found a few pet foods introduce them & make sure you rotate between 2-3 different brands so your dogs are getting a variety of different pet foods so if one of these pet foods isn’t balanced properly or has toxins etc your dogs aren’t eating the same pet food 24/7 here’s “Clean Label Project” site, this is the first year CLP has tested pet foods for toxin’s, CLP tested the most popular pet foods for lead, arsenic, pesticides, mercury, cadmium, BPA you can see which wet pet foods made the good list & the worst list…..click on “Product Ratings” up the top..
I and Love and You, Dog for Dog, Wellness, SmallBatch Pets & Stella & Chewy got 5 stars in the wet tin foods section…the fish formula’s seem to be worse & turkey & chicken formula’s rate the best. http://www.cleanlabelproject.org/product-ratings/pet-food/

[anonymous]

Interesting. All I know is that prednisone saved my life when I had an allergic reaction caused by a vaccine.
Prednisone also saved my dog from continuing to scratch herself bloody raw until we could get to the specialist.
I know of what I speak.

Good luck.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by anonymous.

[anonymous]

If your dog has environmental allergies, the food has nothing to do with it.
Make an appointment with a veterinary dermatologist for the best results.
Btw: Steroids are often necessary and the only way to stop the suffering (temporarily) until the dog gets seen by a specialist and recommended testing (not phony baloney mail-in hair and saliva tests) is done.
Once you get an accurate diagnosis you can then evaluate the treatment options.
Raw food is the worst thing you could do to any living thing.

This is not veterinary advice; consult your veterinarian.

Ps: There is no cure for allergies. Initial testing by a veterinary dermatologist and start of treatment can run up to $600-$1000 depending, maintenance can run from $300- $600 every 5 months or so. But, for many dogs it works, and they are comfortable.
Treatment tends to be lifelong. Ask your vet (a veterinary health care professional) if you don’t believe me.

[Nata T]

Hi all,

I am very sorry for your puppies being sick and now wonder myself if this is the cause of mine being unwell. Hope they recover soon. There are holistic ways to help your babies.
We used to feed my fur boy Acana only until they decided to open a plant in KY and in the USA we only have access to that food. So, I found new food for him over a year ago. It was a perfect choice with new food and my boy not once had ANY health issues. Until this May when I for some reason forgot that I didn’t order his food (only available on line), I ran into Hollywood feed and got a bag of Acana Wild Atlantic. Immediately, he started to itch, eating himself to bleeding. I freaked out and took him to the vet and asked for blood test. His BUN was ok, but CREA was sooo high, MCH and MCHC so low that it alarmed me. The vet said- no worries, this is allergy. Stupid me, feeling so bad for my boy, agreed to a steroid shot to relief the itch. We also got antibiotics and allergy drugs, which cost me an arm and leg. But, anything for my boy. I eat and live healthy and natural as I can. So, I started my research and after 10 days of meds, I took him off. Sorry, got carried away.
The Acana food I bought was sooo greasy that it concerned me, but I still fed him (I bought a smaller bag). Stupid me!
As soon as our regular food arrived, I switched and he is getting better.
It has been over a month of this disaster, but I am getting this under control.

This morning I received the same e-mail from Chewy and was surprised. But I guess it is for the better.
Being bought by Petsmart is not good news to me.

I am in process of transferring to raw now.
The food I currently feed is UK made formula (Guidelines are tougher in Europe) made in Austin, TX by one of the family member, who lives in the USA. No grain, no soy, no canola, no rice, no potatoes, no eggs. Once a week I give him egg with shell. Kelp daily. Fruits and veggies he access any time. No harm, except few high in sugar, no raisins, avocado, grapes.
So glad I came across this post. Thank you all!

[anonymous]

Article written by a veterinary nutritionist (excerpts below, click on link for full article)
https://www.mspca.org/angell_services/choosing-the-right-diet-for-your-pet/

Grain free diets
Grain free diets have become all the rage in the last few years. I suspect this has stemmed from greater recognition of gluten sensitivity in humans. Most pet food companies have jumped on the band wagon following the marketing success of grain free human diets. The truth of the matter is that there are no dog or cat studies showing a health benefit to grain free foods. A myth has been perpetuated that grains are unhealthy. In fact, whole grains contribute vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids and are highly digestible by dogs and cats. Allergies to grains are actually very rare, and only the Irish Setter breed has been demonstrated to have a gluten sensitivity. Many grain free diets substitute potatoes and tapioca, which have less protein, more sugar, and less fiber. And typically these come at a higher cost.
Animal by-products
In addition to grain, animal by-products have become “dirty words” on the ingredient list. Although not necessarily appealing to humans (particularly in the USA), the definition of a by-product in pet food is a part of the animal that is not skeletal muscle. This includes organ meats and intestines (not intestinal contents). AAFCO specifically excludes hair, hooves, horns, hide, manure, etc… as acceptable by-products. So in reality, by-products are perfectly healthy and full of nutrients. And you can be sure that a wild wolf or mountain lion is eating “by-products” in nature.
Raw diets
Raw diets are another popular option on the market today. Studies have shown that 20-35% of raw poultry and 80% of raw food dog diets tested contained Salmonella. This poses a health risk for your pet, but also for humans. This is especially true for children or immunocompromised adults, whether exposed to the raw food directly, or the feces of the pet eating the raw food. Additionally, there is increased risk of other bacterial infections and parasitic diseases when feeding raw diets. And the bottom line is there is no reason to believe raw food is healthier than cooked food.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by anonymous.

[pitlove]

Hi Michael-

The protein % on raw or fresh cooked foods is not converted to dry matter. Once converted the 12% protein is much much higher.

Here is a good article on here about how to convert to dry matter and what it means

/choosing-dog-food/dry-matter-basis/

[Susan]

Hi Michael,
These home made raw diets are the rage in Australia, the smaller pet shops have their own home made raw diets, where the bigger Pet food companies sell the commercial raw diets like Barf & Big Dog.. I’d stay away from the bigger raw companies the meat is lower grade…. is the Farmer Dog diet a cooked or raw diet?? wet tin & raw diets have not been converted to dry matter (Kibble) ….. Email the pet food companies & ask what is the fat % & protein % after being converted to dry matter, the protein is going to be around 40% & more being 12%-raw…. Just be careful with higher fat as dogs get older especially if your dog is prone to Pancreatitis….My boy is 8yrs old with IBD/Pancreatitis & I stay around 15% & under for fat when eating a kibble & it’s hard finding a pre made raw diet around 3-4% raw fat = 12-15%dry, unless I make it myself, it depends on the brand, Kangaroo & turkey formula’s are around 3-4%-fat raw, converted to dry matter (Kibble) that’s around 11-16%-fat…. your dog may be OK with fat around 5%-raw = 20-25% converted to dry matter, look what the fat % is in the dry kibble he eats, it’s probably around 12-15% in fat, so now you need a raw diet where the fat says 3-4% & then slowly increase to a higher fat %, first see if he’s OK eating the new raw diet, I started feeding my boy freshly home made raw for breakfast & I was still feeding him his kibble for dinner, the kibble keeps them feeling fuller longer & when they start eating a raw diet they get hungry quicker, your boy may lose a little weight when he starts the raw diet, but that’s a good thing, then you just increase the raw if he losses too much weight, your going to have a healthier dog being feed raw…..
It’s best to join a few raw feeding face book groups like “K9 Nutrition” – Lew Olson’s group & “K9 Kitchen” – Monica Segal’s group they have fresh home made raw & cooked diets & you’ll learn how balance & make your own home made diets with fresh human grade ingredients also follow Rodney Habib…

[Paulah C]

I have a dog that gains weight quickly despite his 3 hour daily walks & his evening off leash trail or dog play. I am trying to find a good quality weight lose dog food that is Completely Chicken Free. He was on IAMS kangaroo & doing well. Unfortunately IAMS stopped manufacturing the kangaroo dog food which had Pork as its Fat Ingredient. My Vet. had me start him on Royal Canin Kangaroo having been told it’s ingredients where identical to IAMS. Well less than a week into the switch my boy was scratching non stop… Took a good look at the ingredients and to my surprise Royal Canin Fat Ingredient is CHICKEN stopped it immediately. He is on food he loves, but has started putting on more weight again. Despite him being active & feeding him the amount for an inactive dog and for a lower weight. He is also now constantly looking for more food in his bowl or peoples pockets on the walks 🙁 ).
I have tried Frozen Raw, but he refuses to eat it even if it is the only thing I put out for him that day. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Karen W]

Can anyone suggest a lower protein dog food that still ranks high at Dog Advisor…? I have a very specific issue with my dog and would like to cut his current Nature’s Variety Instinct kibble with something with a lower protein count.
DFA has not offered a ranking of the lower protein food as they appear on the fence about dog’s eating a lower protein. BUT…when your dog needs a lower protein…what do you choose…?
It seem the raw food has a lot less protein than kibble choices. I could do that, but he is a great dane and I’d like to keep the cost down some if possible.
Thanks!

[a c]

I know rawhides, bull sticks, and antlers may not be good for dogs. I came cross No Hide Stix by Earth Animals. It has three flavors salmon, chicken, and beef. Are those good alternative for bones?

[LovelyBear]

Hi Susan,

Thank you for replying. My dog is definitely healthier now. Her teeth are getting white and she has lost the extra weight she needed to loose. That makes sense that the fillers and carbs would make her feel fuller when she was on kibble. I’ll just give her more time to adjust, because also when she was eating kibble she was aloud to snack and eat whenever she wanted.
I don’t buy premade raw. But I was wondering if it is a chicken allergy or maybe I am feeding to much chicken. So I just prepped her meal for the next 2 weeks and I am only using one chicken quarter a day with Pork and Beef Muscle. Also organs and tripe. I previously was giving her meals of just chicken, for example a leg quarter, hearts and gizzards. I am still learning and seeing what agree with her and what doesn’t.
The past two days of less or no chicken have already reduced the amount of flatulence she was having!

[lori r]

I have been feeding my pittie/boxer mix raw since 2012 when she was 6 months old. She generally gets beef hunks, a chicken or turkey neck, some pureed veggies and homemade bone broth, and ground green tripe once a week. I just got a grinder, and started grinding whole chickens, but thought it’s a pretty boring texture. Do you feed ground meat? Hunks or chunks? Or whole prey model? I have a business partner and we’re starting up a raw pet food business, and wondered how most people feed their pets.