[Caroline L]

Hello
my dog is 1.5 year old Parti yorkie。 I have some questions for my dog regarding his ALT number . we have blood test on one year old check out and his Alt 142 so Vet give he a samelq 225 and we recheck blood test two month later which
Is two week ago the ALt number 192 . everything for my dog is normal and have good appetite. Vet think we should do the bile Acid to check liver function.we did the bile acid test and liver function normal, and we also did the ultrasound it is normal just has mild hepatic lymph enlarged . Vet think it mild infection in the liver and/or intestine This could be caused by inflammation secondary to a food intolerance.

He was has justfoodfor dog also have short time raw food from darwinspet.
I am currently has Justfood for dog , salmon and cod with sweet pototao .. and recheck blood for one month see if not eat chicken , beef those will be better
try to find what kind protein cause the food intolerance .

my concern is what cause the ALT number high than normal range and the the liver and other is normal.
and what kind food has cause mild hepatic lymph enlarged .
just the ALT number made me feel wired ..
is anyone has any suggest or recommend ?

my dog has no symptoms for anything .he has very good appetite.

is any food intolerance test suggest ?

thank you ,

[Chipy]

Good question, Mitch. When it comes to grain-free and/or pea-free diets, we need consider the overall quality of the food and the root cause of taurine deficiency.

The “grain-free” marketing term refers to processed dry food/kibble that is an extruded, highly processed product; whether it is full of grains or grain-free, it is not healthy.

The main ingredients in the grain-free diets are often peas, lentils, chickpeas and potatoes — carbohydrates typically intended to replace grains – rather than high-quality meat protein. This explains why some dogs became taurine deficient when fed these diets, as taurine (an essential amino acid that supports heart health) is naturally found in fresh meat and organs.

So it’s best to avoid most grains and starches (because they are not a natural part of a canine’s diet) and focus on increasing the amount of fresh meat and organs in your dog’s diet to naturally prevent DCM.

Dogs have much shorter digestive tracts than herbivores and can’t process high-carb foods like grains and starchy carbs very well. This often results in excessive food fermentation and gas.

You can replace starchy carbs with cooked squash or pumpkin, especially for dogs with digestive upset. Grains (including rice) in general can contribute to IBD. Arsenic toxicity in rice is also a serious problem.

https://peterdobias.com/blogs/blog/113943301-how-to-avoid-foods-high-in-arsenic-and-keep-your-dog-healthy

https://peterdobias.com/blogs/blog/11014993-what-veggies-are-good-for-dogs

The best diet is as nature intends; fresh meat, organs and bones with some vegetables and leafy greens. A varied, species-appropriate diet, along with all-natural vitamins, minerals, omega-3’s and probiotics is the way to go.

It is very rare for a dog to have a taurine deficiency when consuming an unprocessed, fresh food diet because taurine is so readily available in meats and organs. It may need to be supplemented if your dog has been tested as deficient, but overall dogs get enough of this amino acid from fresh food, and from their ability to manufacture it in their own body.

If you are concerned, connect with your holistic or integrative vet to get your pup tested and you can discuss options together based on the results.

Here are some links to a quick & easy Natural Diet Course, and an online Recipe Maker that I hope you will find helpful if you want to learn more about alternatives to processed food. Your dog will love you for it! 🙂 Switching from kibble to fresh food was the best decision we made a few years ago to improve our pup’s health and reduce unnecessary vet bills.

https://peterdobias.com/pages/course-rawdiet

https://recipemaker.peterdobias.com/

Wishing you and your pup all the best 🙂

[Teresa R]

I am very new to raw, but not to dog food. I ordered one bag of Dr. Marty and let me add, I have two Pomeranians and a Maltese, they were all very happy with Fromm dry and Weruva wet but with Fromm being named as one of the dog foods associated with DCM, I took them off immediately. I have been searching for a food they will eat since then (2018). So far they are happy with Annamaet small breed (started about 4 months ago) and I still feed them Weruva wet( great food and great variety) . With all that said, they AGAIN, were struggling to eat … After AGAIN countless hours of research, I saw the Dr. Marty infomercial and decided to give it a try. I ordered a bag in July thinking I would use it as a topper because of the price. It is now early October and all of them still like it, as soon as I started it, they began eating like they really enjoyed their food again. I haven’t noticed any change in my one that has allergies or any changes for that matter in any of them but they have always been on premium food. I really wanted them on Dr. Tim’s but after a week they hated it, tried all blends and they hated all. I use Dr. Marty’s as a topper – they eat 1/4 cup Annamaet,; 1teasp. Of Weruva wet and three pellets of Dr. Marty. I dilute with 1 tablespoon -and a smidge more of water, wait 3 min. And smush down with my finger and mix everything all together. I still have about 1/4 of the first bag or a little less left and have ordered my second bag today. I will update if things change but they still love it. Their weight has stayed the same, that is very important since the Poms have luxating patella issues which btw, I give them Dasuquin with MSM, and on this, they have no visible signs of discomfort from patellas.

[Glenn G]

Hello,

I have a 6-year-old female Bichon Frise who was recently diagnosed with pituitary Cushing’s disease and has been put on medication. I would like to know what type of dog food she should be put on as I read that regular dry kibble will continue to make her drink more water, which is one of her problems. I read that a raw diet would be better and I am open to suggestions on which brand would be good for her as she is eating everything in site now and has gained some weight.

Thanks

[Caroline L]

Hello
my dog is 1.5 year old Parti yorkie。 I have some questions for my dog regarding his ALT number . we have blood test on one year old check out and his Alt 142 so Vet give he a samelq 225 and we recheck blood test two month later which
Is two week ago the ALt number 192 . everything for my dog is normal and have good appetite. Vet think we should do the bile Acid to check liver function.we did the bile acid test and liver function normal, and we also did the ultrasound it is normal just has mild hepatic lymph enlarged . Vet think it mild infection in the liver and/or intestine This could be caused by inflammation secondary to a food intolerance.

He was has justfoodfor dog also have short time raw food from darwinspet.
I am currently has Justfood for dog , salmon and cod with sweet pototao .. and recheck blood for one month see if not eat chicken , beef those will be better
try to find what kind protein cause the food intolerance .

my concern is what cause the ALT number high than normal range and the the liver and other is normal.
and what kind food has cause mild hepatic lymph enlarged .
just the ALT number made me feel wired ..
is anyone has any suggest or recommend ?

my dog has no symptoms for anything .he has very good appetite.

thank you ,

[Chipy]

Good question, John. It’s best to avoid meat meals but they are the primary ingredients in most dry dog food so the healthiest option is to switch to fresh foods like home-cooked or premade raw diets that are more nutritious for our pups.

Meat meals are made from taking slaughterhouse and fish processing factory remnants that are not edible for humans, and cooking them, processing them under high heat, and dehydrating them into a dry powdery substance that goes into kibble.

Like most other low-grade and highly processed ingredients in kibble and canned diets, meat meals contain little to no nutritional value to the dog being fed.

I use Dr. D’s recipe maker and natural whole-food based supplements to create healthy meals for my pup. It helps me build balanced recipes with the ingredients I have available and I love it; https://recipemaker.peterdobias.com

[Patricia A]

I agree with pugmomsan. I switch between brands, flavors, proteins. This should be done VERY SLOWLY . If using kibble just start with the new brand being added to old brand with a few mixed in for several weeks. I NEVER only give kibble. Not the best diet for life for a dog. You can add a little prepared freeze dried or raw again with rotating brands and proteins SLOWLY introducing. Also REAL cooked food when appropriate. I sound like a broken record but I think most people now know that lean beef, lean steak, salmon, string beans, watermelon, plain yogurt, boiled plain chicken etc. added to kibble at times is the best diet at least for my two.

[Amy B]

Help!
Our rescue Frenchie has severe IBD. Her doctor prescribed the Hills GI Biome food, which did help her BMs for a little while, but now she’s back to the straining & blood, and on top of things she HATES that food & pretty much snubs it unless I can put something on it.

We have tried switching to a kangaroo food, and that didnt go well. Now we are trying something similar to her script food with microorganisms but a limited ingredient & duck protein. That has helped with the blood, but is not firming up her stool.

Considering adding a frozen raw or freeze-dried raw, or perhaps mixing in the script & adding raw. Idk

My real question is HOW LONG SHOULD WE TRY FOODS before ruling them out as helpful or not???

She is also taking prednisone, and has been on & off of Metronidazole for the past 4 months (currently off for about a week but I have refills if I need to go back to it).

[Susan]

Hi Isabella,
there might be too much organ meats in the pre made raw your buying read ingredients, also too much bone, my boy cant have too much organ meats- liver, heart, kidney, or bone causes diarrhea with him or the fat is probably toooo HIGH in the raw you’re feeding …
The fat in raw diet, cooked meal & wet can foods & dog rolls hasn’t been converted to dry matter like a kibble has, so when you see say-5%min fat, I times the fat % by X 4 = 20%min-25%max fat you’ll get an ruff idea what the fat is, also it depends on the moisture %, if the moisture is 78% max & under the max fat will less, if the moisture is 79% or more then the max fat will be higher.
Or contact the Pet Food Company & ask them which raw formula has the lowest amount of fat you’d be looking for 3% 4% max fat to get around 10-16% fat, ask can you have the fat converted into dry matter.

Best to make your own premade raw diet my vet said cause most pre-made raw is high in fat, when you make your own raw you control ingredients, organ meats, & fat unless you find a local small business who makes pre-made raw with fresh human grade free range meats.

Turkey & Pork is really good lean white proteins when the fat is removed & buy green fresh vegetables – parsley, broccoli, celery, small spinach leaves, apple, peel de seed cut up apple & put veggies thru a blender, blend into a pulp & put veggies/fruit mix into ice cube trays – 1 spoon & cover ice cube trays, then freeze & take out night before put in fridge or use as needed, add 1-2 veggie/fruit mix spoons to 1 cup meat also buy tin Salmon drain the salmon & put in container & store in fridge, add 2 spoons salmon per meal to help balance diet & add Omega 3 to dogs diet.
Or look for Freeze Dried Raw or Air Dried Raw- Ziwi Peak has their Venison formula for Skin & bowel problems & has the lowest fat% but fat is still too high for my boy, in Australia we have Prime SKD rolls – Kangaroo & Pumkin, Wild Boar & Pumkin, Salmon & Tapioca, Duck & Sweet Potato, Crocodile & Tapioca, Kangaroo & Potato, Turkey & Flaxseed rolls, these rolls are really good for dogs who suffer with food sensitivies then you start an food elimination diet what you need to do.
I dont know if there’s same type of rolls you have in US??
So you’ll know what ingredients your dog is sensitive too?? as food sensitivities cause farts, sloppy poos, wind pains, yeasty ears, yeasty skin, rubbing bum on ground, anal problems, vomiting itchy skin,.
Food sensitivities can take 20mins for dog to react after eating a food, up to 6 weeks to react??
Id start a food elimination diet now Winter is coming best time as environment allergens are at their lowest so less chance confusing results.

“Sudocrem” is excellent its an anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, healing cream for skin problems, Eczema, Dermatitis, itchy dry red skin, Sudocrem acts as a barrier & protects skin from Allergens normally dogs who get Hot spot suffer with Environment allergies & yeasty ears, skin paws can be from environment allergies & food sensitivities..my boy suffers with both..
Weekly Cool Baths in a medicated shampoo are the best you can do to wash & cool skin, if dog is really itchy then bath twice a week in medicated shampoo, I use Malaseb medicated shampoo, it kills the yeast & bacteria on skin, days you do not bath buy baby wipes that have aloe extract leaf & vitamin E, wipe the dog down after being outside wipe off allergens, before bed wipe dog down & apply the Sudocrem to stop any itchy skin & heal red itchy skin even ears I use cotton tip & lightly apply Sudocrem & before going outside apply Sudocrem it acts as a barrier to protect skin from allergens.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sudocrem-Antiseptic-Healing-Cream-125g/553023443

I like “Canidae Pure Fresh Pork -16% fat or Canidae Pure Fresh Duck & Sweet Potato 16-17% fat or Canidae Pure Fresh Salmon & Sweet Potato has highest fat% 18-20% fat a lot of dogs doing really well on Canidae Pure formula’s I buy the Canidae Pure Senior for my old boy.

You can also try “Gastro Elm” alot of people say its really good firm up sloppy poos acid reflux etc its Slippery Elm powder, Dandelion Root Powder and Marshmallow Root Powder.
https://www.gastroelm.com/

[Patricia A]

John I have Chihuahuas. Freeze Dried is kind of expensive to feed even with them being small. So I supplement with the kibble and give less of the freeze dried to make up their calorie/nutritional needs. Also as I posted they get home cooked as a topper to a little kibble. This being boiled white meat chicken, boiled salmon, string beans(low salt), carrots, watermelon, sweet potatoes, lean steak, boiled 1/8 of hard boiled egg in morning. This is easily done since it’s just what we’re having for dinner that day.
So there are many freeze dried brands. I stick to Primal and Stella Chewy’s. Bixbi Rawbbles freeze dried are given for treats and Open Farm freeze dried. I hear Dogs for the Earth is a very good brand also and Vital Essentials(believe this one follows a prey model with no added vitamins. Just what’s in the food for nutrition. )
I got them VERY, VERY, VERY slowly used to Primal in different proteins/flavors. I use the lower fat ones which I believe is the ones DFA rated as 5*’s. So Rabbit, Turkey/Salmon, Duck.
Stella Chewy’s I feed their Venison Blend,.
I just mix it up everyday. Never had a problem with their digestion and all blood work great. They LOVE the food.
I use Open Farm grain free and switch between with Stella Chewy’s raw coated chicken kibble. Just a little again to stretch the freeze dried .
If you have a larger breed dog it would be more cost saving to get the same in the raw. Most go through HPP process to get rid of salmonella/bacteria. True raw advocates don’t like this step but it’s fine with me. https://primalpetfoods.com/pages/canine-balanced-bases https://www.stellaandchewys.com/dog-food/

• This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by Patricia A.

[Chipy]

Hi Soph, so great that you switched to a 100% homemade diet for your girl. My pup is about the same size as yours and eggshells didn’t work for him. Bonemeals are often high in toxic heavy metals such as lead, and low-level lead poisoning can damage kidneys, liver and nerves over time so I would be careful with them.

If you don’t feed any raw bones, you can use GreenMin as the main calcium source. Dr. Dobias has found that dogs who are on GreenMin, and are not consuming any bone in their diet, consistently have results within normal ranges for calcium levels on their hair analysis test.

Also, please be aware that Balanceit. com provides synthetic vitamin & mineral mixes. I was considering it many years ago when we switched to a homemade diet but I don’t like feeding anything that is NOT natural. There is a big difference in how the body abosorbs nutrients from whole food-based vs synthetic chemical-based supplements.

https://peterdobias.com/blogs/blog/15188693-synthetic-supplements-for-dogs-can-cause-serious-problems

We have been using the Fab4 (GreenMin, SoulFood, GutSense, and FeelGood Omega) for many years and our dog loves them. He is super healthy at the age of 10 and we are very grateful for Dr. Dobias and his pure products.

Dog Essentials

These natural supplements are like wholesome food, the body recognizes them as such and only absorbs what it requires. As every dog has slightly different nutritional requirements, it’s best to provide a wide variety of nutrients to support the body. Here is what we add to our pup’s homemade diet to fill in any nutritional gaps.

GreenMin, as a source of plant-based minerals, calcium, amino-acids, and super greens
SoulFood, as a certified organic multivitamin with additional organ support components
GutSense, as a source of dog specific certified organic probiotics
FeelGood Omega, to supplement Essential Fatty Acids (omega 3s) – Sardines can be high in toxic strontium!

In a perfect world, a wide variety of food would keep your dog’s body nourished and no supplements would be required. The problem is, due to intensive agriculture, minerals and nutrients do not get recycled back into the soil, leading to a lack of minerals in the whole food chain.

https://peterdobias.com/blogs/blog/15072565-how-many-supplements-are-too-many-for-your-dog

I encourage you to do your own research and only choose the highest quality products for your dog. They deserve the best! 🙂

[Chipy]

Leamless, it’s so great that you are considering to switch from kibble to something healthier. I know what it’s like to live on a strict budget and understand how expensive life can get. In my experience it is more economical to feed a home-made diet (raw or cooked) than feeding commercially processed pet foods. You also get the benefit of understanding where each ingredient comes from (dog food recalls have been super scary lately)!

We switched to home-made meals years ago and it was the best decision for our dog and my budget. LOL I am happy to share some resources that have been super helpful in guiding us to prepare balanced, home-made meals.

Dr. Dobias has created a free Natural Diet Course which contains videos and articles full of information on this subject;

https://peterdobias.com/pages/course-rawdiet

His online Recipe Maker will help you build healthy meals for your dog with the ingredients you have available. It provides guidance on amounts of each ingredient and which ingredients are best;

https://recipemaker.peterdobias.com

The key is to offer a variety of both proteins and vegetables, and add essential nutrients (non-synthetic, whole-food based supplements) to help fill in any nutritional deficiencies;

Dog Essentials

I hope this helps to get you started on this journey. It takes some time to learn the basics but the energy investment will definitely pay off when your dog is super healthy thanks to natural nutrition and you get to save on unnecessary vet bills.

[Patricia A]

leamlass I’m not sure how big a dog you have since freezer dried is somewhat expensive. I have Chihuahuas’ so it doesn’t break the bank. However, I stretch the freeze dried by giving small amounts of kibble to make up for the caloric requirements. Other times I will give small amount of kibble with home cooked. That being boiled white meat chicken, boiled egg in morning some lean steak, lean very low chop meat (90% fat free), boiled salmon, string beans, carrots, watermelon etc. These all agree with my dogs in small quantities and really are real food that they should be eating.
So I got my two SLOWLY used to different brands and different proteins. Again VERY SLOWLY one at a time for a few weeks . They lick their bowls.
These are the brands that they do well with and are in supply at my local Pet Supply store. I stick with the ones the DFA advisor gives the 5* . They are a little lower in fat. They are all freeze dried. However the frozen would be more cost saving..
PRIMAL Turkey/Sardine, Rabbit, Duck
Stella Chewy’s Chicken(I give home cooked so don’t use too much), Rabbit, Venison Blend
I also give freeze dried treats in Bixbi and Open Farm treats freeze dried.
I alternate with Stella Chewy’s raw coated kibble and Open Farm grain free kibble.
Always looking for freeze dried to add to my rotation but mine do very well with good checkups and no tummy upset with these brands. Hope this helps.

[leamlass]

I would really like to change my dog’s food from dry kibbles to either freeze-dried or some other healthier form of food, but I am on a limited income being a widow and are not sure what to do. I already try to feed her the better brands that I can afford, but I think that raw will be better for any dog.
Can anyone help me with this.

[WondrousPups]

Hi Aimee,
Sounds like we are on a same boat right now , doing similar things. I’m still leaning towards feeding more home-cooked meals (not raw), but I don’t think I will ever convert to 100%. Just trying to find a balance that woks for me at this point. Thanks for dropping your thoughts!
WP

[Sandy R]

Hello, RollTide10!

I was looking for something else but came upon your post here from March. Did anyone ever respond to you and/or did you resolve your situation? If so, great! If not, I have a little experience with DLE with my German Shepherd Dog, so am sharing below:

First, you should know that the only area of breakout (so far) has been my dog’s nose. We have been very lucky. She had two episodes where her poor little nose broke out in scaly, whitish-grey “eruptions.” I think it looked a lot worse than it felt as she did not fuss a lot, but it looked terrible. Since there are different types of Lupus (one of which is absolutely god-awful), I went ahead and had a biopsy done so we could have an absolute diagnosis. I paid a couple hundred bucks in 2016 to have my vet do what is called a “punch biopsy” of my dog’s nose and they sent it to a lab at Penn State for verification. They took a tiny, cylindrical needle “punch” of the nose tissue so they could get a good cross-section of the layers of skin/cells. I was not allowed to be in the room when it was done, but it only took moments and she seemed fine when it was over. No bad side effects and she was not “mad” at her vet or me afterwards — always a possibility with GSD’s!! 🙂

After that, we tried a couple different prescribed ointments but they did not seem to help. I have actually had the best luck using an organic dog nose balm that I get thru Amazon. It is called “Snout Soother” by the Natural Dog Company. Comes in either a tin or a “Snout Stick” like lip balm. About $18/ 2 oz. but it lasts a long time. When her nose has any sort of skin disruption, I apply it to her nose using a clean finger 2x a day and follow it immediately with some treats to keep her from licking it off right away. Only takes seconds for it to be absorbed enough to help. While she often still has a tiny spot on her nose that looks a little raw (where her nose makes contact with bedding or floor while she’s sleeping), we have had NO more Lupus type eruptions since initiating use of this product about four years ago. I have been very pleased and thankful! While the balm is expensive for the amount you get, it is nothing compared to what we might have been paying for prescribed meds that were not working. The balm cannot hurt the situation, so it is worth a try. Also, it is oil-based and melts easily, so you might want to consider keeping it in the fridge between uses.

You probably already know this by now, but don’t forget that dogs with DLE have to be careful not to get too much direct sunlight as it can cause or aggravate eruptions. My vet recommended a doggie skinscreen, but I tried several and could not find one that was truly unscented and my baby rubbed her nose trying to get the stuff off! (And the point of that would be …? Silly manufacturers!) So, if you can’t find a usable DOG sunscreen, you might want to try keeping your dog in the shade as much as possible. (BTW …. Obviously, being oil-based, you would NOT want to apply the “Snout Soother” prior to going outside either. It is NOT a sunscreen.)

I hope, at this date, you have already found a solution for your precious pup. If not, I hope this helps!

[Joe D]

I am also fan of LEM grinder:) This is my third grinder. Yes, it’s not exactly cheap, but it’s the best one I’ve had. We also feed our dog raw meat and use it all the time without any problem.

[Chipy]

Meleasa, I understand your struggle trying to figure out what’s best for your little seniors. I’ve been there myself… and I know how exhausting it is to be constantly worrying about the right choices that support our fur baby’s well-being.

Both terms “Senior” and “Small Breed” are marketing terms the pet food industry uses to sell more junk food 🙁 My Shit-tzu looking little one is also 9.5 y/o. I stopped feeding him kibble & canned food many years ago when I learned about the dangers of these processed diets. I encourage you to watch the documentary “Pet Fooled” on Netflix to learn about the truth and how kibble is made.

Luckily, there are a few amazing holistic and integrative vets educating dog lovers online about the importance of fresh food diets and the essential nutrients dogs need. My personal favourite is Dr. Peter Dobias. He has created a free Natural Diet Course which contains videos and articles full of information on this subject;

https://peterdobias.com/pages/course-rawdiet – It’s super helpful to learn the basics!

He also has an online Recipe Maker, which will help you build healthy meals for your dogs with the ingredients you have available. It provides guidance on amounts of each ingredient and which ingredients are best;

https://recipemaker.peterdobias.com

The key is to offer a variety of both proteins and vegetables, and add essential nutrients to help fill in any deficiencies;

Dog Essentials

I’m so happy we switched from processed food to home-made. It takes some time to learn the principles but it is so worth your energy investment because you will be saving a lot of money on future vet bills. I hope these free resources will be helpful for your pups and you get to enjoy many more happy and health years together! 🙂

[Susan]

Hi Andree,
What does your vet say about 8 to 9 bouts of diarrhea a day- Grade 7.
You need to work out does she do better on a lower fiber diet -2% under fiber or a higher fiber food -7%+ fiber,
What is the fiber % what she is eating now? Is it Royal Canin Hypoallergenic vet diet?? is it a low fiber diet-1% fiber??
Also if she is a Large Breed puppy then she needs a large breed puppy kibble so her bones don’t grow to quickly causing Osteoarthritis & joint problems.
Tell vet the vet diet he/she prescribed is NOT helping your dog, you can also call/email Hills, Royal Canin they have Vet Nutritionist who can advise on what is the best vet diet for double intestine recession and introplacation of the intestine?
A vet nutritionist will probably know a bit more about diet then your vet knows about nutrition.

My boy suffers IBD I found grain free – Potato kibbles work best for Patch- NO Lentils, Lentils can cause intestinal stress.
Wellness Core L/B Wellness Complete Health Large Breed kibbles
Canidae All Life Stages, Large Breed Turkey Meal & Brown Rice kibble.

Maybe a raw diet would be best if she cant handle Fiber, or those dog rolls sold in pet fridge section.
You never put up your F/B group name.

[Scott G]

We’ve been feeding our dogs raw chicken with bone for the last 15 years. First whole leg, now we grind whole bird (without skin). Our first dog started with chicken legs for several years. As she got older it became a little more problematic – sometimes the small knuckles wouldn’t get completely absorbed and she would throw them up. At some point she broke a tooth too, but we couldn’t rule out it wasn’t from a fall.

About the same time we got our second dog (now 6 years ago) at 7 months old. He was raised on raw but was given whole bird chicken to share with his liter mates. When we adopted him we used whole legs as we were doing with our other dog but we think because it was a smaller piece he didn’t quite eat it completely enough and had a piece of bone stuck on the way out.

At that point, we put them both on skinless ground chicken (meat, bone and gizzards). It isn’t as good for them because they don’t get the jaw exercise or the teeth cleaning but we feel we didn’t have a choice. Whole foods was grinding for us for 6 years, while but every other year it seems one store would discontinue doing it. So we changed stores from Long Beach, to Torrance, then lastly to DTLA. Now they wont do it at all so we just purchased a LEM #32 electric grinder . We’ll still have Whole Foods skin and chop up the chicken but we will have to run it through our own grinder.

Our younger dog has learned to eat bone just fine now because he has caught quail and chipmunks and had no problem with them lol. So whole bird rather than pieces is probably a better option. Also to mention our dogs weigh 50 pounds.

[Matthew W]

We recently purchased a large 5 gallons of BJs Raw Food beef raw food. Unfortunately after vacuum sealing it in 1 lb serving sizes it did not agree with our dog as well as the previous raw beef we had him on. It is now refrozen and stored if anyone feeding local can use it please let me know on this forum thanks.

[carol E]

Richard, MY 2 1/2 yr old shepherd had mesenteric torsion this past winter and its been 7 mo’s now . We have spent 40,000 in recovery and still going. A couple of weeks ago his liver enzymes went to almost 7000 which should have been about 112. So he stayed overnight in 24 hr care and gave him antibiotics and liver support pills. and Hill’s science diet ZD which he ate like a horse. He had been on a raw diet always and had lots of energy. He had loose stools for quite some time and now are getting better. I am not a fan of H S D but he has gained weight now about 13 lbs. He should be about 70 to 75 lbs and he was 55 after he came home and did not gain a pound. After the liver problem and he came home he started to gain weight and eat really good. I am at a point where I would love to get him back on raw but not sure if he can do it. The first ingredient in Hills is cornstarch. I have done so much research and getting no where!!! Have you found anything helpful. Carol

[aimee]

Hi Guy,

It seems that you have been given recommendations by the medical professionals that understand your situation.
Considering that raw diets in dogs has been associated with some fairly serious heath issues in people I understand why your vet is concerned. These types of events are very infrequent but may be of higher frequency in immunosurpresed individuals.

Consider not only food handling hygiene but also bacterial contamination in the environment. For example, a dog finishes the meal and then wipes their face on the couch. Bacterial transfer can occur. Some time ago I read a paper in which the authors cultured out the contents of vacuum cleaner bags. In raw fed home 10% of the time they grew out Salmonella. Salmonella was also found in vacuum cleaner bags in kibble fed dogs but at a lower occurrence. The numbers tested were too small to do a statistical analysis but it severs as a eye opener as to the extent of bacterial transfer.

My BIL didn’t make it to organ transfer but was going through the process. The dog’s base diet was discussed and dog chews as well….no animal parts like bully sticks, pig ears etc. Everything offered to the dog had to have gone through a “kill” step and then be sealed from potential contamination.

[aimee]

Hi Patricia,

If you asking if the star ratings can be relied upon to pick a lower fat product I’d have to say they can be used as a starting point but always do your own evaluation. This is no fault of the site it is factor of how manufacturers report their numbers AND the formula may have been changed since the last review or information may not transfer across line like you think it would

Looking at Primal’s website today, they report their Turkey and Sardine raw frozen recipe to have a G.A. of min protein of 16% and min fat as 17% for both the pronto and and patties forms. But the nugget analysis reports min 16% protein and min 7 % fat. Which is it?? I think the 17 may be a typo because when using 17 the GA is over 100%. but I don’t know for sure where the error is. Is it a low fat diet or a high fat diet? I cant tell from the website. Maybe the product label would have the correct information I do find it disconcerting that the manufacturer hasn’t noted and corrected, a red flag for me.

Looking at the ratio of reported protein and fat give you an idea I like to see at least twice a much protein as fat for my dogs and closer to three Personally, I don’t want more than about 33% of calories from fat for my crew and even the 5 star raw often are far above that.

You can also compare calorie counts on a weight basis ( kcals/kg) as the higher fat products will have higher calories . And you can go to balance it dot com and under their help section is a tool called guaranteed analysis converter. You put in the information and it tells you what percent of calories come from fat But like this site, anything unaccounted for will be considered carb when it may actually be fat Getting a typical analysis from manufacturer is best.

[aimee]

Hi Madison,
I’ve fed a mix of kibble moist and home cooked. For the kibble I’ve use primarily Purina Pro Plan and Royal Canin and I used California Natural when that brand was around, Iams, Eukaneuba. For moist I’ve used various Purina products , Rpyal Canin therapeutic some Wellness, some Hill’s products some Iams/Eukaneuba

I’ve used Primal venison “raw” as a topper but always cooked it first

The home cooked is primarily a topper, unbalanced mix of basically leftovers lean meats and veggies that I puree together But I will also cook a complete and balanced recipe and use that instead of the moist component of their diet.

I’m not a fan of raw because I don’t see any real benefit to feeding a raw diet vs the same diet cooked and I do see risk of bacterial infection. I do think there can be greater digestibility of some components of a raw diets over the same diet cooked but I think in most cases the overall effect is minimal and not of significance to me.

In regards to commercial raw I’ve been very disappointed in the companies whom I’ve contacted in that I felt they had little nutritional knowledge, When fact checking their marketing material I found numerous errors and if I could get them to send me a typical analysis I found profound nutrient deficiencies in some products when compared to AAFCO or NRC recommendations. The one raw company I found to be an exception to the above concerns was Nature’s Variety.

Finally, most commercial raw diets have a higher percentage of calories coming from fat than I’m comfortable feeding. So when I’ve use a raw product I us only as a small portion of the overall diet and I always cook it first.

[Patricia A]

You’re welcome Madison.
Aimee you’re so knowledgable with understanding the ratio breakdowns. I wish companies would make it easier and give real amount and not min/max. I get a little ptsd with even looking at a label. I went to Catholic school in the 60’s and if you didn’t get your math right you’d get the dreaded “paddle”. lol
Is my understanding of the star ratings correct. Being that if I pick the Primal Freeze dried in a protein/flavor rated 5* it would be higher in protein then fat? When I fed the lower stars (2.5) they always got lose stool. So it made sense to me. The DFA also clarifies at the bottom of his breakdown/reviews for the brand as a whole.
So, yes I see that some of the freeze dried in Primal are lower star ratings. Hence the review of above fats . However, the ones with the 5* are lower? Uhhh..hope I’m making sense with this probably senseless question. They are doing well on the food but I like to rotate brands somewhat and want to know if I come across in the future I will know if I’m picking one with more meat then fat.
Below is the overall review for Primal Freeze Dried. Thank’s Aimee for helping me.

Above-average protein. Above-average fat. And below-average carbs when compared to other raw dog foods.

Even when you consider the mild protein-boosting effect of the alfalfa, this looks like the profile of a raw dog food containing an abundance of meat.

However, with 64% of the total calories in our example coming from fat versus just 33% from protein, some recipes may not be suitable for every animal.
Bottom line?
Primal Freeze-Dried Formula is a grain-free raw dog food using an generous of named meats and organs as its main source of animal protein, thus receiving 5 stars.
Enthusiastically recommended.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 4 months ago by Patricia A.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 4 months ago by Patricia A.

[Madison K]

Thanks so much, Aimee and Patricia! Very helpful. I will check out these brands!

@aimee – out of curiosity, what food do you feed your dogs? And what turned you off raw? I appreciate the honest responses– super helpful in determining what might be right for my dog 🙂

Overall, I’m just looking for something with less fat and a different protein source because my vet suspects she may have some sensitivity towards chicken…

[aimee]

Hi Madison,
I will disclose that I’m not a fan of raw feeding so that you can keep that in mind as you read my comments.

I have used raw foods as a topper and I have cooked them before feeding as a “kill” step for pathogens.
Of the companies offering raw I think Natures Variety is the best option because it best meets criteria that are important to me ( boarded veterinary nutritionist on staff, all products are HPP’d for pathogen control)

In general controlled fat levels are used for pets with digestive concerns and in my experience most raw diets are very high in percent of calories that come from fat. However, it takes a bit of sleuthing to figure that out as I often note that fat levels reported as Min fat is lower than the actual fat.

Patricia, I think the reason you are finding the same food offered as raw or freeze dried reported with different star rating and average fat amounts has to do with how the company is reporting nutrients. For example raw frozen chicken the GA is min 14.5 % protein, 8% fat and max 2 fiber and 74 moisture. Adding those up and subtracting from 100 leaves 2.5% of the diet unaccounted for which is assumed to be carbs. In the freeze dried raw chicken the GA is min protein 55 min fat 27 max fiber 1.5 and max moisture 8. Adding those up and subtracting from 100 leaves 8.5% unaccounted for, assumed by this site to be carbohydrate. But the carbohydrate content of this food would be minimal as the only really source is carb in the form of stored glycogen in muscle or liver. More likely that unaccounted 8.5% is fat or protein. Protein is costly fat is cheap and the higher fat content is accounted for in the frozen version. This becomes evident when you look at the reported protein to fat ratios in the G.A. 14.5/8 =1.8:1 for the raw but jumps to 2:1 in the freeze dried version. Hence the raw is given high fat rating than the freeze dried even though they are reportedly the same recipe. This si one of the problems with rating foods based on a G.A. which reports mins and max.

Hope this helps your understanding.

[Patricia A]

ooops..I just saw the reviews for Vital Essentials. The freeze dried is low in fat. The frozen is above average fat. I understand when the reviews are based on “as a whole” above average in fat since not all their proteins/flavors rate the 5* . However, only one protein/flavor in the Vital Essentials rate as lower then the 5*. So don’t know why “as a whole” the raw would be higher in fat or even know why the freeze dried would be rated differently then their raw in the same protein/flavors. Maybe someone can clear this up for me also.

[Patricia A]

Madison I have dogs’ which have digestive problems with higher fat in their diet. I came to that conclusion because whenever I fed certain home cooked food as a kibble topper they would have loose stools. That being dark meat chicken vs boiled white meat, ground beef that wasn’t 90% fat free, fatty pieces of steak vs very lean(when they got lucky lol). They have no trouble with plain, boiled salmon.
So, that being said I hope I can make some suggestions of a starting point in switching to raw and then you can see how she does with each of these brands.
I got used to my dogs’ with one brand/protein VERY, VERY, VERY slowly. Then when i knew that they were digestively good with the brand/protein I would switch the protein also very slowly. Just giving them bits mixed in with the other protein. Eventually, I also would change brands and did the same. I just feel better not sticking always to one brand, but that’s me.
I used a starting point by looking at the raw food reviews on DFA. This led me to Primal, Stella Chewy’s, I have Chihuahuas’. This allowed me to use freeze dried. However, for a larger dog as yours, I believe the frozen raw would be most cost efficient. Freeze Dried should be the same as raw nutritionally once hydrated.
I always only feed his 5* reviews in the protein/flavor of that brand. I believe he rates by protein to fat ratio. So the 5* ones are lower in fat. So I stick to Primal’s turkey/sardine, venison, pork, duck. All of these proteins/flavors are non HPP (HIGH-PRESSURE PROCESSING (HPP)
High-Pressure Processing, or HPP, is an FDA- and USDA-approved cold water pressure process that allows us to target salmonella and other food-borne pathogens—without cooking.) Some raw feeders do not like the HPP process claiming it effects nutritional values. However other studies show he use of High Pressure Processing (known as HPP) is becoming increasingly common with commercial raw dog foods. However, HPP can be a controversial process. Some view it as an effective way to eliminate disease-causing bacteria while having only minimal effect on the integrity of the finished product.)
I believe Stella’s uses HPP in all their products. With their food I use chicken, venison bland and their rabbit.
Their are many other companies which are rated highly on this site. I believe VITAL ESSENTIALS is the brand which Is as a whole below in fat . If you go to the reviews on DFA they are all listed as a 5*. Many different flavors also. They are also low in calories . Their company goes by the prey model which is no veggies/fruits which are sometimes added to other brands. vital essentials example (ngredients: Beef, beef tripe, beef lung, ground beef bone, beef liver, beef heart, beef kidney, beef blood, beef fat, herring oil, d-alpha tocopherol)
I also want to suggest possibly kibble with salmon. Pancreatic digestive enzyme supplements have been reported to help some dogs with pancreatitis while fish body oils (such as salmon oil or EPA oil but not cod liver oil), can help to lower blood lipid levels which may reduce the workload on the pancreas.
I believe your dog does not suffer from pancreatitis but just occasional IBS? So I hope she does well with any of these . Just go slowly. So much confusion with all those brands. Hope I gave you a good starting point and she does well with these suggestions.

[Guy N]

I have a suppressed immune system due to organ transplant. Among the multitudinous advice I’ve received via the transplant center and other qualified medical professionals, a veterinarian once told me that feeding raw to my dog might be hazardous to my health.

My Australian labradoodle’s breeder whelped him on raw food and I continued for a couple years, until the transplant happened and the vet gave me this opinion. Aside from occasionally creating our own raw food from inexpensive parts my wife and I obtained, we mainly bought from our local Top Quality Dog food people. My wife however felt uncomfortable doing so based on this warning from the vet. So we’re back to kibble.

I’ve asked around and usually get the “holistic” mystical answers, but I was wondering if any forum members had qualified thought on this. Our dog did very well on raw food, poops could be obliterated by smashing them with a shovel, good clean teeth, a very lively and happy dog (not that that’s changed much), etc. A healthy dog in other words.

So does anyone have any advice on this. A medical option would be nicee–GuyN

[Madison K]

Hi all!

So I’m looking into switching my dog to raw. She has always eaten kibbble and wet food and has been on Wellness since end of last year. She is 7 years old, 50lbs, rottie/beagle/lab/who knows what.

She has had some issues the last few years and I’ve tried changing her food and have taken her to the vet for each individual issue (sensitive stomach — she vomits and/or has diarrhea a day or 2 every couple of months, chews her paws, and has low energy) but I am realizing that these individual concerns might be a symptom of the same main problem and have heard that switching to raw has helped some dogs with similar issues. I’m a bit overwhelmed by the options (freeze dried vs frozen vs dehydrated), brands, etc so would love to hear from *real* people about the following:

– what raw brands have you tried and liked?
– do you have any recommendations on form of raw (freeze dried, frozen or dehydrated)?
– has anyone had dogs with similar issues as mine (above) and seen positive results when switching to raw?

I’m also a little concerned about the fat content of a lot of raw food I found online, especially since I’ve heard my dog *may* have pancreatitis (she is going to the vet today for blood work). Idk if anyone has any thoughts on that?

Sorry for all the questions:) just curious about your personal experiences and recommendations:) thanks in advance!!

[sienna11711]

Hi,

Just to clear up any misunderstandings here WondrousPups your suggestions have been great but Susan does have a valid point. When you have a dog with a really sensitive digestive system even the best supplements and whole foods can cause them distress. I personally have gastroparesis and I cannot handle turmeric in any capacity. I don’t think Susan was trying to discredit the benefits, I think she has a lot of valuable experience. Having a “mystery” case dog is extremely stressful. I have tried a home cooked diet and raw diet and I did not experience any of the benefits of it for my dog. The people in the raw feeding facebook group treated me extremely harshly and insisted my dog needed to detox further even though she was slowly becoming skin and bones. Please be sensitive to that! We are trying so hard.

Susan unfortunately the endoscope and biopsy are out of my price range at the moment 🙁 I am getting an affordable second opinion with a telehealth visit with a vet from Barcelona, I’m looking forward to what she may think. Your vet made an EXCELLENT point- IBD can occur anywhere along the digestive tract, just because a dog isn’t having diarrhea or vomiting does not mean they don’t have IBD.

Also, lastly, (Patricia A) my vet said my dog could have IBD and we could certainly try the Hills IBD diet if I wanted to go down that road but she really didn’t seem convinced that it was. So there’s really no official actual diagnosis besides anxiety/stress. But I would classify her symptoms as some form of IBD or IBS – ravenous hunger, inability to digest anything besides kibble, poor fat digestion, resulting weak immunity, in the past she had chronic regurgitation as well.

[Susan]

Hi Michelle,
Yes Patch has tried most of the Vet Diets we get in Australia, most caused diarrhea (Hills),
Hills & Purina didn’t help made his skin itch & smell yeasty
Why vet diets work help skin problems as the are VERY high in Omega 3 whats needed for dogs skin.
Royal Canin seem to work best, R/C Sensitivity Control-Tapioca & Duck fat is 9% kibble
R/C Gastrointestinal Low Fat, Low fiber, fat is 7% but Patch smells a bit yeasty & still rolls on carpet but stops sloppy poos.

Have a look at “Wellness Simple”- Turkey & Potato it’s really good its for Skin Problems & the Potato is good for IBD symptoms & stomach problems firms up poos, we cant get it no more in Australia 🙁
The Omega 3% should be 1/2 the Omega 6%, Wellness Simple formula’s are balanced properly, give one of the G/F formula’s a go I prefer Turkey as its a cleaner meat & its white there’s also Salmon & Potato.

Wellness Core Large Breed Adult even thought Patch is a medium breed dog he still eats the Large Breed kibbles as they are good for Intestinal stress they’re made to prevent bloat in large breed dogs & the Kcals are lower under 340Kcals per cup, so kibble is easier to digest.
Canidae Pure Wild Boar Sweet Potato
Canidae Pure Sky Duck & Sweet Potato
Canidae Pure Healthy Weight would be really good fat is lower & its for weight gain,
Canidae & Wellness have a return if not satisfied money back.

Also Baths are best to wash off allergens. Bath twice a week when dog has really itchy paws & itchy skin in a medicated Shampoo – Malaseb medicated shampoo works best on Patches also relieves his itchy paws & itchy skin, then bath weekly thru hot months & keep a Diary you will start to see a Pattern as the season pass yr after yr with Seasonal Environment Allergies your dog will be better thru Winter months & bad thru Spring & Summer months.

Get some “Sudocrem” its an anti-fungal, anti-bacterial healing cream, I’ve been using it on Patch for 8yrs now, the Sudocrem protects dogs skin & paws from allergens, apply before bed, first get baby wipes & wipe dog down, wipe paws, body, head, stomach around mouth & chin if red & after dog eats also wipe dog down after being outside the days you haven’t bathed, then apply the Sudocrem its stops itchy skin, itchy red paws, I use cotton buds in between dogs toes & apply the Sudocrem not too much cream as it can become messy, if paws are red, by morning dogs paws aren’t red no more.. then start over again apply Sudcrem before going outside if paws are BAD get shoes booties when outside but let Paws breath when dog is sleeping & inside.
also get some local honey with 5km form your place give dog & yourself 1/2 teaspoon each twice a day Patch LOVES his honey we had the best Summer last yr since starting his local raw honey, the local bees eat the pollen from trees flowers etc in your area so when you give your dog some honey your slowly desensitizing him from certain allergens in your area.
Everything I’ve written I’ve learnt over 8yrs with Patch he’s nilly 12 yrs old now, a lot of vet visits, research, trial & error.
A lot of people think their dog has Food sensitivities but if its Spring or Summer chances are dog is suffering from Environment Allergies, so best to do elimination diets in the cooler months when allergens are low.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sudocrem-Antiseptic-Cream-125G/182504923

[sienna11711]

Hi!! I am definitely a food is medicine kind of person. I was pretty sad when the raw and homemade diet didn’t work for her, because it definitely made her more calm overall but the stool and weight loss was a no go. I’m hoping that one day we can do a homemade diet especially since she’s a senior now.

We have used various tinctures from Pet Health and Nutrition Co.- they make awesome blends for many different issues, but unfortunately with my dog they would help a lot (almost like a sweetspot) for like, one month tops, and then she would go back to how she was previously. We were doing a hypothyroid blend as well as the adrenal blend. I still have the adrenal blend, so maybe I can try starting it up again.

She was also previously on a supplement called Thyro Complex (Progressive Labs) which has thyroid/pituitary/adrenal/spleen glandulars as well as iodine and kelp. When she was first “diagnosed” with hypothyroidism and prescribed levothyroxine, the vet also prescribed this. Within 2 days her coat drastically improved, even the color (she’s a brindle) opened up, she looked like an orange tiger! Her coat was amazingly soft. But unfortunately she then started dribbling urine nonstop all day, became excessively thirsty, and lost like 5 pounds in one week. Our new vet said it was likely that since her thyroid is not the true issue here, the thyroid glandular was over supporting her thyroid and plunging her into possible hyperthyroid territory. I did used to pour out half the capsule for a while, but gave up on it once we ruled out true hypothyroidism. Perhaps I should re order for the time being just to give extra support.

I’m very interested in turmeric, would you recommend giving it as a powder? she totally has some inflammation going on so turmeric would probably be a good option.

I’m not sure if you’ve ever tried aromatherapy, but Caroline Ingraham ihas an amazingggg essential oil program for animals with behavioral and health issues. I myself never was into oils although I do enjoy the scents, but it’s basically a method of letting animals select their own “cure” by presenting them a bunch of different oils. Animals in the wild will often self medicate by consuming certain plants when distressed so it works with that phenomenon. She’s done this with horses, dogs, cats, and even leopards. Usually during a successful session the animal will totally relax and even sleep. It’s amazing how the animals actually choose what they need. I ordered a bunch from her just to try out and my dog was obsessively trying to lick and eat Violet Leaf Oil- commonly used for stress and anxiety. She actually just keeps going at it over and over so it made it pretty clear my dog’s condition is really taxing to her. Other oils she would sniff for a bit and then turn away and others she just ignored completely.

[sienna11711]

Yes, I was actually on the EPI forum recently and all of the EPI dogs have really poor stools and poor appetites, and weight loss. On fresh food my dog lost weight rapidly, but back on kibble her weight is stable and her body is ideal. I sent them her recent bloodwork and they said it looked indicative of chronic pancreatitis, but a low fat food combined with incubating the food in enzymes and warm water for 15-20 min usually causes a big turnaround for dogs with that issue.

My vet told me her behavior is likely 100% behavioral- that my dog is basically just so generally stressed that she is resorting to eating- and since she doesn’t have loose stool or diarrhea that she may just have general IBD but to keep her on this same food since her stools are nice and firm with it.

I know she is ravenous because when we go out on walks the entire walk she is nose to the ground sniffing for food and poop. Sometimes she will be so keen to find food or crumbs that she literally bumps into poles and stuff when I try to keep her moving. Sometime we’ll be crossing a busy road and she will drop to the ground to eat something while cars are waiting for us to cross. Before quarantine, when I’d go out to a restaurant, instead of sitting down and hanging out she would be all over me, trying to get onto the table, and crawling all over the surrounding tables on the floor to sniff for crumbs. She wakes up 1-2 hours earlier than usual these days and barks and whines at me to eat. I thought at first it was to go out but if I take her out before feeding her she will just frantically look for food and potty a few minutes into the walk, so I know it’s not bathroom related. After she eats she will drink any and all water in the bowl, and then keep sniffing her food bowl, then go back to water bowl, then come to me and whine and keep doing that over and over. If I don’t strictly monitor her water intake she will just gulp it all away and pee herself while napping. Around 2:30 pm ( dinner is at 5pm) she becomes impossible to deal with. She follows my every move, paws at me constantly, and will just sit there hypervigilant of what I’m doing. If I even move to adjust myself on the couch she will get up as if we were going somewhere. If I’m eating she will literally be underfoot. Her counter surfing has surged, now if I leave anything on the counter in a box she will knock it over. I left a taped box of donuts and went to take out trash down the hallway and when I came back she had taken the entire box down on the floor, ripped it open, and ate 12 donuts in a matter of 45 seconds. When I leave and watch her on the pet camera, she goes straight into the kitchen and jumps up on the counter and sniffs the entire area of it. I’ve always been really food about not leaving anything out, but I was always able to leave fruit out or even boxes of snacks so long at they were closed, but now anything is fair game for her. All of this becomes 10 times worse if we do more activity like long walks, little trips to the park or to the beach…so it’s really diminished our relationship unfortunately. She’s also not very playful anymore, she only grabs her toys when shes hungry and is super rough if I try to play with her so it seems like it’s only agitation.

Previously, she was always a food lover, and would always come and stand in the kitchen if I was cooking or eating, but I would ask her to move away and go sit on her bed and it was that easy. She would only try to steal off the counter if it was open sitting on a plate and no one was in the room, otherwise she wouldn’t touch it. I used to take her everywhere that was pet friendly with me. She was also a much more gentle player.

[sienna11711]

Also, as an update, it’s day 2 on a lower fat food, same number of calories as previous food though, and she’s unfortunately even hungrier than usual. It’s so weird that her pancreas is clearly struggling a bit, so you’d think that lower fat would ease the burden, but then she’s just even hungrier. She must not be able to digest and assimilate any kind of fat appropriately. Back to the drawing board.

[Patricia A]

Thank’s Sienna for claifying. It’s not the classic symptoms of IBD . For instance If I give my one dog a piece of raw carrot she’s fine. But with the other one she throws it up. That same dog can eat several pieces of watermelon and be fine. But now the other one will have diarrhea with one small piece .I’ve gotten to know what agrees with each of them and what they can’t tolerate digestivelly . Just like people we can have digestive problems with eating a food that others would have no problem with.
Do you believe that the whining is caused by stomach pain or just wanting more food? Does she get diarrheae (ORANGE STOOL https://www.dogsupsetstomach.com/causes-of-orange-stool-in-dogs/) or vomit kibble back up? If when you SLOWLY, SLOWLY changed to a different food did she at first start out with loose stool . Because that would be normal at least for my dogs. Then after a few weeks of gradual change over their stools were fine. If not then that particular protein/brand did not agree with them.
Sienna please don’t take me as a know-it-all. I certainly don’t. Just thought maybe I’d hit on something that is a simple fix. but maybe it is not. But i agree with Susan to find a new vet . I don’t like either that he/she dismissed as being purely behavioral. Especially since apparently she was guessing when this vet put her on all these meds thats did not help and was probably not warranted.
I found this Boxer site that IS active. Maybe you can copy/paste what you posted on this forum .
Please keep us updated. https://www.boxerforums.com

• This reply was modified 5 years, 4 months ago by Patricia A.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 4 months ago by Patricia A.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 4 months ago by Patricia A.

[Susan]

I forgot Boiled White Potato helps firm poo, soothes stomach & bowel, Sweet Potato has more fiber Patch need less fiber that’s why I mix 1/2 white & 1/2 Sweet potato.
Change your vet, get all your dogs records & find a good vet who deals in IBD.
Start a kibble -“Wellness Simple Turkey & Potato kibble- not Wellness Simple wet cans as they’re too high in fat, fat in wet can, raw, dog rolls, freeze dried,air dried dog/cat foods hasn’t been converted to dry matter, so say 5%min fat is around 20%min-25%max fat when converted to dry mater fat, Times – X – the fat by 4 you will get a ruff idea what the fat% is??
You need the Triple Therapy medications, the Metronidazole is an anti-inflammatory & kills bad bacteria in stomach..

I just read a part of your last post your vet blaming Behavior – are you in USA??
Slippery Elm Powder & Mashmallow root made into a slurry will help firm poos, stop acid reflux, soothe stomach & help firm poo, given 20mins before meals,
Get 1/2 a teaspoon Slippery Elm Powder put in cup boil the jug slowly add the boiling water in cup & quickly stir & stir till you make a slurry, not too think or really thin, pull up 5mls in a syringe put the syringe side of mouth towards the back teeth, alot of dogs do REALLY well on Gastro Elm here’s the link, helps with sloppy/diarrhea & Acid reflux, Soothes stomach & esophagus start the Potato Kibble, Wellness Simple Turkey & Potato..
https://www.gastroelm.com/
Also look for the Pepto Bismol give 5ml in syringe 20mins before meals 2 times a day or try the Slipperly elm powder?Gastro Elm till you find a vet who can write script for the triple therapy meds, Im trying to write everything as I think of it, your poor girl, your vet is an idiot.. I know what poor Patch goes thru & I’ve been thru…some vets are just idiots, don’t talk with other vets when they have a hard case…their pride is too big.

[sienna11711]

Yes, I clean her vulva area once a day to prevent bacteria. Luckily she has not had a UTI in a long time and her urine has been normal.
The thing is that now her stool is totally normal, firm, and brown. Her weight is stable. If I feed her more to satisfy her hunger, she becomes much more reactive and defensive.

When I was feeding her home cooked and raw she lost about 10 pounds in 3 months, no matter how much I kept feeding her, and her ribs were visible. So putting her back on kibble stabilized her physically, but nothing is preventing the behavioral issues, overall stress, and hunger. Walking her is honestly a nightmare too, because she spends the entire walk sniffing for poop and food/crumbs to eat instead of actually enjoying the walk with me.

[sienna11711]

Hi all, any bit of advice or insight?

9 year old spayed female boxer, 56 pounds, eating 3 cups of Victor Professional Formula daily.

For the last 9 months we have been dealing with:

Behavior-wise
-restless
-sleeps a lot less during the day, wakes up earlier to eat
-clingy, doesn’t stop following me
-frantic and fearful when outside
-extreme reactivity to dogs that gets WORSE with more food (I know this sounds crazy)
-flinches when being pet
-will nip at strangers who get too close to her body (not always, still likes people a lot and always wants to say hi)
-will nip if you try to pick her up or move her
-doesn’t play or cuddle
-pees a lot on walks

Digestion/health-wise
-ravenous, always looking for food
-eats other dog’s poop on walks
-previously regurgitated kibble everyday, hours later
-previously struggled with chronic UTIs (low immunity)
-frantic in the AM about eating
-drinks excessively after checking empty food bowl
-shedding excessively
-anal glands leaking and peeing herself while she sleeps
-fat such as fish oil makes her nauseous / may vomit
-cannot digest real food period (ie. rice and boiled chicken, cooked veggies, cooked ground turkey, or raw meat)
-with the above food her stool is orange and slimy
-stool has changed over time since adoption at age 7 from pooping way too much but now it is normal, firm, brown

Labwork
-consistently low T4 despite using levothyroxine, took her off in Jan 2020
-T4 goes up into normal range when she is on anxiety medicine
-extremely high/out of range TLI
-high cPL
-has, at times, had very high PSL randomly
-no diabetes, no cushings, NOTHING glaring us in the face

-We have tried every digestive supplement you can think of and many different foods including grain free, with grains, dehydrated cooked, dehydrated raw, actual raw, and actual cooked
-We have worked with an animal behaviorist who does not think this is purely behavioral
-She lost 8 pounds eating up to 2 pounds of raw a day
-She is much less reactive on cooked food and raw, but will rapidly lose weight and be even hungrier
-We have also tried Hills Science Diet wet food for IBD, orange slimy stool
-She can only really “digest” kibble

Chronic low grade pancreatitis was brought up to me on another forum but her stool is totally normal, so not too sure.
I do think that whatever “this” is affects her thyroid function but the thyroid itself is not the root cause- vet agrees
I just recently began putting enzymes in her food and incubating 20 min with warm water– will see if any improvement

[Kanna S]

I was wondering if anyone has suggestions for my 10 year old French bulldogs nutrition. She has been a raw fed dog for the majority of her life. She has had high hemoglobin and hematocrit for a long time but it has recently been high enough for a diagnosis of polycythemia. She eats primal raw duck. Does anyone know of a modification of her diet that could help with the polycythemia? Thanks in advance.

[Patricia A]

Yazmin one of the important keys to not upsetting his stomach is a VERY, VERY slow transition from what the breeder has been feeding him. Meaning feed the majority of kibble as his diet mixed in with the raw a tiny bit of the time until he’s fully transitioned to the raw. I feed freeze-dried raw in different brands. Don’t know the fat content in truly raw feeding. Just know that in certain proteins/flavors my dogs have a problem if the protein is too high in fat with certain brands. I stick to the low in fat because it causes stomach upset in my small dogs. So keep this in mind if your pup has loose stools after the full transition. Good luck with your new puppy.

[Will H]

I recommend to read that article https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/starting-puppy-on-raw-diet/

[rhodes J]

Hi Everyone
Biologically Appropriate Raw Food, or BARF, is formulated to closely match the canine diet that nature intended.
It’s a modern spin on your dog’s ancient roots.
While they may be far removed from their wild canine ancestors, your dog still has the inherited traits that allow them to break down fresh meat to keep their body running strong.
A diet of muscle meat, bones, and organs, plus eggs and fish, imitates the prey your dog would eat in the wild.
Additions like select fruit, veggies, and seeds fill in nutritional gaps so your dog can get a more fortifying diet than their ancestors ever did.
I used this for the better protein diet of my dog & it shows significant change
Dog Raw Food Diet Plan

[Brianna K]

This thread has helped me immensely.
my four-year-old pug has had this issue for a really long time, and I can’t seem to diagnose it. I’ve taken him to vets a few times in his life, but they rarely have anything to offer that I didn’t already know.
It ends up being a waste of time and mostly money for me, so I have become diligent in learning about my dog’s health so that I can try and diagnose fix with a level of education that keeps my dog safe.
With that said, I still haven’t solved this one.

My pug is on a raw food diet, I supplement with a variety of different types of foods, as well as prebiotics and probiotics. Naturally, not always supplemented.
I’ve found cooking up some lean meat, rice, veggies, with a lot of stock works well for his general comfort.
I just want to figure out why this is happening.

Sometimes he will sit in his kennel at night, just licking and swallowing and gulping really hard. It will happen for hours at a time sometimes and I don’t know what to do when it happens. He’ll just sit there gulping and licking really quickly. Almost like he’s throwing up and trying to swallow something quickly before it comes up all the way.
People often times get mad at me for getting a dog that I can’t afford to, but the state of the world has us all financially flustered and unfortunately not able to pay the big bucks that others can make for expensive medications. I also prefer to keep things as natural as possible as not to disrupt his already fragile system and to be able to diagnose the issue at the root and solve it in a way that is permanent.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 4 months ago by Brianna K.

[Patricia A]

Maybe a starting point would be to find a food low in fat but has a good protein level. I feed freeze dried raw. This way with the hydration they are getting plenty of water. I also stick to only the LOW IN FAT proteins because my one would get diarrhea with the high fat. So maybe the best you can do with diet is the hard task of helping with the pancreatitis as well as the bladder stones is the high protein/low fat diet.
I read this in Whole Dog Journal
Low-protein diets have also been shown to predispose dogs to pancreatitis, especially when combined with high fat intake. Some prescription diets may be a concern, such as those prescribed to dissolve struvite bladder stones; to prevent calcium oxalate, urate, or cystine stones; and to treat kidney disease; especially for breeds prone to pancreatitis.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 5 months ago by Patricia A.

[Michele Y]

Hi..it’s been about 5 years since your post I’m curious to know own how it all turned out..my do is picky about eating too..we just started him on raw food..all taw

[Patricia A]

T B she might do well with freeze dried. I use Primal and Stella Chewy’s for my two Chihuahuas’ However, there are many other brands related on this site you can try also. . You can break up the nuggets/disc to the size she can eat and then hydrate a little. The consistency will be soft but not mushy at all. You can break up as big or small as you like. Easy to feed and they go crazy for the taste and they get 5* reviews on DFA . Here’s the site for Primal. They also have raw called Pronto which you just take straight from freeze, put in bowl and it’s ready to eat in five minutes or so without water. https://primalpetfoods.com/pages/canine-choose-your-primal
They are not sold at supermarkets or petsmart/ petcos’ . You can order online or if you have a pet supply store in your area.
Hope this helps.

[Jennish S]

Hi this is Jennish here!

Recently i got myself a Siberian husky, initially i was skeptical about getting a dog but then i referred to https://dogbreedo.com/ , got loads of information here .

Finally it came to feeding the dog which i am still a bit apprehensive of feeding raw food to my Shera!