[Kristin C]

I believe Sojos is dehydrated, it’s not raw and does not digest well from my experience.

[Akari_32]

As a member of Purina For Professionals, I was cruising the site out of curiosity and checking out the prices that I can get different foods for, for the giggles. Well, I clicked on the JM and was actually surprised at how good it looks compared to the other VD. Four of the first six ingredients are animal proteins, and it meets the low-fat requirements that Ginger needs, but has that higher protein I like to see.

https://www.purinaforprofessionals.com/canine-jm-joint-mobilityr

She’s always limping around, and has been favoring one her shoulders and been reluctant to get on and off the bed lately (she has doggy stairs). She’s on about 350 mg of glucosamine a day, but it’s not really helping much, and she’s really nasty when she’s in pain. I’m to the point now where if something helps her, I want to use it. This is a pretty decent looking food, and the reviews on it say it does help with their dogs joints.

Since the clinic I was at when I got my membership is closed now, I’m going to email and rep and make sure I can use another clinic’s prescription. She’s cool, so I don’t think it’ll be a problem, seeing as the food is delivered to my door, and not the clinics anyways.

If I’m able to use another vets script, do you guys it would be a good choice? You all know I’m not particularly a Purina fan, but I’m really to the point where I’m grasping at straws to affordably keep this dog pain-free, diarrhea-free, and mobile. She may be 14, but she’s got so much spunk left him her, I just want to do whats right by her. I’m still unsure if I would use just this, or if I would rotate it ever other bag. Still haven’t quite figured out how she does on rotation now that I’ve taken all the canned out of her diet and reduced her fat intake. Thats the next step.

I’m unsure if the shopping part of the site is just for logged-in members or not, so please let me know if that link doesn’t work, and I’ll just copy/paste everything here.

[Jonathan H]

My dog is shedding like crazy… I’m not sure how she still has hair but she doesn’t show any signs of balding or skin irritation.

I’ve switched her to partial raw, made by a local butcher who sources only grass fed and locally raised animals in the tristate area, as well as added some additional fish oil to help with her dandruff. The dandruff is gone now but the shedding remains.

We brush her once per week with a furminator and I use dog baths wipes to help keep her clean between actually baths which I don’t like to do more than once a month.

Has anyone seen Euk causing the shedding? I’ve been thinking about changing her food but the breeder / trainer we purchased her from said he has always fed this with no issues.

Thanks for the feedback

[Z B]

Thanks for the input everyone ! Much appreciated!

USA dog treats – thanks for sharing the feedback from Steve. I had been doing the ABC day once or twice a week, that’s why I had the heart and liver on hand, and I thought Steve recommended that for the ABC day raw meals you could use all heart as the muscle meat ? But since I’m trying to feed raw more than once a week I’ll definitely reduce the Amount of heart and search out other muscle meats. If liver isn’t necessary with the premix I’ll prob forgo that, the dogs aren’t crazy about liver and it kinda grosses me out, too.

Also ordered his books and used some of his recipes for a few batches of Raw meals, but it was a little too much work keeping up with all the necessary ingredients and mixing it all up, etc, since I work full time. So I’ll see how the premix works out. So,far the dogs like it but I’ve been walking them before sunup and after sundown so I haven’t gotten a good inspection of how their poops are reacting.

The cats constipation emergency required a thousand dollar overnite stay at the pet ER, so I’m hesitant to put her back on the raw. I’ve found some good Canned foods that’s she’s doing well on, so will stick to that for now, but thanks for the suggestion to add fiber.

[Susan]

Hi, has ur boy been wormed?? What food is he eating & are his poos sloppy or real hard when there’s blood & what colour is the blood lite or darker red ?? my boy was pooing lite red blood when I first got him, he was 4 years old, it wasn’t every day about every 10 days, sometimes there was a streak of blood on the outside of his poo & the poo was firm, sometimes his poos were sloppy or sometimes had jelly on the poo, vet said Colitis, he’d also have a rumbling, gurgling bowel early hours of the morning then do his jelly poos with blood, I had to stop the raw chicken necks for breakfast & I had to put him on a lower fat diet, in the end vet said IBD.. but ur boy is only 4 months old he still a pup, my boy is 6 years old now…

[USA]

Hi Bri,

It’s good to see you feeding raw twice a week. For most dogs this is a big improvement over ANY kibble!

Heart – I notice the meal you added the liver to was Beef Heart. Even though heart is a muscle, it is a different kind of muscle than the breast or leg or thigh, etc. The heart is a non-striated muscle, while the muscles everyone usually thinks about are all striated muscles.

I like to say that nutrient-wise, heart is about halfway between regular muscle meat (breast thigh, etc) and the much richer organ meats (liver, kidneys, etc). Now that is just an estimate. The point is that heart is richer than breast but not as rich as liver, so it should still be used in moderation (up to 20% of meal).

As others have said, the calcium in the Dinner Mixes is calculated based on meat without bone. So the extra calcium that would come from you adding bones is not needed, and could actually be detrimental!

This is what Steve Brown had to say about adding organs to his Dinner Mixes:

“Thanks for the note.

Yes, it’s okay to add muscle meat and some organ meat, but please don’t
add a lot of liver. Keep the liver to less than 10% of the total meat.
Adding up to 20% hearts is fine.

Steve Brown”

On a side note (cause I’m a dog man), constipation can be pretty common in raw diets ESPECIALLY if they contain bone! Your cat probably could use some fiber added to the Darwins to ease any constipation issues. I use a couple of different types. Psyllium husks are very fiber rich and I add no more than 1 teaspoon per pound of food. Flax, Chia and Hemp seeds are not as rich in fiber as Psyllium, but they are also good for the skin. I add about 1 tablespoon per pound of meat.

Keep up the Good Work!

[zhiba]

Ever since my dog’s allergies became a big factor in his life, we’ve switched to freeze dried and limited ingredient treats (as well as food).

We get treats from Orijen Singles, Stella and Chewy’s Carnivore Crunch, Sojos Simply, Etta Says, Whole Life, PureBites, and Vital Essentials.

Recently I discovered the VE cat food on Chewy. It makes for excellent training treats! They are smaller nibblets than the dog food, with a few additions that I like. Comparison –

Turkey Nibblets (dog)
Ground turkey with bone, turkey heart, turkey liver, herring oil (natural source of vitamin D), mixed tocopherols (natural antioxidant), d-alpha tocopherol (natural vitamin E)

Turkey Nibblets (cat)
Ground turkey with bone; turkey heart; turkey liver; boneless skinless turkey breast; raw organic goat’s milk; raw organic apple cider vinegar; herring oil; mixed tocopherol; d-alpha tocopherol

[Nelson P]

Hi everyone,
It’s the first time I post on this thread but have been learning a lot from reading it (specially from HDM). So, first of all thanks! Now, hopefully you guys don’t mind if I ask for a little more help. I have a 3 months old Golden Retriever. I have been feeding him Royal Canin Golden Retriever Junior (recommended by the vet.) but as you all know, it’s not the best choice. I want to do better. Unfortunately I don’t have the time or money to feed him a proper raw meal. Not now, maybe in the future (who knows). Good Canned is also very expensive (maybe I can add it as a topper sometimes). So I have to stick with kibble. Would like to choose from HDM list but I live in Europe (Portugal) and we don’t have those brands here (stores or online) and buy it from a international online store would also be too expensive for the shipping. I had to look for other brands and try to stick with the guidelines I learn here. As sad as it may look I couldn’t find too many brands to choose from (there are plenty but not that good). Basically I found 2 options: Orijen/Acana large breed puppy (I know it’s borderline with the calcium levels) or Naturea. Naturea is a portuguese brand but they produce there food in a UK factory tucked into a rural area (as they stated in their website). They have the same Biologically Appropriate concept that Champions have. It’s possible none of you ever heard about this brand (I too didn’t know them until yesterday). I don’t know if I can post the website here for you guys to help me analyse their food so I’ll copy/past their Technical Information:

Composition:
Chicken (includes Fresh Deboned Chicken and Chicken Meal), Sweet Potato, Egg Powder,
Chicken Fat, Potato Protein, Lucerne, Linseed, Chicken Gravy, Salmon Oil, Minerals,
Vitamins, Glucosamine, Methylsulfonylmethane, Chondroitin Sulphate, Apple, Carrot,
Tomato, Spinach, Psyllium, Rosehips, Camomile, Burdock Root, Peppermint, Marigold,
Seaweed, Cranberry, Dandelion, Fructooligosaccharides, Aniseed, Fenugreek, Yucca
Schidigera Extract, Thyme, Marjoram, Oregano, Parsley, Sage.

Animal Ingredients (63%):
Chicken Meal (low ash) 31.17%
Fresh Deboned Chicken 13.85%
Egg Powder 8.22%
Chicken Fat 7.36%
Chicken Gravy 1.73%
Salmon Oil 0.86%

Typical Analysis:
Crude Protein 32%
Crude Fat 21%
Crude Fibre 3%
Moisture 8.5%
Carbohydrates 27.5%
Crude Ash 8%
Metabolisable Energy 387 kCal/100g
Calcium 1.21%
Phosphorus 1.04%

Coat, cardio & Joints:
Linoleic Acid (Omega 6) 3.09%
Linolenic Acid (Omega 3) 1.07%
Glucosamine 889 mg/kg
Chondroitin 625 mg/kg
Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) 889 mg/kg

Other Vitamins, Amnio Acids & Minerals:
Vitamin A 25730 IU/kg
Vitamin D3 1730 IU/kg
Vitamin E (as alpha-tocopherol acetate) 231 IU/kg
Vitamin B1 10 mg/kg
Vitamin B2 23 mg/kg
Vitamin B6 10 mg/kg
Vitamin B12 127 mcg/kg
Biotin 323 mcg/kg
Folic acid 1.73 mg/kg
Niacin 35 mg/kg
Choline Chloride 240 mg/kg
Pantothenate 20 mg/kg
Potassium 1.04%
Sodium 0.36%
Chloride 0.63%
Magnesium 0.1%
Zinc (as zinc sulphate monohydrate) 285 mg/kg
Zinc (as chelate of amino acids hydrate) 342 mg/kg
Copper (as cupric sulphate monohydrate) 41 mg/kg
Copper (as cupric chelate of amino acids hydrate) 51 mg/kg
Manganese (as manganous sulphate monohydrate) 112 mg/kg
Iron (as ferrous sulphate monohydrate) 309 mg/kg
Iron (as ferrous chelate of amino acids hydrate) 21 mg/kg
Iodine (as calcium iodate anhydrous) 1.58 mg/kg
Selenium (as sodium selenite) 0.51 mg/kg

Sorry for the long text. I need to decide on a food sooner than later to start the transition. In the future I would like to rotate different brands (If I can find good ones), and add toppers as suggested here. But for now I really have to decide. Origin, Naturea or other world available brand? Can you help me? So afraid to make the wrong choice. Any other advice on dog/puppy health would be great 🙂

P.S. As for the toppers, besides eggs, tinned sardines, plain yogurt, kefir, cottage cheese, and veggies what can I add without throwing off the balance?

[Mik L]

Wow, I didn’t realize this was a police forum. I see we have children logged on here. People are entitled to their opinion and there’s not need for supervision here. Micro manage some where else. My dog loves greenies and his teeth doesn’t have much tartar. When I took him to get his teeth clean the vet said I was doing a good job, thanks greenies…. My vet advises against any bones even raw hide.

[Z B]

Got a bag of SSLL premix last week, finally got around to using it today. I defrosted a beef heart I had in the freezer. Cubed most of it and puréed some of it In my vitamix blender so I could blend the premix powder in with the heart purée. The dogs were delighted and scarfed it down.

Questions:
1) I added a bit of beef liver, because I had some on hand. Is adding liver necessary or recommended when using this premix?
2) What about bonemeal or ground bone,,is it necessary or recommended with this premix ? ( I didn’t use any this time but I can also grind chicken wings in my blender if it is needed).

I feed water packed sardines a couple times a week. Occasionally eggs. Occasionally turmeric and ground flax.

I try to do all raw on weekends. Weekdays are a mix of 4-5 star kibble mixed,with 5 star Canned or sometimes Raw (I have lots of Darwin’s raw cat food leftover….the cat can’t eat it anymore bc of constipation issues, so the dogs have been enjoying it)

I’m not doing RMB at the moment because little dog is a gulper and big dog gave me a scare getting a chicken neck stuck in her throat. It finally went down but spooked me pretty bad. 🙁

[Z B]

Last month there was a great coupon on Groupon for petbrosia. I got a large bag at 50% off I think. So something like a $ 60 20 lb bag of food for $24. My dogs like it. I mix it half and half with raw or 5’star Canned.
I’d use it in rotation, if there are more Groupon coupons with deals like this. I wouldn’t pay full price for it, too expensive.

ETA: just checked Groupon and the deal is still there :). There are options for 3 lb @ $5.99, 10lb @ $13.99, and 20 lb @ $23.99

Shipping wasn’t too much if I remember correctly.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 4 months ago by Z B.

[jakes mom]

Akari, haha…I would love some of those stupid 80 degree Decembers! I will be visiting family near Tampa next Feb. and hope to see some stupid 80s then, too! Thanks for the comment about taking dogs away from the owners for nail trims, blood draws, etc. That was my reasoning, too. Read that somewhere I guess…
I will give Jake a break over the winter and resume his hw meds this spring and hope he has a better experience with his test next year.

[L P]

I have always wanted to raw feed but don’t have the time or resources to do it myself. However lately a frozen raw food brand has been available here in Spain, it is the only one, and I want to feed it to my dog and my cat (who currently eat Orijen kibble).

I need opinion on if this food is appropriate and complete for my pets: I would be adding taurin powder for my cat, as well as completing with raw bones from time to time.

Here is a link to the catalogue (see pages 3 and 4 for food pictures): http://www.dietayum.com/img/cms/catalogo-dieta-yum.pdf

Since it is in spanish, here is a translation of all their menus (I have asked, and the grinded meat includes bones and organs, and all the meat is human grade):

Chicken & cow menu: 60% chicken, 19% cow, 9.9% carrot, 5% beet, 5% turnip, 1% olive oil, 0.001% garlic.

Beef menu: 79% beef, 9.9% carrot, 5% beet, 5% turnip, 1% egg shells, 1% salmon oil, 0.001% garlic.

Salmon menu: 20% salmon, 59% cow, 8.9% carrot, 5% beet, 5% turnip, 1% egg shells, 1% salmon oil, 0.001% garlic.

Turkey menu: 60% turkey, 20% lamb tripe, 9.5% pumpkin, 9.4% apple, 1% olive oil, 0.001% garlic.

Lamb menu: 19% lamb, 60% chicken, 9.9% carrot, 5% beet, 5% turnip, 1% olive oil, 0.001% garlic.

Puppy menu: 40% chicken, 20% green tripe, 15% cow, 5% salmon, 5% beet, 5% carrot, 3.9% sardines, 3% turnip, 1% egg shells, 1% seaweed (spirulina), 1% olive oil, 0.001% garlic.

Thanks in advance for your opinion and help!

[theBCnut]

I use a shallow ladle. It fits right under my JRT just perfect. It does NOT go back in the kitchen drawer for later use in soup.

[Akari_32]

let me know how your guys like raw! I gave Kitty the tail off Bentleys turkey last week, and he loved it. Wasn’t quite sure what to do with it at first, because he’s used to just licking his food up, but once he remembered what his teeth were for, he went to town on that thing lol I think I’m going to suck up the price and buy him some ground chicken for the Wild Kitty sample. It’s like $5 for a pound though! I might just be cheap and get ground pork. He likes country ribs lol

So I got two of the new Saucations on Black Friday for $0.39 cents or whatever they were a can at PetSmart because I had a bogo coupon. I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx294/Akari53/CBC9307F-0C33-45F4-ACDE-E90A8A22A01F_zpsuqskics6.jpg

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx294/Akari53/6AB53347-7322-425C-89E0-016ED1D1C627_zps9d8k9hqf.jpg

Why do people think this ok???? Of course, the little turd likes it. But he eats from the garbage can, too, so I’m not sure how much that says LOL

[crazy4cats]

Hi Leslie-
I don’t think that in general kibble is just as nutritious as most dehydrated foods. Annament is a very good one though. That being said, I know that Honest Kitchen is very expensive. I feed my dogs a base kibble and add something to it every meal. They get a few tablespoons of canned with it in the morning. In the afternoon, I rotate between eggs, beef heart, dehydrated, frozen raw patties, and sardines in their kibble. I also feed the See Spot Live Longer dinner mix with lightly cooked burger once a week. So, I guess what I am saying is if you go ahead with the kibble, you can always bump up the nutrition with toppers! From what I’m learning, variety is very healthy for our dogs.

[Dori]

Hi Jake. I keep my dogs on HW (Sentinel Spectrum) year round because I live in Atlanta, Georgia. Weather is unpredictable in what is supposedly the cooler (winter) months. Last week we had a couple of days below freezing, bird baths frozen, all the winter stuff. Last few days has been in the upper 60’s and a couple of days in the low 70’s. To keep my girls safe I keep them on HW meds all year every 30 days. We’ve been in Georgia for the passed 13 years. Before that we lived in the Northeast (NJ, NY, Conn. and Cape Cod). Because the winters were completely predictable and freezing all winter long I did last HW October and nothing again until May. I think you would have to judge what your weather is. If you really have consistent old time winter weather then I guess you could keep him off for the winter months which I would do just to keep some of these chemicals out of his system and give his system a bit of a break. HW test is just the one time of year. Take some really really choice treats with you to the vet that he absolutely would do anything for. Before they come in to take blood work and while they are chit chatting with you you could just get his attention with the pieces of chicken, liver, whatever you want (no actual store bought treats or kibble….that’s not special enough) and just give him little tiny pieces as the entire process goes on. Eventually he should think of it as a good experience as opposed to the nightmarish type experience he had in the Spring. It’s worth the one time experience to keep him off HW for a few months. Just my opinion.

Let me also add that I take my dogs to the vet for a yearly physical and yearly blood work anyway. I’ve done that with every dog (there have been many…I’m 66 years old). If something is going on with them I want to know sooner rather than later. Trying to catch anything serious that may not be outwardly visible and keep track of all their levels and if anything has changed since the year before so they are accustomed to having the bloodwork draw anyway. Through the years I have found that things were going on that I would never have been aware of if not for the blood work. I was then able to start working with nutrition and supplements more geared to the issue.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 4 months ago by Dori.

[theBCnut]

First, you need to know that while your puppy is growing is not a good time to experiment with whether or not you got the diet balanced right, so I always suggest commercial raw meals or using a premix to which you just add the correct amount of boneless meat.

I don’t think there is really and argument about whether or not veggies are necessary. It is known that they are NOT necessary, but that isn’t the same thing as beneficial. Some dogs have constipation issues on a raw diet and veggies add fiber to help with regularity. Veggies also offer different antioxidants that may help if your meat source is not as pure as you could wish. Veggie have micronutrients in them that may be missing from over grazed soil and so missing from meat animals. Adding veggies make up for some of what would be missing if you don’t feed tripe.

Bone, meat, and organs are supposed to be specific amounts of the diet, and you can do that feeding organs a few times a week, but organs are rich and in some dogs cause stomach upset if too much is given at one time.

[Avery M]

Just this monday my boyfriend and I picked up a 10 week old australian shepherd. This is the first dog I’ve been entirely responsible for and I’m definitely consider raw as an option (especially if I can find an affordable way to do it). I’ve read some articles and watched youtube examples of other people’s meal preps. So far what I’ve gathered is that is that I should slowly introduce and then rotate a variety of meats (I was thinking chicken, turkey and beef) as well as adding organs several times a week, and meaty bones daily. I’ve also noticed many people disagree on whether any vegetables are necessary. I have several main questions: Do I need to rotate the kind of animal the organs and bones come from like I do the meat? What, if any, adjustments do I need to make for her given that she’s a puppy? Is their a substitute for the green trife (I’m not sure if that’s what it’s called, I believe it may be stomach of some sort?) like a probiotic or something? I’m not sure where to get that.. If there is anything else I should know or advice to give me that would be great. Thank you.

[Dori]

Sorry Dog Obsessed. Yes, Answers is a commercial raw dog food that is imo one of the best out there but incredibly difficult to find. Very few distributers carry it and there are only two places in the state of Georgia that I have found that will carry it or not give me a hard time ordering it in. One is in Kennesaw where Alek lives and the other is much further away.

[Kelsi P]

You may want to look into a raw diet- many folks with dogs diagnosed with IBD/IBS, chronic colitis, etc., have experienced great results with raw. Your vet may not like it, but many vets are catching on and will recommend it. Try a holistic vet.

[Alicia A]

There are a lot of questions out there about supplements, minerals, probiotics and what to feed dogs.
I have my dog on a raw food diet and add in supplements which are natural and she is thriving.
Highly recommend checking out the following website; http://www.peterdobias.com
There is some great (free!) information on taking care of our dogs naturally and some original products along with other brands that are recommended for a range of things including proactively taking care of dog’s health and also what to consider when there are issues.

[CSollers]

FWIW, our Pugs are thriving on a raw diet.

[Kelsi P]

Hi there- I know you posted this a while ago, but I just stumbled across this post. I had the same problem with my dog as a puppy. Unexplained chronic diarrhea, having to make a bowel movement several times per day (5+ per day!), etc. We went through tests (bacteria, parasite/amoeba, fungal) antibiotics, food changes, enteric support supplements- the whole gamut. The vet couldn’t figure it out…. He was put on a prescription diet for a short while and while it helped calm things down (with the combination of flagyl), it didn’t stop. Nothing worked until I switched my dog to raw food. Seriously- the bloody diarrhea, gastric upset, vomiting, etc., stopped within a few weeks. Maybe it’s worth a try for your dogs? I am lucky in that my vet is open to raw diets and she hasn’t said anything negative because it’s helped my dog. My dog simply cannot handle any kind of kibble, regardless of the make and recipe. Good luck to ya.

[theBCnut]

Their protein is not plant based, or not all, that would be a vegetarian food, and those don’t make the 5 star list. Plant based means that more than half of the food comes from plants. This is a combination of all the carbs, some of the oil, and some of the protein. I would feed both, but I would add canned, raw, or fresh animal based protein to all of them.

[Naturella]

I was under the impression that wild game meat should be frozen for a few weeks (maybe 2) before fed raw to dogs, but I may be wrong and maybe that’s just for pork… Not 100% sure. But I second what Akari said – don’t give any of the dogs TOO much organs, but you certainly can give the indoor dog some.

[Akari_32]

Heart isn’t an organ, it’s a muscle, so there’s really no issue with that. The only problem I see with offering the large amount of organs you have to such small dogs is hat raw organs are high in various vitamins and minerals that can cause toxicitiy when fed too much of. However, you can freeze them into serving size portions and offer once a week or so as a special meal, or dry them and offer a couple bites a day as a treat. The dried organs would still need to be frozen (or shared with friends) as that amount of meat would go bad before it would be used.

What kind of hunting dogs do you have? I would love to see some pictures! And where do you live that you hunt deer? My family’s got a hunting camp up in Michigan that a few of the guys stay at for several weeks each year. It’s amazing up there! And love me a good Bambi :p

[jakes mom]

Yep, that’s what I ended up doing with my NV frozen kitty food, it became a topper for Jake’s food. Cats not interested in frozen raw, but a couple love fresh.

[Cynthia R]

My 12.5 year old boxer had advanced arthritis in his knees and began staggering. We had to put up a baby gate around stairs because he staggered and fell down them:-(.
You may want to consider adding fish oil to his daily supplements.
My vet had our boy on 3 grams of fish oil daily (helps with joints along with many other benefits, so all my dogs are given this daily), loading dose of glyco-flex lll (our vet also likes phycox), prevacox, tramadol as needed the last year of his life. I raised him on a grain-free diet(raw).

[Bobby dog]

Hey C4c:
The best part about frozen raw for the cats is if it doesn’t go well with the kitties, your dogs can take care of your problem. lol

Glad Casper is still doing well! 🙂

[crazy4cats]

Happy belated Thanksgiving all! I need to cut back on how much I feed all my pets too. Five out of 6 are a little chubby. My Hyper dog, Buhner, is the only skinny one, and I feed him the most. Must be nice. Lol! I just bought 3 frozen pizzas at Winco tonite. We love them too! I’m real interested in how the wild kitty goes too. I bought a small bag of frozen Nature’s Variety raw for the cats but haven’t tried it yet. (Yes, with a coupon) I guess I’m worried they won’t eat it. Casper is still doing well on his vet food and anti-anxiety meds. Take care all.

[Bobby dog]

Happy Thanksgiving Sharon!! 😉 I missed your message too, I haven’t checked the e-mail I use for DFA in quite a few days.

My cats didn’t like the Duos. Can’t wait to hear how Wild Kitty goes. Someone stopped by a while ago and wrote they use it or had used it, can’t remember. I posted back to them and asked how they liked it, but they never posted again.

If you want to feed raw that is something people sometimes forget about, it takes up some space in the freezer. lol I only feed frozen commercial raw and have some various meats for the dog and cats and it takes up the bottom shelf of my freezer. lol That’s a tough choice to make, I love frozen pizza too.

[Akari_32]

Well I’m late to see this, but hope you had a good Thanksgiving, girly!

Just stopping in here to let you guys know I bought a TON of those new Wellness Duo’s (none of the fish ones, naturally) and Kitty loves them! Eats a whole can in about 30 seconds flat lol I’ve also got my sample of Wild Kitty Cat Food that I have to get some ground meat to try him on. I was going to buy a whole can of Oasis+ Feline and put him on raw, but I just don’t think I could afford it, even with cheap meats like chicken thighs and what-nots. I also don’t think the freezer can hold much more animal food, much less human food LOL I can’t even buy my favorite frozen pizzas that are BOGO this week because the poor thing is so tiny and already packed full of Bentley’s food!

Oh! And I’ve also cut him back from two 5.5 oz cans a day to a 3 oz can for breakfast and a 5.5 oz can for dinner. He was 13+ pounds at the vet when we went that last time! Fatty… LOL Which is pretty bad for me because I’m all about proper portion sizes for the critters. He’s very hard to judge, though! His fur stands straight out and hides any curves he’s got, so I can’t really tell if he’s a good weight or not until I apparently take him to the vet for a UTI and he weighs almost 4 pounds more than when I got him in March LOL *rolls eyes* But he’s back down to what I think looks like a good weight now. I’ll have to weigh him and see what he’s at right now.

[Susan]

Look for a low carb food, my boy was licking & licking his paws & his paws smelt like corn chips, real yeasty & when he’d walk on wet grass, his paws would get red & itchy…..His 2 front paws are the worst, he can’t eat potatoes, Sweet Potatoes Peas, no starchy foods….also bath him & his paws in Malaseb Medicated Shampoo its an anti-fungal shampoo kills the bacteria but doesnt dry out his skin & the Malaseb relieves his itch & red paws & stops his smelly paws, so no licking…
Your best to feed either cooked or raw diet so u can control the amount of carbs he’s eating have you looked at “K9 Natural” freeze dried food. This food was invented for itchy dogs, has no beet pulp either, here’s their link to have a read….
http://www.k9naturalusa.com/ the Chicken & Venison has the least fat%

[Dori]

Just read an article on line that Petsmart acquired Pet360 which owns PetMD.com as well as Pet Food Direct. Apparently Petsmart hadn’t decided yet what to do with it all or how to maximize potential for its stockholders. I believe Pet360 has other pet companies under its umbrella also.

I’m not crazy about Petco buying Foster and Smith.

Well, two or more companies that I will no longer give my money to. I do not shop in any stores that sell animals. I also try to frequent local smaller stores in my area. I like to keep the smaller stores in business so I try to do my small part for them. They also have such smaller stores that their inventory moves quickly. Nothing every old and rancid. Nothing even close to expiration dates. I recently convinced them to start carrying Natures Logic Raw which I’m thrilled about. They say I spear headed the movement (actually meaning I badgered them into it) lol. They also said that they well knew that I’m a long time raw feeder with really high standards and knew the only kibble I ever purchased was Natures Logic so they started ordering whichever proteins I would ask for so that there must be something to Natures Logic. I then started bugging them for the raw. Voila! They installed a third freezer to house it. They now carry the entire line. I’m now starting to bug them about Answers Detailed Raw. Those are things that can be accomplished with local small businesses that you could never in a million years do with a Petco or Petsmart.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 4 months ago by Dori.

[oepth]

So I’m getting a puppy in a week (mini aussie – yay!) and I definitely want to feed a raw diet. I’m close to My Pet Carnivore so getting the meat / triple / grinds isn’t an issue. I also want to feed morning kibble – mostly because I want her to work for her food using food puzzle toys. She’ll be about 25 lbs as an adult so that will mean she’ll get about 12 ounces of food a day. (3% of 25 lbs)

Can someone recommend me a menu? Here’s what I have:
Morning
– Orijen Puppy Kibble (4 ounces)

Lunch
– Chicken neck (4 ounces) OR

Dinner (rotate amongst these options or so)
– Green tripe (starting with grinded version and then moving on to the real thing) 2 ounces + whole grind chicken 2 ounces OR
– Beef liver 1 ounce + whole grind chicken 2 ounces + chicken gizzard 1 ounce OR
– Whole ground duck 2 ounces + Beef gullet 1 ounce + Green tripe 1 ounce + 1 ounce vege puree

Does this menu sound ok? More liver/offals? What kind? Also I’m adding Salmon Oil (Grizzly brand) and Solid Gold Sea Meal Powder.

Thanks for any feedback!
Cheryl

[Naturella]

Girl, you know I will, I’ve been eying Wellness for a WHILE! And with $12 off, HELLO! 🙂

Misty, thanks to Akari’s tips, I am able to feed my one 15-lb dog for about $8 or so/month (that’s about $2-$2.50/week) on really, really good dry, dehydrated, air-dried, freeze-dried, and canned foods, plus fresh food toppers, such as raw eggs, raw bones, canned sardines, yoghurt/kefir, and coconut oil. AND I have stocked up on food for him for about a year (until July/August 2015). So yeah, she is the ultimate coupon guru there is for dog and cat food and supplies. And fish and reptiles, if you’re into that. 😉

[Susan]

Hi Vicki, you have a beautiful girl, I have a English Staffordshire Terrier, he’s also short & real stocky, he too suffers from the stinky yeasty skin, paws, ears, mostly his paws now…

Everyone will tell you, put her on a grainfree diet. WRONG… Grainfree doesn’t work for yeasty itchy dogs… they have replaced grains with Starchy Potatos, Peas, Topioca, Sweet Potato, (a bit lower in starch) Legumes etc…
I had to do an elimination diet to find out which foods were causing Patches problems, I found Potatos, Sweet potatos, Peas, Wheat, Rye, Barley, Oats, Banana all made Patch itch even causing diarrhea (pototes) anything that was high in STARCH & Gluten, so now I try to keep Patch on a Gluten & Starch free diet….

You seem to be doing everything right, Maybe try the Antiseptic rinses with Betadine (Iodine) this really helps Patches red itchy stinky paws, it kills the bacteria..I use Detol Antiseptic lotion instead in a shallow bath, it works out cheaper then the Betadine you need the water to look like ice tea with the Betadine, you end up needing a whole bottle, where with the Detol antiseptic lotion, I only need a couple of caps to a shallow bath..

Now you need to start on the inside with her Diet…..

Kibble is NO GOOD, to make kibble they need binders to bind the kibble together Peas, Potato, Sweet Potatos, Rice, Oats, legumes etc these all are high starchy carbs causing yeast problems in dogs, the best way is no kibble… feed either a cooked diet or a freeze dry diet or both… no kibble….. 1 for breakfast the other 1 for dinner, I boiled chicken breast & add little boiled Pumkin for breakfast…

Have you looked at freeze dried foods like “K-9 Natural” instead of kibble, it has NO GRAINS, NO POTATOS, GLUTEN FREE, NO HIGH STARCHY CARBS…alot of people swear by K9 Natural, once you get ur girl off kibble the nightmare will start to end for both of you….. K9 Natural also makes treats, they do freeze dried & raw ….click on the product you want to have a look at & all the ingredients will come up……the chicken or the venison has the least amount of fat %…..even find another freeze dried brand with the same ingredients that K9 Natural uses if you can not find K9 Natural in pet shops…
here’s their link its worth a try…
http://www.k9naturalusa.com/

Good Luck with Gracie Mae

[theBCnut]

If you are interested in making his food, either raw or homecooked, then dogaware.com is a great place to get started. Also Dr Karen Becker has a book called “Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats” that has some great recipes in it. An easy way to do raw is to start with premixes and just add boneless meat. Some good premixes are See Spot Live Longer Dinner Mix, Dr Harvey’s Veg to Bowl fine ground, and the Honest Kitchen Preference.

Don’t forget that food sensitivities and yeast infections go hand in hand, so don’t rule that out.

Mercole has a good multistrain probiotic, so does Garden of Life, and if you need an economy option Swanson’s has a couple good ones. It really doesn’t matter if the probiotics are human versus dog, but what does matter is that you use one with as many different strains as you can.

[Vicki R]

I have her on coconut oil and a antifungal shampoo and than I’ve been doing an AVC rinse. The rinse in one gallon water and one cup of AVC or you can use lemon juice or 20 drops of peppermint. The rinse seems to really help a lot and I am letting the shampoo sit on her for 10 minutes. She’s been only getting broccoli, frozen green beans and cucumbers for treats. Right now she is on Fromm Gold. I’ve had her on Nature’s Variety Instincts before too. I don’t think I could think I would feel comfortable putting her on a raw diet. I don’t know enough about it yet, but I would feed her raw you can purchase at a pet store or order online. Which probiotic do you guys use? Thank you for the advice you’ve already given me. Oh…..and I just figured out on my own it was yeast infection and not allergies just two weeks ago. I’ve been searching for a food since than and also joined some raw feed groups.

[theBCnut]

For yeast, my favorite kibble is Brothers Complete. It was formulated specifically to help yeasty dogs. And low carb kibbles are better than high carb kibbles for yeast though. Kibble is never the best food for yeast, because all kibble has to have a pretty hefty amount of carbs to hold together. If you can swing it, canned is better, low carb homemade or raw is best. Add coconut oil and probiotics to the diet to help fight the yeast. And bathe weekly with an essential oil shampoo, do not use oatmeal shampoos.

Yeast is often caused by a food reaction, so if you don’t figure out what your dog is reacting to, it will come back.

[InkedMarie]

Yeast can be a tough issue. Any chance you can do raw? One of my dogs had yeast ear infections & when I put him on raw (no fruits or veggies, the sugar in them “feeds” yeast), they went away.

If you must feed kibble, look for one without white potato. In our forums here, look for my stickie on potato free foods. I think it’s in the dog food ingredients forum. I haven’t updated the list but it’s a good start.

[Kristin C]

Hey Pluto-not sure how old your pup is but because it’s a larger dog you may want to look into the 90-93% if you are feeding raw. I would feed raw and kibble at separate meals if you are new to it.

[Kristin C]

Michael H – I am currently using Orijen Freeze Dried Adult. I use it along with the Adult kibble a few meals per week but I feed mostly homemade raw. Have not had any issues and am considering rotating to Orijen Regional, but it has even more proteins. I looked at BDN too but something about their process did not sit right with me, just a gut feeling really. I order from Reel Raw and my dogs love it. You just have to plan according to their delivery schedule and have the freezer space. I have tried Stewart’s Freeze Dried but one of my dog’s doesn’t tolerate it so I always end up back to making my own raw. Good thing we got a turkey neck, liver and gizzards from our dinner today. We fried the heart and some of the liver for our stuffing:)

[theBCnut]

Hi DO
Yes, going raw can help, but really getting on any diet that is less processed, less preserved, less ingredients that you don’t know what they are, is helpful. Homecooked is the way a lot of people with epilepsy dogs go. You have total control of the ingredients that way, and if the dog is stressed from seizures, you don’t have to worry about bacteria.

[Susan]

Hi Rebekah, oh be careful with Advangtage spot on, it goes thru their skin to the blood system, where frontline plus only penitrates 2 layers of their skin, that’s what my vet told me after Patch was real ill after I put Advangtage on him, so now I just use the Frontline again but only if I see a flea when we come into spring & summer then I stop using the frontline over Autunm & winter,
When I was young, 11 yrs old I had epillepsy & was put on medication for years after having all the test done & staying in hospital for 2 weeks drs said the fits were probably caused by my hormones turning into a teenager (peroids)… I remember after a fit I would have a real bad headache & felt crap, I had my fits in my sleep aswell, my mum would hear me from the loungeroom….I had to change my diet, no preservatives etc…..In Lew Olsons “Raw & Natural nutrition for dogs & Cats” book she recommendeds either a raw diet or cooked diet no kibbles for epilepsy……like BC said GO Natural as much as you can..

[Dog_Obsessed]

Well said BCnut, that makes total sense but I hadn’t really thought about it. Do you think a raw diet could actually help control seizures?

[Dori]

Hi Michael H. I’ve never fed any Orijen food because all of their foods contain way too many different proteins and one of my dogs has a ton of food issues. All three of my girls used to have yeast issues until I switched them to raw and mostly commercial raw foods. I feed a rotational diet and do include freeze dried and dehydrated in rotation. BDN air dried is also in rotation and none of my girls have ever had an issue with it. I rotate with their beef, tripe and fish, no poultry in our house ever because of high allergy with Katie. As for freeze dried foods that I like and my dogs do very very well on are Primal Freeze Dried, Vital Essentials Freeze Dried and Nature’s Variety Instinct Freeze Dried. I know that Stella and Chewy’s is popular but I’m less than thrilled with it so I no longer have it in rotation.

The only kibble I use at times in rotation is Nature’s Logic Sardine Formula. It is grain free with the exception of millet which is a pseudo grain. My one dog with all the allergies, sensitivities and intolerances to food, environment and pretty much life in general and was always the one with the most amount of yeast problems does really really well on this food. It is an expensive kibble but I note that you are feeding Orijen which is pretty high up there also.

I would suggest that you find a few foods (as many as you can find anyway) and rotate through the proteins that do not bother your dogs and also rotate same way with different brands and their acceptable proteins. I’ve been feeding this way for almost three years now so my dogs are at the point that I rotate with each and every meal. I have found that allergy girl Katie can tolerate a lot more ingredients if only exposed to it sporadically than she could before. No more yeast, gas, bad breath, scratching, doggy smell, loose stools, diarrhea, constipation, etc. etc. No more of all the things that comes along with a dog that has food issues. It took me years to get to a point that I could feed multiple foods. Trial and error. To this day I’m always adding and detracting foods in rotation.

Best of luck to you and hope your dog is on the mend. Sorry about the high fever. That is really scary.

Is it possible that she got into something in the yard or on a walk that you don’t remember? Some treat or food that some “kind hearted” person thought he’d like? Some “kind hearted” people used to cause many issues with Katie. I now watch everyone like a hawk. Everywhere we would go, even the vet, wanted to give her a treat. No Way!!!

[Dog_Obsessed]

When my foster dog was diagnosed with Epilepsy, we were told by one of the pet store employees to avoid rosemary extract and feed raw food. The thing about rosemary does not have much evidence to support it, (learn more here: /frequently-asked-questions/dog-food-ingredients/) and I don’t know about the raw diet. However, one probable cause seemed to be peanut butter. The seizures seemed somewhat timed with the peanut butter, and we stopped to peanut butter the same time we started the meds. Phenobarbital is supposed to take several weeks, but after we stopped the PB and started the meds, he had no seizures for a few weeks and only had one more thing we thought may have been a seizure a few weeks later.

Now, I have never heard of PB causing seizures, I have given it to other dogs with no problems. I don’t recommend avoiding peanut butter unless he actually seems to have a problem with it, but it is just a reminder that anything can cause seizures.

[Dog_Obsessed]

Someone one Dogster Magazine thought that slow-bowls, such as this one made by Kyjen:http://www.chewy.com/dog/dog-games-drop-slo-bowl-interactive/dp/56306 would work for raw or “soupy” food.