[Michael H]

To DogFoodie:

For kibble he’s on Orijen 6-Fish, as that is the main one he can have without the presence of an allergenic ingredient, and does fine, so unless it’s some very strange fish BDN uses, he tolerates it fine. Bassets are prone to yeast as it is-for him, it’s always on the undercarriage, where he lies on it all day with no air circulation. I wanted to move onto freeze dried foods as I haven’t come across a canned food that I like, and all kibbles have too high of carbs, and I want to keep his down as much as possible. I can’t afford raw for all meals for both dogs, so trying to do 1 meal of raw, 1 of another food a day. Ordered BDN and reel raw on the same day, BDN came in 2 days, still waiting until 12/5 for my raw stuff, so I tried the 2/day of BDN to see how they do on it. They love it and my other dog is doing great, I just don’t know why this happened, pretty upset.

[Michael H]

My 2 dogs like BDN too, however we just got back from a $400 emergency vet visit from our 8yo Basset having a “fever of unknown origin”. The only change he has had has been with this food over the last week (tripe and fish). His fever is getting better, but it got up to 105, which is scary. I’m really hoping it’s coincidental, as it’s been very hard to find food he’s not allergic to. I put in an order to reel raw but it won’t arrive until 12/5. He does OK on Orijen kibble, but still has yeast issues with it. Our other dog is doing fine on BDN, the only thing being she seems to still be hungry after even giving a little more of the recommended feeding amount, but she is younger and more active-our hound sleeps at least 14 hours a day, so we keep him as trim as possible.

I for some reason thought BDN was freeze dried too, not this 24 hour 100d air dried process…that screams unsafe to me. I know for people you have to follow the “Danger Zone” rules of 40-140d F.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/shared/PDF/Danger_Zone.pdf

Considering trying the freeze dried Orijen instead if this caused the issue-anyone like their freeze dried foods?

[theBCnut]

Try a freeze dried food like Vital Essentials. It’s raw with the water removed so it won’t gunk up and contaminate food toys. That’s what I use for training treats.

[Akari_32]

The thing with Blue Buffalo (Diamond manufactured aside) is that it tends to cause vitamin overdoses in most dogs. Some dogs are fine with it, but a lot have problems. That and crystals, which are painful, especially in males.

As far as potatoes goes, it’s hard to find a grain free food that doesn’t use potatoes. It’s either white or sweet potatoes, peas, or legumes. Legumes are said to be harder for dogs to digest (how true that is, I can’t say). Most dogs are ok with potatoes, and most are ok with peas and legumes. Just likes with everything else, there will be dogs that have issues with certain things. The problem with the amount of carbs in kibble is that kibble needs a binder, and that’s pretty much what carbs are for. Some are better than others (corn vs sweet potatoes, for example) and not all carb sources are appropriate for every dog. And if you think about it, there’s really not very many grain-free carb sources out there. Potatoes are the cheapest, and neither potaoes or peas (or legumes) are bad options unless your dog can’t have them. I actually had to take one of my dogs completely off carbs because the yeast that naturally lives on dogs bodies would get so out of control that the poor guy would turn bright red and be so, so itchy. He’s still bothered by the grass, but he’s considerablely better since switching to all raw.

I would suggest switching through all different brands, and protein and carb sources regularly. Keeps life interesting for the dog, and keeps them from building up intollerances to certain ingredients in dog food, while also giving them a variety of vitamin and mineral levels, which helps prevent overdoses and deficiencies. Also lets you take advantage of sales 😉

[oepth]

I am definitely a raw food advocate. I did it with my cats and am now going to do it with my new puppy. That said though, I do want my puppy to work for her food for at least one meal a day – through puzzles/kongs/food toys etc and I really can’t imagine how to do that with raw food. With kibble, that would be easy and it would really make her work her noggin to get her meal. Just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on how to make their dogs work for their raw food?

[arwyru24]

LOL

My grandparents lived in Port Charlotte (they retired down there from the northeast of course lol)
I think that’s near Venice if I remember correctly.
I remember always remarking about how flat everything is and how all the roads are flat and straight. And that there were a lot of old people and a lot of strip malls and a lot of bugs. It’s beautiful but I don’t do hot and humid well. I’m sitting here looking out my back window at our first snowstorm of the year trying to eat a late lunch and my cats are trying to crawl all over me. The snow is always pretty at first but by February I am cursing myself for moving out of coastal SoCal and by the summer I remember again how much I love it here.

[Karen J]

Here I imploring for advice. Trixie loves Wellness Petite Entrees (Grain Free Lamb Cassarole) BUT very expensive because ant 12.8 lbs she needs 4 a day. Petco $1.50, forget them, Henco in Sun Valley $1.25 but they only have 3 containers left right now & they’re far.

My thought is if I get get a kibble to mix it with I could use 2 a day. She will no longer eat the BB Basics NO grain for small breeds, I tried mixing it with her new favorite the Petite Entrees but no go. I do have some calls out – tried a raw frozen and she ate it once.

Just got a bag of EVO no grain kibble to try and mix with the Wellness Petite Entrees . Any thoughts?

[Dog_Obsessed]

Thanks! Emailing THK is a good idea, I’ll try that. I guess I could also consider mixing a freeze-dried prey model raw with it, though I have a feeling that would get pricey.

[Akari_32]

You don’t have to cook for pre-mixes. I freeze all Bentleys raw meals for several weeks to kill of any nasties. When I do this, I portion them out into 5 oz servings that I can throw in the fridge every night and use the next day with his See Spot Live Longer mix. It’s very easy. I must say, I’d rather deal with Bentleys raw than Gingers canned and dry mixed meals LOL

Check out By Nature 95%. I used that for Bentley for the longest time. It’s cheaper to feed him raw, however. Kind of weird lol

If you want meat that is higher in fat, ground pork and dark meat chicken are great, less expensive choices. Bentley is small, so the higher fat meats help keep portions down. Pork is Bentleys favorite for raw. When he was on kibble (back when we still thought his problems were protein allergy related) he loved beef.

[crazy4cats]

Hi-
I think it would be fine, but isn’t the Wellness canned a complete balanced food? I think the base mixes are meant to be used to balance out plain meat, either raw or lightly cooked. I use the See Spot Live Longer base mix with either ground turkey or burger once a week and my dogs love it.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 4 months ago by crazy4cats.

[aquariangt]

Fromm 4star has pretty small kibble size. I agree the different protein choices are great, but the one thing with Fromm (don’t get me wrong, they are a fantastic company) is that especially in the grain inclusive lines, the protein levels are very low. The Grain free is better-getting around 30% and a bit higher, but they do use peas to get some of that. I have one that is allergic to peas, and already its a huge pain to find kibble that she can have that has decent protein and isn’t just chicken. She eats a few of the Fromm 4 star grain inclusives though-just be diligent about adding canned or raw or meat toppers to help that. Overall-I highly recommend them

[Karen J]

Okay so I tried Nature’ Valley Prairie Raw Frozen last night…she ate it up, this morning at 5am she left it so before I left…it had been out for about an hour…I wrapped in plastic and put it into the fridge. Can I give it to her tonight? Is it safe?

I gave her a grain free Petite Entree from Wellness and she ate that!

[Akari_32]

I routinely use puppy foods for my 11, 12, and 14 year old dogs. All that stuff in puppy food is great for them. It’s lower in carbs and higher in protein, which is what senior dogs need. Don’t worry too much about labeling, and go for any food that says its for puppies, all life stages, and adults.

For such a small dog, you may even look into a pre-mix for raw. I have an 8 lb jack russell mix on See Spot Live Longer and a variety of protein sources, and it only costs about $20 a month to feed him.

If you don’t want to go that route, I’m a big fan of Wellness. Their non-small breed formulas have kibbles that your little guy probably can’t chew, but they do have several Small and Toy Breed foods out, and they are releasing more. They come in grain-inclusive and grain free varieties, and they also always $5 off any size bag coupons on their website. Just click the “Check Your Bag” button, and follow the promts.

http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/index.aspx

I also use Nutro Natural Choice LID Lamb and Rice (in the dark green bag), and their Small Breed line looks fantastic as well, but the prices and lack of coupons drive me away (those are in pink bags). Nutro Ultra looks like a great food.

Be careful when selecting foods while trying to stay away from Diamond. They make Blue Buffalo, Taste of the Wild, Canidae, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul, Precise, Premium Edge, and many more. And While I used to love Innova and Evo, I can personally no longer recommend them. They are now owned by Mars– the candy company. Since the buy-out of Natura (P&G, then Mars) the protein levels have dropped and more carbs have been added. Mars also owns others brands of pet foods. If they make your candy bars, should they *really* be making pet food?

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101566238#.

Good luck with your little guy! I think I speak for all of us when I say “PICS!!!!” 😉

[theBCnut]

Hi CL

Yes, for some dogs holding it is much worse. You can try clamping a set of vice grips onto it to make sure they take it slow. I know of an old poster here that used the old metal tube from his vacuum cleaner and attached raw to that to slow his dog down. Most dogs do learn that they have to chew their food. The bones in turkey necks are small enough for large dogs to pass, if they don’t chew them. The bones in chicken and duck necks are small enough for small dogs to pass. But for a toy dog, I think I would hit them with a hammer, if I wasn’t sure if the dog would chew.

[Leisa D]

http://dogcathomeprepareddiet.com/diet_and_urinary_tract_stone_and.html#dog

You may want to visit Dr. Strombeck’s site for urinary tract diets. His website is a fantastic resource for understanding canine/feline nutrition. These are cooked diets, which may make it easier for many who want to find something between RAW and Kibble or the very expensive RAW commercial offerings.

I made one of his recipes (not urinary) yesterday using my .5 RMB grind (ground chicken quarters with liver/heart/gizzard/vegetables) and .5 ground turkey (same ratios) as the meat source RAW. To say that it was a really big hit is an understatement.

Whatever recipe you make for her that satisfies the dietary requirements can be relegated to an oven (no bone). I use a cookie press and spritz it out on a silipat lined baking sheet and cook. I then take them off the sheet, put on a rack and back in the warm oven. Once crunchy take a knife and cut into appropriately sized pieces. Store in baggies in freezer. Take out what you need.

[InkedMarie]

A raw diet would be best; it has the most moisture which is very important. Are you looking to do a pre made or are you doing your own?

[Karen J]

I’ve been on here many times about the beginning formation of struvite crystals, but I’m having a problem finding a food Trixie will continue to eat.

Would like to know if a raw diet might be in order? Totally forget the BB kibble.

She loves the Wellness no grain lamb but now that I mix it with kibble she can’t be bothered. Also it gives her terrible gas. She seems tired of the Stella and Chewy too.

I got organic chicken jerky from a place in Maine but that’s only a safe treat. Anything good for training treats that won’t make her condition worse.

[neezerfan]

I’m using Darwins raw, rotating with several different types of canned. It is messy, though so it may cause more problems than it solves as far as messy faces are concerned.

[Leisa D]

http://dogcathomeprepareddiet.com/diet_and_chronic_renal_disease.html#dog

Dr. Strombeck (DVM) has a nice exposition of renal disease in addition to several home cooked (v. raw) diets for management of phosphorus levels. It might be a resource for you as you work toward managing this condition.

I performed quite a bit of research on RAW diets and canine nutrition before transitioning to them. (Managing allergic condition in senior American Bulldog adoptee. I’m not sure how it took me so long to stumble upon his site (perhaps because RAW was mostly in my searching!) Donald R. Strombeck, DVM, PhD, is Professor Emeritus, University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine with a specialty in gastroenterology. Accordingly, while I’ve not used any of the recipes on his site, I trust them to be nutritionally adequate as this is his area of his expertise. Further, I plan to use his recipes to mix things up with our RAW diet.

I have three senior girls (and one uber-exuber pitty boy). Until adopting the Am Bulldog (and I had a mix before), I’ve never had to worry about special diets.

Anyway, hopefully you will find it a resource in your information arsenal. Good luck.

[Leisa D]

http://dogcathomeprepareddiet.com/

Dr. Strombeck (Donald R. Strombeck, DVM, PhD, is Professor Emeritus, University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine.) has an extensive selection of recipes (cooked, not raw) at his site, to include special needs. You might wish to take a look there. I recently stumbled upon it. He uses multi-vitamin (and provides calibration for dog’s weight) to ensure completeness and bone-meal to balance Ca:P.

He has a book on Amazon, but it is out of print, expensive and all of the recipes are on his website. Lots of good information there for free.

Here is the link for geriatric pets

http://dogcathomeprepareddiet.com/feeding_a_normal_dog_or_cat.html#geriatric

[pollypontifing]

No, not eye staining. I especially check out any stud dog I ever use to make sure his eyes are not runny, nor have I kept a puppy for show or breeding from my litters whose eyes were overly round, or teary – though teething puppies normally have some tearing.
You are right about Angel eyes – I use Tylan (its active ingredient) in their meals for 3 weeks 2x a year. (any dog over nine mos).Come to think of it, it’s that time – Thank you for the reminder – it’s Tylan time! I have wondered about discontinuing kibble – it will be a real inconvenience to change. Which raw do you prefer?

[neezerfan]

Are you talking about eye staining? My Havanese had eye staining as a youngster. I switched him to canned food and used Angels Eyes. It worked very well. Since then I’ve tried kibble on 2 separate occasions, good quality, Orijen and Farmina, and both times the eye staining came back. So, Angels Eyes to get rid of it and good quality canned or raw to keep it away.

[Lord F]

Vital Essentials is my favorite! They’re the company that I found that uses 100% raw meat and organs, which is something I love. Dogs are made to eat meat and the enzymes in their bodies are made to break down and absorb the nutrients from meat, not plants! I now do homemade raw but Vital is definitely my go-to brand if I need a quick meal for my pups. I always push their products at the pet store I work at and have heard good things from other people that tried it! They’re a very small company as well and that’s another thing I love about them. The only thing is, it’s definitely the most raw like of all the patties I’ve tried! Once thawed it looks exactly like what it is; ground organs and muscle meat, and blood! But my dogs absolutely love it. Good Luck!

[Bobby dog]

You are right, their food is cooked; the raw recipes are fairly new. Their Vital line has the cooked and raw recipes now.

[InkedMarie]

Oops, I didn’t know that Fresh Pet was raw. Sorry!

[InkedMarie]

I soak got however long it takes to get my raw fed dogs food ready & add supplements. If you are on FB, message Farmina there, you’ll get a faster response.

C4C, the calories/feeding amounts are on the bag, I can’t find them on the site but I feed less.

[Kristin C]

I think it depends on what else you feed. If you only feed kibble then it might be a good idea to add water for the hydration. If you feed dehydrated you are (usually) already adding water. And if you feed raw there’s naturally moisture in the meat. Freeze dried can be fed dry or with water I guess but I always add water. I feed mostly raw so when I’m at home I don’t add water to the few kibble meals per week. Right now we are on vacation so I added water to the kibble meals we fed at the hotels.

[Bobby dog]

Fresh Pet makes a raw, “Vital Raw,” which is grain free. Not sure if that is what Karen J is referring to or not.

http://freshpet.com/our-foods/our-brands/vital/raw/

[Celine W]

Hello, I am the owner of two Bernese Mountain dogs (3 years and 11 month). I RAW fed them exclusively. As money is tight right now I might have to switch to half RAW and half dry food. As much as I don’t like the idea, I try to figure out what might be the best choice of dry food out there for a large Breed dog (one is 95 lbs. and the puppy is 11 month old). I really want to buy a high quality dry food (4 to 5 stars). I am still confused that there are so many opinions about the low protein and big dogs. Can anybody give me some recommendations – I am overwhelmed. THANK YOU…

[InkedMarie]

THK is NOT raw so you’re good to feed it!

[InkedMarie]

Karen,
Fresh Pet is cooked then cooled food, I believe, not raw. Vital Essentials is raw.

[Dori]

No, not the same. Vital Essentials Raw is a different company. Commercial made raw foods that I keep in rotation are Primal Formulas (that is their complete and balanced line, they also make a freeze dried formula), Vital Essentials Raw (they also make a freeze dried formula), Answers Detailed Raw (not always easy to find), Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw Food only (not their kibble with raw boost), some people like Stella & Chewy’s Raw but I don’t like it at all anymore, I used to feed Darwin’s but they’ve added more fat to the formula and lowered the protein and raised the price so I stopped using them, I have recently added to our rotation O C Raw. My three dogs are doing well on it and seem to like it. You’ll find that initially raw will seem much more expensive to you than any kibble BUT it is well worth it. You feed less commercial raw than you would kibble and my dogs spend very little time at the vet which is a huge savings. Oh, there’s also Steve’s Raw Food. They only one of the foods that I’ve mentioned that you’ll find a the big supermarket type pet stores is the Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw. All others are typically sold at your smaller boutique type dog stores. Any of those stores that carry Answer’s Goat’s Milk can order Answers Detailed Raw food.

I have three toy dogs (Maltese, Maltipoo and a Yorkipoo) and have been feeding commercial raw for approx. three years.

[pugmomsandy]

Get some samples of both! There’s one patty/bar per sample. I’m using Primal right now since I buy it by the case. I just made 107 lbs of raw dog food yesterday too.

[Lori]

Melissa, I can’t believe you didn’t get snow. I thought NY got bombarded this past week! not a whole lot of snow yet, but very, very cold. My lab loves it, but my cocker not so much. 🙂 I’m feeding them Live Free Salmon now. This morning they got Honest Kitchen. They get all crazy when they get HK LOL. Chuck, my lab, and i just became certified pet therapy team through Pet Partners. They forbid raw feeding, raw bone, etc. I think HK falls under that (or not?), but I’m not sure so he gets it about once or twice a week.

[Melissaandcrew]

No snow yet in my part of NY but the cold is nasty for the dogs. They go out, run around a bit then want in..15mins tops. Just cut back on amounts. My crew just finished a bag of Orijen senior and the new bag in their bin is Acana. These days they get dry perhaps once a week, and the rest raw depending on the dog.

[theBCnut]

One big proponent of raw feeding, Steve Brown, even published a booklet to encourage people who can’t feed raw every day to feed it occasionally. Once a week, even, is better than none.

[InkedMarie]

There are various options for raw. You can buy pre made raw at the store; the ones I like are Primal & Vital Essentials. If you go to the review side, put raw food into the search and read up on them.

Darwins is pre made raw that is shipped to you. Google for the website, they offer a trial package at a good price.

You can do your own raw, BARF or prey model. Prey model has no fruits or veggies. That is what I feed but I feed it ground. I buy the bony ground from Hare Today and some from Reel Raw. I buy some boneless from Hare but most of it locally.

[Karen J]

Yes the vet said no infection or stones just crystals. I’d really rather not have her puddling because that means her bladder must be stopped up until the crystal dissolves and it’s too late to get outside. That’s got to be uncomfortable.

Maybe I should switch to raw. As soon as I found out about the Wellness I cut it down, whew, her little farts filled the room. I started mixing the lamb Wellness – she just loves it -so she doesn’t get too much of it but still eats the kibble with the Stella and Chewy mixed in. I haven’t seen her this excited since I brought her home from the rescue place (she was 4 months old now she is a year).

I think I’ll take her for a second opinion but what are some good raw foods to feed her?

[InkedMarie]

Hi Karen,
Is it the 95% lamb that you got? If yes, that is only a topper/mixer, not complete. Can you just pick a canned or dehydrated food & give her that, no kibble? A raw diet is best if you can or are willing to do it.
Has she been to the vets? Have you taken in a urine sample? Does she have an infection going

[aquariangt]

The biscuits aren’t raw. They also would not work for a pill, not soft at all

[Bobby dog]

Hi Lauren D:
I know you wrote you would be back, but I thought I would post a few links for you to look at. The first has info on homemade diets (cooked and raw), the second has a chart for vitamin pre-mixes (along with other info) towards the middle of the page. Good luck and I always love to read about adoptions!

http://dogaware.com/diet/homemaderesources.html

http://dogaware.com/diet/dogfoodmixes.html

[Karen J]

Ok, someone recommended Wellness, no grain. I got her the Lamb. Just started trying it – she loves but the woman at Unleashed said you know this is not a complete food. I noticed when she pooped it’s turning to diarrhea. So now I put a spoonful in and mix it with the BB kibble and Stella & Chewy – we’ll see what happens.

So many are against BB I may try something new.

Cream cheese is magic for the pill delivery system for the d-monnase and vit C.

Went to a friends house the other night, there for 3 hours, should’ve probably taken her out, friend gave her some sausage and hard cheese and played with her but she puddled, fortunately in a dog friendly house.

Will this puddling go on forever?

The lady at unleashed seemed to think I should put her on a raw diet?

[dakcmumm]

Thank you all for your inputs. I am the mommy of 2 mini dachshunds. My Sophie is 12 years old and Louis (rescued in April of this year) is 8. I have been feeding Sophie Lotus grain free kibble turkey and fish and Louis Merrick canned food. Louis has no teeth left due to neglect prior to his adoption. Louis has very bad odor everytime I kiss him and he sheds like crazy. Also his eyes always have some kind of discharge. Even though Sophie’s health is OK, I still think that she is not at her best. Sophie licks her paws a lot and needs to loose a few pounds. Anyway, after I read Dr. Martin Goldstein’s and Dr. Pirtcain’s books I cried so much and decided to switch my babies to raw food. I have been looking for supplements and was tempted to order Dinovite. But I stopped after I read your reviews on this forum.
Thank you again for extending yourself and post your experiences with the product so that other people can learn from you. I am so desperate now to what supplement I should try. I know there is no perfect of anything. But I want to educate myself as much as possible and find a good enough supplement that I want to try on my babies. I will give them a fast starting tomorrow before switch them over to raw food diet.
I am a new member to this forum. I will talk to all of you again soon.

[Pluto.the.St.Bernard]

theBCnut,
Thanks alot, will take that into great consideration. One more thing is it ok to feed him raw and kibble foods ? Mainly asking because I dont think I will be preparing raw home recipes for everyday eating was kinda hoping to go back and forth(if that’s even a smart thing to do). I don’t want Pluto getting set in his ways eating only raw meals, and I only say that being, im also somewhat trying to buget while taking good care of his big eating habits. Thanks

[Dog_Obsessed]

Are these treats raw? I know the Simply ones are, but what about the biscuits?

[theBCnut]

HDM’s raw recipes are the only ones I would automatically trust for a large or giant breed puppy since that is specifically what hers were formulated for.

[Pluto.the.St.Bernard]

So any of these raw recipes that HDM and others have posted, would be good for a giant sized breed St. Benard puppy (20wks, never had raw food so far)? I just want to be extra cautious with this being a health issued breed .

[Bobby dog]

This is the Know Better Pet Food raw pre-mix:
https://www.knowbetterpetfood.com/cat_food_better_in_the_raw

BTW, very cute pics of Alec!

[Bobby dog]

Bri:
I have five indoor/outdoor cats that share several litter boxes. It would be hard to tell unless I confine the three that do eat the raw; they only have it about once a week. I can add that I really haven’t noticed too much of an odor for any of them at any time.

Glad your kitty is eating canned, hope he continues to heal. 🙂

[Bobby dog]

Hello All!
I have been busy and thank goodness no snow yet C4c! I’ve popped in here and there. I am behind on e-mail too. 🙁

C4c: Glad all is well with the felines. Hope the visit with Casper goes well!

Akari:
I have looked into pre-mixes for cats, there are quite a few of them. I think the one that I liked was the Know Better Pet Food mixes. I really haven’t researched it much and without doing that I won’t try a premix for them. They are older and I don’t want to try anything new without knowing exactly what I am doing. They haven’t had any interest in raw meats in the past, but I wouldn’t mind cooking for them. When I have time I will research it one of these days…
https://www.knowbetterpetfood.com/cat_food_u-stew
https://www.youngagainpetfood.com/10browse.asp?category=raws
http://www.knowwhatyoufeed.com/shop_online.html
http://felineinstincts.com/store/products-page/my-natural-cat-raw-meat-premix/
http://www.completenaturalnutrition.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=74
http://tcfeline.com/tcfeline-usa/