[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 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.

[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 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?