[ellen k]

get “CRANIMALS” powder supplement. It has 2400 mg of cranberry and gets rid of the crystals and gets the urine to a normal ph. my dog had this problem x 4 years and thaen i found this supplement. You then can use any food
Ellen

[pugmomsandy]

You can find diet supplementation guidelines at dogaware.com in the homemade section. Also the recipe book “Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats” by Becker/Taylor includes a recipe for a vitamin mix.

[Amy K]

I’ll be checking this often, because I’m running into a similar situation. My dog is showing borderline allergic to most of the proteins, and definitely allergic to a lot of the grains as well as peas. My vet advises avoiding the borderline items as well as the definitely allergic – searching all the limited ingredient and hypoallergenic foods, one or the other always pops up, so I’m thinking I’ll have to make her food.
So I have two questions: Do I really need to worry about the borderline items? And if so, where can I find a good formula for homemade dogfood I.e. Proper protein to carb ratios, supplements needed, portion size guide for daily feedings.
I do plan on talking to my vet more about this, but would like to have info to use so I know what questions I still need to ask.
Appreciate any help given!

[Tracey K]

Thank you for your responses Dori & crazy4cats 🙂
Dori, I personally went to the company yesterday so I could speak with someone in person. When I asked about having to supplement the food, I was told no and they only add Herring Oil to their dogs food because they don’t feed fish.

This morning was a disaster. He gave it a few licks and dropped 2 chunks on the floor which put my husband in a frenzy. Should have known not to start this when he was home…LOL! I ended up throwing it in the frying pan and cooking it to get him to eat and to placate the husband. The little dickens ate it all up lickety split.

[ellen k]

I have 5 year old cocker spaniel male named Ozzie. He has been diagnosed with struvite crystale fo 4 years. There is protein in his urine from the sloughing away of bladder tissue from the crystals. i am a critical care RN for 33 yrs and have tried everything to get rid of the crystals. I HAVE FINALLY SUCCEEDED. “CRANIMALS” is a company that make a powder like substance to add to any food. Unlike the capsules of cranberry that have only 250 mg of cranberry this product has 2400 mg of cranberry extract with every teaspoon. # month after I had Ozzie on this supplement, the struvite crystals were gone, the PH of the urine was 5.5 which is normal and the urine was negative for protein. Ozzie always ha an elevated urine ph of 7.6. This is where struvite crystals are made. The urine ph has to be acidic My vet is now selling this product to all the cats/dogs with this struvite problem. Ozzie was always having pee accidents in the house. Since the crystals are gone so is the accidents.
Ellen Kane,

[jakes mom]

Just checking in with an update. Cats never would eat the raw turkey mix. I made the cooked mix today with some ground turkey. One cat tried it and seemed to like it but a little while later I heard the sound of a cat vomiting. Yep, it was that cat, Teddy. There was a hairball involved so maybe it was just a coincidence. Fingers crossed. I’ll give it a few more days and see how it goes. These mixes have a strong aroma, kind of like a boullion cube. Maybe the cats aren’t happy with that part of it. Do the other mixes have an odor?
Peggy, meal mixes are a supplement powder you mix in with your own meat to make a complete meal. Some are for raw meat, others are for cooked.

[Dori]

Tracy I just went on their web site to check their food and company out and my suggestion would be for you to call and speak to a customer representative and tell them your situation and ask what supplement would they suggest you add to their “dinners”. I don’t see that they include any vitamins or minerals at all. If that’s so, then you need to consult them on this issue. Their dinners do not appear to be complete and balanced.

I’ll see if I can get Aimee to see your question and respond. She’s pretty much the resident “complete and balanced” guru on this site.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by Dori.

[Dori]

Hi Tracy. I’m a commercial raw feeder to my three girls. Maltese, Maltipoo and a Yorkipoo. If the food you are feeding is complete and balanced than no supplements are required. When you say that you were told that the food contains no cheated minerals, are they saying they contain synthetic minerals or just no minerals at all? That’s an important thing to know. With probiotics, once again, if it’s a truly complete and balanced food than, no, in my opinion there is no need for probiotics. Have you been to their web site and read up on the food itself and checked out ingredients and guaranteed analysis. If not, I would suugested you do that. Whatever food you are going to switch to please remember that since your dog has been eating kibble and canned, YOU MUST transition him slowly to see how his gut does with raw so that he doesn’t have diarrhea or loose stools. Once you know he doesn’t then your good to go. Once he’s been on raw for a bit I would suggest that you introduce different proteins and then different brands. That will benefit his gut and he’ll be able to make the switch from one food to the other with no issues whatsoever. I rotate brands and the different proteins within all the brands that I feed with the exception of poultry of any sort as one of my girls has food intolerances and for convenience sake for me I feed them all the same. I believe that a rotational diet is the best and healthiest way to feed. Also less chance of them becoming sensitive to the same protein fed day in and day out. Also it makes meal times more interesting for them. Anyway, all this is my opinion and my experiences with my three. So very glad you’re switching to raw. Yay!

[Tracey K]

Thanks so much crazy4cats. I was just wondering on the supplements because someone mentioned to me that the dinners don’t contain chelated minerals or probiotics.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Tracey-
I am not a raw feeder, but was curious about the food you bought. The website claims that the meals are complete and balanced. So you should be fine without any supplements. You could probably add some fish oil or sardines a few days a week but other than that it looks like you are good to go!

I do add some frozen or freeze dried raw to my dogs’ kibble two or three days a week and they love it and do fine with the mix. Hopefully I will be able to eventually even feed it more often.

Good luck with your new adventure!

[Tracey K]

Hi! I have a 5 year old shih tzu/bichon mix that I have been feeding Fromm Grain Free kibble and canned for the last 2 years and after much reading on the benefits of a raw diet, I went out and purchased raw dinners from a local company ( Big Country Raw) located here in Southern Ontario. I went with the dinners because they included vegetables and fruits along with the meat.
My question is do I have to add any supplements to this food? I’m so nervous he won’t be getting the required amount needed. I want to start him on it in the morning and is it ok if I don’t have the supplements if needed then?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated 🙂

[theBCnut]

For fish oil, you want to make sure she is getting 100mg combined of DHA and EPA per 10 lbs of body weight, so the supplement you gave her could be given much less often. If you are moving towards raw or some raw, replacing one meal a week with sardines or herring should give her enough omega 3s.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Kristen
It is a mini schnauzer female 7 months old.
My older gal pepper also a mini schnauzer used to get a fish oil gel cap nordic naturals -Ultimate Omega 1 soft gel had 325 EPA /425 DHA -640 Total Omega 3’s every day but had to stop it in dec. when she had a bad episode of gastritis -havent given them until I make sure her total diet change is working then I will add them back in a few times a week.
This may be too much of a dose for millie so i may give her sardines a few times a week
BC said the same thing that a good diet is paramount and supplements aren’t necessary if the diet is good

[Kristin S]

What type of dog is it? I know it depends on the breed. I am currently using Salmon Oil for our 4 month old Bullmastiff and I also give it to our adult dog. I just figured since fish oil is good for humans, probably good for dogs too. The claims on the product seem great also and include helping keep their coat nice, heart health, etc. But, I would be curious to know if it has an actual benefit or is just wasteful.
Also, I was going to put my puppy on a puppy vitamin but since she is large breed, I read a lot of articles against it. For the simple reason that if a puppy gets too many vitamins and supplements, could be bad for them long term. I don’t want to risk that.
I would say the most important thing to consider is that if your puppy is on a high quality food, they shouldn’t need additional supplements.

[Barbara M]

Yes. Supplements are after the fact and preventative.

[Jon h]

Thanks for the response zhiba. Now sublingual immunotherapy makes complete sense. It has science to back it up and intelligent theory behind it. Local honey supplementation appears to have zero science to back it up and only science refuting the claims that it works. As mentioned (and from further research after my initial post) local honey carries zero common allergens for dogs or humans and will therefore never be an effective method of “immunizing” your dog against allergens. Instead you are just pumping your dog full of sugar it shouldn’t be having and added calories it doesn’t need.

Hopefully people will stop perpetuating this misinformation and start actually providing their animals with proper care instead of trusting in so called “experts” who have nothing but their own opinion and poor or non-existent education in the matter backing them up.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Hi Everyone,
I need some advice if Millie my 7 month old mini schnauzer is : 1. too young to stop Puppy kibble? 2. If she isn’t too young to stop the puppy kibble, can I feed her the various kinds of the grain free Honest Kitchen(that would be the rotating) with toppers of lightly cooked meat or poultry for 1 of her meals? Does the Honest Kitchen have enough nutrients for a young gal or would i have to add various supplements/antioxidents/oils to that meal?
For the 2nd meal would it be ok to give her commercial raw? Rotating within say Primal or Vital Essentials (or whatever raw co. that will ship to me) their various lower fat proteins.
I do know the VE does not add the fruit/veggies so could I top that meal off with maybe some cooked veggies.
BC mentioned that it may be time to cut out her noon meal,so I am trying to figure out how to get her off kibble & increase the raw & introduce the dehydrated.
Thanks so much to all for the great advice and guidance you ALL have given me in these past months. I can’t tell you how much it has meant to me & the girls 🙂

[weezerweeks]

My yorkie had sturvite crystals but no uti’s so I switched him to low carb canned food with water even added to it and we have been clear since. I would think u would have to get rid of the Uti and crystals before the supplements would help.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Michelle T-
Have you taken your dog to the vet to make sure that she doesn’t have an infection or that the crystals have not returned? I don’t believe that any of the supplements that have been mentioned in the above posts will actually dissolve crystals or cure infections. I do think that they are great preventatives of these conditions. Also adding moisture to their diets is very important, either by feeding canned or raw or adding as much of it as possible to their kibble is very helpful. Plenty of opportunities to go potty is another important preventative measure. I have also read that stress and anxiety can lead to these issues as well. Have you had any big changes in your household lately?

I wish you luck on your quest to help your doggy!

[Barbara M]

Cranberry supplement we are all speaking of is for overall unrinary health. I would never advise against your vet but I happen to trust my vet completely. But you would be on the right track to start a supplement. I use Solid Gold Berry Balance

[Derek L]

Hopefully some of you folks could provide me input.

My dog has a UTI and struvite crystals. He was prescribed Baytril then Simplicef. His urine results just came back and has a high pH and bacteria – cocci and rods.

The culture sensitivity is quite pricey and I wanted to know if that is really what I need to do next. The vet wanted to continue another round of baytril and have him neutered. From reading this thread, it seems like vitamin C and the cranberry supplement are primarily for the decrease of struvites.

I believe the focus is to rid of the UTI. Am I on the right track? I am trying to make sure we are going in the right path and that my vet is not leading me astray.

[Barbara M]

Hey Sarah. I use the same
Powder. My vet doesn’t believe in supplements and things of that nature. So there is when I’m on my own to do research and make the decisions I feel are best for me and my dog. So cool that your vet is on board! Love that.

[Barbara M]

Hi Michelle. My vet didn’t recommend supplements but I believe in doing my own researcher. Just like our human doctor practice western medicine and will treat you differently than a holistic doctor. So sometimes I do my own thing based on research and a holistic approach.

[Michelle T]

Hello,

These posts were really informational, but I don’t see anyone who mentioned our particular struvite issue. My 5yr old golden mix has started to leak in her sleep, anywhere from small puddle to lake, not great when you let you pup sleep on the bed! She had this problem about a year ago and the vet checked her urine: the ph was high and it was full of crystals but no UTI. A couple of months of the prescription SO food and the problem was alleviated. The vet made no mention of alternative supplements or options. Do you think the cranberry, vit c, or low protein foods might help her? She already drinks a lot of water every day and has access to the yard fairly often but I’ll make a point to take her out even more now that the leaks are back.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Mom,
The more the merrier, I had booked marked this supplement a long time ago & I think, if memory serves me ,asked Shawna about it and she too wasn’t crazy about it. She prefers the STANDARD PROCESS line of supplements & pepper (my older gal ) was on the various kinds for different issues, I stopped them 2yrs ago when i almost lost my angel to aspiration pneumonia, never started them up again.

I was looking at some website about schnauzers (guess it was a breeders site) & it was a must you had the puppies on this supplement or the health guarantee would be voided_i found that to be interesting & then BC mentioned the same thing-so I just thought MAYBE? my puppy Millie should try it??

How do you like your probotic and do you give it every day? I was using Mercola’ s for a long time & just started the Honest Kitchen’s Perfect Form and like it (at least for now) better. I am always looking for a back up.
i like the ingredients in the Vet Classics chew-where do you purchase that as well as your probiotic- amazon??

[jakes mom]

Phillip, as I understand it there are several reasons to do a rotation diet. One is for variety for the dog, flavor-wise. Another reason is to give the dog different ingredients in the food. Every food has different basic ingredients, some have oats, rice, peas, etc. , something to help bind the food to keep a kibble shape. Also different supplements in varying amounts. By rotating the foods the dog gets a variety of all these things, not too much or too little of any one thing. For example, rice is known to contain arsenic (absorbed from the soil it’s grown in). A little is not harmful but if your dog food was always the same thing, like a turkey and brown rice variety, he could potentially build up too much arsenic in his body. By doing a rotation diet, you’d avoid that kind of thing. Another point , if you find several foods that your dog does well on, you can take advantage of sales and save a few dollars now and then.

[Eve D]

I currently feed my 5 month old puppy Blackhawk Puppy as recommended by the breeder. Having researched this site I am thinking about switching to Orijen Puppy. Blackhawk hasn’t been reviewed here so would you be able to give me an idea of the quality of it compared to Orijen. The first three ingredients are Lamb meal, Ground Brown Rice, Ground Oats, and the full ingredients list is here http://www.blackhawkpetcare.com.au/dog-food/original-lamb-rice-holistic-puppy-formula

I occasionally supplement the Blackhawk kibble with a small amount of Ziwipeak tinned meat for dogs (about an 8th of the can) and even this small addition has our puppy zooming about for a good few hours with excess energy and lots of mouthing – too much protein?

Thanks for your help

[theBCnut]

As long as the veggies you add are colorful, you should be adding the antioxidants, and it sounds like you are feeding a good variety, so no, I don’t think you need to add supplements.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

BC
thanks so so much.
I guess the breeders must get some kind of kick-back (i don’t mean that in a bad sounding way) but this was a mini schnauzer breeder and yes her guarantee was also contingent on giving the Nuvet vitamins, she even gave a special code to get a 45% discount.
Thanks again.
Do you think a puppy that is fed commercial raw, orijen & legacy kibble, cooked meats, poultry & veggies and eventually THK should be on supplements ?
My older gal is on some ,but with this gal at 6 1/2 months should I be giving them so soon?
She grew in the 3 1/2 months that’s she’s been with me and weighs almost 15 lbs-all she wants to do is eat, I hesitate to take the 3rd meal away, but I don’t want her to gain too much weight too quickly.
Thank you always for your input and knowledge

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

I was just wondering if anyone has used a supplement called “NUVET” it was recommended on a mini schnauzer website.
Seems like it has many ingredients I am not too sure about especially for a puppy?
Any thoughts, comments, suggestions on this supplement or supplements in general for puppies.

Thanks to all

[Jamie H]

Greetings giant breed owners,

My current Dane is 10.5 years old and looks and acts like he’ll be around for a few more. He’s happy and and alert and active for his age. My buddy eats “Paleo” right along with me. Mostly Protein, (often red Pacific wild salmon–we live in Alaska) mixed with quality rice or root vegetables drizzled in olive oil and baked, carrots and celery (his fav) for snacks. He was boarded for a while when I couldn’t keep him and his caregiver gave him about 1/4 of fish oil in his dry food and and plenty of rawhide to keep him busy. When I got him back he was panting a lot and I assumed a heaet condition. X-ray showed a slightly enlarged heart. I did some research and discovered dry food is lacking in Taurine, L-Carnitine and Acytel L-Carnitine, among other critical amino acids and nutritional components. I started supplementing with the three amino acids, and adding squirts of liquid B-complex. His panting decreased and his eyes became focused and alert and his energy level increased. I abandoned my conventions on the focus of food “brands” and the idea of consistency. How boring. What do animals in the wild eat for dinner? Who cares? Its what ever gets them to the next meal! Variety and fluctuation is normal in the wild, and in fact stimulating for an animal. I mix table scraps with dry food. Dinner always taste different, what a pleasure for an animal whose sense of is also a form of communication! some days he doesnt get the dry food at all. Just after I started the supplemts I decided to feed him raw. I bought grass fed buffalo and he got 1/4 to 1/3 pound, give or take, twice a day. I’d recomend not using any grain fed meat for the reason it is sometimes 10x higher in the inflammatory Omega-6’s which is why we humans should avoid grain fed beef like the plague as well. Grass fed free range livestock has the balance of O-6’s to O-3’s that our paleo brethren grew up on and adapted to. But the most IMPORTANT thing one can do is treat your large breed friends as if they were your own grade school aged children. Get outside with them. Play with them outside like your own child. They DO have vocabulary you know. Just because they don’t show it in reciprocal speech doesnt mean they wouldn’t love to hear you talk to them about your activities. Label things when you are on walks. My buddy loves clover. When I get ready to drive him to a nearby trail i always ask if he wants to go smell “clover” or do you want to drink some water from the “stream”, excitement and anticipation dripping from my words. I don’t always know his choice but I always to to keep things varied. Satiate your large dogs with human interaction and variety. You’ll get more out of your companions than any top brand food can make a difference.

[Dori]

Has anyone else read this article on Susan Thixton’s Truth About Pet Foods site regarding the dangers of copper sulfate in dog food and how it relates to your dogs liver. I would assume it matter how much is actually in the food (would vary from batch to batch) and , of course, if you are solely feeding that food. Very interesting. Thought everyone should be made aware. Any thoughts?

A Veterinarian Takes a Stand Against a Common Pet Food Supplement

[Dori]

Cheryl,
Don’t let the fact that Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw is sold at those large stores deter you from using this food. It has a very good reputation and I feel comfortable feeding it to my girls. Though I don’t shop at large box type pet stores, at least three of the local “boutique type” dog food stores that I shop at carry the food.

As for Fresh Fetch, it’s been on Susan’s list for a while. I did research them at one time and their shipping prices were astronomical. Shipping cost more than the food did. If they’ve changed their shipping prices (which I doubt), I’m still not sure why anyone would pay their prices for food and shipping when you can research complete and balanced cooked diets and make it at home for a heck of a lot less. As to Frenchie’s Kitchen, again very expensive for a cooked food. If my memory serves me correctly, the shipping on frozen food was free but the cost of the food was crazy high. Again, one can cook a complete and balanced diet at home from recipes found on this site and others and many great dog books. That is if you want to feed cooked or supplement raw feeding with cooked meals to bring the cost of feeding down. Though I have no inclination to cook complete and balanced meals on a daily basis for my dogs, if that’s what I chose to feed my dogs I would make them myself. I don’t cook on a regular basis for hubby and I anymore so I’m not about to start now.

I’ve renovated probably every home we’ve lived in and so I know what you are going through. It’s exhausting and takes up almost all your waking and sleeping thoughts. Whenever I start a renovation project it is pretty much all I can think about. Glad I can help you in my small way.

OH! Just wanted to say about the Primal Pronto, any place that sells Primal will also sell the Primal Pronto. It’s actually the same food as the Primal formulas just made into small “kibble like” bits so you can scoop out and serve. The real plus of the frozen foods that are the little bits like is that if you’ve forgotten to put the days frozen meals in fridge to defrost, you can just scoop them into their bowls, leave on counter and approx. 15 minutes later they are soft and ready to serve.

[CaneCorso15]

Can someone please help me with how significant the formula change is for my current dog food. The food is Beaverdam Eli’s Choice Dry Dog food. The company is still advertising their 4.5 rating from dogfoodadviser but as a costumer, I feel like I was shafted when the unannounced changes took place.

OLD Formula:
Beef meal, Sweet potato, Chicken meal, peas, Chicken fat,pork meal, Alfalfa meal, Dried Egg product, Flax seed, Potassium Chloride, Dried Kelp, natural chicken flavor, Alfalfa nutrient concentrate, Montmorillonite, salt, vegetable&fruit pomace, pumpkin seed, blueberries, apple, spinach, and a long list of other ingredients.
New Formula:
Chicken Meal, Peas-Ground, Chicken Fat, Pea Starch, Pork Meal, Lentils, Pea Protien, Montmorillonite Clay, Sweet Potato, Alfalfa, Flax, Egg, salt, zucchini, carrot, papaya, blueberry, choline, vitamin a supplement, niacin supplement, D-calcium pantothenate, thiamon monoitrate, biotin, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folive acid, minerals, and a long list of other ingredients.

Thanks for your help.

• This topic was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by CaneCorso15. Reason: typos

[theBCnut]

Sometimes, I make my own wet food by putting heart, liver, and kidney in the crockpot and then putting it through the blender.

Consider feeding raw chicken or turkey necks for a joint supplement. They have tons of cartilage in them.

[Andi G]

I too am having a hard time deciding on what foods to try next for my giant dog (a mastiff/lab mix) who also happens to be picky eater. It’s so not fair, the neighbor’s dog comes over from time to time and eats up my dog’s rejected food like it’s the best thing ever (HAHA). Affording quality dog food in such large quantities is definitely a challenge that I didn’t think would be quite so challenging when we first got him. 🙂
I’d love to buy him the best of the best no matter the cost, but that’s not possible 🙁
I’ve been giving him Cosequin DS (double-strength) Plus tablets that I find on Amazon for $19 for 60 tablets or $35 for 132 tablets. I give him 2 a day in his food. It seems to make a difference in his stiffness. I ran out of them for a few weeks and couldn’t afford to get more and I can tell he is moving slower and looking like an old man trying to get up from laying down. He’s 6 yrs old.
I used to feed him Purina Pro Plan dry food until the day I became informed on DFA and so now I’m trying to find something I can afford and still be in the 4 or 5 star range. I’ve been giving him Authority Grain-Free dry food and canned food for a few months. He likes the canned food okay but he will leave the dry food in his bowl all day and then give up and eat it eventually when he finds out I’m not giving him anything else. I want so bad to give him food that he enjoys and looks forward to eating but switching around foods is stressful (on him and me) and expensive 🙁
I gave him Blue Buffalo Life Protection Chicken and Brown Rice dry food this past month. He seems to like that a little bit better but still not “loving” it. I’m looking around to try different canned foods to supplement but gosh, they are expensive! Authority is often on sale for $1 a can. Everything else is close to $2 a can or more.
Just now I was checking out Whole Earth Farms canned food on Chewy.com. They are rated 5 stars on DFA and are $1.69 per can on chewy. They look tasty but I’m sure that’s just good marketing! ha I might try it though. If he won’t eat it, it looks good enough that I could make a meal out of it. HAHA just kidding

[k9education]

My issue with Vitamin E supplements is that virtually all of them are derived from soy, which some studies have implicated in bloat. While there are opposing studies that found no correlation between the two, I tend to be overly cautious considering I have a family of GSDs – a breed that is already prone to bloat. Dr. Mercola’s Vitamin E supplement is (or at least claims to be) soy-free, but the cost is ridiculous. It’s about $25 for 30 capsules, which seems expensive even compared to what we pay for Instinct LID kibble.

[l h]

a lot of the enzyme formulas have additives, flavorings something real simple as a binder could have your dog reacting or a protein source if stronger as BCnut said. If she is not chewing or having bowel issues with NO enzymes then why would you wish to give her them?

If you are home cooking adding the proper calcium, keeping it low gluten/grain then fish oil, and E, and a good probiotic may be all she needs.

My heart boy who passed had lots of issues was a sensitive pup to TONS… couldn’t do kibble either. If you would like to add something why not a good green supplement, again, you want to start 1/4 dose recommended as your baby is sensitive but would be a good thing for coat, allergy digestion. Again, you want to fine tooth comb check the bottles so many have added allergens, soy, alfalfa for some, wheat, etc. I can link you a couple really pure forms if interested. Again though sounds like the diet is good, and if they are doing well, perhaps don’t need anymore.

[theBCnut]

Go to the Diet and Health Issues forum and read the first few pages in the Large and Giant Breed Puppy Nutrition thread for info on why you should be very careful with LBP nutrition. But you really don’t have to stick with large breed food once they are adults, though you might want to make sure you give joint supplements.

[Kristy C]

I have an 8 year 3 month old mix rescue dog (Pekingese, Poodle, Pomeranian, and they believe there is also another small breed but long body mixed) approx. 12lbs. She has never been a jumper because of her very short legs, and I use to describe her running and playing as a cat/dog. She would leap and pounce across the yard unlike most dogs that run. She’d leap off of her back legs, land on her front and so on and so forth. She suddenly stopped walking, running, playing, etc. She now scoots her back end and curls it to the side so her feet are facing up and shes dragging her very lower back. The only time she will get up and hobble is to potty and its only a few feet at a time. My vet recommended buying the fish oil capsules and mixing 2 a day with some wet dog food as well as half of a DOSEQUIN DS Joint Health Supplement, Maximum Strength Plus MSM daily. This worked AMAZING for the first 2 weeks, she was walking and moving around 75% more than she was. However she is a female and she became disgusted with the taste of popping the fish oil liquid pills and mixing it with her food, so she has quit eating the food and after 5 days of her only eating tablespoon or two of it she is back to barely moving. What is a good food/ supplements that I can give her (that don’t make her skin smell like fish oil and that she will EAT!)?!?!?! PLEASE! I will do the work if its having to make her food, but I will not pay $127 for a SMALL (32lb) bag of food! I AM SINCERELY THANKFUL FOR ANY AND ALLLLLL RECOMMENDATIONS. She still has her sight and full mind and is loving and wants to be playful, I’m just trying to get her body to agree with her mind and spirit!!

[Dori]

Okay, with Primal if the word Formula is in the title that means it is a complete meal. If it says raw mix or raw grind, it’s meant for supplemental feeding where you can tailor your dogs meals with your own supplements.

Vital Essential Raw’s lowest fats, I believe, are their rabbit and fish. Their fish are available in their raw patties.

[theBCnut]

If it is a supplement that gives loading dose info, you can certainly double it safely, probably almost all, if not all, joint supplements can be doubled. Some dogs do get upset stomach from getting that high a dose long term, but not many. If Lily does, then you can start backing off to see what her comfort level is, like a double dose every other day and normal dose in between.

[Dog_Obsessed]

Thanks to both of you! The vet checked Lily back in September and couldn’t detect even a stage 1 lux. patella, but that’s what she thought it was based on the symptoms. I think that was before we knew that exercise helped. I should update the vet soon, I haven’t since she came off the Medacam. I also want to ask the vet about doubling Lily’s glucosamine/MSM supplement. It is over the counter but I want to check first since it is an off-label use.

[Dori]

Her symptoms and the fact that she does better after being up and moving around would lead me to believe that it is an arthritic condition and, not a luxating patella. Having toy breeds for so many years I know the symptoms of luxating patellas. They do not do better after walking and moving around. That’s more symptomatic of arthritis. With that said, I would agree with BC. I’d like to know for sure. But, again with that said, if she has a bad enough luxating patella that needs surgery for correction you would know that. There is no confusing it with arthritis. Yes, I’d like to know if it’s arthritis because if it is, you can give supplements and possible different types of meds or herbals if you think she’s in pain to give her some relief. Pain meds don’t help with severe luxating patellas. With a luxating patella it’s similar to being double jointed where your limb snaps out at a joint. If it’s not severe enough you can snap it back in to place yourself, if you and your orthopedic can’t then you need surgery. With a luxating patella the “knee” will snap out of position. Mild cases it will just snap back into place, mild to medium you or your vet (mostly you because it happens continually) will snap it back in place. Severe means that neither the knee, your dog or you can snap it back in place. That needs surgery. Katie had surgery for a level 4 luxating patella before she was a year old. (have I mentioned often enough on all posts that she was the runt of the litter????) Luxating Patella and arthritis are not the same thing. To know how to treat or at least help either you have to know what it is.

[theBCnut]

For myself, I would want to know if it was arthritis or other, so I would know going forward if I need to supplement for arthritis or not and what types of exercise to engage in or avoid.

[aimee]

Hi Akari,
The concern I’d have with this product is that the instructions are very vague. I couldn’t find it defined anywhere what “meat” is. There is a big difference between a lean meat and a fatty cut. Additionally, I see no mention in regards to fat supplements that would be needed to meet linoleic requirements.

I “made” 2 meals one using 3% fat ground beef and one using 30% fat ground beef. I calculated out the Ca, Phos, Zn, Vit D,Vit E, and polyunsaturated acids and compared them to AAFCO. The meal made with 3% fat beef was excessive for calcium, deficient for Phos for growth profile, excessive in Zn, excessive in Vit D and excessive in Vit E. The diet was deficient in linoleic acid.

Of the six nutrients I checked the meal made with 30% fat ground beef was deficient in phos, and linoleic acid.

To use this supplement I think you’d need to get a full nutrient analysis for the supplement, then use a source like the USDA nutrient database to get nutritional information on the meat choice you make, then calculate out all the nutrient levels and compare to AAFCO and/or NRC tables and then add supplements as needed and balance the diet.

For myself that would be way too much work to do.

What I like about Balance it is that all this work is done for you and it tells you exactly what meat, what fat supplements and gives you a full nutrient analysis for the diet you create.

Any reason why Balance it wouldn’t work for you?

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Dori,
Your such a great wealth of knowledge, my little & i mean little experience with foods rotation is basically kibble with a lightly cooked topper of different proteins. I never fed canned.
i am sorry i am picking your brain so much, i really don’t know how to go about all this and then add in my fear well you can guess-
I used to feed Pepper a sardine every day until she couldn’t handle them, then I gave her fish oil-i would puncture a pill, she got beta glucan for her immune system coq10 for her heart 3x a week a Vit C, folic acid also-all human supplements just scaled down to her wt.
now with Millie I don’t want to overload her at this point because she is a puppy, i had planned to introduce the sardines a few times a week soon I think she needs the omega 3.
You know even though millie is eating a high quality kibble Orijen, Horizon legacy, I am starting to think she needs to get away from all kibble.
I have noticed,( funny that you mentioned this )Pepper’s stool has no smell since she has been eating THK, yet Millie’s does & I can only attribute it to the kibble.
I give Millie both the Orijen & Legacy mixed and she is ok with that.
I know she is ok with the orijen freeze dried (that’s what she gets for lunch alone)
I guess I made the mistake of giving her the HK with her kibble & chicken at nite.
I should have introduced THK alone with her protein as a topper.
Dori I will get this, i won’t be bothering you for ever, I am a Leo ,and we are perfectionists (that’s why I suffer from migraines) so i have to get this correct-poor Millie to have me for a mom 🙁
I did create a new topic on Puppy’s and supplements-i just haven’t had a puppy in ages & according to Millie’s breeder she needs nothing ( i don’t agree) but don’t want to go overboard.
I realize you don’t feed kibble but i saw a post where tripe is now made into kibble-petkind.com, I wanted your opinion, I have read here a lot of posters feed canned tripe-that it is good for them, I see that more of the large breed posters feed it, I just didn’t know if breeds like schnauzers would benefit. After all Pepper & Millie are not what you would call “working dogs’ Pep is in retirement & Millie is unemployed

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Good Morning,
Any opinions & input on supplements? Fish oil or a human grade all around supplement for a puppy? Is it something that can hurt or help. Her diet is good.I have read some many differing views on this, just wondered if anyone had any thoughts on this.
Thank you as always

[Howard C]

I have seen bottles of supplements in the pet food shops, and online, that profess to alter the PH of a dog’s urine so that it does not burn out your lawn. Does anyone know if these products actually work and are they safe to administer to your pet? I would appreciate feedback from anyone who has tried these products or researched them for safety.

[Dog_Obsessed]

I feel stupid at this moment, what’s a super supergreen? Is that a supplement or just a kind of green?