[Juliet C]

My border collie has skin issues. The vet was of no help and order £100’s on blood test etc. Apart from keeping him free of fleas obviously I went down the line of possible food allergies. Plus when we bath him we use ordinary dandruff shampoo. After 6 months of constant scratching, rolling and the rest an incredibly itchy dog does. We settled a cheap brand of supermarket dog food out of desperation and their also cheap mixer. It turns out our boy can’t handle all the the fancy additives and supplements that the expensive brands contain. He comes from a long line of farm dogs. That were basically fed on what was available. Table scraps, sheep pellets. Rabbits shot on the farm. So sometimes its ok to go back to the basics. We thought we were doing right by the poor dude by giving him the high life food wise. Instead we were hurting him. I threw out the stuff the farmer gave me thinking it was crap. I learnt a lesson!

[Dori]

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

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

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

[JeffreyT]

Alicia, I’ve never heard of him but am very impressed with his website and products. I’m going to be ordering the Soulfood fermented multivitamin and the mineral supplement to start.
His video also highly recommends chiropractic…I didn’t realize what a huge impact that would have on canine health. I’ll be looking into that too.

Thank you for taking the time to post this information, it’s much appreciated.

[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.

[Jan T]

Hi,
I’m new here and need some help with all these ratios, etc. I have an 11 week old GSD who started out on Fromm Gold large breed puppy. She had some a bacterial infection in her gut that we had to treat while she was on this. The vet suggested we try Eukanuba large breed puppy, but she doesn’t like it so much. She is always scratching, so think she may have allergies. So question: should I get vitamin supplements, leave her on Eukanuba or go back to Fromm or something else? Whatever we do, it will be gradual. If supplements, any suggestions?

[CSollers]

I got lazy that last couple of days and didn’t add the green lipped mussels, Mobility Essentials, aOmega oils and other supplements to my senior Pug’s dinners and he could hardly move this morning. I feel terrible.

[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.

[cyndinisa]

Coconut Oil as supplement….they love this! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND8doiVSLDw

[pugmomsandy]

There are several supplements I like to give to seniors (and adults): joint, greens, ubiquinol, fish oil, bee pollen, probiotics.

[InkedMarie]

Rich, a relatively healthy senior dog needs more protein than younger dogs:

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/05/05/surprising-findings-from-tufts-study-of-37-senior-dog-foods.aspx

there is a good article to read. My seniors eat the same as the other dogs, they just get added supplements (I just posted in your other thread)

[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).

[Naturella]

Rich, I am not a pro at senior dogs, but many brands do contain some glucosamine and chondroitin, just not in high enough amounts. Supplementing should be better is what I’ve read. But other higher-protein, grain-free, and budget-friendly options are the Victor Grain-free line (the green one also has extra Glu-Chon) and the Earthborn Holistic Grain-free line. Both are for all life stages if I am not mistaken, and are affordable, quality products. I have personally fed and still have in my stash bags of both, and I can report great success with my “youngin”, almost 2-year old pup. As others have mentioned, rotation is best, so if you can get your new friend on Fromm Grain-Free, Victor Grain-Free, and Earthborn Holistic Grain-Free, you can alternate the flavors between the brands and see what she (or he) does well on.

[Sue’s Zoo]

I’m definitely not a vet and I don’t know if Doberman’s are prone to EPI (exocrine pancreatic insufficiency) but has your vet checked for it? I know is somewhat common in GSDs (but can happen in any breed) because I had one years ago. She lived a full life but required an enzyme supplement on her food to help her digest it. We had her from 8wks old but it didn’t show up enough to cause concerns until she was maybe 9 months old. First symptom is loose stools and not gaining weight normally, though appetite is good. Large stools that look like ‘cowpies’, possibly lighter in color.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 4 months ago by Sue's Zoo.

[USA]

Hi BC,

You wrote:
“For yeast, my favorite kibble is Brothers Complete. It was formulated specifically to help yeasty dogs.”

The ingredients and nutrient percentages for brothers venison formula are listed below (taken from DFA). Can you please explain how this formula will “help yeasty dogs.”

Any references you could present to back up this claim would be greatly appreciated!

Protein 36%
Fat 18%
Carbs 39%
Ingredients: Venison meal, dried whole eggs, turkey meal, pea starch, cassava/tapioca, pea flour, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a source of vitamin E), dried chicken liver, pumpkin, ground flaxseed, alfalfa, carrots, potassium chloride, sea salt, choline chloride, dried whole cell algae (pure source of omega 3 DHA), mixed tocopherols, rosemary extract, green tea extract, encapsulated probiotics (dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus casei fermentation product), enzymes [amylase (Aspergillus oryzae), protease (Aspergillus oryzae), cellulase (Trichoderma reesei), lactase (Aspergillus oryzae), hemicellulase (Trichoderma reesei), lipase (Aspergillus oryzae), prebiotic (organic, long chain, highly branched inulin), vegetable pomace (celery, beets, parsley, lettuce, watercress, spinach), cranberry pomace, lysine HCL, dl-methionine, lecithin, taurine, vitamin E, vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin D3, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, niacin, folic acid, biotin, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, l-ascorbyl 2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C activity), zinc proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite, cobalt carbonate, vitamin B12 supplement, l-carnitine

[Tammy C]

I’ve looked at the tool the one person developed. It listed everything she was allergic to plus more.
I had thought about my little dog being allergic to pheasant, being it is a fowl, and I was right. She did end up having a reaction to it.
Now I have her on a limited ingredients food, with the main item is Buffalo and brown rice. She seems to have a reaction to this food also but not as severe.
I was thinking if anyone would know. Is there a supplement, (lack of a better word) to help with the symptoms.
I already give her a generic liquid form Benadryl, (which helps) but I’m concerned with side effects of long term usage.

[BeachDogs]

Hey! I am new to this forum, but not DFA. Never really noticed the forum part, unfortunately. A HUGE thanks to Hound Dog Mom for compiling the list and for all the other amazing info members have given.

I have a 72 pound 11-month old Dane/Heeler rescue pup – have had her since she was 6 weeks old. Yep, foster failure right here! Got the ok from the vet to go ahead and put her on an adult formula. Went to a local pet boutique to buy NutriSource and ended up with Victor GF Active Dog and Puppy (ALS). I also have a 5-year old Yorkie. Concerned about the calcium, I called the manufacturer after I noticed it’s not on HDM’s list and the bag does not list calcium or phosphorus at all. They said it has 1.9% calcium and 1.23% phosphorus with a Ca:P ratio of 1.5:1.

My questions:
1. Since my large breed puppy is past 10 months, is this Victor food ok at 1.9% calcium and a 1.5:1 ratio? I am not sure if calcium percentage or Ca:P ratio is more important.
2. Is it ok for a pup this young and a 5-yr old not to have glucosamine and chondroitin? Maybe it’s better not to have those, yet. IDK. I realize I can give a supplement.
3. The kibble size is tiny, but I would like to have both dogs on the same food, so does kibble size matter?

Thanks!

[Dog_Obsessed]

Pumpkin has greatly helped Lily with constipation, and from what I know it also helps with diarrhea because of the balance of fiber. Also, I think supplements like THK Perfect Form could help.

[Mom2Cavs]

I have Cavaliers, who as a breed are known for anal gland problems. I have two that tend to have issues. I found that it is definitely food/fiber related. I am feeding grain free and found a supplement from my vet that has helped better than anything I have found, yet, even the Firm Up. It’s from Vet Classics and is their Allergy skin and coat chews. I give them 2 a day and have not had any anal gland problems since. I get them from my vet and have ordered online, but they are getting harder to find. Vet Classics is the same company as Natur Vet, though, which has the same product avaliable at Petco. The only thing the Natur Vet product is missing colustrum as an ingredient, which I think helps a lot.

[Mom2Cavs]

Steve, you really are already feeding a top-notch food. And giving her the supplements is the right thing to do, as well. You might want to switch to Fromm’s 4Star line and use their grain frees. I have 3 seniors and a new 9 month old pup and all of mine are eating Fromm 4Star, atm. I’m alternating between Lamb & Lentils, Salmon Tunalini and Pork and Peas. I’m also topping with Stella and Chewy’s meal mixers, the Salmon, Turkey and Beef. I think you are doing good things, already, for her. Maybe someone with more knowledge can post.

[Steve L]

I am giving her the following meds and supplements by Vet prescription.

Carprofen 100 mg 1/2 tab every 12 hours (anti-inflamatory??)
Tramadol 50 mg 1 every 12 hours (pain??)
Thyroxine .6 mg 1 every 12 hours (thyroid – for past 6 years)

Glucosamine/Chondroitin 1500/1200 mg per day.

Tried Fromms Senior – she likes and eats well. No wet food – but she does lick plates – a dog biscuit twice a day (lunch & bed). We used to take 1-2 mile walks every day but recent pain, and the increased staggering in rear have severely cut into walks. She has been steady at 60 pounds for the last 7 years.

[InkedMarie]

Seniors, unless they have specific medical issues, require no special diet. They need as much protein as other dogs, which is a higher amount of protein. In fact, studies show seniors need more protein than younger dogs!

At 14, she may have some arthritis. A grain free food would be best as grains are inflammatory. Are you giving her a joint supplement as well?

[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.

[Peter S]

Hi, I’m trying to figure out whether or not to soak my dogs’ kibble in water prior to serving, and if so, for how long ? I just started them on a new food , Farmina’s N&D low-grain (cod/spelt,oats) formula . It says nothing on the bag or on their website about soaking first. I emailed them a few days ago but haven’t heard back yet. Some of the ingredients in this food (including the 2nd top one “dehydrated cod”) are dehydrated , mostly further-down-the-list fruits & greens/veggies, and in the past, I’ve used various dehydrated/freeze-dried supplemental products like frz-dried tripe, dehydrated pumpkin, etc , and all those products’ instructions were to soak/rehydrate in water for 30min or so prior to feeding…

Thanx in advance for your advice on this !

[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.

[Karene H]

I would like to see some info on choosing a good vitamin/mineral supplement. There doesn’t seem to be any recommended daily allowance on the labels, just the amount of each nutrient, but I don’t know how to tell whether it is a good amount, or not so good.

[theBCnut]

I can’t answer all your questions, but I’ll try to answer some. First, there is no guarantee that your cat will eat raw. They can be kind of peculiar about switching types of food, so the first thing to try is to switch the cat to canned food. Pick up dry food and allow the cat to get hungry, not starving, just hungry, and then offer canned food. If kitty eats it, great!! If not, after an hour, offer the dry food for 20 minutes, then pick it up. Next meal time, offer canned food first again. You may have to offer quite a number of times before she will eat it, or you may be one of the lucky ones. Once you have your cat on all canned food, start the process over again switching to raw.

There are many people that do not give any supplements, but they are the ones that need to be really careful to feed whole prey raw. Your dog might not eat kale, but if they eat an herbivore, they will be getting predigested greens that the food animal ate. You can predigest your own choice of veggies but blanching and pureeing.

You can also feed turkey and fish, so beef, pork, chicken, turkey, and fish are plenty of different proteins, and maybe a few times a year you can find lamb.

I use premixes +-3 days a week and no premix the rest of the time. I want to be sure to cover my bases.

Soup bones are not RMBs. RMBs are bones that are soft and can be completely eaten at meal time. Ribs from lamb, pork, or calves are good RMBs. So are neck bones from those same animals. All parts of chicken and turkey have good bones in them too. You should be able to get heart and liver and maybe kidney for organs. Maybe you can occasionally get some whole prey, even whole prey grinds, from Hare Today or My Pet Carnivore, to make up for not feeding other organs.

You can feed grinds to your cat, if you make sure they have heart in them, or add a taurine supplement. It her meats are frozen, you need to make sure the water that separates out as it defrosts is mixed back in, because that is where a lot of taurine is lost. I get whole carcass grinds from Hare Today for my cats, both rabbit and quail.

[Michael H]

Hi everyone!

We have 2 dogs:

Bernie, 9y M allergic-to-life Basset Hound
Zuli, 3y F Lab Mix

and our cat:
Sophie, 8y F Mackeral Tabby, borderline diabetic

Due to both Bernie and Sophie’s above issues, it seems like my best option at this point would be to try raw feeding. The dogs both enjoy the occasional chicken wing or turkey neck, but I have not yet tried feeding it as a whole diet. The cat, who was originally an outdoor stray who did hunt for her sustenance, does accept things like turkey and pepperoni, but for most of her life has been on dry food…which is probably why she had the October diagnosis for diabetes. She is near impossible to catch (the yearly vet visit can take us anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour to capture her-we’ve blocked off hiding spaces as we find them over the years, though once she actually broke INTO the wall to hide) and has a lack of scruff, and at this point I’m really fearing the ability to be able to administer insulin consistently. So, it seems that a diet change may be my only help with this. For Bernie, I can control what goes into the food, and avoid his allergens altogether.

I work from home, so cooking and preparing isn’t a big deal. I handle raw meat for my own consumption so that doesn’t bother me, and I’m very versed in the realm of preventing cross contamination.

My access to pastured/organic items is limited to either very far drives or possible home delivery (have to order a LOT at a time to make the shipping be affordable). For the delivery [ReelRaw] they do have a lot of variety, which is nice, but seems the most expensive option that I’ve come across ($300/mo for all pets, around 50lb of items, still cheaper than whole foods). I do have a butcher shop somewhat nearby, but the only organs they carry or process is beef heart, and the variety of RMB’s I can get aren’t much, as well as they do not carry any pastured/organic meats.

Upon my research, I’m finding a lot of conflicting information. It seems that on one side everyone is pro supplements to add to the meals, which I’m hesitant to do so, as I’m of the perspective to not take any synthetic or multivitamins myself since I feel I’m literally peeing the money away, and rather get what I need from whole foods. I know dogs cant digest fruit/veg well, as anytime I’ve given a piece I find it the next day pretty much intact in their waste. We do own a masticating juicer, so that is an option. I’ve come across some freeze dried foods (Big Dog Natural) that say they ferment the veg to make them bioavailable, which is interesting, though I’m unsure if it’s still too high-carb for Bernie. It could all be a bunch of hogwash as well. I do agree with adding omega 3/sardines at meal time, as I feel that the fats are too delicate for any processing procedure.

Then there’s all the premixes available with vitamins, minerals, kale, sweet potatoes, etc. (Urban Wolf, THK, SSLL Dinner Mix). It’s hard to find a premix without one of Bernie’s proposed allergens in it, and to be honest I’d rather keep the carb count for him down as much as possible, as Bassets are already yeast factories, and Sophie needs as little carb as possible-I don’t think I’ve come across mixes for cats anyways. What dog eats kale in the wild anyways? I have a hard time getting it down myself…lol.

On the other side, I’ve come across a few companies that don’t use added vitamins/minerals (Answers, ReelRaw), stating it’s complete/balanced as is, or with Answers, their own products they (conveniently) suggest to add, which is goat’s milk yogurt, or buy their combination product with veg, clay, cultured things, etc. Bernie is borderline allergic to cow dairy, so I’m unsure if he can even have that anyways. I’ve tried kefir with him before, but the yeast didn’t get any better, and would occasionally have putrid gas as well.

Bernie is currently on Orijen, which he does seem more energetic and less itchy, however the gas has been atrocious, and even though he’s not been really red and itchy on it, still is having a yeast issue (underarms, ears, back of legs). This is a dog that sleeps 14 hours a day on those areas, so not much air is circulating. The gas has gotten better by feeding him less of it, but it can still clear a room. I think it’s due to the lentils/chickpeas-while he’s not allergic to them, doesn’t mean he can digest them well.

So to end my novella for how, I’ll boil it down to some questions:

-Do you feel that the supplements are needed if I use the cheaper conventional meat from the butcher? Or would possibly they be getting enough if I splurge for the pastured meats/organs/rmb? It’s doubtful I can afford both the pastured and supplements.

-Do you feel premixes are worth it, and would make the conventional meat balanced? (again, may not be able to do both pastured + mixes)

-How important do you feel variety in meats is? If I shop locally, I only really have access to beef, chicken, and pork, which I myself am even tired of, haha. Most any recreational or RMB’s I can find in the area are meant for soups and have very little meat left on them. With delivery I can get many more options, but I pay out the wazoo for it.

-Would maybe just doing the freeze dried route be the best idea? Between the issues above and our cat, I’m also leaning towards this route. I’ve also heard that cats don’t dig cool meat very much, and as its the winter now I don’t want Sophie to lose any weight form refusing food. The 2 dogs will eat anything so I’m not worried there. I know I have to avoid giving Sophie all ground meat due to taurine loss. My wife also would rather rip off her eyebrows than touch raw meat, so if it comes a time when I cannot feed them, I’d have to have an alternative on hand anyways.

Thanks for any input!

[Naturella]

@cdubau, THK Perfect Form is a supplement, I can find it at my local pet boutique/specialty store, it is given in small amounts and here it sells for $1.59/pack. Lasts my 15-ish lb terrier mix about a week when given as directed twice a day. Really works miracles in the guts.

http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/treats-supplements/supplements/perfect-form

Sells for $1.25 on the website, but I would probably go for the box of 16, just to have handy. Together your dogs will probably go through about 5 teaspoons/day or so, so close to a pack/day. The box of 16 will be enough for 2 weeks, to see how they do.

I try to keep about 2-3 packs at all times for just in case.

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

[Dog_Obsessed]

Try feeding him some boiled chicken with rice, pumpkin, or sweet potato as a carb for a few days, and then slowly re-introduce his normal food. Adding a supplement like The Honest Kitchen’s Perfect Form could also help. If he keeps having diarrhea, has bloody stools, stops eating, or is lethargic then take him to the vet. I hope he feels better soon!

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

[Alina S]

Hi!

I have a Rottweiler x Corgi mix, who weighs about 30 pounds. I feed him Nature’s Variety Instinct Grain Free duck and turkey dry food, and he gets a 1/4 can of the NV wet food each feeding. I buy it in a variety of proteins. And at night, he gets NuPro joint supplement.

Three days ago, he had pretty bad diarrhea as I was walking him. I stopped his NuPro supplement that night. The next day, he also had really bad diarrhea on our walk. On the same walk, even though he had already gone #2, he stopped two more times, except the only thing that came out was a little bit of brown liquid. I didn’t feed him at all yesterday.

Today, before his breakfast, I took him on a walk and he had a little bit of diarrhea again! It was just a small amount, as he had not eaten the day before. I gave him some dry food when we got home today.

He isn’t having any accidents in the house, it is only when we walk outside. He’s playful, bright eyes, cold and wet nose, and otherwise seems to be okay.

What could the problem be?

[Gloria K]

TheBCnut: I just got a shelter rescue dog about 10 days ago, (11 lb. terrier mix) and I have been making his food and supplementing it with a little kibble. I chop everything real fine and grate the carrots with a rasp but I cook all of this homemade food – nothing raw. Could that make a difference in being able to digest it better? I just can’t seem to bring myself to purée the stuff and give it to him like baby food …yuck. I give him ground beef or ground chicken, hard-boiled eggs, spinach, carrots, some ground egg shells, oatmeal and occasionally rice or barley.

[Diane L]

Zeljko L – I’m sure it is because it’s the weekend – I emailed them earlier in the week and they have been very responsive to me. In the meantime, hope your boy is feeling better soon! I found that using Purina FortiFlora supplement helped my dogs in getting over the digestive upset quickly.

[arwyru24]

I worry about artificial vitamin supplements from China in the food. I worry about issues like Blue Buffalo was having wth not actually knowing what the people making the food were actually putting in it. Then I have to contend with what my cats will actually eat. And one is immuno compromised so raw isn’t an option and I don’t feel comfortable making my own food nor does that work well for my life style. I worry about over vaccinating and about under vaccinating. I just try to use my best judgment and do the best I can for my animals. It just complicates things when companies knowingly compromise our pets health and lives for the sake of profit maximization and you have to research everything you pick up off a shelf to feed your pet because it could potentially kill them very suddenly which is the worst because you have no time to fix it or slowly but surely over a little time.

[theBCnut]

I read lots of super green supplement labels and ordered my own ingredients from swansonvitamins.com. There are a couple commercial ones I’ve used in the past, but they all have things Micah can’t have, so now I just make my own. Right now he is getting alfalfa, kelp, and spirulina, plus blueberries. When looking for a commercial one, I look for one that doesn’t have green tea and is organic.

[Karen J]

Okay, so she’s not getting a lot of treats because I’m so busy I haven’t been training her much. She only gets the supplements once a day.

But, what small kibble, grain free options do you think might be worth a try? You sound very much against BB, they are tiny bites and grain free. But she’s not eating them all of a sudden.

Now I’ve heard dogs do self fast. I’ve tried Orijen dry no go and too big and Merrick wet, wouldn’t touch it.

I haven’t found any pee puddles lately, that’s the good news 🙂

[theBCnut]

Are you maybe giving too many treats? She looks like a very small dog. If she is still pooping, she is still eating. Try cutting out the treats for a couple days. And try cutting back on the amount of supplements, in case they are decreasing her appetite. If her eating doesn’t pick up then, changing foods again may be what you need to do. My dogs didn’t like BB when I tried it, but that was years ago. Personally, I’ve heard too many stories of dogs getting bladder stones on it for me to want to feed it to a dog with crystals.

[theBCnut]

Try adding a supergreen supplement. One of my dogs was a grazer, but once I started adding supergreens, he completely stopped.

[Kersi B]

Hello everybody!

I am new here and tried to find some informations on my own, but I am lost…

I move from Germany to California this January and take my 6-year-old Chihuahua (3kg or 6,6p weight) with me.
He already has a light cardiac insufficiency, but the doc said that he doesn’t need any medicine yet.
Here in Germany I feed him with wet (in the late afternoon), dry (he has a extra bowl with some in case he is hungry) and own-cooked food (as often as I can instead of wet food). His treats are 100% dry meat only. And I give him Vitamin K1 and homeopathic Crataegus supplements to his food to strengthen his heart.
But none of the brands I am feeding him right now are available in the US.
So could you please help me to find the brands with the highest quality but affordable for a student? Thank you so much! <3 :*

• This topic was modified 11 years, 4 months ago by Kersi B.

[theBCnut]

Hi Kayla

Find what? Kefir? Yes, they have it at Walmart. It’s a drink. Swanson’s? It’s an internet supplement business, so you google it. I think it’s swansonvitamins dot com.

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

[Pat G]

Hi everyone, I have a Cavalier who has 25 different allergies and I have gone through many foods trying to find the right combination for her. This included Raw, Dehydrated, Kibble, Canned, you name it. When I got her at the age of 2 1/2 she was on a food called Dynamite Super Premium and had no problems, she was born and raised in Arizona. When I brought her to California her allergies exploded. Veterinarians say this is common. Had her tested and found she is allergic to 5 different foods, so the search began. Now I only took her off the the food she was used to because you get it from a Distributor and the shipping was killing me, I have since found a Distributor here in California. Since putting her back on that food and some of their supplements she has stopped itching, eye watering minimized, coat again shiny. All of my dogs are now on it and I am pleased with the results. I think taking a look at their website would be of benefit to you. http://www.dynamitespeciality.com. You can then decide for yourself. Their customer service is terrific and will answer any question you may have and can also help you find a distributor or maybe become one.

[Merry G]

I don’t understand how a dog’s BUN numbers can be elevated either by dehydration or a sign of kidney problems. You’d think that they wouldn’t even mention dehydration! He did tell me that she can live with it for quite some time before it worsens but didn’t say how quickly it can progress or what to watch for. She doesn’t really like the KD Science Diet and I found some dog food online that has low protein and I ordered a case hoping she’ll be happy eating it. I don’t mind making my own food for her. I’ve been boiling and crock potting chicken for her for more than a year because she decided regular dog food was beneath her “diva dignity.” I mix it with brown rice sometimes and she gets the broth and carrots too.
I like to squirt a bit of fish oil in her bowl but that dog can sniff it out and then she will not eat it!
I would have no problem cooking her whatever kind of food would be good for her I’m pretty much used to it now.

I read a paper written by a Vet about putting a dog on low protein food in the early stages of renal failure. His name is Kenneth Bovee, DVM, MmedSc, (Dept of Clinical Studies, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.) It reads kind of dry and technical but I did my best to understand it. It seems that there’s quite a controversy about if a low protein diet actually helps but Vets have been told it works so they’ve been recommending it for a long time.
I’ve read about herbal supplements that can help the kidneys function better, or “cure” renal failure but I don’t believe there’s a cure!

I appreciate all your feedback and I hope that I can help Sage live the rest of her time with us in a painless, quality way. I still marvel at what a dog can add to one’s life and how completely smitten we can become over them! I’ve had 4 boxers in my life and I’ve loved every one of them equally and my life was enriched by their love.

http://www.dogfoodscoop.com/support-files/bovee_protein_renal.pdf

[Gloria K]

I just adopted a rescue dog who is a year old, weighs 11 pounds and is a terrier mix. I would like to make my own food for Mickey and supplement it with a little kibble. Does anyone have a good, nutritious recipe for making dog food?

[Amy H]

Thanks!
Bobby dog – from my initial research, I don’t necessarily need a low sodium diet so long as I keep his sodium intake consistent as it competes with the meds for absorption, so an increase in salt will lower the level of meds in his blood and a decrease in salt will increase his blood levels of the meds. But I will take a look at that list.
Susan – I will look for that book. Is your list of supplements from it?
BCnut (Patty Vaughn?) – his seizures started after eating the poison. He almost died. I don’t know what specific kind of poison. My vet has yet to see him or his chart, but in a pre-adoption phone conversation said that generally speaking, his concern with cutting back on KBr is that when you do that, if the seizures return they frequently no longer respond to the medication, so as long as he is free of side effects he would prefer to stick with what seems to be working. An article on canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels(dot)com advises waiting 1-2 years without seizures before phasing it out. But that might be geared toward idiopathic epilepsy, which of course we aren’t sure we are dealing with. I have 2 young 2-legged kids, and my daughter has asthma, so our house and yard are already pretty chemical-free.
This is a lot to take in. Hope I haven’t bit off too much!

[Susan]

Hi Amy, Im just reading Lew Olsons PhD, Raw & Natural Nutrition for dogs again, its a good book to have lying around, it has easy home cooked & raw recipes in the book she says this about Epilepsy: While the connection between grains & seizures is still being researched a number of studies suggest that feeding carbohydrates can increase the risks of seizure activity, either by making blood sugar level fluctuations more extreme or by causing allergic reactions due to gluten intolerance. The best defense is a fresh-food diet with low to mediun levels of fats, high levels of animal protein & few carbohydrates….

Supplements: Fish Oil, Vitamin E & digestive enzymes are all good supplements for dogs suffering from Epilepsy. Additionally adding a quality B complex vitamin has proven to fight seizures in both humans & animals. DMG made from a derivative of glycine has also shown promising results in slowing down or stopping seizure activity. For dogs the liquid form given by dropper in the gum line appears to work the best..
If you don’t mind making a few cooked meals she has 4 different Low-Fat Low Glycemic Diets for Epilepsy & what Supplements to add..

[theBCnut]

I would try going back to the old food and see if the grass eating decreases. It may be that there is some ingredient in the foods that she is reacting to and the new food has more of it. You may need to find a food that has a different protein and carb source. Another reason that some dogs eat grass is because they crave something in greens, so a super green supplement cure the issue, but I don’t think that’s what is going on here.

[Amy H]

I am adopting an epileptic lab mix rescue pup, 10 months old, and I am told about 60 lbs. I have looked over these forums and printed out a few articles from the Mercola site to bring to my first vet appt with him. Once he is settled in our home I will begin transitioning him to a higher protein, lower carb, grain free diet. The first bag I bought for that is EB Holistic Primitive Naturals. He is on KBr already, as he had multiple grand mal seizures after poison ingestion, but he has been seizure free for several months. I am looking for advice from others who have dealt with this – what worked for you, and what didn’t? I am not up to a raw diet, but herbals and supplements would be manageable within budgetary reason. I wonder whether a rotation diet is still advisable, since I need to worry about affecting his KBr blood levels with varying salt content in different foods. Most labels I’ve checked don’t list sodium content. I read through about 55 pages of the large & giant breed puppy food forum, and think he is old enough that I at least don’t need to worry about calcium content. Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!

[Karen J]

Here is the question are there grain free pill pockets out there I could use?

Okay, Trixie (the girl with the crystals) seems to be doing a little better, no grain d-mannose and Vit C however I keep having to change her food, she is terminally picky and giving her the supplements has become more difficult by the minute. She threw up last night or this morning and I believe I covered the supplements with so much cheese and chicken plus her food and grain free kibble with Stella and Chewy on it….and on and on. I think it was too much of everything.

[Zach M]

Yeah, I have heard of those supplements. I might try them. Thanks guys!

[theBCnut]

http://www.swansonvitamins.com/natures-answer-greens-today-original-formula-18-oz-pwdr
This is one super food supplement that I liked, but there are many good ones. Just look for one that doesn’t have green tea in it. Any of the brightly colored berries are superfood. Bee pollen is great.

[Zach M]

Thanks guys for all the input. Dogfoodie, I was about to order some VE beef treats, the beef and beef tripe and lung etc. treats. I think I will order them, and thanks for the other suggestions guys. BC, any good ideas for Super food supplements?