[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, 1 month 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, 1 month 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, 1 month 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, 1 month 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?

[aimee]

Hi Peter,

I haven’t looked at Farmina so I can’t comment on the company/food. In regard to Nature’s Logic, the concept is appealing but because the foods do not have supplements they fall far short of AAFCO requirements. For example AAFCO min Vit D is 500 IU/kg and NL reports 175 IU/kg, AAFCO Vit E 50 IU/kg and NL reports 21.34 IU/kg.

In actuality though the nutrient content in most of NL formulas is unknown as the owner has told me he only tested one diet, the chicken variety, and then posted the same numbers with some minor variation for all the diets. I find that extremely irresponsible! UGH!!! One of the diets has been through AAFCO feed testing and the others use the family rule to substantiate the AAFCO label.

When I last inquired the person formulating the diets was the owner Scott Feeman. His degree is in marketing. In talking to him I found that he doesn’t understand very basic nutritional concepts, for example that Vit D is a dietary requirement in the dog. He told me not to worry about his diets being low in Vit D… I just need to let my dog sit by a sunny window. Oiy Via!

I asked what type of testing he does on the ingredients used in his food and he said none and at the time I talked to him he didn’t seem certain as to what post production testing was done at the co packers he uses.

I think the company excels at what the owner’s degree is in: marketing. When it comes to nourishing a dog: shaky ground. On the positive side one of the diets has passed a feeding trial.

[theBCnut]

How about a few pieces of kibble or a bit of chicken. Or maybe a super green supplement or a few blueberries for the antioxidants.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Julie-
It pains me to read your post as I have gone through basically the same scenario with my two pups, 3 year-old, 80 lb lab mixes. We battled both giardia and coccidia for about a year. I think they have permanent issues from that condition. I found a ton of helpful information on dogaware dot com. Check out this site’s digestive disorder tab. My dog’s stools are still loose after exercise or when they get real excited, unfortunately. But otherwise they have been pretty consistent. I feed mine mostly Victor grain free food. It contains a clay that is supposed to be helpful for dogs with different types of colitis. I also rotate between the Perfect Form, Gastriplex and Vetri Pro BD supplements that contain probiotics and enzymes along with some diarrhea remedies such as slippery elm that seem to help a lot too. As far as toppers go, it seems like when I add either raw nuggets or dehydrated to their kibble, they do better than when I add a little canned food. Of course, murphey’s law, they are much more expensive than canned. I hope you can find a combination that works for you. If you do start switching up, do it slowly and one at a time so you know if it is helping or not. Good luck!

[theBCnut]

Tripette is a canned food for supplemental feeding only, which means it should not be your dogs only source of nutrition because it isn’t balanced. But it is balanced for calcium and phosphorus, and low in both, which is what is important for giant breeds. Its tripe, so it smells awful, but dogs LOVE it.

[Lillian N]

I’ve been really trying to do a lot of research on this raw feeding thing but as much information as I’ve been stockpiling the more uneasy I become when it comes to the supplements part of it. Most sample diets I’ve seen are for much larger dogs (40 lbs and up) and my chihuahuas are really small (5 and 7 lb respectively) I think I got most of the other parts down and I’m pretty comfortable feeding them on the raw meats/organs part (no bone, they are gulpers and don’t like to chew thoroughly) so I am feeding them a whole sardine once or twice a wk to help with calcium thought I am not sure if this is sufficient. If anyone else has a small breed can you please provide me with a sample diet of what you are feeding your dogs? I want to make a full switch to raw since they do so well on it and I would prefer not to use mixes or pre-made ones(too expensive..) I was going to simply add a multivitamin and calcium supplement as well as vitamin e to the 1 lb of ground meat and organs +veggie mix I was going to make and feed them for the whole month but I read on dogaware.com that human multivitamins aren’t suitable for small breeds. any help would be much appreciated!

[theBCnut]

Just in case, give him a good thorough bath with Dawn. He may have gotten it to something poisonous that is affecting his neuro system and while you can’t get it out of him, you may be able to get some off him. It may be that he was born with a neuro condition. I wouldn’t wait to get him checked out, because the vet can give you an idea which it may be, and tell you what supplements may help most. I would want to give milk thistle for a few days just in case he got into something. It helps the liver, just in case, but if he didn’t get into anything it won’t hurt. Also, I would want to make sure he is getting a raw egg every other day with one meal, and adding lightly cooked egg to one meal on the other days wouldn’t hurt either. You want the white cooked but the yolk raw on those. That will supply some of the nutrients he needs to clear his system, if he can. Good luck and thanks for helping this big boy. Unfortunately, this issue may be why you found him where he was. Someone may not have wanted to deal with all of this. He may also have severe hip dysplasia and just can’t use his hind end right. A joint supplement may or may not help that. Osteo Bi-Flex for humans is a really good one. And that also won’t hurt anything if he doesn’t really need it, but I haven’t met the Dane yet who didn’t.

[theBCnut]

What a bummer! NutriSource is usually very easily tolerated, but there must be something in it that your dog doesn’t do well on. I have no idea what it could be. As long as you are seeing no other symptoms, you might want to look at The Honest Kitchen Perfect Form. It’s a supplement that helps calm intestines and firm up stools.

Have you seen Hound Dog Mom’s list of foods that have an appropriate calcium level for large and giant breed puppies?

[FrenchieBourdeaux]

No he does good with the Fromm I just add it to his food every other day. My vet and the breeder said it helps with there digestion. But I have been reading and hearing a lot about goats milk and the great benefits for dogs and I was curious if I could use that or if it would be to much calcium right now. And I here good and bad on supplements so wasn’t sure what to do on them. And kind of off the topic question but how do you load a pic on your profile…..I feel like a idiot bc I cant figure it out.

Thanks

[aimee]

When adding supplements to a dog’s diet they shouldn’t make up more then 10% of the caloric intake. I use fresh foods whole foods as supplements: veggies, fruits ( no grapes raisins, currents, onions, garlic ) DHA,EPA ( fish oils).

I’m not sure what you mean by rotating boiled chicken and rice with Fromm. Boiled chicken and rice is missing many nutrients and as such is not a suitable to use as a meal on an ongoing basis. If using boiled chicken and rice it should not make up more than 10% of the calories fed that day unless you are balancing your homemade food.

[FrenchieBourdeaux]

Hey,

I was wondering what are good supplements for large breed puppies that are a must I have a 6 month old Dogue De Bordeaux Mastiff and wanted to make sure he gets all the supplements he is needed especially sense his grandfather was an impressive 210 pounds. And also is it okay to start adding goats milk to his food? I currently have him on the Fromm game bird and boiled rice and chicken rotation every other day.

Thanks for any help. Just want the best for my little guy.

[Kellye P]

It’s been a month since my first post so here’s an update. Duffy had his semi-annual bloodwork done. I don’t have copies of the results yet but my vet said:
Heartworm – negative
Thyroid – normal
Fructosamine – good control
CBC – no abnormal results
She sent his blood to the lab instead of using her own equipment. She wanted to make sure they tested for everything and using the lab allowed her to ask the various specialists questions. She explained that the concern is his weight.
(Sidenote: Duffy is her only underweight client!)
The specialist suggested we test for Cushing’s. I did not want to do that. We have tested him many times before and he always tests normal. However, the specialist said cortisol could play a role in his inability to gain weight. I thought too much cortisol caused weight gain, but I gave in and took him back for the test.
Result: normal
We did a urine culture which was negative. Nothing grew. My vet said that never happens. As I said before, Duffy is the healthiest “deathly ill” dog in the world.

Back when he was at UT Knoxville vet school for an exam, he was put on melatonin and flax lignin. He was not super skinny at that time. I asked my vet if I should go back to giving him those supplements. The idea at the time was to control non-Cushing’s cortisol, even though we could never prove that he had any problems in that area.
I don’t know if it ever worked but he was two pounds heavier.
So we’re back on melatonin and flax lignin.

I have the special enzymes too. I have not used them much since he doesn’t like wet food or kibble soaked in liquid.
Which leads me to my final update — I found a dry food that he loves. It’s made in Ohio so not far from us and it’s delivered fresh to Lexington. The company is called Pet Wants.

Duffy had gained 5 oz in the past ten days. I am beyond thrilled. My goal is 8 lbs and he is now at 6 lbs 7 oz.
Fingers crossed!!!!

[Naturella]

Zach, let’s see… Bruno is 14.5 lbs (could go up to 15 lbs eventually if he isn’t yet, but in late September he was 14.5 lbs). 14-15 lbs is a healthy weight for him. He is a small terrier mix of sorts (could be Jack Russell +/- Miniature Rat Terrier +/- Chihuahua +/- something else for all we know – he was found in the bushes, so we sometimes joke that he is a Bush Terrier, lol).

For kibble – I never go below 4-star foods (so far) and I rotate brands and proteins with every bag now (I used to rotate AND mix brands before). Thank goodness my guy is small, so foods last him a while. But, I supplement with a teaspoon of raw, organic, unrefined, cold-pressed coconut oil every other day or so (Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday at breakfast), 2 heaping teaspoons of plain yoghurt/plain kefir Monday and Friday at breakfast, a raw egg once/week (Wednesday at breakfast), a half can of sardines in water once/week (Saturday at breakfast), and a raw meaty bone once/week (Sunday for dinner always – no other food for that meal). Also, for all meals that do not include the above additives (the dinner meals), I add 1-2 teaspoons of THK (alternating between Love, Embark, Force, and Keen, and also BDN), and I add water to make it soupy. Sometimes I would use canned, and still add a tad more water. And also Big Dog Natural (BDN; air-dried) green tripe, so you add that and water to the kibble, let it rehydrate as with THK, and serve.

As far as how much I take away – as per the feeding calculator on this site, and his food bags recommendations, he should have about 1 cup of dry/day, give or take small caloric differences in his brands of food. So, what I do is, I feed 3/4 cups/day of most recipes to account for the additives. On Saturday, when I feed the 1/2 can of sardines I feed 1/4 cup kibble for breakfast instead of the usual 1/4 + 1/8 cup. On Sunday, when I feed the RMB for dinner, I feed no kibble or THK, nothing. Just RMB. On Wednesday, when I feed the raw egg, I feed 1/4 cup kibble. All other meals, even with additives, are 1/4 + 1/8 cup of dry per meal. Of course, I make minor adjustments based on activity, body condition, etc., but that is his norm from which I can adjust.

Dry foods I have tried that he has done well on and could eat the kibble with no problems are: Nutro Natural Choice Small Breed Puppy (his first food when we got him, before I knew much about dog food – not a bad food though; Blue Buffalo Wilderness Puppy, Vets Choice Holistic Health Extension – Original, Allergix Chicken and Turkey, and Lamb and Brown Rice formulas, Dr. Tim’s Kinesis Grain Free (slightly bigger kibble, but oh well, he managed it just fine), Nutrisca Chicken and Chickpeas, Earthborn Holistic Grain Free (Coastal Catch and Primitive Natural), Victor Grain Free (all formulas) – (LOADS of samples, enough to consider him having eaten it and done well on it as a brand), Nature’s Variety Instinct (on samples he did well, on the actual food, Rabbit recipe – not really, so I stopped feeding it), Now! Fresh Adult (1 lb sample, he did well on it), NutriSource Grain Free all recipes (samples), Annamaet Grain Free (samples), Wysong (various samples), and I have a lot lined up – Back to Basics Red Meat, Canidae Pure Salmon, Dogswell LiveFree Salmon, Wysong Nurture with Quail, Earthborn Holistic Great Plains Feast. He’s had one-time samples of Stella and Chewy’s and Primal too, loved them. On occasion I would give him a small piece of a fruit/veggie, or a piece of organ/meat as a tiny treat, but those are sporadic enough for me to not account for. Same with edible natural chews – he can chew on and “eat” his antler daily, but sometimes I give half a 6-inch bully stick, 1/3 cow ear, 1 piggy snout (small) or 1 lamb ear, homemade doggie ice-cream treats, and those I don’t account for in his meals.

Hope this helps, I tried to be pretty extensive… LoL

[Hildie V]

For every bit of meat (phosphorous) you need calcium to balance the ratio

The amount in kale and yogurt isn’t enough. Phosphorous depletes calcium. That is why dogs on raw and bones don’t need supplement because the bone calcium rations the meat phosphorous

When not giving bones you *need* to add calcium, I don’t like calcium pills because you can get it by powdered eggshell

[Dori]

I am one of the regulars that feeds a rotational diet. The more quality foods that you can incorporate in your dogs diet the better they will be for it. None of us would eat the same food day in day out ourselves, not a healthy diet. Canines, like us, need variety. I feed many different brands and many different proteins within each brand. I rotate brands and proteins with each meal my three girls eat. I feed twice a day. I also rotate supplements and treats. The treats I feed for the most part are organic fresh fruits and veggies. No store bought treats. Too many recalls for my liking.

[Hildie V]

From what I have learned from a few books and sites I have read the guidelines for homemade food without using bones is this:

65% meat
10% organ
25% veggies

1 tsp of fresh ground eggshell per lb of food fed
Salmon oil daily
Vitamin e daily

I also add in a mineral and vitamin mix and a probiotic and digestive enzymes

If your dog doesn’t keep weight on with this you can increase the veggies to 40%, using mostly sweet potato or regular potato or a winter squash and use 10% organ and 50% meat

Yogurt isn’t enough of a calcium supplement, it balances itself but not the entire diet

You can also add fish a few times a week and eggs if they work for your dog

[Hildie V]

Hi Susan they do sound alike 🙂

She does best on food I make myself. Also, NRG raw dehydrated, but unfortunately she’s developed a wheat allergy in these wheat germ in NRG so I can’t use anymore.

I’m going to try a ground turkey, beef liver, beef heart, broccoli, zucchini, carrots, and potato next. I supplement with eggshell calcium because I don’t feed her bones. I also give Simon oil, vitamin E, digestive enzymes, probiotic, and a multivitamin and mineral specifically designed for dogs by a holistic vet.

I would suppose just as in humans certain things trigger acid reflux but it can be different in every person and also in every dog. I suppose there’s also an underlying reason why acid reflex is there to start with which is what I really want to get to the bottom of. That is, assuming she actually does have acid reflux and this isn’t something to do with something else because no one seems to know 🙂

I think finding foods that work for the dog is specific to each dog and it’s trial and error. Kibble can be a lot harder for them to break down than fresh food. Fresh food is highly digestible, and usually easier to digest. I would not touch a vet prescribed food with a 10 foot pole… But that’s not saying it doesn’t work for some people and their dogs, is just disgusting to me 🙂

If you want to make your own homemade food but are scared that you might not do it right you can buy a cookbook called Hillary’s Complete and Balanced and you can buy her supplements to go with it and then follow her recipes for homemade food. Her cookbook is only available through veterinarian offices in Canada and off her website in the USA. My girl did great on her venison and potato limited ingredient diet for five months until I couldn’t find the venison anymore at an affordable price :-). That is when I switched her to NRG…

Nothing I have done is a fix for sure, my dog is still having problems, and I like reading about what other people do to try and help myself as well 🙂

[Naturella]

Bruno got sick on the NVI Rabbit, but he’s never had the old formula, whatever that is. Vomiting and diarrhea, I tried him on it twice – first time it could have been something else that caused his illness, the second time was fully controlled and I attribute it entirely to the food. Alas, I really hoped it would work for him. Oh well, I will try another protein in the future and see how he does. For now he’s on a food he’s done well on in the past.

I guess, to the OP – Howard C – try to add The Honest Kitchen’s Perfect Form as a supplement for about a week – stool should improve – and keep your dogs on it for about 2 more weeks after stool is good. If it is unstable again when you take them off of Perfect Form, then it may be time for a food switch…

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

[Dog_Obsessed]

I saw some “calorie boost” supplements at the pet store today, maybe those would help?

[pugmomsandy]

Dogaware.com has a homemade diet section and gives supplement information. You might check it out. I’ve also used the recipe book “Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats” which also includes a vitamin mix recipe to be included in the meat/veg recipes.

[Karen J]

Great information, I’m calming down. I’ll still stay grain free, and filtered water- supplements like cranberry and Vit C and be given hidden in a treat separately.

Last year I lost a dog (a senior) but he was so sick and went through so much I just want to be cautious.

Thank you.

[Karen J]

Boiled chicken it is…what about the cranberry supplement – I’m not going to put it in the next food I try at least not until I see if she eat it. I want her to have it and I’m afraid if I put it in her filtered water she won’t drink that either and that’s of supreme importance.