[theBCnut]

HaHaHa!!!

[pugmomsandy]

Oh yeah! I knew Spot was in the name but I couldn’t get past “I See Spot”, a dog clothes store!

[theBCnut]

Steve Brown’s is “See Spot Live Longer” Dinner Mixes.

[pugmomsandy]

For easy homemade, use a premix like Urban Wolf, Grandma Lucys, The Honest Kitchen, and there’s another one by Steve Brown – can’t remember what that one is called. All you add is meat and some oil.

For some recipes, get “Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats” by Dr Karen Becker/Beth Taylor or Steve Brown’s “Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet”. “Real Food…” has cooked and raw recipes and a vitamin mix recipe and when made to recipe, it exceeds AAFCO/NRC guidelines.

For something simple, there’s http://homemadedogfood.com/easy-cooked-dog-food-recipe/ It uses a vitamin/mineral supplement and a fat supplement. Although I wouldn’t feed this single recipe forever. I’d give some variety.

You don’t have to stick to one product or recipe long term either. Try Urban Wolf and some other brands for variety.

Homemade food cannot be taken lightly. Although it’s the best, without proper vits/minerals/EFA’s, a poorly balanced homemade diet can be harmful. Do alot of research. I would say use some of HoundDogMom’s raw recipes, but since your’re a little squeamish of raw…that probably wouldn’t work out! She ran her recipe through a nutrient analysis and it is complete and balanced.

When I started raw, I used “Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats”. And I have dog food grinding parties at my house!

[scottNY]

Hi all and thanks for all the info. I am a little overwhelmed, but hopefully my “summary” question will help others.

I am the proud parent of a 7 month, 60 lb pit mix puppy who came from a rescue. After following this thread, I have just switched his food from TOTW grain-free puppy to the 5-star Nature’s Variety Instinct Rabbit. Thanks, HDM, for the Recommended Large Breed Puppy Foods spreadsheet. It was a wonderful tool!

Now here is where I am confused. I am trying to not go overboard on supplements [limited income] but want to make sure my puppy grows in to a very happy and healthy dog. Now that he is eating five star food, what else does he need? He already takes the Vetri-Science Laboratories Chicken Canine Plus Supplement for Pets, which he loves. He will also be taking the Vetri-Science Glyco-Flex for joints since when he plays and jumps very rough, he sometimes limps a little for a few hours – better safe than sorry. I want to make sure his joints have what they need as he grows.

Also, since following this thread [or a similar one here] I ordered the Dr. Stephen Langer’s Ultimate 15 Strain Probiotic, which amazon.com will deliver today and he will begin it today. So here are my questions, although comments on what I wrote previously are more than welcome, too!

1. With the Stephen Langer’s Ultimate 15 Strain Probiotic, does he get one capsule daily? Open and sprinkled on food or closed?

2. How important is coconut oil? If I give it to him, how often and how much per day?

3. My puppy now eats the recommended grain-free Nature’s Variety Instinct Rabbit, along with occasional pieces of allowed fruits and vegetables twice daily.
A. Does he need an enzyme?
B. I see several people commenting on the Swanson enzyme for humans. I certainly like the cost and I know it is a quality product. Should I get him that, too?
C. If so, again, how much and how often? Is it fine to take out of the capsule if he won’t swallow the capsule?

Thanks in advance HDM and others. I am trying to find that elusive middle ground and I appreciate all your help!

[sfranklin]

I am trying to figure out where to start with the whole homemade food idea. My dogs itch non-stop and I really believe it is from their commercial dog food. Any suggestions on supplements to make sure I have a balanced diet? I saw on Amazon something called Wizpet dog food supplement, I haven’t been able to find anything about it. If anyone could point me in the right direction as to where I can find out more information on supplements that would be wonderful. I am leaning towards the cooked dog food, my dogs now love all raw veggies and fruit (the ones they are allowed to have) so that I don’t have a problem with, I just don’t know if I can do the raw food personally, I may be a little squeamish. Could I do cooked (rare) protein and then raw everything else? I have been reading so much on here I think I am in information overload and am lost as to where to start. Thanks for your time!

[Anonymous]

I am passing along some sites I found quite helpful about dogs with cancer. As a note (to my previous post) I want to add that a dog on chemo is recmd to have supplements… the 1st link has lists of such… which I skipped/not aware of at the time. I am posting this before the links so it is NOT missed…
http://www.themagicbulletfund.org/NeedtoKnow.shtml
http://www.helpyourdogfightcancer.com/GetReady.shtml
http://www.acfoundation.org/faq/cancer-nutrition.php
LilyPearl (lab) was extremely sick with a rare cancer (jejunal ganglioneuroma), had tumors removed and did well for 10mths, now as posted previously having probs. Would say too that if you do the chemo routine, make sure your dog has a cancer that chemo helps… it does not help all. Unfortunately, my specialty vet missed what type of tumor LilyPearl actually had until after rounds of chemo when I opted for a smear… should have done a smear BEFORE starting chemo. Cancer loves carbs… I chose to feed Evo Turkey & Chicken… very low in carbs and great food. I know it has been recalled but my dogs never had probs with it…
Good luck to you and your sweetie…

[weezerweeks]

Is honest kitchen herbal supplement invigor considered a whole food supplement? Do ya’ll recommend it?

[Hound Dog Mom]

Switch the dog to a species-appropriate, low carbohydrate diet. A raw, home cooked, dehydrated or canned diet free of any grains or starches is ideal. If you must feed kibble look for a high protein (>30%) grain-free/white potato free kibble. If kibble is necessary, I think somebodysme made a good suggestion with Nature’s Variety Instinct.

I would also highly recommend starting the dog on a high quality, multi-strain probiotic supplement and an enzyme supplement. Probiotics are “friendly” bacteria that will help to get the body’s microflora back in balance (a yeast infection is an imbalance of microflora). Enzymes will help to rid the body of toxins that can contribute to yeast overgrowth and help the dog to more efficiently digest the food.

Yeast infections can also be caused by deficient levels of IgA and German Shepherds are prone to IgA deficiencies. If there is an IgA deficiency the probiotics and enzymes should help and you may also wish to consider an immunoglobulin supplement (such as IgG 2000 DF or colostrum) and coconut oil (the lauric acid in coconut oil is beneficial to immune function). You vet could test for an IgA deficiency.

You should also regularly disinfect the parts of his body that are yeasty. You can use a solution containing 1 gallon water, 1 C. hydrogen peroxide and 1 C. white vinegar. You can also bathe him using an herbal shampoo (such as tea tree) – avoid oatmeal shampoos as oatmeal feeds the yeast.

Good luck! 🙂

[shelties mom]

This sound to be a yeast problem, no. 1 thing to do is to address the diet, preferrably an anti-inflammatory raw diet with no grains. Adding a probiotic supplement will help since antibiotics destroy all good along with the bad bacteria, so these drugs often make a bad situation worse.

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/05/03/eating-these-foods-can-make-your-dog-itch-like-crazy.aspx

Be sure not to over-vaccinate or over-medicate.

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2010/08/17/stop-using-pet-steroids-until-you-read-these-disturbing-truths.aspx
http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2009/12/23/environmental-allergies-and-your-pet.aspx

Use natural flea control products:
http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2010/03/31/dangers-of-flea-and-tick-problems.aspx

Have you tried this product for his ears?

[jpjhooper]

Any word on this food? I keep seeing posts about dogs getting sick within the last 6 months. We feed him the Life Protection Formula with the Life Source bits as a secondary food source. Main food source is Grandma Lucys freeze dried chicken. We mostly use the dry kibble as “treats” for training as we thought it might be lower calorie then actual treats. Also if we happen to run out of GL then we supplement with BB until we can get to the store.

[TmMura13]

Also keep in mind that I live in Florida and I’m surrounded my national pet store retailers. There are very few small speciality pet store retailers around. Also I would prefer not to order online unless it is supplements.

[hookilau]

We feed Kirkland cuts as a base food and would like to find a reasonably priced food that we can begin rotating it with. One issue is that we have an 80# APBT and 3 other assorted little guys, so that can be a great deal of dog food =) I went to petco & found the premium canned dog foods were about 3$/can. I’d like to try to get away with 2ish$ per can if I can. We just added Petfresh also.

I went to BJ’s today and found ‘Earth’s Pride Pet chicken dinner’ 6 cans for 8.99. The trouble is that I can’t seem to find any reviews or information about this food online. It says no by-products, artificial preservatives, no artificial colors or dyes, no corn, wheat or soy.

I’m interested in opinions of this food, though not in relation to Kirkland cuts or Petfresh (hope that makes sense) Here ingredients are as it appears on the can in the order it appears on the can:

chicken, chicken broth, chicken liver, carrots, peas. sweet potatoes, whole ground brown rice, whole ground barley, oatmeal, guar gum, salt, flaxseed, blueberries, cranberries, potassium chloride, carrageenan, cassia gum, iron proteinate, manganese proteinate, riboflavin supplement, sodium selenite, calcium iodate, thiamine mononitrate, niacin supplement, calcium pantothenate, vitamin A supplement, vitamin b12 supplement, potassium iodid, biotin, vitamin d3 supplement.

crude protein min 8.50%
crude fat min 4.0%
crude fiber max 1.00%
moisture max 78.00%
ME (calculated) Kcal/Kg 1,140.00
ME (calculated) KC/can 421.80

[puppylove]

If you’re feeding your dog a processed meat diet then enzymes are CRITICAL.

Prebiotics are not the same as PRObiotics. PREbiotics are simply the material that the bacteria feed on to grow. Careful giving your dog a prebiotic without probiotics or you could feed pathogenic bacteria (if there is a yeast or bacterial problem in the gut)

Probiotics, I am an advocate. Find one made for dogs, not humans, since humans and dogs have different systems. I like Nusentia, but there are some other suggestions on this forum that might be good too if they are made for dogs.

Fish oil? I don NOT DO WILD fish oils, like salmon, because of contaminants. They are more expensive, but get the purified fish oil from small species fish. Great source of beneficial Omega-3 without PCBs or toxins. Again, I like Nusentia’s fish oil, but I’m sure there are others that compare. In this case, you could get a human fish oil supplement since fish oil is fish oil. period.

[DogFoodie]

Hi Whitney,

My 15 month old Golden pup has been diagnosed with pano and recently had another slight flare-up. I took him back to the vet (integrative medicine) and she recommended this supplement from Thorne: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005BSN030/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. I had been giving Sam turmeric, but she said it would be nearly impossible for me to give him a truly therapeutic dose of turmeric, which is what Thorne’s CurcuVET is. He’s up to taking it twice a day right now and it hasn’t been quite one week and I’m working up to three capsules daily (he weighs about 76 pounds). I really believe this stuff will help his pano as I’m already a believer in the anti-inflammatory power of turmeric, but I’m also very helpful that it helps heal his delicate digestive system. Funny thing is, I always shoved capsules into his poor gullet and I have now realized that I can literally just throw it into his bowl and he eats it right up with his food.

Not knowing if it would be appropriate for your pup, you might want to ask your vet about it also.

[Whitney]

Thank you! We go to a Naturalist as a family and we eat our medicine so I will look into herbs for her. I just wasn’t sure what would be safe. You know, I hear slight clicking coming from her back end and I told the Vet and he said that it is probably just joints loose because she is growing and would check her at a year. So I will do the supplemental stuff until then. She is on Proin already at such a young age. They said there was no natural alternative. 🙁

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Whitney –

I’m not sure if the calcium levels in 4Health Grain-Free or Pure Balance are okay or not – I didn’t look into these foods because they’re only rated 3.5 stars and therefore didn’t meet the criteria of my list. So if you want to feed these I would suggest contacting the companies to obtain the calcium levels. If she’s still a pup and already experiencing pain I would discuss this with your vet – while it could be an injury it is likely Pano or severe HD (it would have to be pretty severe for the dog to be showing symptoms at such a young age). I would recommend supplementing with some natural anti-inflammatories such as boswellia, yucca, turmeric (curcumin), bromelain, omega 3’s, tart cherry, or white willow and/or high doses of omega 3’s. Now may also be a good time to start a joint maintenance supplement such as glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM, hyaluronic acid, green lipped mussel and/or esterified fatty acids. I’d also suggest avoiding grains entirely as grains are inflammatory.

[theBCnut]

Skip the senior food. A lot of them have reduced amounts of protein and that is the opposite of what a senior needs. Keep her on a good quality food with good quality proteins in it and you might want to add some fish oil, as well as the joint supplement. Don’t bother with a food that advertises that it has a joint supplement in it, they don’t actually have a therapeutic dose, so it would do little good. There are a few people here with senior dogs that will chime in with what else you can do to help your old gal.

[casey]

I have a 12 year old boxer/pit mix. I have had her since she was a 6 week old tiny, runty rescue. She has always maintained an deal body weight for her, of 60 lbs. She has never had a sensitive stomach or issues with food and has eaten all kinds of different higher quality brands of kibble and canned. She has no known health concerns (other than several small lipomas on her chest and neck and one very large one on the right side of her neck. It was removed when she was about 8 years old, but since it was down in her shoulder muscle the Dr. was not able to get all of it and it slowly came back over the course of the next year and has since continued to grow slowly. It does not bother her at all and since her first surgery was so invasive her Dr. does not want to remove it again unless it starts causing her problems.) She has definitely slowed down quite a bit in the past year or so and wants to mostly sleep. She will run around in the back yard with our 2 year old doodle every morning and evening and has a blast, but only has about 20 minutes or so in her and is done. Her last vet checkup was great, her blood work was wonderful and she had no signs of arthritis or hip problems. But I have noticed she seems a little less stable on her feet lately and will occasionally fall up or down the deck stairs, but maybe this is just normal for her age ? (like when older people get weaker and more frail) I was wondering if a senior dog food and joint supplements might be better for her? I was not sure about the senior food since she is in no way over weight. Her coat has gotten a bit dull lately too. Just wondering what I can do to help my old girl age gracefully.

[XaMarlowe]

Thanks, yeah I heard that eliminating chicken and along with grain can help. If the Earthborn alone doesnt help I’ll probably supplement her food with something before considering a rotating diet. Kinda hoping that I can just find one brand that will help, but who knows. I’ll keep posting for further help, I really appreciate the suggestions just really want to avoid any medical problems in the future.

[gidget406]

I recently switched my 6 year old bulldog to natural balance (limited ingredient diet) sweet potato and chicken. It’s been a few months and since then his facial fold has gotten infected, his ears are bothering him, he’s constantly licking his feet and I just noticed that his chin is getting irritated and red. He’s also been eating grass every night consistently for the past week and not throwing up. His poops are regular but it seems like he’s drinking much more water. He just seems like a giant itchy ball of infection and I feel so bad for him. I need advice on what dry food has worked for sensitive dogs with allergies. What brands work? What ingredients should I be looking for? Does he need supplements?

[pugmomsandy]

If there are a couple of foods she does good on (solid poop), you can rotate between them and switch out before she has a problem. Another option is to add some fiber like ground psyllium to her meals if you don’t want to do pumpkin. You might even supplement her food with some a few medallions of dehydrated raw (like Instinct, Primal, Stella & Chewys, Nutrisca). Sometimes the bone matter helps with formed stools.

[Mom2Cavs]

One of my Cavaliers (in my avatar pic, Laverne) has anal gland problems off and on. I attribute it to allergies with her. I have taken her, all the dogs, off all poultry. She is now eating for kibble Holistic Select grain free. It is a poultry free, fish based kibble with a pretty decent fiber content at around 6% max, I believe. It does have potatoes, but they don’t seem to be a problem with my dogs. I do top with canned foods and have been keeping them poultry free, as well. So far, I’ve been using Wellness for the majority….95% Salmon or Beef or Lamb, Beef Stew, and Simple Salmon or Lamb. This seems to be working. She hasn’t had any issues since I switched to doing this. I was using Zignature kibble, and will probably keep it in the rotation. I just bought some Big Dog Natural dehydrated raw in beef flavor that I plan on trying in the mix. I also add probiotics and enzymes to my dogs’ food. There are lots of them recommended on this site. Currently, I’m using Wholistic Pet Digest all Plus (or something like that lol!). This is all I do, no other supplements atm. Oh…I almost forgot, I do give a biscuit at night before bedtime. I’ve been using Wellness Lamb grain free or Whitefish (not grain free). Any soft treats given, usually during therapy dog visits, are Wellness Pure Rewards beef. As you can see, I like Wellness hahahaha. 🙂 I’m not saying this regimen would work for your dog, but to think about allergies….perhaps do away with chicken and definitely grains. Go from there. I’ve been battling this with Laverne for awhile now and I feel I finally have a handle on it.

• This reply was modified 12 years, 3 months ago by Mom2Cavs.

[XaMarlowe]

My 9 month old Red Bone Hound/Lab mix is scooting and biting her booty. My vet told me to supplement her food with pumpkin, but I figured that I could just change her food and solve the problem. She ate Iams when she was younger when this problem started, so I swicthed her to Blue Buffalo grain free puppy. At first Blue worked, nice hard stools, no scooting or biting. But over time her stools loosened up and she is having the same problems again. I am very diligent about not feeding her any grain, and I know she doesnt have worms. Just bought some Earthborn coastal grain free, hope it works. Her sister still eats Iams and has no problems, any suggestions would really help. After reading many, many blogs I just feel lost. The fibre content of Blue is more than Earthborn is that a problem
? Chicken vs fish? Hound Dog Mom help!!!!
Sincerely, Max & Marlowe

[JLezinsky]

Hi Hound Dog Mom,

We have been wanting to switch our pup to a raw food diet for a while now. We have been doing tons of reading on this forum and research and decided to start with a pre-made raw mix while we figured out how to add more from scratch.

Last weekend at our local pet store the owners of Sirius Raw Dog Food (a small company from Ruby, NY) were out front talking about their product. I was wondering if anyone has heard or more importantly used their food? We decided to give it a try and start or 8 month old Catahoula (40 lbs) on it. We switched her cold turkey without any problem, in fact she went crazy for it. However, the more I read on this form the more excited I get about making good food for her, but at the same time the more overwhelming this starts to seem. Our biggest concern right now is that she is getting the proper nutrition and the correct amounts of food. Sirius told us that she will be good with 2% her body weight, about 1lb a day. And that everything she needs is in the food. We started giving her ½ lb twice a day. It has only been a few days and it is hard to tell if she’s hungry or just wants more because it is so good. Yesterday we increased her feeding to ¾ lb twice a day. Since she is only 8 months should she be giving her more than 2-3%? Sirius told us that she was considered an adolescent. I just want to get your opinion.

Also, should we be using any additional supplements while we stay on the Sirius pre-made mix? Should we be concerned about the calcium while on this?

I figured this was the best place to get answers. I appreciate any help you can give us.

Thanks,
Jon

There is not a lot of information on their site so I attached the nutritional info. that they had emailed to me. They have a few blends, a chicken, a beef, a turkey.

beef blend….Ingredients: Beef, Chicken Bones, Beef Heart, Beef Liver, Sweet Potato, Carrots, Zucchini, Romaine Lettuce, Spinach, Cilantro, Parsley, Ginger Root, Garlic
Guaranteed analysis: crude protein, min 16.00%; crude fat, min 14.00%, crude fiber, max 00.30%; moisture, max 64.00%

http://www.siriusrawdogfood.com

[somebodysme]

OH yes, sounds just exactly like my dog with allergies too. She’s a “lab mix”…AKA no one knows!

The vet did the same thing. What I did was go with a limited ingredient diet. I have her on Nature’s Variety LID Turkey which is doing an adequate job of keeping it under control. Remember that everything he consumes can contribute, not just their dog food. Treats and rawhide etc. even vitamins and supplements. People food…it can all cause problems.

Really the antiboitics help heal it up but then it just will come right back because they are killing the dog’s immune system.

I chose the NV food because it had the least amount of ingredients and not potatoes of any kind. I don’t even want her on sweet potatoes either.

Does he stink like strong cheese? If so that is yeast too so you don’t want a food with too many carbs or it will get worse. You’d also want to give a probiotic.

Just out of curiosity, what are you feeding him now?

[Colorado huntress]

My sister, who lives in Covington, LA, almost lost her 9 month old Great Dane/Weimaraner mix recently due to a poisonous mushroom, so obviously it is a possibility – my dad is a doctor & he didn’t know about the mushroom, but he knew something was horribly wrong & sent her to the ER vet clinic & they said if she had gotten there 5 mins later the dog would have died….
I am so sorry about you losing your dogs- I lost my 22 month old British lab import in March & we still don’t know what killed him 🙁 He woke up next to the bed w/me yelping, running around, & w/in 2 mins had a major grand Mal seizure ( this dog was NEVER sick a day in life – I got him @ 8 weeks) – he came out of the seizure a little bit, but w/in a min or so had 2 more smaller ones back to back & never came out of them – I kept his airway open, but there was nothing I could do. He died w/12 mins of waking up. He had been eating EVO grain free RIGHt before the recall, but after his autopsy, food testing, they still don’t know what killed him. The pathologist thought it was definitely Clostridium Perfergens UNTIL he got the anaerobic cultures back & they came back negative, so I will probably never know. What I do know, however, is that we have sheep herders who still put out poison for coyotes even though it is illegal – after a LOT of research I have found that not all poisons will kill a dog immediately – there are a variety of rodenticides that are second-generation & although most dogs will show symptoms & you can usually get them to a vet in time, there are quite a few cases where the dog has absolutely NO symptoms ( no vomiting/diarrhea, etc) like mine did. I did send the pathology report (autopsy) to a number of vets in the country & most say they have no idea what killed him. Did have one vet who said that even though he showed no aneurysm in the brain (I had them do brain tissue slides), it is still possible that he had a stroke that was so severe……found out later they didn’t dissect the whole brain, so unless they happen to cut right into where there is damage, they can miss it…
Anyway…..sorry for the long post, but it has taken a VERY long time for me to recover from this, so I can not imagine how you must feel after losing both of your dogs – my heart goes out to you…

I just got a British lab (22 months old) in mid June, & rescued a wire-haired doxie mix (9 months) from Crowley, LA in July from a kill shelter & I now feed them Honest Kitchen Preference (base mix)supplemented with our raw game meat & they are doing great on it & love it.

There is invaluable advice here in this website/forum & I hope you find some answers – I am a newbie here, wish I had found it sooner….

Again, I am so sorry for your losses…..
Suzi

[Bill Rogan]

Hello!!! Beagleowner? Hope you feel better than before because your dog is gradually progressed.

You should bring diversification in you dog food menu. You should ensure that the diet you feed meets your dog’s requirements. It’s important that the diet you feed your dog is “complete and balanced,” meaning it meets all of your dog’s nutritional needs. It is not important, however, that every meal would be completed and balanced, unless you feed the same meal every day with little or no variation.

Following are the guidelines for feeding a raw or cooked homemade diet to get a healthy dog. No single type of food, such as chicken, should ever make up more than half the diet.

You should keep the followings in your consideration while cooking your dog food. Proper balanced dog food includes:

Meat and other Animal Products:

Raw meaty bones (optional)
Boneless meat
Fish
Organs
Eggs
Dairy

Fruits and Vegetables:

Starchy vegetables
Leafy green and other non-starchy vegetables
Fruits
Grains

Supplements:

Calcium
Oils
Fish oil
Cod liver oil
Plant Oils

Other Vitamins and Minerals:

Vitamin E
Iodine
Green blends

Hopefully you be benefited. Best of luck of you with your beloved dog.

[Josiesmom]

Hi there,
I wanted to check in bc she’s been on Stella and Chewys Dandy Lamb in the morning (for whatever reason, she will NOT eat kibble in the morning), and Brothers Fish Formula in the evening. Both supplemented with a small amount of a canned food called “Fruitables”. It’s basically pumpkin, Apple, etc. She loves it and has been doing very well for about 6 weeks. I tried the Brothers sampler before I ordered the food bc #1 she is SO picky and #2 it’s not inexpensive food. She didn’t really like any of them but the fish, she loved it. I’ve never seen her go after kibble like that. Success! I felt like I finally had a solution. Went to reorder and no more Fish Formula!! I wrote in and the owner kindly explained why it’s been temp discontinued but, that doesn’t help me. What to do? I can’t afford Stella and Chewys for both meals and she has maybe 3-4 days left of Brothers. I’m scared another food change might put us in a tail spin right back to bad digestive issues. She hated the turkey and chicken, kind of liked the beef but, apparently that’s a known big allergen? Any feedback greatly appreciated.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi ShannMB –

Exclusive by no means a “rich” food, so this wouldn’t be the cause. It’s possible that it could be due to grains if he’s sensitive to grains, however this isn’t super common and it wouldn’t be my first guess as to what’s causing the issue. Certainly try another food and see if things clear up. I would look for a food with a different protein source. I also would get him on a high quality, multi-strain probiotic supplement – it’s very common for dogs that have been on a single food for a long period of time (as it sounds like he was at the kennel?) to have altered gut flora and due to the weak gut the dog would be more sensitive to changes in food. I would also have him tested for coccidia and giardia. Coccidia should show up on a normal fecal, giardia requires a special test. Coccidia and giardia are fairly common in dogs that come from kennel or shelter type living situations. Good luck!

[theBCnut]

Shawna is having trouble logging on here so I’m passing on her response.

The diet should be geared specifically to the stage of the disease (aka the BUN and Creatinine values). Protein only needs to be restricted in the later stages of the disease. Restricting too early can cause more harm than good. Nutritionist Mary Straus gives values of protein and phosphorus for each of the stages of the disease on her website as well as some canned foods that would be appropriate. She also gives some dehydrated options which would be a good choice, in my opinion, for your pup. http://www.dogaware.com/health…

I wasn’t really impressed with Azodyl. I use a high quality probiotic and a prebiotic called Fiber 35 Sprinkle Fiber for nitrogen trapping. Works REALLY well for Audrey.

I mentioned some other supplements and foods I use for Audrey in this link if interested 🙂 /… Hope the link works. If not, it’s on the “Off topic” page.

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your fur baby!!!

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi dendad –

Pedigree is a extremely poor quality food – one of the worst out there. If you head over to the review section and search for Pedigree you’ll see that all their foods have been reviewed – the dry foods are rated 1 star and the wet foods are rated 1.5 stars (out of 5). Switching foods is very healthy and dogs should get accustomed to switching foods as early as possible – it helps to strengthen the gut by supporting a healthy and diverse population of microflora in the digestive tract. I would recommend switching her off Pedigree as soon as possible (do a gradual switch over the course of a week by starting with predominantly Pedigree and only a small amount of the new food until you are transitioned entirely to the new food). I’d also recommend adding a tsp. of plain canned pumpkin to her meals (the fiber will may help firm things up) and starting her on a high quality, multi-strain probiotic supplement to get get gut stabilized. Are you on a specific budget or are there certain stores you shop at? I could give you some suggestions for foods to check out base on cost and where you’re shopping. If you don’t have a preference, any of the foods on Dr. Mike’s lists of best puppy foods over on the review site would be worth a try. Good luck!

[Hound Dog Mom]

Overweight dogs do tend to be more likely to develop lipomas. As Patty stated, there are several theories as to why they form. I believe it’s likely a combination of numerous factors such as diet, weight, genetics, vaccine history and environmental toxins. I’ve heard good things about the use of turmeric (or curcumin), bromelain, inositol and IP-6 for dogs with lipomas. It may also be wise to start using some general immune boosting supplements such as colostrum, probiotics, glutathione, vitamin c, astralagus, medicinal mushrooms, etc. etc.

[Hound Dog Mom]

If he’s eating commercial kibble, canned and raw supplemented with fish oil and coconut oil he’s definitely getting plenty of fat. If he looks good and isn’t skinny why would you think he’s not getting enough calories or fat?

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi beagleowner –

I’m glad to hear that Henry is having some progress. 🙂

As far as the diet goes, there are a few recommendations that I would make. First, I would recommend rotating through a variety of proteins rather than feeding just turkey. It would probably be a good idea to work in a red meat protein source occasionally or if you continue to feed predominantly poultry add 1 tbs. ground flax or 1 tsp. flax oil per pound of meat to help balance the fats. The ratio of protein to vegetables doesn’t have to be 2 to 1 – I personally feed much more protein and much less vegetables than that, about 85% – 90% meat/bone/organ to 10% – 15% plant ingredients (vegetables, nuts, seeds, etc.). It’s fine to feed the amount of vegetables that you’re feeding though – anywhere from 50:50 to 90:10 meat to vegetables is okay although I recommend keeping towards the higher end of the meat ratio. Based on what you’re feeding I think it would make much more sense to omit the vitamin a, d and e and add a multivitamin – any one a day type multi formulated for humans with 10% or less DV calcium would be fine, I would give a dog his size one half the recommended human dosage per day. It is possible to balance the diet with whole foods alone but it’s a lot trickier – I do this with my dogs’ recipes which are posted in the raw menu thread. How much meat are you using per 3 eggshells? You want to be providing between 800 and 1,000 mg. calcium per pound of boneless muscle meat to balance the calcium to phosphorus ratio. When using eggshell calcium you want to add about 1 tsp. finely ground eggshell per pound of meat. Why did your vet suggest a kidney formula and not suggest using the “dissolve” supplement that you were using previously? I’m not familiar with the dissolve supplement and don’t know what’s in it so I can’t offer any input but if it was working and it’s something your vet supports you may want to go back to it. I’ve heard good things about the use of turmeric (or curcumin) for dogs with lipomas – combining with bromelain can increase the effectiveness. I’ve also heard good things about IP-6 and Inositol for treating lipomas.

• This reply was modified 12 years, 3 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.
• This reply was modified 12 years, 3 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Wait are you feeding a homemade diet or canned? I wouldn’t give a multi with a balanced food – I’d do something like the Nature’s Logic. For homemade food, if not balancing with whole foods, I’d use a multi.

[theBCnut]

These were the ones that HDM thought would be good.

http://www.swansonvitamins.com/new-chapter-tiny-tabs-whole-food-multivitamin-192-tabs

http://www.swansonvitamins.com/twinlab-daily-one-180-caps

http://www.swansonvitamins.com/country-life-daily-total-one-maxi-sorb-60-veg-caps

http://www.swansonvitamins.com/carlson-super-2-daily-180-sgels

http://www.swansonvitamins.com/solgar-formula-vm-75-180-tabs

[theBCnut]

Yes, that’s one of the ones that HDM likes. She also suggested 3 from Swansons that were low calcium and whole food based.

[weezerweeks]

Is nature’s logic all food fortifier the same thing as it’s whole food supplement that HDM was talking about? Any other suggestions patty aught?

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Shihtzumom –

The pouched baby foods are fine. I actually use them when I’m short on time. I like Plum Organics, Peter Rabbit Organics, Earth’s Best and Happy Baby. 1 tbs. should be plenty for a small dog – when I give it to my girls I split the pouch between the two of them (they’re 68 – 75 lbs.). Only give the calcium when you’re feeding boneless meat – at the rate of 800 – 1,000 mg. per pound of boneless muscle meat or 1,400 – 1,600 mg. per pound of organ meat. Swanson’s has several wheat grass products available – this is what I use in my green blend: https://www.swansonvitamins.com/starwest-botanicals-wheat-grass-powder-organic-1-lb-pkg . For flax I would suggest adding 1 tbs. per pound of meat, if you can get sprouted that’s better. I order this from Swanson’s: https://www.swansonvitamins.com/navitas-naturals-sprouted-flax-powder-8-oz-pkg . For the Tripett I would suggest mixing in 1 – 2 tbs. with his meal. I’m glad you like Swanson’s – I’m obsessed. I go nuts every time I order from them – I just got a huge box of supplements in for myself! 🙂

[Hound Dog Mom]

Nupro isn’t a bad supplement however I wouldn’t discontinue the fish oil. The omega 3’s in Nupro come from flaxseed. Plant-based omega 3’s (with the exception of algae and yeast derived omega 3’s) are in the form of alpha linolenic acid (ALA) which is a short-chain omega 3. In order to be utilized by the body the short-chain omega 3’s need to be converted into long chain omega 3’s – docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). The conversion process from short-chain to long-chain is very inefficient – I’ve read some sources that state the conversion rate is less then 5%. Animal sources of omega 3’s (cage free eggs and fatty fish or fish oil) and omega 3’s derived from algae or yeast are already in the form of DHA and EPA and don’t need to be converted. Nupro also, unfortunately, only contains 1 strain of probiotic – lactobacillus acidophilus. I do the like inclusion of whole foods in Nupro though. Personally, I think you could do better and likely for cheaper. I would suggest picking either a high quality fish oil or feeding tinned sardines, a multi-strain probiotic (Swanson’s sells some very high quality, reasonably priced probiotic supplements check out https://www.swansonvitamins.com/swanson-probiotics-dr-stephen-langers-ultimate-15-strain-probiotic-fos-60-veg-caps or https://www.swansonvitamins.com/swanson-ultra-soil-based-organisms-90-caps) and mixing up a “super food” supplement. I purchase ingredients in 1 lb. bags from Swanson’s and mix them myself, I store them in giant jars in the fridge. Doing it this way is so much cheaper per pound than pre-blended supplements and it allows you to customize the ingredients. The current blend I’m using is 1 part spirulina, 1 part kelp, 1 part alfalfa, 1 part wheatgrass and 1 part bee pollen. I do switch up ingredients occasionally for variety.

[Shihtzumom20]

Hi Hound Dog Mom, thats ok I have to wait on his supplements anyways! Thank you for suggesting Swanson’s I love them! Everything is so easy to find and pretty cheap! Plus the shipping to Canada is very reasonable.
Im glad you like my recipe! I will make sure to add in the liver and other organs, I was thinking I would give the raw glandular every other day, or do you think it should be every day? I found a baby food organic, its banana, sweet potato and blueberry puree, then concentrated lemon juice and absorbic acid. No artificial flavours or colours, BPA free package, they have many other fruits, vegetables single and combos. Would this be ok to use? Is the tablespoon enough? And the clacium citrate, I was wondering if I should only give it every 3 out of 4 days since the rmb (on the 5th day)will have bone in it? For the green supplement I really wanted to add in wheatgrass but I didnt find any on swansons, so I went with spirulina instead. For the flax meal how much/when should I give him? Oh and the tripett, how much of that would I give him? I can get the canned easily.
Sorry for all the questions, but I am very excited! I am finally doing it! When I really looked into the balancing it wasn’t too bad, but it did take me awhile! I do like feeding the ziwipeak in the am so I have some reassurance he is getting what he needs!

[DogFoodie]

Hi HDM,

That’s so funny you mention Darwin’s. I know you tried it and aren’t a huge fan of Darwin’s, but it is complete and balanced and has some veggies and it sure would be so much easier (although I did the math and it’ll also be a bit more expensive, too ~ maybe about .50 per pound if I remember correctly). I think I’m going a little overboard because I don’t have any reason to believe that Sam has a problem with carrots and Darwin’s has carrots in it, which was another reason why I thought I’d try Hare instead. Again, it would be easier to use the Darwin’s for sure and I am looking for simplicity.

Edit: I believe the Darwin’s was going to cost something like $4.00 per pound (which included shipping) and Hare Today was about $3.45 per pound (which included shipping).

I’m going to pick up a bag of the JJ Fud’s this weekend and check it out, but I got the impression it was more like chunks of meat rather than ground meat. They don’t advertise, it’s made locally in a USDA FSIS facility so there’s no shipping and it ends up running somewhere in the neighborhood of $2.50 per pound (but, I do need to do more checking on the prices). I only saw bone listed in the duckling variety ~ which I would probably not use because my guys do not do well on duck. I think it must be complete and balanced, but tell me what you think.

Here are the ingredients for the beef variety: Beef Tender Chucks Beef, Beef organ meat (Heart, Liver, Kidney, Tripe) Fresh Whole Eggs, carrots, celery, Sweet potato, Flax seed, Calcium, Dicalcium Phosphate, CholineCloride, Zinc Sulfate, Vitamin E Suppliment, Vitamin B-12 Suppliment, Niacin, Iron Sulfate, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A, Acetate, Copper Sulfate, Pyridozine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Manganous Oxide, Calsiom Iodate, Biotin, Vitamin D-3 Supplement Sodium Selenite.

A funny edit: I just talked to my mom on the phone and she said that I should get a grinder, etc… I laughed because that’s totally not something I want to get into, but also because she used to be afraid that if Sam ate raw he would somehow become cannabalistic and want to eat Bella. Boy, she’s come a long way for someone who’s almost 80. : ) Then, she reminded me that we have a friend whose son-in-law is a butcher. Now, she tells me. @@

• This reply was modified 12 years, 4 months ago by DogFoodie.
• This reply was modified 12 years, 4 months ago by DogFoodie.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Shihtzumom –

I must have somehow missed your previous posts, I just saw them today.

Because Dawson is getting the Ziwipeak for one meal a day I wouldn’t get overstressed about whether or not his raw meals are completely balanced – any minor deficiencies will likely be covered by the Ziwipeak. Your recipe looks really good! If you were to feed 1/4 tin of sardines per week, in addition to the cod liver oil, his DHA/EPA needs should be covered. If you can’t get him to eat fruits and vegetables this should be okay seeing as he is getting a green superfood supplement (just make sure to rotate ingredients often). You may, however, want to add an ingredient with some fiber for the meals where he’s not getting bone if he’s not eating fruits and veggies either – some flax meal would work and it would also have the added benefit of helping to balance the fats in his predominantly chicken diet. I would still include a small amount of organ meat in the diet even though he’s getting the glandular supplement. I would suggest about an ounce or an ounce and a half of liver every week and an ounce or an ounce and a half of kidney (or another organ, if you can get it). If you’re concerned about his weight and want to keep fat levels low 95% lean should be okay, I wouldn’t go any leaner than that though. You could also use heart and gizzard as part of his muscle meat component – very lean and also pretty cheap. The only other suggestion I would make is to incorporate some nuts or seeds occasionally (I like sprouted pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chia or flax) and possibly a few canned oysters as well. The nuts/seeds will provide trace nutrients such as manganese and the oysters are rich in copper and zinc. You should also add a very small amount of salt. This aren’t additions that need to be made daily, but occasionally to help fill the gaps. Variety is key.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi pacer1978 –

The product you linked to contains green tea extract which would contain caffeine. In my experience most human green supplements (unfortunately) contain green tea extract. I make my own green supplement – I buy lb. packages of things like spirulina, wheat grass, alfalfa, kelp, chlorella, etc. and mix them. You can use as may or as few ingredients as you want, it’s cheaper than buying pre-mixed supplements as well.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Vegetables are a very important part of the dog’s diet and should be included in small quantities. Vegetables supply important trace nutrients are are chock full of antioxidants that are crucial in today’s polluted world and given the toxins that domestic dogs are exposed to on a daily basis (everything from cleaning supplies and exhaust fumes to vaccines and chemical preventatives). Having formulated my own menus from scratch I can say that it would be extremely difficult (actually, probably impossible) to supply a dog with all the vitamins and minerals needed without the inclusion of some non-meat ingredients. As long as vegetables are properly prepared (cooked/pureed) they are highly digestible. I would much rather supply my dog’s with their nutrients through a variety of whole foods than either a) compensate for deficiencies by supplementing with synthetic vitamins or minerals or b) risk sub-clinical deficiencies. About 10% of my dogs’ diet is vegetables, fruits, sprouted nuts/seeds, “superfoods” (wheat grass, spirulina, kelp, etc.).

• This reply was modified 12 years, 4 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.
• This reply was modified 12 years, 4 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.

[somebodysme]

bullterriermom, I haven’t had allergy testing done yet, we are just trying elimination and I’m hoping to find a good food. I put her back on NV LID the Turkey one and she is actually doing good on it and the feet are slowly but surely healing all up. Her rash on her back has magically healed up out of the blue. I really can’t help but think it was demodex and just getting healthy and taking supplements and vitamins have healed up up. I really do not know what caused her feet to flare up.

As far as diagnosis, it was just the vet that told me all her rashes and hair loss and scratching was most likely food allergies and he made some suggestions. It was just up to me to research a good food to start with. He wanted to put her on Iams.

I understand is quite pricey to have accurate allergy testing done though.

[beaglemom]

Hi again FreeholdHound!
Like you I’m not super impressed with his menu but feel the prices can’t be beat (plus no shipping). I started off with a box of the Chick/Turk/Lamb Medley since my dogs don’t have a lot of lamb in their diet but wish I hadn’t… I just wish he wouldn’t combine so many proteins in those medleys. I mean BeeTurDuckenLamb? A little overboard. But anyway, the veggies are ONLY collard greens… which is minimal compared to most other premade raws. Plus he does have whole ground chicken and whole ground duck by itself (no veggies). I don’t know. I’m going to try him again next month one more time (with some “simpler” items… no blends) just because like you, it would nice to have a local supplementary source for raw (no shipping cost is a huge plus). At this point I’m still thinking Darwin’s and Hare are going to remain my primary raw sources though.

[FreeholdHound]

Oh I’ve become a Hare Today addict – have another order shipping Monday. I wouldn’t use the grinds w/ veggies at all. Would be interested in this for the tripe and maybe beef grind w/ organ/bone/tripe. Menu is very limited for me so would use to supplement HT & save on some shipping costs. He has quite a large network of co ops and gets good reviews. I am 5 blocks away from him so I don’t have to use co-op. I have a single dog and very limited freezer space so ordering/buying in bulk isn’t an option.

[pugmomsandy]

If you went back to kibble and still offered some raw for a couple meals that would still be better than no raw. As far a supplements go, kibbles are “complete and balanced” but I still give additional fish oil, super green foods, probiotics.