[Colorado huntress]

Sorry for all the unexplained deaths….it is horrible isn’t it? It’s bad enough to lose them when they are so young, but to NOT know what killed them is agonizing….

I remember finding that Rx on the Merck vet website, I believe….I have a brain injury so my short term memory isn’t so good, lol…..anyway, will try & look it up. Just came in from duck hunting w/ my new dog (she is great!) & pheasant starts tomorrow, so I’ll do my best to track it down.

Here is my email if anyone wants it: sclausen@wildblue.net

I feed Honest Kitchen Preference (premix) & Wendy Volhard’s nd2 formula, which I love…just add game meats & some coconut oil or butter…..I’ll never go back to kibble after all the recent ‘truths’ about the ingredients…

[Colorado huntress]

Oh, forgot to ask….should I give probiotics on the same day I give fish oils, or does it matter? For example, if I give probiotics on Mon, Wed, Fri, should I give fish oils on Tues, Thurs, Sat? And, I bought the Dr Langer’s & the soil- based organisms – should I use one (3x/week), for a week, then rotate to the other probiotic?

[Colorado huntress]

Thanks! Placed my order for fish oils today 🙂

[Colorado huntress]

Guess I have to place another order, lol…ok, how often do I give them the fish oil?

[Colorado huntress]

Thanks Patty & HDM 🙂 where do I find the Carlson fish oil capsules? Will my little 13 lb guy be able to take a capsule? Don’t know dosages…..45lbs & 13 lbs. Yeah, as much as I would love to give them some of our trout, even if I cook it, I’ll probably be a little nervous…..how often do you give the fish oil? I also have cage free eggs & can feed them raw (already have actually), but don’t know how often. You guys should write a book….seriously!

[Colorado huntress]

Thanks! I used to live in New Orleans & 1 hr North of there (where Hurricane Katrina hit), so I can believe that the heart worms are immune (roaches were immune to bug spray, lol!).
I am very thankful that we don’t have Mosquitos – actually haven’t seen any around here in years, the gnats make up for it in the summer 🙁

[Colorado huntress]

Nope, don’t have fish oil – I remember HKitchen recommended Nordic Naturals…..what do you suggest? Also, we catch rainbow trout in Utah (have them vacuum sealed in freezer), & plan on giving them fish on a weekly basis, but I was told that I should not give it to them raw because of a parasite that can kill dogs (salmincola) – looked it up & it sounds legit…..any thoughts?

[Colorado huntress]

Ok, my Swanson’s order (Dr Langer’s & soil based organisms products) should be arriving any day – my lab is 45 lbs & my little guy is 13 lbs. They’re capsules, right? How much do I give to each one (I remember that I give them 3x/week)?? They are on HK Preference & raw game meat, plus coconut oil – anything else I should be giving? Thanks again 🙂

[Colorado huntress]

No comment, lol 🙂

[Colorado huntress]

Yes, standing in that grass for 10-15 mins where they use Turf Green could definitely be causing these flare-ups! You might think about not bringing her over there, especially when she has open sores. If you do bring her over there, what about using dog booties? I would also suggest rinsing her feet off ASAP after she’s been on ANY grass that might contain chemicals…

[Colorado huntress]

Yes, I agree w/Patty, definitely sounds like allergies. My lab was a little itchy & also her ears were a little yeasty – as soon as I took her off of her kibble that had white potatoes, w/in a week all her problems went away. She seems fine w/sweet potatoes. Also, are you feeding out of a stainless steel bowl? Ceramic can make bumps on their chins & my vet said that it can change nose color to some degree! Plastic is not good to feed out of either – & I always use hot water to wash their bowls after every feeding.

[Colorado huntress]

Yes, activated charcoal can help, but this was a Rx – I’ll find it 🙂

[Colorado huntress]

So….ok, that makes sense. Do you suggest that I keep giving the Heartgard & for how long?

[Colorado huntress]

When I was researching rodenticide poisoning, I remember that they (vets) recommend a medicine that everyone should have on hand in case your dog got into something that could be fatal, especially if you are more than a few mins from a vet clinic – time is literally life or death in many of these situations. I will have to look up what that med is….I teach all of my dogs the ‘leave it’ command & strictly enforce it. I even set them up as a training exercise – in the last month I have read (from friends) about dogs going to dog parks, picking up a toy that was on the ground, & then either becoming gravely ill or dying cause some sicko put poison on the toy. Yes, it takes a lot of time to teach a dog to not touch a yummy piece of elk that I’ve dropped on the floor, but it is possible. I even train them outside to ignore live rabbits, horse poop, deer poop, etc.
Here’s the big reason why……people put out poison for mice, coyotes, etc. – if your dog eats that dead mouse, or dead coyote, then your dog just ingested poison, indirectly. Even if that mouse/coyote/bird has been dead for 2 months that poison is still toxic – most of them have a half-life of YEARS! And if your dog dies, & you think it was from poison, you still may never know exactly what happened. I suspected poison when my dog died so unexpectedly (asleep for 8 hrs on my bed & jumped off yelping @5 am) but the pathologist told me (the day my dog died) that i had to know which poison because they don’t do like a ‘total poison screen’ test – they have to test for each individual possible poison! Well, hell, do you know how many poisons there are out there? I didn’t then, but there are a LOT & yes, most of them will kill your dog in less than a day, but, now there are some ‘newer’ poisons that take longer to work & many dogs show no symptoms & then if they do start showing signs, by then it is too late to save them. Sorry if I am scaring you guys, but there are a lot of dogs dying from suspicious causes & there is no single test that the pathologist can use to determine cause of death. I will try & find out what that med is that they say you can give your dog if you suspect poisoning….. & also, they don’t always advise making your dog throw up, it can actually make the situation worse in some cases.

[Colorado huntress]

Give Heartgard as well, but would like some advice here, please. I got my female Brit lab from Tenn in June – she lived outside in a run/pen there & was given heart worm preventative on a monthly basis. I had her tested in June & she was negative, but the vet there said to keep her on the meds & have her re-tested in 6 months. We have very few Mosquitos here, & only for about 2 months of the year, so….most people only give Heartgard during that time (the vets are ok w/ that here). Also, same situation with my little guy that I got from LA in July – he tested negative & I have him on Heartgard as well. My question I guess is this……is it possible that they could still test positive for heart worms if I stopped giving the preventative in December?? We usually have snow staying on the ground & temps going below 0 degrees -January we get a lot of -30+ temps. I haven’t done much research on the ‘cons’ of heart worm preventative, but it IS a chemical, & I don’t know anybody from here that gives it to their dogs except for maybe 2 months in early Summer. It has nothing to do with the cost of the meds, I bought enough for a year for each of them. So…anybody have any advice?

[Colorado huntress]

Oh, the EVO did come back positive for Salmonella, but all of the vets said that he didn’t die from that. But, after researching dry kibble brands forever, I feel more comfortable feeding raw. Not to say that there aren’t some very good kibble brands out there, but I would have to have everything shipped to me because where we live is VERY remote, & it just wasn’t practical….

[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

[Colorado huntress]

See Spot Live Longer looks really good AND economical (thanks Patty!) – was surprised how inexpensive it is…

[Colorado huntress]

You just made my day 🙂 we just bought a 1 hp commercial grade meat grinder from Cabelas (on sale for $550 – had gift cards :)) to use on big game this year rather than drive an hour to have it processed by someone else – the thing is huge, so I bought a smaller hand grinder for the dogs, but sounds like I might not need it? I would prefer doing chunks….haven’t used it yet, what do you think?

[Colorado huntress]

Thanks again! Patty :). Is there a specific probiotic (name) @ Swanson’s that I should order? I will start giving them the extra virgin unrefined coconut oil that you recommended tomorrow…..have you ever tried it? I really like it for me, lol! In fact, I’d love to know if there is a base mix for HUMANS to add to game meat……we have trouble getting organic fruits & veggies w/o having to drive 2 hrs each way, and unfortunately, we just aren’t that into them, although I know I need to have them…..we’re both active, lean, & just love our game meats, lol! My cats are going nuts….did I read somewhere that you like Nature’s logic for cats??

[Colorado huntress]

Freezer burn game meat ok to feed? It smells fine & not all of it is freezer burned…..should I trim off the grayish spots or just grind it in with the rest of the ‘good’ meat?

[Colorado huntress]

Hi Patty & anyone else who wants to jump in, lol!
I’ve started my Brit lab & wired- hair doxie mix on Honest Kitchen Preference w/ our game meats (venison/elk/rabbit/duck/goose, etc) & they are LOVING IT!!! Sounds like I don’t need to give enzymes since I feed raw meat, but I think I saw that you guys recommend Swanson’s probiotics about 3 times/week, is that right? Anything else I should be adding? I do get fresh eggs from my neighbor….
Your advice is most appreciated! Oh, did you see the article today on natural news about Pedigree & they gave THIS website!! as a great place to get educated about dog foods! Knowledge is power!

[Colorado huntress]

No, haven’t looked at that brand yet, but I will now! My cats are goin nuts when i fix the HK (they’re indoor cats – outdoor cats don’t survive out here w/ mountain lion, etc), did I see somewhere that you feed nature’s logic to your cats, or that you recommend it? I don’t know if it is a dry kibble or not – I would feed them raw, but sometimes we’re gone for several days hunting/fishin & I don’t have anyone who can feed them 1 or 2 times/day. They do get raw scraps, so I don’t feel too sorry for them – one of them is too fat anyway, lol! 😉

[Colorado huntress]

Yeah…I thought the small amounts of protein were odd, too – it has oats in it – not sure how my lab would do with it, but considering she was on Eukanuba, Beyond one, etc! before i got her recently, I think the oats probably wouldn’t hurt her! I like Urban Wolf an a option, but it has white potatoes in it & I am seeing some skin/ear slight sensitivity to itin the Hill’s Ideal balance grain-free, (I know, I know, what was I thinking??)Any other suggestions would be appreciated & THANKS!! Oh….do I need to give any probiotics with any of the pre-mixes? They are both really healthy, but will probably be trying to scarf deer/rabbit/sheep poop when the animals migrate in 🙂

[Colorado huntress]

The name is Natural Diet Formula 2…….anybody use it?

[Colorado huntress]

Thanks, Patty! What do you think about Wendy Volhard’s Grain-free base mix? Can’t remember the name of it, but it has a 2 at the end of the name, lol!

[Colorado huntress]

If I am using Preference (pre-mix base) w/a variety of game meats that we harvest (which I will rotate), should I rotate base mix brands on a monthly basis?

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