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Showing results for tags 'raw diet'.
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Hello all, My boyfriend and I just rescued our boy Kingston last month. In the past month, we've been challenged with finding a diet that best works with him. So far we've been completely unsuccessful. We were advised to get a grain-free kibble when we first took King home. We tried Blue Buffalo Freedom Grain Free large dog chicken kibble. This led to pooping every time we let him out and all of his stool was complete mush. We blamed the tape worm he had when we first brought him home from the kennel. While he was on the deworming medicine, we switched him to cooked rice and ground beef which he seemed to respond really well too. Much less poop and it even had some form to it. Since then we've made our way back to mush, & lots of it. Our vet directed us to put him on cooked rice & beef for a week to settle his stomach before trying a new kibble. This time the rice & beef didn't help. While he was pooping less, it was still mush. Now we've tried him on the Fromm salmon kibble- stinky & mushy. We're thinking a raw diet may be the only way to go here, but any advice on things to try first? Or any advice for first time raw-diet grey parents? Any help is appreciated! Thanks!
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I have a 7.5 yr old male greyhound, he's a healthy blood donor, but had an mild acute case of pancreatitis last month. He recovered just fine, but I've still been trying to firm up his stool. Before the pancreatitis, he ate raw with some grain free kibble He was eating raw with no issues for about 4 months & gained a few pounds. Before the raw he was a picky eater (eating grain free quality kibble) & stool was generally on the softer side. He had the best poo with raw, I miss those days. After the bland diet, I transitioned him to an 8% chicken based kibble (Lotus senior). I think he's allergic to something in that kibble, grain or chicken meal perhaps? He ate raw/boiled/roasted chicken & jerky without problems. I thought the loose stool was from the fat, but after about 3 weeks, I'm pretty sure it's the kibble. This week I've been mixing in grain free kibble samples(much higher fat), along with the 8%, with no major changes in his stool. He also gets raw goat's milk and some dehydrated food on his kibble, so he eats it. I've been researching fat/protein/additives in various high quality grain free kibble brands. I want to stick to 10-14% fat for now, especially since I add goats milk & dehydrated too. Here's a few brands I'm considering: Evangers, First Mate, Great Life, Pinnacle, and Solid Gold. I want to avoid chicken, chicken meal, chicken fat, and grains. Anyone have greys that love or hate any of these? I have a feeling, I'll be coming home with several 5lb bags to try. Also curious, if anyone has had a grey with pancreatitis while on RAW? I'd like to go back to it, but worried that may have been the cause. My vet says most dogs do great on RAW, but occasionally some can't digest it as well. Many folks switch to raw after pancreatitis, feel like I'm doing this backwards. Has anyone had a similar experience?
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Raw has been an adventure in the past few weeks, I got a little freaked out over a bout with the big D, but I'm sticking with it. I have a few questions so far.. 1- What do you use to keep everything sanitary? I've got stainless steel bowls and always clean them right after they eat. I rinse, spray with diluted bleach water, rinse, then wash with hot soapy water. I usually do the same for other surfaces that came in contact with raw meat. Pretty sure this is close to the method I was taught when I got my food handlers card years ago.. BUT even diluted the bleach smell kills my sinuses and irritates my asthma.. anyone know of anything else I can use that actually works to kill germs but doesn't smell so bad?? Am I overdoing it? 2-I live in a SMALL apartment. The kitchen is the only place without carpet and that is also small. Feeding them large whole pieces of bone in chicken doesn't work since they always drag it somewhere carpeted to eat it. I'm not about to tarp my living room or section off the kitchen every day, so I just chop up the pieces with my cleaver (which I kind of like doing). I try to keep the chunks large and not splinter the bones too much.. is it ok for them to eat it like that? They still chew the pieces but don't drag them all over the house this way.. 3-How long does it take for their digestive system to adjust to eating this way? I know every dog is different but is there a general timeline? I previously thought Gambler was sensitive to chicken, but he seems to be fine with raw chicken.. however he did have wicked diarrhea last week (about 10 days into the diet, which is a long time for him to show sensitivity, as it usually takes less than 24 hours) so I'm a little concerned that I might be feeding him something that he's sensitive to. 4-With Gambler's sensitive stomach, should I try a probiotic to help him transition? 5- Chicken skin.. should they be eating that? Right now I'm cutting about half of it off.. should I just let them eat it?
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1St Time Raw Fooder - 2 Dogs, 2 Different Needs?
Guest posted a topic in Food and dietary discussion
Hello After a long time of putting it off and making excuses, I now want to get my two greys on a raw food diet. I've done a lot of reading online and I feel like I understand the basics, but could use some input from you lovely people on a couple of queries. We have two greys - Billy (6, no health issues apart from he's had quite a few teeth out), and Misty (13years 3 months). Misty is on Metacam for her arthirtis and is also given YuMove. Both dogs (I'm not proud to say this) have always had a kibble/tinned diet. This is (soon to be was!) c1.5-2 cups kibble mixed with wet food, twice a day. Now, here's the (potential) problem - Misty. Firstly I want to ask, is changing a diet so late in life an issue? I know that sounds odd given I'd be drastically improving the quality of her food. 2nd thing - more significant - I'm waiting for full test results next week but she's recently had blood and urine tests done which are showing early signs of kidney disease. Now, I'm assuming the vet's suggestion will be a renal diet, something like Royal Canin. I've got no qualms about giving her better food but I would much, much prefer it to be in the form of raw food, not some hugely overpriced kibble/standard stuff. I've confused the hell out of myself reading so many things about whether the low protein diet is needed for kidney issues or not, to the point where I'm scared to get started on raw food in case I do it wrong! So I'd love input about whether I would need to adjust her diet from a 'normal' raw food one? And also will I need to be giving Billy different meals? Hope that all makes sense, and thanks in advance Andy(and Billy and Misty) -
My husband thinks I've lost the plot, but have just had a call to say I can get green tripe regularly, for "token" payment, free brisket bones, veal bones, turkey necks, liver and kidneys, and a low cost for heart, beef, lamb, chicken, and goat, possum etc when available. I am so excited and happy!!!!!! I'm so pleased, as the only other place I can get the tripe is at the local pet-mart, $10 for 500g, and not always available. Woot! should be switching to raw diet in just over a week (waiting until the bag of Orijen's is finished)... bring on the stinky food that makes my puppy shiny and healthy!
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I picked up some raw meaty (beef)bones for my greys this weekend as well as some heart and gizzard and a few turkey necks - also picked up some dried chicken and duck feet for treats. I was surprised that none of these things were very expensive, and it seems like fancy canned food sometimes costs more. My plan is to keep them on their regular diet, only reduce the amount I feed, and supplement with raw to see how it goes. I am not sure if we will switch entirely to raw, but I would like to see how they like it and what the cost will be. The chicken and duck feet went over fabulously - both of my hounds absolutely loved them. My boy, Elliott loved his bone and layed down on the grass in the back yard and started eating it right away, then he went into a bushy area of our yard, hid it and went back to finish about 15 minutes later and completely scoured it clean. It kept him happy and busy for over an hour. I loved watching him enjoy it so much. My girl, Lea, licked at hers a bit and seemed not know what she was supposed to do with it. I offered it again, later and she did the same thing. I gave her the smaller of the two bones in terms of diameter and it doesn't seem too big for her to chomp. She is a retired racer and brood mama, so I know she ate raw at some point ... In a prior thread where a grey would not eat chicken, someone suggested rubbing liver treats on the chicken, so I may try to coat the bone with some of the wet food she likes on her kibble and see what happens. I guess I have two questions - is it ok to just supplement with raw, and any thoughts on getting my girl to dig in?
