Anyone feed a raw diet here?

Nick Segrue said:

What are your experiences with it?

Click to expand...

One of the first polls this board did was on feeding. At that time, over 60% of the members fed raw. (Of course, there are many more members now.)

I had a dog (a rescue) once with who tested positive for over 30 severe allergies. She was already deaf from repeated secondary ear infections. There was not one commercial food that didn't have at least one of her allergens. She was an itchy and infected mess of misery and ear pain.

Sink or swim! So I read everything I could find on raw.

Although many of her allergies were environmental, the raw diet changed her life.

Of course, it allowed me to remove all the food allergens.

But I believe that eating fresh food also helped her immune system to deal far better with the other allergies.

At any rate, my own experiences have been 100% positive.

There are good options these days, though, for those who want them..... there are commercial foods these days that dogs can thrive on. Mike, for example, feeds a dehydrated raw (dehydrated at low temps). It's great, because RMBs can be added to it. I too buy that food for travel and for any time I have an empty freezer or no time to thaw. The Honest Kitchen has two no-grain versions, and I keep one of those on hand all the time now; I would have no problem using it all the time with add-ins if I couldn't do raw.

I feed modified b.a.r.f. -- I don't think dogs need a lot of produce, but I belong to the school that thinks they would eat fallen ripe fruit and the contents of the prey's stomach in nature, and I would rather err on the side of abundance. We have total control; I don't want to leave out foods that they apparently did/do eat if allowed to. But there's a big spectrum between b.a.r.f. and prey model.

And again, it's not a religion........ as long as the dog is NOT getting a cheapo commercial food with a lot of grains (the biggest problem, IMO), then there are choices a-plenty.

For dogs with allergies, though -- fresh food is an enormous help (IMO).

Nick Segrue said:

Mike, I like the look of those frozen patties they look good!

It's nice to see people feeding raw, we have done it for the past 4 yeas and the changes in our dog were simply astounding. I am always undecided on the acids in stomach of the pry debate, some say it spills out when the animal is caught and killed some say it should be fed, we give some fruits and vegetables but the mainstay is raw organic chicken wings and legs and raw minced organic beef,, would never go backi to a grain type diet now its just so unnatural for dogs.

I was doing regularly vegetables and fruits and some nuts and seeds in a blender but wasn't convinced of its value, might try it again it is just quite time consuming.

Click to expand...

Aha! You didn't need swaying to fresh food..... you were checking up on us! :lol:

Now that I know that, yes, it is astounding. Coat, skin, eyes (no gunk in the mornings), vet bills......... all better, IME, with fresh food.

Several vegetables are fine with no processing. The problem with many is that dogs don't produce the salivary enzymes that would allow them to break down the outer cell wall of something like broccoli. But the produce that would be in a prey animal's stomach is pretty easy to simulate with young greens or any thin-walled green vegetable that you steam enough to soften. You don't have to do the thick-walled choices that need processing or grinding or blender-ing, IMO. And, of course, the ripe fruits that the animal would eat (and I really especially like a few blueberries for that: low in sugar and filled with antioxidants..... not to mention easily purchased frozen) need no processing. I just keep them few, and low in sugar, which is as unnecessary to dogs as grains are, IMO.

I'm fussy about the meat: organic, grain-fed, pasture-raised. But the produce can be streamlined with frozen organic from Trader Joe's (balanced for freezing, and cheap!)...... and you could use a little flax oil - always with Vitamin E in the same meal - instead of the nuts and seeds for the Omega 3 EFAs.

There's ways and ways!

Nick Segrue said:

What are your experiences with it?

Click to expand...

As Kristen said, I did feed raw in Germany with EXCELLENT results. My GSD had some issues with it (never could get his stools to firm up) but my beagle did a 180. She was a 50 lb footstool who shed nonstop, had no energy, and couldn't be bothered to do anything. I switched to raw and I kid you not: that dog was down to 36 lbs in a matter of 2 months. She blew her nasty coat and grew in a gorgeous, shiny one with better pigment. Her breath didn't smell. She was jumpin gand running around my house, seeking us out for attention. A different dog. I was amazed.

I currently feed Canidae. Raw is hard in this area...we dont' have butchers and meat prices are through the roof. I feed the Canidae and supplement with bones, some fruits and veggies, eggs. My newest rescue, an approximately 2 year old AmBred bitch, was a mess when I got her. Her coat was actually GREY from bad nutrition -- we thought she was a sable! I started her immediately on the "good stuff" and she blew that ENTIRE coat (I mean it, I was Swiffering about 3 times a day) and got in the most gorgeous black and tan one instead. Turns out this girl is a traditional saddle B&T...now that's change. SHe's also dysplastic and I've seen some improvement with the Canidae, and she has tons of energy on it.

I'm a firm believer in nurition. I just can't see how the manufactured monstrosities in grocery stores can compare with natural food. You and I wouldn't spend our lives eating little nuggets of food at every meal, always the same, with not so great ingredients. Why sentence our dogs to a lifetime of that?

However, I should say that my vet is against my raw feeding. SHe says that it's not "adequate from a holistic standpoint." I asked her about proof of that and she didn't answer me (that would be b/c there isn't any). Now to her credit, she didn't ask me about Science Diet, but rather asked if I knew that the grooming store up the street sells the Canidae my dogs are on along with other all natural kibbles that she highly recommends. I think that leaves her on a "break even" status in my eyes :wink: