Pet foods!

[Diana]

I am always interested to hear people's experiences with dog foods...

My dogs were on kibble and Deli Fresh for years before we recently switched to raw foods. We tried many different brands of kibble, with our dogs loosing interest in any particular brand after a couple months. Deli Fresh is alright but it still has grains in it (I dont feel like grains are bad for dogs, but I dont think they can digest it fully, and I know they cannot digest cellulose).

My 4 year old girl has always had really bad skin allergies... and she always reacted to something in the winter. So we switched her right over to raw and she has been GREAT. Her skin is getting better and her coat just gleams, not to mention she is putting on weight and muscle which is great cus she has always been on the thin side.

My 2 year old boy has always put on weight easily, and will eat almost anything. Since raw he has thinned down to ideal weight and he seems to have calmed down.

I dont think kibble is entirely bad, but I have heard some horror stories about it, and after doing a lot of research on the BARF diet I really cant think of any reason not to do raw (except maybe the cost, but since we have small dogs it hasnt been that bad). Plus the dogs just LOVE it. Thier poops are smaller, breath better (depending on the meat), and no stinky farts! hehe.

They get beef, chicken, venison, elk, buffalo, eggs, lamb, duck... the possibilities are endless. Most of the meat comes from dog food stores, but I will buy ground beef and buffalo at the grocery store. I pulp some veggies to add a bit in and they will get a meal of cooked rice & egg once a week to give them a chance to "fast" and completely digest their stomach contents.

Sorry for writing so much but I am excited to share my good experiences with BARF diet.

-Diana

[Pan]

Originally Posted by Diana

I am always interested to hear people's experiences with dog foods...

My dogs were on kibble and Deli Fresh for years before we recently switched to raw foods. We tried many different brands of kibble, with our dogs loosing interest in any particular brand after a couple months. Deli Fresh is alright but it still has grains in it (I dont feel like grains are bad for dogs, but I dont think they can digest it fully, and I know they cannot digest cellulose).

My 4 year old girl has always had really bad skin allergies... and she always reacted to something in the winter. So we switched her right over to raw and she has been GREAT. Her skin is getting better and her coat just gleams, not to mention she is putting on weight and muscle which is great cus she has always been on the thin side.

My 2 year old boy has always put on weight easily, and will eat almost anything. Since raw he has thinned down to ideal weight and he seems to have calmed down.

I dont think kibble is entirely bad, but I have heard some horror stories about it, and after doing a lot of research on the BARF diet I really cant think of any reason not to do raw (except maybe the cost, but since we have small dogs it hasnt been that bad). Plus the dogs just LOVE it. Thier poops are smaller, breath better (depending on the meat), and no stinky farts! hehe.

They get beef, chicken, venison, elk, buffalo, eggs, lamb, duck... the possibilities are endless. Most of the meat comes from dog food stores, but I will buy ground beef and buffalo at the grocery store. I pulp some veggies to add a bit in and they will get a meal of cooked rice & egg once a week to give them a chance to "fast" and completely digest their stomach contents.

Sorry for writing so much but I am excited to share my good experiences with BARF diet.

-Diana

Does this ^ work? Where did you get the advice for this? sounds healthy for a dog...

[fishoholic]

I feed Acana to my dogs. To keep them from loosing interest in the taste I mix a spoonful of Eagle Pack Holistic Select wet food into it.

[my2rotties]

I started feeding home prepared food for my rotties since 1998, when my first ended up with cancer. I don't do BARF but I cook home prepared human grade meals for my pups. I do not vaccinate aside of rabies since I live out in the woods but will not do it yearly and will titer to see if it is needed or not.

Sadly five of my six (one is not even two year old yet) have died of various cancers. It is epidemic in this breed, and I hope Cyren will not be a part of this heart breaking strong of losses. My soul mate rottie Diva lived only seven years, never ate dog food or had a vaccine in her life. Most of my rotties get seven years no matter what the history of their lives are. I have rescued a couple along the way, and always will (anyone knowing of a rottie in need let me know).

My dogs get chicken, beef, liver, ground beef, veggies, and anything we are eating which means breakfast lunch and dinner on weekends. They thrive with their diet are not fat and are the picture of health until cancer comes knocking. I wish I knew why this is happening but dispite my best efforts it seems to find my dogs.

My dogs never need the vet unless it is something stupid or its for spay or neuter surgery. I find that if you spend the time and money on their diets, the payback is awesome. I have no issues with food allergies anymore, since they don't eat dogfood of any kind. They don't get grains and those seem to be an issues with yeast infections in their ears and skin allergies or itchie butts.

[spreerider]

I feed my dog Shar Kare brand food chicken and rice,
It had the same ingrediants list as one of the expensive brands, but the expensive brand had beet pulp and Shar kare didnt and first ingredients are all meat and rice,
not the best food but its good and the price is right.
My dog is a true mutt no way to tell his breed at all and he has guts of steel and can eat everything, except he wont eat any vegetable or grain unless its mixed with meat or gravy or the juices.
we give him a carrot and he carries it away and hides it then comes back and wont take anything else from us untill we show him its real food.

[marie]

Originally Posted by Diana

and after doing a lot of research on the BARF diet I really cant think of any reason not to do raw ...



-Diana

As long as your not worried about missing out essential nutrients, salmonella, E. coli and bone fragments piercing the esophogus, stomach or intestinal tact

[Diana]

Originally Posted by marie

As long as your not worried about missing out essential nutrients, salmonella, E. coli and bone fragments piercing the esophogus, stomach or intestinal tact

They get everything they would eat in nature (plus some!) I do not see how they could possibly be missing essential nutrients . There are supplements available, I picked up some salmon oil to help with the coat, and I might try some alfalfa powder, but past that apparently they are getting everything they need. Dont be fooled about the kibble that adds all these viatmins and minerals into thier foods... they add it because the foods lack it to begin with!

Not at all worried about salmonella & e coli, there have been more cases of dogs being sick from canned foods. Plus they have a highly acidic stomach (and super short digestive tract) that kills most bacteria.

And bone fragments? All the meats I give them are fully 100% ground, it looks like canned tuna. Raw bone does not splinter... its cooked bone that can be seriously bad for your dog. I would NEVER feed cooked bone (and no one should!).

I was worried about all these things too... until I did a lot of research and realized these were all myths. Again, kibble is fine, but raw so far has been great to my doggies.

-Diana

[Myka]

Diana is right, those are myths. When I fed raw my dog (who is 85lbs) was given chunks of meat with the bones attached. In the case of chickens she got the bones with them too. Like Diana said, raw bones don't splinter, they are actually quite flexible. It is actually much better for dogs to get chunks of meat with the bone in than to get ground meats as the chewing helps to clean their teeth, and also stimulate saliva production which helps to digest the food, and clean their mouth (better breath). Ground meats also often contain quite a bit more fat than is ideal. I never fed ground meats because I wanted to be able to see what my dog what eating, as I believe that is half the point of raw feeding. As long as you feed proper meats (high quality, and not too fatty) with enough offal meats (organs) and fish your dog will be eating a more complete diet than even ultra grade kibble. You just need to be educated and aware of proper nutrition.

[marie]

Having worked with dogs all my life, including helping vets, I have seen at least one of those myths happen many times. Lets just say there is not a hope I would ever feed my dog any meat products that wasn't cooked first.




I should also mention the salmonella and e.coli myths are not just the dogs problem but the owners too...you know one of those zoonotic thingys

[Myka]

Originally Posted by marie

Having worked with dogs all my life, including helping vets, I have seen at least one of those myths happen many times. Lets just say there is not a hope I would ever feed my dog any meat products that wasn't cooked first.




I should also mention the salmonella and e.coli myths are not just the dogs problem but the owners too...you know one of those zoonotic thingys

You only have issues if you don't follow the rules. People do dumb things (like poor unthawing practices, or not refrigerating meat properly thinking the dog doesn't need that, etc). Your chances of getting e. coli or salmonella poisoning yourself isn't any greater than if the meat was for yourself. A dog may choke on a bone if he's a gobbler...gobblers are made from using kibble. Transitions are the only part that is at all risky, but common sense and a few preventatives goes a long way.