Switching from canned food to raw

[Olesia711]

Hi Pam... love your comment ""Eat Fat/Lose Fat, which I did, and did. Currently I am following the eat chocolate/gain weight diet."

Once you eliminate the fear of home-cooking for a dog.... it's really not bad and actually cheaper than a lot of commercial foods.

I currently feed Cody 1/2 home-made and 1/2 YumWoof Superfood (Air Dried). i feed him approx 1200 calories a day
SO....i have a meat grinder and ground up got 22 days of Breakfast & Dinner meat for $54. (4 London Broil, 1 beef heart, 1 slice of beef liver)
The Yumwoof cost me $92 for 30 days.

What i don't count is the following
I do throw in mashed veggies and a tablespoon of cooked rice or barley, fish oil... this i don't count in the expense or calories,,, since a vary a lot.......
He gets a tablspopon of Ricotta Cheese as a treat every day, some days he get's a 1/2 banana, a few slices of apple, sometimes an egg.....or whatever....lots of variety
He also gets a raw chicken gizzard every other day for Taurine and he get a raw chicken claw/foot a few times a week too.

And i do include Annamaet Enhancer for Raw/Home-cooked food ... for vitamins and minerals.

Just the meat mix alone is a LOT cheaper to do yourself than many of the commercial foods...................

[Atagrl66]

Hi Pam! I’m actually a carnivore and have been for over three years. I eat a lot of butter as it does make you lose weight. I think if I would’ve started my dog on raw at a young age she may have never had the issues she’s having now.

[Chance]

I think if I would’ve started my dog on raw at a young age she may have never had the issues she’s having now.

That's possible, but not necessarily. Chance was 2 when I switched to raw. He was very underweight, so I do believe EPI was borderline then - even though it was later he was officially diagnosed. Switching to a raw diet was infinitely better, and greatly helped his joint issues. (He had very bad elbow issues, and had surgery at the age of 2. His orthopedic surgeon told us he'd never see his 3rd birthday).

Rylee started on raw the day I got her at 8 weeks. She had problems since the day I got her, and incurred several large vet bills before the age of 15 weeks. Stopped growing, and slowly started losing weight at 4 months. At 6 months, she was 2 lbs less than at 4 months. At the time, she ate about 2.5 lbs of food per day to maintain weight. She was pooping out a lot of meat/fat. She diagnosed at 6 months.

I fully agree that raw feeding is excellent - if done correctly. I fully believe both my dogs would have been much worse off without the diet change. But preventing EPI, and other issues....no, I don't think so. (And I will never believe that they would have been spared EPI if I fed kibble).

My vet is convinced Rylee is allergic to cats. She does not appear to have food allergies or anything serious; but obviously allergies are still possible. (She has perfect skin, and no real scratching). (The breeder had never heard of EPI, before I talked about Chance when applying. But was sympathetic when Rylee was diagnosed. She's apparently the only pup in the litter affected. She's the smallest of those in the litter I know about, but was the largest pup in the litter at birth. Actually by fate, I did not get to choose the pup. That was decided by breeder and trainers. So somehow, she was meant to be with me. Perhaps Chance had a say in that).

[Atagrl66]

Wow! I’m glad they are both doing fairly well now. I’m. giving Raider about .75 of an ounce with canned digestive care food. That seems to work the best and it’s the easiest for me.

[Olesia711]

Glad that you found something that works best for BOTH you and Raider..... overall.... we all do the best we can .

Looking forward to hearing more positive Raider reports

[Atagrl66]

Thank you! She’s been doing great since we finally figured out last summer she had IBD. I wasn’t aware that EPI dogs eat much more than normal dogs. Hence why I thought maybe her amount and number of feedings were because of her canned food but what I’m discovering is even giving her part raw she still eats the same. The few times I’ve tried to feed her just raw by itself didn’t go well for her. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time for DYI meals especially not knowing what’s going to upset her stomach or not. So for now she’s getting her digestive care ID food with raw blended up in some water.

[Olesia711]

Hi Melanie,

EPI diet suggestions are just that... suggestions. In the end we all have to do what works bests for both the dog and us the caregiver. WHenever you find something that work .... that's a WIN... a BIG WIN. So kudos to you and Raider

[Atagrl66]

Hello again!

Just curious if I’m adding kelp or taurine to Raiders food what amount would start at for a 13lb dog? Would it be every meal? Keep in mind she’s still eating 5 meals a day.

Today I gave her a small amount of canned food, more raw and added sweet potatoes.

Thanks Melanie

[Chance]

For a small dog, you can give about 250 to 500mg daily. Ground kelp could be 1/8th to 1/4 tsp per day.

Scheduling, ou can do whatever is easier for you. If it's easier to give once a day, it's fine. Or if you prepare food for the day and want to mix it all in, that's fine too.

[Atagrl66]

Thank you! I apologize but did you previously mention you buy Kelp on Amazon?