Overwhelmed with food choices - help?!

[FroxerMom]

Over the last two days I've read through all the info I could find on here and the threads containing information on raw feeding. I am interested in trying this to see if her pinkness and interdigital cysts go away. Daphne's former owner fed her a mix of Royal Canin French Bulldog formula and Blue Buffalo. I'm not a fan of either of those so she's been eating Taste of the Wild limited ingredient PREY kibble in trout formula with some canned food mixed in (KOHA salmon and pumpkin). I top all of that with Primal's raw goat's milk. She is not terribly itchy, but does the occasional butt scoot on the carpet and her interdigital cysts are not going away. I am almost out of the kibble, so this would be a great time for me to switch to raw feeding but the sheer amount of info is overwhelming.



I have no idea what protein she's allergic to, if anything. Her other owner swore she had no allergies and was on chicken based formulas. When I got her she had an ear infection so bad there was pus inside. She stunk, and rubbed her butt on the carpet way more then she does now on the fish based food; however, she is still pinkish at times and gets these cysts on the webbing of her feet. So that could be the fish I switched her too, right? How do I tell if that is environmental or food based (or can you even tell this?)

Is there typically a safer raw brand to try than others? I have read all your threads and see brands being used I've never heard of. I believe the only prepackaged brands in stores near me would be Stella and Chewy's, Bravo, Instinct, Primal, and Open Farm. Is there a favorite of these? Does it state on the package how much to feed? Daphne currently eats about 3/4 cup of her kibble mix in the morning and again in the evening. I'd have no idea what that is comparable to in raw food. I see the 80-10-10 info in other threads, so I am just making sure it says this somewhere on the bag? And that means it would be a complete food - I need to add nothing? I see others add different types of oils and turmeric powders, etc. Since I've only had Daphne for about 3 months and I'm trying desperately to get a handle on what she is allergic to, should I just try a packaged raw food and not add a bunch of stuff until I know how she is doing on it?

Any other tips you can give me to streamline the transition or break it down simply because, again, I am so overwhelmed... would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,
Hattie

 

[antbkny]

If youre sure you want to go down the raw food road, i would pick stella and chewys or primal frozen raw. both state how much to feed and is pretty easy to do.

 

[Frenchie Grrrl]

Any commercial grind will have feeding guidelines. Just remember that it's a starting point, and your dog might need more or less - keep a good eye on their weight and shape and add or reduce as necessary. According to the charts, Gus should get 8oz a day, but he gets almost 10 oz because less was clearly not enough to keep enough weight on him.

I'm a big fan of Answers brand because their sourcing is great and I just love the company's philosophies. I've also tried K-9 Naturals, and a couple other brands. I just stay away from any that use HPP. Some people don't have issue with HPP, but I don't care for it.

 

[FroxerMom]

Oh jeez, I just read the link you provided on HPP and now I'm even more nervous. Thanks for sharing that info! I'm planning to go to my pet supply store this weekend and take a look at everything.

Thanks again,
Hattie

 

[2bullymama]

Agree ... if going raw— Primal, Vital Essentials or Answers


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[Honeys Owners]

I agree with all the above, but want to add some additional advice- you will be able to save a lot of money if you buy from a local supplier of frozen raw food. So by all means start off with one of the big commercial brands as mentioned above, but later on you may want to consider switching. You didn't say age of your dog- if a puppy feed 5-8% of weight of dog per day spread over 4 meals a day until 4 months of age, then over 3 times a day from 4-6 months, then over twice a day from 6 months of age and on. Around a year of age and on start cutting back calories to 2-3 % of dog's weight per day.

So for example if your dog is 4 months old and weighs 20 pounds, feed about 1.2 pounds per day ( 0.4 pounds = 0.8 cup 3 times a day ).

My dog weighs about 30 pounds and is about 8 years old, so I feed her about 2/3 pound per day. So I buy a one pound frozen slab, let it thaw about 5-6 hr in fridge, then cut it into thirds, put it in ziplock bags, then refreeze it. I serve 1/3 pound twice daily. I usually throw next days ziplock bags in fridge about 24 hr in advance. Since I'm getting from a local supplier, depending on which meal I'm getting, I sometimes have to add fish oil and sea kelp to it. I always add turmeric powder and coconut oil and once a day either hemp seed oil or flax seed oil to it just before serving.

 

[Frenchie Grrrl]

Oh jeez, I just read the link you provided on HPP and now I'm even more nervous. Thanks for sharing that info! I'm planning to go to my pet supply store this weekend and take a look at everything.

Thanks again,
Hattie

I didn't mean to scare you, just inform you. There are people who feel HPP is a good thing.

Try not to get overwhelmed by all the info. It's not like you can't make changes as you go along and as you learn more, and see what works for your particular dog.

 

[FroxerMom]

If youre sure you want to go down the raw food road, i would pick stella and chewys or primal frozen raw. both state how much to feed and is pretty easy to do.

Thank you for the advice. I'm going to check my local pet food store over the weekend. I know they have this brand.

 

[FroxerMom]

I agree with all the above, but want to add some additional advice- you will be able to save a lot of money if you buy from a local supplier of frozen raw food. So by all means start off with one of the big commercial brands as mentioned above, but later on you may want to consider switching. You didn't say age of your dog- if a puppy feed 5-8% of weight of dog per day spread over 4 meals a day until 4 months of age, then over 3 times a day from 4-6 months, then over twice a day from 6 months of age and on. Around a year of age and on start cutting back calories to 2-3 % of dog's weight per day.

So for example if your dog is 4 months old and weighs 20 pounds, feed about 1.2 pounds per day ( 0.4 pounds = 0.8 cup 3 times a day ).

My dog weighs about 30 pounds and is about 8 years old, so I feed her about 2/3 pound per day. So I buy a one pound frozen slab, let it thaw about 5-6 hr in fridge, then cut it into thirds, put it in ziplock bags, then refreeze it. I serve 1/3 pound twice daily. I usually throw next days ziplock bags in fridge about 24 hr in advance. Since I'm getting from a local supplier, depending on which meal I'm getting, I sometimes have to add fish oil and sea kelp to it. I always add turmeric powder and coconut oil and once a day either hemp seed oil or flax seed oil to it just before serving.

OK, this is something to consider. Daphne is 17 months old and weighs 27 pounds. I fooled around with a calculator on the Primal website where it tells you how much you'd need to buy, etc... I definitely need to read more about it over the next couple days before I head out on Saturday and make a purchase somewhere! Appreciate your help!

Hattie

 

[FroxerMom]

If youre sure you want to go down the raw food road, i would pick stella and chewys or primal frozen raw. both state how much to feed and is pretty easy to do.

Thank you - I went to Primal's website while we had downtime at work tonight and read about their brand. Thanks for your advice!

Hattie

 

[FroxerMom]

Agree ... if going raw— Primal, Vital Essentials or Answers


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Thank you! Primal is getting quite a few mentions! I went to Answers website tonight too. Wow. I was impressed!!!

Hattie

 

[FroxerMom]

I didn't mean to scare you, just inform you. There are people who feel HPP is a good thing.

Try not to get overwhelmed by all the info. It's not like you can't make changes as you go along and as you learn more, and see what works for your particular dog.

No worries. I'm more excited to do this for her, than nervous. I am assuming she will scarf it down and hoping it improves her overall health. Thanks again!

 

[Honeys Owners]

I like the Answers Detailed Formula- it's very complete. Your dog weighs 27 pounds, so you would probably need to feed 1/2 of a 8 oz patty twice daily, or maybe slightly more depending on activity level of your dog.

 

[FroxerMom]

I like the Answers Detailed Formula- it's very complete. Your dog weighs 27 pounds, so you would probably need to feed 1/2 of a 8 oz patty twice daily, or maybe slightly more depending on activity level of your dog.

Thanks for the additional explanation! I found a place that sells this brand and am going tomorrow. Daphne is pretty active. I'm trying to socialize her as much as I can, so we practice going on long walks and she plays a lot of fetch and wrestles with big brother Boxer a ton too, so my guess is I'd probably need to feed her slightly more.

 

[Honeys Owners]

Thanks for the additional explanation! I found a place that sells this brand and am going tomorrow. Daphne is pretty active. I'm trying to socialize her as much as I can, so we practice going on long walks and she plays a lot of fetch and wrestles with big brother Boxer a ton too, so my guess is I'd probably need to feed her slightly more.

You can try cutting one patty into thirds and the other patty into halves and give 2/3 patty for breakfast and 1/2 patty for dinner or vice versa

 

[Frenchie Grrrl]

You can try cutting one patty into thirds and the other patty into halves and give 2/3 patty for breakfast and 1/2 patty for dinner or vice versa

Or buy the cartons and portion it out that way - that's what I do. At first, the smell was a bit much for me, lol. It's fermented, so doesn't smell that great. I'm totally used to it now though.

 

[FroxerMom]

Sooooo....I couldn't wait until this weekend and I went to the store today. They only had the Answers+ raw goats milk and not the actual food. I was trying to decide between Vital Essentials frozen patties and Primal frozen patties. I was leaning towards VE because I liked that there were no extra ingredients, but then the employee really went on and on about some of the health benefits of the ACV and some of the fruits, etc...in the Primal formula, so I bought that one. I'm a bit nervous to give it to her tomorrow. I hope it is thawed by then! I bought the duck. I hope that was a safe formula to try. If she has a bad reaction to it, what would that look like?

Thanks to both of you for your continued input!

Hattie

 

[2bullymama]

Sooooo....I couldn't wait until this weekend and I went to the store today. They only had the Answers+ raw goats milk and not the actual food. I was trying to decide between Vital Essentials frozen patties and Primal frozen patties. I was leaning towards VE because I liked that there were no extra ingredients, but then the employee really went on and on about some of the health benefits of the ACV and some of the fruits, etc...in the Primal formula, so I bought that one. I'm a bit nervous to give it to her tomorrow. I hope it is thawed by then! I bought the duck. I hope that was a safe formula to try. If she has a bad reaction to it, what would that look like?

Thanks to both of you for your continued input!

Hattie

[MENTION=188]Cbrugs[/MENTION] Citty - isn't this what you feed the boys?

 

[Honeys Owners]

It's best to only thaw in fridge. I usually take out of the freezer 2 portions and throw in the fridge in the morning or at lunchtime for the next day's breakfast and dinner. It won't hurt the dog if the meat is still a bit frozen.

I like to warm up a small amount of filtered water in the microwave and add it to the raw food in the food bowl and stir it up till it becomes a stew. That way the dog has to slow down to lap it up and it probably tastes a bit better.

Duck, turkey and rabbit are more easily digestible than heavier meats like beef or lamb or pork, so you picked a good one to start with.

 

[Cbrugs]

I mainly use Vital Essentials and Tucker’s for Jax. I like as limited ingredient as possible for his as he has some good intolerances and this way I can control what fruits and veggies he gets and how much. Primal is a good brand.


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