Pet owners

[LadyHawk]

Justice has got mange, and from reading it says to help with re-occurences, to switch to an omega rich, high protein, low carbohydrate diet. Might as well do raw/barf and be done with it.

I had him on lamb and rice (higher quality brand) and he did real well. He still shed a lot. But have been buying that cheap a$$ dog food recently. He smells bad, and his hair just sprinkles out now. I know it's the food as danes have higher allergy risks than most dogs.

So, yes, I'm taking him to the vet on Saturday, but i want to switch his diet.

From reading it'd be pretty simple. Just buy chicken backs, necks, gizzards, blend up veggies, feed him a 70/30 mix of it twice a day.

I can get a freezer, fix it all up in one day, freeze the servings, thaw and feed.

Anyone got experience with this? Tips? Justice thanks you..

 

[kreator]

I have 2 German Shepherds and I know alot of people that do raw.. I have not done raw, but I used to have my dogs on Innova, that is awesome food, it's expensive, but it's really high in calories and low on fillers, but I had to get my dogs off lamb and rice, so I'll feeding them Iams now and they are fine.. After a year they still do not have bad breath teeth look good and they don't smell.

I think it's just like people whatever food works for your dog.... I don't have time to do raw, but I would not mind trying it at some point.. Although I need to lose 30 pounds myself haha.

 

[mrsBusawhipped]

I don't have any experience with raw feeding for dogs. A friend of mine has been feeding raw with her dogs and has great success and it is a lot cheaper than reg dog food.

I have tried this with my cats. My 18 would rather starve than eat raw meat.

I have had to put her back on dry food for now and will attempt (be more sneaky) about switching her in a little while. The six year old was better, but really didn't care for it either, but at least she didn't loose a bunch of weight. I currently belong to rawcat@yahoo.com group. There is a group for raw dogs too. Good luck and hopefully Justice will be better real soon. He looks like a real sweetie.

 

[Busa Jules]

this is an idea.. we have an English Bulldog with lots of allergies... and constant Staph infections and losing hair.. etc. etc. etc. I am going to the vet tomorrow with him because he has been on antibiotics for 2 1/2 weeks and still has infections and boils on him. I know he has food allergies and we were on Science Diet ZD (Hypoallergenic) but it didn't do any good... this raw thing might be something to look into.

 

[mrsBusawhipped]

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/

Hope this helps.

 

[LadyHawk]

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/

Hope this helps.

Cool. Thanks.. more reading for me.

 

[FastBusa]

When our rottie, Isis came down with cancer, we did a lot of research on nutrition. We learned among other things that a high protein, high fat diet slowed down the spread of her particular cancer. we started cooking chicken, beef and liver with rice and vegetable. She did so well, we put all the dogs on a cooked diet.

Years later, we still cook for the dogs. I do recommend that you not use neck bones or any bony meat without deboning it first. Chicken bones in particular splinter and can pierce the lining of the esophagus. We buy 10 lbs of chicken legs/thighs. Boil them until tender. You will find the meat falls off the bone. I mix this with a little of the gravy, rice and any vegetables I have in the house. You can supplement this with dry kibble.

One word of caution is that you should change diets slowly. Serve a little of the new food with the old over a period of 10 days to two weeks.

Good luck with Justice. He's a cutie.

What kind of mange does he have? Sarcoptic mange is harder to treat. Demodectic mange is a nuisance, but is the more common.

 

[mrninja9]

never fed raw always PURINA safe bet for me

 

[LadyHawk]

When our rottie, Isis came down with cancer, we did a lot of research on nutrition. We learned among other things that a high protein, high fat diet slowed down the spread of her particular cancer. we started cooking chicken, beef and liver with rice and vegetable. She did so well, we put all the dogs on a cooked diet.

Years later, we still cook for the dogs. I do recommend that you not use neck bones or any bony meat without deboning it first. Chicken bones in particular splinter and can pierce the lining of the esophagus. We buy 10 lbs of chicken legs/thighs. Boil them until tender. You will find the meat falls off the bone. I mix this with a little of the gravy, rice and any vegetables I have in the house. You can supplement this with dry kibble.

One word of caution is that you should change diets slowly. Serve a little of the new food with the old over a period of 10 days to two weeks.

Good luck with Justice. He's a cutie.

What kind of mange does he have? Sarcoptic mange is harder to treat. Demodectic mange is a nuisance, but is the more common.

Don't know yet, vet run is Saturday. It started with red blisters on hairless skin. Looked like he rubbed against the fence and took off some hair. But it's spreading. Now the original patch is thick and oozing (when he isn't licking it).


From what I'm reading, cooked bones will splinter. But raw bones they just chew up, and are digestible. I don't know, still reading.

Thanks!

 

[fsusux]

Nothing beats this stuff. >>>>CLICKY<<<<

 

[HRHDi]

Are you sure it's mange and not an allergic reaction? I've toyed with cooking for my dogs since it has to be better for them...eating only processed food is bad for people, it has to be bad for dogs, right? I've known people who have cooked for their pets and had great success with it.

Justice is precious! I love big ol' dogs.

 

[zukracer]

my mom has been making her dog's food since the bull with the chineese scare

I'll get her recipe for ya if you want

 

[roadthing]

+1 on kreator's suggestion!

I tried the BARF diet, and that's just what it made me do. I'm a wuss when it comes to that stuff, in spite of myself. I also found the preparation to be time consuming. I know that sounds selfish, but time is at a premium for me, like so many other people.

I switched our dog who had chronic scaly skin, itching, stinky runny poop, etc. to INNOVA, and WOW! What an improvement in her health. I'm using INNOVA "EVO", and it's working magic. The protein is a little high, but she is only a year and five months old. I tried just about every "fad" food on the market, and it was so disheartening-not to mention EXPENSIVE!

Check this site out: Dog food analysis and comparisons

Hope you get everything sorted out soon!

 

[firebug]

My Dane eats Chicken Soup For the Dog Lover's Soul.

She has a lot of energy, looks great, and everyone comments on how shiny her coat is.

 

[BusaBret]

Try this LINK

It is a bit pricey but it lasts a lot longer than the discount brands. Our critters do not eat as much of it cause they get so much more from it.

 

[Blue Lightning]

<div class="iF-Passage"><div class="QUOTEHEAD">Quote:[/Quote]<div class="QUOTE clearfix"><span class="quoteBegin"> </span>
My Dane eats Chicken Soup For the Dog Lover's Soul.

She has a lot of energy, looks great, and everyone comments on how shiny her coat is.[/quote]

+1. Cosette gets dandruff really quickly in the dry CO air if we have to switch her to Iams. The Chicken Soup is only sold in a couple of places, so its not as convenient, but it does make a difference.

BTW, she's a blue Dane female, ~5 years old. What about yours?

 

[IMXCITD]

I use to raise and show Akitas and fed raw. Best thing we ever did. Dogs were more healthy, energetic, better coats and teeth, stools were minimal and vet bills went way down. It makes sense when you think about it. Yes...an extra freezer will be huge...you can buy in bulk and freeze in ready to serve size bags. You can supplement w/ some yogurt, eggs, oil...etc. I want to say there were two books by Dr. Ian Billinghurst....BARF and Give Your Dog A Bone...check those out. Don't cook anything...that's the point..it's raw...the most nutrients and their bodies are designed to process it. Raw bones don't splinter like the cooked ones. Start by giving a little raw and some food and then start going more raw. It will take a week or two once you go totally raw for their bodies to "detox" from all the fillers and bs in dog food. It is a good move that will be well worrth the effort. Find a chicken supplier that you can order 40lb boxes of chicken backs for you to freeze. I used a bbq place and they would just order a box with their regular order whenever I called to let them know. Local meet processing places will give/sell you bones and scrap sometimes. Good luck!

 

[LadyHawk]

Are you sure it's mange and not an allergic reaction?  

This is what it looks like.

From surfing the net, it looks like mange to me. But I'm thinking more and more that it could be allergies.

This is right on his hip bone, to the right side of his tail.

(Sorry if anyone just ate, or is just getting ready to eat

)

 

[LadyHawk]

That is about life size, that raw patch is about the size of a half dollar.

 

[blackestbusa]

We did the BARF thing for our rottie for a while and it worked really well for him.  Eventually we cut back the raw food and switched him over to Solid Gold foods Solid Gold which I hear is one of the better ones out there.  If the wife has a chance, I will get her on here to give details.  She is dog crazy and has done a LOT of research on the dog food subject.