Considering RAW Feeding

[SashasMommie]

Hello.. I 'm considering the RAW food diet but I've never had to do this and am really unsure how to start & what to feed. I've been on several types of dog food for allergies & sensitivities that I may start looking to try this as my next step. My poor 10 month old is having itchy ears, bloody stool (sometimes loose/hard). I took her to the vet again.. they said the food she was on wasn't working.. it's allergy related. Now I'm thinking of trying this.. any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[nalabear]

We just finished a month on raw prey model diet. we joined a yahoo group for raw feeding. You want to start with one protien source. We started with chicken. You want to feed 2%-3% of body weight for your dog. So for our boy he gets 2# a day of meat and our girl gets 1.5# a day. We started adding our second protien source beef just this last week.

The changes we noticed:
Reo:
Ears are not as itchy and are clearing up
Very little eye goober
More relaxed
Smaller stool
Less frequent bathroom break
Fir is soft and smooth almost silky in texture
Breath smells so much better
No doggy oder.

Nala:
Less head shaking
Very little eye goober
less frequent bathroom break
Fir is soft and silky
Breath smells better
No doggy oder

I am sure there is more I just can't think of them right now. All around they look and you can tell they feel better. I wish we had started sooner.

 

[prittiegirl]

Raw has been worth it's weight in gold to us. My girl has had very bad allergies to food and the environment. We have seen bloody, soft stool, smelly eye goop, stuffy nose, skin infections.

Raw cleared up all the digestive problems immediately (within 4 days) and the smelly eye goop. I believe her other problems are related to environmental allergies, which can still leave you wondering and is frustrating, but I would say raw is worth a try for sure. It has made a huge difference to us!

 

[SashasMommie]

Thank you for responding. I hate to have her like this.. although it doesn't seem to bother her.. its not normal to have the bloody stool. How do I figure out what to start with? Also.. do you supplement with anything? Any bit of direction would be great!

 

[prittiegirl]

You will likely want to feed 3-4% of her body weight in food unless she has a slow metabolism, then you could aim for the lower 2-3%. You can start with one type of meat, possibly just chicken, for a few days and then add in more. You can go to the grocery store, or you can do the pet store stuff. Whatever works for you! Try feeding a chicken or turkey neck if you want to see what it's all about, and then start adding in more meat - necks are pretty boney!

The basics are - soft stool, need more bone. Hard stool, need less bone.

There are some good raw feeding forums on Yahoo that you can join for lots more details! I do a really varied diet, but don't do veg as part of her food, unless I'm going to add extra meat because she loses weight easily.

 

[jessic]

Raw diet is a wonderful thing in our house! My gang enjoys there food and they all have nice teeth, shiny coats and nice poops! I wouls suggest doing some research fist by looking into yahoo groups or there is a forum call dogfoodchat.com/forum that has a good raw feeding resource especially when just starting out.
Good luck!

 

[SashasMommie]

Thanks you.. I'll check out those sites!