Chesney's Girl Posted June 17, 2007 Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 clear eyes, nice coat, good activity level, and nice wight and poops? What would you look for if you had a blood test done? Can you even tell any more than what I mentioned above? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted June 17, 2007 Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 You can't for sure. You get informed (experts, not random internet sources), you use your common sense, and you stay vigilant about your dog's health. Blood chemistry panels can show if something is really way off, or if there's a serious imbalance of some things, but not everything. I don't think it shows if bone calcium is being compromised, for instance. Certainly not the major antioxidants that are important to active dogs like ours. So you just have to be smart about those things. The way I see it, I do the same with my kids. We eat good food - I know what they should be having but I don't have to weigh every nutrient every meal down to mcgs or ppms. We even eat at the Golden Arches every now and then (They have penguin toys right now. How can I say no?). I do supplement, especially if I'm having to feed mostly storebought stuff. Our soil is sadly depleted of nutrients and it's taken its toll on the nutrient value of our groceries, also. I supplement B complex, an antioxidant complex, and OFAs. Seems to be OK. Ben is eleven and a half and still working as well as ever - or slightly better (which is no great shakes but pretty good from a health standpoint!). Maggie will be (gak) 14 years old this year and she's still running around as much as she ever did. We've been doing some form of raw almost half of Maggie's life and two thirds of Ben's. We had Maggie x-rayed last year for a limp she developed and our vet was amazed - not a spot of arthritis on her anywhere. The limp was a pulled muscle apparently. I'm going to stick with what works here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chesney's Girl Posted June 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 Becca, Thanks. I give him a pretty balanced diet. Its more out of curiousity than anything, but if you say that the chemistry's don't show everything that I am looking for I probably wont bother with one. What else are you supplementing with when you feed store baught as thats really all I have access to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted June 17, 2007 Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 I supplement all the time. Soil everywhere is depleted, just more of an issue when you are talking about industrial farming where monoculture, overextension, and forced growth all take a part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bo Peep Posted June 18, 2007 Report Share Posted June 18, 2007 I'm still on nutro max natural lamb & rice seems to be doing good. I'd like to feed raw, but I'm afraid how to introduce it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenajo Posted June 18, 2007 Report Share Posted June 18, 2007 I'm still on nutro max natural lamb & rice seems to be doing good. I'd like to feed raw, but I'm afraid how to introduce it. No matter what you choose, supplementation is certain areas is usually appropriate. I went to a nutritional seminar with Doug Kneuvan DVM (who also wrote on similar information for Clean Run) and he feels all dogs should be on the following: omega 3 fatty acids (preferably wild caught salmon oil) probiotics digestive enzymes (prozyme was the brank he liked) glucosomine Before I recommend anyone goes raw, I recommend they look into the above and start getting their dog on a better nutritional track. After that my next recommendation is start adding lightly steamed vegetables to the dog's food. Then some pureed raw veggies here and there, then a little cooked meat...and increase options as you find you are comfortable and dog tolerates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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