Raw Diet - Lost in the Weeds

[Coyote Frank]

First, let me just say that I've already searched the boards on the topic of raw diets and have found many links that sound very useful - but unfortunately most of them are old and broken. I've been at this for hours and I'm so confused that I'm about to cry because right now I just don't even feel qualified to feed my dog. So, with that said, I'm asking for some help.

We've been battling diarrhea almost since we brought Frank home as a pup last July. Through process of elimination we determined he's allergic to chicken. Switched to non-chicken kibble (Annamaet Option) and that made things about 90% better. The cat will only eat chicken, so there have been some incidents (sometimes the stupid humans forget to close the gate to where the cat food resides), and that always results in 4-5 days of nuclear yard ruination.

However - even at 90% better - Frank is still itchy, prone to soft poos, and now he's started tearing his hair out. We're not getting much help from the vets we've seen. We recently caved and did allergy testing and found he's also allergic to turkey, corn, and peas (weren't in his food anyway); rice (major ingredient); and tomatoes (also in his food). He's allergic to quite a few other things too, but what I listed are the most common food ingredients. His new food options are all expensive grain-free foods that I don't really want to feed. I'm leery of that whole FDA thing re: grain free foods - not because they don't have grain, but because of the lentils and other stuff they put in it. I think I'm ready to try raw, but OMG there's so much confusing and conflicting info out there. I'd really just love some advice from someone who feeds raw.

I'm thinking it sounds cheapest to go with regular (non-poultry) meats, as opposed to the freeze dried or pre-packaged raw dog foods. I'm very unclear on the whole feeding him bones thing though - that sounds scary. Raw feeders what do you feed, how much, and when? Is it the same thing every day? Do you mix it up day to day? Once a day? Twice a day? Do you toss other stuff in, or just meat? What kind of non-poultry bones do you feed? Does the fish you feed include bones (that seems dangerous), or do you debone? Helllllllpppp...

Frank is 1 year, 41lb, and super duper crazy ungodly active - so, a perfectly normal border collie plus allergies.

Thank you in advance for any insight you can give!

[puppytoes]

It can certainly be very daunting in the beginning. It seems there are two schools of thought: a percentage diet, 80/10/10 that is balanced over time by using a variety of meat sources and a more. The other is more nutrient based. There is a Facebook group called raw fed and nerdy. It is run by animal nutritionists and they are super helpful. You need to ask to join but it doesn't take long. They offer a free course that goes through all the basics of balanced animal nutrition. I ended up hiring a nutritionist to create 2 separate meal plans because I have a young dog and a very old dog; same ingredients but in different quantities. I fed kibble for years but my pup wasn't doing well on the many kibble we tried and raw has fixed those issues. It is more work and more expensive but I've seen a real improvement in coat and mobility in my older dog and my young one is finally solid.

[Journey]

You may want to check out the Blue Ridge products, if you can get them. I use a variety of them except the chicken (it's gross!). You can also get some bones if you join a local raw fed coop. Check your area to see if you have one! I feed according to the dog, no one dog will eat the same as another. It's trial and error as to quantity. I may feed beef for 2 days then switch to fish, i mix in some tripe, some eggs, some squash..it just depends on the season and what is available. Fruits are my treat go to!

 

As for the diarrhea..have you tried slippery elm/marshmallow root/honey - a tablespoon of each mixed with 1 cup of boiling water. This coats and helps the GI and helps with the diarrhea as well. Another recommendation would be the Visbiome Probiotic, pricey but worth it to get his gut healthy and happy again.

[Michael Parkey]

For diarrhea symptoms, try feeding some canned pumpkin.  Pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling.  Obviously this does not address the cause but can alleviate symptoms while you figure it out.

[Coyote Frank]

6 hours ago, puppytoes said:

It can certainly be very daunting in the beginning. It seems there are two schools of thought: a percentage diet, 80/10/10 that is balanced over time by using a variety of meat sources and a more. The other is more nutrient based. There is a Facebook group called raw fed and nerdy. It is run by animal nutritionists and they are super helpful. You need to ask to join but it doesn't take long. They offer a free course that goes through all the basics of balanced animal nutrition. I ended up hiring a nutritionist to create 2 separate meal plans because I have a young dog and a very old dog; same ingredients but in different quantities. I fed kibble for years but my pup wasn't doing well on the many kibble we tried and raw has fixed those issues. It is more work and more expensive but I've seen a real improvement in coat and mobility in my older dog and my young one is finally solid.

Thank you so much for recommending this group! I briefly checked it out and went to their website - will have to look at it more after work. Looks like a REALLY helpful resource though.

[Coyote Frank]

4 hours ago, Michael Parkey said:

For diarrhea symptoms, try feeding some canned pumpkin.  Pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling.  Obviously this does not address the cause but can alleviate symptoms while you figure it out.

Yes, we have definitely done this. It's really difficult to find the canned pumpkin at our stores, but we stock up when we find it.

[Coyote Frank]

5 hours ago, Journey said:

You may want to check out the Blue Ridge products, if you can get them. I use a variety of them except the chicken (it's gross!). You can also get some bones if you join a local raw fed coop. Check your area to see if you have one! I feed according to the dog, no one dog will eat the same as another. It's trial and error as to quantity. I may feed beef for 2 days then switch to fish, i mix in some tripe, some eggs, some squash..it just depends on the season and what is available. Fruits are my treat go to!

 

As for the diarrhea..have you tried slippery elm/marshmallow root/honey - a tablespoon of each mixed with 1 cup of boiling water. This coats and helps the GI and helps with the diarrhea as well. Another recommendation would be the Visbiome Probiotic, pricey but worth it to get his gut healthy and happy again.

Thank you for this suggestion! It looks like there *might* be something of a small start-up coop in my area, so I'm trying to get more information from them now.

I hadn't heard of the slippery elm/marshmallow root/honey concoction, but will absolutely give it a try next time. Hopefully there isn't a next time, but I'm finding that it's really hard to keep chicken away from him (we've even had problems when well-meaning people hand him a treat before we can stop them). I'm very interested in checking out Visbiome. We had a vet give him multiple rounds of antibiotics when he was about 4 months old, and I truly feel that's when all these issues started. Thank you again!

[diane allen]

Totally different tactic:  Look at the BalanceIT website. BalanceIT is a supplement, added to homemade food.

There is a list of veterinary nutritionists that can devise a diet specific for your dog.  I have used several of them over the years, and absolutely trust them.  It beats trying this, trying that, with no good results.  The vet will want any recent vet records, especially blood work, and in your case, no doubt, allergy test results.  I had an hour phone consult to start my last batch.  Well worth the time and money!

diane

[Coyote Frank]

15 minutes ago, diane allen said:

Totally different tactic:  Look at the BalanceIT website. BalanceIT is a supplement, added to homemade food.

There is a list of veterinary nutritionists that can devise a diet specific for your dog.  I have used several of them over the years, and absolutely trust them.  It beats trying this, trying that, with no good results.  The vet will want any recent vet records, especially blood work, and in your case, no doubt, allergy test results.  I had an hour phone consult to start my last batch.  Well worth the time and money!

diane

I just ran across this website this morning! Thank you for sharing that experience - I will definitely look into this.