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Feeding Raw

Sydneys Mom

Well-known member
Toying with this idea...
Don't know enough about it yet.
Would love ideas....pros and cons
Right now I'm feeding Canidae No Grain and mixing in chicken or salmon.
They also get a tablespoon of plain Greek no fat yogurt and Omega 3 oil.
 
Feeding raw is like anything else: all types of opinions and schools of thoughts. We have Sophie on a pre-mixed raw diet because she has so many food allergies. I had never heard of raw before we got her! Kibble (and we've tried all the various formulations to the point I think the 'preservatives' are the problem) leaves her itching, scratching, and pulling out the hair on her rump, sooner or later. After that, I figured out very quickly why her breeder fed her own dogs raw. (argh)

Of all the pre-mixed raw products we tried, Oma's Pride was the only brand that did not leave her itching and scratching. I think that is because it is a simple recipe without all the blueberries, chicory, herbs, etc etc etc. that are in the other brands. I supplement with a multi-vitamin and an Omegas supplement.

One thing the raw food folks say is that the dog will have less allergies and less ear troubles. It might be true. Our kibble-fed Shih Tzu always had ear troubles (another floppy ear breed) and some seasonal skin problems. Other than that, he was a very healthy little dog on dry kibble. Sophie is a very healthy Cavalier on her raw, as long as I give her a particular brand vitamin supplement with her meals, one that seems to keep her from UTIs. The one time I bought some multi-vitamins at a big box store, she ended up with a UTI. Lesson learned.....get online and order some more. All dogs are different, so YMMV.

One must be careful and washing everything after handling. No big deal. I wash up well when cooking meats for ourselves, so the same sanitation guidelines apply to handling raw feeding for pets. Simple stuff.

Then there is cost. I am so glad Sophie is only a 17-lb dog. I could not afford raw if she weighed 50-lbs! I buy the Oma's Pride pre-mix in four different meats, to rotate her diet and hopefully prevent developing an allergy to any one meat. The lamb has gotten very expensive over the years, but Sophie is worth it.

Link to Oma's Pride ---> http://omaspride.com/ I cannot say whether it is better or worse than any other brand, but this is the only one that works for Sophie. Fortunately, for us, it is easy enough to purchase locally.
 
Just remembered one more nice thing about feeding a raw diet ..... the poops are much smaller!
 
Thanks for all the great info.
I'm hearing about so many of the health benefits, including the ones you mentioned. If I do this, I would probably go with a premixed until I got comfortable with raw.
 
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