register for free
View our sister sites
Our sister sites
Our sister sites
Our sister sites
Hannah
Dogsey Veteran
Hannah is offline  
Location: Cornwall
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,786
Female 
 
02-06-2006, 12:31 PM

Raw exclusion diet for a 5 month old puppy - Advice please

I know there are lots of threads on feeding raw and I have tried to read through as many as posible, and to research on the net, but to be honest im just geting confused and I only have access to the net at work so dont have alot of time for reading through loads of articles and sites.

I am finding that Loki is losing interest in his food, which is burns puppy, I have tried giving him meat with it and he currently has tripe with it as he will not eat it on its own. He is teething so I am watering it down at the moment as some days he seems to be having trouble with it and will leave it all together, adding water to it has helped but as much as he can he just eats the tripe and leaves the biscuit he also isnt overly keen on biscuit treats and I find he wont do much for them any more!

I have always liked the idea of feeding raw and with his itching I think it could be very benifical to him, but I am afraid of not getting the balance right especially with him being a growing pup adn there seems to be so many different views and methods! How do I go about starting him on a raw exclusion diet ensuring he gets everything he needs?
Also I dont have alot of money but have heard it shouldnt cost more than a comercial diet have other people feeding raw found this is the case?
Reply With Quote
Lucky Star
Dogsey Veteran
Lucky Star is offline  
Location: Usually in a muddy field somewhere
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 20,145
Female 
 
02-06-2006, 02:12 PM
Costwise it depends on where you get the stuff from - supermarkets will be more expensive than wholesalers, although you can get hold of cheaper, meats if they are on offer or on their sell by date.

I think as long as there is balance over a period of time and plenty of variety you can't go too far wrong.

I did it all by trial and error from a pup - substituting a cooked/raw meal for a commercial meal as time went on and he got older, and varying the amounts of, say, meat:boneffal:fish:eggs:carbohydrates:veg:fruit depending on exercise levels and what else he's had that day/week.

It is hard - there are differing opinions on what to give, I know. I would never go back to kibble because I know Loki wouldn't touch it and because of the extrusion process and what is left - I just don't like the idea of kibble and think it swells up in their tummies.
Reply With Quote
Hannah
Dogsey Veteran
Hannah is offline  
Location: Cornwall
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,786
Female 
 
02-06-2006, 02:31 PM
Originally Posted by Lucky Star
It is hard - there are differing opinions on what to give, I know. I would never go back to kibble because I know Loki wouldn't touch it and because of the extrusion process and what is left - I just don't like the idea of kibble and think it swells up in their tummies.
Thanks Lucky Star, I totally agree you only have to look at how much it swells up when you add water to it!
Loki clearly isnt keen on kibble and seems to need variety to keep him interested in something!

What do you give for traning treats?
Reply With Quote
mo
Dogsey Veteran
mo is offline  
Location: Manchester
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 2,900
Female 
 
02-06-2006, 03:14 PM
When I first changed over the the raw diet I was panicing that I would not give them a good balance, but they have been on the raw for quite a few years now, and I have got very chilled out about it all, I honestly couldnt say ratios of meat to bone or quantities of vedg etc. I just give them variety, lamb. little beef. offal. mainly chicken or turkey necks, some vedg if I am doing vedg for us I do extra for dogs. of course I am hoping that I am not doing anything detrimental to my dogs long term, but if they were on a dry food I would have the same concerns as to what damage I may do to them feeding that. all I know is my dogs are thriving, have good coats great teeth, eat every meal put in front of them, unlike the days I fed them dry food, and they would turn their noses up for many days on the run,I get my raw delivered from Landywoods. and would reccomend them to anyone.

Mo
Reply With Quote
Lucky Star
Dogsey Veteran
Lucky Star is offline  
Location: Usually in a muddy field somewhere
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 20,145
Female 
 
02-06-2006, 04:42 PM
Hannah - I give Loki raw fruit & veg as treats because a lot of it passes through and he doesn't get fat on it, yet loves it.

But also I make my own. I do liver treats (boiled liver with garlic, cut into pieces and baked in the oven), chicken and turkey treats done the same way. I also make 'cake', using liver, poultry or canned fish such as tuna, salmon etc., blended with an egg and some potato starch then baked in the oven. Some people use ordinary flour instead of the potato starch. I use very small amounts of cheese sometimes and he is partial to a bit of salt-free rice cake with cheese spread on . Sometimes I use small pieces of a Burns keltie still. He also likes egg, so hard boiled egg can be used. He likes dried apricots too .
Reply With Quote
Hannah
Dogsey Veteran
Hannah is offline  
Location: Cornwall
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,786
Female 
 
03-06-2006, 08:23 AM
Thanks everyone I think we have about a week or so's dried food yet so will start introducing raw food and cutting back on the biscuit til we run out then go over to raw. I am sure Loki will appreciate it much more! We had a vets appointment yest I was hoping to discuse it with my vet but found once she had done what we were there for it was very much 'next!' not impressed think I may change vets!
Reply With Quote
Lucky Star
Dogsey Veteran
Lucky Star is offline  
Location: Usually in a muddy field somewhere
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 20,145
Female 
 
04-06-2006, 05:58 PM
That's bad Hannah. Our vets support Hill's Science Diet prepared - the usual, etc. but apart from one of them, I have found them pretty willing to listen to my questions/concerns/opinions. Even where raw bones and a holistic approach to health are concerned. Perhaps there is another vet at the surgery you could talk to?
Reply With Quote
Hannah
Dogsey Veteran
Hannah is offline  
Location: Cornwall
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,786
Female 
 
05-06-2006, 08:19 AM
Originally Posted by Lucky Star
That's bad Hannah. Our vets support Hill's Science Diet prepared - the usual, etc. but apart from one of them, I have found them pretty willing to listen to my questions/concerns/opinions. Even where raw bones and a holistic approach to health are concerned. Perhaps there is another vet at the surgery you could talk to?
Thanks Lucky Star, I wasnt very impressed I think because it was the end of the day she just wanted to hurry up and get home not the attitude I really want from my vet! I am hopefully moving soon and will change to a vets nearer to my new house if I move, I have always found the vet nurses lovely and extreamly helpful but the vets very standoffish and difficult to talk to, I dont think its too much to expect to be able to ask your vet for advice even if its not related to why you are there, (although teally it was because I think a raw diet may help with his itching) you do after all pay alot of money for a consultation and should get the service you pay for!
Reply With Quote
Meg
Supervisor
Meg is offline  
Location: Dogsey and Worcestershire
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 49,483
Female  Diamond Supporter 
 
10-06-2006, 12:27 PM
Originally Posted by Hannah
I know there are lots of threads on feeding raw and I have tried to read through as many as posible, and to research on the net, but to be honest im just geting confused and I only have access to the net at work so dont have alot of time for reading through loads of articles and sites.

I am finding that Loki is losing interest in his food, which is burns puppy, I have tried giving him meat with it and he currently has tripe with it as he will not eat it on its own. He is teething so I am watering it down at the moment as some days he seems to be having trouble with it and will leave it all together, adding water to it has helped but as much as he can he just eats the tripe and leaves the biscuit he also isnt overly keen on biscuit treats and I find he wont do much for them any more!

I have always liked the idea of feeding raw and with his itching I think it could be very benifical to him, but I am afraid of not getting the balance right especially with him being a growing pup adn there seems to be so many different views and methods! How do I go about starting him on a raw exclusion diet ensuring he gets everything he needs?
Also I dont have alot of money but have heard it shouldnt cost more than a comercial diet have other people feeding raw found this is the case?
Hi Hannah I refrained from answering your post re raw exclusion diets assuming by raw you meant BARF. Not being a BARF person I left it to those who are to reply but see you did not get a lot of replies so I will post a few general comment

It is important your puppy gets a varied diet to enable him to get a good supply of essential nutrients, if you are feeding an exclusion diet you are obviously feeding only a small number of things but as this situation should only last a short time that should be ok . If you stick to foods that don't normally cause a problem to begin with , feed them for a few days than add other foodstuff one at a time and monitor the effect you should be alright,obviously if there is an adverse effect exclude the food and return to the 'safe' diet for a couple of days before adding another food . Foods that are normally well tolerated are fish/lightly steamed veg finely chopped/chicken/potatoes/lamb/rabbit/.
Reply With Quote
zero
Dogsey Veteran
zero is offline  
Location: UK
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 7,369
Female 
 
10-06-2006, 01:00 PM
Originally Posted by Hannah
I have always liked the idea of feeding raw and with his itching I think it could be very benificial to him, but I am afraid of not getting the balance right especially with him being a growing pup adn there seems to be so many different views and methods! How do I go about starting him on a raw exclusion diet ensuring he gets everything he needs?
Also I dont have alot of money but have heard it shouldnt cost more than a commercial diet have other people feeding raw found this is the case?
The easiest way to start raw feeding (not particularly barf either) would be to maybe simply start with say chicken and feed that for a couple days, see how he is on it and move on gradually introducing the whole spectrum bit by bit...You could take 1 whole chicken, chop it up roughly into meal size portions and just feed till it is all gone...With whole chicken you will be getting the bone and meat he will need...He will also need offal but that can come later. Veg if you like.

After the chicken you could try breast of lamb for a few days or something and so on.

He will be fine for a couple weeks while you just add to the diet and check things off the list.

You can keep a diary of what you feed and when so that is is easy to pin point any problem areas.

My betting is that you wont need to carry on with the elimination process very long at all...Alot of dogs with allergies or stomach problems on commercial food don't have the same problems on raw. Keeping out all the grains seems to help a great deal. Mine always had upset tummies on commercial...I switched them over and didn't even slowy introduce it either and they have done great ever since.

It can be very cheap for some I know but for me it is a bit more expensive then the kibble they were getting but still not as pricey as some more expensive dog foods. I choose to spend a bit more as I like giving them meat from the butchers wholesaler sold for human consumption...I keep it very varied as I don't want to supplement, so I figure to spend more money on the food they enjoy rather than less and pay for supplements.
Reply With Quote
Reply
Page 1 of 2 1 2 >


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools


© Copyright 2016, Dogsey   Contact Us - Dogsey - Top Contact us | Archive | Privacy | Terms of use | Top