Hello All! (changing to raw)

Hello, my name is Desiree and I am sort of lurking here.

A little bit about me, I am 26, live with my fiancee and we have 12 animals, 4 hedgehogs, 4 ferrets, 1 crested gecko, and 3 dogs, two huskies and small mutt of some variety.

The reason I joined the forum is actually for my sisters dog, Kloe. She is about 8 years old and a chihuahua and we are having problems keeping her weight down, not to mention bad breath and general concerns about her age.

I feed my ferrets a prey model diet with some whole prey and when I'm preparing their food, my dogs normally get a taste or two. Kloe absolutely loves raw meat and I'm beginning to wonder if we should just switch her over. (I would love to switch over all of my animals but right now, it's just no feasible.)

So here I am lurking away, finding out all of the information I can before deciding on what I should do for her.

Hello Desiree welcome.

What do you feed Kloe on at the moment.
Yes you could switch her to a raw diet.
There is some information here on preparing your own raw diet ....
A rough BARF guide


..or you could buy one ready prepared, they usually come frozen not sure what brands you have in the USA.

I'm not sure which food she is on at my sisters, if we watch her, she gets our dogs food which is Blue Buffalo.

Thanks. I did check out that thread too.

Dogs get fat on raw too, all mine put on weight initially until we figured out the right amount to feed each dog. Remember the guidelines are just that and can be highly variable between dogs. For example two of my Pugs get around 185 grms each day the 3rd Pug gets 260 grms a day. You just have to keep an eye on what they eat and their weight and adjust accordingly.

Very true, Trouble. Too much food will make a dog fat, regardless of the food type, unless it's something absolutely non nutritious such as only veggies.

My dogs and cats can't stand Blue Buffalo. They hate the "life source bits" and those go uneaten and strewn about the floor. If the dogs breath stinks, she might have dental disease. Have a look at her teeth. If they look yucky like yellowed or crusted with tartar, you'll need to have them cleaned.

Also, fat dogs need exercise. Even tiny, old ones. Personally, here people keep Chihuahuas as indoor pets. I mean literally indoors like all the time. They barely walk them, and they are allowed to be lap dogs and get fat.