Fellow dog owners - what food do you feed?

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Originally Posted by anatess

I don't have a superior attitude with raw. It is not easy to feed dogs raw. Lots of research has to be put in it and you have to really know your dog very very well because you have to tweak the diet depending on your dog's response to it. So you also have to read and read and read all about nutrition.

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This a thousand and a million times more.

My older dog is a pointer/am staff mix. She's very high energy (as is typical of those breeds!), and while on kibble (even high quality kibble using real meat instead of by-products and meals) she did alright, but she wasn't exactly thriving. She smelled, that yeasty smell (though never actually diagnosed with a yeast infection). She had bad gas all the time. Her coat wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. She had dandruff, and it was hard to keep weight on her (even when feeding double or more than what she is supposed to be getting, according the directions on the kibble bag!). I tried different foods (don't remember all the brands, this was years ago). She did better on canned, but that was just too expensive. My cats were already on raw, so I decided to switch her. Took a little bit of tweaking to find exactly what works for her... but now that I know, she's in great shape! No more yeasty smell, no more dandruff, coat and skin in great condition, no more gas (unless she gets fattier meats... like lamb, and even pork, too much beef doesn't agree with her either), and she holds her weight well now (no more bones sticking out every where and people accusing me of starving her!). I do have to feed her more in winter than in summer, because she's very lean and doesn't have an undercoat to keep her warm (thus she ends up burning more calories in winter to keep warm, even in our mild So Cal winters!), but that's no big deal. And like I already mentioned, there are some meats I can't give her (though organs from those same animals seem to be alright) or have to limit. The bulk of her diet is composed of poultry. It took a lot of research, and it took some trial and error to find out what works, but she's doing great. She's approaching 7 years old, and her only health problem is arthritis (vet says she has a genetic predisposition for it, nothing to do with diet or lifestyle). Her only supplement is glucosamine for the arthritis, and you wouldn't even know she has arthritis (this poor arthritic dog runs and leaps like a puppy). Otherwise... great condition! She gets a yearly physical, with bloodwork, and every time she gets rave reviews about what great condition she's in.

The true "miracle" story is with my cats. My younger female (who loved switching to raw) didn't really show any difference in health between her manufactured diet and raw (except her breath doesn't smell as bad on raw). My male cat (who was the hardest to switch, even though he had to fend for himself for a period of his life!) showed improvement in overall condition... primarily his coat when from dull, discolored, and harsh, to soft, luxurious, and vibrant (sounds like a shampoo commercial!). My senior cat at the time (RIP) was the one who showed the most improvement. She was about 11 or 12 years old at the time I switched (and ironically the easiest of the three, despite having lived on kibble her entire life!), and looked at least 3 or 4 years older than she really was. She had cataracts, was arthritic, stopped jumping years ago, had a harsh brittle coat, was overweight, and though she seemed happy enough, she didn't have any pep in her walk. Switched her over and within the first 6 months she lost weight (to an ideal weight), her coat regained its condition, her cataracts cleared (still there, but not as obvious as before), and her arthritis improved. There was one day in particular when I KNEW this was the right diet for her: She JUMPED 3 feet from the bed to the window sill!!! For a cat who had not jumped for years, and pulled herself up on to the bed instead of jumping, that was amazing! The vets and vet techs could no longer guess her age. One time I took her in for a routine check-up, and asked the technician how old she though this cat was. Technician said she couldn't be over 12 years old, and nearly fell to the floor when I said this cat was actually 16 years old. She lived 6, almost 7, years on raw before she had to be put to sleep. The couple of years of her life she experienced renal failure, but never showed the classic symptoms of it (vomiting, loss of appetite, weight loss, etc). The only way we even knew she had renal failure was because the bloodwork showed it. When that happened, I did some more research, altered her diet a bit, and she lived happily until it was finally her time to go.

Definitely not an easy diet. I DO think it is the best, and most appropriate diet for dogs and cats (in fact, I think whole food, minimally processed, is the best and most appropriate diet for ANY animal, actual food choices depending on the species, of course). I don't see that as a superior attitude. It's an opinion, one I like to believe is based on fact, but others are free to disagree. I keep a few cans of canned food on hand for emergencies (if the big earthquake hits and I lose power, or another disaster such as wildfire forces me to evacuate, I'm not going to be able to provide a raw diet, at least not easily), either using it or donating it before it expires, and purchasing more to replace it. If I need to go out of town and get a house sitter, I will provide canned food for their convenience. But otherwise, my animals are on raw. That's the way I prefer it, and that's the way my animals are thriving.

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Originally Posted by anatess

I don't have cats as I'm allergic to them. But, I'm always wondering how cats survive off kibble?

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Cats survive on kibble, some well into old age, but not nearly as well as they survive on canned or raw. Based on the research I've done (and the research I've seen others do), if cats are going to be fed a manufactured diet, it should be canned not raw. That canned diet should also be meat and organ, not grains, not starches, and no plant material (which is very hard to find... apparently cats in the wild are eating blueberries, potatoes, and carrots! :rolleyes: ). A raw diet is, in my honest opinion, the best diet for a cat, hands down. That of course assuming it is a PROPER raw diet. (As we all know... hamburger isn't going to cut it!)

Darn! Sorraia beat me to it! I was going to say and post similar pictures of the same animals. Good job!:thumbup:

I like certain kibbles and raw. I feed a mix of commercial raw and kibble to my dogs, but I personally think raw is the 'best'. If someone is going to feed kibble, I always suggest the ones I listed on the first page. Yes there are some fruit and vegetables found in some of them, but they are in very little quantities. Not to mention they lack potatoes, grains, and corn fillers and the bulk of those diets are meat and meat proteins. I am against feeding low quality kibble that has more fillers than meat to where it would be more appropriate for a rodent diet than a dog..... (I.E. science diet where it had a single meat source and everything else being rice, grains, corn, etc)

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Originally Posted by anatess

I don't have cats as I'm allergic to them. But, I'm always wondering how cats survive off kibble?

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There is enough meat proteins to survive. However, its still not very good for them since they're obligate carnivores.

Depending on the type of kibble. When fed an average or low quality kibble many do develop insulin issues and diabetes. Grain, corn, and other plant material used as binders in the kibble are metabolized as sugars. They get too much sugar and it actually compromises the pancreas into producing excess insulin. If you have too much insulin, the blood glucose levels go down.:cens0r: This is when hypoglycemia occurs.

This is why Insulinoma is one of the most common ailments in domesticated ferrets and diabetes in cats. Ferrets are very similar to cats where they are both obligate carnivores. Ferrets can still get Insulinoma even when fed a quality kibble. My current ferrets are on raw, but I've seen what kibble can do to ferrets first hand. The violent seizures they experience from low blood sugar drops are not a pleasant sight. Its a rather sad helpless feeling watching a pet go through a fit.

When switched to raw, my ferrets transformed. It was crazy! I didn't expect them to change that much, but they did. Less odor, smaller poo, ate less due to getting more viable nutrients in smaller amounts or raw compared to kibble where they basically had to eat constantly to get a similar amount of nutrition. They went from having rough brittle coats to beautiful shiny and silky coats. They have more energy. More muscle mass and less fat.

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I feed my puppy Wellness for puppies. I do plan on switching him over to raw when I get my own place and my own freezer! (so early next year :P )

A lot to learn in this thread!

About digestibility of meat...

My dog is a 50-lb English Bulldog.
http://i314.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps2a2c32a4.jpg

He gets about 1.5lbs of prey a day and eats once a day - random times because I don't follow a routine feeding schedule (on purpose). He poops once a day, sometimes once every 2 days. And this is the size of his poop:

http://i314.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps2412bf76.jpg

That poop tells me he ate beef hearts for his last meal. The pork and fish and rabbit and chicken are lighter color. If he's getting too much bone it turns white so I let off the bone. If it turns black he had too much organs. The poop dries up and crumbles if you leave it (I tested it so I let it stay for 3 days before I couldn't stand it anymore). It's perfect for if you use one of those doggy dooley things. I use a home-made version of it. It doesn't stink as much as kibble poop either.

Yeah yeah... I derailed the thread from food to poop. LOL.

I see you guys are talking about raw diets, have any of you heard about Stella & Chewy's raw frozen and freeze dried products? I like the freeze dried because you can reconstitute it with water, and it doesn't expand. A local vet looked at it under his microscope and couldn't find any dangerous stuff in it. (I'm great with sciency words, aren't I?)

Also to contribute to the thread I feed Nutri-Source grain free heartland select (buffalo).

Here's some food stats for their chicken formula: http://www.nutrisourcedogfood.com/nu...cts/gf_chicken

I like it because it has pro and pre-biotics for digestion, omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, and added glucosamine. Plus I get a free 15lb bag once a month as a perk for where I work.

I'm sure there are tons of good ways to feed your dog, but I've gotta say with the TOTW, the ingredient list makes me hungry. I mean the stuff is made with purified water, and roasted quail, pheasant, duck etc.

The only veggies I think are some form of Chelated tomatoes? Or something along those lines...


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Originally Posted by catzeye21138

I see you guys are talking about raw diets, have any of you heard about Stella & Chewy's raw frozen and freeze dried products? I like the freeze dried because you can reconstitute it with water, and it doesn't expand. A local vet looked at it under his microscope and couldn't find any dangerous stuff in it.

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My dogs get the freeze dried Stella & Chewys too. They go nuts for it.


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Science diet is a clinically proven good dog food. Don't buy in to blue buffalos gimmicks. Their advertisement for hollistic means nothing at all. They are a mid grade food charging you a lot of money. Stick with your purina ones or eukanubas before any food that advertises natural or hollistic. I swear by science diet, but all dogs are different! (Just please stay away from raw diets!)

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

This also shows dogs are in fact carnivores....

EDIT: (scientific evidence)

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Dogs are NOT carnivores.