Author Topic: What makes a well-balanced RAW diet????  (Read 2933 times)

Offline jc1231

  • Ankle Biter
  • *
  • Posts: 29
  • "Dog" days of summer
    • View Profile
What makes a well-balanced RAW diet????
« on: September 18, 2007, 02:56:05 pm »
So, ok. We got Duke's allergy test results back from the vet yesterday. The poor guy. :(

Food wise, he's allergic to:
Poultry & Poultry mixes (Chicken & Turkey)
Eggs
Soybeans
Flax
Barley
White Potatos
Alfalfa (Borderline)

Because one or more of these 'allergens' can be found in all of the dry foods we've researched (and researched and researched), we're opting for a RAW diet. Problem is that neither of us are familiar with proper diet balancing and preparation. Maybe we're over-reacting, :o but Duke is also plagued with a plethora of environmental allergies and we're just trying to keep him as comfortable as possible.

Could someone please advise?

Thanks,
JC
When all forward progress seems to be going in reverse, remember Mom spelled backwards is still Mom.

Jennifer
Mom to 5 kids and 1 big dog :)

Nicole

  • Guest
Re: What makes a well-balanced RAW diet????
« Reply #1 on: September 18, 2007, 03:01:48 pm »
YIKES!

You sure do have your work cut out for you. I guess I can't give much advice. We used to have our boy on a raw diet. He's got kind of a lot of allergies, too. I used quite a bit of canned mackeral, which he loved, made his coat shiny, and he tolerated really well. We also used a ton of organ meat. (Livers, hearts, etc.)

There are some great sites out there with specific recipes. That's what we did when we were preparing Cabeza's food.

I know that Nature's Variety Raw Instinct has starting producing a Rabbit Meal Formula. Have you looked at the ingriedients in that? Hmm...I just looked. It does have chicken fat in it. Can he tolerate the fat, or is that a total no-no?

Here's the site if you want to check it out.
D5B0qPIGDA8395 " class="bbc_link" target="_blank">http://www.naturesvariety.com/content.lasso?page=1468&-session=naturesvariety:C7962EC9167031 D5B0qPIGDA8395

Good luck with him! Bless you for giving him what he needs!

Offline Nina

  • Supreme Drooler
  • ****
  • Posts: 1911
  • In Loving memory 12/30/05 8:30pm We miss you
    • View Profile
Re: What makes a well-balanced RAW diet????
« Reply #2 on: September 18, 2007, 03:50:41 pm »
I feel your pain, my lab has allergies. We have her on a raw diet and a herbal powder to help with the itching. We are getting her tested to see what she is allergic to.

The raw food we get is pre package frozen in 2lbs packages. Here is the website http://www.mountaindogfood.com.

It's good to have a varity of meat, I add some organs in once in a while and raw bones. You can also add some suppliments in as well, like fish oil. I found the trick was to find a good store that sells raw food, they had lost of suppliments for me to choose from and lost of brands of raw food to. I chose this brand because the food is not ground, so there was chunks of bone in it to help clean Harleys teeth. (She has super white teeth now... good bonus!)
Typically you feed 2% of the body weight depending on how active the dog is.

Hope this helps
Nina
Nina and Tim
Calgary, AB, Canada
Harley(Lab mix)
Dilbert(Pyr mix)At the bridge
Jolene (cat)

Offline sc.trojans

  • Big Paws-a-holic
  • **
  • Posts: 327
  • Gracie and Skylar
    • View Profile
    • Natural K9
Re: What makes a well-balanced RAW diet????
« Reply #3 on: September 19, 2007, 12:59:48 am »


Given Duke's specific issues and restrictions and knowing you do not have experience in balancing a diet to meet his needs, I recommend you pay a canine nutritionist for a specific balanced diet to meet his needs. You can then learn more and read more to understand how to incorporate variety into it appropriately, but know that you are starting with a balanced diet.

Monica Segal (www.monicasega l.com) offers consultations and her book provides guidance on balancing the diet and addressing the needs.  You could also consider Catherine Lane (http://www.thepossiblecanine.com/).  Both Canadien but work mostly with the U.S. and are two of the most well known and published (see Catherine's article in this month's BARK magazine).

Of course, there are probably local options available as well and I know scores more who can provide this service, including myself, so don't be afraid to check around.

P.S.  If every dog were given an allergy test, they would test allergic to soy, flax, and at least one starch metabolically.  Those tests are often hard to go by as a result but still a good thing to avoid in food nonetheless.
SC Trojans
with Gracie and Skylar