[georgiapeach]

I decided to try Maddie on NVI Raw (beef) b/c of her allergies about a week ago. She looked at it the first time, sniffed it, then looked at me, like, "what the Hell is this?" Her hunger caused her to onlly feel this way for about 3 minutes however, then she scarfed it down. According to the directions, she only gets 1/2 a patty a day (she's around 12 pounds), which I'm dividing into 2 meals. She finishes in about 10 seconds flat and is looking for more. Should I be supplementing with anything else? The package says it's a balanced diet. Another question: when should I introduce one of the other proteins? My pet food supplier has beef, chicken, and bison.

How long should it take for an improvement to take place allergy wise? She's still chewing on her feet a little (not as much), but I think she also has a grass allergy on top of her grain allergies. I'm trying to remember to rinse/dry her feet anytime she's on the grass, but that's a pain! Luckily, she doesn't need to go out very often, and she's happy in the house.

Advice?

 

[Willowy]

It's a balanced diet but may have too much bone for some dogs (around 15%. 10% is the usual recommendation for raw diets). So keep an eye on her output, and if she seems a bit constipated add some plain raw meat (not much--maybe half an ounce) to even out the bone content.

The normal recommendation for transitioning to raw is to stick with one protein for a month or so, then slowly start adding in other proteins. I don't know if it's the same with commercial raw, but it can't hurt.

 

[chubby]

If it's a high quality raw diet you won't need to wait long to add different varieties. My dog is a Bichon and vomits from anything and everything, yet I transitioned her to pre-made raw (Tollden Farms) on two varieties: chicken and beef, and she was fantastic. I would maybe start with chicken, for a week, and then try another one

 

[georgiapeach]

Maddie's eating Nature's Variety Instinct raw, which is considered a good pre made, I think. Thanks for the suggestions. It did take her a couple of days to poo, so maybe I do need to add a little plain meat.

 

[InkedMarie]

I'm new to pre made raw myself. Mine are eating Darwin's. I got the sample package first and if I wanted to feed one protein for too long, I couldn't have because it was gone! In a week & half, they've eaten turkey, duck and are now on beef (today was the first day). I have read that when a dog starts on raw, be it prey model or pre made, they may go through a detox period, which can last a few weeks so it may be awhile to be sure she's doing ok, allergy wise. Mine too, scarf down their Darwins like there's no tomorrow. Hope your dog does well on the NV!

 

[PrincessLPN]

I LOVE the NVI raw. Well, my dog does. My husband and son are jealous that I will feed the dog meat but not them (I am a vegetarian). Odin is doing really well on it. The company sent me a coupon for a free bag and he is hooked on it.

 

[PackMomma]

I agree that not all dogs require a slow, gradual transition, you just have to go by how your dog is reacting. Yes some may go through a detox period, if they do get the occasional runny stool or vomit, don't panic..if it continues or gets worse, try a different protein like chicken, turkey or duck (which usually seems to be the easiest raw proteins to tolerate for transitioning dogs) and if a certain protein seems to work better during transition, stick with that one for a while, then introduce a different one in a small amount later and see how they react . Usually premade raw diets are pretty easy to digest and handle off the bat. When I brought Thumper home for the first time, I switched him to premade ground raw cold turkey, different protein each meal and he handled it just fine. He got occasional diarrhea but nothing that was alarming.

I used to dogsit for a gf of mine quite often, and I absolutely refused to have her dog eat the crappy kibble in my house so I insisted she eat raw when she was staying with me, and it never affected her, either.

 

[Hallie]

Hallie loved the rabbit, and really hated the Bison. I didn't get fantastic results from NV raw, so I feed it as the occasional treat now.

Also, more than likely your dog has a seasonal allergy, in which case you will not see improvement based solely on the food change. Hallie chews her tail, belly, and feet. I used to be convinced it was a grain allergy, but I soon learned it was actually a seasonal allergy.. even though it is present the majority of the year.

 

[MagicRe]

you can, as you transition to raw, add in some bragg's apple cider vinegar.....

with my pug who doesn't eat pre made raw but eats raw...we had to stop chicken, as it made his itch more, which i think has more to do with what the chickens are being fed than the chicken itself.

believe it or not, based on a few succesful reports from others, he gets four blueberries a day...and i've just added bovine colostrum to his diet.

he is barely scratching now. i no longer have to practically bathe him when we get back from a walk.

 

[MagicRe]

I'm new to pre made raw myself. Mine are eating Darwin's. I got the sample package first and if I wanted to feed one protein for too long, I couldn't have because it was gone! In a week & half, they've eaten turkey, duck and are now on beef (today was the first day). I have read that when a dog starts on raw, be it prey model or pre made, they may go through a detox period, which can last a few weeks so it may be awhile to be sure she's doing ok, allergy wise. Mine too, scarf down their Darwins like there's no tomorrow. Hope your dog does well on the NV!

i'm glad you liked the darwin. were i to feed a pre made, that would be the one i'd use.

and you're absolutely correct, at least it was that way with my dogs. they looked worse before they looked better and now they look magnificent. even my old almost thirteen year old girl. looks half her age.

 

[kafkabeetle]

i'm glad you liked the darwin. were i to feed a pre made, that would be the one i'd use.

and you're absolutely correct, at least it was that way with my dogs. they looked worse before they looked better and now they look magnificent. even my old almost thirteen year old girl. looks half her age.

I was looking at them earlier and I really wish I could afford it. With shipping though it'd just be insane. I am going to try the sample package with free shipping sometime soon, though. Otherwise I'm probably going to go for a combination of kibble/dehydrated raw/canned/prey model raw. I'd go all raw but unfortunately I can't get much variety here and I fear that would become a problem over time. By adding some commercial products I should be able to provide a good range of protein sources.

 

[InkedMarie]

I'm really surprised at how good the Darwins looks. It's really meaty. I fed NV medallions once, had a free sample but no one really liked it. I fed one package of Stella & Cheweys, which they ate fine but I can tell you, it looked nothing like Darwins. It is also $1.50 more a pound. One thing about Darwins....they make it and you have it in your freezer in less than a month. I like that.

 

[Willowy]

I was looking at them earlier and I really wish I could afford it. With shipping though it'd just be insane. I am going to try the sample package with free shipping sometime soon, though. Otherwise I'm probably going to go for a combination of kibble/dehydrated raw/canned/prey model raw. I'd go all raw but unfortunately I can't get much variety here and I fear that would become a problem over time. By adding some commercial products I should be able to provide a good range of protein sources.

Do you have a big freezer? It's cheaper to buy by the case. Anyway, look up Nature's Menu. Even with shipping, it's quite reasonable (and there's a discount if you buy a whole box (60 pounds, I think). Apparently it's substantial, but you have to call, not order online). I ordered 45 pounds and managed to fit it all in my regular freezer. But I haven't had a popsicle in months . My cats only like the chicken but the dogs like all of them.

 

[kafkabeetle]

Do you have a big freezer? It's cheaper to buy by the case. Anyway, look up Nature's Menu. Even with shipping, it's quite reasonable (and there's a discount if you buy a whole box (60 pounds, I think). Apparently it's substantial, but you have to call, not order online). I ordered 45 pounds and managed to fit it all in my regular freezer. But I haven't had a popsicle in months . My cats only like the chicken but the dogs like all of them.

I'll have to see. I'm moving back with my dad next month and I doubt he'd be happy to lose more than maybe half of his freezer space. I've been contemplating buying a freezer to store meats in the basement though so we'll see. Thanks for the suggestion. It does seem a little bit more affordable.

 

[georgiapeach]

Hallie loved the rabbit, and really hated the Bison. I didn't get fantastic results from NV raw, so I feed it as the occasional treat now.

Also, more than likely your dog has a seasonal allergy, in which case you will not see improvement based solely on the food change. Hallie chews her tail, belly, and feet. I used to be convinced it was a grain allergy, but I soon learned it was actually a seasonal allergy.. even though it is present the majority of the year.

I'm starting to think the same thing about Maddie!

Maddie would still rather have kibble - sigh.... I have to chase her away from Potsie's food (NVI kibble) and drag her back to her raw food at each meal. Then she'll eat it in about a minute flat.

 

[kafkabeetle]

I am curious why you think your dog has grain allergies? Close to 90% of real food allergies are common animal proteins. Did you self-diagnose this?

The grains in most foods, except wheat, have an incidence of 1% or less, so the chance it is a grain allergy is statistically insignificant.

The chance it is food related at all is only about 10%.

Got any sources on that or are you self-diagnosing here too?

 

[luvmyfurballs]

Do you have a big freezer? It's cheaper to buy by the case. Anyway, look up Nature's Menu. Even with shipping, it's quite reasonable (and there's a discount if you buy a whole box (60 pounds, I think). Apparently it's substantial, but you have to call, not order online). I ordered 45 pounds and managed to fit it all in my regular freezer. But I haven't had a popsicle in months . My cats only like the chicken but the dogs like all of them.

Thank you for this info. I have a big freezer. I think I'm going to try this site. I give my dogs raw only once a week, but I'd like to up that to 3 times a week and this place is reasonable. They don't care for the Natures Variety either. I can put that out and cottage cheese...they all will go for the cottage cheese.

 

[kafkabeetle]

Well I just ordered the sample package of Darwin's. It's really a steal at $15 for 10 pounds and should last about a month. Does anyone know if it would be ok to feed half frozen premade raw like Darwin's or Nature's menu and half meats without any organs (possibly some bone). Would the premade contain enough nutrients even if the other half of her diet wasn't perfectly balanced? Or would that be a bad idea? I've been thinking about doing either that or feeding premade raw every other day, then half kibble, half miscellaneous meats/eggs/fish every other day. Just trying to figure out a way to cut costs if it turns out the variety I need for prey model raw is not available.

 

[Gally]

I don't think there would be a problem with doing half premade raw and half PMR. Personally I wouldn't leave out organs as that is an essential part of raw. You would only need to feed organs once a week as the ratio for PMR is 80% meat, 10% bone and 10% organs (typically 5% liver and 5% other organs). There are a lot of good vitamins and nutrients in organs.

 

[MagicRe]

check your premades. they might have organ in them.

if not, it is essential to give your dog liver and another organ as part of his diet, as gally mentioned.

that is how your dog gets his vitamins.