Cathy & Audrey- Question
Submitted by bufordsmom on October 4, 2010 - 4:46pmNow that you have been on raw for awhile - does Audrey still have the tear staining on her face or did the change in diet take care of that? I am so confused on whether to try grain free or raw.
__________________
unfortunately
Audrey still has tear stains. BUT I have been giving her a probiotic all along that has sugar in it, without even realizing it. So, that may be contributing to them. Her eyes also water a lot, especially when she plays with her ball. I stopped the probiotic a week ago, so we'll see if that helps! I do not think that Audrey's are completely related to what she eats. I think the watery eyes have a lot to do with it too, and a really big nose rope that makes a deep fold near her eyes.
Cathy and Audrey
I meant to say also...
that I wouls recommend the raw instead of grain free. There is so much more to consider than just tear stains...
And all of Audrey's other issues cleared up very quickly on raw.
Cathy and Audrey
tear stains
I started with raw chicken for a month and she was doing great. Tear stains 100% gone. I added ground beef and within a couple of days her eyes starting watering and gettin swollen. She scratched everywhere and even put holes in her face. Stopped the ground beef and within a few days started to look good again. I added pork and gizzards and it seems to be fine. Just my opinion and how my girl reacted. Boy is it ever trail and error. Her feet also are now dry.
Roanne
I that Kofi does the
best on chicken too. Ground beef seemed to give her eyes a little stain. I may grind some beef on my own and see how she does.
Audrey's tear stains have not changed at all
Judy just pointed out to me that some supplements have sugar, and sure enough when I checked mine they are stabilized with dextrins/sugar! Plus she gets dehydrated bananas as treats. So I thnk she just can not handle the carbs. She is SO darn sensitive! I also think hers are not 100% food related, but have a lot to do with her eye watering and her nose rope causing a deep place for the moisture to accumulate. The big thing is they do not smell anymore, and she is no longer insanely itching her face.
Cathy and Audrey
I am currently feeding Prairie Salmon and they do not have any
major issues but my male's face is often wet and brown as well as brown coloring between his toes. They both shed like freaks - though their coats are good. My rescue (I have had her 6 months now) has an oily and course coat. I was hoping the premium food would help. I am tight on money and time so I am nervous about homemade raw and have looked at premade but $$$$. I did not know if I should try grain free kibble first or if it was horrible if I mixed it up by alternating a grain free kibble then a premade raw one.
Also- if I do the Premade Raw (Natures Variety) do I need to do the addl items- probiotics and fish oil??????
I requested the book by Carina McDonald that was recommended from the library and should have it this week to start reading. So much to learn.... I think once I got comfortable with the process and read more about what to do then I would feel better about grinding and making their food. From what my calculations are coming up with- raw is going to double in cost to what I am paying now. Do you buy your meats at Sams or Costco or just a local butcher?
Cost of food
I buy ONLY whats on sale. I have 2 50 lb bullies and my cost is $50-60 a month to feed them. I get my chicken for .77 cents a pound or less sometimes. I recently bought a used fridge to handle the over flow. That is a great book. I started with that too. It gave me the confidence to start this process. I do grind there food up so I take about a 1/2 day to do a months worth of food and package it and freeze it. I love my babies and it is sooooo worth it.
I also read that potatoes/sweet potatoes can cause inflamation and I noticed alot of the premade/grain free use this as one of the main ingredients. Go figure.....
grains have a very bad reputation
so many people look for grain free. What they are not realizing is that dogs do not need carbohydrates, AT ALL.
Potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, barley, wheat, are all starches/carbohydrates, and they all can contribute to yeast problems. It makes their bodies work very hard to process. They are very cheap though, so that's why the dog food companies put them in there. They are hoping the average dog owner is assuming that dogs have similar nutritional needs as humans, so people will think that adding it to the dog food makes it 'complete' and 'balanced'.
Cathy and Audrey
Books
If you have a Borders near you they carry Carina's book. The other books by Tom Lonsdale I ordered used from amazon from the closest seller to my state with the best rating so I would get it the fastest and sure enough I got it in 3 days. It is better to own Carina's book than loan it. I went straight to raw rather than getting NV because I didn't want two detox sessions :(
<3
Skasqueeeeeeakaaay!!
Katie & Chumlee