Go Back   Pet forum for dogs cats and humans - Pets.ca > Discussion Groups - mainly cats and dogs > Dog food forum > Feeding raw food to dogs & cats - B.A.R.F - RMB - Homecooked diet

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old October 29th, 2008, 09:39 PM
TulipRoxy's Avatar
TulipRoxy TulipRoxy is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 312
Health Conditions and Raw

I'm interested in talking to people whose dogs or cats have health conditions and are being fed a raw food diet. The reason I am interested in this is that I am taking a nutrition course, which of course teaches us about all the comercally available products to treat commom problems such as kidney failure, urinary crystals, liver disease, joint disease,gastrointestinal problems or food allergies. I feed my dogs raw however, and feel that there must be a better option for a sick dog than to feed it a highly processed product.

I would be interested to know
1) What health condition your pet has
2) Did he develop it before or after going on raw?
3) What special adjustements to his diet did you make to help with his health condition? ( ie is what foods did you add or take away)
4) Have you noticed any improvement or has your vet noticed any improvement?
__________________
Miranda
Tulip Roxy Nelly
Sencha and Alaska
Come Visit Us! http://myminizoo.wordpress.com
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old October 29th, 2008, 11:25 PM
totallyhip's Avatar
totallyhip totallyhip is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Vancouver, BC CANADA
Posts: 550
1. Our oldest boy had head tremors about 20 mins to 1/2 hour after eating kibble. They would last for about 20 seconds. We switched his food several times and saw 3 different vets (who had really bad explainations for it....one wanted to do exploratory surgery!). I did the research on raw and figured it was worth a shot. He hasn't had a head tremor since we changed to raw. That was 5 years ago. Plus Luke was at the vet almost every other month with one thing or another. His anal glands had to be expressed bi-monthly by the vet. He rarely goes to the vet now.

2. Before going on raw

3. No adjustments. Luke did develop allergies about 2 years after we started raw. He is allergic to all poultry.

4. Tons of improvement. Our vet bill for 1 is minimal. His teeth are amazing. Our vet says his teeth are like a 1 year old. No tartar whatsoever! He has the sofetest and shinest coat. His anal glands are expressed naturally thru the diet.
__________________
Owned By:
Han Solo - Male Flashy Fawn Boxer (RESCUE)
Chewie - Male White Boxer (RESCUE)
Lovey - Female Fawn Boxer (RESCUE)
Anakin - Male Brindle Boxer (RESCUE)

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. - Mohandas Gandhi -

~Until there are none, rescue one ~

Boxer Rescue - www.rescueaboxer.com
Scentsy - www.ilovescents.ca
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old October 30th, 2008, 12:00 AM
growler~GateKeeper's Avatar
growler~GateKeeper growler~GateKeeper is offline
Moderator
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 17,568
Quote:
Originally Posted by TulipRoxy View Post
1) What health condition your pet has
2) Did he develop it before or after going on raw?
3) What special adjustements to his diet did you make to help with his health condition? ( ie is what foods did you add or take away)
4) Have you noticed any improvement or has your vet noticed any improvement?
1) My cat has Chronic Kidney Failure
2) It was a result of the RC tainted pet food recall
3) She's only on raw & lovin' it, addiing homeopathic & natural food supplements, just started subq fluids
4) Her kidney numbers have actually dropped slightly since being on raw (this is a very good thing), better appetite, more energetic, happier, poop is better, coat is better, her teeth are better
__________________
Avoid biting when a simple growl will do

The Spirit Lives As Long As Someone Who Lives Remembers You - Navaho Saying
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old October 30th, 2008, 08:02 AM
pitgrrl's Avatar
pitgrrl pitgrrl is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: MTL
Posts: 1,199
Quote:
Originally Posted by TulipRoxy View Post

I would be interested to know
1) What health condition your pet has
2) Did he develop it before or after going on raw?
3) What special adjustements to his diet did you make to help with his health condition? ( ie is what foods did you add or take away)
4) Have you noticed any improvement or has your vet noticed any improvement?

1-My dog has chronic colitis (or IBD, except I've never had an endonoscopy to allow this to be officially diagnosed)

2-long before going to a raw diet

3-the only adjustment is not feeding certain meat types he can't tolerate and following more or less prey model raw as he does far better without the addition of veggies or grains.

4-there have been huge improvements in his overall health, as well as his digestive system specifically. My vet, who is open to but certainly not knowledgeable about raw feeding, thinks Streets is doing well enough that she now calls me a few times a year when she gets a dog in with sever digestive problems to ask about diet advice
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old October 30th, 2008, 08:06 AM
Love4himies's Avatar
Love4himies Love4himies is offline
Rescue is my fav. breed
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Boating in the 1000 Islands
Posts: 17,769
Feed my foster kittens raw, they don't have health issues, but did want to let you know that every vet who has seen them can't believe their muscle mass. Huge difference in their physique than kibble fed kittens.
__________________
Cat maid to:


Rose semi feral, a cpietra rescue, female tabby (approx 13 yrs)

Jasper RIP (2001-2018)
Sweet Pea RIP (2004?-2014)
Puddles RIP (1996-2014)
Snowball RIP (1991-2005)

In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats.-English Proverb

“While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.” Stephen R. Covey
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old October 30th, 2008, 09:18 AM
TulipRoxy's Avatar
TulipRoxy TulipRoxy is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 312
Thanks everyone! What bothers me about the pet food industry, and especially the vet side of the pet food industry is that it really seems like a viscious circle. All they seem to be doing is fixing the problems they create. Its really an excellent money making sceme if you ask me. We had a representative from Royal Canin come in the other day, she did an extensive talk on their diets and all the research they do on finding diets for specific health problems. At the end of the lecture I asked her if they did any research on diets that prevent illnesses such as urinary stones or kidney disease. She didnt really understand me, and started talking about the diets and case studies that they have for pets that already have conditions. Then I got to thinking, why would you want to prevent a cat from having urine stones, its one of the most common illnesses in cats and makes vets and the pet food companies millions.So much for their mission statement that everything is for the health and well being of the animals! As well, why are there so many heath problems with pets in general? Why do pets have kidney problems, liver problems, allergies, gastrointestinal problems, surely diet has something to do with it! Anyways this class and listening to reps in person is giving me a good background of knowledge... Hopefully some day I can work in a holistic clinic that believes that a natural food diet is better for animals than highly processed corn and soy products!
__________________
Miranda
Tulip Roxy Nelly
Sencha and Alaska
Come Visit Us! http://myminizoo.wordpress.com
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old October 30th, 2008, 09:23 AM
TulipRoxy's Avatar
TulipRoxy TulipRoxy is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 312
As far as my four,three have been relatively healthy. My cat Sencha developed struvite crystals this spring, though. He was fed a good quality dry food, and I tried to feed him wet as well but he would have nothing to do with it. After he developed the crystals, though, the vet put him on antibiotics, and special vet food. As soon as he was done the treatment I switched him to a mixture of canned and raw. It took a while for him to get used to first canned, and then I started mixing raw in. Now he actually chews up small chunks of turkey wing, or chicken necks, and eats a variety of organs, meat, egg and yogurt. He has had no re-accurance of crystals or straining to go, so I'm super happy.
__________________
Miranda
Tulip Roxy Nelly
Sencha and Alaska
Come Visit Us! http://myminizoo.wordpress.com
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old November 6th, 2008, 06:52 PM
sugarcatmom's Avatar
sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Calgary, AB
Posts: 5,357
Quote:
Originally Posted by TulipRoxy View Post
1) What health condition your pet has
15+ yr old male cat with Diabetes Mellitus.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TulipRoxy View Post
2) Did he develop it before or after going on raw?
Before. He was diagnosed at 9 years of age after a lifetime of the crappiest of the crap, Science Diet Light dry food. I knew absolutely nothing about feline nutrition, and the kicker is that my cats weren't even fat. My vet thought they should be on it to prevent them from getting fat. Result: one cat became obese (later died of IBD) and the other one got diabetes. Both my vet and I are now considerably wiser about diet. She isn't totally sold on raw but does agree cats need wet food.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TulipRoxy View Post
3) What special adjustements to his diet did you make to help with his health condition? ( ie is what foods did you add or take away)
Eventually weaned him off of his kibble addiction. Not easy to do with a diabetic that has to eat. Over many months, I got him eating more and more canned, less and less kibble (EVO), and now he eats 50/50 raw and canned (not in the same meal, just overall). No dry whatsoever. Dry = carbs + lack of moisture. Not a good combo when treating diabetes.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TulipRoxy View Post
4) Have you noticed any improvement or has your vet noticed any improvement?
Absolutely! His insulin requirements have dropped from 4.4u bid to 1.25u bid. We weren't lucky enough to go off insulin entirely, but many other cats have by changing to a species-appropriate diet. His fur is also glorious and the vet is amazed at how good he looks for a geriatric diabetic.
__________________
"To close your eyes will not ease another's pain." ~ Chinese Proverb

“We must not refuse to see with our eyes what they must endure with their bodies.” ~ Gretchen Wyler
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Forum Terms of Use

  • All Bulletin Board Posts are for personal/non-commercial use only.
  • Self-promotion and/or promotion in general is prohibited.
  • Debate is healthy but profane and deliberately rude posts will be deleted.
  • Posters not following the rules will be banned at the Admins' discretion.
  • Read the Full Forum Rules

Forum Details

  • Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
    Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
    vBulletin Optimisation by vB Optimise (Reduced on this page: MySQL 0%).
  • All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:19 AM.