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Adding raw food to dog's dinner


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Can anyone give me some advice on the above please. I've decided to add raw food to the dog's dinner in the shape of Natural Instinct Senior. We recently had to take the her down to the vet to have her boosters but whilst we were down there we got him to check out her skin as we'd found a scaly dry patch on her back. She'd had 'dandruff' here and there and never really thought much of it other than adding some fish oil to her feed (James Wellbeloved Turkey/lamb/duck with rice).

 

We'd ben feeding this to her for a number of years and she seems relatively happy with it in so much as eating it all up and not really having issues with her stools, although we have noticed over the last few months that dog biscuits made her loose so we did away with giving her anything with wheat/gluten in.

 

The vet said the skin on her tummy was also dry and so we had some medicated shampoo for it. We also asked him about changing her diet which he gave the usual advice on. We have changed her JWB whatever with rice to a JWB Grain free, so Turkey with Veg. One of Mrs H's clients gave her a pack of the Natural Instinct Senior as that's what he feeds his dogs, along with dry mix. We tried her on a small amount last night and this morning and she seems to enjoy it with obvious effects.

 

I don't really want to keep her on that solely but like the idea of mixing it with her dry food. She's 20kg and they recommend 2 - 3% of the body weight per day. this works out about 500g. On the JWB we give her 80g in the morning and 160g at night. I'm conscious that the NI has a high moisture content so was thinking about half NI (125g morning & night) mixed with half JWB at 40g morning and 80g night. Does this sound right to you guys or am I overlooking something?

 

Thanks in advance.

Edited by Doc Holliday
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Ive been feeding my spaniel on a mix of raw (natures menu,raw chicken wings & bones) & chudleys biscuit since we've had her (8 now) , I also give her a cod liver oil tablet now and again which I get from sainsburys. Took me a while to get the amount of food per day right and will vary when shes out working a lot.

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Thanks guys. We had her spayed when we first got her 9 years ago.

 

How long have you been giving yours cod liver oil for? We used to give her cod liver oil but the vet said to Mrs H sometime back that it can build up the Vitamin A in their liver to toxic levels so she just has plain old fish oil now or evening primrose if that's on offer.

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With cod liver oil you do need to be careful about not overdosing because of vitamin A levels, but with an older dog its good as it helps their joints. Work out how much she needs from the directions on the bottle and don't overdo it.

Did the dry skin start after you stopped the cod liver oil.

 

Our pappillon we lost last year at 18 as his heart started to go, but his legs and coat were pretty good.

Dad always mixed cod liver oil in the Setters meals and most lived to between 12 and 14.

Edited by loriusgarrulus
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With cod liver oil you do need to be careful about not overdosing because of vitamin A levels, but with an older dog its good as it helps their joints. Work out how much she needs from the directions on the bottle and don't overdo it.

Did the dry skin start after you stopped the cod liver oil.

 

Our pappillon we lost last year at 18 as his heart started to go, but his legs and coat were pretty good.

Dad always mixed cod liver oil in the Setters meals and most lived to between 12 and 14.

 

It's hard to say really as she seems to have been a bit prone to 'dandruff' every so often but a look through her fur didn't really give cause for concern. The medicated shampoo seems to be doing the trick but I wanted to know if the quantities were about right. I was trying to gauge it taking in to account the level of moisture in the raw feed but her protein is up so this should satiate her appetite as it does so in humans. Protein - Fat - Carbs are the order of satiability, which is why you always have room for pud after stuffing your face with your roast chicken dinner.

 

I'll keep a close eye on her and see how she goes.

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Mixing raw and processed food is a big no no as they digest at different rates, this can cause a backup of fermenting food in the gut whilst it waits for the rest to digest

I've read this before, but I'm not totally convinced. Mine are both on a mix of various raw components and a good quality "complete" kibble, and they do fine on it, no upset guts or strange digestive patterns. Some raw manufacturers even sell their own biscuit mixer. I guess mine have about 1/4 of the meals volume as kibble. Going by the manufacturers feeding guidelines they're on about 65% raw allowance and 35% kibble. My crossbreed bitch is fed as the weight category above, because she's a skinny thing and doesn't keep still long enough to put weight on.

Dogs are both in excellent shape, never have wind and make small, firm ***** which are easy to pick up.

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I've read this before, but I'm not totally convinced. Mine are both on a mix of various raw components and a good quality "complete" kibble, and they do fine on it, no upset guts or strange digestive patterns. Some raw manufacturers even sell their own biscuit mixer. I guess mine have about 1/4 of the meals volume as kibble. Going by the manufacturers feeding guidelines they're on about 65% raw allowance and 35% kibble. My crossbreed bitch is fed as the weight category above, because she's a skinny thing and doesn't keep still long enough to put weight on.

Dogs are both in excellent shape, never have wind and make small, firm ***** which are easy to pick up.

 

Same experience as SimpleSimon but with a smaller ration of raw - got 15- and 14-year-old spaniels that have gotten a top-dressing of chicken and/or venison and occasional turkey necks for six or seven years now, and nothing detrimental from it over that time. Same for FT Labs 5- and 8-years old, and they're in the best physical condition of their lives. Have to think the raw has extended the lives of the oldtimers as they are two oldest dogs I've had and the longest-working gundogs though both semi-retired now.

 

MG

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