Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce's_Mom  I think for SOME dogs a raw diet is great, and I do believe that for those dogs it has amazing benefits...I do not think it is right for every dog however. Thus it should be thoroughly researched before it is fed, and if it appears to adversly impact the dog they should be taken off the diet...
I have always had problems with Bruce having a sensitive stomach, I surmise this is just another side effect of his poor breeding, and so after it seemed he was doing great on Innova but his coat seemed dull I consulted a caninine nutritionist. She suggested I feed raw, and worked out what seemed like a great diet plan. Bruce LOVED it!!! After a few days he started not to eat very much...Then came the explosive and bloody diherrea, then the vomiting and skin rash. I took him to the vet and he had colitis and seemed to be irritated by the diet, the nutritionist told me this was just detox from all the bad food he had before, eventually it got worse...I went back to the vet I told him what the nutritionist had explained...What he explained to me is that some dogs thrive others do not on the raw diet just like any other...I removed Bruce and got him back in his Innova and just started throwing a little cowboy magic in his hair and he could not be better!
I have noticed a lot of proponents of the raw diet really push it (no one here) on others, but if it doesn't work for your pooch, don't keep it up for long! |
I'm sorry you had a bad experience with raw. Raw is not for every owner, or every dog.
Some dogs do experience detox, its the body naturally shedding what has built up in their system over time. I helped to coach an owner through 4 weeks of detox, it was really hard and if the owner had wanted to give up at any time she could of but she made the decision to continue and he (the dog) is now the heathiest boy you could know, he is thriving and problems he experienced on kibble have disappeared. She knows now that she did the right thing. Many owners would not have been brave enough and that is
ok because we are all different.
There are certain precautions to take when switching to RAW, especially when a sensitive dog is concerned. The first is only one food at a time, you should choose one meat source only and introduce each part from that animal (i.e meat, rmb's and offal) at a time, only introduce the next food once you are certain that they are fine on the previous one. When people first switch to raw they tend to want to do everything at once, unfortunately this can have an adverse effect on a dog. After you have the meat and bones sorted you can add other things if you like. You should also feed live yogurt or another digestive support food to help them at the start. If they have eaten that same food for weeks, months or even years and then suddenly their owner is giving them several different foods a week it is a recipe for disaster. Switching to raw takes time and you have to be gentle about it.
Also its worth mentioning that the whole point of RAW is that you can taylor the diet to suit your particular dog. Some dogs need more meat to bone, some more bone to meat, some do well on white meat, some red, some both. Some dogs do great on fish, others can't stomach it. Just because one
type or raw diet doesen't suit a dog, it doesen't mean that no type of raw diet will. There is no right way to feed raw, its all about know thy dog.
Its understandable that RAW feeders will promote it because they have seen the difference it has made in their dog. Much like a huge amount of people on here promote home cooking or certain brands of kibble.