I just posted this on another thread about raw diets.....
"Depending on how old a person's pup is......I almost killed an entire litter thinking my smart a$$ was going to be all healthy and doing the right thing, when I was so far behind the learning curve it was dangerous. You know how they always say, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."? Well, I learned very quickly you do NOT give raw chicken (Primal) to puppies, even tho they absolutely ADORE it!!, because their intestines do not have the necessary bacteria and flora to digest/process raw chicken, and they all started vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, advancing to bloody stools from the slick gut that developed from the constant diarrhea....we got it stopped before it went on to produce toxic shock syndrome or a systemic bacteremia, kidney damage, etc ......so I learned MY lesson and wont be doing THAT again! Now for a mature dog, raw is great, if that is the direction you want to go. But do NOT feed raw meat to young puppies! Experimenting on your puppy with something as simple as diet, because you go out and read a little and think you know what you are doing, can really show you just how woefully inadequate your knowledge base is. It sure did stop my gleeful bouncing around in the raw dog food department, trying to make the transition from momma's milk to RC puppy kibble easy! (Thank God, RC has come out with canned Starter Mousse and canned puppy food for that transition!)" |