Thank you!!!:D

My "anorexic" dog tears around the park chasing birds and tennis balls while the overweight dogs lay in the shade, panting! My Ella Bean at 2 1/2 lbs can run faster (and often does) then her much larger (heavier) counterparts.

And kudos on the sleek cats. There isn't anything more beautiful then a sleek, lean cat leaping up onto some high place. We have come to accept fat cats and pudgy pups as the norm!!

Especially the fat cats!

My son's lab came back to use from his dad's overweight and in such a poor way back at the end of March.

He is 14 and that weight would've shortened his time here for sure.

He looks 5 years younger now. His cloudy eyes cleared up and his stiffness is non existant now.

I do wonder why more pet owners don't do this to save their pets, in light of the availability of pre-packaged raw diets, the cheapness of buying raw parts or belonging to a meat co-op. The information is readily available on the internet and so are the products!

Too often I hear tales of dogs being euthanized from "incurable" conditions that a raw diet and detoxification would temper...

Oh def!

I recently started using diapers on the lab. Meds stopped working to contain his leakiness and my son, (the lab is his) said the other night, "Thanks for being willing to do the extra work with the diapers mom(I'm using cloth diapers) most people would just put him down instead.

He's right, so many treat pets like disposible conveinences.:eek:

I love that your son thanked you!! Too often good deeds go unthanked. Poor leaky lab! Have you tried or heard of BandiBoos? they are also cloth, but just go around the belly and they catch anything plus they come in cute colors and have tough boy designs on them!

Sorry, I know thats not related much to this thread.:angel:

Not heard of those but you can see a pic of Zack in his wrap that I posted here:

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/my-...per-sized.html

Awww, poor baby! But at least he doesn't look unhappy in his big boy diapers! Man, makes me wonder what all will be in store for my dog and me in the future, he's 12 already..... really puts things in perspective! I'm with you; as long as it's not life threatening, I'm against long term meds as well. We may not be able to fully return the old guys back to where they should've been (health wise) but at least their twilight years will be spent more comfortable and our current, younger babies will not have to suffer through the same illnesses as wrong diet will undoubtedly bring!

Hi
 

Hi guys, Im new to Raw. I started out posting about my dogs skin issues. Got great response that lead me to do my research on systemic yeast infection. I found Raw is the best way to go for my guy. We started June 3rd. I didnt realize until after reading many of these posts on the PMD thread, that you should feed only one type of food for the first few weeks. Well I bought Drumettes, Beef heart, Boneless pork, Ground turkey and beef. I putt all of this in little meals in baggies and froze them. So he gets a little bit of each every day. So far no nasty poop. He loves his food. I have been having a hard time deciding how much to feed. Each bag weights about 4-5 oz. I came across several sites that said you should feed about 2-3 % of body weight. He weight 6.6 lbs. That would be 0.18 oz a day?? That seems like nothing. I was giving him the entire 4-5 oz bag twice a day. This morning I cut it down to half of that bag and I will give the rest this evening. As far as changes I have noticed..... He doesnt mope around the house. I know when he doesnt feel good, he mopes. when hes mad he mopes and he also poops right behind where im standing so I will step in it. He is so vengeful. lol But that only happens when he is really mad. which isnt very often. He has more energy, is more excited. The itching hasnt stopped but it seems to have slowed down alot. The bad breath isnt as bad but his smelly skin is still there. Its only been a few days. Only time will tell. My other dogs are on K*bble. Only because they havent had any problems. I have a Rottwieler, Carrin terrier mix, female yorkie, my sick male and a female yorkie pup from there last and final litter. My female yorkie has very thick course hair and has never grown. She is almost three and her hair is so short. Now the female puppy I kept from their litter is gorgeous. Her pic is the one I have on here. She is going to look like her dad. She is 5 months and weights three pounds. Her hair is so diff from her daddy's too. His was curly and wavy and never really laid down. Gidgets (the puppy) is not as thin as his was but not thick like moms and lays straight down to her sides. Strange that two diff yorkies coats can make suck a gorgeous coat. If she begins to have trouble I will put her on the diet as well. I cant afford to do all of the right now, even tho I would love to. I hope I havent rambled I tend to do that..

I love the first website and I've seen it before but the shipping is just way too expensive. But THANK YOU so much for posting the Prey 4 Pets website because the shipping is much more reasonable!! I just placed an order!!!

THANK YOU! :D

Welcome!!!!
 

So nice to find you here! I'm happy to hear that you have taken an interest in this thread and are reading much info. The 2-3 % feeding guideline is just a starter figure and I never went by that. Most people know their dogs and how much they should eat. Also, us people with small dogs feed at least 2 times a day so that makes it easier to eyeball as well! I have a female that weighs 5 1/2 pounds and she eats half of a chicken drumstick at one sitting and the rest of it at another sitting. My 10 pounder eats the entire drumstick at one sitting. My 1 1/2 pound girl eats the equivalent of half a chicken wing at one sitting. I feed my dogs 3 times day, the little one eats 4 times a day. Breakfast is raw meaty bones, lunch is organ meats and/or eggs, snack for the little one is a little boneless meat and dinner consists of raw meaty bones again. Don't waste your money on the ground meats. You live in Texas, right? Most places nowadays have Ethnic grocery stores and places with a large latin population have stores with an awesome variety of meats you won't find anywhere else and cheap as well! Here in Arizona I shop for my dog's meats at Food City, Fry's Mercado, El Super and Rancher's Market grocery store where I watch for meat sales. I regularly score on chicken and turkey for less than 60 cents per pound! I feed about 15-20 pounds of food per month between 3 dogs and I never spend more than $20 per month, if that much!

The skin issues were not made overnight and they won't get better overnight. Systemic yeast infection is a stubborn and hard egg to crack. The right diet is a start but you will have to treat the skin as well! The Chlorhexiderm shampoo is a bit pricey, but it's given me great results! What also works is Selsun Blue shampoo followed by the baking soda rinse. You will have to wash your dog several times a week, as your dog is detoxing, the emerging dying yeast toxins need to be killed off with the antibacterial/anti fungal agents in the skin treatments. Vinegar is a great, cheap and non-toxic way to counteract the yeast. I used to make a diluted vinegar ear wash for my dog. I was carefully swabbing all over the ear and then wiped the flap to remove the yeast with cotton balls. During the more severe stages of detox I would also use that diluted vinegar solution to spray my dog's body down several times a day. I also kept his hair cut to a skin close shave so I could monitor his outbreaks better and so the topical treatments could seap in better. After each shave down, I would re-bathe my dog and then applied 100% pure Aloe Vera gel. It smells pleasant, is non-toxic not sticky and it soothed his skin! I would suggest to go as natural as possible, avoiding any harsh chemicals! During that time, I also started using an organic, non-chemical dish washing soap for cleaning the food and water bowls which are ceramic bowls that have been made in the USA and glazed with non-toxic materials. I also looked at his bedding and toys etc. I am now using all organic cotton bedding/blankets and stopped buying toys from China. I make sure that his toys are either un-dyed or that natural vegetable based dye was used. Basicially, I went over everything in my house that he could get in touch with, taste, smell etc. So one day I realized that my floor cleaner was toxic as well! I now use things like vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, grapefruit oil, baking soda and Castile Liquid soap to clean my house with! I was sceptical at first because my shiny wood floors are my pride and joy but I can honestly say that they look just as beautiful if not better by using these natural products instead! I also only use a natural/chemical free laundry soap for my dog's bedding and toys! I know this all sounds nuts and incredibly neurotic, but I found that this really not only helped my dogs but my human family as well as both my husband and my son have allergies and dry skin! And I save money in the process by not having to buy expensive cleaning products! After all, these are all things that our grandmothers used to clean with and back then things and foods just weren't as polluted as they are today! ;)
Keep us posted on your dog's progress!
LOL, you have found somebody to ramble with in me, I guess!!! Ha Ha Ha :D


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Where to find green tripe?
 

My pleasure, you're very welcome! There might be a few more online raw suppliers, please add on to the list if anybody knows any!!!
I hear ya about the shipping $$$! :mad:
What I do sometimes is that I split the shipping cost with a few other people that feed raw as well and we submit a group order.

Hi
 

HI, its been awhile.
Chewy is doing better. I have been bathing him with baking soda and spraying with a vinager mix as instructed. He still claws and scrathes his arm pits and chest area. I have to keep little booties on him so he doesnt get all bloody. The smelly sores on his back are going away. The skin still seems so dry and tough. You know the elephant skin thing, and where he scratches, when it heals its turning black. Will this ever go away? Will his back always look like hes part elephant? lol. He doesnt smell at all any more unless he has a flare up. He no longer has itchy, watery eyes. His bad breath and dirty teeth are gone. I cant believe how clean they are. I am keeping him shaved to be able to get the baking soda and vinegar on the skin but he is scratching alot less. Used to he would only scratch his back end by his tail and as much of his back he could get (mainly it was all he could reach). He hasnt been scratching that anymore, its just chest and arm pits and under his ears. Maybe some one whos been thru this can let me know if this is a sign of major improvement. I see that it is. His back was so bad he chewed himself bald. Now the hair is growing so fast I am shaving all the time. didnt have to before. lol.

Improvements
 

Hi! Yes, it has been a while and I couldn't believe just now that somebody actually still posts here (very old thread, lol) But I remember you and I'm the one who has a dog who has been going through the same exact issues as your dog! Improvement sure is fast but a COMPLETE turn around will take a LONG time! It took my dog over a year and he still has a little bit of elephant skin on his belly and *some* black spots but he doesn't scratch or bite himself anymore. My best guess is that this might be permanent skin tissue damage, but I have no scientific proof of this, just my own observations.... I know that expelling the yeast and rebuilding a normal, healthy immune system is very time consuming as the dog has to heal himself from the inside out and flare ups are typical. You're doing all of right things! You can soothe the dry skin (especially after a shave down) with 100% pure aloe vera gel. I have the Panama Jack brand but there are many good ones out there. I would also start to cut back on the baking soda washes as baking soda acts as a mild abrasive and oil stripper. It's a fantastic, natural way to rid the skin of the emerging toxins but it can be a bit harsh on the skin as well. Also be sure that the daily spray down vinegar/water solution truly is mild as vinegar can irritate if made too pure! Have you purchased the Chlorhexiderm Max 4% shampoo? I have tried so many different ones, but this shampoo REALLY helped my dog and what I did was bathe my dog every 2-3 days with this shampoo and once a week I bathed him with baking soda mixed with tea tree oil in castile liquid soap. Yes, the armpit and chest/belly area is THE spot for itching from the yeast. Also the groin/privates areas so they're the last, stubborn areas on my dog as well! I suspect that your dog still experiences yeasty ears (as did my own dog) so make sure you frequently swab those out with the vinegar solution. DON'T pour it into the ear canal, just douse two Q tips with the vingear solution and gently swab out the entire outer ear canal area and don't forget the ear flap (cotton ball). Yeast's best friend is warm moisture, so I blow dried my dog after a bath and dried his ears good as well, followed by ear cleaning!
Hang in there! A yeasty dog's detox is a long, frustrating process and set backs are common as well! It truly is a battle but by doing all of the previously discussed things for your dog, he WILL get better, little by little!
Keep us posted!

ok, ok, I am here.....

I have read up to page 5 and I will continue to read later..I just had to share how excited I am!

I started TJ and Roxy on pre-made last year, they were on it for 6 months and literally a few days before I was about to feed them their first organic chix drumstix, I got their first BAT results back...not good :eek:

So that was the end of Raw :(

It has been 1 year later...Roxy most likely has MVD, she is currently on a home made meal where she get her protein from cottage cheese and eggs. TJ was eating the same thing, but since his first BAT was only a little high and then came back down to normal, I would give him more protein in the form of chicken (cooked). I have since contacted a nutritionist who has balanced the diet I was feeding, but I think with the added supplements, TJ is not happy, he was always a bratty eater and now it is bad again.

So, today I have seriously considered starting TJ on Raw again, as he LOVED it last year.

My brain however is so filled right now with what I needed to do for liver compromised dogs, that I need some time to think again about Raw and such....So, I think I am going to start TJ on the premade again for a couple of months until I can think straight :rolleyes:

I may even let Roxy have a chix drumstix everyone once and a while, when I get to that point with TJ, as I think she can benefit from the 'ripping and eating the bone' - I wish I could put her back on Raw totally, but I am so fearful of her MVD, although she shows no symptoms, I am so scared :(

Any pointers right now is appreciated....

Still not eating!
 

OK, this is morning 2. Have tried hand feeding a meaty bone. Have tried feeding small pieces of meat. He still will not eat. I have had a couple of responses and trying these suggestions. I may just be a worry wart, but my family is making me feel guilty for Nolee not eating.