Raw fed dogs

[Ladymuck]

Hi just wondering if there is anyone on here who raw feeds their dog and what they do when away in the Cali ? My dog is raw fed because of allergies and all his food is frozen, i could buy fresh but would take over the fridge... so i'm wondering if anyone has any other ideas or suggestions on decent dry food. The last dry food he had was Appaws but his allergies were terrible on it.

 

[WelshGas]

Hi just wondering if there is anyone on here who raw feeds their dog and what they do when away in the Cali ? My dog is raw fed because of allergies and all his food is frozen, i could buy fresh but would take over the fridge... so i'm wondering if anyone has any other ideas or suggestions on decent dry food. The last dry food he had was Appaws but his allergies were terrible on it.

Why not enquire from your local vet?

 

[Ladymuck]

Why not enquire from your local vet?

I don't have any faith my vets they only recommend their own food. They don't seem to be very good with food allergies, spent over £1000 testing and they said he had no food allergies, prescribed loads of expensive creams to no avail. The only thing that worked was switching him to raw, we had only ever used one type of dry though..

 

[AlisonF]

My dogs have a mix of raw (stuffed frozen kongs in the evening) and a compatible (cold pressed) kibble for breakfast when at home. Could be raw all the time but having the kibble means I can also use it for training, AND when away camping. For short trips, fridge set to max and frozen kongs put in the bottom and are still frozen after 2 days (bare in mind so was my milk and juice, thank heavens there was still some liquid wine).
Hope that helps?

 

[andyinluton]

Diesel, the westie in my avatar was almost bald at 6 months old due to his allergies.
It took 3 months and £1000s for the dog to see specialists etc to find he was allergic to Chicken, beef, & 4 varieties of grass for starters.

He ended up on a dry Hills prescription food - could have duck or salmon, all other flavours had chicken included in the hidden in the ingredients.

Your vet must be able to do further blood tests to establish what it is. If not try a different vet.

The dry food & numerous steroid injections he had over the years didn't do his kidneys any good in the end, but he held on for 10 years & was fit enough to catch rabbits for all bar the last month or so.

Our vet recons that wastes are the one dog that its essential to insure as they are well known for allergies & other hard to diagnose problems.(ours wasn't)

 

[Tracey2540]

I feed raw but if we are away I feed Fresco which is dehydrated raw. Not cheap but really good food.

 

[andyinluton]

My aunt (in Australia) who used to breed show winning Bernaise Mountain dogs used to feed hers slightly cooked vegetables that was all, arguing that wild dogs naturally would have eaten the partially digested contents of their preys stomachs rather than tearing off lumps of meat.

 

[Flintymutt]

Hi just wondering if there is anyone on here who raw feeds their dog and what they do when away in the Cali ? My dog is raw fed because of allergies and all his food is frozen, i could buy fresh but would take over the fridge... so i'm wondering if anyone has any other ideas or suggestions on decent dry food. The last dry food he had was Appaws but his allergies were terrible on it.

Just buy it as you need it. There are loads of shops over the uk that sell it. Youll find some in easy reach of most campsites.

 

[Ian-M]

Perdie the whippet has a raw diet - when we’re away we take some frozen raw with us and then use tinned sardines and rehydrated (add water) raw food from Rocketo. We’ve just traded up from 20 years tenting to a T5.1 California so looking forward to making use of the fridge

 

[Ladymuck]

My dogs have a mix of raw (stuffed frozen kongs in the evening) and a compatible (cold pressed) kibble for breakfast when at home. Could be raw all the time but having the kibble means I can also use it for training, AND when away camping. For short trips, fridge set to max and frozen kongs put in the bottom and are still frozen after 2 days (bare in mind so was my milk and juice, thank heavens there was still some liquid wine).
Hope that helps?

Thanks, with 2 kids and all the wine I like to drink I'd prefer to keep fridge free of dog food but good to know I can keep it frozen for a few days, I need to see the fridge to get an idea of the size too..

 

[Ladymuck]

Diesel, the westie in my avatar was almost bald at 6 months old due to his allergies.
It took 3 months and £1000s for the dog to see specialists etc to find he was allergic to Chicken, beef, & 4 varieties of grass for starters.

He ended up on a dry Hills prescription food - could have duck or salmon, all other flavours had chicken included in the hidden in the ingredients.

Your vet must be able to do further blood tests to establish what it is. If not try a different vet.

The dry food & numerous steroid injections he had over the years didn't do his kidneys any good in the end, but he held on for 10 years & was fit enough to catch rabbits for all bar the last month or so.

Our vet recons that wastes are the one dog that its essential to insure as they are well known for allergies & other hard to diagnose problems.(ours wasn't)

Awh i hear a lot of westies with severe allergies. My poodle isn't that bad but his ear infections were terrible, he was so miserable, the vets were talking about operating on them ! All it took was the switch to raw food in the end. He has other alergies such as dust and pollen but we can manage them by washing his face etc.
RIP Diesel, sounds like you did your best for him and he had a wonderful life

 

[Ladymuck]

Thanks guys, will look at the dehydrated stuff. Plus if frozen bag stays frozen for a day or 2 night be able to do that and get some more while away as suggested.

 

[Ladymuck]

My aunt (in Australia) who used to breed show winning Bernaise Mountain dogs used to feed hers slightly cooked vegetables that was all, arguing that wild dogs naturally would have eaten the partially digested contents of their preys stomachs rather than tearing off lumps of meat.

He has veg only 1 day a week for the same reason

 

[Velma's Dad]

So many 'no additive' dry foods out there, but it must be hard to find one that works if your dog has an unidentified allergy. I guess you just have to experiment.

Just as a sample of one of the good quality kibbles: we use Eden 80/20, which we chose after I did some research a while back. It's basically 80% meat/fish and 20% fruit and veg. No grain, gluten or white potato. All I can say is our dog is great on it, even though for a working cocker a high-protein food is kind of rocket fuel.

Agree about the vets, they all seem to push Royal Canin (not sure what the back-deal is for them on that) but it just seems to me to to be over-priced rubbish.

 

[andyinluton]

Our current dog is a cockerpoo and we decided to insure her for the first year as hopefully by then we would know if there are any allergies etc.

The only allergy she appears to have is to the anaesthetic they used when she was spayed, that resulted in a weeks stay at the Royal Veterinary College and a 5 figure bill which was paid by Sainsburys pet insurance without question. The £150 in premiums I had paid up till then seems a good bet.

 

[AlisonF]

Thanks, with 2 kids and all the wine I like to drink I'd prefer to keep fridge free of dog food but good to know I can keep it frozen for a few days, I need to see the fridge to get an idea of the size too..

Haha, mine was full of wine for 1 - and any guests, of course...

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Our Reggie loves Butterbox:

Butternut Box | Fresh Dog Food Delivery

Butternut Box is a fresh dog food subscription. Our meals are healthy, delicious and hypoallergenic. Perfectly-portioned and delivered direct to your door.

butternutbox.com

And for dry food:

Barking Heads & Meowing Heads

Barking Heads & Meowing Heads is a wholesome range of pet food, made with natural ingredients of the highest quality and created by a group of people who love pets and care about what goes into their bowls. Buy online today for fast and free delivery to your door.

barkingheads.co.uk

 

[Tloeg]

Hi. We too feed our GSD a raw diet when at home. Have seen a recommendation above for Fresco products which I can second but also take a look at Meatlove dog food which is excellent.

 

[Keith Smith]

Our collie had a food allergy and we found that most dog foods don’t have a consistent formula. They basically put in whatever they can get to make a balanced food so just because your dog is fine with one packet it may be allergic to the next. In the end we found Orijen, it’s Canadian but not too difficult to find a retailer in the UK. It’s quite expensive but Molly loved it, in fact when we first tried it we gave her a little portion along with her usual food and she ate the Orijen and left the rest. Molly was allergy free from that day on so it worked for us, with luck it may work for you too.

 

[SharonW]

We have 2 Irish setters (can be fussy and sensitive) who have raw food for breakfast and Burns dried food with a cooked chicken thigh for tea. We take blocks of frozen raw and precook chicken thighs and freeze daily portions. If all pre frozen it keeps more or less frozen for up to 7 days if the fridge is on max in summer or 5 in winter and located on the bottom against the back wall. I keep the raw blocks in zip close plastic bags just incase of leaks. We also plan our routes so we know where local stockists are. Managed plenty of 3 week trips with no problems.

 

[MattBW]

Only raw at home for us, just not worth the risk on a hygiene front for us when away.

 

[Ladymuck]

Only raw at home for us, just not worth the risk on a hygiene front for us when away.

Yes I understand where you are coming from which is why I'd like to see if we can make dry food work for him on hols

 

[Ladymuck]

Thanks for your suggestions, think it's going to be trial and error to see what works

 

[daz60]

Hi, we also feed Quinn raw, we call into super markets, butchers and pick up mince meat, chicken wings at a push he will eat Arden Grange its naturally hypoallergenic.

 

[Dottie]

I used Honeys raw food and managed to take enough for 4-5 days stored in the fridge, then organised 2 other deliveries to sites in a 2 week period. That worked well, but I was prebooking sites which removes spontaneity. The wardens were happy to take in the delivery and leave it in the site freezer for me, but I have noticed that some site freezers are for ice blocks only....
however last year I took enough for the week and weened her onto a good quality dry and Nature...something which was a sachet of wet food....this worked better.
Honeys are really helpful in advising on the what‘s best when using their food and I would think they’d advise on ‘holiday cover’ options too. I got started on Honeys cos my friend’s dog had allergies and it was relieved by changing to Honeys raw food. (I still have a freezer full....but no dog....I’m hoping the local rescue place will be able to use it). I’d definitely feed any future dog with this....it’s organic, wild, full of meat and veg She probably ate a better diet than me!