Raw diet question.....looking for opinions!

[mcleodcon]

She has issues with chicken for sure so no chicken and I was thinking she might have trouble with grains. Not allergic per say but a sensitivity, so I went with a grain-free and went with Acana Ranchlands. I have been looking everywhere though to make sure it is ok for her since she is only 6 months. According to Acana it is suppose to be an all life stages. Do you know if it is ok for her?

 

[ruthcatrin]

Calcium's quite a bit to high (and so is the calcium/phos ratio) for a growing giant breed. Can you get the Duck and Pear formula? Or the Pacifica?

 

[mcleodcon]

I can switch to the pacifica she just doesn't like it as much. Maybe now she will like it better though. Do I have to wait until she is 2 to switch her to something like that then?

 

[ruthcatrin]

Yah. At least 1.5 anyway if possible. You want a calcium number between 1.0 and 1.8 and a calcium to phos ratio of 1.2 to 1 for a growing pup.

 

[mcleodcon]

Thats what I thought but the lady at the store said it was fine and is what her mastiffs eat. But then again hers are probably not puppies. And the guy at the store hates me but I love it. Finding something that works for the puppy and for you is so hard to do when there are problems. I will go and buy a bag of the pacifica tomorrow and mix the two together until they run out and then just stay with pacifica. I wanted to try a new one by totw but they don't have it in the store and last time I ordered food they took forever to get it and now I don't need it, but they are the only ones that sell it I think

 

[mcleodcon]

How do you figure out the calcium/phos ratio if it doesn't say?

 

[ruthcatrin]

Does it give the calcium andphos numbers?

 

[mcleodcon]

yep 1.4 for calcium as fed and 1 for phos as fed

 

[ruthcatrin]

That ones easy, 1.4 to 1, thats not to bad in the over all scheme of things.

 

[ruthcatrin]

Ratio's are basically division. So if you have a calcium number of 1 and a phos number of .8 you'd divide both numbers by the phos numbr (.8 in this example) to get a ratio of 1.25 to 1

 

[mcleodcon]

Ah ok well if I can get the totw one tomorrow I might mix the 2 of them together because I just found a store that does sell it in my area but it doesn't necessarily mean they will sell the puppy kind. Most puppy kibble has chicken in and I seriously don't get why because a lot of people have said their dogs can't have chicken.

 

[ruthcatrin]

Chicken's cheap :/

 

[mcleodcon]

True it is however I know Izzy can't eat it, my sisters lab can't eat it, my aunts dog (I don't know what she is) can't eat it and I have read several people say their dog can't eat it. I wish she could it would make feeding her ssssooo much easier!

 

[ruthcatrin]

If it wasn't chicken it'd be something else. The reason so many dogs have problems with it is because so many dogs are exposed to it. If they switched to, say fish, as THE protein, soon it'd be fish that so many dogs reacted to.

 

[musicdeb]

Sorry to hear that it didn't work out with the raw diet. It's not for everyone and you gave it your best shot.

Let us know how she progresses.

 

[mcleodcon]

Sorry to hear that it didn't work out with the raw diet. It's not for everyone and you gave it your best shot.

Let us know how she progresses.

thanks music deb i will keep you posted lol right now she is not so excited about kibble after having raw!!!

 

[musicdeb]

She'll probably have stomach upset with the change back to kibble. Add some plain yogurt or probiotics to her food to help with that.

 

[mcleodcon]

Would that happen right away? And what might happen?

 

[ruthcatrin]

diarrhea, but if its going to happen it'll probly be in teh first couple days.

 

[mcleodcon]

Thats what I figured. Her stool is soft but I can still pick it up. It might happen over the next couple days. She isn't eating a whole lot because who would after getting raw meat!! I am sure she will adjust back to eating normally over the next little bit. But she is now chewing sticks again and I know her stomach is bothering her because she is eating grass. The entire time she ate raw she didn't once touch a stick! I know raw is better but I just can't afford it at this point.