Question about raw diet - Page 1

Hi

I have recently started purchasing chicken wings for my 20 month old showline GSD. He's been on Arden Grange up until now and I have been giving him a couple of wings with his food in the morning and evening. Yesterday I took him to the vet for an infection his has just above his pad on his back paw. He also has an interdigital cyst.

Anyway, while there, I mentioned the raw diet and she said that she would not recomend it as raw chicken can have it's dangers. for that matter. all raw meat here in the UK has apparently got potential dangers. I am a little confused to say the least. Oh, the wings are human grade; i.e. from a supermarket.

Should I carry on feeding him some raw? If so, can I somehow negate some of the potential dangers?

Please advise

Sangar

I'm no expert on raw diets, but while  i m o  it is certainly true that all raw meat carries some risks, particularly if not stored properly, vets usually have a vested interest in turning clients away from such diets, because they are on commission as agents to sell something ready made.  

What hundmutter said!

Keep up with the raw and find a vet that agrees with the BARF diet.  (Yes some do, because they see so many skin complaints related to commercial food)

I second and third what has already been stated. The majority of vets do not approve of the raw diets.  It's kinda bad for business.....  I mean honestly have you seen the ingredient in vet diets?  May as well feed ole roy.

There is risk associated with anything you feed - kibble or raw. I'm curious why you are feeding chicken wings- they are pretty much bone (46%).

Lots of people who feed kibble also give their dogs raw chicken wings as treats or rewards.

The fact that wings are mostly bone is not a problem as the dogs pass through the excess and bone hardens stool.  There could be a loose stool problem if you were adding ground meat with no bone.  That could cause loose stool.

Your dog is getting its nutrition from kibble.  The raw wings are just in addition.

There are many, many different styles of raw and combined kibble/raw feeding.  I have personally tried quite a few of them in the fourteen years that I have been feeding raw.  My vet at the time I made the transition was against it, but not vehemently.  A couple of years later, she switched her own dogs to raw feeding.  She saw the result with my dogs and a couple of her friends were also feeding raw.

There is danger with every style of feeding.  One has to be observant and rational.  Even with good quality kibbles there are recalls.  Some Canadian companies were buying flour from China.  An enterprising Chinese supplier discovered that adding melamine (as in Melmac plastic dishes from the 1950's) to the flour tricked the test for protein content into reading higher than it really was.  Unfortunately, it also tricked the liver and kidneys into failure and death for many cats and dogs.

Michele, Pharaoh and Mariah

Hello All

Thanks for your comments and advice. Yes, I am adding raw chicken wings to his kibble. I will carry on with the kibble as the brank is above average here in the UK. Although, I am going to switch to the prestige variey as it does not have maize in it and the chicken content is higher.

Part of the reason I am switching is because he first got an infection on his rear right paw, as soon as that was cured, he got the same thing on his rear left paw and this cyst has appeared on his front right paw. He was on antibiotics for 2 weeks and has now been prescribed another course for another 2 weeks. On top of this, he has had a yeast infection in his ears which I treated with Zymox. My last GSD, who I believe was from working lines, did not ever have any of these issues!! He was altogether much more robust.

I also read somewhere that if you freeze raw meat and poultry for a week or so, the bad bacteria is killed off to some extent. I am not sure how true this is, but I guess it's worth trying out.

Most vets I know think that feeding raw is 'dangerous' - because it is usually 'dangerous' to their business (healthier dogs = less income). My girl hasn't seen the vet for any health reasons since I switched her to raw - and that was 6 years ago.

My first guess would be that the dog food had something to do with the health issues in your dog and not the raw chicken (did the producer changed the ingredients - did you recently bought new bag?). You say that your dog is 20 months old and only recently you added raw chicken wings. Raw chicken wings usually give them only runs as they don't have the right enzymes in their digestive track... Adding plain yogurt should take care of it in a while.  But switching to raw naturally may take few months... My favorite is ground beef that is much easier on their tummies and have better nutritional value.

I don't know why vets say that the raw meat is 'dangerous' to the dogs? What about all the stuff they pick up and eat while on the walk (like a dead rotting duck my girl brought from the woods the other day)? I would worry more about that than 'human grade' meat.

Interdigital cyst may be a reaction to the introduced allergen but its mostly case of foreign object (like a thorn) causing the infection.  If the cyst reoccurs you can take away the chicken as a precaution. Some dogs are very prone to those case of infection, especially if the infection is caused by hair themselves being pressed back into hair follicles during the walk. Clipping the hair from between the toes will reduce that risk. This case of infection is also very common as a reaction to antibiotics or other medications.
 

You could if worried about bacteria, coat the chicken wings in cold pressed Grape seed oil, it's a natural anti bacterial - but it's also really good for dogs anyways.

I'd be very inclined to ditch the commercial food altogether and go full raw and see if that makes a difference....

If it didn't I'd stop feeding chicken totally, and go back to a chicken free commercial, and see if that was where the problem lay.   if it is you can always go back to BARF just minus the chicken :)

Good luck

Hi am new to this forum but have been part of another forum for some time breed specific to 3 of my other dogs. I have 3 weimaraners 2 of which have grain allergies. I grew up around the raw diet for dogs fed it for a long while with my dogs until i had some health issues and it was easier for my kids and husband to feed kibble rather than get the right portions of everything necessary in their diet for each individual dog. Raw diets do amazing things for dogs in my experience my dogs have slicker shiny coats they are of good weight lean and full of muscle not skinny or over weight they have to take their time to eat which is really good for slowing down a scarfer less skin problems and no gunky ears you also know what your dog is getting exactly. Raw diets carry risk yes as does kibble but the nice thing about raw feeding is when there is an out break of salmanila from chicken or another source it is immediately recalled and is all over the news and internet where as the process of a kibble recall is a bit slower and the word doesn't spread as far and wide as it does with people food. Where it can take only one case of human illness to recall a specific meat it can take many cases of ill dogs and possible dog deaths before it gets the same attention. Most vets disagree with raw as stated above for the simple fact they make money keeping dogs on kibble and because it is what is taught in vet school. Look into holistic vets they can give better advice on raw diets and alternative medicines when you want to avoid chemicals or are looking into other options for things. Another thing i see repeated in many raw feeding guides is if you want to ro half raw half kibble then you can do so but it is advised to feed one completely raw meal and one meal of only kibble not to mix the two together as they digest at different rates and can cuase digestive issues. The nice thing with raw you don't have to have a transition slowly thing you can just swap into raw. I do advise on researching about raw diets meal plans and portion sizes before jumping right in.