Alternating between raw and dog food

[CinderFinder]

Hi, nice to find this place!

After a whole lot of reading, I've been trying to feed my dog a raw, natural diet, and that's going well, but here's my question;

For right now, putting my 130 lb. Great Dane on raw meat, veggies and supplements 7 days a week, WITH only organic meats, is a bit more than I can handle, so, some days she still eats a so-called "quality" commercial dog food. (I'm also feeding 3 cats this way)

As long as she gets the good raw stuff a few times a week, she'll be ok?
Or can she still have health issues (skin, coat and candida) from eating the commercial food?

She also eats whole apples, bananas, strawberries and organic marrow bones. I just want to make sure I'm not taxing her system too much by alternating between raw, whole foods, and commercial food.

Thanks a Lot!

[Traci]

As long as she gets the good raw stuff a few times a week, she'll be ok?
Or can she still have health issues (skin, coat and candida) from eating the commercial food?

She could have parasites, various bacterials, etc from the raw food, so it should never be considered "better".

I am not an advocate for raw food, especially for cats. If you're going to feed raw, please discuss this with your vet so that he can help you with proper supplementation and discuss potential risks.

[TheSkeptic]

Having had several dogs over the years and currently with 13 rescues in my house, I can tell you that a good commercial dog food is more than adequate for keeping your dog healthy and happy through a long life. The most important item for the health of your dogs is a safe and loving environment. Among our dogs we have an old Dalmatian that was not expected to live one year after we got her in 2000. She was treated for very severe heart worms and neutered at the same time as the vet felt that either operation would be her last. She is having problems now, but for the last 4 and 1/2 years she has been as active and happy as could be. We feed her a quality senior diet of lamb and rice formula. She is 16 years old now.

[Tambrey]

We also had a Great Dane...wonderful dogs...our boy was 165 pounds fully grown! He only ate NutroMax for Big Dogs...I would have loved to afford Eukanuba, but it was too much...and funny it is so much because it is manufactured right here where I live!!

Anyways, some raw food, especially fruits and veggies, are actually harmful to dogs as their digestive systems are different than ours...

We did feed Scooby the occassional fruit treat...he liked a bite of apple, or a bite of a pluot, or some cooked chicken breast once in a while...but never any seasoned foods, or foods harmful to dogs...do a search on the internet and you can find foods harmful to dogs...

Here are a couple of the MANY links to help you get started:
http://petplace.netscape.com/Articles/a ... artID=4774

http://www.resq4paws.org/dangerousfoods.html

I had checked into BARF feeding for Scooby as well, but decided against it after reading all sides of the issue...

[Guest]

Hi Traci,

If you go to Google or Yahoo and put in things like, "raw or natural dog food" or "holistic dog diets" you'll find a plethera of information to read.
Suprisingly, what I have found out is that when an animal eats as nature intended, (raw food) their bodies will naturally expell parasites and worms and I leave out raw pork for this reason.

They also state that dogs who eat, raw, whole foods will not have fleas and have very white teeth. She gets a tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar in her bowl of water everyday which gives her digestive enzymes and helps with the treatment for parasites.

A conventional vet may not condone this. If he/she did, they's have far less business with pet owners because their pets would be so healthy. A holistic vet or homeopathic vet would suggest a raw diet over commercial kibble any dy of the week. Check it out. I think you'll like what you read.

[TheSkeptic]

Hi Traci,

If you go to Google or Yahoo and put in things like, "raw or natural dog food" or "holistic dog diets" you'll find a plethera of information to read.
Suprisingly, what I have found out is that when an animal eats as nature intended, (raw food) their bodies will naturally expell parasites and worms and I leave out raw pork for this reason.

We have seen these unsubstantiated statements before. Animals do NOT expell parasites on raw food. Do not believe all the hype put out on those holistic sites. They make too many claims that are not supported by the evidence and are often disproven when properly studied in double blind tests.

[Traci]

If you go to Google or Yahoo and put in things like, "raw or natural dog food" or "holistic dog diets" you'll find a plethera of information to read.

Yes, 10,000 pages of anectdotal, unfounded, non-credible hype, propagated 10,000 more times by ill-informed extremists.

Suprisingly, what I have found out is that when an animal eats as nature intended, (raw food) their bodies will naturally expell parasites and worms and I leave out raw pork for this reason.

Actually, dogs in the wild were often severely infected with parasites and bacterials from eating such 'raw food'....their life span was also limited due to diseases that are now preventable with vaccinations. Dogs are now living healtheir and longer lives due to advanced animal care, nutrition, and the evil commercial processed foods.

Raw pork.....have you heard of Trichinosis ?

They also state that dogs who eat, raw, whole foods will not have fleas and have very white teeth. She gets a tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar in her bowl of water everyday which gives her digestive enzymes and helps with the treatment for parasites.

If they said the moon was made of cheese, would you believe that as well? Fleas are a fact of life, they exist, and they infest animals. The type of food you feed has nothing to do with eradicating fleas (nor does garlic or apple cider vinegar). Whether a dog has white teeth or not depends primarily on the dog's age, proper diet, availability of chewbones or textured food to keep plaque and tarter at bay, physiological make-up, and regular veterinary exams/prophys for oral health.

A conventional vet may not condone this. If he/she did, they's have far less business with pet owners because their pets would be so healthy. A holistic vet or homeopathic vet would suggest a raw diet over commercial kibble any dy of the week.

Of course, this is a common irrational tactic amoung 'naturalists', blame the conventional veterinary medicine....that which is scientifically evidence-based medicine with years of solid, published, peer-reviewed, proven and significant research. Don't you find it amazing (and suspicious) that the alternative vets can't produce such evidence and won't even attempt to fund themselves with studies?

When the holistics, homeopaths, naturalists can produce some hard evidence and double-blinded trials (and be able to repeat them with success), and publish their studies in peer-reviewed publications, only then should they hope to be credible.

I am always amazed that alternative-minded individuals think the conventional vet is out to make a buck and cares nothing for the animal. While the holistic and homeopath will primarily prescribe an herb for which there is little to no evidence of efficacy or safety, will charge outrageous fees for unproven modalities, will charge a pet-owner for a bottle of water that contains essentially....water. If the holisitcs and homeopaths are superior to conventional vets, I can tell you with certainty that veterinary medicine would make a complete turn-around, that is, ALL vets would want to be in on the miracle cures (imagine the riches)

So, if you're truly interested, do a Google search for evidence-based medicine, and you will find some valid information.

Reference Articles...a place to start.

[JMM]

If you do want to do a home-prepared diet, I would suggest a consult with a veterinary nutritionist to formulate a diet that is appropriately balanced for your dog. UC Davis, U of Tenn, and other vet schools offer nutrition consults.

[k9Karen]

The internet is full of lots of misinformation and outright lies, and this is a prime example. Domestic dogs do not need raw meat. They have been bred away from their wolf ancestors for hundreds, if not thousands of years due to their association with humans.

Raw meats are full of dangerous parasites and bacteria. They may or may not make your dog sick, but, please remember that your dog could pass them on to you or your family, and the humans will get sick. I am a Microbiologist (work in it daily and teach it), and I would NEVER feed my pet raw meat,

[ShelbysMom]

With all of Crystal's skin problems, I still nixed the raw diet. My first two Dobies did fine on a medium quality kibble mixed with canned. Crystal appears to be improving on the higher quality Eagle Pack, which I am supplementing with 3V Omega capsules & 250 mg Vitamin C...but who knows if the improvement is from the food, or the antibiotics she's been on.
My mother in law always fed her dogs a bargain brand of canned food and they all lived 13-15 yrs. with very little health problems.