Changing my dog's food

wilykit

Hi,

I want to change my dog's diet (gradually) as I would like to know exactly what he is eating. He does have a skin allergy and I have been advised to change his diet as this could help prevent it from flaring up.

I have been considering making my own food for him using fresh meat etc so I know he is only getting the best ingredients etc...I am juat asking for some advice from anyone with more knowledge.

Thank you

alyssa_liss

i feed my dog RAW

research from here
http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-health-nutrition/111437-raw-feeding-everything-you-need-know.html

can be cheap or expensive depending on supliers , i get free stuff from butchers and buy from the farm.

generally it 2-3% of dogs weight you feed . in a 80/10/10 ratio meat/bones/offal. (heart is classed as meat)

yes the meat is uncooked .. NEVER feed cooked bones only RAW

wilykit

Thank you, that thread is VERY helpful! Hopefully by moving onto a raw diet, it will help my dog I know it may cost more than his usual bag of food but cost really isn't important - only his wellbeing is

I am still a bit confused as where to start, I need to research it and draw up some sort of diet plan etc to get me started!

If anyone could help with this it would be greatly appreciated!xx

WolfSong2000

Depending on the size of your dog...if your dog is small, Lilly's Kitchen do fantastic quality dog food, but it's expensive, so not really viable *unless you're very rich!) for bigger dogs.

Otherwise, RAW/BARF diets can work well - raw chicken wings, etc...if you're unsure about doing it yourself, Natural Instinct offer raw food diets, so may be worth looking at them.

The fact your dog has a skin allergy does suggest the possibility of diet related issues/allergies, so well done on looking at revising his diets....do be aware though that some dogs don't seem to cope well with red meat full stop (unusual, but I've seen it).

Mjteacup

My black lab has always thrived on James Wellbeloved, although quite expensive (c£48/15kg in big bags from Pets at Home) it's probably less than Lily's kitchen. Hypoallergenic and has never bothered my dog's gluten-intolerant tum even though several common dog treats -including some made by Pedigree Chum - make her ill. Otherwise, a friend of mine treated her dog's allergies successfully with a raw, homemade diet. I don't know the details but know that when I looked after him he had raw oats, carrots, peas, raw meat and olive oil. He went from having severely irritated bald patches all over to being a beautifully healthy, shiny happy dog, so mayb that's the way to go in your case. Good luck!

Mjteacup

Another thought: you mentioned that your dog's allergy is skin related, as was that of my friend. She discovered quite by accident that eggs were one of the worst culprits in her dog's case - thought it might be useful for you to know.

wilykit

Thanks for your replies, I appreciate them

I have just been on the Pets at Home website and have been looking at Wainwright's food which is specifically formulated for dogs that have allergies etc, its £36.99 for 15kg which I guess isn't cheap, but I really do not care about the cost if it helps his skin.

Has anyone ever tried this? I was maybe going to give this a try and then move onto making my own food if that doesn't help?xx

zaksmum

I'm a convert to CSJ. works out at £1 a kilo and is excellent quality food.

If you look on their website they'll send you samples...my dogs have been really healthy since I started them on it.

Fire_Fox

What is your dog allergic to? Raw can be surprisingly inexpensive, just use Value/ Smartprice frozen chicken portions or whole frozen birds, frozen veggies, offal and canned pilchards in tomato sauce. Poultry shears are well worth investing in.

Oliver14

zaksmum wrote: »

I'm a convert to CSJ. works out at £1 a kilo and is excellent quality food.

If you look on their website they'll send you samples...my dogs have been really healthy since I started them on it.

Another one here for CSJ. Great food good quality and price and a great company to deal with. They will send you samples if you ask.
http://www.csjk9.com/

Oliver14

Fire_Fox wrote: »

, just use Value/ Smartprice frozen chicken portions or whole frozen birds, .

Not wanting to get into an argument but I'm confused I thought one of the arguments of the RAW diet was the better quality of the food.

Value broiler chicken pieces will be of the lowest quality with reduced nutrients and extra water injected in. So the argument for the better quality of food for the RAW diet really doesn't work.