Dog Nutrition: Need Some Advice on Raw Feeding
I’ve been reading this blog alot and I’ve been lurking for a while. I am also a member of RawFeeding and RawChat. I’m so grateful for all of you who so freely share your knowledge with the rest of us. You have made feeding my dogs (and cats) very easy! Thank you so much!
A bit of background (I’ll try and keep it brief) – I lost a 9 yr old female GSD (German Shepherd Dog) in December to torsion (yes kibble fed). It’s hard to lose a dog and knowing that you’ve contributed to it is even harder.
I vowed to do better. In speaking with the breeder I bought her from, she really stressed her belief in feeding RAW. I did research, and Whole Prey Model is what made sense to me. I converted my remaining dogs – male Corgi almost 8 and female Chi 5, in January.
No problems whatsoever. The dogs looked great, felt great etc… I got a new GSD, put him on RAW – ears cleared up and coat getting softer, etc…
Chichuahua
Well, I haven’t done good enough. I just lost the Chi 2 days ago to liver failure. And yes, she had had her boosters the week before symptoms appeared. She had been not eating well the week of the boosters also, and I should have known better. I did mention it to the vet before he gave her the vacines and he blew it off. Although my vet has treated my animals for 30 years and was supportive of RAW feeding, it’s time to move on. He chiropractored my Chi for 3 days, shot her up with pain meds on the 4th day and finally diagnosed liver on the 5th day – she didn’t even last 2 weeks.
I take full responsibility for both of my dogs dying. I know I need a whole lot more knowledge in order to make better judgment calls. I need to be pointed to sources of knowledge – are there books, websites, magazines, etc…? I don’t want to lose another animal based on my ignorance.
I know that vacines do more harm than good. I live in MI and I think that Rabies is the only one required by law. I had already decided on no more flea/tick poison. I am a bit confused on heart worm meds….I live less than 1/4 mile from Lake MI and we definitely have tons of mosquitoes in the summer.
The dogs have already been tested this year and are negative. I was never keen on putting my dogs under for dentals and the diet has taken care of that. Should I take my dogs in for a wellness check (to a new vet of course) and if so, what should that entail? Instead of getting blown off when I feel there is something wrong with one of my dogs, what should I insist that the vet do?
Any advice you can give will be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance,
