the best food to feed

I have my dog on a mix of kibble and Barf.

The kibble is made by Solid Gold to which I add enzymes to help with digestion because once a food is cooked all the live enzymes die. He gets kibble in the mornings. He doesn't like to eat all his food in one sitting, he has his kibble to go back to through out the day.

At night I feed him pre-made barf. I buy it premade even though it's probably three times as expensive if I made it myself because I'm not confident enough yet to make it on my own. Unfortunately my dog hates any sort of veggies so the premade barf patties don't work for him, the patties have veggies mixed in w/the meat and bone. I have to buy him the premade barf meat and bone mince (the bone is tiny you can barly see it, it's ground up so much) to that I add, sea meal (for nutrients I may be missing by not giving him veggies) he also gets raw egg a few times a week. Once sometimes twice a week he also gets offal (organs).

To both his barf and kibble he gets oils added. I switch oils when I run out for variety. Oils made specifically for dogs. I'm still learning the ratio of meat vs bone and organ meats etc so until I know it 100% I won't be making his home made barf until then.

Is kibble the dried food you buy in bags from the supermarket?

I feed mine on Purina Dog Chow for adults because they don't sell the puppy version here. I did manage to buy one bag of it when I first got her but they since sold out and never got any more. Maybe it was a good thing because I read that switching to adult food early on is beneficial.

She appears to really enjoy it and healthwise she is fine. Should I be feeding her other things? I'm reading lots about raw diets etc and how they are much better but if she is fine with what she has then should I really change it?

Mark

Hi, my 3 year old DSH female Lexi has just had surgery to remove two struvite crystals from her bladder. The vet is now recommending a canned food prescription diet called CD. I have a little experience making their food myself using Dr Pitcairn's book and recipes, but mostly I have had them on Wysong Vitality/Geriatrix dry supplemented once or twice weekly with Innova canned food, cooked chicken, cooked chicken liver with oatmeal, or tuna. I would like to start feeding them more real food (though probably not raw food), but I am having trouble finding specific instructions on what foods and/or supplements will acidify Lexi's urine so she won't get any more stones. Most sites I've researched just say, feed an acidifying diet. Do you have any recommendations on what exactly that means? I'm assuming high in protein and perhaps added vitamin C powder, but don't know what else to add.

And as a corollary to that, does anyone have any suggestions on how to feed such a diet when one is gone? I go away for one or two nights every other week or so. For a longer period I can have a sitter come in daily and give them the food I prepare (once I figure out what to make) but for just a day or two, is it acceptable to leave out "real" food as well as dry food and water while I'm gone?

Thanks for any suggestions.

I switched from pedigree to Chicken Soup For The Pet Lovers Soul.
My dogs are doing great on it.They were allergic to Pedigree.
Heres the links to other natural pet foods,that you don't here much about.
http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com
http://www.canidae.com/
http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/
http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/
http://dogsoul.invisionplus.net/
http://www.f-r-r.com/
http://www.frommfamily.com
http://www.benchandfield.com/
http://www.naturapet.com[/code][/list]

Thanks for the tips, Dr Jeff, I will check out Strombeck's book. It sounds good.

Regarding cranberry, I have some of the capsules that are sold for humans; inside the capsule is like a little hard pellet of red stuff which I am assuming is the solidified extract. How would you administer this? I was thinking if I softened it in a little hot water I could give it to her via syringe, though she hates that. :)

I will be starting both cats this week on some lightly cooked ground turkey and a small amount of cooked vegetable or psyllium powder until I can get the book and see what is recommended.

Thanks again for your help.

Hi Amy,

Did you ever get an answer to your question about "as a corollary to that, does anyone have any suggestions on how to feed such a diet when one is gone?" I know dry food is a no-no for cats, but the food our Gracie eats when we're there would NOT stay out well for 24 hrs. Any ideas you received? Thanks!

Linda

I would like to make a suggestion for anyone who is interested.

This is an excellent book: K9 Kitchen: Your Dogs Diet - The Truth Behind the Hype by Monica Segal, AHCW

You can read about Monica here: www.monicasegal.com. She also hosts a yahoo group - K9 Kitchen.

I was lucky enough for someone to tell me about her and I am learning so much from her...so I just have to share :) .

Michaela

So, I thought I was doing the right thing by feeding my adult cat wet and dry food from my neighborhood Whole Foods market (cuz they wouldn't sell anything that's bad for you, right?). Now I have just adopted another older cat with Feline Infectious Peritonitis, and I've been feeding him wet and dry kitten food because he's very skinny, and I thought that kitten food might help him put on some weight. Now, I realize that I haven't a clue about what I should be feeding my cats, and I need some guidance.

I read Dr. Jeff's page about the foods and supplements he recommends, but I'm a little confused about the Wysong Archetype food -- is it for both cats and dogs? And what fresh food should I feed my cats? Any advice will be greatly appreciated. My cats thank you as well. Meow.

Thanks so much!

I gave each of my cats a beaten egg and some raw organic chicken. I'm no longer feeding them dry food. (Why is dry food so bad for them?) At first they seemed confused by their new food, but they eventually ate some of it. I think tomorrow I'll let them try some raw salmon. :D

Again, thank you for this site and for your advice. I feel somewhat guilty because while my son and I try to eat a diet of organic and minimally processed food, I didn't think to question what my cats were getting from the bag and can.

Hi Dr. Jeff,

So I have not been feeding the right food, even though it says holistic puppy food by Nutro Ultra puppy dry food?

So you recommend raw food? Where am I going to find such fresh and clean with no harmful germs on the raw meat? Especially where I live Organic raw food is hard to come by, if anything I would have to drive 1 1/2 hr to get to a good health food groceries. Even we humans don't eat that healthy, that is pretty funny. I just want to feed my furbabies healthy dog food without all the poison like the commerical foods or I'm not trying to make my dogs to be health nut junkie either. So that my dogs grow healthy without any sickness or diseases and live to max life.

Do you have any other recommendation. Please let me know, I really appreciate it. Thank you. :)

Susan

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