# Switched over to raw food



## bertrand (May 17, 2017)

Hi,

before we got Breeze, my partner and I have been doing research on raw food and feeding raw to our dog. We didn't want to do it right away, but Breeze, kind of forced our hands. We have been having 2 issues with her:
- The first issue was weight. Breeze has always been really skinny and the vet asked us to put her on an open bowl schedule to fatten her up a bit as she was borderline malnourished. Unfortunately, despite having food in her bowl all the time, Breeze wasn't really interested in eating. She was growing fine, but was really skinny.
- The second issue has been a lingering one since her 12 weeks booster shots. For some reason, after the booster, she started having really soft and even liquid stools. We tried everything, including 2 rounds of antibiotics to no avail.

2 weekends ago, we took Breeze camping and she barely ate during the whole trip. Her energy level was good, but she just wouldn't eat. On the way back home, we decided to swing by the pet store and buy her some raw food patties. When we got home, we gave her some kibbles and she had absolutely no interest in them. We put one of the patties to thaw and when it was half-thawed we gave it to her. She went to town on it and within 5 minutes, the frozen patty was gone. We have been feeding her raw ever since and guess what:
- After 3 days, her stools were back to big solid and have been solid since. She actually poops a whole lot less than before, which is nice.
- She now eats like a horse and is finely putting on weight. During the visit to the vet for the 16 weeks booster, the vet found her to be absolutely perfect. We can still see her ribs, but there is a small layer of fat underneath the skin, which is exactly the way it is supposed to be.
- A side benefit of feeding her raw food is that her energy level is actually higher than it ever was, but she is calmer and not as hyper as before, if that makes sense.
We had a feeling that she would like raw food, as we had given her frozen chicken necks as a snack before, and within 5 minutes, there was no necks anymore.

I know there is a lot of controversy when it comes to feeding raw food to our dogs, but I am amazed at the results and thought I would share our experience for anyone on the fence. We couldn't ben more thrilled with it as we now have a very healthy 26lbs puppy, with a stunning coat, who listens better and has a ton of energy. 

Feeding raw is definitely more expensive than kibbles, but we have calculated that depending on the protein source, it varies between CAD$5 per day to CAD$7 per day, which is not inexpensive, but to put it into perspective, it is the equivalent of a Starbuck coffee per day, so we decided that we were ready to cut down on coffee to have a health dog.

Thanks for reading,
Bertrand.


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## Bob Engelhardt (Feb 14, 2012)

Great story - I bet it's very satisfying every time you feed her.

We keep hearing stories like yours and yet there is still some controversy about feeding raw. The vets are reluctant to approve of it, although mine is coming around. Their problem is the lack of good studies, although enough anecdotes should be convincing. Especially when the anecdotes are as remarkable as yours is. What was your vet's reaction?

Feeding raw does not have to be as expensive as the frozen prepared patties are. For instance: around here chicken is regularly on sale for less than $1US/lb. That gives the muscle and bone. Liver and other organ is a bit harder to find, but you need so little of it than it's not so bad. I have a abattoir pretty close that sells beef liver and kidney for $1/lb. A frozen chicken leg is also more fun to eat than a patty.

Bob


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## bertrand (May 17, 2017)

Bob Engelhardt said:


> Great story - I bet it's very satisfying every time you feed her.
> 
> We keep hearing stories like yours and yet there is still some controversy about feeding raw. The vets are reluctant to approve of it, although mine is coming around. Their problem is the lack of good studies, although enough anecdotes should be convincing. Especially when the anecdotes are as remarkable as yours is. What was your vet's reaction?
> 
> ...


Hi Bob,

I agree that there are ways to make raw food diet pretty economical. The reason we went the patties route, after considering what you talk about, is because of the amount of organ meat we would need at this stage. Here, the only way to find organs is frozen, which makes it quite difficult to cut in little pieces fit for the amount she needs to consume. Once she is fully grown, we are definitely going to try to go that route as it is cheaper and a lot more fun as you mentioned. The best example of this is to watch Breeze eat a frozen chicken neck. She looks like a kid on Christmas day.  

The vet had an interesting reaction. She asked me if the soft stool issue had gone away and I told her yes, but in a surprising way. She asked me to elaborate, so I told her that we switched Breeze to raw food and it went away within 3 days. I also told her that Breeze had more energy but was better focused and that she was finally gaining weight. She said "Hmmmmm?" and then she went on to examine Breeze and found her to be perfect, so she asked me if I was aware of the risks of feeding raw. I told her yes and then she told me that she wouldn't recommend it, but that it is clearly working for Breeze and that as long as we meet Breeze's nutritional need, we shouldn't change anything. As you can see, it was a resounding endorsement, but as a good one as we could probably get.

Thanks a lot for reading,
Bertrand.


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## Spy Car (Sep 3, 2014)

I've fed my now 3-year-old male Vizsla a PMR style raw diet since the day I got him, at 8 weeks.

It didn't take me long to be fully sold on raw feeding. The best IMO.

By doing DIY I'm spending a small fraction of what you are, however. 

Bill


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