Trust me I'm a vet?

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ZaraD
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Trust me I'm a vet?

Post by ZaraD »

Has anyone been watching? Tonights episode a vet was saying how raw feeding has no nutritional difference to dry feeding :lol: :shock: and the old age worrie of bacteria and that on samples of the dog bowl and the dogs mouth show large amounts of E.coli and salmonella and that this alone are reasons to not raw feed as it will cause dog and owner to become very ill :shock:
Suzette
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Re: Trust me I'm a vet?

Post by Suzette »

My experience with vets is that in many cases even the best of them wrinkle their noses at raw feeding. My dog has been raw fed since she was 4 months old (now going in six years old), and the proof is in her health and hardiness. That is what has won over my vet (not that I needed to win anyone over, but it's always nice when your vet isn't trying to talk you out of what you know is best for your dogs nutrition). And guess what? Not one instance of human or canine suffering from e. coli or salmonella. Hmm... lol
My avatar is Piper, my sweet Pembroke Corgi. b. 5/11/11
emmabeth
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Re: Trust me I'm a vet?

Post by emmabeth »

I didn't watch but my response to that is too rude to write here! I have noticed that it is, as they say, 'all going off on Facey' though! My timeline is full of folk ranting about it!

I have a rubbish immune system, dreadful health and our attitude towards housework here is generally 'if we don't die of ecoli, call it good'...

Funnily enough, neither of us have in getting on 17 years of feeding raw food to multiple dogs!
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DianeLDL
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Re: Trust me I'm a vet?

Post by DianeLDL »

Is this something in the U.K.? I hadn't heard bout it, but this forum is the closest thing to social media that I participate in. So, if it's not discussed here. I don't know about it.

I'm sure that like training, everyone has their idea.

We don't feed Sandy raw anything. His tummy is so sensitive, that we gave him some take home steak from a restaurant, and he had blood in his stools, and he was on antibiotics for 10 days. So, the only meat he gets is canned Lil Cesar's chicken only. And his high value treat is boiled chicken. We have given him deli sliced turkey when traveling and couldn't find his chicken which is precooked and we have made chicken salad out of it for OH and me.

He tends towards diarrhea when he is stressed (when I returned after being in Israel for a month in July 2015, of course me going crazy over lost luggage didn't help Sandy :roll: ) he had lots of bacteria in his stool sample along with blood. He won't eat rice or water rice we cooked in, so the vet in Maine suggested pumpkin. So, he loves canned pumpkin, but only the organic stuff. Yes, there's a difference in texture and the organic one is more solid and the regular one that people use for pumpkin pie is more runny.
He gets two different types of kibbles since he didn't like one, and then we got another, and mixed the two and have continued. He gets Royal Canin for adult chihuahuas and Blue Buffalo chicken with brown rice.

If you remember he wouldn't eat out of his bowl and only our hands when I first found this forum, and now he eats from the bowl on the floor, except when his tummy isn't doing well or he is stressed. Then, I sit on his chair with him in my lap. Once I hand feed him a couple pierces of chicken that's mixed in, he usually will finish most of his meal.

Also, when I make chicken soup (especially at Passover) when I take out the chicken to remove the bones, it's one plate for us, and one for Sandy. (We don't like white meat, so Sandy gets that of course after removing the bones.)

He's not spoiled. :lol: :lol:

But, considering his problems with getting him to eat, and he only eats one meal a day at around 10:30 or 11:30, and his stomach problems (at least once every 10 days he won't even eat chicken), then he vomits and is usually fine. So, I would say that he is a very picky eater. So, once we found what he will eat, we have stuck with it. He's been with us now for 6 years, and he seems to be doing well with his diet. His weight is pretty stable and is a good one, so that is what is important for us.

I just wish he would drink more water especially since Albuquerque is desert and we hit 100 degrees F. So, we have to keep an eye on his urine color, too. And I have often had to feed him water with a medicine dropper.
We even give him bottled water (like OH takes to the gym) out of the refrigerator.
He likes it cold. I did say he's not spoiled, right! :lol: :lol:

We have been told no ice cream or milk products for Sandy. I don't know if it's due to his size, but my husband's working dogs when he was a dog handler ate hamburgers without the bun when he ate, and had their own ice cream cones. I guess it's what the dog and you are used to.

Personally, I don't like raw anything, except veggies and fruits. I won't even touch sushi! :roll: (need an emoji face with tongue sticking out...yuck!)
And, being a nurse, you should see me handling raw chicken for the soup. I wear gloves! So, you can tell how I feel about the idea of any raw food in my house.

If you and your dogs can handle giving them raw food, with no ill effects, and your dogs like it and are healthy, I say go for it! Keep doing what works for you and your dogs! :D
I wouldn't advocate one over another as I've seen that different dogs can handle different things.

So, it sounds like it's just something else in the dog world to argue about, like training methods. Everyone has their opinions and we know what that means. :mrgreen:
Diane
Sandy, Chihuahua mix b. 12/20/09
JudyN
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Re: Trust me I'm a vet?

Post by JudyN »

I'm another with dodgy hygiene standards who has never got ill from raw feeding :mrgreen:

I do wonder if there's a significantly increased risk if you have a licky dog who likes to regularly wash your face (possibly after licking its bum) but that's got to be unhygienic whatever you feed your dog.

There's plenty of studies showing that raw-fed dogs shed bacteria in their stools & saliva but are there any studies reporting on how many raw feeders actually get ill compared to kibble feeders? They'd have to take into account the hygiene levels of those owners too - e.g. whether they wash their hands after handling the raw food, whether they snog their dogs.

Nutritionally, raw & kibble can't be equivalent. When I changed Jasper over, overnight he went from stinking the house out with his wind to not having smelly wind at all.

Diane, raw feeding can be great for dogs with sensitive stomachs - you never know, it could be great for Sandy. But probably not convenient for you as you travel a lot.
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Nettle
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Re: Trust me I'm a vet?

Post by Nettle »

My vet feeds raw and won't stock kibble except for Orijen in the clinic - only frozen raw food. He was quite reluctant to stock any kibble, but kept getting asked for it, and so decided better to have a really good kibble there than try to treat dogs fed on the other stuff. He also maintains that kibble can be a source of salmonella etc., which is interesting.

Because my dogs are working (hunting) dogs, we have plentiful exposure to the kind of things that live inside all of us. OH works for a game dealer so comes home covered in various biological substances, and apart from being very fussy about kitchen hygiene, we are more like outdoors indoors :lol: been feeding raw since the late 1980s and not had any dire infections or dramatic illnesses.

BUT it isn't for every dog, and with a sensitive dog like Sandy one has to do what works.

I would never eat raw fish - never - (except for smoked) and if it was better known about what fish have in the way of parasites, nor would anyone else. We get given fish for the dogs, and we cook it, though freezing for a month would probably work as well.
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emmabeth
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Re: Trust me I'm a vet?

Post by emmabeth »

If you do do Facebook, Judith Broug who runs Raw Feeding Rebels has a questionnaire going round now about how many people actually get ill..

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIp ... rm?c=0&w=1
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JudyN
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Re: Trust me I'm a vet?

Post by JudyN »

Probably not very scientific (and she spelt 'separate' wrong :wink: ) but I've completed it.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Shalista
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Re: Trust me I'm a vet?

Post by Shalista »

I would never eat raw fish
Really? so no sushi? I think I'd die :(

Given how much raw fish i eat i think it would be a bit hypocritical of me to not give it to Bax. that being said i'm holding out for PROPER fish, like head and scales attached and fresh rather than from a freezer bag. Apparently our local store doesn't sell it often though and i've been disappointed to date.
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
DianeLDL
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Re: Trust me I'm a vet?

Post by DianeLDL »

Shalista,

You need to go to Israel. The first time I ordered fish, although it was cooked, it still had head and fins on it, and an eyeball staring at me.

Last time I had that. :mrgreen:
Sandy, Chihuahua mix b. 12/20/09
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Nettle
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Re: Trust me I'm a vet?

Post by Nettle »

Reply from a holistic vet on FB Nick Thompson or www.holisticvet.com worth listening to, especially that (sigh) the university that produced the "research" has links to Royal Canin.

You can't serve God and Mammon.......
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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emmabeth
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Re: Trust me I'm a vet?

Post by emmabeth »

I thought Nicks response video was BRILLIANT! :)
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