Changing your dogs diet

Did you know that cancer feeds off of grains and sugar?  Yep!!  Mommy has been doing a lot of research on cancer and it is true, even for people!  Eating is so complicated now a days!  It is confusing what to buy and what is best for each dog.  We would recommend that you speak to a professional if you are interested in changing your dogs food.  Most vets like Purina or Hills because that is what they are taught in school but mommy’s research showed that corn, soy, wheat and any grains are the worst thing for most dogs.

Mommy stopped feeding me kibble a long time ago and she has been experimenting with different diets for me.  Just like people, real food is always a better choice than processed food.  My belly bothers me sometimes.   I wake up with a  tummy ache.  It wakes mommy up cause she can hear it growling.  She gives me a pepcid and takes me for a midnight walk and usually by morning, I feel better.  Because of this, she has changed my diet numerous times and she added probiotics and digestive enzymes which help a lot because she does not like giving me a pepcid.

Some of the diets that she has tried are:   Small Batch, Darwins, Halshans Synergy, Honest Kitchen and my favorite, Soul’y Raw.

These are all very good and complete diets and I would highly recommend any of them.  Mommy just didn’t do her research and sometimes you have to give your pup some digestive enzymes or probiotics with his/ her food, that is why you should speak to a professional or do your research before switching from kibble.  We like the site, Keep the Tail Wagging.  She will teach you a lot!

You also want to make sure you do the switch gradually.  Because of my brain tumor,  mommy stopped feeding me any carbohydrates and added more vegetables to my diet.  She is also playing around with different recipes and making the food herself.  If you know my mommy, she does not like to cook so it has been an adventure!  I do like the roasted vegetables that she makes for me.  She has recently stopped feeding me as many carrots and more brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower because they are lower in sugar.

We are not sure if this is why I got an upset tummy this week but it could be.  My tummy ballooned up and got really hard.  I had terrible gas! I was so embarrassed!   I even had an accident in my friends house. Good thing it was not diarrhea but it was #2!  Mommy kept rubbing my belly all night to get things moving and it worked!  I pooped every time she took me for a walk!  I even threw up my dinner in the living room!

The weird part was  I was so thirsty!  Mommy was not sure if it was from the meds that I am taking now or whatever it was that I had!  She was so worried.  She was up all night with me.   The next day, mommy took me to the doctor and he said it was this big word called gastroenteritis.

He was pretty calm about it, he said it is very common.   A change in diet and adding new medications can do it and to be honest, I have been eating anything that I can get my paws on, those meds make me HANGRY!   He said  to just watch me for a day and let me drink water and just feed me little meals and make sure that I keep them down.  Mommy did all of that and I was fine.

The moral of the story is to change your dogs diet slowly and know that if your dog is on any new meds, introduced to any chemicals or has a change in diet, this could happen to you too!  Make sure your dog does not have the symptoms of bloat, which could be deadly and needs veterinary care immediately.

This is the recipe,  from Dr. Karen Becker,  mommy is using now because it is super easy and I LOVE IT!  ( although she does not follow it exactly )  It can be served raw or lightly cooked:

14 oz.  ground turkey or grass fed beef  ( mommy mixes it  together ) 

2 tsp.  Hempseed oil ( mommy has been using flax or avocado oil ) 

2 oz.  sardines or cod liver oil ( mommy bought yummy sardines for me! ) 

1/2 tsp Kelp

1 egg ( retain 1/2 egg shell (for calcium) for mixture below )

1 oz   ( 1/8 cup ) liver or other organ meat

1 oz  each Broccoli, spinach, & red pepper (or other veggies)  -grind in blender & add egg shell from above

Let us know if you feed your dog raw and if you have any advice for us because we are still learning!

Thanks for reading!