A Year Later

So, here we are one year after starting the "raw diet." I'm still happy feeding it, in fact my Vizsla puppy "Ryan" will be joining Clara in consuming "raw food." I've done bloodwork (cbc [a.k.a. complete blood count] and chemistry panel) to make sure her liver and kidney enzymes are normal, which they are! The electrolytes (calcium, sodium, phosphorous) are included in the panel and those are normal as well. Her cbc is also normal. So, that's Clara on the inside. She looks normal on the outside, too. She has a wonderful thick coat, her eye is bright and shiny and she acts like the happy, energetic PWC that she should.

We did hit a small "snafu" though. It seems Clara has developed an allergy to duck :( Darnit. I found that out after I bought 30 lbs of necks! Aagh! It's a good thing that my friend Katrin can feed duck to some of her dogs and thankfully was willing to purchase said duck from me. What a great friend.

Anyway, I need to be better about rotating the protein sources that I feed Clara to help prevent her from becoming allergic to anything else in the future.

Allergic to chicken

I just got back with Clara from a chiropractic appointment. The shortdog is doing fine, her back just needed to be adjusted in the usual places -Thanks Anne! While we were there, I decided to ask what she thought about Clara's eye tearing alot of late. Anne thought she may be allergic to chicken. So, we asked Clara, I know it sounds strange/weird/far fetched, but, Clara said she's allergic. So, I'll change her bone source to something else and we'll see what happens.

My friend, co-worker Kathy (Dr.) went to a seminar and sat in on a nutrition lecture. She told me that the nutritionist said that a lot of raw diets are unbalanced, and that she would bring me home some information to read and I will share it here. Hopefully, my diet will only need some minor tweaking or preferably none at all. We shall see...

I Went To The Grocery Store Alone

Okay, it's not THAT big of a deal, going alone that is. But, I'm very much the novice at feeding raw and it's kind of a daunting task to buy chicken wings and ground meat for your dog. C'mon, I didn't want to buy the wrong stuff, what if she gets sick? Okay, so I found chicken wings for about $1.21 a pound and some ground turkey for about the same. And, I know that I can eat the very same as Clara, I just don't cook very often for myself. (I didn't need any veggies, I still have an unopened bag at home in the freezer.)

Poor Clara, I had to get her some lower fat ground meat, she'd gained some weight since the diet change. We've been hanging out with Katrin, our friend, who's been sick as a dog for what seems like an eternity, and Clara had not been getting the exercise she needs or is used to. I'm happy to say that I've gotten the extra 2 pounds off her, hey when you're only 21-22 lbs those extras really show!!

I am happy to report that we haven't had any serious stomach upsets since we started raw. She has had a little diarrhea (watery, only usually once) if she has a veggie that she's not used to or too much of it. Right now her eye (she only has one) is a little runny. I checked her at work and got some ointment for her, it may be conjunctivitis, allergies, or it could also be a phase of detoxification. We'll have to see how long it lasts. Her teeth look good, I can't wait for her to be able to plow through a bigger bone, there are a few areas of tartar that need to get cleaned off.

The little short dog really seems to like her new diet. I feel better feeding her something that is what it is. When feeding commercial diets: You look at the list of ingredients on the label, then you look at the kibble and think "is there really chicken meat in this or is it beaks, feet, feathers and any other parts?"

And, there are no preservatives, artificial colorings, flavorings, or added salt, sugar, etc...

I want Clara to live a healthy life for as long as possible, which is why we have this little "experiment" running.

Feeding raw CAN be more expensive than feeding a high quality commercial diet. I'm glad I have the freezer so that I can buy in bulk when I find wings and meat, etc on sale. I feel that I'm investing money into the highest quality nutrition which (I hope)will keep Clara healthy.

Katrin would have been so proud of me if she hadn't felt so sick when I told her. I hope she gets better soon!!!!!!!!!!!!

Going RAW On Vacation

So this raw diet for Clara is working out fine. We went on vacation last week to VA and back, in the car. We drove with our friend Katrin and her three boys (James, Niche, and Monty) in her trusty truck. I wasn't sure I'd like feeding raw away from home as I like to do what's easiest and quickest. Well, you can't get much quicker than kibble, right? Well, with raw, I had to throw in a meatball, some supplements and a serving of veggies. Can't get much quicker than that. Yeah, kibble is quicker, but (I bet you heard that coming) Clara is still doing great, she's looking fantastic, breath is not clearing the room like it was. I'm still very happy with the results that I've seen so far. More soon...

I'm really beginning to like this...

So, it's been about 3 weeks (or at least the start of the 3rd week) since I started Clara on the raw diet. I am happy with most of the results that I've seen, in fact I don't think I am unhappy with anything. Clara has cleaner teeth and fresher breath (yeah!), she is quieter in the house -not hyper and barking at everything (i.e. more relaxed), her coat looks great (it didn't look bad before), and it's not complicated to feed her. Also, when Katrin and I took the dogs for a run today, Clara did not indulge in her favorite past time of eating poop. I have been trying to live with her having this horribly disgusting habit for the last 5 years. If I had known that feeding her raw was going to help eliminate this problem, I would have started it years ago! (Katrin writing here- do you KNOW the # of times I TOLD her this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

I had been concerned that feeding raw was going to be a time consuming pain in the neck. Well, it's been incredibly easy. I package 3 days worth of meals into freezer bags, put everything into the freezer and take out what I need every 3 days, it couldn't be simpler. I just need to remember to pull food out the night before so that Clara doesn't have completely frozen food for breakfast.

And, I am getting less worried about Clara or me contracting a food-borne illness. I am careful in handling the food and "I WASH MY HANDS thoroughly when I'm done and any surfaces the meat/bones may have touched, KATRIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

So, so far so good!

P.S. THANK YOU KATRIN, YOU ARE THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She bought a freezer, I really did.

So, this 6 month "experiment" seems to be turning into a new way of life, well as far as feeding Clara is concerned. (Katrin is sitting next to me snickering, I have created a new convert!) The new diet is working out well, I'm getting used to Clara grinding away at the wings, then swallowing them. She loves her dinners of hamburg and veggies.

She is still acting a little different, we'll have to see how things go over the next few weeks. She is much quieter, very strange for my active little short dog. Katrin and I agree that this change is really a positive one, especially where we compete in performance events. Our 1st trial is a little over 4 weeks away. We'll have to see how the change effects our teamwork. The elimination of carbohydrates (or most of them) is what we believe is the reason behind the change.

So, onto the freezer. I don't know quite how it happened. I don't know if it was me who brought it up or not. Anyway, I guess I decided that if I was going to do this for real, I needed a large storage unit. After all, I have to do this as affordable as possible. So, I bought a 5.0 cubic foot chest freezer from Sears. Not a bad purchase, especially since I can store MY food in it as well. Next week, I plan on figuring out how much money I will be spending on this little project.

Lisa Succumbs to Peer Pressure

After 2 years of being constantly reminded how bad commercial dog food is, I have decided to try the "raw food diet". I am a veterinary technician, been doing that for about 17 years, which is why this transition is so difficult. The majority of veterinarians (so it seems) think feeding BARF (bones and raw food) is a quick way to kill your dog. This diet can cause a host of problems such as: e. coli and salmonella infections, intestinal blockages, etc.... if not done PROPERLY! The food is stored in the freezer for longer than 1 week, in the refrigerator for less than 3 days, and goes from fridge to the dogs mouth -directly and clean up afterwards is a must!!

So, on to Clara. A brief history of my little shortdog, a 5 year old Pembroke Welsh Corgi. She's been doing well on very high quality dry food, but her teeth were getting covered in tartar and her breath was atrocious. The choices I felt I had were to either anesthetize her and clean her teeth (and have to repeat it in a year or so) or try BARF. I decided to do a six month somewhat scientific trial. I ran a CBC, complete chemistry profile and urinalysis prior to starting the raw diet. All tests came back within normal limits. In six months I will repeat these tests.

Her first raw chicken wing was met with puzzlement, "is this reality or just a figment of my imagination? Lisa is actually giving me a chicken wing? Have pigs started to fly?!" Then she dove into the opportunity of bliss and oral satisfaction. I bet she thought "wow, I have never worked this hard to eat a bowl of dry boring kibble." She seems to enjoy her trip into BARF land. We will see how things progress.

After 5 days on raw food, her teeth are about 60% cleaner, her breath is not knocking me to the floor any longer. Her stools are smaller, eventhough she is eating more volume of food. She seems to have a change in temperament, she seems to be quieter and more relaxed. I can't quite put my finger on it.

Here is Clara's diet (she's a 21 lb, well-muscled, very active, PWC:
2 raw chicken wings for breakfast
For Dinner:
a 3 inch meatball of ground hamburger (raw, of course)
about an 1/8 cup of frozen, defrosted vegetables (wide variety)
a multi-vitamin, fish oil capsule, and a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement

On occasion, she gets a little bit of fresh fruit. She will also be getting a varity of meat sources, they will change month to month. She will also get organ meats every 2 weeks or so. I haven't decided if I am going to add any grain to her diet, other than those found in high quality biscuits.

THANK YOU KATRIN, for turning on the light.