Holistic vet/Raw diet?

[maxiesmom]

Curious if anyone on here uses a holistic vet. Both of my dogs have had cancer surgeries this year, and I am looking to do what I can to help them be more healthy.

Looking thru different facebook groups it was suggested I look at raw feeding and using a holistic vet. The raw feeding sounds good at first--but your dog has to go thru a whole detox phase that sounds miserable. The holistic vet was suggested as apparently the allergy meds I have my beagle on (apoquel) now lists cancer as a possible side effect.

Anyone here make the change to a raw diet or to using a holistic vet? And how do you find info on either that you trust? I trust my regular vet, and they are the one who put him on apoquel.

 

[KayaWildfire]

One thing to ensure you do is make sure you are feeding them a balanced diet, no matter what you go with. A lot of holistic diets simply aren't. And raw definitely isn't unless you add vitamin packets. I much prefer going with a big research backed brand-Purina, Hill's, and Royal Canin. And please don't feed them raw. That is really dangerous for them and their humans. Dogs can get salmonella, e coli, etc and get sick themselves or give to their people.
About the allergies your beagle has, does he have environmental or food allergies? If he has food allergies, you could see of his allergies can be managed with food and not with apoquel of you are concerned about the risk.

 

[maxiesmom]

His allergies are more environmental. They seem to be at their worst in the spring, which is when my allergies really make me suffer too.

I know quite a few people who make their own dog food, and I'm thinking I may try that route. I get that many swear by feeding raw, but I honestly don't think it is something I can do. Having to hunt down hearts and feet and livers and tripe seems like a massive amount of work. And having my dog eat the bones whole, I would be afraid of them choking.

 

[Christine]

His allergies are more environmental. They seem to be at their worst in the spring, which is when my allergies really make me suffer too.

I know quite a few people who make their own dog food, and I'm thinking I may try that route. I get that many swear by feeding raw, but I honestly don't think it is something I can do. Having to hunt down hearts and feet and livers and tripe seems like a massive amount of work. And having my dog eat the bones whole, I would be afraid of them choking.

Not only that, if you're going to feed raw, you want to make sure you're using the highest quality foods. The regular grocery store won't have that. So, it may work if you access to high quality, clean meats, but if not, I say it's not worth the trouble.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

My dog started life on a raw diet, but I do not feed raw.

My vet is not technically a holistic vet, but I am happy with their treatment of my pet, and he is pretty healthy.

 

[LJSquishy]

I feed my 2 dogs raw and they're thriving on it! There was a slight transition for them but I eased them into it. Previously I was feeding part Fromm grain free kibble and part canned food. To slowly transition, I started adding Stella & Chewy's freeze dried raw (hydrated it) and slowly decreased the amount of kibble, then decreased the canned, all while increasing the freeze dried raw. That transition took a couple of weeks...one of my dogs had s very sensitive digestive system so I did it slowly for that reason. Neither dog had issues. Never diarrhea, vomiting, etc. After they were on Stella and Chewy's for 3-6 months I wanted to switch to actual frozen raw. I chose Steve's Real Food frozen raw and did that transition over just a week or so. They've been on Steve's frozen for a couple of years now. Never a single issue. It's a balanced premade raw with the proper ratios of bones/meat/offal and is ground up. I also like to add Answers raw fermented goat's milk or raw fermented sauerkraut for probiotics. Dogs to not have issues with salmonella, etc...their gut is capable of processing raw. My dogs are 12yrs and 10yrs old Maltese. Switching to raw was the best thing I ever did for their health, especially for my older one who has a grade 5 heart murmur and also suffered terribly from environmental allergies.

 

[bellebud]

When my 11yo GSD was diagnosed with a tumor inside his anal gland, I sought out a holistic vet and he recommended his own raw diet he manufactured. I used that for a few weeks, but had to drive 1.5 hours to get it, so switched to the raw food in the refrigerated case in PetCo. I don't remember the name of it. Anyway, at that point, raw couldn't hurt, since my dog was given a few months to live at most. He lasted 13 more months, with the tumor growing very slow. Our regular vet told me afterwards she was being generous telling me 4 months to live. She expected 1 - 2 months at most. It was a very aggressive type of cancer. So I don't know if the raw diet helped or not, but it was worth the cost to me.

 

[RamblingMad]

I tried a raw diet and quit after a month. It wasn’t doing my dog any good. I stick to Petcuran food from Canada.

 

[rwdavis2]

Grain free diets in dogs has been correlated with heart problems. Raw sounds good, but there is no scientific basis for it.

 

[RamblingMad]

Grain free diets in dogs has been correlated with heart problems. Raw sounds good, but there is no scientific basis for it.

And the grain free connection they’re still figuring out. Pet nutrition is a big mess right now.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Dogs can get sick from salmonella - this is often the adulterant we see in pet food recalls - but even if they don’t get super sick, they can shed it for several weeks in their excrement and that can make other animals and people sick. People can die from salmonella. So it’s not something we really want around homes, yards, parks, dog parks, etc.

https://www.banfield.com/pet-health...e-library/nutrition/the-dangers-of-salmonella
The AMVA does not recommend raw diets because of the potential for spread of illness to people, in part. Raw food can contain EColi and many other germs, as well.

I have a friend who feeds a raw diet to her dogs. Every once in a while a dog will be very sick for no reason with bloody diarrhea and listlessness, yet she will never even consider that it could be the raw diet.

 

[yoopermom]

We have had many hounds with allergies over the years. Honestly, I have allergies that no "holistic diet" is going to cure, so I'm going to keep taking my OTC allergy meds, and my dog will continue to take his vet prescribed ones.

I'm also not a proponent of a raw diet, but that's just me. I will say that we supplement our dogs' dry kibble with vegetables and lean proteins (aka human food, but not the spicy/fatty stuff!).

Terri

 

[easyas123]

I'll second that grain-free is not always answer. A well balanced diet is key....We have two large dogs and feed a 90% dry however we do on occasion supplement with a bit of raw venison during hunting season and they enjoy the treat, but it isn't a main meal for them. Their digestive systems are 10X's more happy with a steady, regular diet that has little change. We go thru about 130-150 lbs. of dry dog food a month...thank you Chewy!
As you can see from the many responses there are several different routes to take and not any particular one is the right one for every dog.

 

[jsmith]

There is one major misconception in this thread and that is it has to be either or-We feed a mixed fresh/raw food and kibble diet. My dogs do just fine on that. We also rotate proteins in kibble as I have one picky dog who will just decide he doesn't like a protein anymore. I have to avoid chicken because of an allergy issue for two of the three. The third, an ancient ( not elderly, ancient) corgi still gets what my in laws were feeding him because I am afraid to mess with him. So my dogs get pre-made or homemade raw in the morning and a high quality grain inclusive kibble supplemented with Honest Kitched freeze dried in the evenings. They also get a probiotic, fish oil, vitamin C and Eand a joint supplement daily. As for the holistic vet question I use conventional veterinary care for the most part but have a good friend in our breed club who is a holistic vet with whom I consult on occasion.

 

[rwdavis2]

I'll second that grain-free is not always answer. A well balanced diet is key....We have two large dogs and feed a 90% dry however we do on occasion supplement with a bit of raw venison during hunting season and they enjoy the treat, but it isn't a main meal for them. Their digestive systems are 10X's more happy with a steady, regular diet that has little change. We go thru about 130-150 lbs. of dry dog food a month...thank you Chewy!
As you can see from the many responses there are several different routes to take and not any particular one is the right one for every dog.

Good points. Our daughter just graduated veterinary school and she learned that any dog food that meets minimum nutrition requirements for dog is fine as long as the dog has no underlying health issues or allergies as has been discussed above. There's no need to spend a lot of money on dog food.

 

[easyas123]

Our daughter just graduated veterinary school

Congrats to her! That is quite an accomplishment! My son's very good friend graduated from vet school last year, and my niece is starting pre-vet in another year. It's a hard slog to say the least!

 

[rwdavis2]

Congrats to her! That is quite an accomplishment! My son's very good friend graduated from vet school last year, and my niece is starting pre-vet in another year. It's a hard slog to say the least!

Yes, it's a very hard 4 years in vet school for not much money when you get out to work.