Suplements?

[Lowenchi]

Ah yeah your the same as me jess that's what my guys get, wish I could cut out the RC tho I hate feeding them it they get awful tear stains from the grains just don't have a big enough freezer for the raw.

[jess]

I find mine do great on the Royal Canin, the only other thing we feed is Vitalin Bitch Diet for the mums

Cant you get something to put in the water for tear stains? I havent noticed it really on yours though Louise, certainly nowhere near as bad as some!

[brodysmom]

A raw food diet is complete in itself. But just as the grasslands/soils are being depleted and the animals are finished on grain, their omega 3's are depleted in the meat. That's why I add in the salmon oil. If I can get organic, grass fed meat - then I do, but let's be honest - we rarely can afford that for the people in the family, let alone the dog. LOL. We usually do most of our shopping at regular grocery stores, and those are factory farmed meats. Adding in the fish oil is just an extra insurance policy.

If I fed kibble - I would be supplementing as well, although the vitamins/minerals are cooked out and then added back in - it just doesn't compare to fresh foods and their nutritional content is far superior.

I probably don't need to add in the glucosamine/choindroitin but Brody is built so slender with his tiny stick legs. I think the extra joint support is just a smart thing to do.

I don't feed any grains/cereals at all, and no dairy.

[Kristi]

We feed raw, about 60% pre-made Stella & Chewy's, 40% boney or meaty meals with my little organ cubes lol. For 2 of them, they do get sweet potato a few times a week, I can't seem to keep weight on them otherwise. Trying to pack some weight on Bryco too ATM so he's getting some sweet potato as well.

For supplements, I give, varied by the day...but usually they get these at some point during the week

Glucosamine
Some kind of oil (salmon, anchovy, cod, olive)
Nupro or The Missing Link Vet Strength
Growing puppies/dogs get K9 Puppy Gold formula, 1 tsp mixed in w/ their raw meals
Ester-C, approx 50 mg 2x a day

[Sarah]

Jun 17, 2011 20:41:23 GMT jess said:

Jun 17, 2011 20:36:01 GMT Sarah said:

A lot of foods now days actually contain more bad stuff that good and they have to add all the extra vitamins because they cook them out.

Thats why I made a point of saying "quality" foods

I don't want to get into the raw/ dry fod debate

BUT

even top range foods: orijen, ziwipeak etc have added vitamins and minerals, way more than the odd bit i chuck in for my guys.

The likes of royal canin and I know a lot of people feed it and their dogs do well on it and that's great but personally I hate it it would of killed daisy, so I have a massive issue with this particular brand (I won't start on the likes of pedigree scum and bakers) Are full of crap.. Hardly any meat.. Mainly maize and meat meal so I wouldn't really personally put that one in the quality food bracket, but anyway they HAVE to add these billions of vitamins etc to make the food 'complete'

IF I fed a kibble (and I wouldn't ever) I would probably be inclined to add more stuff that I do now!
The thing with dogs is unless we totally mimic what they would get in the wild - which we could if we lived On a farm and fed organic grass fed meats to them but not many people have that opportunity we have to add certain things to ensure our dogs are getting the best possible diet which is species appropriate

Just my pennies worth

[Rosie]

It's interesting to see how many supplements different people give. Raw feeding isn't something I'm quite ready for at the moment, just can't get quite my head round it, which is why I did my research and changed Alfie onto Ziwipeak - as it seemed to be the next best thing. But I do want to put him onto supplements as well if it will help improve his chances of staying healthy long-term.

So where do you all get your supplements from? Do you feed normal human ones from Holland & Barret or similar, or do you buy specialist canine ones? And what doses do you give? Is there a good site somewhere that tells me what the benefits of each different supplement are?

Sorry for all the questions, just really keen to learn more.

[Lucy]

For salmon oil I use Healthy Hounds but I know some people use Grizzly. I just give a squirt (not an exact measure sorry haha) a couple of times a week.

The glucosamine I give, Sarah got from her £1 shop lol. Its human grade. But a few other members mentioned Nupro and Hylox which are both made for animals and I'm guessing they come with the dosage on them!

I don't know if there's a site with a specific list. I tend to talk to people and write it down lol to save me looking all over the place, and read up on different ones.

[Codi]

I just started using supplements for them, Kristi helped me figure out the dosages and such.. lol. They are both on a high quality kibble, it's the only thing that has worked well for both girls, Fromm's Four Star Nutritionals Lamb and Sweet Potato, with a raw meal a couple days a week.

They get-
A squirt of Salmon Oil every day.
Ester C- 250 mg a day (1/2 a gummi a day)
Glucosamine and MSM, about 250 mg of each a day.
And I got some Missing Link today, still need to figure out the dosages on that, and how often.