[Nancy M]

I would like to get some well founded information as to the concept of “food rotation”. I have done this in the distant past, but would like to hear others opinions as to the general way of doing this; how often, is it basically a rotation of the type of food you’re feeding (kibble, canned, fresh, raw, etc….). Is it basically a rotation of the protein source, or other ingredients? Transition time and process? Would love to hear from all of you. Thanks!

[InkedMarie]

Unfortunately, of my three, I only have one that can get a large variety. My sheltie gets stopped up, she has no teeth so she gets one or two Honest Kitchens and a couple canned.

My boy has been having recurrent ear infections and for now, he’s just getting The Honest Kitchens Zeal, til I can figure out what’s causing them.

[theBCnut]

I switch kibbles every week and I swich raw every meal. It took a few months of slow transitions to get one of my dogs to where she could just switch without any transition, but I stuck with it and now she switches easily.

[Nancy M]

Thank you Marie and Patty…..

Patty, for you, my goodness, I had never heard of this. When I was rotating, I was only rotating kibble and usually within the same brand. Didn’t know you do it like you have, which to me, is a great way of maximizing different ingredients and sources. But how in the world did you accomplish this….I’m very curious? Remarkable, in my mind. No doubt, it was very difficult, but when you get some time, I would love to hear more about the process and your strategies!

Marie…..have you looked at the “Dinovite” and the man’s homemade diets? Particularly his very simple recipe for a “No Yeast chicken/rice” cooked diet? He swears it alleviates problems such as yours. Actually, I just ordered some of his products and was planning to give his recipes a try.

Thanks to you both…..

[theBCnut]

Dinovite is how I started on raw. I did his yeast starvation diet for half of my dogs’ food. And then I kept looking into other recipes for raw food and got a couple books. I read every website I could find and talked to other raw feeders. Now, I use Darwin’s commercial raw, grinds from Hare Today and My Pet Carnivore that I have to add stuff to, meat from the butcher, and even one of my buck goats. I use premixes like Dr. Harvey’s Veg to Bowl and Steve Brown’s See Spot Live Longer, that you add to boneless meat. I have used DinoVite and am soon going to try CarnivoreRaw with bone in meat.

I felt like using DinoVite let me start feeding raw quickly and gave me time to learn more, so I could take the next step.

[Nancy M]

That’s great news!…thanks for telling me that! At least I feel like I’m on the right path….you’ve been very helpful. The thing for me is I’m trying to keep fat content down to a bare minimum and I’m very leary of doing his raw diet with the ground beef…..I’d have to do something quite different. My 3 year old Sheltie has CYHLOTHORAX and the fat content in the blood/chyle (which is somehow leaking into the chest cavity) is a bad deal for him, so fat in the diet has to be closely monitored. Thanks again! Not sure what I’m going to do.

[theBCnut]

You would have to go with low fat meats, if you went that route.

[Melissaandcrew]

HI Nancy-

Several of my dogs are schnauzers which are very prone to pancreatitis, and need the fat closely watched as well. With that said, I choose lean meats, and then still trim off what I can. So far, in the past two weeks, they have eaten homemade raw(used commercial made before) using chicken, lean beef, beef heart and venison. No problems with them so far..

[Nancy M]

Melissa…..please share your recipe(s) with me, when you have time. Thanks much for your comment right now, everything is helpful!

[neezerfan]

WOW! Sandy, I’m jealous! It’s like a whole pet food store there!

[Nancy M]

It’s really quite amazing! I highly admire those who have progressed to even close to this level of “knowing what they’re doing”. I am so eager to get started, but I definitely need to learn a lot more, first. Guess I need to start crackin’ on the books!

[Nancy M]

Pugmomsandy,

Sorry…..more questions for you. Where do you purchase most of your food products; mainly the canned/kibble? Locally or websites? Do you normally buy in bulk and during sales? One can assume it takes a while to get such a variety built up, but I can’t even imagine trying to accumulate these varieties from local retailers. So what’s your strategy? What are your preferred canned/kibble/freeze-dried foods?

[Melissaandcrew]

Not Sandy, but I buy all my foods locally to date. I look for the ’boutique’ small pet stores and they tend to carry the higher quality, harder to find brands. There are several of us here that rotate every bag, or every meal/day, lol. It builds up much quicker than you can imagine. Some people order on line, but I tend to be a ‘hands on’ type person needing to see/read/handle the products.

Ordering in bulk is not a good idea unless you are going to use it up fairly quickly, so that would depend on the number of dogs you have. Sandy has a bunch, lol, and I have 15, so the amounts we use per month are going to be a lot higher than someone with two or even three dogs.

[pugmomsandy]

Neezerfan,

Yes, it is like a pet store! I’m going to have shelves put in for my stuff. There’s stuff in that room, stuff in an upstairs bedroom (cases of toys and harnesses, leads, etc, crate mats, etc) and stuff in the garage (not food). I’ve been fostering for over 4 years so I’ve accumulated alot and keep on buying, it’s an addiction!

[Melissaandcrew]

PS I use the recipes out of Steve Browns book and Karen Becker so fra, jut substituting leaner meats.

[pugmomsandy]

Nancy M

I buy my kibble online and from the local feed store/garden supply store. I buy canned foods from a wholesaler but there are alot of them that get dented on the delivery so it would be better for me to pick the order up from the loading dock but I do buy several cases at once. Basically, I just bought about a dozen cases, not for sure. There’s several still on the floor that aren’t on the shelf! There is also a non-profit store where fosters can buy food for dirt cheap like Merrick cases for $2.50 (and they are in date, not expired). I haven’t bought from them so my cases are around $16-$30. My preferred cans are Weruva, Tripett, Merrick, Wellness, Nature’s Logic, just ordered some Hound & Gatos. For freeze dried/dehydrated I’ve used The Honest Kitchen and Sojo’s with added protein, and Addiction with added protein. My other favorite freeze dried is Vital Essentials freeze dried nibbletts since I get a big bag of this for $15-$18. For kibble, I keep Nature’s Logic, Nutrisource, Brothers Complete, Instinct, and Epigen, sometimes Nature’s Select grain free. I have anywhere from 6-12 dogs at a time and when they leave my house, I send them with a gallon ziplock bag about 3/4 full and a couple cans. I like to use wet foods on their kibble, but usually make sure to feed the seniors extra wet food. My raw is from a local source or with a group bulk order from GreenTripe.com in California. Retailers also carry this brand but for twice as much as when ordering with my raw feeding group.

[Nancy M]

God bless all of you that foster these “lost”animals…..you are such special people! And that makes sense as to the inventory when you have several mouths to feed. But even with one or two it can certainly become an “addiction”…..I know that feeling quite well.

Melissa, special thanks for the tips on the recipes references. I have a growing list of books and articles to read. Time consuming, but I love it! I think my best bet right now, in order to get started with better nutrition is to just take one little step at a time and then build on it, one thing at a time.

Thanks to all who have helped!

[Nancy M]

Pugmomsandy…….thanks so much for your time and expertise! Appreciate it very much! I’ve gotten a lot of information throughout the day and feel far better off than yesterday on the subject? Very helpful……Thanks again, everyone. I love this site!

[InkedMarie]

My husband & I are having a disagreement on good storage. We live in New Hampshire. Cold in winter, spring/summer gets humid off & on.

We have an unheated breezeway. We have an unheated basement. Both get sticky in humidity, colder in winter. This is the first time I’ve “hoarded” dog food (thanks a lot, ladies) so it’s all new.

I have bags of dry, boxes of dehydrated and cases of canned.

Once I see answers, I’ll tell you who was right lol.

[Melissaandcrew]

Hmmm..neither would seem to work. I use our spare room which is heated/air conditioned to store the dry. Here in NY we have the same problem with humidity etc. So, that is where the dry “lives” For the dehydrated/canned, I had hubby install some cabinets on the wall of my “mud room”. Then, I simply remodeled the kitchen, lol, that was old and outdated. With 4more cabinets, I now have two spots to keep the canned-some in the kitchen, some in the hallway : ) I split our freezer giving the dogs two shelve for their raw for now, and am looking into a chest freezer to store bigger quantities.

[InkedMarie]

Duh! LOL, we have a spare bedroom: it’s the laundry room and dog grooming. There’s no AC but that would probably be the best place in the summer and I’m probably smart to NOT stock up on dry food in the summer.

No one’s eating raw at this time. I’m having a heckuva time with Boone’s ears (anyone reading happen to have an ingredient list for the old Brothers allergy formula) so he’s eating just THK Zeal now, Gemma has been constipated twice & needed an enema so she’s getting THK with canned & some Abady granular. Not buying raw just for Ginger.

[Melissaandcrew]

I know you are trying to avoid meds, but I would get a tube of BCP ear packing ointment from your vet, and stick it in : ) I have a dog with chronic ear issues, or atleast I did. To make itworse, she get very aggressive when you try to do anything with her like that. Our vet put some in, and voila-she has not had an infection in 5mths. It lasts two weeks, and I got a tube in case she needed a second or third dose. Nope. Gone, completely and has not returned. You have to warm the tube up in your pocket or hands for 10 mins before putting it in, it does leak out and make the fur around the ear a bit nasty, but it was well worth it for 100 percent clearance of the infection with nothing else needed-youleaveit in, nd do not clean the ears for 14 days until the next dose is due.

[InkedMarie]

What is BCP ear packing ointment? Ive never heard of that. He’s done with his latest round of Momentax (spelled wrong) and has clean ears. Only eating Zeal and just Bug Off Garlic Granules for supplement. Want to see what goes on. I typed up every food and supplement I can remember, wondering if the Mercola enzymes, CVS vitamin C or Dr Langers probiotics are causing the problem or if it’s not diet related.

I am taking Gemma to the vets on Monday for another UA (recheck), will ask if they have it and can I buy it. I am trying hard to not take Boone in to the vet again. Not to cry poverty but having Gemma to the vets twice in two weeks, once for being bound up and then for a UTI has depleted my vet envelope and she has a recheck, heartworm check and rabies if everything is fine, on Monday.

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