Food and Health Q&As

I have an itchy Shih Tzu who also has a sensitive stomach. Gracie has always itched but when I transitioned her to Force about three months ago and she started itching much worse. Her stomach is no longer upset and she has firm stools but I am wondering if she might be allergic to flaxseed. Any thoughts on this? I notice that The Honest Kitchen is getting ready to launch Thrive which is marketed as flax free. Has there become a know occurrence of dogs being allergic to flax? Thanks, Leslie

I have a german shepherd that will be turning 9 soon. For the most part he stays pretty healthy but lately he hasn't been as much.... mostly with his hips. I have been giving him glucosamine chondriton twice a day and that wasn't helping so we went to the vet today and he gave me some medication for him because his hips are so bad. He still runs along the fence line and things like that but he can hardly get up 2 steps and often stumbles. He has also been losing weight. I use to mix raw turke...

After reading your web site (found via google) I have decided to start raw/natural feeding my two dogs but I have a couple of queries I wonder if you can help me with. Firstly, the reason I have been researching a new diet for my dogs is that Leo my 13 year old Maltese, Chinese crested mix has recently been diagnosed with congenital heart failure so I am looking for a salt/sodium free diet for him so my question here is as Leo is fairly old now would it be a good idea to start giving him a...

My bloodhound had her puppies a week ago. She has been eating Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul for over a year or so. My question is how much should I be feeding her and how many times a day? She weighs around 75 lbs. and is feeding a litter of 6 pups. I am scared to feed her big meals b/c I lost another bloodhound to bloat. The vet then recommended small meals with little water during feeding times. What do you suggest about the number of times and the amount each time or amount per day? Tha...

My 8 year old male West Highland Terrier, Buddy, is slightly...OK, moderately overweight at 25 pounds and has allergies to bermuda grass, ash and maple trees, and goldenrod. He also has food allergies to rice, soybean and peanuts. Currently I feed him Iams and if I keep table scraps away from him he does pretty well in conjunction with daily antihistamine pills (Chlorpheniramine Maleate 4mg--2 pills a day) . He is a picky eater and I don't know very much about your line of food products. Do y...

My three y/o male shepherd has had skin irritation for over a span of a year. Since we had the dog, he has had this skin infection. We have fed the dog Diamond dog food since we have had the male shepherd. When I last took my boy to the vet, the doc put him on Keflex and Pretizone. For the time he was on the meds, the dog was fine. Now, we feed both my male and female dogs this potato and venison(deer) diet. The female has a little bit of a skin rash around her belly and our male now is scrat...

We brought our puppy home on Friday and had her at the vet on Monday. We had brought a stool sample and they found out she has coccidia. She has to take one pill Alban for 20 days. Since she was at raw diet and kibble at the breeder I did the same, but I wonder if it might be better if I feed her raw only. What is your opinion? She east K9 Kraving and loves it. Other than a slightly loose stool she is doing fine. Is there anything I can feed her to help heel her intestines? Thanks

I have my 6 month old Dobe pup on Embark with 5 chicken wings. I was giving her ? cup w/ the wings twice a day. She was getting too skinny. The vet chewed me out yesterday; the day before I had increased the amount I was giving her to 1 cup twice daily with the same number of wings. Is there anything else I can add to make sure that she gains a healthy amount of weight? It will probably help with her paw issue as well from what the vet tells me. I appreciate all of your help. Thanks!

I'm just researching food for my great pyrenese. I just got him from the pound on Sunday and so far he's just the best pet ever. He's terribly underweight though--79lbs, so I'm trying to fatten him up. Never heard about alternative dog food before. How much would it cost to feed my great pyr this prepared all natural dog food? He's supposed to between 89 and 130lbs. Also, I've always heard that feeding dogs raw meat makes them more aggressive. Is that true? Our dog is our family pet and we ha...

I've been doing some research on raw and all-natural diets in anticipation of the arrival of a new puppy (8-wk-old Cane Corso), and had a couple questions for you if you don?t mind? She is currently on an all-natural (ie: human grade) kibble at the breeders, and I will continue her on this diet (Flint River Ranch) after she comes home. The reason for this is to allow her time to settle in to all the changes in her life, and because I'm not yet familiar enough with the raw diet to start rig...

Well, I started my 4 dogs on the raw food after reading the information from your web site last Sun. Everyday I am amazed as they sort of chew up and swallow the bones and it still scares me a little, but I am determined to hang in there until it becomes normal. I have read tons of stuff on the internet trying to educate myself. I am glad that I just jumped into it and made the commitment to go forward even though I didn't have all my ducks in a row so to speak. I have a few more questions fo...

I have recently received information from a family friend that indicated powdered garlic is detrimental to your dog's health. (Contains sulfoxides and disulfides, which can damage red blood cells and cause anemia. Toxic ingredient thiosulphates http://www.risingwoods.org). We have been using garlic powder, along with kelp and alfalfa powders in our dog's raw diet. Can you give us some advice on this? Your response would be appreciated. Linda

Our English Shepherd will be 11 years old next month & was recently diagnosed with arthritis. Can you recommend any natural methods we might try to help him. I've been giving him 4,000 mgs of vitamin C each day & the vet recommended giving him glucosamine-chondroitin. I would appreciate any input you might afford us. Thanks, Kathy

Can you tell me why you chose that particular brand over the others available. I've been unable to find a real comparison chart anywhere that tells the difference (nutrients, cost, etc.) between freeze dried raw diets like Honest Kitchen, Steve's Real Food & Nature's Variety (as the top 3 big ones that I've found). I haven't switched over yet and I'm just trying to find out how others made the choice they did. Thanks if you can provide your input. Anita

I have just taken in a rott/shepard mix female about 7 years old and she is severely undernourished. I was wondering if there is any kind of formula I could feed her to get her back into good shape. I gave a friend this dog about 6 years ago and now he has let her go for so long she looks horrible and I took her back I raised her on the bottle when she was born from day one. It hurts me so bad to see the condition she is in now. I don't have the money to take her to the vet or to buy expensiv...

My puppy is 5 month's old and has been chewing on her front paws, I don't know why!!! It looks like they hurt her or could it be just another thing to chew?

We have a friend that started his dog on your raw diet and we are starting ours on the same, because it has worked so great for him. We have 2 dogs, a large Rhodesian Ridgeback and a small Schipperke. The large one is about 15-20 lbs overweight, I guess. I don't think so, but the books say he should weight only 90 lbs and he weighs 115. The little one should weigh about 12 lbs and weighs 15. We started this raw diet on Easter Sunday. The large dog took to it right away, but the smaller ...

My Golden Retriever is 15 weeks old. Upon getting his first and second round of puppy vaccinations, he developed a very sensitive stomach and frequently has diarrhea (strong smell and consistency of pudding) in his crate in the mornings when we get up. I have told my vet of these concerns, and he attributes it to food, treats, allergies, but never the vaccine. I have switched to Wellness natural dog food and only give him 100% natural treats, and he still has the problem. It is now time for h...

Cindy, First I want to thank you and Ed for your wonderful web site. I'm learning so much, but still have tons to learn from you guys! I have a couple questions about the Honest Kitchen dog food. Here is my situation, we have an 8 year old small breed mix (13lbs) and today we are going to pick up a 10 month old spaniel mix (20lbs) from our local shelter. Both dogs eat dry kibble and we'd like to make the switch to feeding the Honest Kitchen food. We work during the day so the dogs are n...

Right now I feed Natures recipe kibble in the morning and sometimes for an evening snack I will feed raw chicken necks or turkey necks, however not always. My dog is 1 yr old, a bulldog breed. Basically I want to know what I can do for tartar because I don't want my dog to get her teeth cleaned by the vet.