Food and Health Q&As

I know my inquiry is probably one of hundreds because of the recent scare. I had a friend who lost a dog just last week with terrible vomiting, lethargy (signs of kidney failure). I have two dogs, a Gordon Setter and a Chihuahua, both under 2 years of age. I either want to make their food until this mess is settled (if it ever is) or try a good organic food. Please tell me, is your food or any of it parts connected with Menu? If not, can you give me some of the particular on where it is p...

Just a quick question... please give me examples of what you add to the Honest Kitchen. I have 5 GSD's; am feeding Back To Basics to which I add some chicken at the evening meal, but am thinking of switching. Four of my dogs are adults & I have a puppy coming this month. Thanks. Sincerely, Elayne

I am new to the raw diet and I am planning on doing more research. Please could you let me know if it would me OK for me to mix The Honest Kitchen with his kibble and if so how long can I do this. We are also on a tight budget and not sure if we can afford to just feed raw.

I have been purchasing the honest dog food, "Embark." My last order was 10lbs. My 5 mos. old puppy loves it but I have a concern which brings me to a question I hope you can help me with. Is it normal for the dog to have anywhere from 3-5 bowel movements a day? These are not small, but very healthy so I wonder if she is getting the nutrition from the food before she passes it. She has no gas or anything, just what I have mentioned. Sometimes I do add ground turkey as you mentioned previou...

I am sorry to bother you, but I really enjoyed your articles on raw feeding on your web site and I was wondering if you would share some of your experiences with me. I am the proud owner of three Australian Shepherds that all are fed raw and have been since they came into my life. Recently I purchased the youngest of the three from a holistic breeder, who is very knowledgeable and ethical. The puppy was raised raw and of course is very healthy, but within the past week he has become a bit...

I just got the tub of embark. I followed the instructions (or so I thought) and the ending mixture was soupy. Did I use too much water? I was also hoping to get some of your ideas on recipes or ways of mixing embark with raw food Thanks, Tim

I have just one other question regarding the raw diet. As I mentioned in my other email to you, my 18 month old mainly likes seeing chicken in her bowl. Sometimes when I put red meat in the bowl she doesn't eat all that much of it whereas when its chicken she eats it all. Because of this I thought I might try HK just to make sure she got all the important stuff to keep her healthy and add the chicken to the HK. Am I right to think like this or is chicken every night o...

Hello, my name is Rebekah and I have recently purchased Embark for my 5 month old Shih Tzu named Simon. He's about 15-17 lb. right now. I'm transitioning him slowly from Eukanuba dry food and he is doing very well, very little stomach upset, but I'm afraid I'm feeding him too much. Right now I'm giving him about 1/4 cup of Embark, 1/4 dry Eukanuba and some kind of meat (chicken wing, liver, or whatever) with it. Is this too much? How can I start transitioning less dry food? Also, i...

I am interested in Honest Kitchen for my 16 lb Poodle rescue. He is constantly itching even though I feed raw.(beef, chicken and soon deer) I add fish oil and Vitamin C to his diet as well. Which product do you recommend? Also, do I need to add bones to this or is it sufficient without them in nutrition? Thank you so much for your help. Lorelei

How can I make the food more economical to feed?

Why do Honest Kitchen diets cost a little more than regular pet food?

How long does a 10 lb box of food last an average dog, and how much does it cost to feed?

First I want you to know how much I enjoy your website. Lots of good info and quality products. I have a problem I hope you can help me with. I have been feeding raw for almost a year. I feed chicken quarters, chicken liver, venison, pork, and raw eggs. Recently one of my dogs has started licking excessively after she eats. It looks like she is licking the end of her nose or the roof of her mouth. Sometimes she licks so much her belly swells. You can see her deflate when she burps. This ...

Hello Mr.Frawley, I was told to look you up because you could give me some solid advice. On 1/30/2011 I purchased a 5 and half week old GS pup with a very impressive background from West German blood lines and father being a Va champion. The pup has had loose stool [pudding like] since we brought him home. On 1/31/2011 I took him to the vet to have him checked for the health guarantee. The vet said he was a healthy good looking pup and gave him his 1st set of shots. This dog...

Hello Cindy! I have a question about what supplements to give to a young Bernese Mountain Dog with hip dysplasia. (Can't ever remember how to spell that!) This is my mother's dog and she is giving her novox for pain, but I'm thinking that she needs something else besides that. What would be your recommendations? Thank you! Jael

Hi Cindy, I'll try to make this short. We live in a small town in Texas. Our family dog, Luke, limps sometimes and really gives in to his right rear leg. Took him to vet several times and finally asked him to xray his leg. He said everything looked okay just some slight atrophy in his hip but nothing to worry about. Of course that really worried me. Luke has been on a raw diet since he was 12 weeks and is not over weight. He is large for breed and weighs 53 lbs. He runs and...

Mr. Frawley, I have inherited a working lines GSD male dog. He has excellent blood lines and is a tank of a dog. I have no doubt his hips are fine, but have sent them to OFA twice, about five months apart, after having them xrayed by two different veterinarians, and they have come back with different results both times. The first time he was mild on both hips, the second he was mild on the left right was normal. Now, I didn't see the first set of films, they were not ...

Hi Cindy, Our male lab has had 8 litters he sired and 10 good ties with several females. He has not been able to tie in over a year, just slip ties. I had the vet check him and though he always had topical protection he got Anaplasmosis. His sperm count is high but the motility was about 2 %, he is being treated with doxacyline for a month. The vet thought a fever from the disease did this and he should recover. Have you ever heard of this before with these affects? After two doses...

Hi Cindy -- I am writing to you because I have tried the forum and have not gotten any answers to this question -- thinking that with all your experience with dogs and GSD, maybe you can help me. Our 4 1/2 year old has exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. It has always been a struggle to keep him at a decent weight, even with the enzymes. We were using viokase and now use biokase because its half the price and I've seen no difference between the results... but he's just so thin and boney, n...

Hi, I have a 2-and-a-half year old German Shepherd female. I just built her an outdoor chain-link kennel (6X9 feet) with a brushed cement pad floor and a metal roof. She is now in the kennel for about 9 hours a day when I'm away at work. What would you recommend for comfortable bedding/flooring to avoid bone and joint issues? Thank you, Brian