Hello, need some advice with the raw diet. I'm new to this diet, but am absolutely convinced that this diet makes perfect sense! My pup is 17+ weeks old and was weaned on the raw diet, she had a couple of weeks on kibble food (Wellness) and then went back to the raw. (at 13 weeks). I have been giving her a probiotic and digestive enzyme with one of her meals everyday. Is this still necessary, or shall I cut down the dosage? She was also scratching a lot and I read in prior posts that alfalfa and below ground veggies may cause this. I've cut out the below ground veggies and have also started supplementing with aloe juice. The scratching seems to be diminishing. I am worried about her not getting the proper nutrients and don't want to cut out the alfalfa completely. Any substitutions? Thanks.
Dogs don't need alfalfa. Auster doesn't even know what it is, and she's in the best shape she has ever been in (lots of lean muscle, shiny coat, and she's lost the kibble-dog look).
Probiotics and enzymes depend on the dog. My dog needs them every day (because she bloated and is low normal pancreatic function) but before she bloated she had never had enzymes and maybe a month or so of probiotics total (2 weeks after an antibiotic course, twice). Once the dog is healthy (no itching, etc) you can try decreasing the dose and see what happens.
This is all just my opinion, of course.
"Dog breeding must always be done by a dog lover, it can not be a profession." -Max v Stephanitz
Many people use a 50/50 ratio of alfalfa and kelp to supply the necessary vit/minerals to dogs eating a raw diet.
I have not had problems with itching with alfalfa. Where are you buying it and in what form? Usually flax seed oil is the culprit in the itchies. The other source of your problem could also be vaccinations. Has she had these lately? How many?
There are other sources for min/vit though, that you may want to look into.
Thanks for the input Lauren and Shandar. I have diluted my kelp/alfalfa mix to 3/4 kelp and 1/4 alfalfa. Her last vac's were on Oct. 8. I have been giving her fish oil instead of the flax seed oil for the last 3 weeks now. She still scratches periodically, but is the picture of health. Her elbows are a bit pink and this is concerning me (she spends an average amount of time in her crate, (12 hours max out of 24). I will be patient and wait for a couple of weeks for some results. Thanks again and hope to hear from other members experiences.
I would suspect that the itch is actually from the vaccines before I would suspect the alfalfa. My dogs get a 50/50 ratio of the alfalfa /kelp (1 TBS/meal) and I have never had problems. Not that it is not possible in this case but it is way more likey your dog is showing the classic symptoms/occurance with vaccines.
If it was my dog, I would take them to a homeopath and have them detoxed from the vaccines. It may only get worse otherwise.
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