If you become proficient at scanning sale papers you find leg quarters are often sold for loss leader prices.

also, since NC does not have the dreaded DHEC like SC you can usually surf the meat bins, find just outdated meat they missed, and offer a really low price to the meat manager. I did this at several NC chains and actually became a regular* -- I guess ingles is still the big fishin the pond over your way and we don't have them here. also, do you still have the railroad salvage store that was on old haywood road?

*I only went back to kibble because my PF dog developed an allergy to chicken and the other one eats her dinner during training and raw was too much of a hassle for me for that.

Jeff,
You said "My personal inclination is to avoid a raw diet with puppies and sick dogs, since they are more susceptible to parasitic infections..."
I am considering switching to raw and would like to know your (and anyone else's) opinion of what you consider to be "sick dogs"? My 3 y/o Golden has itchy skin and gunky ears, which I feel is more of a food type allergy (vet has not been able to pinpoint what it is) and think raw may eliminate these problems. Would you consider my dog to be "sick"?

After speaking with many raw/barf Golden owners, they have all had nothing but praise for getting the dogs off kibble and on to "the good stuff". Since you all are so familiar with it, I would appreciate your feedback. Thanks!

ps - went to a local meat market today to inquire about chicken & turkey necks & backs. I thought they'd look at me like I had 3 heads but the guy said he'd be happy to order them, they take 2 days to arrive, and are sold in 40lb boxes for $.30/lb. I was just so thrilled he didn't look at me like I was a freak! Everyone else I've asked about it thinks I am an idiot and am going to kill my dogs with bones and e-coli. I am beginning to think I may be walking down a lonely road for a while but really just want to do what's best for my dogs.

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Any initial results they might see with a raw meat diet are a result of an "absence" of one or more ingredients of the kibble - NOT the "presence" of raw meat."

ha i will say this about raw diet.

rescued a male gsd with some of the ugliest teeth i have ever seen was going in the $250 range at the vet to get them cleaned.

had him on raw for about 2 weeks and his teeth are now white and beutiful. no benifits my butt.

i will continue and from now on always will advocate a raw diet to every one i meet.

David,
One of the many reasons I'm considering switching to raw is because of how white I keep hearing the teeth are/become. My 8mth old Border Collie has beautiful white teeth but is already starting to get tartar and crud building up on the back teeth. He was on Wellness (made him shed horribly) but is now on Chicken Soup until I get my butt in gear and go raw.

Like you, I think the price of cleanings is high, and the whole anesthesia thing frightens me.

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Would you consider my dog to be "sick"?

Kate, I don't know where I'd draw the line even for my dog, so I couldn't say. Maybe someone with more experience can chime in.

I had Mika on Wellness, and he developed similar symptoms to what you're describing. It was also diagnosed, of course, as an allergy. It was actually a yeast infection. I don't know if the Wellness contributed to the problem, but it did clear up easily after I switched him to Evo. But it does make sense that a low carb diet would have helped. Unfortunately, he quickly lost interest in the Evo. If nothing else, it probably made for a easier tranfer back to raw.

jd

kate the bones in the raw diet is what keeps the teeth so clean wish i had some before and after pics of his teeth.

evan the vet (not a fan of raw diets) could not complain about the condition of his teeth. the only one that is still gunked is the broken canine that was there when we got him


go for the raw diet it is worth it beleave ;me

Jeff - I think what my dog has is a yeast infection also. Did Mika's go away with the switch to Evo or raw, or did you have to get antibiotics?
We tried Evo once but my dogs tired of it too and the gas was deadly.
I am adding small "things" to their meals lately - yogurt, raw eggs, small veggies, ACV,...just to see how they like it. It's amazing at how much they love mealtime now and hang out in the kitchen once they hear me get their dishes. I hand fed them small pieces of raw chicken the other day and they loved it. Baby steps....but I'm getting there!

Yes, Ingles and Bi-Lo are the main grocery chains here, though we do have a couple of Aldi stores and a GO Grocery as well. I don't know anything about the railroad salvage store. A search on whitepages.com didn't show anything of the sort either, so it's probably not there anymore. Do you remember about where it was?

When you say "offer a really low price," how low do you go?

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Did Mika's go away with the switch to Evo or raw, or did you have to get antibiotics?

Your mileage may vary, but here's what I did:

Mika had super itchy skin with scabby bumps on his back around his tail. And a funky smell that made him need a bath once a week. The vet diagnosed a food allergy and put him on antihistamines and an antibiotic (to control any infected bumps). That was no help at all, but the vet would only offer to change the prescriptions to something stronger. Another vet gave the same diagnosis. Neither of the vets would do anything other than a visual examination. No need for any lab work (i.e., actual work) was necessary, they said.

So I researched it myself. The funky smell was what gave it away. REALLY funky smell, like you had to wash your hands after petting him. I used oatmeal shampoo, and let it soak in for a good ten minutes. The shampoo alone would work for about two weeks, but then the bumps would return. That's what made me think that the carbs in his food might be promoting the infection, and I switched him to Evo. Within a few days, the infection was gone, and hasn't returned.

After a while, I put him back on Wellness for two months just to verify that it wasn't an allergy, and he never showed any of the symptoms again. I just think that the presence of all that sugar in the food was keeping the yeast well fed, and made it more difficult/impossible to kill.

Obviously, at the time, I was pretty fed up with the two different vets here in town who I think would diagnose rabies as an allergy (Mika previously had a fungal/bacterial infection on his front paws that was diagnosed as a grass allergy (it was winter), and which mysteriously went away after one application of an antibiotic spray.) If you have a good relationship with your vet and trust them, then definitely ask their advice.

Good luck - jd

I frequently got meat for 20 cents a lb. but if you have Aldi's the leg quarters were always 49 cents and I was most pleased with them at that price. At the poultry plant here I could not get backs or necks or even frames any cheaper than that.

I have not lived in Asheville since 1993 so the store could be gone by now.

Out of date poultry goes real bad real fast but the other meats seemed to be ok...........