I know, I know; the thought of feeding your dog RAW food sounds utterly disgusting to some people! But hear me out for a bit.
I have a number of clients who complain their pooches have overly sensitive stomachs causing severe intestinal distress in some cases. A few of these folks have spent quite a bit of money on diagnostics which have not yielded clear answers. Six years ago, I was in the same situation with my own pooch Fletch. Shortly after adopting Fletch, he began having on and off intestinal problems which always ended with a cow patty on my oriental rug! Like all concerned pet parents, I switched up his diet many times trying to find the magic food that would keep his tummy feeling good over the long haul. I tried high end foods, prescription diets from my vet, and even lower end foods to no avail. All of them would settle his stomach for a short while, and just when I thought I found the solution, back came the cow patty’s…and always on my oriental rugs!
This prompted me to dig a little deeper. I learned the pet food industry is a multi-BILLION dollar industry with slick marketing expertise. Dog food may legally contain “4-D” meat: meat from dead, dying, diseased and disabled animals. Add a little road kill, and corn contaminated with high levels of pesticide (there’s no upper level of pesticide contamination for pet foods). Dead zoo animals, euthanized pets from animal shelters (with poison still in them), dead horses, scraps from the slaughterhouse floor, skin, hide, feathers…and anything else not legal for human consumption.
My BFF had long been espousing the benefit of a raw food diet for Fletch’s sensitive stomach. After a long evening in the veterinary emergency room, a large vet bill, and no definitive answers, I thought “what the heck” and made the switch. Immediately. This was NOT a slow introduction to raw food. With nothing to lose I brought Fletch home and the very next day switched over to raw food. That was 5 years ago and there hasn’t been a cow patty in my house since. Not ever.
Of course this is anecdotal information but I’m sharing because a raw food diet worked wonders for Fletch and might be worth a try for those of you struggling with sensitive dog stomachs. Some other things I’ve learned about feeding raw food over the past 5 years:
• My veterinarian was little help in my decision to switch to raw food and had insignificant information to share either positive or negative.
• Handling raw meat took some getting used to (I’m a vegetarian)!
• Fletch produces far less stool and what he does produce is far less smelly.
• Feeding raw food takes a little more prep work than feeding from a bag of kibble and is more expensive than commercial dog food.
• If you travel with your dog you need to be able to keep raw food fresh. I travel with a cooler specifically for Fletch. Some hotels will store his raw food in their refrigerators.
• I never worry about pet food recalls.
• I have complete control of what Fletch eats and where those ingredients come from.
Do a google search on raw food and you’ll find it’s a controversial subject. For Fletch it has made all the difference in the world for his digestive health. I’m a believer and won’t ever go back to feeding commercial food.
Fletch and I order from www.hare-today.com
