Raw is best

by Jules
(Suffolk, UK)

We always fed our Newfoundland dry dog food and our cats cat food.

Then earlier this year we lost one of our beloved cats to cancer and I started researching the causes: I came up with poor quality food ("pet food") as well as overburdening the body with toxins from things like drugs, vaccinations and flea preventatives.

Around that time, our Newfie had her booster vaccination and was treated chemically for fleas and worms and she seemed generally sick afterwards. She already had constant eye and ear infections (the vets had run out of antibiotic eye drops for her, she'd been through them all and they all worked for a short while and then became ineffective), and skin problems which the vet said was caused by her "sweating" (on her neck, under her chin!) and allergies (for which they gave her more vaccinations) but it all seemed to get even worse after this toxic overload of chemicals that we unwittingly subjected her body to, thinking we were acting in her best interests.

I then read a book that I have had for a few years as it was recommended to me, but never gotten around to reading - The Complete Herbal Handbook for the Dog and Cat by Juliette de Bairacli Levy (which for those who've not read it, begins by explaining the importance of correct and good quality diet to a healthy animal). I then read more online, such as www.naturalrearing.com, as well as Wendy Volhard's book - Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog.

And so we have now switched our dogs to a completely raw diet. They get primarily raw meat (tripe or minced chicken/bone mixed in with herbal supplements) and chicken carcases. We also sometimes mix in diced lungs since our butcher gives them to us for free. All the meat except for the tripe is human-grade (as I understand it, you can't get human-grade green tripe). They get fed once a day and two days a week they get a human-grade, organic, oat-based cereal meal to give their kidneys a rest from processing meat. They also get the odd fasting day (around once a month). The Newfie gets no cereal as I am now convinced her problems are due to a systemic yeast infection and I am treating her as per the advice on this website. She also gets the odd whole rabbit (in which case she fasts the day after as it's a big meal) and raw fish such as sardines (our two Estrelas won't touch those).

They all seem healthier on it. Their coats are good, they don't get "hot spots", their teeth are immaculately clean (we had to brush them before) and our Newfie's health is slowly improving (after 11 years of antibiotics, other drugs, vaccines and dog food, I accept that it will take a while to clear her system of it all). We wouldn't go back now. We also won't give them any more booster vaccinations.