# Again...Opinions Please



## kaitrinn7 (Aug 14, 2009)

I know, ol' clueless is asking another question!









Background: Switching to preparing my pups raw diet myself now as opposed to the "premade" raw I was getting. We want to make sure we know exactly what he is eating because Sieger is 3 months old and is itchy scratchy and vet(s) havent' been alot of help so far (still trying).

DH and I found this Only Natural Pet Superfood and were going to try that to see if it helped with his "allergies", plus it looked like it might be a good supplement to his raw diet.

I am VERY paranoid about him not getting enough nutrients with me feeding him myself on the raw, one of the vets we have seen scared me to death by telling me horror stories of puppies dying because of people feeding them improperly on a raw diet. Of course, she also wanted us to feed him Royal Canin...>.<

If anyone has time, could you check the link there above and see what you think of us adding that to his raw diet? Would it be ok to give him a natural multivitamin too or is that overkill? We wouldn't do both at the same time, we thought just starting him on the one that I linked to and see how he does would be good.

Thanks again everyone for all the help and support. I swear, I will have a head of grey by the time Sieger is out of pup stage, I worry far too much.


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## Tbarrios333 (May 31, 2009)

You would have to seriously screw up for a whole year, (as in feeding only chicken breast or something) before your puppy started to suffer from the malnutrition LOL.

I'm a believer in the Raw diet and I don't think we have to supplement their meals with anything. 
Don't let your vet scare you, especially if she's telling you to feed Royal Canin









Just like there are no absolutes in our diet, there are no absolutes in theirs.
We *should* be eating this many fruits and veggies and a certain portion of meat and dairy a day, but really, who does that?








Not me anyway. 

If you're really worried about supplements I would look into raw green tripe. 
Also, take a peek at the rawdogranch.com supplement section. 

I don't know anything about the linked vitamins, sorry


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

It's basically mushrooms ... or parts of them. That's it:



> Quote:Mycelium (plural mycelia) is the vegetative part of a fungus,


If you are worried about your dog not getting the right vitamins I would look for a multi-vit supplement - like the B Naturals stuff (which I use).

This is what I use (when I use something like this):

http://www.b-naturals.com/bertes-daily-blend-vitamins-for-dogs-1-lb-p-115?cPath=29


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

The pup in question has what sound like environmental allergies. Honestly, there are so many supplements out on the market these days I don't know what to tell you. I used a mushroom based immune booster for Rafi when I adopted him and he had mange and it did seem to work for him. But whether it will help your pup, I don't know.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

I was reading quick and missed the potential allergies part.

In that case I would add NOTHING. The whole idea is to start with just ONE ingredient in the diet and build from there. That way you will know when you add something that triggers the allergies.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Your pup is only 3 mos, why do you believe there are allergies already? Scratching may just be due to dry skin/air or the new coat starting to come in.


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## kaitrinn7 (Aug 14, 2009)

Thanks for the input, and he already does eat the raw green tripe, so I will keep with that.

As far as allergies Lauri- I am not entirely sure they are food related as he has scratched more than "normal" since we got him. And he had kibble when he came to us, and raw in the past 3 weeks. To be on the safe side though, we decided to do the raw ourselves so e could make sure we limited what he was eating.
The pre-made raw has veggies, fruits, eggs, in addition to meat and bones. Way too much for us to have any clue if it is a food issue.

Like Ruth said, we do think it is environmental which was why we were looking into the superfood supplement I listed above.

Thanks Ruth by the way- it was from your original link that we found the various options that we might give a try at some point. Right now we are really wanting to limit alot of anything for him, yet still try to find something that could help his scratching.

Thanks again-


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## kaitrinn7 (Aug 14, 2009)

Jane- we never thought it was allergies, especially food based. We originally thought he was having a reaction to some cleaner I used, or because it's drier here than where he was born.

We've seen a few vets, and the last one said he had allergies that were just inherent in him. Not alot of help there.

I posted about it here and got alot of great thoughts as to what we could do, or what it might be, and we are already making some changes with some things that will help with his environment (no cleaners, humidifier, brushing after being outside in case of pollens, rinsing him as opposed to shampooing and a few other things)

Again, I don't think its a food allergy, but to be sure, we are trying to really just go to the basics of everything with him. We just thought that immune system booster I linked above might give him some added protection or help if he does have sensitivity or allergies to just the environment in general.

I know I sound clueless here, but really we have gotten alot of information from the vets and much of it I wouldn't listen to if someone paid me, and we have searched online, combed through the forums here, talked to people, and really are trying to do everything we can the best we can for Sieger. It gets very confusing, and I worry when he is scratching and is losing hair on his chest, and I just ask alot of questions in hopes I can learn enough to help our puppy.

Again, thanks everyone who keeps offering opinions and advice, it helps and I pay attention to it all.


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## Tbarrios333 (May 31, 2009)

What about Salmon/Fish oil? 
It can help reduce inflammation as well as help with dryness in the coat.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Have the vets done a skin scraping to see if he may have mange, or other type of skin disorder?
I would do the salmon oil/vitamin E too.


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## kaitrinn7 (Aug 14, 2009)

He has had a skin scraping, came back negative. He takes fish/vitamin e oil caps daily from the vet. I was considering switching that to just plain salmon oil, since I don't know what type of oil is in the stuff from the vet, it just says marine oil...plus it has borage oil, safflower oil, vitamin e oil and garlic oil.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Yes, I would do a quality cold water salmon oil(I use human grade gelcaps). 
It could be codliver oil that you are feeding or a mix of fish oils. Vitamin E helps in the absorbtion, so still supplement w/ it.


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## kaitrinn7 (Aug 14, 2009)

Ok, will get some this weekend and switch. How much (mg) do you give per lb for a pup?


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Because it doesn't store in the fat, you can't really overdo it, so I just give one 1000mg gelcap salmon oil and one 400 i.u. of the vitamin E daily. you can give an adult GSD more of the salmon oil daily. I think the daily dosage is 1000 mg per 30# bodyweight.
http://www.icelandpure.com/salmon_oil_info.htm


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

> Originally Posted By: kait.plus it has borage oil, safflower oil, vitamin e oil and garlic oil.


Any of those, along with the veggies and fruit could be the cause of his itchies. Even the Salmon oil can cause problems in some dogs.

That's why I HIGHLY recommend you go raw and start with just ONE item. Chicken is the easiest to get and you can easily get chicken RMBs, MM and OM.

I would stick with the chicken - and ONLY the chicken - for at least three weeks before I tried adding ONE new ingredient.

And by "one new item" I do mean just ONE ingredient. The stuff you got from the vet has several ingredients. If you add multiple ingredients at one time there's no way to know which one was the trigger (if the itchies return).


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## AK GSD (Feb 27, 2008)

If your still shopping for supplements we give Hokamix to Scout with her premade raw "Common Sense". Her breeder, who is involved with the Common Sense raw dog food company, recommended this combo and Scout has done great on it. Just another idea for you to check out. Good Luck


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