Ex-BARF ers?

[Lesta]

Hi, Guys,

I know some of you use the BARF diet (been reading old posts). I'm thinking about it. Have any of you tried it and stopped? I hear all great things about it. Do the ex-BARFers just not speak out? I'd really like your input. I'm weighing cost and convenience in here, too. If I can get the same results as BARF without the concerns of deficiencies that can occur feeding BARF, from an organic kibble that doesn't have the preservatives and other nasties, then I'm all for the pour it in a bowl and feed, even if it costs more than our current SD Lamb & Rice. (Angus also has chronic collitis, too) If I have to use a blender, I'll do that.

Thanks all
Lesta

[Amy]

I had to stop feeding unground up bones to my one pooch. He has serious health issues that no one really can put a finger on, but definitely has something going on in that gut of his and it's linked to his epilepsy. Anyhow, he stopped being able to digest the bones. I guess I can't really say that I stopped feeding BARF as right now he eats Steve's Real Food which is ground up BARF. My other small dog was on the BARF diet with the bones and did great, better than he is doing on Steve's. I loved the diet though, but hated making the veggies and bagging up all that meat.

[Lesta]

Do you ever need to board your dogs or have a sitter come in? How do you deal with the BARF diet then? Will most kennels follow it?

I'm really torn. I want to do what's best for the dogs, but it's a big leap from bag to BARF.

[Amy]

I don't board my dogs ever. My friend housesits for me and does whatever I tell her to do LOL! But seriously, I'm lucky that way, not sure what kennels would have you do??

[Amy]

Oh! And my epileptic pooch CANNOT eat dog food, it isn't an option for him. He has a ton of seizures if he eats it. Thankfully, on BARF he hardly ever did, till he couldn't digest the bones anymore. My vets didn't believe me, so I tried him back on dog food when he had the bone issue, they believe me now...

[chewalotopus]

we stopped doing BARF after my 7mo old pup brought home parvo to our two new, six-week-old rescue foster pups. We couldn't have the extra baceria floating around. AND we hated all of the darn food prep. AND it was really expensive - we had a hard time finding good prices. Please take your dog off of science diet, whatever you do!!!! We feed Canidae to all of out dogs now, and they do great on it. There are several other great bag foods out there - I've heard A LOT of great things about Wellness Super 5 mix in particular. Give the dry food a try first - the BARF is a pain in the butt! Good luck!

[heatherlyn]

Don't forget that there is no reason you have to do one or the other. A lot of people just supplement a mainly kibble diet with 'real food', and some people feed kibble some days and raw others. Here is some information about just supplementing a kibble diet with natural foods:

http://b-naturals.com/natural.php?PHPSE ... 80cc36261a

The supplements are rather excessive, but you can get an idea of the variations you can do. Every dog is unique and no one diet is right for every dog ...

[Lesta]

Hi,

Well, we decided last week to try Wellnes Lamb and Rice and supplement with raw meat. Then Tuesday this week we decided to stop the raw all together. Niki is the perfect scavenger and loved the BARF diet, but Angus with his sensitive stomach couldn't handle all the changes in protein sources and things and was having constant diarrhea. AND Tuesday night we were at the vet's office - explosive, bloody diarrhea. The vet said he was "loaded to the gills" with bacteria. He couldn't say for sure that it was the BARF, but..... We were really good about using fresh meat and washing their bowls with antibacterial detergent after every meal. Anyway, I don't think the BARF is going to work for us. We might still supplement Niki's food with raw, though. We have a free source of bones and fatty meat and she loves it. I can't wait to try the Wellness. It should be in next week. We thought about Canidae. We'll try that next if this doesn't work out.

[barbponys]

I would be very careful with fatty meat. Dogs don't require lots of fat, they can actually have trouble dealing with it. Pancreatitis is a concern. I feed BARF and have for a long time, I use lean meats only. They get fat on the bones they eat but otherwise I'm careful of how much they get.

Pat