Diet and Food Cases

To add onto the real food diet questions. Can I boil chicken? This past January my boarder collie left this world to go to run free from pain. I had a certified end of life vet support us during that process; I recommend that to anyone who can do it when the time comes.  However two days (!) b4 this happened my husky needed to go to the ER, thought she was having a seizure but it was a significant case of vertigo. She came home, thank goodness, and we gave her meds for nausea and dizziness. After we lost Ollie And With my huskys vertigo (torturous time) she wouldn’t eat, go in the backyard or sleep in their spot, or at all, howling all night. In order for her to eat I cooked chicken n rice…long story short I kept her on real food. I boil chicken (is that ok?) for breakfast n dinner. she loves pumpkin, and coconut oil, bone broth; I freeze them for treats. Her melancholy subsided , we worked on that together ; but I can honestly say this girl of mine appears and acts 5 years younger; healthier weight, walks, plays like a puppy sometimes and she’s 14! Coincidental? Maybe, but I’m a firm believer that this was life changing for her…and us, we saw how healthier food can actually make you healthier!!! Thank you so much for being on the show on Sunday. You are a wealth of knowledge!!! I am intensely interested in this now; also I’m a pediatric occupational therapist and I’m now interested in pet rehab! Let’s try and prevent some of these ortho issues in our dogs! Searching more into holistic ways; just wish I would have started this years ago with both of them, Then maybe I could have had Ollie longer…

Dr. Steve's Advice -  Absolutely you can use boiled chicken as the meat portion of your dog's recipe. I'm very glad to hear of how you and your Husky have rallied following your other dog's passing, and that the real food has been making her feel younger again! Enjoy the ride!

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Hello Dr. Steve and thank you for your time and expertise. I am writing because I would love some advice on dog food. We have a 2-year-old Australian Labradoodle who has been really healthy. She is medium, 35 pounds and has been this weight for about a year now. I am finding the pet food industry very overwhelming and confusing, everywhere I turn, I get a piece of different advice. She has been eating about 50% kibble and 50% raw (NW Naturals frozen nuggets) for over a year. She does not enjoy the kibble and if fed without the raw, she will walk away from it. Our vet says that her diet is not balanced. Our vet also recommends feeding a grain-inclusive diet (due to risk of DCM). Do you have a recommendation on what would be a good food to feed our put for optimal health if we were to buy already prepared balanced food (fresh/frozen, etc)? What is your opinion on food such as Ollie, NW Naturals (grain free), etc? Thank you!

Dr. Steve's Advice - congratulations on taking a look at changing up the diet. I know it sounds bewildering, but it really doesn't have to be. AAFCO sets a very low but adequate bar for nutritional completeness that most raw and even home cooked diets could readily leap. If you're contemplating a particular raw or cooked fresh food diet, ask the company (or the store where you're buying it) regarding which of their foods meet AAFCO standards. 

Alternatively, you can cook your own. It is as effortless to create a balanced diet for your dog as for yourself. Gold Standard Herbs and Aleksandra Topic provide recipes for making your own food in the Featured posts above. I know from personal experience that the Gold Standard diet will produce a food that meets AAFCO standards and is essentially an embellishment of a home made diet created by a board certified veterinary nutritionist.

The two diets you mention are air dried diets. Studies show they still contain significant levels of AGEs, pro-inflammatory compounds formed during the heating and drying of foods, so I don't see them as a great alternative to kibble, personally. Freeze dried would be much better if you must feed your dog out of a bag.

I don't personally recommend what you're doing now, which is feeding half kibble and half real. I know many people advocate that as much better than all kibble, with studies that back up their stance. Personally, though, I notice that dogs on half kibble and half real food have the same medical problems as dogs on all kibble diets. From my perspective as a clinician, the half measures just don't really cut it.

Hopefully this helps you out!

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I have a question re. your Real Food Guidelines for dogs. With regard to kelp: "...500 to 1000 mg of bone meal (NOT the gardening kind), calcium carbonate or calcium citrate ... Kelp powder is largely made out of calcium but is rich in other trace nutrients and is thus an excellent choice as a calcium supplement."

Would the kelp be supplemented at the same recommended 500 to 1000 mg as the other calcium sources? 

Is buying ground meat ok? Eg. Beef, chicken or turkey?  Should I be concerned about fat content in ground meats (and assuming ground pork would have way too much fat).

Thank  you so much!  I appreciate your time, effort and expertise in helping all of us.

Dr. Steve's Advice - If you're using kelp instead of calcium, I'd go with the same amount: 500 to 1000 mg.

Ground meats are fine if you're cooking them. Even pork is okay if you can get some of the fat off it. You could saute the meat, then pour off some of the grease from the pan before adding in the other ingredients.

Hope that helps!

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Can you tell me your feelings on feeding a Golden Retriever a raw diet. I have a 2 year old and he has been raw fed since he was about 7 months old. The reason I ask, is so many people are telling me it is not safe for this breed because DCM in Golden’s is very common. Breeder wanted me to keep him on kibble (nothing grain free)

He is a very healthy boy and no issues whatsoever!

Dr. Steve's Advice. - the FDA has quietly walked back its condemnation of raw (and other grain-free) diets as causes of DCM, just in time for Mars to buy Nom-Noms and Orijen. Coincidence? Some don't think so. Anyway, here is one such article indicating the cessation of research into the subject because of lack of evidence: https://www.petproductnews.com/.../article_a46176aa-9045...

If there is any single food item that is linked to it, it is processed pulses used in kibble or canned diet. Real beans (as opposed to processed legume powders from a factory) do not pose a threat per my personal conversations with board certified veterinary nutritionists

Hopefully this helps you out!

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Hello Dr. Steve,  thank you for sharing your time and expertise! 

I have a question about food: I've read your suggested diet but I am curious as to why every vet I've asked all recommend certified prepared dog food (AAFCO) and you don't?  I am finding the pet food industry overwhelming!  I would love a little info on your stance for this diet and any thoughts you may have regarding the food industry. 

Thank you.

Dr. Steve's Advice - t's quite easy to make a food that will pass AAFCO standards, even in your own kitchen. The recipe here is one such example and is basically one that a nutritionist friend of mine, Dr. Susan Wynn, put together for the book we wrote together called Manual of Natural Veterinary Medicine. I simply expanded upon it to make it easier to implement. 

I actually prefer NRC requirements, which almost no companies ever mention as a guidepost for food development. It's easy to achieve those, too, with a homemade recipe and they are a bit more user friendly and precise than the AAFCO standards. In my opinion, AAFCO standards should be viewed as only the most basic standard of nutritional completeness, which virtually all commercially prepared pet foods (whether raw or kibble) achieve with relative ease

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I was looking at your home cooked recipe in the featured section, and want to make sure I have it correct for cats. I did a cut/paste of the sections pertaining to cats. Also, if I add this cat multi-vitamin (by Vital Planets) ... does it suffice for the taurine and calcium? Or do you have another preference for vitamins?

• Meats: Varied meats, cooked lightly. Organ meats fed daily are best for cats.
• Veggies: Steamed, pureed or grated vegetables Perhaps just 5 to 10% of the amount fed for cats.
• Taurine: Add 150 – 250 mg Taurine per day.
• Calcium: Bone meal (NOT the gardening kind), calcium carbonate or calcium citrate (available from drug or health food stores). How many mg a day for cats?

Omega 3 fatty acid supplement. Cats enjoy salmon oil. If your animal’s coat is greasy, or if they are highly prone to severe inflammation, use omega 3 fatty acid supplements with caution. Dose at the low end of the recommended range, if you use them at all. Thank you so much!!

Dr. Steve's Advice - I think you have it figured out and the supplement looks fine. If you use organ meats, give just a small amount daily, or a larger amount once or twice a week.

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