Farley's vet experience/checkup and discussing raw with the vet

This is a dedicated place for all of your questions and answers about Raw Diets. There are also some really cool groups like "Raw Fed" on the topic you can join. This forum is for people who already know they like the raw diet or sincerely want to learn more. Please remember that you are receiving advice from peers and not professionals. If you have specific health-related questions about your dog's diet, please contact your vet!

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Farley

Farlekiin the- Dragonborn

Barked: Tue Apr 10, '12 4:23pm PST


	So back from the vet, Farley got a "gold star" for his checkup. The vet said his teeth are the best as they could possibly be at 6 years old, and said she wished she saw that more often. He also weighs in at 70.8 lbs, and his body condition looks good. He's got a nice tuck behind his ribs. She didn't bring up his raw diet until I was paying at the front. As I expected, she went on to say that he clearly is benefiting from his raw diet and looks great and is very healthy. Then she followed that up with an anti-raw printout. (I kind of saw that coming). She said the printout was "unbiased", but the author of the article is trying to sell a book of homecooked recipes as well as products, so there's definitely some vested interest in profit there. Definitely not what I would call unbiased: (www.completeandbalanced.com) I took the pamphlet anyway to check out what fearmongering it was full of, and it was full of the usual "cooked meat is safer" and that dogs and people are at a "huge" risk for salmonella infections from the raw meat. The article also recommended feeding your dog raw fruits and vegetables (which I don't agree with as far as necessity is concerned). I told her he's been on raw for 4 years and that we don't plan on changing his diet, and it sort of ended there. I did give examples of what I feed, and when she heard whole raw fur-on rabbits were a small part of the diet, she cringed and said she's a vegan. So yeah, that probably doesn't help with her viewpoint- although I did mention I know many veg/vegan raw feeders! Anyway, I had a basic blood panel drawn for Farley, and the results should be in by tomorrow so hopefully that all goes well! Oh, and on the front of the printout, there's a AVMA journal reference that says "a puppy fed a diet composed of an organic premix and raw ground beef" suffered from diffuse osteopenia and myelopathy.. So, feeding raw WILL give your dog diffuse osteopenia and myelopathy! Edited by author Tue Apr 10, '12 4:25pm PST

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Chance

How You Doin'?

Barked: Tue Apr 10, '12 4:56pm PST


	I have yet to tell Chance's vet or rehab vet that she is raw fed though I did tell the rehab vet she was partially raw fed when we started going because at that time she got raw salmon everyday and raw 1 day per week. The vet's only concern was salmon poisoning but after she found out freezing kills it and we freeze it before feeding she was fine with it. She was also surprised it affects PNW fish other than salmon. I was going to tell the rehab vet at the last visit they were so far behind schedule I didn't do it. Chance was tired and cranky and, after waiting for 30 minutes, was acting up. I hadn't felt good when I woke up so I just wanted to get the appointment over so I could go home and go back to bed! Chance was 18 days into the start of her raw diet when she had her annual wellness stuff done at her regular vet and I had intended to tell them. But they were running behind (seems to be the story of my life anymore with vet clinics) so we waited for 10 minutes then they stuck us in a hot exam room for 20 minutes. By the time a vet tech came in to do her stuff, I was tired and cranky and didn't want to deal with the "raw reaction." Next time she goes to the vet I'm going to print out the beginner's guide I wrote, take it with me, tell them she's raw fed. If they have a problem with the raw diet they can read the guide, educate themselves and then we can have a discussion.

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Mr. Jake the- Beagle

I am Murphy's- Law Embodied! <3- Me!

Barked: Tue Apr 10, '12 5:10pm PST


	I wonder if i'm in the minority. My vet was more concerned that i was feeding premade raw from a store then raw meat from the store. A few dogs were we live went into renal failure and the vets office is saying it was their premade raw food having high bacteria content. She seemed a little less relieved that it was store bought food for humans and not frozen. I still got the warning about salmonella and what not but she told me Jake was perfectly healthy but to be careful of that. Otherwise she was fine with it. ** odd since we go to the walmart/costco of vet care Banfield.

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Charlie

The world is my- food bowl!

Barked: Tue Apr 10, '12 7:24pm PST


	Farles, I'm not sure if you remember but I once posted on here about a hand-out I received from an old vet office.. and it was HILARIOUS! At least yours sounds like reasonable worries when approaching a raw diet. I remember on our hand-out, it said not to feed raw because raw-feeders get their meat from 4D animals. My response. Edited by author Tue Apr 10, '12 7:25pm PST

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Mr. Jake the- Beagle

I am Murphy's- Law Embodied! <3- Me!

Barked: Tue Apr 10, '12 8:34pm PST


	Charlie if u return... What's a 4D animal??? It sounds ludicrous

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Conker - CGC, CA

OBEY ME!

Barked: Tue Apr 10, '12 8:35pm PST


	Nice! I like it when vet visits for raw-fed dogs go well. I was dreading Conker's vet visit, but after the vet didn't even ask what I fed, I was actually disappointed. HAHAHA Charlie! That is awesome.

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UCH Onyx TT

Do you even- lift?

Barked: Tue Apr 10, '12 8:53pm PST


	When I switched Fenrir to raw, my father felt the need to ask our vet what he thought about it. I was cringing inside but he surprised me. Despite being more the 'old school' type vet, he's apparently pretty open minded because he mentioned how great it is for teeth and just told me to make sure there was enough calcium in the diet. He's not a raw proponent, and I think they sell Science Diet in the office, but he understands that it is a viable option. He also doesn't try to push vaccinations I don't want even though he recommends them. It's very nice to have a vet that respects my decisions about my dogs. Jake, 4D animals are animals that are dead, dying, diseased or disabled at slaughter.

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Farley

Farlekiin the- Dragonborn

Barked: Tue Apr 10, '12 9:39pm PST


	That's great you have a vet that respects what you feed, Onyx. I thought it was going so well until she pulled out the dreaded anti-raw pamphlet! Lol oh well, I guess despite her fawning over how great Farley's health is, she still had a nagging thought to hand me the anti-raw rhetoric. One thing that bothered me is that she was literally astounded by his teeth at 6 years old- and she went on to say it's probably due to genetics. I felt like saying yeah right! I've had this dog on kibble before and it quickly turns his teeth yellow, slimy and stinky! Genetics are NOT the contributing factor! Charlie- I think I do remember your post about that- you're right, at least the article she gave me had some accurate information, and it did acknowledge that raw diets are usually human grade and better quality. But I was still unimpressed with the overall content of the article, and I'm baffled that my vet called it "unbiased"..

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Rexy

I dig in mud- puddles!

Barked: Tue Apr 10, '12 10:10pm PST


	Farley! Too bad your vet wasn't willing to attribute the gleaming choppers to raw! I get the 20 Questions treatment everytime the vet asks what I feed, but once I answer all of her questions she lets me be. I don't mind that, as she's just making sure that I know what I'm doing. Better than the one vet we saw that told me it was only a matter of time before my dog was dead because of bones...