Hi everyone, I thought if I gave you a list of ingrediants so you could give me your honest opinions, hints tips etc on Nevs diet now.

I went to buy his mince chicken and lamb, tripe etc yesterday only to find the place closed.
And so I went to the butchers and luckily he sold pet mince, chicken, so I bought 2 bags at 55p a bag, I also bought a pigs heart and a lambs heart.

Yesterday I boiled the mince chicken, and added mixed veg, and also some chopped potatoe (large pieces) and an oxo and 1 clove of garlic and let it boil and I boiled a pan of brown rice, when everything was done I let it cool before dishing it out.
That was funny as I put his bowl in the chest freezer and Nev was trying to open the freezer to go in after his dinner :)

I'd made enough for two meals so he had the rest this morning.

Today I boiled the two hearts, chopped em up and made the same as above veg,potatoe,rice, oxo & a clove of garlic and he's had that.

I have enough left for tomorrow morning (Monday) and then I can go get his propper pet mince and I'm gonna get tripe..lamb and chicken.

What do you think about the ingrediants..I'm making a big pan full and spliting it for two meals a day.

I wondered also when you say you feed raw..do you mean raw mince etc hearts/chicken etc uncooked?

Thanks Rob

Edited to add :

I just got the pet mince and it says 14% protien, I add veg and brown rice to thi s so guess its higher than that by the time its all added but how do I know? Or should I add supliments (protien to it?)

Thanks Rob

I am not very good with freshly prepared diets as I have no experience. Just a couple of things that I would think about...

Oxo cube: I would not add this as it is very high in salt.

Protein: I read that protein in fresh foods is not so much of an issue as in processed foods as it is easily usable by the dog, unlike a lot of processed protein sources! So I wouldn't worry too much about it.

If I look at high quality natural wet foods like Nature Diet, they have something like 60% meat and the rest rice and veg. So I assume that I would make up a fresh diet of roughly the same proportions!

If I was you, I would read up online about fresh diets... I can also post a couple of good books about it a bit later today.

Re raw feeding: lots of people do this successfully, but again, I have no experience. There are some forums/email lists about this which might be worth joining if this is what you would like to try.

Vera

PS. My American Cocker is currently also battling with skin problems caused by flea allergy and probably a food allergy. So I know how you feel... :(

This rash does my head in, not 1 single flea or flea dirt on Nev...however I ran a flea comb over dutchess and found a couple, despite her recently being treated with frontline :( so suspect thats his prob..they may not live on him but perhaps jump on for a bite to eat and off again..so all being done again and guess I'll have to do carpets etc. I have to be carefull coz of the birds when using household sprays!

Rob

You might want to use a flea treatment like Advocate that kills the fleas before they bite (and also kill them in the environment where the dog lays) unlike for example Frontline. This is what I was advised by my vet when Jesse had the allergic reaction as it only takes one flea bite to trigger the allergic reaction!

Vera

PS. You must be careful though with Advocate/Advantage if you think Dutchess might have collie in here as it can be a problem with collies. I always make sure that I put it on at night and keep Flash away from Jesse until it is dry (Flash might have a splash of collie in him...).

Can you give me more info on this Advocate? I presume its a spray you spray dog with not like frontline that you put on scuff of neck. how long does it last?

I think Dutchess has a splash of collie in her, but she is really just a heinze 57, I say collie because of her stances when waiting for a command, she stands like a border collie head down, 1 leg raised ready to go to work at times, and her intelligence is amazing.

I just took a couple of pics of her with my phone but there not very good, I have to say though I love this dog to bits, and may start agility training with her this year.



if you see white fur on carpet 3 guesses who thats from :rolleyes:



Anyway, she was treated not so long ago with frontline as I said, i can only assume its not lasted as she's in/out of the sea alot?

Nev is due to be done again, he was last done using Strong hold, and that seems of of worked great.
We once were given something from the vet that had a french kinda name, which did nothing despite the vet saying how much better than frontline it was!

How much does this advocate stuff cost?

Rob :)

*edited to say I like the way those pics turned out with my phone lol :) its a K850i :P

Rob, Advocate is a spot on like Frontline, but it is Ivermec based. It's just a different brandname with a different active ingredient in it and it kills before the fleas bite.

Frontline is just better known because it was the first flea spray available. But it appears now that some fleas seem to become immune to frontline...

Oh, and Advocate is also a wormer (except tape worm) at the same time... perhaps not a bad thing for Neville either as he eats stuff when he is out and about.

Vera

I'll ring vet now, what did u think of Dutchess aka Catdog :lol: :lol:

She is gorgous... without seeing all of her and her proper size, I'd guess she is a sheppie x collie. :D She is a beautiful colour too.

Vera

Spoke to vets and they said they do advocate, strong hold, frontline and frontline combo, and she recomended frontline combo, which does worms etc too, but only coz its cheaper and last longer as I'm skint lol

Dutchess is my baby, she makes me laugh tho drives me mad..every morning she goes down stairs with my wife and goes out for a pee, then sits at the bottom of the stairs waiting to be let bk up to me and if no-one does she'll start to tremble and make snoring noises till she's let up.

Then I feel her eyes staring at me, and she'll put her nose on me and its always like an ice cube..if I cover myself and put my head under the quilt she'll dig me up again..and stare so I can feel her eyes burning into me..and she'll keep prodding me with he nose..its orrible!!! :)

she's only small hence the nic name cat dog! I'll ty to get a pic of her next to Nev.

Rob :)

But don't forget that Frontline needs the flea to bite in order to kill it which - if you suspect a flea allergy - may not be ideal for Neville.

Duchess is indeed a beautiful dog. Would love to see a picture of "all" of her. :)

Vera

Hi Vera, I asked that and she says Frontline works the same way..kills before they bite??
She said Advocate did alot of other stuff even gets rid of ear mites etc and she went into detail, however said that frontline works much the same way regarding fleas but last 8wks per pipet where as advocate last only 4wks per pipet?

I'll ask again to be sure though or look em up online before I get them on monday as I have to get Nevs, Dutchesses and also Kitty, the cats so its quite costly :(.

I tried to take pics of Dutch so you could see the whole her but they didnt come out to well and she won't sit still, but you can get an idea of her size as she sat on wifes knee lol. Though my wife will kill me for posting a pic of her, excuse the mess.









Couldn't resist taking this of Nev..he not allowed on the settee but is such a nosey bugger I caught him peeping out



I managed to get some marrow bones, so he's a happy boy sat chewing lol I keep hearing it clunking about like a brick!

Rob

*Edited to say*

I just searched for info on advocate and frontline to compare, and some sites state frontline is to be used every 4 weeks too :blink: :huh:
So I'm more confused than ever?

Vera, please dont think I'm not taking your advise regarding advocate I only asked the vet what she thought and I have till monday to decide which, I dont know if Nev has a flea alergy or if what I see is bites? thats why I spoke to the vet about it and the products you mentioned.

Thanks Rob :)

Advocate: monthly
Frontline: every 2 months for protection against fleas, every month for protection against ticks

So yes, you can use Frontline monthly too! My vet did mention that some fleas seem to become resistant to Frontline and I have heard of a few cases recently where even frontlined dogs got fleas... another reason for me to use Advocate.

Might be worth to do some more research on both of them and how they work, though I am pretty sure that the fleas have to bite to be killed by Frontline... but I could be wrong.

By the way, if you go for Frontline... you can get it much cheaper on-line than it is from your vets! (Advocate is still prescription though).

Vera :)

I will do Vera and thanks :)

I have to say at this point cost is an issue :( I spent a bomb these last few weeks and havent recovered from xmas yet, hence the need to save money.

I'm always affraid to buy online incase its watered down or something.

Again no mention of dutchess and I went to great efforts to get those pics :lol: :lol: :lol:

Nope, not watered down... :lol: It's the branded stuff! If you go to a website like for example Vet-Medic, you can't go wrong. I get everything from there, including wormers which are about half the price than if you get the same ones (e.g. Drontal) from vets.

Oh, and Dutches is beautiful. I love her colouring! I am not ignoring her and love seeing her pictures, honest! It's just that once I am stuck into answering questions, everything else sort of goes out of my mind... :unsure: ;)

Vera

Thanks :) sent you a pm not sure if that functions working tho :unsure:

:D Hi Rob,

I love the pic of nev on the sofa - monty has been trying to get on ours a lot lately

Thats the thing Rach..he not allowed on the settee, but as soon as ya backs turned he's there!

After his operation I slept on the settee to ensure he left his staples alone, and some how in the night this 50kg dog managed to get to the window..his paws literally milimeters off my head without me even knowing..till he saw or heard something outside and started to bark and get excited and then fell off and squashed me!

Then a 50kg dogs bum landing on ya head and you having to gasp for breath aint a pleasant way to be woke up :lol: :lol: :lol:

Rob B)