The RAW Vet

06/01/2024

We need a more flexible approach to 'Prescription' Nutrition.

With so many effective ways to formulate for pets with nutritionally responsive conditions we need to consider this option earlier in pets that are not happy eating existing prescription foods.

If a sick pet does not like or cannot use an existing option, consider therapeutic formulation earlier - it should not be a 'last resort'.

We can meet all the same therapeutic nutritional targets usually using foods that they ENJOY making it far easier to ensure proper calorie intakes and avoiding unnecessary stress and weight loss.

Veterinary Nutrition and Formulation Services offering diagnostic testing (in clinic), dietary recommendations and dietary formulation of home-prepared meals for companion animals.

06/01/2024

Evening Veterinary Nutrition Consults now available with me from January. This may not last forever but I will be trialling evening clinics for those that are busy during the day, or for those on the other side of the world with a different time zone.

Evenings consults are available for raw or home-cooked recipes including:

Therapeutic Recipes (Renal/Pancreatitis/Urinary etc)
Healthy dog recipes
Pregnancy/Lactation
Nutrition Consultation only for those wishing to continue using an existing commercial product with suitable supplementation.

Choose the service you need and book. Make sure that you read the full description and ensure you leave yourself enough time to get veterinary history sent to us if appropriate. 

09/04/2023

Linda Cases post - It’s like someone read our minds and our presentations with Right4Paws from last week in India ….

We can see that there is an increasing desire to feed minimally processed foods and an increasing body of evidence that there might be implications for long term health.

I love that this topic is being discussed by Linda Case (author of one the most utilised veterinary nutrition texts). The approach here is great too. The ‘kibble vs’ conversations are petering out and a more sensible set of discussions are ensuing!

https://www.facebook.com/100063613299298/posts/674105458053225/?d=n

Minimally-Processed Dog Foods Minimally-processed pet foods are increasing in popularity among dog owners. One sub-category of these foods is raw meat-based diets (aka RMBDs). I have reviewed the c…

06/04/2023

This was the last of our speaking tour and I was overwhelmed by the interest and attitude of the practitioners that attended. This group was large and contained some of the most prominent veterinarians in the state and I hugely appreciated having their undivided attention for the evening!

The food (as always) was amazing, and although tired I was sad to be at the end of what has been an incredible 10 days!

I’ll be back in India next year!

30/03/2023

Meeting and speaking to the CSAVA yesterday (Chennai Small Animal Veterinary Association)

The presentation discussed the importance of canine nutrition in general practice cases, updates in international feeding trends and the ongoing research into the effect of minimally processed and raw foods.

(And some utterly spectacular food courtesy of E-Hotel )

30/03/2023

This week I’m working with a company called Right4Paws in India!

I have worked with this company from 2020 and I chose to join forces with them in the longer term after realising how effective their dehydration technology was in preserving nutrients without substantial heating or processing. In a hot country like India - transportation and safe feeding of raw foods is difficult, and I felt that this product would provide a superb alternative for this. I have not regretted it since as the companies attention to detail in their food is just outstanding.

We have been lecturing all over the south to veterinarians and veterinary students in Coimbatore (SAPAC), Chennai (CSAVA) and the Veterinary Medicine Department of the University of Chennai!

The seminar for students has been on basic canine nutrition, and those for qualified vets on changing nutrition trends towards less processed foods and a discussion of recent studies that are beginning to support the anecdotal health improvements seen on minimally processed foods!

We have done interviews for newspapers, podcasts and vets too! I wanted to share some of what has gone on here this week here because frankly it’s been superb!

30/11/2022

Canine Audit and Formulation Course January 7-8th 2023
Bookings now open! (Spaces are limited).

This is the 6th time this course has run and it's always a great few days learning about canine nutrition in detail! You can read more below or by visiting the website here: https://www.companion-nutrition.co.uk/service-page/canine-nutrition-formulation-workshop-1?referral=service_list_widget

*LIVE Sessions, Recorded available after sessions *
A total of 8hrs learning time over 2 days - Certificate provided.

Homemade food (raw or home-cooked) may have potential benefits for dogs, but it can be difficult to know whether they are getting everything they need.

This course will teach you how to get it right.

Session 1: An overview of common feeding methods including identifying reliable and unreliable sources of information and how to we measure ‘completeness’ (Is FEDIAF perfect?)

Session 2: Barebones Veterinary Nutrition – A whistle-stop tour of nutrition to provide you with enough background to start formulating.

Session 3: Setting up your Nutrition Audit software and starting to Audit diets.

Session 4: Interpreting an Audit result and formulating for your own dog.

Course run by Dr Charlotte Gray MA (hons) VetMB MRCVS

Course Includes:

All 4 sessions either live (online) or watch recorded.

PDF Handbook and Powerpoint to reference.

Your own (online) copy of the RFN Spreadsheet to use and keep.

Sessions are held on Zoom. Live sessions are interactive.

*LIVE Sessions, Recorded available after sessions * A total of 8hrs learning time over 2 days - Certificate provided. Homemade food (raw or home-cooked) may have potential benefits for dogs, but it can be difficult to know whether they are getting everything they need. This course will teach you how...

17/11/2022

https://www.itv.com/news/2022-11-16/shelters-fill-up-as-cost-of-living-drives-struggling-owners-to-give-up-pets

ITV - 8.30pm - Pets; The Cost of Loving
It appears i'm on TV again this evening!
This isn't a programme about raw food, but I am there giving advice on feeding dogs when you are struggling. We have a chat over table scraps (which ones, how much), and using complete vs complimentary products. We also (hopefully - I haven't seen the edit!) talk about NOT FEELING GUILTY if you have to choose a food that you think isn't as high quality.

I haven't seen it either yet so I'll be watching with you all!

Pet owners facing soaring bills are making 'heartbreaking' choices - leading some to give up their animals as shelters and pet food banks face growing pressure. | ITV National News

16/11/2022

Vets and Owners all agree that normal consults really aren't long enough to explain chronic conditions properly...

The 'Vet Help....!' Series of seminars was made a few years back to help owners to better understand and manage their dog's medical condition. They contain ALL the information that I WISH I had time to explain in my day to day GP practice.

Each seminar is 2 and a half hours long and goes into all aspects of your pet's disease in detail:

👉 How is the disease caused?
Learn about underpinning physiology and how these conditions might develop in the first place.
👉 What do the test results mean? How do vets diagnose this?
👉 What are these drugs? What do they do? Why are there so many options?
👉 What are the options for dietary management including raw, home-cooked or commercial options?
This aspect is detailed and also suits those with experience formulating recipes)
👉 What can I expect in the long term?

There are a total of 5 Recorded Vet Help seminars - Pancreatitis, IBD, Renal Failure, Liver Disease and Itchy Skin. All are £35 including a PDF handout for you to download, print and keep.

All are recorded videos with me but the sessions are hosted with my excellent colleagues at Raw Fed and Nerdy here:

https://rawfedandnerdy.com/product-category/education/vet

It's stressful having a dog with a chronic condition like renal failure or pancreatitis, but improving your understanding of the disease can help you to make educated decisions about your dogs medical and dietary care - and ultimately - may help to improve the quality and length of their life!

06/11/2022

A quickie on guilt …

At the moment huge numbers of people in the UK and likes elsewhere are struggling financially. It is great how much owners care about feeding their dog, but for those who can’t, it’s important to stop the guilt.

Right now the most important thing is that your dog is fed, and that the food provides what they need. This means raw, cooked, kibble, tins - any kind of food. Do not feel bad. What is most important right now is that everyone can pay their bills, and that dogs are fed.

Tips:

- If coasting a pet shop aisle - whatever the kind of food look for the word ‘complete’.

Complete means that it is likely to contain the nutrients your dog needs. Let’s step away from our more subtle pros and cons lists on supplement types and processing on this just now. If you need food to be cheap, any *complete* is GOOD ENOUGH for now.

I’ve had pets in the vets that have been eating just mixer biscuit (not remotely balanced) for months and months … this is different and it is genuinely dangerous feed only a mixer type product. It may result in vet visits that cost far more than the food saved…

- You CAN feed part raw part kibble - it does not have to be all or nothing. If you need to save some money but still want to use part raw or home cooked - you can. This is what I am doing right now.

- DO take care with cheap raw completes… many are made with very cheap boney fatty cuts. Good raw completes can be excellent, but dirt cheap ones may actually be a hazard. Personally I would prefer a balanced kibble to a cheap boney fatty raw complete… (there are more of these than you’d think….)

- You CAN feed leftovers if you avoid toxic, high fat and processed foods - avoid all onion family, processed sausages etc, and check gravy! Most gravy contains onions salt and often MSG. Unbalanced leftovers should ideally not make up more than 10% of overall intake and you should be most careful about balance in growing dogs

I have had some financially dire times in the past where my dogs ate the cheapest kibble I could find alongside leftovers and eggs - because - for me - it was better to keep my dogs and keep them fed than to panic about not being able to afford fresh food at that moment. They are fine, I’m fine.

Most importantly right now - do not feel guilty, and for those who are still lucky enough to be financially able to feed good quality fresh food please try hard not to make others feel bad if they can’t. The raw feeding world is sometimes a very vocal one and conversations can get pretty heated on social media - I hope that some of the raw vet followers can be the voice of reason elsewhere and help those struggling to feel supported and not judged.

Hope everyone is doing ok.

16/10/2022

Pseudoscience … as big of a problem as fake news.

This table is a very good way to help us pick out who is worth listening to. The raw feeding online community does contain a fair amount of pseudoscience and it’s useful to be able to identify it.

One of my primary aims when the raw vet began was to highlight when there is real science behind potential benefits to help owners and vets to be on the same page.

There are *plenty* of real and sensible scientific papers and texts behind diet choices for individual dogs and cats (… and this means ALL kinds of feeding) - but there are also lots that are just pretending to be…

It is wise to read any post paper or book with a healthy dose of scepticism. Is it sensible, well measured, following evidence? (Which sometimes might not lead the way you wanted or expected?) - it’s probably real.

Is it extreme, hostile (I see this a lot…), vague and deliberately jargon filled…. It is helping no one … it is cherry picking evidence to suit the point they want to make. It is not real.

Be wise !:-)

Important points, in my consideration.

11/10/2022

How many of you feed dehydrated raw foods?

11/10/2022

This morning I was invited to debate whether we should be adding more breeds of dog to the UK Banned Breeds list. You can guess which side I was on...

UK followers - you can watch the whole debate on ITV player (The debate is on at about 7.52am!)

If you are outside the UK you can watch a snippet here on Instagram!

Good Morning Britain shared a post on Instagram: "Ban more ‘dangerous’ dogs? There have been nine fatal dog attacks in 2022, making it the deadliest year on record. With dog attacks up by 26% since the start of the pandemic, is it time to bring in tougher laws on dangerous dogs and extend the da...

14/09/2022

BIG NEWS!
I'll be running in-person Veterinary Nutrition Clinics in South of England from October!

As most of you will be aware, a large part of my day to day role is formulating recipes for pets with nutritionally managed clinical diseases. In most cases, remote consulting as a referral practitioner has worked well. With regular contact with the primary/referring vet the majority of cases can be managed very well.

BUT

The fact remains that I'd much prefer to be able to directly examine your dog, and in many cases, that it's a lot more efficient for me to be able to take bloods that are required, or examine/weigh/check urine samples myself.

Every Copper Binding Bedlington under my care requires regular zinc testing, every Cysteine producing bulldog requires regular urine samples and bladder palpation. Some pets with genetic diseases affecting nutrient absorption or requirements may require genetic testing...

NOW I can do them IN the consult! (plus - let's be honest - it's much nicer for me to be able to meet your dogs and cats in person....!!)

Services on offer will include basic audit consult and formulation, but also relevant blood and urine testing including genetic tests, relevant vitamin/minerals, or relevant endocrine conditions. Where your own vet prefers it, we may also offer monitoring for ongoing renal disease where diet is being altered.

More details will follow but I really just wanted to post this because it's exciting!

The clinic I am working out of is in the South East of England so for now, this will only be available to those in the area - but it will (hopefully!) enable me to work more efficiently with your dogs and cats to diagnose, treat and monitor nutrient related disorders!

09/09/2022

Just a quick note…,

Whilst it seems a shame to have to point this out, it has become clear that some members need reminding that confrontational and unpleasant remarks are no more acceptable on screen than they are in the street.….

Please remember every person you comment to (or about) is a human being - and in particular on the last post this includes vets…

Anything considered ‘vet bashing’ will be removed, as will the person posting.

Discussion of an individual conversation you had with your vet is ok (and is useful to our ongoing aim to improve communication) - but comments like ‘kibble pushing vets’ or continued deliberately confrontational questions/deliberately picking a fight will be removed.

To those who post in this way, you do know who you are…. Please do not pretend after picking a fight that you were ‘just asking’.

This page needs to be a pleasant place for sensible discussion… if you think your comment might be ‘taken the wrong way’ perhaps rephrase it before posting.

Many Thanks to all the lovely people who have shared the previous post and who continue to help improve communication between vets and owners rather than obstructing it

Charley

-

07/09/2022

🍗 Do you tell your vet what you feed? 🍗

(Please see bottom before commenting - aggressive or hurtful comments will be removed)

Today I saw an owner comment that she would never tell her vet she fed raw.... Every week I see comments just like this one in raw feeding pages. Today I'm posting to remind people that it is IMPORTANT to discuss diet in any vet consult... whatever the food type.

🤓 Why does your vet need to know? 🤓

Because nutritional disease is more common than you might think, and we might miss important diagnoses and treatment options if we don't know what they eat....

I see nutritional conditions *every day* that are actually pretty simple, but where a conversation about diet has just not been had. This sometimes results in all kinds of other testing and investigations that might have been avoided.

Conditions like biliary vomiting/reflux, dry skin, hair loss and even spinal arthritis ALL have multiple potential causes but something that is common to ALL of them? They can also be cause by nutritional deficiency...

Auditing of home-made diets involves a**lysing the nutrient content of a diet or recipe usually using existing food data and software. Whilst it can never be a perfect representation of the nutrients (natural food varies - we know that) it DOES highlight marked deficiencies and excesses that might be causing a problem.

This auditing process is becoming more common in veterinary practices, and it allows us to assess whether a diet (of ANY sort) is likely to be contributing to a medical condition or not. In my opinion a dietary audit as important as any lab test or ultrasound - but to decide if a nutritional issue is likely to be involved, we need ALL the information.

So

Pretty please

👩🏽‍⚕️ NEVER avoid telling us what you feed 👩🏽‍⚕️

We need to know!

👩🏽‍⚕️👨🏿‍⚕️👩🏽‍⚕️👩‍⚕️👩🏽‍⚕️👨🏻‍⚕️👨🏻‍⚕️👩🏽‍⚕️👩🏽‍⚕️👩‍⚕️👨🏿‍⚕️👩‍⚕️👨🏻‍⚕️👨🏿‍⚕️👩🏽‍⚕️👨🏿‍⚕️👩🏽‍⚕️👩‍⚕️👩🏽‍⚕️👨🏻‍⚕️👨🏻‍⚕️👩🏽‍⚕️👩🏽‍⚕️👩‍⚕️

The Ask What They Eat Campaign for Vets

We know that with the current international veterinary shortage it is busy and often difficult to find time to ask for a detailed diet history. The Ask What They Eat campaign aims to make it more common-place to ask about food when diagnosing medical conditions, and to help vets with a**lysing diets quickly and simply to decide if nutrient issues are related to the condition or not.

Keep an eye out for our 'Ask What They Eat' food diary. You'll be able to download this food diary (with handy tips) and hand it to your vet to save time. It'll also provide your vet with some handy links to calculators and tools to help them a**lyse the information more easily during their busy day!

GOOD MANNERS PLEASE!

EDIT - there are already too many mean and unpleasant comments on this thread. This page is not somewhere to be unpleasant to each other nor to make generalisations about ‘all vets’ or ‘all raw feeders’. This is a post encouraging better communication and understanding to benefit our pets. Comments seen as personal attack or generically ‘anti-vet’ will be removed because this is absolutely not helping the communication issue.

Please consider how you speak to each other on social media. Everyone on the end of a comment (even ‘all vets’…) are human. Comments on social media are still hurtful and are also harming the chance for improved communication that we really need - so please behave politely and courteously or I will need to remove you from the page.

16/06/2022

16/06/2022

**Bespoke Recipe Formulations are back!**

What is Bespoke Formulation?

Bespoke formulation involves formulating an accurately balanced recipe specifically targeted to your dogs needs and preferences, as well as local ingredient availability and cost of feeding.

Why is it useful?

It allows us to optimise diets for any kind of pet, using any type of food. For many pets, this can mean a fresh food alternative to a commercial food that their dog doesn’t like, or can’t eat (e.g - allergies)

Bespoke formulation is especially helpful for pets with additional dietary needs or restrictions :

- liver disease (especially young dogs with shunts)
- kidney disease (especially later stage)
- allergies that restrict ingredient choices
- growing pets (especially Great Danes)
- bladder stones that require pH and mineral management.
- dogs who need low calorie intakes
- pancreatitis

With the raw vet food now sadly no longer available there are now no fresh or raw food commercial options for pets with clinical conditions, and formulation provides an alternative solution for raw or fresh fed pets that have medical conditions.

For over the coming week I’ll post a little about what formulation for these types of cases entails. Specific nutrient adjustments in medical conditions can help us to improve the quality and length of our dogs’ lives in huge ways, and I hope to explain a little about how this is done!

In the meantime, if you want to know more about formulation services, you can visit the formulation website at www.companion-nutrition.co.uk.

Bookings are available Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and formulation is generally same day. There are just two slots available per day to ensure that formulation turnaround is generally on the same day as your consultation.

Keep an eye out for more information on why we formulate so accurately for pets with medical conditions!

see you soon!

Dr Charley Gray MA VetMB MRCVS

Veterinary Formulation Services formulating Bespoke FEDIAF Balanced Recipes for both Healthy Pets and those with special nutritional requirements

09/06/2022

🌙 Good evening all…

It’s been a while! As some of you may well know, covid did not treat our starting raw food production unit well and financially we were unable to continue producing the ‘prescription’ food we had worked so hard to produce.

In the meantime I have been working in nutrition consultancy mostly for individual sick pets but also in association with a few other companies including the superb Right4Paws India.

There are some changes a-foot for this page, but I hope that they will be positive ones and that we can re-invigorate this once lively online community!

Glad to be back and looking forward to sharing things with you all!

11/08/2021

Myth busting - why are we all so afraid of homemade food?
Holly Barker and I will be answering questions about homemade food and home-cooking for dogs including:

Are all nutrients destroyed by cooking?
Aren’t human foods dangerous to pets?
Won’t my dog get diarrhoea if I feed him human food?

And more….!

**VetChef Talks Live Tonight**⁠
⁠
Dr Joe Inglis is back (Live on Facebook) tonight at 8pm (BST). He will be joined by the VetChef Nutritionists to discuss 'Myth Busting.'⁠
⁠
This is a great opportunity to learn more about home cooking for your pets and to put your nutritional questions to the experts. ⁠
⁠
Please note, VetChef Talks will be hosted on our page and not the Homecook for dogs group.⁠
⁠
See you later!⁠⁠⁠

07/08/2021

🤓 Back to School 🤓

Canine Nutrition with Audit and Formulation Workshop
👉 When? September 18th+19th 2021
👉 Where? Zoom Seminars - Watch live (interactive) or recorded
👉 Who for? Any dog owner or pet professional with an interest in canine nutrition!

Learn to formulate accurately balanced raw or home-cooked meals for dogs.

There are many potential benefits to feeding fresh foods to our dogs, but it's sometimes challenging to know whether they are getting everything they need.

Our canine companions DO have different nutrient requirements to us for example - they need more calcium (about 3 times more!) and can't make their own vitamin D from sunlight like we can - so it can be tricky to get it right.

This course teaches you the basics of canine nutrition right down to the nutrient level, then helps you to use it in an interactive formulation workshop where you can formulate recipes for your own dog.

Included:
🐾 Attendance to all 4 live sessions (or access to recorded sessions if you cannot attend live)
🐾 PDF handbook and powerpoint to reference later
🐾 Your own copy of RFN Formulation Spreadsheet to use in the workshop and keep afterwards!
Click the link below to read more about this course or to book your space. Places are limited to ensure that there is plenty of time for everyone to ask questions in the interactive sessions

https://www.companion-nutrition.co.uk/bookings-checkout/canine-nutrition-formulation-workshop?referral=service_list_widget

20/06/2021

🐾 Canine Nutrition and Fresh Food Formulation Course for Veterinary Professionals 12-18th July 2021 🐾

Online, Watch Live or Recorded Sessions

👉 64% of pet owners feed homemade food as part of their pets' main meals.

👉 Only 13% of pet owners surveyed in 2018 feed exclusively complete commercial foods (compared to 65% in 2008)

👉 The majority of home-cooked diets are unbalanced.

(University of Guelph - Reference below)

🐾 Accurately Assess the Nutritional adequacy of clients' homemade diets using audit and NRC/FEDIAF nutrient guidelines.

An increasing number of owners are choosing to feed homemade raw or cooked meals. With this change in owner behaviour has come a corresponding demand for veterinary professionals to be able to accurately assess and adjust the nutritional adequacy of a diet.

When: 12th- 18th July 2021, split into 4 x 2 hour sessions - Watch live OR attend recorded sessions.
Where: Online Via Zoom

In this course you will:

- Refresh your memory on basic canine nutrition (energy calculations, macro and micronutrients and whole-food sources options).

- Discuss common methods and models of feeding (home-cook, Raw Complete foods, BARF, Ratio Feeding) and the common nutritional implications of these.

- Discuss common nutrient deficiencies and their manifestation in general practice.

- Learn how to use a purpose built spreadsheet (included for you to use and keep) to assess clients' homemade recipes.

- Learn how to formulate home-made balanced recipes that meet FEDIAF or NRC guidelines.

For more information (or to book) visit the website (please note our courses have now moved to the Companion Nutrition Website)

https://www.companion-nutrition.co.uk/bookings-checkout/veterinary-canine-audit-formulation?referral=service_list_widget

Reference:
(*)An observational study of pet feeding practices and how these have changed between 2008 and 2018
June 2020The Veterinary record 186(19):vetrec-2019-105828

20/06/2021

🐾 Canine Nutrition and Fresh Food Formulation Course for Veterinary Professionals 12-18th July 2021 - £120 🐾

8 hours CPD (4x2hr) Online - Flexible - Watch Live or Recorded Sessions.

👉 64% of pet owners feed homemade food as part of their pets' main meals.

👉 Only 13% of pet owners surveyed in 2018 feed exclusively complete commercial foods (compared to 65% in 2008)
(University of Guelph - Reference below)

👉 The majority of home-cooked (owner formulated) recipes are unbalanced and risk nutrient deficiency.

🐾 Learn to identify when a nutritional deficiency may be contributing to a clinical condition by auditing your client's homemade recipes and comparing to recognised nutrient guidelines (NRC/FEDIAF).

An increasing number of owners are choosing to feed homemade raw or cooked meals and with this change in owner behaviour comes a corresponding demand for veterinary professionals to be able to accurately assess and adjust the nutritional adequacy of home-made diets.

When: 12th- 18th July 2021, split into 4 x 2 hour sessions - Watch live OR attend recorded sessions.
Where: Online Via Zoom

In this course you will:

- Refresh your memory on basic canine nutrition (energy calculations, macro and micronutrients and whole-food sources options).

- Discuss common methods and models of feeding (home-cook, Raw Complete foods, BARF, Ratio Feeding) and the common nutritional implications of these.

- Discuss common nutrient deficiencies and their manifestation in general practice.

- Learn how to use a purpose built spreadsheet (included for you to use and keep) to assess clients' homemade recipes.

- Learn how to formulate home-made balanced recipes that meet FEDIAF or NRC guidelines.

For more information (or to book) visit the website (please note our courses have now moved to the Companion Nutrition Website)

https://www.companion-nutrition.co.uk/bookings-checkout/veterinary-canine-audit-formulation?referral=service_list_widget

Reference:

(*)An observational study of pet feeding practices and how these have changed between 2008 and 2018
June 2020The Veterinary record 186(19):vetrec-2019-105828

26/05/2021

Puppy diets - a very important point....

We know the are potential benefits to home made diets - digestibility, palatability, bioavailability natural sources of minerals and vitamins just to name a few - but just being ‘raw’ doesn’t necessarily make it good.

Balance is extremely important. I echo what Monica Segal says here - in my early years as a vet I never saw a puppy with a deficiency. Even our text books list many deficiencies as ‘uncommon’ these days.

They are no longer uncommon.... because in our enthusiasm to feed fresher diets (which of course is great!) we sometimes overlook balance a bit too much.

Balance is just as important in raw food, home cooked foods or kibble foods. One of the reasons the raw vet was formed was because there was no other product producing a large breed puppy food with an appropriate feeding guide.

Rotation doesn’t guarantee balance, and ratio 80:10:10 recipes will be highly unlikely to be sufficient for a growing puppy - especially if the diet is being limited by suspected allergies.

Ideally for a puppy look for a FEDIAF balanced puppy food (or aafco/NRC in other countries). Adult dogs can cope better with ‘balance over time’ but for me the stakes are too high to play that game with a puppy.

But human kids do alright? Two points in this.... the most important being that the grow rate is far far slower than a large breed puppy... children take 18-21 years to be fully ‘grown’. A Great Dane does the majority of its growing in 12-18 months.... this makes them vulnerable in a way that human children are not.
The other point is that if we are honest... are all humans super healthy....? Not so much 🙂

You can make puppy food at home, but if you are - I’d highly recommend consulting a good nutritionist OR using a recipe that you Know is balanced to a RECOGNISED standard (fediaf NRC AAFCO). I have seen many an ‘internet diet’ that would make many a nutritionist cringe and many a vet set up the X-ray machine ....

Puppyhood is short - get it right 🙂

WTH IS UP WITH PUPPY DIETS? (gratefully written with permission from the pup owners to help others)

Sorry for the little outburst, but after 4 phone consults in a row regarding puppy diets...I'm a bit over the top this morning.

All of these folks have called it a rabbit hole that seems to be trapping people with new pups. None are first time puppy owners but having read all the 'kibble kills' and ' Just feed real food' sites/groups, they started feeding home made diets (raw and cooked, mostly raw) without knowing about balancing a diet other than "it's balanced if you feed X percentage of bone, muscle meat..." etc. The puppies are now showing them that this doesn't always work. Maybe if you get lucky, but that's not typical. The current state of these 4 pups?

➡️Puppy #1: Toes are spread out, balance is off, head is bobbing for no reason that the vet can find, so neurology visit is coming up.

➡️Puppy #2 tolerates only turkey meat. Turkey isn't nutrient dense enough for a growing pup if we don't add a heap of supplements. The diet includes no supplements. Turkey neck was being fed but stool became to hard, so the neck was reduced in favor of other RMBs, but they weren't tolerated. Egg shell was used as a replacement. This means calcium and phosphorus are in short supply and unbalanced. This puppy has been diagnosed with several skeletal issues and is on pain meds at only 8 months of age.

➡️ Puppy #3: Diet is raw with rotation of meats and bones. No veg, no grain. Puppy has developed a**l prolapse. Also pain in lumbar area and a small ulcer in the mouth.

➡️ Puppy #4: Diet is a 'stew' of various meats and veg with seaweed calcium and rotation of oils that don't actually balance anything, sadly. Puppy is 9 months old and itchy from the day he came home at 8 weeks. Now has scabs with some pus, front paws turn outward, patellas are slipping, jaw quivers after eating.

I'm thankful to have been contacted and allowed to help in these cases, but I surely wish it wasn't due to avoidable situations.