Chester and Gretel are active dogs so it makes sense that they need really good nutrition to keep them going. However, there are many reasons to improve your pet’s diet from less vet bills to helping them live longer.
I felt pretty good about myself for changing Chester and Gretel’s food to grain free kibble. I knew it was an improvement in the quality of their diet and one small step toward making them healthier. They didn’t have any “drastic problems”, like severe allergies, that led me to make the change so I didn’t have a “WOW!” moment after I switched. However, Chester stopped having the occasional issues with itchy skin and I feel like Gretel’s eyes weren’t quite as weepy.
That wasn’t the end of our food journey though. A year later, I was still thinking, “Can I do more?”
Chester and Gretel seemed pretty healthy. Chester was slowing down because he was getting older but there seemed to be no outward reason to change his diet. However, I felt like I could and should be doing a little bit better. I knew that what I saw on the outside was literally just the surface of what was going on inside. I knew that I may not SEE a difference but even a tiny improvement in their diet would make them healthier inside where it counts.
I know what I felt like when did the human equivalent of going “grain free” – no longer eating gluten. I no longer had a fuzzy head and had an even amount of energy all day. Now, I know that just because I felt that way doesn’t mean that Chester and Gretel felt the exact same way. They are dogs and dogs and people work differently. I had a hard time seeing how getting rid of all of those junk, empty-calorie fillers like corn couldn’t have made them feel a bit better though. Also, I was 100% sure that they would think eating meat was tasty.
The next transition I made in their diet was to supplement their kibble with a little bit of raw food. I admit I was pretty hesitant to make a change. Chester and Gretel wake me up at 5 am every morning to eat. In my half-asleep stupor, I really liked the convenience of just tossing some kibble in a bowl.
I wasn’t ready to go full-on raw with their food for real. I just didn’t know that much about it or feel that it was absolutely necessary. I decided to go slow by introducing some raw-like supplements to their food. About the time I was contemplating making the change, kibbles emerged on the market that had little freeze-dried pieces of meat mixed in. It was the perfect thing to help me start making a transition.
The first food we tried with freeze dried meat bits mixed in was Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw Boost Kibble. It’s the same high-quality grain free kibble as the Instinct Grain Free Kibble with the addition of freeze dried raw pieces to provide minimally processed (only forming and freeze drying the chunks) nutrition and an extra boots of tasty goodness.
They absolutely loved the freeze-dried chunks of meat. I wanted to keep improving their diet so, after a few months, I bought the Instinct Raw Boost Mixers (just the freeze dried chunks that were in the Raw Boost Kibble) and started adding them to the food. I didn’t want to add more calories so I cut down on the amount of kibble I was giving them and replaced it with an equal amount of the Mixers freeze-dried meat bits.
I was pretty happy with feeding Chester and Gretel this way for a while. It was an easy, convenient, and non-messy to feed them some raw food. It was super easy to maintain their diet on the road or our overnight backpacking trips because, even though the food was semi-raw, it was just like feeding kibble – scoop out of the bag and plop in the dish.
I didn’t think I would every go past this point to raw food. Eventually I did but that is a story for next time. Stay tuned for part 4 in our food journey!
Lisa West-Ownbey says
March 11, 2016 at 9:16 AMFood is so important for urine health! My girl has too acid urine and forms calcium carbonate crystals which could easily lead to stones. This one is easy, a little potassium citrate cranberry granules and normal ph.
My boy is more complicated. His urine ph is too high, base, causing him to form struvite crystals which can also lead to stones. My vet wanted to put him on a prescription diet super low in protein. I think this food is trash so after researching this I went the other way, super high protein. It worked and he is down to normal range. I mixed Natures Variety Instinct Ultimate Protein kibble with their Organix Grain free. Then I add some Wild CallingsGrain Free Rotational Diet canned food which smells so good I want to eat it!
Stephanie says
March 11, 2016 at 10:37 AMI did the same research on the Rx diets, and found the same to be true – not good quality. I am lucky not to be dealing with the health issues with my dogs, but it is good information to have because that can certainly change, and I want to be informed to make a better choice than the Rx diets offered by the vets.
Jessica Rhae says
March 13, 2016 at 7:16 PMGlad you found a food that worked for you! I’ve seen the ingredients in a lot of those prescription diets and, personally, I find them a little bit scary too.
Dachshund Nola says
March 11, 2016 at 6:16 PMI love the connivence of freeze dried raw. Primal’s freeze dried is a stable in the dog cabinet.
Kimberly Gauthier says
March 13, 2016 at 2:23 PMI know what you mean about getting up early in the morning. All of our dogs’ meals are premixed on the weekends so that I just have to scoop. I try to do supplements in the morning too, but if I’m not quite awake, I’ll save them for the afternoon.
It’s amazing what a better diet does for our dogs. Whether it’s raw, quality kibble, or homecooked, it all makes such a great difference. I’m sure your journey is helping others and giving them ideas on where they can make improvements.
Jessica Rhae says
March 13, 2016 at 7:10 PMSee…. I didn’t see that “amazing difference” with Chester and Gretel but I have heard so many people that said they have. I am sure that Chester and Gretel are feeling a huge difference but I just can’t see it. That’s ok… I’ll go on “blind” faith 🙂
Michele Hersh says
May 16, 2016 at 1:06 AMHey Jessica, awesome journey 🙂
So nice to hear your dogs are enjoying every bit of the new foods. In my opinion, food type does not matter that much. We can feed raw food, kibble or cooked. What matters is how they enjoy it. If they are happy and healthier then who needs more than that. Isn’t it?
Also, Jessica you have a nice blog.
Jessica Rhae says
May 16, 2016 at 7:26 PMI think dogs can be happy and healthy on any form of food. I did definitely notice a difference in Chester’s energy when we went raw but his teeth and fur have always been healthy and shiny. I think every owner can make the right choice for themselves, their pets, and their budget. Feeding raw food is not for everyone.
Michele Hersh says
May 16, 2016 at 11:12 PMWell said Jessica 🙂
Thanks