Doom, dread, panic, disaster.......

nowhavethreebears

New member
Well, not really. But that's how I feel. I just need to vent...And I have a couple of questions at the end.

Those of you who have followed since my three were pups know that my Sophie did not have a solid stool until she was three years old.
I went through dog food purgatory with her til I discovered Prism lamb meal and rice kibble five years ago. She firmed up literally overnight and has done great on it since. She even finally grew a coat on it.
Long story short, I found out yesterday it has been DISCONTINUED by the manufacturer! :darn: :darn: :darn:
I only have about 10 lb left so I have to start transitioning her to new food quickly.
The closest thing I can find is Holistic Select lamb meal and rice. It's pretty much the same basic formula but with added stuff like probiotics, gluc, vitamins, herbs, minerals etc. No one locally to me sells it so it's gonna be about 60 bucks for a 30 lb bag delivered if I switch her to it.
Plain and simple the budget won't carry that.
I have tried raw and she did okay, but it is hard to source raw too when you have to exclude chicken.

So, a couple of questions...

Would there be any harm putting her on a raw diet where beef heart is the main protein source? Too much or not enough of anything for her?
Also, does anyone have any experience with Exclusive brand kibble? It's close to the Prism and much cheaper than the Holistic Select. And it does not contain chicken.
 
Last edited:

shellyk

New member
We do raw prey model (meat, organs, bone only) and do very little chicken because our Newf pulls her nose up at it. Our Lab will eat absolutely everything. We check the food adds for meat sales and finally joined a rawfeed coop. They are able to provide so much stuff at discounted prices. Sometimes we can get the quantity/quality and good price at Costco.

We currently don't feed lamb because it's just too expensive. They get ground tripe, ground beef trim w/bone & organ, wild caught sardines, turkey necks, chicken backs and pork.

Beef heart is considered muscle meet. You could add organs, and a bone source and it would be a complete diet.

If you join the Yahoo group for raw feeding you might find out if there is a coop in your area.
 

nowhavethreebears

New member
Thanks for the input.
When I tried to put Sophie on raw before she ate a lot of beef heart, pork, fish when I could get it, and ground beef if I could get it on sale. I used to have a source for turkey necks, but no more.
The lakes around here are now filled with the Asian carp. Hundreds of pounds of it free for the taking. I could use that if it is decent fish for her. I do know they are now serving it in some restaurants.
I did belong to the yahoo raw feeding group for awhile...The closest co-op to me is in TN in the Nashville/Franklin area. About a two hour drive one way which I will do if I have to...
 
Last edited:
Sorry for the loss of a food that works. I get so frustrated when stuff Snuffles likes is no longer available and that has nothing to do with health either. Wish I could offer a suggestion. I am thinking around here, they were talking using the Asian Carp for prison food as well as try to get the public in general to try it. Seems that had some kind of event like with chefs to do it up right before serving.
 

Keira25

Member
I don't know the exact ingredients in Prism, but check out Precise Lamb Meal & Rice Sensicare, chewy.com $50 for 30 pound bag, free delivery. NutriSource Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Dry Dog Food, $42.99 for 33 pound bag, also at chewy.com. Very frustrating when you finally find a food that works and they stop making it. If you don't have a coop close to you, I think it's tough to do raw at a reasonable price.
 

nowhavethreebears

New member
It is tough. And a lot of work. When I was trying the raw with Sophie I would haunt the local Kroger and other markets early in the AM so I could grab whatever marked down meat looked usable for her.
I will look into those other foods if the Exclusive doesn't work out for her.
I was paying 50 for a bag of the Prism but it's 40 lb.
 

nowhavethreebears

New member
The Blue Ridge beef people have several dealers in the Nashville area and one at Clarksville which is only about an hour and a half from me.
Will call in the AM and check on prices.
 

DAWNMERIE

Active member
Wow, 3 yrs and I thought Zeke was bad with over 6 months as a young one. It is such a shame none of the foods anymore can be trusted and change things so frequently that you can't keep up with it. I found with all our experimenting we did that the correct food usually did work almost overnight.
 

R Taft

Active member
I put heart in the muscle category not the offal, if that helps :)...I feed RAW all the time. I make friends with butchers and i do check meat markets all the time. We of course also kill our own, which is when we use everything
 

Brandie&Maggie

New member
I'm sorry you are dealing with that. Been there, and it sucks.

If you want to stick with kibble, check out chewy.com as Keira said. Better price and free shipping.

I'm definitely no expert but it sounds like a lot of people have done raw without chicken, etc. We feed salmon as the main source of protein. You could try local butcher shops or even farmers markets. We have a CSA membership where the farm also has meat (beef, pork, chicken) and they will bring us necks, bones, etc for pretty cheap.

Good luck with this.
 

jane

New member
Anita...It's ok to put her on raw with beef heart being the main protein source. You just have to have a form of bone, and add organ. If I were you I would also try adding a digestive enzyme. I have used one on Modoc and it works well. Also, it is a known fact that when a dog has an issue with a protein source in kibble, a lot of times they are fine with that protein source on raw. If Sophie is not good with chicken or another source of bone that is edible, you can try bone meal powder. Kymythy Schultze put Roger on bone meal powder because he was unable to digest bone. He did very well on it.
 
Last edited:

nowhavethreebears

New member
Thanks for all the input. If I don't find a kibble pretty soon I will try the raw again.

I did buy a bag of kibble for them yesterday. I started them on it last night, mixing just a few pieces of kibble in with the prism.
I did the same at their meal this morning and will do so again tonight, upping the amount of new kibble just a bit.
Will keep you all posted how it goes. So far so good. Sophie was good this morning so it doesn't look like she's going to have a violent reaction to it like she has had to some things.
 

janices

New member
Some that come to mind that may be less expensive
Propac Lamb and Rice
Nutrisource Lamb and Rice
Precise Lamb and Rice
 

nowhavethreebears

New member
Day four transitioning to the new kibble. So far so good. They are getting about 1/3 new stuff now as I am rapidly running out of the Prism.
 

nowhavethreebears

New member
Phooey!

So I'm sitting in the office this morning looking at email, paying some bills, etc. when Sophie comes to me with her head hung down and not looking me in the eye. "What did you do?" I ask. Then I smell it.
It was downstairs at the other end of the house and I smelled it. She made it as far as the sliding door. Liquid, stinky (understatement!!) diarrhea-ish stool.
She tried. I didn't hear her woof to go out so it must have hit her quick.
We are six days into the new food. I am hoping against hope that she will adapt in a few more days. If not, back to the drawing board.
I gave her a couple of spoonfuls of pumpkin which will hopefully firm her up a bit.

Oh, I don't for one minute believe that new study that says dogs don't feel shame. She knew she did wrong, even if it was an accident, and she came and told me about it.
 

nowhavethreebears

New member
Thanks. That looks about as limited ingredient as you can get. I will see if I can find some.
I have been thinking about changing her protein source as long as I can avoid chicken.
She is still the same today as yesterday. Hannah and Gabriel are doing fine on the Exclusive lamb so far.
 

Newf1

New member
If it helps, I get Holistic Select from doggiefood.com and the price is $46 to $50 depending if it is on sale. They offer free shipping over $50 and they always have extra promotions like 10% off $100, 15% of $150 etc.
 
Top