I am so stoked to report that my BFF Laura finally took a leap of faith and started feeding her Golden pup Lucy a raw diet! We’ve been friends for a few years now and have a lot in common, but one thing that we didn’t see eye to eye on for the longest time was raw feeding.
It gave her the creeps and her favorite emoji in relation to the raw feeding topic was the one with the medical mask over its mouth…?
So while my pups Missy & Buzz got raw food, Lucy ate kibble.
Extreme itchiness caused kibble-fed Lucy to chew on her paws
Lucy’s 7 years old now and she’s been super itchy these last few months, causing her to chew on her paws to the point where they were sore and red. It got particularly bad at night time, so she ended up having to wear a cone of shame to keep her from gnawing at her paws.
I had a feeling that Lucy’s diet was the main culprit, although she also has a mild case of separation anxiety. I remembered that Buzz was bothered by ear infections on a regular basis back in our kibble feeding days, and how they magically disappeared once he started eating raw meat, so I kept nagging and nagging and nagging…and nagging to give raw a try, just for a few weeks to see if it made any sort of difference.
I was SO excited when Laura agreed to give it a shot and didn’t cancel our friendship instead…you rock, girl…I’m super proud of you!! I know you’ll be reading this at some point 😉
Long story short – the raw diet worked after just 2 weeks (!) as you can see in the picture below. All the redness and soreness has completely vanished:
Ease yourself into raw feeding with a pre-made raw diet such as Petco’s Instinct Raw Beef Recipe
I know from my very own experience that raw feeding can be overwhelming at first, which is why I gave Laura the advice that I give anyone looking into switching their dogs from kibble to raw. Start with a pre-made, raw diet such as Petco’s Instinct raw dog food to ease yourself into the new concept of feeding. Once you’re comfortable with it, you can graduate to putting your own raw meals together yourself.
It’s exactly what I did, too, except that I started feeding Missy & Buzz pre-made raw dog food from Darwin’s along with dehydrated dog food from The Honest Kitchen (THK) instead of the Petco brand.
It really doesn’t matter too much though which brand you start with, as long as you’re making a change in your dog’s nutrition. You can check out the different pre-made raw dog food brands I’ve fed in my Healthy Resources tab.
Missy & Buzz on their first raw meals by Darwin's & THK
Laura ended up following my advice and is currently in stage 1 of feeding Lucy a raw diet – she’s been purchasing Instinct’s raw beef recipe at Petco and will be feeding it for a few more weeks before putting her own raw meals together.
Bottom Line
Allergies causing itchiness in kibble-fed dogs are a serious problem and can lead to a decreased quality of life in our best furry friends. Buzz was just as uncomfortable as Lucy was when he had his recurring ear infections, and I remember how exhausting it was on my part to treat them and worry about his poor ears.
If your dog suffers from similar pains as Buzz and Lucy did, consider giving a balanced, raw diet a try. After all, what do you have to lose?
Is your kibble-fed dog bothered by allergies? As always, we’d love to hear from you in our comment section!
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