MY PAW FAMILY
PIPPER
Miss Piper (age 7) came into my life when I met her dad/owner/parent, who is now my husband. Piper always had soft stool and had issues with anal gland impaction which would require them to be expressed frequently. She also had very poor teeth and due to anxiety was unable to have her teeth brushed frequently or effectively. By age 5, she had obvious and extensive tarter buildup with red gums and foul breath. After switching Piper to a raw diet, her stools firmed up, which allows her to self express her anal glands, no longer requiring someone else to do so. Additionally, the act of chewing on raw meaty bones, and eliminating carbohydrates from her diet (which stick to the teeth and cause tarter and plaque buildup), has naturally descaled her teeth. After only one year of eating raw, ALL of the redness from her gum-line had resolved and nearly all the tarter was completely gone. This was without any change in the frequency of tooth brushing. Her breath is now perfectly fine and we don’t have to wear a gas mask to snuggle her or nearly pass out if she gives us a kiss (which is her favorite thing to do!).
BEAR
Bear (age 5) was the second dog to become part of the family (or zoo as I often call it), and I brought him home on Valentine’s Day of 2019. He was a typical active and excitable Golden Retriever. He, too, ate a ‘premium kibble’ that was a chicken and rice formula for large breed puppies. Several months after being on this same diet, he started having explosive watery diarrhea. As he was still a puppy, the vet thought it might be due to him simply having a sensitive stomach and he was treated several times with Metronidazole. The diarrhea improved once he was taken off of a chicken kibble, but his stools were never optimal. Then, around one year of age, he began to have issues with yeast and hot spots. The vet attributed it to his long coat and his love of swimming, as well as seasonal allergies. The only recommendation I received was to start him on cytopoint injections and shave his coat in the summertime. I was told this would treat his allergies and prevent his double coat from staying wet and causing skin rashes. He also received antibiotics multiple times and various skin creams and ear drops. Despite this, the issues would recur several times a year. And unfortunately, his hair never grew back exactly the same after getting shaved (although he is still a very handsome boy!). Once Bear switched to raw food, the cytopoint injections were stopped (this was my decision as this suppresses the immune system and has been linked to cancer), and was given several natural products to heal his gut from the many rounds of antibiotics and injections he previously received, his symptoms never recurred. His environmental allergies are controlled with natural anti-inflammatories only, and he can also eat raw chicken with absolutely no digestive issues whatsoever. Which is great because he loves chicken feet!
COPPER
Copper (age 7) was my first dog, having never been lucky enough to have a childhood dog in the family. Copper was rescued from the southeast US after extensive flooding in that area. He was malnourished when I took him home on April 1st of 2017, and had ongoing gastrointestinal issues from the beginning. Although he was eating a ‘premium kibble’ as a puppy, it was difficult to get him to eat a full bowl and he was always underweight. He would also have episodes every 1-2 months of recurrent vomiting and diarrhea with abdominal discomfort. He had chronic loose stools that were smelly and large. After several years of seeing the vet these symptoms, he finally had blood work done which resulted in a diagnosis of pancreatitis. I was informed that this was likely due to him having gotten into something fatty (which never happened) and that he would need to be on a low fat prescription diet for the rest of his life. After switching him to this expensive prescription diet (which was 70% carbohydrate), his symptoms did not improve. Repeated visits to the vet gleaned no further information on his condition or the cause. This finally catapulted me into the raw feeding world as I desperately looked for something my dog could eat and enjoy, hoping he would gain much needed weight and stop vomiting. After a cold turkey transition to a raw diet, my dog, who had suffered from chronic pancreatitis for 5 years, has not had one single flare up. He gained 15lbs, has more energy than he has had his entire life, and his attention span and ability to actually listen has also improved. His stools are small, firm, and less smelly. And most importantly, he is no longer suffering from vomiting and abdominal pain. He has become the dog he was always meant to be, due to the healing power of a species appropriate diet.
OLIVER, FLOWER & GOOSE
I currently have three majestic feline companions: Goose (long haired Himalayan, age 14), Oliver (orange, age 10), and Flower (black and white, age 8). All of them ate kibble until 2022. They were quite a bit harder to transition to a species appropriate diet, however we did finally arrive there after much trial and error. Now that the cats no longer eat kibble, the frequent vomiting that two of them used to experience has resolved. The litter box is a much nicer environment as well, since cats who eat raw create much smaller and less smelly stools. Currently, I am not offering meal formulations or consultations for cats, but you can follow their raw feeding journey on my Instagram!
