Lily's kitchen or raw

[juicynectarines]

My dog is currently fed Lily's kitchen - which I heard was the best food there is. However I'm now being told all dog food is the same unless you free raw. Anyone know the answer here? Thanks in advance

[applesareredandgreen]

My spoilt little dog eats Lily's Kitchen grain free canned food. There is other high quality wet food which is a bit cheaper - unfortunately this was tried, eaten for a few days and then left. Lily's Kitchen is the only actual dog food that appledog consistently gobbles up, although he would rather eat human food, given a chance! Thankfully he's only a small dog so has about 3/4 of s can a day plus treats. For s larger dog I imagine it would be costing at least £5 a day.

Haven't tried raw - I dong think this would suit our lifestyle.

[Pasithea]

I have two dogs and both are fed raw. Costs about 40quid a month for both. They are not overweight no huge smelly poos not much wind. They received a mixture sometimes bones sometimes offal sometimes meat and fish. They also have the occasional carrot , apple minus pips. Broccoli etc. Absolutely no dried food I use cheese for treats. And a dentastix each day. They are rarely Ill and their skin and ear problems have gone completely.

[threatmatrix]

I really think feeding a dog dry food is very sad and unnatural. I feed mine a few Lily’s biscuits mixed with Lily’s wet and a whole steamed chicken thigh mixed together, she also gets any meat we have like beef, lamb etc. She hardly ever has wind (thank god) and her coat is beautiful, she also never gets sick or has runny poo.

[Beetleandbug]

I also feed Lily's Kitchen and it's costing about £40 a month :/ I need to lower costs whilst at the same time want my dog to enjoy his food.

Please could those doing raw diets tell me what you feed and how much this costs? Also, what size dog you have. Thanks

[orangeyellowgreen]

Feed expensive food if it makes you feel good but dogs are scavengers, they haven't evolved to need a perfect diet. How many humans live off a perfect diet or one which costs as much as Lily's kitchen?

[CrabbyCockwomble]

Thanks Lonecat, I might give it a try, then.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Crabby it is a trial error I have seen just about anything trigger pancreatitis and equally I have seen dogs eat unbelievable things and not get a bout.

[CrabbyCockwomble]

I'm not trying to hijack the thread well not much, anyway, but Lonecat (and any other vets) could I ask you a question?

My cocker spaniel has an absurdly sensitive stomach; she had acute panreatitis about four years ago (she's six now) and although she hasn't had any serious flare-ups since, she does very regularly get diarrhoea, and occasional vomiting. She is allergic/sensitive to wheat - any ingestion of that will give her the terrible squits and a flare up necessitating anti-inflammatory meds - and we feed her the blandest possible diet of Nature's Harvest chicken mixed with James Wellbeloved fish dried food (we've just switched to Fishmongers' Choice salmon dried food, as no grains at all). None of this is helped by the fact that she's a thieving little oik and will scavenge anything she can get her jaws around.

We would love to feed her raw, and used to give her raw bones and chicken wings early on, but this always gave her the squits so we stopped. I've recently been looking at 'Honey's Real Dog Food', which is a raw food containing ground up raw bones etc..

My question is, would this be likely to trigger her pancreatitis, or would she be likely to adjust to it and benefit from the grain/filler free diet? I don't want to trigger an episode, but I would so much rather feed her ethically reared (the Honey's one is free range) food that isn't bulked out with cheap fillers like grain, or sugar beet pulp as the 'grain-free' alternative.

God I think I have hijacked, sorry. I should probably start a thread with this myself, shouldn't I...

[ggirl]

I have tried raw feeding my dog..it was hit or miss with her
Bones she would try and hide and never eat.
She loved chicken wings but would constantly either drop them on the carpet /grass and ignore for ages before eating-i didn't like the mess
she went off the minced stuff and refused to eat

I gave up and started her on lilys kitchen cos she eats it straight away and its easy for me.

[Fannyupcrutch]

I use natures menu raw food for my dogs and the difference in them is amazing. Skin issues have completely cleared up, poop is tiny and barely smells at all, their weight is perfect and they love it. It costs me £1.50 a day to feed my 3 chinese crested's, that is a £1 pack of meat between the three of them and a chicken wing each ,or a piece of raw fish, duck neck etc. It is by far the best food for my dogs. It is biologically appropriate, they can't digest grains in commercial dry dog food.....that is why the poos are so large and smelly compared to feeding raw.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

All these myths about vets and pet food.
Do UK vets get nutritional training independent of the the pet food companies? Yes I spent an entire morning every week for an entire term learning about pet nutrition, taught by a well respected lecturer who was employed by the university.
Do UK vets make special extra commission from selling certain pet foods ? No they don't
Do practices make profit from selling pet food? Yes in exactly the same way the pet food shop does.
Is the mark up on pet foods a major income stream for practices? No it's not the mark up on pet foods is one of the lowest in the practice.
Many, many vets recommend raw diets I do. Is there one solution that suits every single pet owner combination no there is not because owners and dogs are individuals.

[pigsDOfly]

My dog wouldn't touch Lily's Kitchen when I tried it for her and tbh I wasn't that surprised as it's very mushy and smells horrible imo.

Obviously keep away from the awful cheap brands. Look for a decent food, with good quality ingredients that agrees with your dog - takes a bit of research - and you won't go far wrong.

I know a rotti: bought from a pet shop, so doubtless bred in a puppy mill, who has been fed on the cheapest food and other rubbish all his life. He's now 10 years old, still slim and still bouncing around with his soft toys with no troubles; no significant health problems so far either.

Not saying that's the way to go obviously.

[austenozzy]

Potap, to dismiss the article because it's American and they 'have better training' is ridiculous. British vets are among the best and most sought after in the world. Five of the top 10 vet schools in the world are British. Just getting into a vet course is a feat in itself, never mind the years of rigorous and intensive training. To dismiss their opinions with some tinfoil hat suggestions of being shills and lackeys is insulting and rather credulous.

[Callthemodwife]

Think about what's most convenient for you And what works and try not to worry. I raw feed for convenience - ddog is a massive fusspot but will always eat raw - I find it easiest to fill the deep freeze and chuck him outside with a bone twice a day then not think about it. If he'd eat prepared food is probably feed it because it would be less fuss. But then I can't imagine feeding Lily's exclusively is cheap! You're doing a great job for your pooch, whatever you choose!

[Bubble2bubble]

if you want to know what is in your dog food then this is a useful site

[BagelSuffragette]

Good advice/info from:

FB group Raw Feeding UK
here

[austenozzy]

Agreed Lynda. As a lab owner - greedy buggers with dodgy hips - I have to watch her waistline even if I'm no good watching my own! Living by the coast path in Cornwall helps make walkies that much nicer though, so we're lucky there.

[LyndaNotLinda]

I'm with one of the commentators on that article austernozzy: "The most common, most severe and most significant nutritional disease seen in pet animal practice is not some elemental deficiency but plain and simple, obesity."

Having said that, I feed my dog Pure dehydrated food. I would feed him cheap crap but it gives him runny poo. He doesn't seem any healthier or happier than he did before but his poo is easier to pick up

[austenozzy]

This link looks interesting.

skeptvet.com/Blog/2012/07/what-do-veterinarians-know-about-nutrition/

[austenozzy]

More than happy to read up if you'd be so kind as to share.

[austenozzy]

Btw, not judging any owner on their choices. I know nothing re the raw thing so can't comment. I just remember when my dog was young the amount of conflicting advice we received. In the end I just asked my vet what she fed her dog when I bumped into her in town (James wellbeloved) and went with it. She's been good as gold on it despite the dubious stuff she constantly finds and eats while out!