Author Topic: nutriment  (Read 1642 times)

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Offline lilliegez

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nutriment
« on: January 12, 2014, 03:35:45 PM »
hello all. I have decided to give raw food a go and decided on nutriment to start with as it has everything already in it.  As maisie has grain/ wheat/gluten and soya allergies im hoping it will help her with itchy skin.  I have her on barking heads puppy grain free but she still scratches her mouth a lot.   I know its 2-3% of dogs weight to feed, maisie weighs 13.3 kg and is 9 months old.  would 390g per day be about right.  I know I have to introduce the change of diet over a period of a couple of weeks but am unsure how much barking heads kibble to give when introducing the nutriment.   any advice would be great, thanks all.

Offline elaine.e

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Re: nutriment
« Reply #1 on: January 12, 2014, 05:33:31 PM »
Lots of people advise to switch straight to raw. I didn't when I made the switch about 4 years ago but think I would if I was starting now.

For making a gradual change it's best to feed 1 meal of kibble and 1 of raw. Mixing the 2 together may cause problems because kibble stays in the digestive system much longer than raw does.

If you feed one meal of kibble and one meal of raw per day, feed half of Maisie's current daily kibble allowance as one meal, then raw for the second meal. The amount of raw to feed is potentially the tricky bit at the moment because Maisie is still a puppy but is approaching the age where you could change her to an adult quantity of raw. I notice the Nutriment website recommends feeding 4-6% of ideal bodyweight per day to puppies and gradually reducing to between 2-3% at maturity.

If you think Maisie is pretty much up to adult size and weight (and is neither skinny or fat at the moment) you could try 4% of her weight for a full day of raw, so 2% for the transition period when she's on half kibble/half raw, which is 260g. Or if you're comfortable to go straight to an adult amount try 1.5%, which is 200g for half a day's rations.

Hope that helps :D

One other thought, as you said she still scratches her mouth a lot. Is that the only area that seems itchy? If so, have you checked the area for any signs of lip fold pyoderma (infection). If she has it you'd probably notice a horrible smell too. It may help anyway to gently bathe the area and make sure the hair is kept short too.

Offline Abbi

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Re: nutriment
« Reply #2 on: January 12, 2014, 07:46:47 PM »
I feed Nutriment and think its one of the best ready made raw foods that I've tried. I switched for similar reasons to yourself and went straight from kibble to raw with no gradual change over. Abbi was fine, in fact it sorted out her colitis immediately. Lots of forums that I'm on say its fine to go 'cold turkey' from kibble to raw, but go with what you feel comfortable with. I'm sure you will see the benefit once you get changed over.

Offline lilliegez

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Re: nutriment
« Reply #3 on: January 12, 2014, 08:30:00 PM »
thanks.  I did take maisie to the vet to have her mouth/lips checked and she said to keep an eye on it. she prescribed a paste that is antiseptic anti fungal to see if it helps but there is no smell coming from the area so have to see how that goes.  im off to buy the nutriment tomorrow, think I will change her over gradually.  I hope she does well on it, it seems a food that has positive results.