Wordless Wednesday!

One Benefit of a Raw Diet (Warning: pictures of us eating raw meat!)

Hello everybody! Treasure here! Sorry we haven't been around lately. Ellie got really sick so she couldn't help me write any blog posts! Hmmmph. I think she needs to get her priorities straight! Anyway, I just wanted to share something special with you today. As you may have read before, instead of regular dog food that comes in a bag, Ellie feeds us a raw diet in the prey model style. That's around 80% muscle meat, 10% edible bone, and 10% organs (half of which is liver). We love love love this diet! There have been many great benefits for us, and we are a lot healthier than we used to be. I just want to share one of the many benefits with you today.

Four months ago, Rocky used to have a lot of yucky plaque on his teeth. Then, Ellie convinced her fiance (now husband) to switch his doggies over to a raw diet like what I was eating. Here is what they used to look like.


This picture was taken Sept. 29th 2011:

We love to chew on raw meaty bones, and they are very good for our teeth! As long as they are not weight-bearing bones from large animals! (cow femurs, knuckle bones, etc.) The types of bones we eat are turkey necks, pork necks, pork/beef ribs, chicken leg quarters, etc.

This is two weeks after Rocky started raw:

Do you see the difference? Just that short amount of time is helping to save him from having to go to the vet to get his teeth cleaned! Having clean teeth is so important for us doggies, because the yucky bacteria germs can travel through our whole bodies and make us sick!

This was taken a few days ago:

None of those teeth were brushed or scaled. Just pure prey model raw diet. He still has some yucky plaque on his canine teeth, so Ellie might brush or scale those to help them out. But, what a difference! If you don't feed a raw diet, Ellie says it is important to brush those teeth at least a few times a week to keep them pearly white! Oh, and she says to be careful with COOKED bones of any type! They are brittle and can splinter and poke holes in your tummy! Raw bones are softer and more pliable.

Some people have told us that raw meat is bad for us doggies, but we definitely don't think so! There have been sooooooooo many health benefits since we switched to raw. If you would like more information about this raw diet, Ellie has lots to give you! Thank you Rocky, for letting us take pictures of your teeth!

What the vet said...

Hello, Treasure here. Last week, I went to the vet because of a broken tooth. Well, I am here to report that the tooth has to come out! Oh no! The vet said that it doesn't have to be done right away, but it would be best to do it soon. He said that the "pulp" is exposed, and that means that it is really easy for yucky bacteria to get into the roots and gums. Ewwwwww! I am really not looking forward to having the tooth pulled out. I'm pretty attached to it, you see...

In other news, the vet said that he likes the raw diet I have been eating, and that I seem very healthy. That's good! He also noticed that my eyes look a little bit... different. Ellie has been saying that since I was a very small puppy! He rushed into the back room and brought a book all about doggie eyes and different things that can be wrong with them. He showed us a picture that looks a lot like my eyes. Ellie doesn't remember what he said it was... something about the iris being deformed, and "fixed" in one place, so that my pupils don't expand and contract as easily as most doggie eyes. He was really excited about the discovery, because he loves looking at different types of eyes. He even tried to take pictures of them, but he didn't have a very good picture machine, and the lighting was bad in the room. So, he requested that we email some pictures to him. Ellie tried a few times to get good pictures, but in the end, she had to find some old pictures. They aren't the clearest, but hopefully you can see enough to notice that my eyes are different.

Well, Ellie let the vet know that I am really sensitive to sunlight. I'm always squinting in bright light. After the vet heard this, he recommended that I get some doggles to protect my eyes! I don't have them yet, but Ellie is going to get me a pair sometime soon. We will be sure to take pictures!

Wordless Wednesday: Homemade Treat Dispenser