Back on Track

11/2/13 - I have changed Shasta's diet and am now feeding her a commercial Raw Food diet. I started with Small Batch beef patties, but there are too many foods high in phytoestrogens so I have switched to Chewy and Stella's Raw Foods. Shasta loves this food... it does contain foods that have phytoestrogens, but not nearly as high as others. After much research I'm unable to find a nutritious commercial dog food that does not include some phytoestrogens. Shasta digests this food well and her stomach seems to tolerate it as well, meaning she is absorbing the minerals and nutrients. It is expensive, but considering I'm not cooking her steaks anymore I think it evens out for right now. Once I get her back to normal weight I will cut back on the amounts I'm feeding her and that will cut the cost as well. : ) If you're nervous about a raw food diet, please do some research as it is much easier for animals to digest, easy to feed to your pets because they come in patties, and as long as you wash your hands and handle the raw meat as you would do any raw meats in your kitchen, it is safe. Since this diet change her stools have improved (much smaller and firmer), she is slowly gaining her weight back, and her coat is much softer. And she still is no longer shedding. I'm waiting to see if this changes as we come into winter, but it is truly unbelievable because we have always had lint rollers all over and had to constantly vaccum our cars, pillows and bedding.