Reddit reviews Canine Nutrigenomics: The New Science of Feeding Your Dog for Optimum Health

Im so sorry to hear that, that is what got nico, but it was quick, we only found out in January. He was more or less fine till about 3 weeks ago, and even then he just slept more. Only in the last two or three days did it really take a down turn.

My vet turned me onto a book call Canine Nutrigenomics that helped me get him the best food for his condition. The recipes where super easy and even I could fit them into my hectic life as a software dev.

I recommend the book Canine Nutrigenomics. In addition to the foods we can see visually from your picture, you need to make sure that your dog is getting liver and other organ meat, calcium, oleic acids and the proper balance of starchy versus non-starchy vegetables. You can visit www.balanceit.com and input ingredients, and they'll help you come up with a balanced recipe, but they won't tell you proportions for liver, other organ meats, calcium or oil because they want you to buy their product. We don't use their supplements, but we do give our dog a Centrum every night, plus a Dasuquin and three fish oil pills in the morning for joint support (and we add yogurt to her food in the morning for probiotics, and an egg at night for extra protein).

Most vets are given very limited training on nutrition, more often than not a seminar sponsored by pet food companies (often Hills), so your vet might not be the best resource for this. There are nutrition specialists who can help.

We switched our dog to fresh food six or seven months ago after she struggled to heal from her second CCL surgery (in particular, she struggled to rebuild muscle). I was skeptical because we had been feeding her high quality food her entire life, but it has made a huge difference in her health. She has finally healed from her surgery, and has her puppy-like energy back. Her coat is shiny, her eyes are bright, and her breath is better. We took her for her annual last week, and the vet says she's doing really well. Now that it's been six months, she says we can send a couple of hairs into a lab to make sure she's getting the right mineral balance.

From your listing of ingredients, you definitely need to add liver and organ meat (usually 5% liver, 5% other organ meat) and calcium. From the visual, you probably need more vegetables (our dog gets 50% vegetables, half starchy, half not). It's also important to switch up the protein source.

Fresh feeding your dog is totally doable and not too difficult once you've figured out the amounts and proportions your dog needs! But to make sure that fresh feeding is putting your dog at a nutritional advantage over kibble, you definitely have to put in the time up-front to figure that stuff out.

I know very little about this guy, but the products look decent, TBH. Freeze dried is up there with raw for quality food, BUT... for a dog who already has kidney issues and is drinking excessively already, this is not a wise pick, unless you add water, which, at that point, defeats the purpose of purchasing this particular food. Raw would also, without a doubt, but much cheaper, not to mention better for your dog. Please see this excellent series on CRF in dogs, starting with the chapter: "A Diet Void of Water for CKF Patients Goes Against Every Principle In The Book."

For some extra guidance on raw feeding for dogs with your particular health issue, both Dr. Jean Dodds has a book called Canine Nutrigenomics (pp. 174-177), and Dr. Lew Olson's Raw and Natural Nutrition (ch. 25). Please also be aware that there's annoyingly regular mention of the things they're selling in these books; Dr. Dodd's has her Nutregenomic's testing, and Dr. Olson is selling supplements. Still, the info and guidance is good, just look past the sales.

If you're totally new to raw feeding, here's a huge list of resources (FB groups, books, etc.) with a LOT of info that should definitely be looked over. That site, Primal Pooch, also has an excellent raw food transition article, and PerfectlyRawsome.com provides terrific guidance for just about every meat and organ available, and what shouldn't be fed. The Raw Feeding Community, probably the biggest raw feeding group on FB, also has a great site. RFC also has a page on CRF, particularly as pertains to the myth that too much protein is bad for dogs with this condition (it's not true).