September Success Stories with Raw Dog Food | Part Two

It’s the month of September, so this means it is time to share some success stories! We have reached out to our customers to ask them to share their raw dog food journey with Paleo Ridge and how raw feeding has benefited the lives of their four-legged friends.

We have collated the stories that have been shared with us from the past to the present. We love these ‘tails’ because they demonstrate the amazing health benefits of raw feeding, proving that a natural, species-appropriate diet can make a difference to health and wellbeing.

Sammy Fletcher sent us a story about her two beautiful dogs Jagger and Floyd and how switching to raw had benefited the both greatly.

“I have had the most positive experience changing the boy’s food to raw!” Sammy explained to us. “Floyd (Liver & white German Shorthair Pointer) suffered from issues with his anal gland and regular ear infections. I changed their food to raw after visiting the vets on 3 separate occasions in less than 3 months with 4 ear infections and 2 issues in connection with his anal gland, one resulting in a minor procedure, due to infection.”

Since changing their food to raw in December 2021, Sammy told us that Floyd has not had a single issue with his anal gland and has not had an ear infection at all.

When talking about Jagger, she had more good news to share.

“Jagger (Black & white ticked German shorthair Pointer) suffered from constant loose stools. We spent a fortune on changing his food and visiting the vets to try to rectify the situation. We found out through various trial and error that he had an allergy to grain.”

Switching Jagger to a raw diet helped alleviate these issues. Sammy eagerly pointed out to us that this switch had been “the best decision all around.” Which is wonderful news!

We move onto the story of Fidra, a gorgeous Dandie Dinmont who suffered from a world of issues. From UTIs to bladder stones, her owner Catriona McCrone shared the story about how switching to a raw dog food diet changed Fidra’s life.

“My elderly father and his wife were struggling to look after their Dandie Dinmont terrier, Fidra,” Catriona wrote. “We agreed to rehome her to live with us in the country. At the time she was struggling with bladder stones and was on a urinary kibble diet, which although it was helping the bladder stones, was irritating her very sensitive tummy as she had a history of pancreatitis. When we transferred ownership at our vets, he told us she had 78 pages of notes transferred through to them from her previous vets and she was only 5 years old! Soon after she ate a stone and required an operation to remove it. I resolved to try and find a better diet for her as the low-fat pancreatitis-friendly kibble was leading to frequent UTIs and bladder stones, and the urinary care kibble was irritating her pancreas.”

Catriona was already feeding her German Shepherd a raw diet, so she decided to try the switch on Frida.

“Our German Shepherd was raw fed as it helped his sensitive skin, but the thought of managing the fat and mineral content of a raw diet for Fidra was very daunting. That is when I found Paleo Ridge online. The Paleo Plus Special diet looked very promising and because there is a lot of nutritional information on all the products, I decided to give it a go. Transitioning her to a raw diet was a slow process, I very gradually increased the proportion of raw food and only increased the proportion once her tummy had settled at each level.”

“But we got there, and for the last two years she has enjoyed a varied diet from the Paleo Ridge range, and she has been to the vets only twice for her annual checkups. At 8 years old she is the healthiest she has ever been, no longer overweight, calmer, enjoys her food more, has better teeth and less gunky eyes, and her fitness is transformed.”

“She still has a sensitive tummy, and I have to stop people from giving her any titbits or unsuitable treats (she loves the dried lamb lung and the turkey liver from Paleo's treat range) and I mix some of the products to keep the total fat and mineral levels at the right level, but it is easy enough. If only it was this easy to fix my own sensitive digestion!”

We love the photo of Fidra running through the field! We are glad that she got a great outcome from raw feeding.

The last story we want to share today is the work of art known as Othello. The German Shepherd, not the play.

Othello had a rough old time. He was born with hip and elbow dysplasia. His owner Kellie Knight told us he showed the signs of these conditions quite early.

“On his first birthday, we started the long process of major operations to help him live a full life. He started off with his elbows. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough cartilage for an elbow repair, so they conducted a PAUL surgical procedure: cutting the ulnar in two and repositioning the elbow to a more suitable position where there was cartilage. He had this on both front legs.”

Kellie elaborated to us that Othello was on anti-inflammatories, and she didn’t want to keep putting chemicals into his body. “He found walking and running challenging and lost a lot of his puppyhood,” Kellie would tell us.

Kellie put Othello on Paleo Plus as she believed that “pure joint care is the best option for a younger dog. He was also having duck feet and trachea, as well as the Paleo Ridge joint care too.”

After his surgery, he continued raw feeding and the results have been incredible.

“His recovery has been amazing,” Kellie informed us. “All through his surgeries he only wanted Pork and Apple or Special Diet from the Paleo Plus range. I obviously obliged as I knew all the goodness in this product would be awesome for him. Twelve weeks ago, he had a full hip replacement, and he has exceeded all expectations. He's doing so well. This boy is an absolute legend. I'm so very proud of him and I'm so glad that he has been on the best diet, had the best care from a veterinary team and I've done all I can at home to make sure this boy is a success story.”

These are the kind of stories that make us proud of the mission that we have set out to do. These pups have benefited greatly from a BARF diet, and there are plenty more stories like this, to come your way in the month of September.

We have a helpful guide if you need assistance with switching your dog to a raw diet. Check out our dog food calculator to guide you on how much to feed your furry friends.