Can anyone recommend a GOOD vet in the Cambridge area please? One that believes in a BARF diet and also one that doesn't like to give drugs to pets willy nilly.

Are you on Facebook? There are lots of Ridgeback groups on there and it might be worth putting your question there too

Ok cool. Thanks ridgylover.

I'll stick something up on there asking for recommendations

Great thanks.

Totally understand where you are coming from. Having moved to Worcestershire I registered at a practice that I thought would suit my needs; my dogs are raw feed and treated homeopathically. Very rarely do I ever have to see a vet but shortly after moving in my oldest girl had really bad vomitting and diarhorrea (we now think she ate some cat poo that upset her)

I was told as soon as I presented her at the vets that she probably had parvo as what can you expect from an unvaccinated dog and whilst "your ideas" may be fine in town it is different here. I was treated like a total numpty,the vet admitted she had never seen one of my breed before, so I filled her in on breed specific issues. As I left the vets I heard her making comments about me.

After a course of antibiotics she was fine but I went to a different branch to take in the sample, they then decided that I had probably given her salmonella due to my "unusual feeding practices"- I just smiled and nodded and have been looking for a new vet ever since.

Dosen't it make you ever wonder how wild dogs and cats ever manage to exsist in the wild. Our family pets have evolved from the wild and although domesticated now and diferent designs have been created they are still designed to eat meat. Our vets are conditioned into believing that kibble is best !!!
I am lucky enough to have a vet who totally believes in the BARF feeding method and sells raw meat products from his surgery, he is also a homeopathic vet. :) 

reminds me when I took one of mine to a referal vet.  She looked at the records faxed through from my normal surgery and asked why there was no vaccinations shown. I said because she was already vaccinated when I bought her as a puppy and I did not do boosters. The vet then wrote * UNVACCINATED* in very large letters on the top of every sheet of notes. So they would know it wasn't their fault if she contracted Parvo whilst in their care!

> Dosen't it make you ever wonder how wild dogs and cats ever manage to exsist in the wild.

Wild animals frequently die young and feral dogs and cats are generally pretty unhealthy.

> Our vets are conditioned into believing that kibble is best !!!

These are intelligent people, educated and used to analysing research and evidence.  I am sure most would be perfectly happy to see any type of feeding that is conducted in the same manner.

If I ever I saw a whole heap of prejudice it is right here in this thread :)

>Dosen't it make you ever wonder how wild dogs and cats ever manage to exsist in the wild.

Their lives tend to be much shorter than we hope for in our domestic pets. ;-) As far as nature is concerned, as soon as an individual has reproduced (or is old enough to reproduce) it's on borrowed time.

Ferral dogs and cats are not what I mentioned and are unfortunate creatures !!
Of course our domestic pets live longer, they do not have to hunt for their food because it is put on a plate every day, they do not have to travel or search for water, this also is on tap 24/7,they do not have to dig to make or find a den because we offer them a home already made and probably centrally heated too, if they are poorly we take them to see a vet who treats the ailment with antibiotics or an operation,and they are vaccinated against deasise.  But here is nothing natural in cereal based foods. :(

O dear people need to calm down! I have also been told a dog on a BARF diet would need less vists to the vet and also live 4/5 years longer than a dog on man made rubbish dry foods. Plus a healthier happier dog.

>I have also been told a dog on a BARF diet would need less vists to the vet and also live 4/5 years longer than a dog on man made rubbish dry foods.

Who by? When dogs fed a mixed diet including kibble live to be 16 and the breed average is 12, I think that rather blows that nonsense out of the water.

To be fair my dogs were just as healthy on cheap kibble as they are now on raw. (The cats however are definitely in better condition.) And as my last Cavalier lived for 8 years longer than the vet had expected (he was 15 yrs 2 mths when he died) despite only ever being fed the cheapest kibble available, I think longevity wasn't that different either. :)  I've saved loads of money though by going raw for both the dogs and cats, and thankfully my vets are absolutely fine with it and even seem impressed we feed this way. Our previous vet considered all breeders to be evil, whether puppy farmers or show breeders, and that was not nice at all. It's not always easy to find a good vet (believe it or not, my previous one was recommended by a breeder!!) but there are good ones out there. When we last changed (and we won't again now!) we made routine appointments with several local vets to try them out, have a word and see what they were like etc. That worked really well. We were up front and said we were considering changing but wanted to know this and that first. Nobody minded.

> When dogs fed a mixed diet including kibble live to be 16 and the breed average is 12, I think that rather blows that nonsense out of the water

>I have also been told a dog on a BARF diet would need less vists to the vet and also live 4/5 years longer than a dog on man made rubbish dry foods

Of course ANY such statement - whether made by a vet or not must be backed up by sound statistics :) :) There are smokers who live to 100 :) :)

There are smokers who live to 100 :-) :-)

Which surely points to the fact that both health and longevity in dogs and people alike is more genetic than anything else. :)

Yes; barring accidents, longevity is pretty much predetermined by ancestry; a dog from a line of short-lived ancestors won't magically gain 4 extra years simply by feeding a canine's 'wild' diet.

It is interesting you say that your dogs are the same on kibble as they are on raw.

We have never looked back as the difference is behaviour and condition both cost and muscle tone is remarkable.

Puds our 10 year old with severe HD has been running around the Forest of Dean all week keeping up with her 5 year old sister and her nearly 2 year old brother and she has loved it. Not a sign of slowing down or even too much stiffness.

I put her continuing good health and condition down to the diet plus the way we excercise our dogs.

By who? You go to your church and I will go to mine. :-)

That's fine. :-) Let's all leave out the preaching and evangelism though! ;-)

Puds our 10 year old with severe HD has been running around the Forest of Dean all week keeping up with her 5 year old sister and her nearly 2 year old brother and she has loved it. Not a sign of slowing down or even too much stiffness.

My Dandy with a hip score of 96 managed walks etc just fine until his last day when he was 13 and things just did not work any more, the only thing he couldn't do was jump into the boot of the car. He was mostly fed Wagg. Glucosamine made a HUGE difference but we never changed his food to a better one. I prefer to feed mine raw now as I think it's more natural, they enjoy it more, it's cheaper etc, but I honestly don't notice a difference. They were fit before as well. :) Ripley at 12 years 8 months is getting rather stiff now and starting to slow down (hips: 11) and that's despite the diet.

> but I honestly don't notice a difference. They were fit before as well. :-)

This is what I noticed when I went raw a few years ago.  Before the beef on the bone ban I had an old fashioned butcher (sadly closed now) who let me have all sorts for nothing which with frozen blocks of various meats allowed me to feed my then three dogs raw.

Mine have been just as good on any complete that has at least 25% dry matter of meat/fish meal.

I dislike foods that state x amount of total fish meat as a mix of fresh and dry meal, as it muddies the water, as the fresh can be quite a small percentage by dry matter with fresh meat being around 70% water.

Kito

There's no need to find a vet that believes in a BARF diet but you do want one that learns to believe in, and is willing to work with, you.  I raw feed and my vets have never once queried whether I have my dogs interests at heart - they have occasionally queried certain aspects of my raw feeding such as size and density of bones when one had a blockage, and essential fatty acids when another had a nail problem but they're only interested to the extent that the dogs are fit and healthy.

Vets deal with a lot of different types of owner, and you only have to sit in the waiting room for a while to realise that many owners don't really understand the needs of their pets.  Vets must have to be very patient in the face of much ignorance and I'm not surprised when a new vet queries my diet.  In fact I'd rather they did so that I have a chance to demonstrate that I know what I'm talking about!

Good quality kibble takes the guesswork out of feeding - a raw diet, suited to your dogs needs, will require effort and research to get right.  You have a 7 month old puppy who is proving to be a bit fussy about her raw food - a fact which is a bit of a worry at this stage in her growth.  Having a vet to help you will be useful but the best source of information for raw feeding is likely to be experienced feeders (we have a few on here) and good authors.  Have a look at books by Ian Billinghurst, Tom Lonsdale and Kymythy Schultze...

Thanks Babe,

And thanks to all of the advise from all the members, have a great year and hope all our dogs have a happy healthy life. All the comments have been taking on board, much appreciated.

The book by Ian Billinghurst was ordered 4 days ago.

Kind regards
Tony

Hi All,

Just finished the book by Ian Billinghurst, well worth a read and has confirmed all info which I have been looking for.