My dog has just been diagnosed with EPI, SIBO and IBD.  His meds and food are very epensive and I'm wondering if anyone knows if a raw food diet would be worth trying.  My vet said it would be a gamble, but isn't having him on meds that we don't know will definately help him a gamble too?  He is only 2 years old, so I have a lot of years (I hope!) of dealing with his health problems.   If I went with a raw food diet, how long should I try it before I should go bak to the vet food?  Any type of raw food diet that is better than others?

Hi B/Girl, you`ll need to read up on any of the raw diets before switching over, you`ll get lots of this by joining raw feeding groups. Britbarf UK on yahoo is a very good one & also see if they have one specifically for the breed of dog you have, what breed is he by the way?
I do think it would be worth trying, you`ve got nothing to lose & if it doesn`t work then you change him back to his old diet. All the diets as the name suggests use raw meat, with or without bone, some use grains/dairy products & some don`t. You`ll have to decide which one you want to try. A very helpful book by Dr Richard Pitcairn * The Complete Guide to Natural Health Care for Dogs & Cats* it has all the diets/recipes worked out for you & also what remedies to try for a wide range of things. He uses cooked grains & pulses tho. Others will be along soon to give you their prefered books :)
One of the great benefits with raw feeding is you have control of what ingreidients your dog eats, so if you saw him getting worse you have the option of trying something else & you`ll know just what food makes him worse & be able to cut that food out his diet. I should think a 1mths try would be OK, provided he didn`t get worse or have any probs with it, but join one of the raw groups first so you`ll know what it`s about & then you`ll have access to info & back up before & after you try it :)

Christine, Spain.

My dog's a German Shepherd.  He was a stray about 4 months old when I got him, so I don't know anything about his life before me.

Our lurcher Badger has colitis and therefore a very sensitive tummy (lost a lot of weight) and all I can say is the slightest whiff of raw meat, and he's bad again.  He ended up in the vets with antibiotic injections last time he had it as a treat, and didn't stop being sick for days - and had the runs for a long time afterwards (weeks).
He's now on Oscar's dried food - super premium fish and potato - and not had an episode yet.  He's solid, gaining weight (slowly but surely), and isn't sick any more.  He has energy now that I never saw in him before either.
Best of luck. :)

Apart from the Brit Barf site one of the best site to go to if you have a dog with health problems and wish to feed raw is K9nutrition on Yahoo, it is run by a very knowledgeable Rott breeder in the states and there are a HUGE amount of people on this site with lots of experiences with lots of dogs with specific health problems of the type you describe.  Some problems have been so helped with a correct raw diet that the need for medication has been minimalised or even eradicated.

Raw diets are not a "magic wand" for all dogs however if you do the correct research via professionals you will be getting advice and help from those who have "been there, seen the film and bought the T shirt" so to speak.

Good luck with your dog's health; I have raw fed mine for over two years and would never return to commercial foods myself.