cassie Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 I did do a search first, but couldn't find what I needed. My dogs get fed a raw diet. I have read a few threads where people have mentioned VAN, and have looked on their website and it seems like a great addition to a raw diet. (That's what it's meant to be, right? Fed in addition to raw meat/bones?) I have read the ingredients so I know what's in it, but what does it look like exactly? Kibble? Do you have to soak it first before feeding it? Would be interested to hear from people who feed VAN My dogs are in great condition as they are, beautiful shiny coats and seem to be the picture of health, so maybe I shouldn't mess with how their diet is, I'm not sure. It just seems like VAN could offer them some extra goodness. Any thoughts/opinions welcome, thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Rules Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 Yes, you need to soak it. It's like meusli I guess! Once soaked (overnight or it says 24 hours preferably) you add mince to it and feed away. I have 2 bags of it here but hardly ever use it because I forget to soak it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 That's what it's meant to be, right? Fed in addition to raw meat/bones? Yes - their "Complete Mix" product is designed to be fed with raw mince (Roo Mince is generally the recommended meat, but it can be other) I have read the ingredients so I know what's in it, but what does it look like exactly? Kibble? No - it is nothing like kibble. It comprises of vegetables, grains (and of course other additives) which have been air-dried at room temperature. So, as far as 'looks' is concerned, picture rolled oats mixed with dried peas and small bits of dried carrots, and that would be closer to the mark. Do you have to soak it first before feeding it? Yes. I usually prepare the night before (ie add water to the appropriate serving) and that does for the next morning or night. Would be interested to hear from people who feed VAN I have had some great results with VAN, both with my own and with other people's dogs and I very much respect the product. There will always be one dog that doesn't suit a particular diet no matter how good it is, but a very good percentage of those who I know of who have for their own reasons switched to VAN (they are usually people who have dogs with some form of skin health issue) have been very pleased with the result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 Th instructions seem to imply meat only - not meat and bones. Can someone please confirm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cassie Posted May 23, 2009 Author Share Posted May 23, 2009 Th instructions seem to imply meat only - not meat and bones.Can someone please confirm? Exactly what I was going to ask - if you feed it with mince, what about bones? Does it have any mention of them? What do others do, feed VAN with mince and RMBs too? Thanks for the info so far guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 (edited) You feed the fermented (ie soaked) mix with mince meat mixed in. You feed bones as well at other times, as you might normally. It'd be a bit hard to mix the "Complete Mix" in to/with a bone . Edited May 23, 2009 by Erny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Rules Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 Or if you buy pet mince such as that from Lenards, it is actually minced chicken frames so therefore has the bone content already in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cassie Posted May 23, 2009 Author Share Posted May 23, 2009 You feed the fermented (ie soaked) mix with mince meat mixed in. You feed bones as well at other times, as you might normally. It'd be a bit hard to mix the "Complete Mix" in to/with a bone :p. Fair enough! :p :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elfin Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 We feed it and LOVE it, although (as with many foods) not all dogs do well on it. Ours get RMBs during the day and VAN for dinner. I am lucky enough to get it at wholesale prices, so I buy the Premium Choice, and Premium Choice Allerblend for my sensitive boy. These are the Complete Mix already mixed with meat (roo and tripe) completely preservative free. It is very expensive at retail price and I certainly wouldn't be able to afford to feed three giant breed dogs on it if I had to pay full price. The Complete Mix is a much cheaper option. I wouldn't use as much as it states on the pack, ie. I would use less museli and more mince. It is extremely low in fat, which does not suit some dogs. I add the Vets All Natural Omega Blend oil, which once again is outrageously expensive at retail price. Ours also get fat from the lamb flaps etc. All the best, N. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 (edited) Elfin - you are lucky. My boy's current health issues dictate that he be on the Allerblend for a period of 8 weeks (after that depends on how he goes). He is eating 2 packets per day (plus the OB & skin/coat) and that is barely keeping or adding weight (a problem which relates to whatever might be currently wrong, not the food). Yes. It is pricey. But I also agree that it is 'up there' as a good food. Edited May 23, 2009 by Erny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitch Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 I previously fed VAN mix to my dogs for years and resisted any suggestions to change. They did well on it, up to a point, all except my Dobe who had skin issues. I have since changed him to a prey diet and his skin and coat are soooooo much better. I have also changed my other dogs to Dr Billinghursts BARF diet (rabbit) and they love it better than VAN and are also doing better on it. I used to mix the VAN with minced chicken frames and other stuff but I found that some feeds the dogs just weren't that keen. They got occasional gut upsets and/or diahorrea. It could have been the minced chicken frames that were the cause of that, I always got it from a butcher but sometimes I think that butchers are not that fussed on the freshness of meat destined for pets. However, a VAN diet is better than a lot of other prepared/processed dog foods so you have to take that into consideration. The vet that owns VAN suggests that you mix it with kangaroo meat as it is the highest in Calcium. You will note that his prepared refrigerated VAN is always mixed with kangaroo mince. Personally I doubt that I would ever put the dogs back on VAN, especially as they rarely have any gut upsets now, are always looking for their dinners and any skin issues have settled down. I put the skin issues down to the high grain content in the VAN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanky Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 I've switched from the BARF paties to the VAN premium mix (meat and complete mix) to try and solve a skin issue that I can only put down to the BARF. Callista loves it. One thing I noticed is the BARF paties seem to be really watery compared to the VAN. Callista is only 2wks into the diet swap, so hoping it does the trick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Got Spots Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 Just wondering has any one given the skin allergy diet a go - Allerblend, omega + skin supplement. I have a whippet who struggles with the terrible tummy itch and rash. Just wondering about this. I am currently doing a combo of Vitalife hypoallegenic - roo meal based + diced meat for breakkie, with VAN + what ever I have either chicken or roo/beef. The vet we use recommended Lamb as the least allergenic ??? I have a pup as well and I feed her 2x what I feed the allergic one b/c she is one of these nervous burns lots of energy type and I saw she was a bit more bony than a whippet should be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 (edited) Just wondering has any one given the skin allergy diet a go - Allerblend, omega + skin supplement. I am using this combo at the moment, Neats. We're one week into an eight week plan, so it is early days yet. I could suggest to you that there is a bit of an improvement but given his history (where with diet/formula changes look as though they're going well but then they deteriorate again), it is too early to say. I should know more over the next 3-4 weeks. ETA: IMO, 'game' meat would be the least allergenic - especially if it is not specially farmed. Edited May 24, 2009 by Erny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cassie Posted May 24, 2009 Author Share Posted May 24, 2009 How much VAN do you feed your dogs? If I tried it, I could possibly feed the boys VAN with mince for breakfast then RMBs for dinner, I think this would be a decent balance Just wanting to know how much to feed though so I can work out approximate costs, thanks. Also does anyone know where you can buy it in SA? Otherwise I could order online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tru Borders Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 Neats I havent tried the Allerblend etc skin diet a go but did try barf. Asher had a terrible run of itchy belly, legs and butt so a change in their diet was needed. It got so bad that I could barely touch him on his underneath and he would shiver and start scratching. There wasnt much hair loss, more insatiable itching. Thought about all possibilities; grass allergies, food allergies etc etc. Tried Cortisone and it worked great.... but wanted to avoid this option if it meant a long term thing. We changed from a commercial diet of tinned food, kibble, chicken necks (once a week) to a Barf Diet which includs Kibble about twice a week. The kibble we use is Royal Canin Sensible 25. Its specifically for dogs suffering allergies with sensitive tummies. Asher barely scratches anymore I believe the change to Barf is 90% responsible. Thank you Barf!! Worked for us :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 How much VAN do you feed your dogs? If I tried it, I could possibly feed the boys VAN with mince for breakfast then RMBs for dinner, I think this would be a decent balance Just wanting to know how much to feed though so I can work out approximate costs, thanks.Also does anyone know where you can buy it in SA? Otherwise I could order online. I'm not a good example, as my boy is having some health issues that may run deeper than just allergy. As I mentioned, one of the problems I have and have had from the outset, is putting on and maintaining weight. He's a Rhodesian Ridgeback and at the moment, I am feeding him 2 packets of the Allerblend per day, so it works out very expensive for us. In my instance, I will be adding enzymes to see if we (the Vet and I) can get him to get more out of his food than he does. This issue of weight is not relative to the diet as he's been on other things as well, in the past. If you post up what the age and ideal weight of your dog is, I'll let you know from the packaging what the 'guide' tells you as far as feeding quantity is concerned. In the past, I've found that generally you don't need to feed quite as much as what the 'guide' indicates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cassie Posted May 24, 2009 Author Share Posted May 24, 2009 If you post up what the age and ideal weight of your dog is, I'll let you know from the packaging what the 'guide' tells you as far as feeding quantity is concerned. In the past, I've found that generally you don't need to feed quite as much as what the 'guide' indicates. Zephyr is a 4.5 year old Bernese Mountain Dog. Weighs approximately 48kg. Hudson is a 1.5 year old Saint Bernard. Weighs approximately 62kg. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piper Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 How much VAN do you feed your dogs? If I tried it, I could possibly feed the boys VAN with mince for breakfast then RMBs for dinner, I think this would be a decent balance Just wanting to know how much to feed though so I can work out approximate costs, thanks.Also does anyone know where you can buy it in SA? Otherwise I could order online. I use VAN together with a raw diet for my guys. I use Raw meaty bones some days and then VAN on other days. The VAN I mix with offal or sardines as well as egg and yoghurt. They love it. I was feeding it a few years ago then stopped as I could no longer get it locally. Then late last year I was in PetStock and noticed that they carry it now so picked some up again. Cassie - I got it at the PetStock at Parafield Gardens but I think they said to me that all the Petstocks were carrying it (in SA at least) and that the vet that created it had come in and talked to staff about it before they started to sell it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doggrooma Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 VAN is the best food ive ever had my show dogs on, I struggled for ages with my males coat and condition, about a week after starting it, a new dog!! And I had tried EVERYTHING But I only feed this, and only with Roo, No other meats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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