Why Soul'y Raw?

I have been trying to find a way to edit this story to make it a faster read; however, I am an animal lover and absolutely can talk for hours about my pets.  Forgive me, but here goes…​

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This labor of love for animals started years ago when I was old enough to realize what exactly a cat or dog was and that they inhabited the same floor as I did and we never had less than 15 animals at any time when I was growing up.  All my formidable years were spent with pets of all sizes and species and yet I never even thought for a second, there was a better way to feed and nourish my pets to prolong their life and keep them healthier, happier and most of all,  less work for us as pet owners.

 

About 6 years ago, I decided to get another English Bull dog puppy.  I had nothing but time on my hands, having just recently been divorced and needed a project.  As anyone knows, any puppy, but especially a Bulldog, is a project.  Cush arrived at John Wayne airport, courtesy of American Airlines, and I cried the first time I saw his little face through the pet carrier.  He was EVERYTHING I wanted and looked exactly like a stuffed animal.  Ironically or coincidentally, he acted NOTHING like a stuffed animal as anyone knows that has raised a puppy.   The first thing I noticed about him was his aversion to dog food.  I had never had a dog that refused to eat.  I had plenty of finicky cats over the years, but this was a first in my experience.  I bought him brand after brand, and mind you, this was 6 years ago and the commercial pet food industry had come a long way from the days of Puppy Chow and Meow Mix.  He still would walk over to his food, turn up his nose, well it was already turned up and refuse to eat.  This really began to concern me as he started to grow and I feared he was not getting the proper nutrition.  I took him to the Vet and she assured me that A.) He will eat when he was hungry and B.) He was in good health and nothing to be alarmed about.  At that point, I really started to do my research on pet food.

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When Cush turned 1, I had a very strong relationship with my Vet as we were there to visit her at least once a month.  He either had an allergic reaction to something, or an ear infection, and his paws were raw from incessant chewing.  I vacuumed constantly and our house STILL had white dog hair all over the floor as if I had a pack of dogs living in the house.  He smelled his ears and face itched; his breath and skin emitted a fetid odor as if he was rotting from the inside out.  I gave him a bath at least every 7 days to quell the disgusting mass of fur that Cush had become.  I felt so sorry for him because no one wanted to touch him, pet him or play with him as they would leave with their clothing full of white hair and a stench on their hands.   At this point, I had tried every nutritional (or so I thought) dog food the pet food industry had to offer.  He still refused to eat, and I had to add human food to his dog food to try and get him to eat a few bites.  I used the Omega/Fish oils to try to entice him to get enough food down so he would not throw up yellow bile in the morning from the overactive acid production in his stomach.  Neither of us were “Living the dream”, and my house smelled almost as bad as the dog.  Defeated once again, with my pantry full of unused dog food bags (I had started to buy smaller sizes as it was more cost/trash efficient when I had to throw them out), I tried to figure out how he got so bad at such a young age and needed a miracle...  Well, that is the day I did and it changed our lives forever.  I woke up in the middle of the night and figured out that the more pills I gave him, the more abnormal symptoms he collected.  I made a decision to take him off every pill and rebuild his system from the inside out.

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I got online and started to research all of his problems independently.  The hot spots (these were new and cost me a few hundred dollars on their own), the smell, the shedding, the 4 Benadryl a day habit he had, and all the skin supplements I had him on to try to cure at least one of his ailments.  He was an absolute mess in just 2 short years of life. I stumbled upon a few different search results that recommended feeding raw food.  I delved in further and found so many sites that told horrible tales of the chemical processing in commercial pet food and how what we feed them is the biggest culprit of their various maladies.  It made so much sense, yet I grew up an animal lover and knew nothing of feeding raw.  This entire concept was illogical to me, and yet it is so obvious.   I was intrigued and excited and hurried out to buy my first bag of raw pet food.  I could not wait to get home and see if he would actually eat his dinner. 

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The transformation of this smelly little man was nothing short of shocking and to this day I can recant the day I started him on raw and the remarkable transformation that took place in just a few days.  The first revolution was that he actually ATE it and he pleaded with his eyes for more. Elated, I immediately started doing more research on the computer, and could not get enough information to fill me with security of feeding my dog raw meat and bones.   I began on the B.A.R.F. website, Bones and Raw Food Diet or Biologically Appropriate Raw Food and I could not read enough to satisfy me.  This concept was amazing and yet so simple.  I was hooked and believe the best was yet to come.  I had some friends over about a week after I started Cush on his “New” diet.  Where they usually ran or politely asked us to move him; he was an overnight sensation.   I got so many compliments on his coat, and a few asked me, if he lost weight, did he just get a bath, why was he so soft and smelled so good ?  I absolutely was filled with pride as I now felt like such a hero to have saved my dog from his misery.   As you can tell, I am never much for a loss of words and was happy to dish to anyone and everyone about my new treasure.  The shedding stopped almost immediately as well as the horrific smells that previously emanated from every orifice of his body.  I kept checking his vitals as he had not gone the bathroom but a few times and it was a quarter the size of his previous waste deposits.  I was so thrilled and happy that I finally was making him feel better, let alone all the benefits I was reaping from this new food regimen.  I stopped giving him the 6 supplements a day; no more Benadryl and he only required a bath every few weeks.  He trimmed down a few pounds naturally as he was not ingesting fillers and his body was actually using all his food appropriately.  He was a new dog; so full of life and energy.  This was the time I knew that there was something I had to do to help other pet owners who had hit a brick wall time and again searching for a health plan for pets that actually worked. 

I bought and read almost every book written on raw food as well as combing the internet for all I could find on feeding Raw.  I tried every brand on the market and had some triumphs and some average responses from Cush, and wanted to find my own way to build a better mousetrap.  I bought my own grinder and with a new found exuberance began to make my own food for him.  This was as exciting for me as it was for him, considering he was my test kitchen. 

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Cush is now 8 and everywhere we go, (and he gets to go everywhere now that he is not a veritable Petri dish of infection); they ask me if he is a puppy.  He runs, squirms, wiggles and jumps around and is full of vitality.  I truly never thought I would see the day that he was so healthy, and I am the one dolling out pet food advice and helping others.  I am not a certified pet Nutritionist or a Veterinarian, but I am an animal lover and my priority every day is their health and well being which nourishes me and fills me with so much joy.  I want to encourage anyone that feels helpless and discouraged over their pet’s health and illnesses to try our food.  This process has taken years as I refuse to feed inferior quality food to any animals as they are the joy in our lives.  I am so thankful that with the help of my family and friends, we had enough support to launch Soul’y Raw.