It can depend on the dog or dogs IMO. Two of my dogs got Pancreatitis and bad bacteria from Raw but two did fine. There are A LOT of factors to take into consideration when starting to feed a Raw diet. You have to learn what your dogs can handle fat wise and Protein wise. I have small dogs, 3 Chihuahuas and a Shihtzu. I believe in feeding an all Raw diet and I saw a huge improvement in my dogs teeth, breath and coats and over all activeness but we for sure paid the price with a $1300 vet bill with one of ours. Do lots of home work before you start it. I only feed mine a lower fat Raw such as Rabbit and Turkey but we have been off of Raw now and just on kibble for a couple of weeks now but we are about to start up the low fat Raw once again.
Hi swampstomper –
This is a great question! I have fed my dogs a raw diet for about two years now and none have ever gotten sick and neither have I or anyone else around my dogs. Healthy dogs are fully equipped to handle the bacterial load present in fresh raw meat. For starters a dog’s saliva has antibacterial properties – there is a lysosome in their saliva that destroys bacteria (why they lick their wounds). Carnivores (like dogs) have extremely short digestive tracts in comparison to, say, a person’s digestive tract. Their digestive tracts are designed to get food in and out quickly before the bacteria have time to multiply to harmful levels. Lastly, dogs have very acidic stomach acid – much stronger than our stomach acid. In terms of nutrition requirements and their digestive system, dogs are not much different than their ancestors (wolves). Wolves not only eat fresh kill but also scavenge rotting carcasses (not that I’d recommend intentionally feeding a dog rotting meat! my dogs have, however, gotten a hold of many dead things over the years and never gotten sick). Dogs are meant to eat raw meat. The only instance in which I’d caution against a raw diet is for a dog with a compromised immune system. It’s also important to keep in mind that kibble-fed dogs are not immune to bacterial exposure – look at all the recent kibble recalls for salmonella! Salmonella is a normal constituent of the canine digestive tract and dogs fed raw and cooked diets have all been known to shed the bacteria in their feces.
I’d recommend checking out this article written by Dr. Karen Becker – holistic veterinarian and raw food advocate:
healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/02/15/raw-meat-the-best-and-healthiest-diet-for-pet-cats-and-dogs.aspx
As far as consuming bones – there are two types of bones: raw meaty bones (termed “RMBs”) and recreational bones. Raw meaty bones (i.e. chicken backs, turkey necks, etc.) are soft and pliable and consumed in their entirety – they should make up a large portion of a balanced raw diet. Recreational bones (i.e. marrow bones, knuckle bones or the deer leg you see Gertie eating above) are more dense are not consumed entirely – they’re more for enrichment.
My beautiful Standard Schnauzer Vader was recently diagnosed with Lymphangiectasia, a form of IBD. The vet says that he needs a low fat diet of about 3%. I’ve never heard of such a low fat amount and it certainly goes against my somewhat limited knowledge of biology that the brain has to have fat to function.
Vader couldn’t keep down any amount of Wellness Core kibble so I decided to give him my vet’s prescription of canned Science Diet i/d and lowfat. It wasn’t my first choice, but he was still losing weight, so I give him that and supplement with cooked chicken breast, defatted chicken stock, and some sweet potato. He’s since gained most of the weight he lost but I’m not sure whether that was the Science Diet or if it was the chicken stock, chicken, and sweet potatoes that did the trick.
Now that I have Vader stabilized, I’m looking at long term diet changes. I’ve had my dogs on 4 different kibbles in the last 10 years and every one has failed me after 2-4 years. All of the canned food on DFA contain carrageenan or tomato or guar gum or even flaxseed (they get rancid pretty fast so I’m not convinced that it’s such a good thing). So now I’m down to cooking for my dogs or going raw. Raw seems a little high in fat for Vader so I’m wondering what I can do to lower the fat intake for Vader and still have high enough for my other dog.
I’m waiting on a few books to get here next week but I thought maybe someone on here could offer advice from personal experience.
I’ve found through my own trial and error with dog food that is chicken based isn’t pretty. Turkey and fish of any kind is truly awful. But chicken feet, sardines are fine. Sweet potatoes seem to trigger ear infections if I overdo it. I appreciated the test results confirming that I wasn’t nuts lol. Finding a food that he likes that like him back has been quite a challenge. Digestive Enzymes have helped also. I’m hoping to start a half raw half kibble diet soon also. š
I have a small picky Shih Tzu too. When I first got him from the shelter, they were feeding him Purina One. I switched him to other healthier kibbles, and he’s been eating better, but still picky. Once I switched him over to raw, he’s been licking his plate clean every meal.
These are the kibbles I’ve tried. They’re all listed as 5 star food.
/dog-food-reviews/dogswell-nutrisca-dog-food/
/dog-food-reviews/earthborn-holistic-grain-free/
He was very interested in the kibbles the first few days, then he would turn his nose up. I have to crumble some treats on top of the kibbles, and he would eat them. These are some of the ones I use to add to his kibble.
http://amzn.com/B000Z3ODTG
http://amzn.com/B001NIZUA8
I switched him to Ziwipeak and never had to add anything. He loves the food.
/dog-food-reviews/ziwipeak-dog-food-dehydrated/
Ziwipeak was getting too expensive, then I switched him to PMR, and never looked back. I still add pre-made raw to his diets for variety.
I have convinced my brother to change his dogs diet and I am looking for suggestions.
He has a 5 yo Eskie that has been on RC his whole life. He started having sezuires and is on meds for that and he has also had one bout of pancreatitis. They don’t have time to do homemade and have a one year old daughter. I do homemade and commercial raw with mine but I have the time and have no children. I know there is some controversies about HPP but would that be best for his situation? I was going to send him some Primal to try. I figured Stella and Chewys would be too high in fat for him due to the pancreatitis. Thanks.
Hello again, I have been on the site many times since my last post and was hoping to get some more help again. Since my last post I took Dawson off Big Country Raw, I wasnt impressed with there customer service, most of the time my questions were brushed off and when I would place my order they seemed annoyed. Plus I found some things in the dinners I was not impressed with. So shortly after Dawson had a “sickness” episode (he was no longer on BCR) he vomited like 20 times before noon, and it was just bile. He was extremely lethargic and wouldnt eat or drink anything, but his bloodwork was relatively normal and in 2 days he was starting to be back to himself. He started drinking water on the 3rd day then the next day his appetite was back.Im fairly certain it was the freshpet he was eating that made him sick. After that episode I was afraid to start him back on raw, so I ordered in some ziwipeak air dried which he absolutely LOVES! Then once he was feeling better, i fed him ziwipeak in them am and then canned in the pm, I wanted to give him a meal with moisture in it like his raw meals. I switched his canned out for Grandma Lucy’s Artisan which he likes, and I like some things about it but its not ideal.
he has been doing well on that, but there is an Irish Wolfhound breeder at school who feeds her (very large,lol) gang raw. When we went to visit her and her wolfhound she had at school (who Dawson loved, I guess he likes the Big Girls, lol) she gave Dawson a tripe and veggie mixture to take home and try. Well He loves that and his tummy has seemed to be ok on it, which is what I had been worried about, so I was thinking about starting him back on raw, but im still nervous. I was also thinking of continuing his ziwipeak in the am, and trying the orijen freeze dried for his pm meal, but I was wondering if that would be too much fat for him to handle? He walks 2x a day, but I worry about inducing pancreatitis in him. Plus I like that the meats are free-range, antibiotic, hormone free. For raw the best I could probably do for a while would be grocery store as I cant seem to find organic free-range around here. At least until I can find a good source of meat… I really want free-range, antibiotic free meats for his tiny body, unless its ok for him to have typical “store bought” meats? If you think raw is still the best option I would like to prepare it myself this time around.
Sorry for the extremely long post, you guys are such a wealth of knowledge and the vets at school are very pro-Hills, Iams types. I really do like ziwipeak and so does Dawson, but I also want to feed him a meal with moisture in it as I think thats important too. Any input would be greatly appreciated! If you think is current diet is really decent, or if the ziwipeak, orijen freeze dried would be excellent for him, or if raw still would be the best (perhaps for his pm meal) even with store bought meats. And if you think of anything else that might help him after hissickness`supplements, tips etc. Thanks in advance, and hope you are all enjoying the long weekend!
I recently changed my Great Dane’s diet from Pro Pac performance puppy to Dr.Clauder’s junior Large/Giant.
The reason i changed is because i found that the ingredients in Dr.Clauder is better, since it contains raw protein(26%), raw fat(15%), raw fibers(2.5%), raw ash(6%), calcium(0.95%)… and the vitamins are vitamin A,D3,E,B1,B2,B6,B12,C as well as biotin,zinc,selenium and couple of other things.
Does anyone have any idea about this brand? Its German made.
I need to know if it is good for my 4month old great dane.
Thanks alot
Jeff
On a rotational diet, if your dog is used to rotating, you often don’t has to transition, you can switch cold turkey. But start by transitioning, until the foods you feed don’t give diarrhea, then if a food gives diarrhea or even loose stools for more than a couple days, you know it is not for your dog. When you are just starting, canned pure pumpkin, digestive enzymes, and probiotics help make transitioning easier. When I first started, I took a month to transition because I had a dog with a sensitive stomach. But after about 3 transitions, I started switching faster and faster. Now I don’t have any problems just switching up her food every day.
Try to stay with foods that are at least close in quality like 4 and 5 star foods, or 3 and 4 star foods. It’s big jumps in protein and fat levels that cause a lot of intestinal upsets, so get used to looking at the guaranteed analysis and knowing about what fat and protein level your dog is used to.
BTW, I feed kibble, canned, fresh, dehydrated, and raw, so no you don’t need to stick to one type, but you may have to pay more attention to how much water your dog is drinking if you switch between dry foods and water inclusive foods, so I usually mix the 2 together or feed them both in the same day but at different meals.
I add in a superfood of some kind, usually 3 to 5 different ones actually, like seaweed/algaes, berries, sprouted grasses, etc. for the micronutrients and antioxidants. I also keep a premix on hand for those times that I am in a hurry or I don’t feel like fiddling with all of it. I started with one recipe that was easy and then got a couple books, Steve Brown and Dr. Karen Becker. That gave me something to feed until I had done enough research to fell comfortable and something to research. At first I just modified the recipe I had with different meats, then I tried a few more recipes, then I started out making my own. I probably have some or 6 or 7 different recipes in my freezer right now.
You can make large batches and portion it out and freeze it. You can get grinds that have all the meat, bones, and organs, so all you have to do is figure out what extras you want added. There are endless ways to do raw. The thing to remember is that like with a human diet, every meal does not have to be balanced as long as they balance over time.
gmcbogger38,
Check out the Raw Dog Food Menus section for some ideas. Also some good reading is “Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet” by Steve Brown and some books by Tom Lonsdale “Work wonders, Feed Your Dog Raw Meaty Bones”, Dr Pitcairn, nutritionist Lew Olsen. There’s a recipe book by Becker/Taylor “Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats” that I used when I first started making my own raw. You can also buy quality items from Hare-Today Gone Tomorrow and My Pet Carnivore.
I recently started using Dog Rocks. Not something I would normally buy, but I work in a pet store and had heard a lot of positive feedback. They are literally rocks that you put in their water dish.
This spring the area of lawn she (my dog, Echo) was going on was pretty much dead. I started with raking off the dead grass and planting new, and not allowing her to go there while it was growing. I’ve been using the dog rocks for about three weeks now. She has gone on the new lawn just a few times, but so far so good. Here is their website http://dogrocks.org/. They do say that a raw diet or diet high in protein will hinder the productivity of the dog rocks, so it may not work for you. I feed Echo Orijen Senior with a little Primal Freeze Dried mixed in, so she is on a higher protein diet (compared to most kibble). Hope this helps.
Just noticed I spelled your user name incorrectly sorry *pugmomsandy!
Yeah, Louie doesn’t like eating at the bowl, he loves to take his food out and chew it over our very nice floor rungs -_- LOL. Outside it shall be!
Yay! Don’t forget to prepare it and feed it outside the first time! The first time I fed it a dog from down the street came over!
pugsmomandy thanks so much for recommending greentripe.com to me! Turns out, the company’s warehouse is 15 minutes away from my house!! I asked if I can do a pick-up, thanks so much, I never would have found it without you AH! I’m very excited ^_^
Can anyone offer suggestions/experience/advice if vitamin or other supplements are necessary to add to a raw diet and mixed 5 star wet and 5 star kibble for a Vizsla puppy. This will be my 3rd Vizsla – want to start off doing things as best as I can this time now that I have learned more information (scared about what I didn’t know before – its no wonder the first two died of cancer). I’m all for preparing most of the raw diet recipes I’ve seen and then interchanging with some of the higher end 5 star wet and dry mixes but I don’t want to overlook any nutritional supplements that may be inadvertently left out – especially at the puppy phase.
Mine use to do that when we first added raw to the diet, but not anymore. Can you catch some and test it’s pH?
Do you mean Bravo Balance or is this something else?
Hey guys, sorry, I have some more questions regarding raw. I work at an upscale pet boutique and we sell commercial raw diets. I was given expired Nature’s Variety frozen raw for free because we obviously cannot sell that to the public. It expired in October of 2012. I was told it would be fine to feed because it has been frozen the entire time, but I’m a little uneasy to feed it. What opinions do y’all have about this? Also, if I decide to use a premix for raw instead of kibble will I need to add any supplements or will the premix have that covered (I’m assuming it will)? I like what I read about Nupro and wouldn’t mind using that as a supplement if needed. I will be adding probiotics and digestive enzymes. Do y’all recommend feeding fresh meats from the store or commercial raw to add to the premix? If I feed fresh from the store do I need to freeze for a few days to kill off any parasites? I’m just paranoid I’m going to screw something up, but I’m honestly tired of feeding kibble because no matter what the quality is it just doesn’t seem good enough for me.
For all the meat proteins they boast, why do they say the food is 52.5% carbs dry matter with protein and fat making up 55%? That is what gets me. That doesn’t make sense. The numbers don’t add up. And they didn’t reply to Dr Mike’s questions so it is not reviewed.
Does anyone have information about Balance Diet? It is uncooked/not heated etc. It is supposed to be “better than raw”. Anyone ever/does use it? Thoughts? I’m getting a golden retriever puppy soon and because organic raw ingredients (besides B&E chicken necks) are expensive and hard to find in my rural area I thought this would be a good alternative. Any feedback would be *very* much appreciated regarding Balance Diet (not to be confused with Natural Balance kibble, ick). Thank you, Linda
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This topic was modified 12 years, 9 months ago by
LindaW. Reason: added clarification
they are LIKE – not are raw. and some companies do infact say they are dehydrated raw.
right on Canisources website “Unlike other dehydrated foods, there is no need to hydrate CaniSource. This gives the benefits of a raw diet with the convenience of a kibble!”
Smack pet food “We make the world’s best raw dehydrated food for dogs and cats” OH and right off of DFA’s website he has 5 stars given to this company – /dog-food-reviews/smack-dog-food/
i can keep going on if your still 99.9% sure and want to claim raw is raw.. not dehydrated.. again thats your opinion.
Actually, you’re very incorrect. š
1) Raw diets are high in moisture – one of the main reasons they’re more species-appropriate.
2) Species-appropriate raw diets do not contain starches and grains.
3) Species-appropriate diets are high in protein (>40%)
4) Raw diets contain living foods with intact enzymes – cooked kibbles do not.
5) Canine Caviar contains meat meals, if you think they’re dehydrated. Meat meals are cooked at EXTREMELY high temperatures the RECOOKED in the kibble – about as processed as you can get.
6) There also is not a whole lot of animal-based protein in this with the chickpeas being so high on the ingredients list (which is why this food is not rated 5 stars). Raw diets contain predominantly animal-based protein (>90%) – I would guesstimate this food at ~70% animal-based protein, at the most.
actually yes the food is similar to a raw diet.
the food is flash cooked for 6 sections and its dehydrated so there is more protein in there. ive done my research with this company and its like a dehydrated raw diet. there are many other dehydrated raw diets out there in kibble form with lower protein levels.
Tripe is loaded with probiotics and enzymes so I wouldn’t add those. You can add veggies and vitamins to balance the meal though. Or if you’re not feeding it as the sole diet and your dog’s other meals are balanced you could certainly feed it for a few meals a week on its own without throwing anything off – tripe is a pretty well rounded food.
Hi mah4angel!
I don’t really follow any “recipes”, I kind of make it up as I go along. I’m still in the “adding new things” phase. I posted what I was feeding, at the time, a few weeks ago, in the other thread just to get HDM’s opinion on if I was doing ok. What I was feeding then, has since changed a bit because I’ve added a few more things to Bailey’s diet.
Right now, I mix up ground beef, beef organ grind & ground green tripe and I give her about 1/2lb of that in the morning along with either a cage free egg or a pouch of sardines (I do one or the other every other day) & Dr. Harvey’s Multi Vitamin Mineral & Herbal Dog Supplement , and a half of a one a day vitamin, some coconut oil and a spoonful of yogurt. I just started giving her ground whole prey rabbit, so I’ve been doing that every other morning instead of the beef, organ, tripe grind.
For dinner she gets either a half of a turkey neck or a chicken back & a chicken foot and either chicken or turkey livers, chicken gizzards and chicken hearts. I usually rotate the livers and gizzards and heart and do 2 of the 3 every day. I also fast her Sunday evenings.
I get all my grinds and the heart and livers from Hare Today. I still have yet to find a really cheap place to get things, but I’m not spending all that much. I have a local butcher that I get my turkey necks and chicken gizzards from.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 9 months ago by
Cyndi.
Thank you very much. Based on the standard of less than 3.5g/1000kcal of calcium, I have added Darwin’s beef raw frozen food to my Rottweiler puppy’s diet. She’s also eating Primal’s Duck (1.22% Ca DMB), lamb (1.28 % Ca DMB), and Venison (1% Ca DMB). I’ve looked at several other varieties from different brand of raw frozen but haven’t found anything else with an acceptable calcium level. Any other suggested brands/varieties?
When I get it at a store it was about 3 or 4 bucks a lb retail markup. When I buy with my co-op it’s at a bulk discount rate 1.60-1.95 per lb. I’ll have to see if it saved me anything this time around with splitting the delivery fee with the group to Texas. I bought 3 cases.
5lb rolls (40lb case): Retail Price 500lb 1500lb
Green Tripe (GT5) $1.85/lb ($9.25/roll) $1.70/lb $1.60/lb
Tripe/Trachea (TT5)$2.00/lb ($10.00/roll) $1.80/lb $1.70/lb
Xkaliber (XT5) $2.15/lb ($10.75/roll) $1.95/lb $1.85/lb
*Green Tripe Puppy (PT5)$2.35/lb ($11.75/roll) $2.15/lb $2.05/lb
2lb rolls (40lb case):
Green Tripe (GT2) $2.00/lb ($4.00/roll) $1.80/lb $1.70/lb
Tripe/Trachea (TT2) $2.15/lb ($4.30/roll) $1.95/lb $1.85/lb
Xkaliber (XT2) $2.30/lb ($4.60/roll) $2.10/lb $1.95/lb
Tripe/Organ Meat (TOMB)$2.00/lb ($4.00/roll) $1.80/lb $1.80/lb
Uhm…nothing in kibble form is similar to a raw diet – especially not a kibble like CC with only around 30% protein. It’s decent as far as kibbles go (although a little heavy on plant protein), but no comparison to a raw diet.
Hi dnaolson –
I feed my dogs a raw diet and they get raw meaty bones daily – these are great for dental health. My dogs are aged 11 months to 8 years and none of them (even my senior) have smelly breath or build-up. I try to brush their teeth daily – I forget sometimes, but they generally get their teeth brushed at least 5 times per week. Aside from specially formulated prescription kibbles (like T/D) the only food that’s going to promote dental health is a raw diet with raw meaty bones. There are some dental chews available but I have yet to see any with quality ingredients. And regardless of what your dog eats you need to be brushing its teeth, all dogs should have their teeth brushed at least 3 times per week. Hope that helps.
Thanks you guys!!
You should post some of your recipes, Cyndi! I read through this thread and your story with Bailey is awesome! I’ve been incorporating little bits of raw into my Louie’s diet already and HIS POOPS ARE SO GREAT RIGHT NOW! š I think the addition of the flax seed and the yogurt has really helped his tummy (enzymes and fiber), but I really think the raw has been helping. Maybe I’m just crazy (I am crazy but, still… hehe) š
HDH, I wanted to get the EXKALIBER grind from greentripe.com, how would I use that in a well-balanced diet (since you mentioned boneless meat and not only is the EXKALIBER not boneless, it also has organ meat as well)? In general, it looks to be a good idea to sometimes incorporate bone-in grinds, and sometimes use boneless meat. I also wanted to be feeding RBM’s (I’ve already started with pork necks) for dental health š
How much is the green tripe and the XKALIBER? It says to call for pricing, but it’d be much easier to just ask here and then head off to work and check back later lol.
mah4angel,
If you want to incorporate some raw into the diet you can use up to 20% of raw food to your current regime without worrying about unbalancing the diet. An easy way to add raw is to feed green tripe. It is a perfect food by itself as well. greentripe.com for raw tripe and Tripett for canned tripe. Actually, Merrick and Solid Gold have a canned tripe as well. I also like to use freeze dried raw too and my dogs are small so it doesn’t cost alot and it is convenient.
You can get greentripe.com products easily since you are in Cali. I get the green tripe, xkaliber, tripe stuffed cow hooves and trachea from them.
Based on what I’ve seen of Hare Today, it’s totally great! BUT I live all the way over here in California, and the shipping costs will equal the price of all of the food in my cart no matter what I do š
Does anyone have any suggestions as far as retailers for me that are similar to Hare Today, but closer to me?
It looks really fatty in the packaging, but I wasn’t sure if that was excessive or normal.
What proteins are lower in fat? Also, do you ladies recommend Hare Today for buying the raw? What are their shipping costs like?
I just wanted to start a thread to tell everyone about Canine Caviar š
Its very similar to a raw diet but in kibble form. There is many options to choose from aswell.
Grain free has 3 options – venison, duck, herring (all are single protein, no potatoe)
Lamb and pearl millet
Chicken and pearl millet
Special Needs
Puppy grain free
The special needs diet can replace almost all Science diets from a-z from the vets office. Personally i have my girl who has a liver disease on it and is doing better then ever.
Its great food for diabetics, sensitive stomachs, dogs who throw up alot, colitis, ibs, kidney problems, pancreas problems, and more.
the food has a proper alkaline level and pH level as well. i have seen this food do fantastic things for dogs (i work with clients directly helping choose dog foods and nutritional based questions).
For any dog with allergies this food i great because there is no grain, no potato, and no chicken in 3 of its options.
For dogs with sensitive stomachs, colitis, ibs, any tummy problems, the entire line has pre and probiotics in the food too, as well as peppermint to help calm the stomach. Check the food out for yourself and put your dog on it and you will see amazing results.. !!
The food i would Suggest eliminates Chicken, Potato and ANY grain altogether.. its called Canine Caviar. it has venison, duck, or herring available for the grain free diets. its very similar to a raw diet but in kibble form (dehydrated raw pretty much).
this food has prebiotics and probiotics in the food so its Fantastic for allergy prone dogs, it also has Kelp which is good for fighting off any pollutants as well.
I would HIGHLY recommend this food since you would not have to add any supplements to the food at all. look the food up, its extremely limited in the ingredients and you will understand what each ingredient is which is always a benefit.
this food will help with dogs who throw up a lot, i work in a global pet foods in Ontario and ive seen this food do fantastic things for dogs with the exact same symptoms. i hope this helps.
The food i would Suggest eliminates Chicken, Potato and ANY grain altogether.. its called Canine Caviar. it has venison, duck, or herring available for the grain free diets. its very similar to a raw diet but in kibble form (dehydrated raw pretty much).
this food has prebiotics and probiotics in the food so its Fantastic for allergy prone dogs, it also has Kelp which is good for fighting off any pollutants as well.
I would HIGHLY recommend this food since you would not have to add any supplements to the food at all. look the food up, its extremely limited in the ingredients and you will understand what each ingredient is which is always a benefit.
Canine Caviar is perfect for a dog with Colitis. Its formulated with Pro and Prebiotics in the kibble and the foods is also flash cooked for 6 sections making it extremely comparable to a Raw diet (which ultimately is always the best in my opinion).
With Colitis you want limited ingredients as well, as to not bugger up the system. You could do the Duck, Venison or Herring formula which is all grain free as well, and the entire line of food has Peppermint in the food which is perfect for colitis and IBS systems in dogs.
its an American company and has been around for over 15 years now. because its so closely similar to a raw diet but in kibble form this would be ideal for a dog with Colitis.
Of course switching foods isnt always the first choice, however with Canine caviar there is absolutely no need for a transition which is very nice as well..
The yeast starvation diet is how I started feeding raw. It really worked amazingly well for my dogs.
I would worry that cushion meat might be really high fat. Pork is usually high fat and cheaper cuts are usually high fat so cheap cuts of pork might be off the chart. As long as your dog is taking his time to chew the meat then leaving the bone in is great. If you were going to feed completely raw then I would say you shouldn’t be switching meats up this much this early, but since it is a small portion of his food you can get away with that more. If you are feeding 20% or less of his diet with foods that are not balanced then you are fine. If you’re feeding more than that you need to start watching how all your dog’s nutrients come together over time.
HI! I’d like to ask a question or two!
I just started incorporating some raw meat into my dog’s diet. Here’s what I’ve been doing: 2 tbsp or low fat, plain yogurt, 1 tbsp of flax seed, 1/2 cup of Earthborn Holistic Primitive Natural (as opposed to the 3/4 cup recommendation), and some muscle meat (first I saw doing pre-ground chicken, now I’ve started on half breasts, and some Earthborn Holistic moist tubs-the lamb formula). Thanks to the RMB topic that HDM started, I’m going to be feeding Louie some pork necks that have been in our freezer for a VERY long time, as well. This is just my way of incorporating raw into his current diet slowly. Maybe this is the wrong way to do it, if so, please yell at me and tell me the right way lol.
My first question! Like I said, I’ve been feeding my Louie meat from half breasts (chicken). These half breasts naturally have bone in them (ribs, etc.) but I’ve been cutting away the bone and just feeding the meat. Should I NOT cut away the bone? Should I just chop it up and serve it with the ribs and the rest?
Second question! I found some pork cushion meat at Costco for $1.29 a pound. I have no idea if it would be a good idea to buy it and serve it when we run out of the chicken, or if I should not buy cushion meat (for some reason) .I’m not sure what cushion meat actually is, I’ll probably look it up after I’m done posting this.
Anyway, thanks!!
beaglemom,
Necks are very high in bone content and they are probably not use to digesting that much or even digesting real raw bones to begin with. The meat from the necks probably digested well and quickly as compared to kibble that can take up to 12 hours or more. I’d wait a couple days to give them another one and even introduce something with more meat like a whole leg (skinless to begin with) or give them half a neck with some additional meat/organs. You can also introduce more bone (and raw in general) into their diet to get them used to it with commercial products. I fed mine commercial patties for several months before doing RMB and started mine with chicken wings and then drumsticks. My recipe book calls for x amount of necks with x amount of meat so just a neck by itself if just too much bone. BUT given just a few times a week should be ok once they work their way up to it.
Just wanted to share with the people I know will understand that my dogs just had their first raw meaty bones for dinner tonight! Each had a duck neck that my husband and I held the whole time, since I didn’t want any gulping. Once they both stopped playing tug of war with us, they got the idea and got down to chewing. I must admit that every single one of the questions that Hound Dog Mom posted in the original post on this thread went through my mind, haha… was that piece too big? Are they chewing enough? Etc. Aside from my tendency to worry too much, it was definitely satisfying to watch them be “true carnivores”, crunching and grinding away. They’re both happily sleeping/digesting now… I’m very hopeful it agrees with them so I can continue to increase the variety of RMBs in their diet!
Yeah, I combine ground beef with the organ grind and tripe grind, portion it up and refreeze it. The rabbit will be easier because I’ll feed that by itself. I’m sure glad I found out about Hare Today on here. Sure makes feeding raw a lot easier!
Hi Sully’s Mom –
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Many people have different methods of rotational feeding. Some switch foods a few times a year, some switch after every bag, some have multiple foods at one time and switch with every meal and others stick with the same food and only rotate toppers (I personally don’t feel the rotating toppers only is the best method).
When I used to feed kibble I got a new brand with a different protein source after each bag and I always had a variety of canned and fresh food toppers on hand and rotated toppers daily. So for example my dog would get a lamb based kibble made by Brand X and after that bag was gone I’d get a chicken based kibble from Brand Y, etc. – all the while rotating canned toppers daily. Now that my dogs eat a homemade raw diet I’m able to feed them something completely different at each meal.
You really can rotate as often as you want – there’s no such thing as too much variety. Get a rotation plan going that works works for you and your dog. You could mix the trial bags you got in with the kibble you’re currently feeding or few a few meals of only the trial food until the bag is gone. Initially you may need to so slow transitions to get your dog accustomed to variety, however after a few switches you should be able to go from food to food without doing a gradual transition. I generally recommend, at the very least, having three go to foods (preferably from different manufacturers and with different protein sources).
I have 3 that will eat the Hare Today ground Rabbit and one that won’t touch it. I like it because it is not messy and easy to figure out each meal size. I just ordered 10 more lbs yesterday. I thaw it and then break it into 4 servings and then refreeze as Tracy suggested.
Thanks Marie! I am too! & thanks HDM!
2 months, 1 week ago
