[theBCnut]

I found that for me the price difference didn’t make up for having to buy bags or the hassle of defrosting, dividing, repackaging, and refreezing.

Yes, the deer meat would be worth it, very well worth it. Organic, free range, people pay arms and legs for that stuff. You will need to add back the calcium and all that, but boy am I envious. That might make getting a premix worthwhile. Can you get the organs too?

[NectarMom]

I know someone locally that does Deer hunting and they grind their own meat and make sausage but I want to ask them if they can do Venison for me but just the meat and no bone because they do not grind the bone into their meat. Do you think this would be ok? My husband works with them and they said they kill around 60 deer a year. My dogs are loving the Venison from Hare Today so is this worth asking if we can get some from his Employee?
Also it is cheaper to buy 5lb rolls from Hare Today so that is the route we go and I just thaw and refreeze in individual air tight bags.

[theBCnut]

I have my butcher cut off about 3 inches for Angel and cut the rest in half. One of them is a full meal for all 3 of mine.

[Cyndi]

The turkey necks I get from my butcher are about 1-1 1/2lbs also, but they cut them in half when they get them in, which is perfect for me to feed Bailey. I feed Bailey a half of a turkey neck along with gizzards and heart and/or liver.

[SandyandMila]

I’ve been getting some bad reviews from the raw feeding group regarding feeding turkey necks, I’ll still feed them occasionally since Mila really liked them but I plan on making my first order soon on Hare Today or MPC and I’ll make sure to get turkey hearts as well. They’ve been hard to find locally. Thanks for the help.

• This reply was modified 12 years, 8 months ago by SandyandMila.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi SanDnMila –

Yes I do refrigerate my supplement. It’s not necessary, but I believe it extends the shelf life. Also, as Patty said, you can certainly mix proteins. It won’t cause any problems, however I don’t mix proteins. I prefer to feed a single protein at each meal and rotate days certain proteins are fed so my dogs aren’t getting exposed to any single protein more than one day in a row.

• This reply was modified 12 years, 8 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.

[Hound Dog Mom]

It may be an impacted anal gland but I would recommend having it checked out by a vet if you’re unsure.

All raw would be best if you can afford it, however half raw is better than no raw.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Wow patty those are big turkey necks! The necks I get from my supplier are only 6 – 8 oz. each.

[Hound Dog Mom]

If feeding a meat/organ/bone/tripe grind I would say you’d be fine to feed 50/50 kibble and grind. You could do one meal of kibble and one meal of the grind. If you were to be feeding just meat, you’d want to be sure to keep it to 20% or less of the meal.

[theBCnut]

I get turkey necks from our local butcher and they are about 1 1/2 lbs each.

[Honeybeesmom1]

Hi everyone.

I noticed about a week ago a lump on the left side of Honeybees butt…about the size of a gumball.
It keeps going away and coming back. At times it’s more soft and other times more hard.
I’ve read a little about anal glands and cysts but how do I know which one it is?
Does he need to see a vet in order to determine what it is? I have no idea what to think of it.
His vet is more of meds than natural…so I’m asking here first.

Also…I’m making my first purchase of Darwins! I’m excited as I’ve read good things here about it.
Honey is only 5 lbs. I can afford to feed him Darwins twice a day..and the others once per day.
What feeding would be best for him? Raw once or twice daily?
He’s the sensitive one that’s allergic to fleas, grass and pollen.
So I’m thinking raw twice daily?
Thanks! :0)

[InkedMarie]

Freehold: buy a scale!

[FreeholdHound]

I’ll have to remember the 1 lb rolls… Just got finished slicing through the 5lb roll -whew!! I don’t have a scale so based the patties on a Bubba Burger (very professional I know). I made a few smaller as starter packs. By the time I got done dividing up the ground sardines Harry was standing at the kitchen gate barking like a nut, so he got some for a treat. Blown away by the size of the turkey necks- that’s a new one for us.
Thank you soooo much for all the great replies! It all looks wonderful (well, as wonderful as raw meat & fish can look). Now lets hope he eats it!!! Lol

[Cyndi]

I TOTALLY agree about buying the 1lb. chubs instead of the 5lb ones. I ordered a 5lb one with my very first order and I will never do that again. I get all 1 pounders now. They are MUCH easier to work with! Let us know how Harry likes it! 🙂

[theBCnut]

I had to run off, but I had more, so here I am back.

FreeholdHound, you say you feed your dog 1 1/2 cups twice a day. That makes 3 cups total, so you can replace about 1/2 cup of kibble with raw. The 2 oz I suggested in my last post is about 1/8 cup, so you can double that amount and feed about 4oz of raw every day. You actually have a little more wiggle room than that, but I always found it easier to feed an amount of raw that worked for me and adjust the kibble portion, instead of the other way around.

BTW, the 1lb chubs are only pennies more and are way easier to deal with.

[lovemypets4life]

my pitbulls allergic to rawhide also and I bought him vets choice dental bones and he LOVES them, and I especially love the fresh breath ones

[3pooches]

I feed them commercial raw food. (I guess those are grinds?) Sometimes they get raw bones from the butcher, and those they don’t wolf down, but instead chew on happily in the backyard. 😉

I decided to buy more stainless steel balls from an online merchant and put two in the bowls of the faster eaters, and one large one in the bowl of the one who doesn’t inhale her food.

Thanks.

[theBCnut]

Thanks for bumping this Cyndi

I started to answer this and got called away and had it in my head that I had answered it. First, you can add up to 20% or 1/5 without throwing the balance off. Cut your roll into 1/2 lb pieces and refreeze any that you aren’t using immediately. Out of the 1/2 lb that you kept out, divide that into 1/4ths which would be about 2 oz and add that to her evening meal.

[Cyndi]

I am just posting here to bump up your question so someone, more knowledgeable than myself, can answer it for you. Your post, FreeholdHound, made me laugh. I was in the same position you are just a few months ago when I started my dog on raw. Good Luck to you…..& Harry! I hope he LOVES his raw food!

[ANnS]

Boxer

I SAID Abady GRANULAR

I SAID Abady CANNED

ALL RAW food has SAMONELLA – the question is how much. By definition it is RAW – and the only way to completely kill samonella is COOKING. And if you COOK IT, it is NOT RAW. Fast freezing it after prep can reduce the samonella but it will not kill it all. ANd the question is how much the manufacturer or customer fill comfortable with. Abady is fussier – didn’t like that batch because it came out a bit higher on their post freeze check than they want BTW so they called it back (very very very small batch btw.). You can NOT buy RAW without getting samonella and bacteria in the food.

[FreeholdHound]

Ok…. So tomorrow I will be getting my 1st order of raw food delivered from Hare Today …. And I’m starting to hyperventilate. My goal is to have my 80lb Greyhound on a raw/kibble diet. What is the best way to start out? He now gets 1.5 cups of kibble twice/day. I would like to keep the AM meal straight kibble and add in the raw to the PM meal. I’m starting him out with the beef/organ/tripe/bone grind. I believe it comes in a 5lb roll so I’m not sure how to portion it out for freezing. I believe I read on Dog Aware that I shouldn’t exceed 3/4 kibble or I’d throw off nutritional balance. I believe I’m having a panic induced brain spasm so I can’t figure out how much to add of the raw. Am I rambling? Oh damn probably…. Advice (and a cocktail) needed 🙂

[husky3]

Hello,

I’m replying to my original post in regards to my Husky not losing any weight. We switched to a completely raw diet in February, and she is still gaining weight. 🙁 She weighs in at over 60 pounds now. She would have a poor body condition score. Can not feel ribs, or locate the spine or hip bones. Exercise has been a little less since it has been so hot lately, but I have also decreased her food amounts. Almost to the point that I’m not sure if she’s getting enough to sustain her daily needs. I don’t know what else to do at this point. I have two other Husky’s that are thriving! They have excellent body condition, and get just as much exercise, but with a lot more food, almost twice as much food!!

In May, we had an ultrasound done on her, and they said that there were some slight changes to her liver & kidneys, but nothing major. We also had her thyroid checked again, and ran tests for Cushings, Addisons, Diabetes, Diabetes Insipidous, and Atypical Cushings. They all came back negative. We ran an allergy panel as well, and she did have some environmental allergies that we are working on now with the drops.

While she tested negative for Atyp. Cushings, they did say her hormones were a little elevated, and we are treating that with Lignin and melatonin. I have seen a change in her attitude, for the better, but no weight loss.

She had an ear infection a couple weeks ago, and another one about 3 months ago, which is a new development. She also has red stained paws from her licking them, or perhaps it is a yeast overgrowth?

Does anyone have anything else to add to this conundrum? Any medical ailments that mimic cushings, or thyroid problems? At this point, I don’t think it can be diet related unless she is allergic to raw meat, and it’s not chicken.

Thank you for your help.
Tay

[SandyandMila]

Yeah, maybe because the pieces were smaller she just needed a better grasp at it. I will have to get her the longer necks.

[theBCnut]

Hi Hershy

I’m not HDM and I don’t know how you feel about feeding raw, but tripe(even the canned stuff) has balanced calcium:phosphorus, so it would be a good choice.

[Duke The Boxer]

Hdm i ended up going with wellness core puppy. The protein is pretty high and the fat is low. Can you give me tips on switching to a more ancestrial diet with higher protein and low carbs to then a more raw meat diet eventually as he uis only 3.5 months. Any tips helps. Thanks!

[theBCnut]

That is how some dogs react to being given their hearts desire. It’s called resource guarding and it isn’t something you want to encourage. If she has never done it before then maybe just a sharp word will be all that is needed to discourage that behavior. For a dog that it is an ingrained behavior, you work at teaching them that when you mess with their food it is a good thing because you give even better stuff when you do that.

[SandyandMila]

I gave it to the dog and she loved it, the cat wanted to partake as well. lol Is it normal for them to guard their food? She wouldn’t let me hold it. She’s never done that before.

[SandyandMila]

Great, thanks for getting back to me.

[theBCnut]

Yes, they even have a name for it. Something like Frankenprey.

[Sully’sMom]

Ha, ha love it!
We do a couple of things to slow our guy down. First of all, we put 1/4 cup of the meal portion in ‘reserve.’ The balance we divide into two bowls. Add some warm water to each. We also allow it to sit at this point for 10 minutes ( I heard that allowing the kibble to absorb the water before ingesting helps prevent against bloat, which is the main concern about fast eating). So for starters, he’s getting the meal in two portions instead of one. The addition of the water helps slow things down as well. The reserved 1/4 cup we serve in a treat (Planet Dog Strawberry) over several helpings. He pushes the strawberry around and it dispenses kibble. Fun for him and it stretches the meal out. Also makes him “work” for it a bit. Lots of fun!

[weimlove]

There is a local pet store that will order it for me, which makes shipping free! I was thinking about going with something like primal, but it is SO expensive!! I am giving raw another chance, but I’m just going to feed blue ridge plus added veggies and calcium and rmbs a few times a week for their teeth. For me, feeding blue ridge is so much easier than buying whole chickens, large peices, etc. I made my first batch yesterday and shadow and sunny (my 3 month old vizsla devoured it!) they were both so bored with kibble, and their poop was so on and off…just after one meal of raw last night they both had excellent poops. Sorry for all the poop talk! Lol. But I’m hoping that this will work out, because it’s pretty convenient and I’m paying the same price per month if I were to feed a high quality kibble

[SandyandMila]

If I can’t find turkey hearts locally, can u feed the turkey necks with chicken hearts/gizzards?

[SandyandMila]

HDM- Do you refrigerate your multivitamin/mineral supplement?

[InkedMarie]

Neezerfan: Hare Today comes in one and two pounders, too. Its only something like 20 cents more for the smaller chubs; it’s what I buy.

[theBCnut]

Betsy, you need a snood or a clothes pin or maybe a scrunchie.

[neezerfan]

Thank you all. HDM– baby steps, baby steps….

[NectarMom]

I have 4 dogs under 12lbs and I buy the 5lb packages of ground Rabbit and Venison and beef and tripe and what was suggested to me by Tracy the owner of Hare Today was to defrost the whole 5lbs and then individually bag in proportions enough for my 4 girls and then refreeze what I am not using that day and I have been doing this for a month with no issues.

[DogFoodie]

Two quick things…

1.) I had emailed My Pet Carnivore earlier (prior to posting my question here regarding trachea), but you guys responded first. In my limited experience with them, I will say this MPC has great customer service. I just thought I’d share their response regarding trachea:

“They are not considered any kind of bone, and we ourselves have fed
them as a treat (or a chew), but they would generally fall into the meat
category.”

2.) How do you give your pups a quick clean up after they’ve eaten a RMB? Bella’s ears and paws were a greasy mess after eating some pork neck bones this evening. I tried to clean her up with some puppy wipes I had on hand, but they didn’t seem to work very well. I’m headed back to work after a week’s vacation (staycation) and really don’t want to have to give her a bath tonight. But, for future reference, is there a quicker solution to greasy ears? : )

[FreeholdHound]

Starting out w/ beef – Harry tested reactive to chicken, turkey, & venison. I’ll be introducing these in raw form in the future to see how he handles it. Love the variety & all the options

[theBCnut]

You can partially thaw the 3 lbs chub and cut it into appropriate size pieces and refreeze. It’s not ideal, but it’s not too bad either. It is only a few cents more to get the 1 lb chubs and they are a much better size for your situation.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi neezerfan –

Once thawed raw food should be used within 3 days. I’m only aware of two pre-mixes designed to balance a bone inclusive diet – one is the whole carcass formula sold by Feline Instincts and the other is CarnivoreRAW without Calcium sold by Young Again Pet Food. A much cheaper route would be to just add a low calcium or calcium free human multi-vitamin, some veggies (or a fiber supplement) and omega 3’s. You could also learn to balance a recipe completely from scratch with whole foods (this is what I do) but it’s a bit more time intensive and takes a bit of research. Rabbit is high in bone (as are most smaller prey animals) but the calcium to phosphorus ratio is still balanced so it’s not necessary to add more meat. If you find that your dog is constipated you can certainly add more more (high levels of bone can cause constipation for some dogs) but I honestly don’t think it will be an issue. The rabbit heads should be fine for your dog, you’ll have to try them out and see though.

[pugmomsandy]

Trachea doesn’t have any meat on it either.

[neezerfan]

Hi! I have a couple of questions.
I’ve been feeding my dog Darwin’s, rotating with canned and giving RMBs about twice a week. I want to start feeding home prepared raw in place of the canned. So…
1. If I buy the grinds from Hare Today, they come in 3 lbs size? My dog is 12 lbs. He eats about 1/3 of a pound of Darwin’s a day. Once I defrost the grind package, will it go bad before I use it up?
2. If I get a grind with bone, is there a premix to use with that? I think all the ones I find are for boneless meat. I don’t want to use synthetic vitamins if possible.
3. I always thought both goat and rabbit were more bony than meaty, if you know what I mean. If I feed that, should I add in extra boneless meat?
4. Rabbit heads…As I said, my dog is 12 lbs, will they be too big for him? He does well with chicken necks, turkey neck pieces, ox tails and pork ribs so far. He’s a good chewer, not a gulper.
Thanks for your help!

[theBCnut]

Trachea has no bone, it’s cartilage. That makes it a great joint chew.

[Hound Dog Mom]

I’d consider it a chew. I give them as treats occasionally, they keep the dogs busy for awhile.

[DogFoodie]

Hi guys!

Is a beef trachea a chew, rectreational bone or RMB?

[Hound Dog Mom]

weimlove –

Are you giving raw another shot?

[NectarMom]

My 4 always poop right after a meal. Honestly CC doesn’t have enough protein for my crew. After on it for 1 week I noticed more chewing on their feet and legs and shedding got worse. No it is not detox because we do half Raw now and half kibble. So over all I wasn’t thrilled with this food.

[somebodysme]

Yes I have heard of that because some dogs swallow large chunks to rawhide without chewing them, this was not our issue though. She didn’t have any digestive problems…just terrible scratching. I suspect that the rawhide was most of her allergy problem. There was something in the Earthborn Holistics Coastal Catch that made her start scratching too though because she was taken off the rawhide after her vet appointment. It wasn’t until I, one by one, started reintroducing new things that I discovered the rawhide was an issue.

[labgirl]

rawhides do “blow up” in the stomach and expand a lot.. my dog used to get very sick from them. ive not started using more natural treats like Bully sticks/bullwrinkles – they chew like a rawhide but are 100% digestible and cause no bloating like rawhides do. id use that instead of rawhides. more safe in my opinion