[4dogs3cats]

Well it's been a month.

Bailey- Bailey has gone from 25.5 pounds on July 30th to 21.8 pounds as of yesterday. Her breath no longer smells like low tide. She has much more energy and plays with the boys a lot. Her coat shines as if I doused it in vegetable oil.

Kody- Kody's coat shines like I doused it in vegetable oil. He is just maintaining pretty much the same weight and activity level as when he was on kibble.

Chance- Chance sheds a lot less than he used to. After I brush him, his coat GLEAMS. He has settled down a bit, but he is also getting older as he is now 18 months old.

The dogs now get chicken every day, and in the am they get either a chunk of chicken gizzard/heart, or a chunk of cow heart. they LOVE the organs! I got a 2 pound cow heart for 3 dollars at ther grocery store. I also checked the managers special bin and found 4 packages of 1-2 pound chicken gizzard/hearts for less than a dollar each. I also found a package of beef liver for 2.99. So my freezer is stocked and I am currently shopping for a bigger one!

I know a lot of people on here switched to raw after all the threads I started asking questions. I know it didn't have much to do with me, but I am glad to have sparked the interest of some members here. My vet disapproves, but the results speak for themselves IMO. Bailey has had the biggest improvement. I can't tell much of a difference with Kody and Chance from HQ kibble to raw, but they enjoy dinner time a lot more I will tell you that much!

Shiny Kody


Shiny Skinny Bailey


Shiny Chance

[RawFedDogs]

Originally Posted by 4dogs3cats

The dogs now get chicken every day, and in the am they get either a chunk of chicken gizzard/heart, or a chunk of cow heart. they LOVE the organs! I got a 2 pound cow heart for 3 dollars at ther grocery store. I also checked the managers special bin and found 4 packages of 1-2 pound chicken gizzard/hearts for less than a dollar each. I also found a package of beef liver for 2.99. So my freezer is stocked and I am currently shopping for a bigger one!

Great!!! I'm glad to hear everything is working out so well. You are doing just great. It's time to branch out some. Add some turkey to the diet and in a week or so it will be time to add some pork. You need some fish sometime in the next month or so also.

Variety is the spice of life in the raw feeding world. One of the mantras is "Feed a variety of animal parts from a variety of animals." Look for bargains. Never pass one up no matter what the meat is.

Check out craigslist for a freezer. You will find some cheap ones there.

[4dogs3cats]

Originally Posted by RawFedDogs

Great!!! I'm glad to hear everything is working out so well. You are doing just great. It's time to branch out some. Add some turkey to the diet and in a week or so it will be time to add some pork. You need some fish sometime in the next month or so also.

Variety is the spice of life in the raw feeding world. One of the mantras is "Feed a variety of animal parts from a variety of animals." Look for bargains. Never pass one up no matter what the meat is.

Check out craigslist for a freezer. You will find some cheap ones there.

Oh I forgot to add that. We did the turkey thing. Turkey and pork is really expensive out here. Im sticking with chicken and beef, and fish oil pills. I cant STAND fish so unfortunately the dogs get to suffer.

[RawFedDogs]

Originally Posted by 4dogs3cats

Oh I forgot to add that. We did the turkey thing. Turkey and pork is really expensive out here. Im sticking with chicken and beef, and fish oil pills. I cant STAND fish so unfortunately the dogs get to suffer.

Don't give up on turkey and pork. Watch for sales. Watch for meat on it's last "sell by" day. Turkey will get real cheap just after thanksgiving and just after Christmas. It would be a lot better to feed more variety than just chicken and beef.

Fish oil pills are fine. I feed canned salmon and mackerel. Its not like feeding fish. I know canned is cooked but I feed it anyway.

Also join some of the yahoo freecycle type groups. I get a lot of free meat off those groups. I got over 100lbs of free deer meat last fall. I've also gotten lots and lots of other free meat off freecycle. Some of it I throw away, but the greatest majority works out real well.

Just don't limit yourself or your dogs. Other meats will become available if you keep your eyes open.

[4dogs3cats]

Originally Posted by RawFedDogs

Don't give up on turkey and pork. Watch for sales. Watch for meat on it's last "sell by" day. Turkey will get real cheap just after thanksgiving and just after Christmas. It would be a lot better to feed more variety than just chicken and beef.

Fish oil pills are fine. I feed canned salmon and mackerel. Its not like feeding fish. I know canned is cooked but I feed it anyway.

Also join some of the yahoo freecycle type groups. I get a lot of free meat off those groups. I got over 100lbs of free deer meat last fall. I've also gotten lots and lots of other free meat off freecycle. Some of it I throw away, but the greatest majority works out real well.

Just don't limit yourself or your dogs. Other meats will become available if you keep your eyes open.

whats the freecycle thing people keep mentioning? Is it safe?

I figure the turkey will be real cheap after thanksgiving.

I didnt ever have a big interest in feeding them pork as I dont know what sspecifically to feed them of it.

[RawFedDogs]

Originally Posted by 4dogs3cats

whats the freecycle thing people keep mentioning? Is it safe?

Freecycle is a yahoo discussion group where people give away free stuff. If you have things you want to get rid of, you place an add in freecycle. Someone will want it. There are literally 100's of freecycle groups all across the country and maybe other countries. There is one local to my rural county in west Georgia. People can not charge for anything advertised on freecycle. It MUST be free. If there is something you want, you can also place an add and if anyone wants to get rid of it, they will contact you for you to pick it up.

As for safety, I have never had a problem. I usually place an ad, asking people to clean out their freezer and I will take their old meats. Even freezer burned meat is ok. The dogs don't care. I will get anywhere from 3 or 4 lbs to 100 lbs of meat. Some of it is old (again, the dogs don't care) and a lot of it, I would eat.

Go to yahoo.com and put "freecycle" in the search box and you will get the information you need.

I didnt ever have a big interest in feeding them pork as I dont know what sspecifically to feed them of it.

Around here, pork is the cheapest meat I can get after chicken and turkey. You can get pork roasts ... Boston Butt roasts or shoulder roasts. You can also get pork ribs. If you get ribs, get the whole racks of ribs instead of the real small country style ribs. I give my dogs a half rack of pork ribs from time to time.

Pork stuff around here is usually $2.25+/lb but if you watch sales and "sell by" dates you can get it for around $1.75 or sometimes even less. Since I get my chicken backs for $.135/lb and chicken quarters for $.50/lb, I can afford to pay close to $2/lb some for pork. Occasionally I will pay $2.50/lb for a pork roast if its been a few weeks since they have had any pork.

[sillylilykitty]

Wow, those are some great improvements! That is great that Chance sheds less, I always thought that would improve on a raw diet. And Bailey sounds like she is doing really good!! Her teeth really improved that much? Hey, where is the before and after pictures of her teeth? Or is it too soon for the after picture? I cant wait to see those 2 pictures! I think it is funny because tartar is caused by bacteria and people think one major thing about raw is "oh no there is so much bacteria!" but then your dog is losing tartar on a raw diet! Is that right?

[jesirose]

Awesome! The only thing I had to comment on is that heart is considered meat/muscle, not organ like liver - or so I've heard. But it sounds like it's fine