Feeding Raw - Where to Start?

[sirilucky]

Here is the link of the site which tell us about why you should feed pets raw food.
http://www.rawfoodlife.com/Raw_Pets/raw_pets.htm

[FEDACE]

What are the Pros and Cons of raw food ??? i know it is highly recommended but there has to be some disadvantages. It can be messy, i suppose or you may not be so sure what to feed and how much. Online mailorder people sells things like Raw Buffolo meat with bone, and Raw chicken leg and so on. They are pretty expensive,,,, not sure if it is worth all the trouble....

[Kathyy]

YOU choose which meats to buy. Just stick to a budget and it works out fine. Keep buffalo in mind and some day it may come down in price and then you will buy it. I wish for rabbit, some day it will be affordable. I got my freezer and Max is in love with the ostrich trim and tripe that is affordable when a whole box is purchased.

Raw takes a lot of study to start up. Raw takes a lot of shopping. Raw takes a lot of freezer room as you need to keep some variety at hand to save money.

I haven't found raw to be messy and during the course of my learning about raw figured out how much and what to feed.

Max was fine on kibble, fine on home cooked but is very much best on raw. Keep on reading, maybe someday you will be ready to try it out. No hurry.

[SunnyPaw]

I found a site in google that helps dispelling some of the many myths about dogs, wolves, and feeding raw meaty bones to our pets. And here is the site
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/

Hope this helps most of us.

FYI - Sirilucky - that link doesn't work. I even tried the root (just rawfed.com), and that did not come up either. Maybe they are having server issues?

[Kathyy]

I got the main page through the wayback machine and you can go to the myths page from there.http://web.archive.org/web/200710111...://rawfed.com/

[nash]

Could some one tell me is there a right time to start letin your dog chew on raw bones from the butcher i have a 7 month old lab and Butcher says we can have bones anytime ???

[filkertus]

here is good intro article on BARF diets

http://www.fidodogtreats.com/did-you-say-barf

[LynnInTenn]

Could some one tell me is there a right time to start letin your dog chew on raw bones from the butcher i have a 7 month old lab and Butcher says we can have bones anytime ???

Now is fine. I wouldn't give him weight bearing bones of large animals, ie, cows,pigs. They could break his/her teeth.

[rocky3son]

I wish they had this product in Ontario, great price and product.I hope one day they will have it here..

[chandres]

A note about the butcher... ask about their scraps! I've been feeding my dog a raw diet for about a year, and just discovered a local butcher that sells "dog boxes". They empty a chicken case that holds 40 lbs. of chicken, and fill it with scraps, bone dust from under the slicer, meats that didn't sell in time, etc. Lots of goodies, and my butcher sells the box full for $5. It's a great savings that I didn't know about until I asked specifically.

[MagicRe]

i've read the articles and i've done the research and i started my dogs on raw and it seemed to be disastrous....

both of them got the squirts...both of them had fur that was dry and rough and icky feeling.

i started out by taking a chicken and dividing it up.

one dog weighs 40 lbs, so she was getting 7 oz per meal....
one dog weighs 20 lbs, so he was getting 3.5 oz per meal...

each meal had meat and bone and they were fed twice per day.

the one thing i probably should have done was take the skin off....it might have been too fatty or rich....

but within three days, they were uncomfortable....and the squirts were awful....

the only other thing i can think of is that i started them too soon from malia's bout with giardia and bubba's surgery on his eyes....they had both been on antibiotics....

and maybe i should have waited a little longer?

any suggestions on what went wrong? any suggestions on when to start again?

they are once again on antibiotics....their stools are finally firm again..they are on a cooked bland diet of chicken/turkey/hamburger/ and brown rice....

[phoebespeople]

There is going to be a period of detoxification when switching to RAW. They will get runny poops, and even have mucous in their stools. It is normal and will go away in a week or two. However, if your dog is undergoing medical treatment for something, you should wait until they have no other stresses on their bodies that would make the transition to RAW more difficult. A tbs. of unsweetened canned pumpkin with their meals will help firm up their poops.
I think 2% of their body weight is fine for a lazy adult dog, 3% might be better for a younger more active dog. We feed Phoebe 3 to 4% because she is so active and energetic and we can still see her ribs a little bit.

[DobManiac]

they are once again on antibiotics....their stools are finally firm again..they are on a cooked bland diet of chicken/turkey/hamburger/ and brown rice....

I wouldn't suggest switched a dog to raw when they're on antibiotics. The diet does best with a meal maintained and balanced GI tract and that will just not be the case for you right now. It’s really not great to make any diet switch while the dog is on antibiotics. What are they taking the antibiotics for and how much longer will they be on them?

I can't see why they would need antibiotics for a diarrhea unless there was bacteria overgrowth in the GI tract. If that was the case I would replace the antibiotics with organic apple cider vinegar or grape seed extract. I would also start them on a really good doggy probiatic. That would solve the problem naturally with cause further harm to their digestive system. But I tend to be very homeopathic and avoid antibiotics if at all possible. They kill the good bacteria right along with the bad, and it can take a dog or human several months to replenish.

[MagicRe]

I wouldn't suggest switched a dog to raw when they're on antibiotics. The diet does best with a meal maintained and balanced GI tract and that will just not be the case for you right now. It’s really not great to make any diet switch while the dog is on antibiotics. What are they taking the antibiotics for and how much longer will they be on them?

I can't see why they would need antibiotics for a diarrhea unless there was bacteria overgrowth in the GI tract. If that was the case I would replace the antibiotics with organic apple cider vinegar or grape seed extract. I would also start them on a really good doggy probiatic. That would solve the problem naturally with cause further harm to their digestive system. But I tend to be very homeopathic and avoid antibiotics if at all possible. They kill the good bacteria right along with the bad, and it can take a dog or human several months to replenish.

there was bacteria overgrowth in the GI tract and one of the dogs had had giardia....a ten year old dog, believe it or not....which is why they are on antibiotics, one of which is an anti inflammotry also....

they are done now, so it's going to be a bland cooked diet until i'm ready to switch again..only this time, we'll do it much slower..

they won't go back to kibble...they'll stay on cooked until it's time...

[MagicRe]

we are on more than just chicken now, as an update, although we haven't yet added fat and skin back in any great quantity...we are starting to...slowly.

they are doing fine on chicken, turkey, pork, smelts and one stripped down llama bone for fun...

we are slowly adding fat and skin back into their diets and they are tolerating that well.

when i move on to beef, considering how they have previously reacted to too much fat, what cut of beef do you think i should start with?

i was thinking eye roast or silver roast....the dry cuts that require a gadzillion hours of braising or roasting....low and slow roast types...due to decreased fat...

any suggestions?

they do get 'tastes' of ground buffalo, lamb, hamburger, but only tastes so far and any time i cook a roast they get a bite of it...but now it's time to incorporate it into their rotation...

[Jastya]

Sirilucky, I gotta tell ya, that article you linked there is... interesting.
"Another source of meat you won't find mentioned on pet food labels are dogs and cats that have been put to sleep, dead zoo animals and roadkill. "

... dead zoo animals? REALLY. Yeah, I"m thinking this is a bit alarmist and wild. :/

[EtherealJane]

Is it ok to feed one of the packaged raw patties until I read up enough to feel confident with parts of animals? I guess i'm a little squeamish, seeing as I'm vegetarian, but I really do want the best for my dog. From what I've read, the patties aren't AS good as totally raw, but it still seems to be a step up from the best kibble. My dog is only 15 pounds, and we can afford the expense. Could I supplement his raw patties a few times a week with some stuff with the bones from the butcher?

[MagicRe]

Is it ok to feed one of the packaged raw patties until I read up enough to feel confident with parts of animals? I guess i'm a little squeamish, seeing as I'm vegetarian, but I really do want the best for my dog. From what I've read, the patties aren't AS good as totally raw, but it still seems to be a step up from the best kibble. My dog is only 15 pounds, and we can afford the expense. Could I supplement his raw patties a few times a week with some stuff with the bones from the butcher?

from experience, i can tell you that jumping into raw is not recommended....may i suggest that you do your research, so you and the dog don't get freaked out during transition....

humans have a lifetime of myths and misinformation and disingenuous information and misdirection....to shake loose and our dogs also have a lifetime of kibble to get out of their systems so their digestive tracts can function on a whole new and more appropriate level....

you could feed the patties....many do...and their dogs seem happy....

my two cents, for what it's worth...is to read and then commit...it only seems hard in the beginning and quite frankly.....we complicate it when it is fairly simply.....not easy, but simple....

patience is the other thing to think about...do you have that to wait to see the results. they are not instantaneous.....in the scheme of things, changes come pretty quickly....

if you want, you could go with something like darwin's pet foods....or primal....these are grinds....that way you have some balance between the meat and bone ratio....i'd start with their chicken grinds...

if you go prey model, you don't need veggies...

if you go BARF model, you do...

both companies, and i know there are others....offer a variety of each kind...

[dieterherzog]

This is just to chime in that before you start feeding raw or any homemade food, it is important to RESEARCH and make sure your dog is getting the proper nutrition he/she needs. It is WORSE to feed your dog badly analyzed homemade dog food than kibble.

Dr.Pitcairn's Complete Guide To Natural Health For Dogs And Cats is a book I would recommend for starters. Although there are many things in there that people can disagree on, his homemade dog food recipes are properly analyzed and is a good starting point for feeding raw.

Also, in the book, it tells you which vitamins and minerals are found in what kinds of meat and you can eventually tailor that to your dog's needs.

[MagicRe]

This is just to chime in that before you start feeding raw or any homemade food, it is important to RESEARCH and make sure your dog is getting the proper nutrition he/she needs. It is WORSE to feed your dog badly analyzed homemade dog food than kibble.

Dr.Pitcairn's Complete Guide To Natural Health For Dogs And Cats is a book I would recommend for starters. Although there are many things in there that people can disagree on, his homemade dog food recipes are properly analyzed and is a good starting point for feeding raw.

Also, in the book, it tells you which vitamins and minerals are found in what kinds of meat and you can eventually tailor that to your dog's needs.

Dr. Pitcairn recommends a different style of feeding than let's say, Dr. Tom Lonsdale.....Lew Olson's book is coming out as well....

There are those who believe in veggies, supplementation, those who believe in tripe, others don't.....those who believe no veggies, no supplements, just protein/organs/offal/bone/....

prey model
frankenprey
barf

gotta read and research as has been suggested and then make a decision as to what path you want to travel...