| PaPiper |
| Posted 2/7/2008 11:50:28 AM |
 |
|
|
 
Active: 09-10-2005
Posts: 327
|
Doing a little research this morning and I am suprised how easy raw feeding can be. It turns out it will cost the same what I'm feeding now. WooHoo!!! Question: Do I slowly switch over or what? I'm planning on buying the premade raw (not doing all the prep myself). |
|
|
| CannonFarms |
| Posted 2/7/2008 4:17:16 PM |
|
|
|
 
Active: 08-13-2006
Posts: 3049
|
Because of the different digestive rates, its not a ideal to do a normal switching formula, most just do cold turkey, yes the Dog gets the runs but thats nothing abnormal just make sure your going to be home the first day or two, I have had very few dogs get the runs. It seems to me that to get them prepared I just add a piece of meat in with their food, since your doing the prepackaged do like a golf ball size a few times the first two times.
Have you read about detoxing? It happens to dogs that come off even the best kibbles, its a rough thing to start but its well worth it in the end.
Once you get used to feeding raw, its even cheaper not to buy the prepackaged raw, that and you lose the benifit of the bones cleaning the teeth and satisfying the urge to chew. Im not really sure if your thinking about the Barf diet when you say prep, opening the package is all i do for mine.
Im sure you have visited www.rawfed.com yahoo groups also have many raw fed groups if you want to get a wide varriety of information, which can be a good and bad thing .
Thank you for considering making the switch, I will be glad to help you all I can. |
|
|
| emlee3 |
| Posted 2/7/2008 4:18:33 PM |
|
|
|
Active: 02-11-2006
Posts: 2084
|
| Quote PaPiper: Doing a little research this morning and I am suprised how easy raw feeding can be. It turns out it will cost the same what I'm feeding now. WooHoo!!! Question: Do I slowly switch over or what? I'm... |
i would go cold turkey. it just depends on your dog. if your Dog is old and has been on kibble his/her whole life than you can switch slowly. pre-made is a bit more expensive than buying bulk at stores but its a lot easier when it comes to prep work. i've used pre-made raw and meat that i buy at the store. just remember to give your Dog lots of variety in different types of meat and cuts of meat.
whats great about the premade raw is that if you can't find a certain type of meat such as rabbit or venison it's a perfect way of giving your Dog some variety. I also like to get the premade raw organ meat from bravo. why? because i HATE the smell of raw kidneys and it seems that my Dog doesn't like it either but when its grounded with liver and heart she actually eats it. I rather not ground the organs myself considering i gag everytime i smell kidney. i have to hold my breath whenever i do give her the organ which is about every other day.
just make sure you check on your dog's stool consistency when feeding raw. if your Dog has sensitive stomach you may want to give your Dog digestive enzyme 30 min prior to feeding him raw and probiotics with his meals. i hoped that helped. |
|
|
| emlee3 |
| Posted 2/7/2008 4:30:49 PM |
|
|
|
Active: 02-11-2006
Posts: 2084
|
| Quote CannonFarms: Because of the different digestive rates, its not a ideal to do a normal switching formula, most just do cold turkey, yes the Dog gets the runs but thats nothing abnormal just make sure your going to be... |
prep work for me means not only opening the package but actually portioning out the meat into freezer bags. i do it about once a month but thats because my Dog only eats about 8-14oz of meat per day so a good 10lb bag of lamb breast needs to be portioned out. Also, i like to control the amt of bone she eats so i usually will have to use my cleaver to cut a large portion of bone.
Pre-packaged raw is very expensive but its worth it if you don't have the time to chop up meat or your only feeding for one/two small-medium dogs. i can't tell you how much i HATE chopping up bone but i do it for the love of my dog. Also, if your not buying bulk or from a raw coop than it gets pretty expensive. Chicken necks (if you can find them) are fairly cheap and so is chicken quarters. Beef is too hard and i would never give beef bone. Rabbit/venison/buffalo/lamb is VERY expensive if you are buying at a supermarket. if you know a hunter than its probably a lot cheaper.
|
|
|
| CannonFarms |
| Posted 2/7/2008 4:47:17 PM |
|
|
|
Active: 08-13-2006
Posts: 3049
|
With the size of my dogs I forget sometimes that things have to be different for the smaller dogs.
I buy out the stores when they have the chicken leg quarters on sale, it takes 20lbs or two bags to feed one night, so its a matter of just opening the bags. the flats of organs i get its about the same story, I get whole rabbits for $6 i have a guy that raises them for snake food.
You put allot more effort into the raw than I do, or most of the people I know, not saying thats a bad thing or anything like that, I just dont think as you do with this but your also on the BARF side of things as where i feed no veggies and very little suppliments if any at all. |
|
|
| emlee3 |
| Posted 2/7/2008 5:07:15 PM |
|
|
|
Active: 02-11-2006
Posts: 2084
|
Quote CannonFarms: With the size of my dogs I forget sometimes that things have to be different for the smaller dogs.
I buy out the stores when they have the chicken leg quarters on sale, it takes 20lbs or two bags to... |
Actually i haven't been feeding my Dog any veggies unless you count giving carrots as a treat but overall i don't do any of the blending anymore. the reason being is that i get pretty lazy and i forget to purchase frozen veggies. maybe one day i'll remember to buy some vegetable and start giving her veggie gruel but till then she's been eating just meat/bones, fish, eggs, and maybe some pureed pumpkin as a "dessert".
20lb of meat will last quite awhile at my house. it's hard to buy in bulk because i don't have the fridge space to put it all. i usually get about 5lb of each type of meat and go from there. i get my meat from a lady who specifically sells meat for dogs at a very reasonable price. I would love to get rabbit for $6 each. she does have whole dressed rabbit but i don't think i have the heart or the stomach to feed my Dog a whole dressed rabbit. i doubt she would eat it anyways. she's a pretty finicky eater esp when it comes to texture which is why she doesn't like kidney or liver unless is grounded with heart. she also doesn't like buffalo meat. i spent 2.99 a lb for a 5lb of buffalo meat and she didn't even bother eating it. She does love rabbit and lamb. not a big venison gal and she hates duck. Too bad because i have about 7lb of duck sitting in my freezer. i'm thinking of making duck broth for her..maybe she'll like it if its cooked.
it's all about trial and error. every Dog is different so you may have to go through different types of meat before you find the one that your Dog loves and even then you may have to convince them (squirting some homemade broth in a chicken wing) to eat their food. |
|
|
| maligirl1 |
| Posted 2/7/2008 6:58:13 PM |
|
|
|
Active: 12-14-2007
Posts: 365
|
right now my Dog is on organic/holistic food.i want to feed her what is best for her and was looking into the raw diet.i would be willing to do the prep myself and if anybody could give me some pros and cons it would be greatly appreciated |
|
|
| CannonFarms |
| Posted 2/8/2008 10:43:34 AM |
|
|
|
Active: 08-13-2006
Posts: 3049
|
| Quote maligirl1: right now my Dog is on organic/holistic food.i want to feed her what is best for her and was looking into the raw diet.i would be willing to do the prep myself and if anybody could give me some pros and... |
In my op there are no cons, but if you visit the site, www.rawfed.com they have a section called myths and it will tell you allot about why you should fed raw and why you shouldnt feed kibble, they have them all on clickable titles so its user friendly.
Holistic diets are great, however its still processed food |
|
|
| maligirl1 |
| Posted 2/8/2008 11:10:31 AM |
|
|
|
Active: 12-14-2007
Posts: 365
|
i will check out that site.just one more question anything in particular i should start her out on to make sure she can handle it? |
|
|
| CannonFarms |
| Posted 2/8/2008 4:20:57 PM |
|
|
|
Active: 08-13-2006
Posts: 3049
|
For the most part dogs have no problems switching to raw, if your really concerned then give her a piece of meat and her regular food for a day or two.
Start with softer bones and if shes a gulper you may have to simi freeze her food. Make sure the food is something fresh enough that you would eat it, later the Dog can perfectly handle that just going bad meat or as its more commonly refered to as "seasoned". |
|
|
| maligirl1 |
| Posted 2/13/2008 9:37:02 AM |
|
|
|
Active: 12-14-2007
Posts: 365
|
started her out on a little chicken yesterday,but still mixing her kibble with it.seemed to handle it ok and i will gradually increase amt. of chicken and other things.trying to stay with the organic part of it if i can.lots of extra work so far but as i said if it does her good i will continue.naturaldane:her stools are a little loose,is that to be expected at least at first? |
|
|
| emlee3 |
| Posted 2/13/2008 10:40:30 AM |
|
|
|
Active: 02-11-2006
Posts: 2084
|
| Quote maligirl1: started her out on a little chicken yesterday,but still mixing her kibble with it.seemed to handle it ok and i will gradually increase amt. of chicken and other things.trying to stay with the organic part... |
loose stool is expected when first starting out. i don't suggest feeding bone with kibble. muscle meat/organ/egg with kibble is fine.
add a little pumpkin puree to her meal to harden the stool.
if you are feeding less than 50% kibble than add some bone to your dog's meal. bone does harden the stool but if you are feeding more than 50% kibble (kibble is fortified with calcium) than you do not have to add bone. |
|
|
| maligirl1 |
| Posted 2/13/2008 11:37:45 AM |
|
|
|
Active: 12-14-2007
Posts: 365
|
ok i will try all of that.but she seems to be doing very well other than the loose stools.a little more energy even,as if a puppy needed more but thanks again.oh i almost forgot-how about the treats,been giving her the holistic txs,are there any special txs for the raw diet? |
|
|
| ShoobyTheDog |
| Posted 2/15/2008 5:00:29 PM |
|
|
|
Active: 02-13-2008
Posts: 143
|
No just slowly change the diet.   |
|
|
Pet Lovers Discussion Forum 
