Raw Food For Abby??

I feed raw! I went through the whole dog food spectrum - crappy kibble to premium kibble to home cooked food to raw. And I've not seen better results than with raw. I didn't start him on it as a pup but if you join the Yahoo group "rawfeeding" you can go through the numerous messages from raw feeders who have advised on how to start pups on it (I read breast meat with bone).

It was abit "difficult" in the beginning because of the transitioning and the introduction of new meats etc, but that was all of 2 months? Now it's easy peasy. I buy the meats, pre pack them by weighing and chopping them into meal sizes (no grinding) and store in containers in the freezer. The day before, I take one and put into the fridge to thaw. If I forget, Romeo gets a meat popsicle. Like Ania, I don't fuss about balance within one meal. It's all about balance over time.

Ania, I like your idea of offal patties! I'm gonna have to make some of those. Romeo usually gets his liver and organ requirements when I bake his treats and he helps lick clean the utensils and bowl. :lol:
 
I balance Treader's meal over a month. I find that once you know what to do, doing it isn't so hard. The biggest inconvenience, other than trying to get a variety of meat that's in my price-range when I go shopping (which I've been able to do so far), is when I forget to thaw something out. Treader won't always eat frozen meat.

Here the percentages, etc that I use:
Type of raw diet: Prey Model (PM)
Treader's ideal weight: Approx. 15 lbs
Is fed: 4% of his weight
Gets: Approx. .60 lbs a day
Gets: Approx 1.80-1.85 lbs of organ a month
Gets: Aproox. .90-.92 1/2 lbs of liver a month, same amount of other screting organ
Gets: Approx. 18 lbs of food a month
Gets: Approx. 10% organ (5% liver/5% other secreting organ)
Gets: Approx. 10% bone
Gets: Aproox. 80% meat
Variety in meat and bone: Chicken, turkey, beef, pork, and other types when possible
Variety in organ: Generally just liver (chicken, beef, pork) and pork brains
 
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lotsahair said:
The reason I switched to raw: I was fostering a pregnant sheltie mix who would not eat anything! I tried several varieties of dry food, and even cooked a bunch of chicken and rice. Then one afternoon she found a den of baby rabbits in the backyard, and, well, had a very delicious meal, apparantly. I was horrified and disgusted, but it was the happiest and most energetic I had seen her, so I began to research raw feeding and was quickly "converted". The poo issue alone is worth it to me! Good luck with whatever you decide.:smile2:
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Yikes, I'm not sure how I would feel about that! Poor bunnies!

My dogs are idiots when it comes to wildlife! They just think its something else to chase and play with! City boys! :rolleyes2:
 
I am working my way up to only raw food. Right now I am about at three quarter raw and rest Rice and Lamb kibble. Ever since I supplemented dry dog food with raw I have not had any problems with Toffee's tummy, as I had before. He had developed a food intolerance, where he just didn't seem to be able to digest all of his food, but throw it up not digested six to eight hours later.. This was on the vet recommended dry dog food I bought for an arm and a leg at the clinic... and after about a year it got real bad... so now, with mostly raw food I swear he's much better off, and the more I read about commercial dog food, the more fed up I get...
 
The sheltie mix was a stray rescue, so it could be that she developed a taste for live animals as a way to stay alive. I think the more common reaction would be for dogs to probably "play" with the baby bunnies, ultimately killing them from shock or internal injuries.
 
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