More Dietary Questions

[New Age Outlaw]

OK, I need to pick the brains of the raw feeders here. I was toying with the idea of switching from Eagle Pack Hollistic to Orijen, but then I was also thinking about the possibility of cutting the kibble out altogether. What I was unsure of was how much meat I need to use to substitute for the current kibble component without the dogs losing any weight. Currently they are fed the following:

Ziggy (morning) - 1 cup kibble, 250 g mince, small splash of pet milk

(evening) - 1 cup kibble, 250g meat (turkey neck plus mince to make up the weight to 250g), dollop of greek yoghurt

Cleo (morning) - 3/4 cup kibble, 200g mince, small splash of pet milk

(evening) - 3/4 cup kibble, 200g meat (turkey neck plus mince to make up the weight to 200g), dollop of greek yoghurt

I also split a tin of sardines between them a couple of times per week. The mince that I use is a barf style mix that has raw fruit, veg etc minced in it.

They are both currently a good weight, and look fit and healthy, so I am just curious how much I would need to feed if it was just the meat (mince, necks etc) component with no kibble. Any ideas are welcomed!!

[hopenfox]

Go for 2 - 3% of ideal adult weight...Heres a great calculator to help work out amounts;

http://www.raw4dogs.com/calculate.htm

And don't forget dogs need to use their teeth! The larger and more complicated the meal the better. Think whole or half chickens, lamb roasts. etc. Necks can be a choking hazard for large dogs.

ETA; Forgot to say - congratulations on coming to this decision! Your dog's will love you for it and feeding will be so much more fun!

Edited April 25, 2008 by hopenfox

[New Age Outlaw]

Thanx for that link - it's a handy one! I find with my dogs (they are greyhounds) they sometimes need a bit extra due to their fast metabolism. I have found chicken necks no good (too small), and they tend to choke on chook wings, but the turkey necks are big and thick enough to make them work hard without causing any problems! I know the place I get my meat from also had frames , so I might look into those as well. I prefer things they they can finish in one sitting,rather than things where there will be bits left that they will fight about later! :D Cheers!

[Guest Tess32]

Yep, I'd start with 3% of their ideal weight and go from there

Don't forget though that if you go all-raw, you DO need to feed offal. I feed about 5% of their total diet, twice a week (one day liver, the other day kidney, pancreas etc).

I feed the following types of bones - chicken wings, chicken frames, full chickens, chicken maryland, turkey wings (which I cut in half cos they are ENORMOUS), turkey drumsticks, turkey maryland, lamb necks, whole fish, goat ribs or off cuts, lamb ribs. I also feed meat meals of heart and tongue :D

[New Age Outlaw]

Excellent advice! Thanx!

[westiemum]

Hi NAO,

Good decision - but then everyone knows I'm not a big fan of any sort of dry food ;)

My guys don't get it at all - I had far too much trouble controlling their weight, even on the so-called low calorie stuff - and they are essentially on a modified barf diet - and absolutely thriving.

My guys, being westies, do well on chicken necks, bones, eggs, yoghurt, sardines, mackeral, barf patties, human grade chewy meat and piles of veggies... and carrot pieces as treats.

Will be really interested to hear how you get on.

Cheers

Westiemum :D

[New Age Outlaw]

Well, we have to finish the bag of dry that we have before I can start. The only thing that concerns me is, being greyhounds, that they may lose weight , but I will keep a careful eye on that.

[Guest Tess32]

It's okay if they lose weight, if you find they are, just increase the amount My male lost a bit of weight when I switched, so I upped it 100 grams per day and now he's perfect :D