Raw/natural Chitchat

[GSD's 4EVER]

I live on the Sunshine Coast

I can get the meat/mince already done and cut up no problems there is a place down the road that only sells fresh meat for pet food, have been considering buying a juicer.

Just trying to work out the logistics of a juicer + meat adn how to package it for freezing at least a week ahead

Get yourself a Food Saver "Neats". Vac sealed & into the freezer in a flat pack for easy stacking.

[Got Spots]

Any recommendations on a juicer

MUST be easy to clean and use with a large shute

BTW - they LOVE your treaties - especially the perfect pooch

The nervous pup has awesome focus and can train beautifully off lead as long as we are not at obedience school , but will now take treats at school

YEAH

Edited September 3, 2009 by Neats

[laffi]

Neats, if I were you I would start an elimination diet so you decide/know exactly what your dogs eats.

I would not recommend any pre-made patties for dogs with allergies before determining what the dog is allergic to (which type of meat, grains, preservatives etc).

I wold also use human quality raw meat/mince as very often the pet mince contains preservatives.

[GSD's 4EVER]

Any recommendations on a juicer

MUST be easy to clean and use with a large shute

BTW - they LOVE your treaties - especially the perfect pooch

The nervous pup has awesome focus and can train beautifully off lead as long as we are not at obedience school , but will now take treats at school

YEAH

If you're cutting the orange in half & chucking the whole thing in there ... I got nuttin'. If you're doing it by "hand", I've got a Breville Vegetable & Citrus Duo. Cheap as .. it's basically all motor with a casing. When the motor blows, I'll just piff it & get a new one. :D

Aww, "Neats". I aim to please.

[Got Spots]

Where I get my pet mince they process it all onsite and has no preservatives. They get the carcasses or left overs from the butcher they do all the chopping and mincing on site.

The lady I deal with is adamant about preservatives - she won't sell pet meat with it in it

The problem with an elimination diet is I don't know what to do

What ingrediants do I use: - she has had contact with tuna, ocean fish, kangaroo, beef, lamb, assume pork, chicken

- I am not sure I can access rabbit but would like to use it or is it ok to just try the fish - she has only had it once.

What other ingrediant do I use

[BCPuppy]

Would appreciate any opinions

My BC puppy is almost 10 weeks old. Breeder had her on dried puppy, with cooked minced beef or chicken & rice three times a day.

She has taken to raw very well, I started with minced chicken frames with rice, been slowly reducing the rice, breeder also advised some raw veggies, carrots, peas, creamed corn, cooked pasta. Getting rid of the creamed corn, swear it re-assembles into whole corn on the way through :p Mixed in some raw pet mince, all good, next is minced kangaroo. Bone every day, chicken necks and lamb rib so far. Wings are next. Only supplement is omega oil and odd spoonfull of yoghurt. Also has had a tiny piece of kidney and teaspoonfull of liver. She weighs just over 4kg, and is getting roughly 400gm minced + bones per day.

Only worry is she hardly touches the dried food (same she had at breeders), it is available all the time, a couple of mouthfulls a day is all she has, tried mixing in with the raw but she leaves it if she can Should I maybe cut back on the raw and give one meal of dry? Can see myself being left with 10kg of dried puppy food, haha.

I have lots of rib bones in the freezer, chicken wings & drumsticks, chicken livers, kidneys, beef liver, turkey necks, chicken frames, heaps of minced roo, all yet to be added. (I live remote area and dont get to go shopping too often ) Oh and she has had fish one night, live by the coast so fish no problem.

Just looking for reassurance I guess, that I am doing the right thing.

[GSD's 4EVER]

Just looking for reassurance I guess, that I am doing the right thing. :p

There are a lot more people on this thread that have more knowledge than me, but if it were me, I'd cut out the dry food completely. I feed my dogs a natural diet, no commercial food. If she doesn't want the dry, don't give it to her.

From what you've written, your pup has a great variety of foods, all of which have been discussed here. Spirit is my youngest dog. When I got her from the breeder at 8 weeks, I detoxed her on chicken & rice for 3 to 4 days & then she went straight on to a natural diet. When I got Tara, I tried sticking to the breeder's diet which included weet bix, kibble, puppy porridge etc, but all she wanted was Mish's natural food, so I transitioned her to natural within 4 weeks.

I'd say you're doing a terrific job.

[corvus]

Sounds great, BCPuppy.

My pup flatly refused to eat kibble from the moment he had his first meal in my house. As soon as he discovered raw was on offer, he would suck all the raw off the kibble and spit the kibble out. Luckily the breeder gave me a bag when I picked him up, so I wasn't out of pocket. Tried using it as training treats and he treated it with distrust.

I didn't bother with this latest puppy. He just went straight onto raw.

[GSD's 4EVER]

Tried using it as training treats and he treated it with distrust.

Clever puppy !!

[Got Spots]

Very clever puppy - he wants happy paws treats!!!!

I have put my allergic whippet on the dr B's patties b/c frosty paws had corn in them and I read in one of my books that corn is associated with allergies.

However, she is now a little lethargic and is passing rock like poops, could she be constipated. She usually gets at least a bone a day - chicken wings, lamb ribs, beef ribs, turkey necks, roo bones on top of her dinner. She is 11.5kg at present so she gets one patty.

Very unusual for her to finish her dinner after my other dog, and leave bits well that is unheard of

[GSD's 4EVER]

Very clever puppy - he wants happy paws treats!!!!

Anything is better than kibble.

I have put my allergic whippet on the dr B's patties b/c frosty paws had corn in them and I read in one of my books that corn is associated with allergies.

However, she is now a little lethargic and is passing rock like poops, could she be constipated. She usually gets at least a bone a day - chicken wings, lamb ribs, beef ribs, turkey necks, roo bones on top of her dinner. She is 11.5kg at present so she gets one patty.

I stopped giving Mish bones because she started shitting bullets. I give her a bit of psyillium husk in her breakkie every morning as a bit of extra fibre.

[Gayle.]

Well, we took the final plunge.....and gave away 3/4 of a bag of kibble and now it's all totally raw! Aside from table scraps that is.

I realised the dogs hadn't had kibble in well over a month, and so when my son called in last night, I gifted him the almost full bag of Uncle Albers for his kelpie girl. He has no inclination to feed her anything other than kibble and canned food, but at least he's taken my advice and switched Pal for Natures Gift, and Pedigree kibble for Uncle Albers.

But we are now kibble-free! Yay!

[GSD's 4EVER]

Well, we took the final plunge.....and gave away 3/4 of a bag of kibble and now it's all totally raw! Aside from table scraps that is.

I realised the dogs hadn't had kibble in well over a month, and so when my son called in last night, I gifted him the almost full bag of Uncle Albers for his kelpie girl. He has no inclination to feed her anything other than kibble and canned food, but at least he's taken my advice and switched Pal for Natures Gift, and Pedigree kibble for Uncle Albers.

But we are now kibble-free! Yay!

Well done !! Have you noticed the difference in the monthly budget ??

[Gayle.]

Have you noticed the difference in the monthly budget ??

Not really because the dogs have never had much in the way of commercial food anyway....maybe one or two meals a week, so I never spent loads on their dry food.

I have noticed a difference in the budget since I discovered the local market......rather than buying their raw at Coles I'm getting it for less than half the price at the chicken shop and butchers at the market. I can get chicken bones.....chopped up frames, usually halved or quartered, for $1 kg. And a similar price for lamb or beef offcuts (all meat with no bone), and large bags of brisket bones for even less. Coles are $3.49 kg for chicken frames.

I can also get pigs trotters there (I think they're 50c each), and the meat and chicken I buy for us is SO much nicer and there's such a better variety.

[oceanaussi]

I noticed the difference in the budget!!! I now spent more money and time foodshopping for my dogs than for me!

I was never convinced that raw is the right thing, but i know now it is. But i decided to go with the raw rolls - heaps cheaper and more convineant. Mine get bones only twice a week and i do give them natural yoghurt.

[Got Spots]

oceanaussi what raw rolls do you use???

I am doubting I have enough time to make raw, I can barely have enough time to feed myself.

Last week I worked 6 x 13hr shifts - bit stuffed on my days off.

Can't wait til the weekend I have 13hr night shifts to look forward to

[GSD's 4EVER]

I have noticed a difference in the budget since I discovered the local market......rather than buying their raw at Coles I'm getting it for less than half the price at the chicken shop and butchers at the market. I can get chicken bones.....chopped up frames, usually halved or quartered, for $1 kg. And a similar price for lamb or beef offcuts (all meat with no bone), and large bags of brisket bones for even less. Coles are $3.49 kg for chicken frames.

I can also get pigs trotters there (I think they're 50c each), and the meat and chicken I buy for us is SO much nicer and there's such a better variety.

I LOVE markets. We shop at the Vic Market every Sat for meat, fish, grains, vegies & of course I get my offal there. Supermarkets are sooo expensive. You get better quality at a market as well because they buy the beasts themselves & do it all on the spot. And no foam trays or cling wrap.

[oceanaussi]

oceanaussi what raw rolls do you use???

I am doubting I have enough time to make raw, I can barely have enough time to feed myself.

Last week I worked 6 x 13hr shifts - bit stuffed on my days off.

Can't wait til the weekend I have 13hr night shifts to look forward to

i get them here:

http://bigdogpetfoods.com

it's cheaper and more easy to use.

[huski]

I forgot to defrost anything for the dogs yesterday and they had their first meal of kibble in months I felt naughty, like I was giving them maccas or something

Cherry is on Eagle Pack Holistic so it wasn't even bad dried food

[Gayle.]

Last night I was at the local butchers and noticed they had rib cages for sale. I assume they were from lambs, they looked quite small, so I bought two of them for the dogs dinner.

They were the complete rib cage and part of the spine. They didn't look THAT big in the butchers display, but when I gave them to each dog they looked enormous!

The dogs thought all their Christmases had come at once and settled down on an old rug in the living room to munch through their very large dinners. After they'd got through about half, I rescued them and put them in the fridge for today. They had the rest for brekkie.

Next time I'll get the butcher to saw them in half, but the dogs LOVED them. I have never seen them for sale before.

Tonight they got a very small pigs trotter each for their dinner and they'll be having very small dinners for the rest of the week!