Feeding Well On A Budget

[Golden Rules]

Hey guys! Some more questions for you!

So I bought some chicken frames to give them last night which they loved. But what quantity should I be feeding? Rei is a very small lab. She probably weighs around 28kg at the moment, but looks overweight. She looks "right" at about 25kg.

Kuma's weight is perfect atm, and he's around 35kg

I gave Kuma 2 and Rei 1 last night, but I really have no idea. When I've been feeding them supercoat, Rei's been getting 2.5 cups daily (and is overweight) and Kuma's been on 4 cups (and is perfect).

Also, I noticed a lot of people recommending yoghurt.. What type of yoghurt and how often?

Thanks

Depends on how big the actual carcasses are. If they are large ones, I would just give one each per meal, but cut the fat off the one for the smaller dog who you think is overweight. (Roast pumpkin pieces added to each meal is a great filler but has no calorific value to the dog, so a good way of dropping weight).

If the carcasses are smaller, then one to the smaller dog and two to the larger dog.

I pretty much have always given one large one to each dog per meal (30kg and the younger one is about 20kg but still a pup).

The older dog gets Bonnie Light for his dry food as he has a tendency to put on weight easily, maybe you could look at something like that for your lab?

Yoghurt just needs to be plain but if you only have flavoured, then that is fine (the sugars are of no use to the dogs though).

Mine get it a couple of times a week. Sometimes I forget to buy it so they don't get it for a few weeks. It isn't essential but worth a try to see if your dogs benefit.

[Red Fox]

Hey guys! Some more questions for you!

So I bought some chicken frames to give them last night which they loved. But what quantity should I be feeding? Rei is a very small lab. She probably weighs around 28kg at the moment, but looks overweight. She looks "right" at about 25kg.

Kuma's weight is perfect atm, and he's around 35kg

I gave Kuma 2 and Rei 1 last night, but I really have no idea. When I've been feeding them supercoat, Rei's been getting 2.5 cups daily (and is overweight) and Kuma's been on 4 cups (and is perfect).

Also, I noticed a lot of people recommending yoghurt.. What type of yoghurt and how often?

Thanks

I *think* Billinghurst recommends feeding 2-4% of the dogs ideal body weight per day (adult dog on a raw diet). Someone else might be able to clarify that..

Yogurt - plain, natural yogurt with probiotics. (Though any other type won't hurt either)

[CazReiAndKuma]

Excellent thanks. I've just sent my husband to woolies to get plain yoghurt, and tinned sardines, and we bought some coprice dry food to try them on today.

I also bought a grooming mitt and some shampoo and if the weather holds out I'm gonna go give em both a good scrub this afternoon, see if that improves their feral looking coats.

I wish you could still buy Missing Link. My dogs did great on that stuff. (ETA - I just googled it and apparently it IS available again on some websites. Wonder if it's worth looking into that again. looks pretty expensive. Anyone else using it?)

Thanks again peoples!!

Edited January 30, 2011 by CazReiAndKuma

[sheena]

I'm a Black Hawk plus raw meaty bones here.....my chocolate border collie's coat is so lovely & soft, shiny & dark. I also give her a going over most days with my LePooch brush to remove dead hairs from her double coat. Livamol is really good for dog's coats too, especially dark colours.

[Nekhbet]

I dont see the obsession with having to feed some sort of dry food. Why spend money on a bag of rubbish PLUS meat when you can go straight to the good stuff.

At the moment I'm feeding pet mince which is minced frames and some organ meat, plus some minute oats, a slurp of oil and some VAN Health Booster. Saving the oats I chuck in rice/veg mix but the oats are doing a better job of keeping weight on the Mal then the rice is. I put a mug of water in the oats and let them sit for a while then mix it in with the meat. They also get whole frames and raw meaty bones. Oats/rice/pulses/veg stops them getting constipated and soaks up the carcass farts.

[Gayle.]

My girl can't tolerate all raw for some reason, she just vomits it straight back up. So I switched from 100% raw to a combo of kibble and raw and they all look the best they ever have.

[Boxer05]

My girl can't tolerate all raw for some reason, she just vomits it straight back up. So I switched from 100% raw to a combo of kibble and raw and they all look the best they ever have.

Same here Gayle. A mixture of both works well for both my girls.

[minxy]

Those of you who feed raw, do you find it's cheaper than kibble anyway?? It seems like it would be, but I'm not sure. Once I can afford to buy a bar freezer I'd like to start giving Kyojin raw one meal a day to see how he goes on it. Surely it can't be any more expensive than ProPlan..

[Mason_Gibbs]

Those of you who feed raw, do you find it's cheaper than kibble anyway?? It seems like it would be, but I'm not sure. Once I can afford to buy a bar freezer I'd like to start giving Kyojin raw one meal a day to see how he goes on it. Surely it can't be any more expensive than ProPlan..

I dont find feeding RAW cheaper but I have an allergy dog and he can only get lamb, roo and goat so I cannot do chicken which would work out heaps cheaper for us!!!

My 32KG lab gets, 200g mince/meat a day, some pumpkin/sweet potato and a raw bone. He also gets fish oil and evening primrose oil a day and sardines and eggs once a day, and some yoghurt a few times a week.

[sheena]

I get turkey necks, turkey wings & lamb flaps from Woolies for around $4 - $5 a kilo. Also very top quality pet mince from Highlands Meats for 3.95 kilo...comes in roo, beef, lamb, chicken or a combination. My Black Hawk kibble cost me $90 for 20 kilos & she gets a cup of this at night with a bit of the meat on top. In the mornings she gets the yummy raw meaty bone. I do vary the amount of food she gets depending on her activity level during the day. I am not worried about money as long as she is getting the best value. We usually have one of our own beasts in the freezer, then she gets the cheaper cuts of beef.

[Rottsup]

Those of you who feed raw, do you find it's cheaper than kibble anyway?? It seems like it would be, but I'm not sure. Once I can afford to buy a bar freezer I'd like to start giving Kyojin raw one meal a day to see how he goes on it. Surely it can't be any more expensive than ProPlan..

We have 2 Rotties - 40kg & 56kg

It costs us to feed RAW only for both dogs - $45 for 8 days (that works out to be less than $6 per day for 2 big dogs)

Victoria is more expensive than WA for RAW by $36 pm for what we buy but I believe that is because we feed mostly Roo and it is illegal (for some silly reason) to cull Roo's in Vic so the meat has to be brought in from NSW.

We feed Roo but also beef, lamb only for the young dog, too fatty for mature dogs, chicken carcas (or wings, necks) and offal. These meats are fed either on the bone or minced. If minced we mix in some or all of the following: grated carrot & sweet potatoe, raw finely chopped spinich, brocoli, silverbeet (all veg are grown in the garden so cost is almost nothing) plus rice or oats, powdered kelp, sardines in oil, egg, garlic & yogurt. They also get the odd cooked sausage, rear cooked liver or piece of cheese but these are usually training treats.

Their coats are alway shiney with or without a bath, their weights are managed within a kg only by adding or subtracting half a handful of meat mix, their "number twos" are minimal for big dogs.

Good luck

[Mason_Gibbs]

Those of you who feed raw, do you find it's cheaper than kibble anyway?? It seems like it would be, but I'm not sure. Once I can afford to buy a bar freezer I'd like to start giving Kyojin raw one meal a day to see how he goes on it. Surely it can't be any more expensive than ProPlan..

We have 2 Rotties - 40kg & 56kg

It costs us to feed RAW only for both dogs - $45 for 8 days (that works out to be less than $6 per day for 2 big dogs)

Victoria is more expensive than WA for RAW by $36 pm for what we buy but I believe that is because we feed mostly Roo and it is illegal (for some silly reason) to cull Roo's in Vic so the meat has to be brought in from NSW.

We feed Roo but also beef, lamb only for the young dog, too fatty for mature dogs, chicken carcas (or wings, necks) and offal. These meats are fed either on the bone or minced. If minced we mix in some or all of the following: grated carrot & sweet potatoe, raw finely chopped spinich, brocoli, silverbeet (all veg are grown in the garden so cost is almost nothing) plus rice or oats, powdered kelp, sardines in oil, egg, garlic & yogurt. They also get the odd cooked sausage, rear cooked liver or piece of cheese but these are usually training treats.

Their coats are alway shiney with or without a bath, their weights are managed within a kg only by adding or subtracting half a handful of meat mix, their "number twos" are minimal for big dogs.

Good luck

I do my RAW for about $45 for one dog for a fortnight, I pay $3.50 for a KG of mince/meat and then $4.50 for a 4kg bag of bones. I dont grow my own veg so I buy fresh pumpkin and sweet potato plus the yoghurt, eggs etc. I must look into getting some frozen veg though.

[minxy]

Thanks for those responses. They've given me lots of ideas to think about!

[Nekhbet]

My girl can't tolerate all raw for some reason, she just vomits it straight back up. So I switched from 100% raw to a combo of kibble and raw and they all look the best they ever have.

thats why I add the rice/veg/oats. My dogs never get a straight meat meal unless they're just munching on a bone whilst relaxing.

[megan_]

Those of you who feed raw, do you find it's cheaper than kibble anyway?? It seems like it would be, but I'm not sure. Once I can afford to buy a bar freezer I'd like to start giving Kyojin raw one meal a day to see how he goes on it. Surely it can't be any more expensive than ProPlan..

If you buy human grade (ie pet stuff that comes from a butcher) it can gete expensive. I won't buy stuff from pet supply stores that don't have the same standards as human grade food (eg hyatid (sp) inspections).

My girl doesn't do very well on raw so they only get it occassionally. IU have never fed them straight meat, it is the bone that seems to upset her tummy the most.

They are fed a kibble that is free of artificial colours, flavours and preservatives. Their #'s are small and not smelly. The added advantage of the kibble is that they can use one of their many puzzle toys. .

[CazReiAndKuma]

Loving all these replies! I've got so many fantastic ideas on how to make my dogs healthier without spending a fortune. You girls rock.

BTW I gave them a really thorough wash and scrub down yesterday, and they look heaps better already, so I think the faded yucky coats are the result of a mault. Few!

I like the minute oats and frozen veggies idea. Will give that a go occassionally too. My doggies will be eating better than me! Yay!

[piper]

I dont see the obsession with having to feed some sort of dry food. Why spend money on a bag of rubbish PLUS meat when you can go straight to the good stuff.

Because I do not have a large freezer and nowhere to put 1 (I want 1 though) and I am not going to go to the shops every other day whenhalf the time they don't have much suitable anyway.

Whenever I am at the shops if the bitcher or supermarket has suitable stuff then I will get as much as I can keep in the frdige and reasonably feed without it going off. If they do not have much there or I don't get to the shops then they have kibble usually with eggs or sardines or yoghurt added to it.

For dry food you could mix a higher quality kibble like Black Hawk with something like Coprice/Uncle Albers/Breat Barko to bring the average cost down. You woudl need the ability to store a large amount though as they are all 20kg bags. I have thought about it when money is tight but then get back to the lack of storage and also how long it would take to get through it issue.

[Nekhbet]

Because I do not have a large freezer and nowhere to put 1 (I want 1 though) and I am not going to go to the shops every other day whenhalf the time they don't have much suitable anyway.

I meant this as a mixer with the raw meat, now why do people feed dry food in general. Instead of buying a big bag of low quality dry just get some homebrand rice/oats and a mineral/vit mix. Skip the byproducts totally, thats all I meant

[JulesP]

I don't mix dry with the meat. They are normally fed in different meals. Why some dry? Hedging my bets I guess. Rather then using a vitamin mix they get the super premium dry.

I used to feed BARF as per the book, with kelp, juiced veggies etc. I had a bit of a traumatic incident and stopped feeding it. One dog is on full raw though as she refuses to eat kibble. The other 2 and still 50/50.

If you do a fair bit of leg work i think raw isn't too pricey. Hunting down cheap bones etc.

[Mason_Gibbs]

My girl can't tolerate all raw for some reason, she just vomits it straight back up. So I switched from 100% raw to a combo of kibble and raw and they all look the best they ever have.

My dog used to be sick on bones, until I started giving him roo bones, he seems 100% on them for some reason and I occassionally give him lamb bones too now and as long as he does not get the lamb bones daily he is fine with them.