mumtoshelley Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 HI I'm in 2 minds at the moment I want try my dogs on a raw diet but then I come across websites saying raw feeding isn't a balanced diet. It says raw diets are 70% water so not much nutrience or you have to feed alot of it. Reading the pro and cons on raw feeding is making me want to stick with what I am feeding now. Right now I'm feeding black hawk and paws fresh lean mince http://pawsfresh.com.au/pet-food/pouches-dogs.asp Those that do feed a raw diet have you had any problems? how are your dogs eg coat wise etc?Also would a raw diet help my dogs weight wise? Is it normal for my dogs to scratch 3-4 times a day? I could be taking them for a walk and they will come to a dead stop to scratch. Any information would be great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Bruce Syme Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 If you would like to do some research PM me your address and we can send you a book to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 MtS have a read of this thread LINK it has all the information you will need . it is a LOOONG thread :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remarkabull Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 I have been feeding raw (exclusively now - no dry food any more) for a few months and my dogs look great. At first I was preparing the food from scratch myself, but it was too time consuming (I work full time) so I have switched to VAN. I am feeding 3 dogs - Doberman, JRT and small fluffy X breed - and 1 meal consists of approx 1kg of meat (either minced chicken frames or a mix of horse and buffalo pieces), VAN and occasionally I'll add sardines, raw eggs (inc shell), yoghurt or a tin of salt reduced baked beans. The dogs love it and look fantastic. I will add that the Doberman is only 2 and he runs around 5-10km a day so he does get fed about 3/4 of that mix and the rest is split between the other 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumtoshelley Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 I was thinking of buying the dr Bs aussie barf patties as I'm not sure if I'll be able to do the ratios properly in making my own. Also in this town the only cheap meat I can buy is beef,lamb,ox heart,liver,kidney and ox cheek. For pork,chicken,turkey I'll have to pay $15 a kg. I'll be feeding 1 13 year old male golden retriever,1 3 year old female golden retriever,1 7 month old female whippet and 1 6 year old male chihuahua. 3 of my dogs have weight problems even when feed the tinyest amount of food or how much exercise I give them. Vets said there thyriods are normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumtoshelley Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 butchers here I have rang I can get lean beef pieces $6 a kg lamp flaps cut up $5 a kg ox heart $3 a kg ox cheek pieces $5 a kg ox liver $2 a kg ox kidney $5 a kg lamb heart $5 a kg lamb kidney $3 for 6 to 8 beef kidney $4 a kg I can get chicken giblets at the supermarket when they have them,chicken heart,liver and kidney. I can sometimes get a gutted rabbit for $8 each. I have plenty of fresh eggs as we own chooks, I do feed tin macheral,sardines and salmon once or twice a week. I do give my dogs turkey wings,chicken wings,chicken frames to 3 dogs, I cut a chicken wing in half for my chihuahua or he gets a chicken neck. Here I can get roo mince but Buddy my 13 year old golden doesn't like roo. I can get pork mince and turkey mince at around $5 for 500grams. I can get chicken pet mince 24 kgs for $20 but it looks quite fatty. I was planing on buying raw food on the 16th of this month so I need to make up my mind make my own or buy already made. The thing I am not sure of is do I need to add any supplements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumtoshelley Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 Also I did a bit of calculating could be more or less its says I should feed Shelley who should be 28kgs 560 grams a day, Buddy 740 grams a day,Missy 265 grams a day,Rascal 60 grams a day. If I buy 5kgs of beef,5kgs of ox heart,5kgs of ox liver,5kgs of lamb kidney,5kgs of lamb heart right there I'm looking at $95 and will only last 2 weeks,then $60 on raw meaty bones so all up $155. Now with the dr bs aussie barf patties 12x250gram patties both goldens and whippet will only get 1 pattie plus a raw meaty bone a day, 1/4 pattie plus a chicken neck or half a wing a day.So 1 12x250gram box will last Rascal 48 feeds, 1 box will last 2 days for 2 goldens and a whippet. Each box costs $24 so I would need 5 boxes to last a fortnight so thats $120 then bones on top of that $60 thats $180 for 2 weeks worth of food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becks Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 (edited) you don't want to be giving so much offal to them, mine get it once or twice a week. Can't get any exotic meats here, so mine have green tripe, chicken or beef mince with blended veg and fruit along with chciken wings and lamb ribs. Plus cottage cheese, yoghurt, eggs with shell. Have you checked with the list of suppliers in the sticky thread above? maybe they can send you food if you bulk buy. The thing with raw diet, the balance comes over the week or month, instead of trying to stuff every vitamin and mineral into each meal. Feeding a varied diet over several days will do that. If you are worried, you can always do one kibble meal and one raw meal Edited February 9, 2012 by becks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inevitablue Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 That's way too much offal, hence why it looks expensive. Mine get about 5% offal over the course of the week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espinay2 Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 (edited) Those that do feed a raw diet have you had any problems? how are your dogs eg coat wise etc?Also would a raw diet help my dogs weight wise? Is it normal for my dogs to scratch 3-4 times a day? I could be taking them for a walk and they will come to a dead stop to scratch. Any information would be great. I have been feeding a raw diet for over 15 years. I have not had any problems feeding this way and have seen only benefits in my dogs. My Dogs coats are beautiful and heathy (some would call them stunning ;) ) Dogs can get fat or thin on a raw diet just like any other diet. In the end it simply comes down to how much you feed (calories in versus energy used). You can't blame a raw diet as such for a fat or thin dog. I have some dogs that need more food and some dogs that need less. And some need more or less at different stages of their life (and even at different times of the year). This principle really holds true no matter what type of diet you feed though. All dogs will have a scratch from time to time, just like we do. If it is excessive though, you may have issues. One cause may be a lack of essential fatty acids. Omega 3 EFA's are easily destroyed by heat so most commerical dog foods will be deficient in them. Add feeding lean meats (it is the fat that contains any EFA's) and that may be part of your problem. If you are not supplementing with something like fish oil I would probably at least be doing this. Agree with those above - you only need a small amount of organ meat. in size, maybe the equivalent of one lambs kidney and one lambs heart per week per dog (for the bigger dogs). That is all. One lambs liver may last you a couple of weeks. Edited February 9, 2012 by espinay2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisovar Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Heart is classed as muscle meat and I feed that more frequently than liver, and it is quite cheap. Personally I think the OP has more of a problem with portion size and feeding lean meats, given that the dogs are overweight and have been for quite some time. My dogs are fed predominately Raw and have been for many years, all very healthy, great coats, and making old bones. Raw feeding does not need to be difficult or expensive and I think the OP tends to be over thinking the whole diet thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espinay2 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Personally I think the OP has more of a problem with portion size and feeding lean meats, given that the dogs are overweight and have been for quite some time....... Raw feeding does not need to be difficult or expensive and I think the OP tends to be over thinking the whole diet thing. Yes, agree with the above. Agree heart is muscle (though a bit of a 'special' one and can be classified as both organ and muscle). It tends to have a higher nutrient density than many other muscle meats. It is an excellent source of taurine in particular. Particularly good for cats for this reason. I do tend to feed it more often than other organs when I can get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Raw feeding does not need to be difficult or expensive and I think the OP tends to be over thinking the whole diet thing. I agree . Mum to Shelley ..have a read of that thread .. work out a basic 'recipe', and then feed HALF of what you worked out is enough ;) Your guys have only you to help them regain their waistlines .It's hard, I know - my dog always looks at me as if he is starving slowly - and he gets very little food .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumtoshelley Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 (edited) 3 of my dogs are already getting the bare minimum now as it is, Shelley looks like she is going to eat the bowls aswell thats how hungry she feels. The only dog I'm not having any trouble maintaining the weight is my whippet Missy. 560grams of food is 2% of what Shelley should weigh, 740grams for buddy is 2% aswell,missy 265grams is 2.5% and Rascal is 60grams 2% of what he should weigh 3kgs at the most. Like I said variety in this town is going to be difficult. Edited February 10, 2012 by mumtoshelley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chequeredblackdog Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 (edited) My dogs get prodominately raw, and two of them are on diets. (Sadie is on a fairly severe one too! As she's had a cruciate surgery and hasn' t been able to exercise.) I've found that to stop them from begging etc. the best thing is to bulk out their meals. I do this with Low GI veggies. Sadie's meals look TINY without the bulking out (and I'm sure she'd think so too!) But with the added veggies she's happy and she's losing weight too. Also breaking up her quota into smaller more frequent meals (usually 3 if I'm home.) has helped too. edited cos I a retard! >.< Edited February 10, 2012 by Chequeredblackdog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espinay2 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 (edited) 3 of my dogs are already getting the bare minimum now as it is, Shelley looks like she is going to eat the bowls aswell thats how hungry she feels. The only dog I'm not having any trouble maintaining the weight is my whippet Missy. 560grams of food is 2% of what Shelley should weigh, 740grams for buddy is 2% aswell,missy 265grams is 2.5% and Rascal is 60grams 2% of what he should weigh 3kgs at the most. Like I said variety in this town is going to be difficult. That is actually quite a bit of food. 740 grams is around 3/4 of a kilo and my Pyreneans eat less than that! By feeding the equivalent weight as raw meaty bones rather than minced up they take longer to eat it, are more mentally stimulated and more satisfied. If you are feeding ground up stuff, mix some low fat/low salt stock/broth in with it. It will make them feel fuller without adding calories. The amounts you list though are more than enough. Don't confuse hunger with enthusiasm and opportunism. Edited February 10, 2012 by espinay2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now