Feeding A Raw Diet, Without Bones?

[Sandra777]

Don't worry about antlers, greenies, rawhide or any other nonsense. Go to your butcher or browse the meat cabinets at the supermarket and get suitable sized raw, fresh meaty bones that can be completely consumed.

The vet would probably be anti raw food because the vast majority of vets are educated on canine nutrition by dog food companies. Only those with a specific interest in canine nutrition will think past this point and draw their own conclusions. Some remain anti raw food but some don't. I prefer older vets for this very reason,they have had time to live in the real world and understand that not everything they were taught at vet school is the ultimate answer to everything.

[minimax]

hmmm no idea why vet said so but she was very sure kibbles is much balance food.

Will look into bigger bones. I bought the Antler online and will see if that is safe enough for Snowy to get on with it

An antler isn't a bone

[ChewieTAG]

hmmm no idea why vet said so but she was very sure kibbles is much balance food.

Will look into bigger bones. I bought the Antler online and will see if that is safe enough for Snowy to get on with it

An antler isn't a bone

Yeah it is not a bone. I mean to say I will look into bigger bones on my next shopping.

I've bought antler yesterday, online, and will see how SNowy goes with it..

[persephone]

kibble wont prevent tartar build up at all, I am yet to see a dog on even premium kibble with shiny white teeth.Get bones bigger then your dog can possibly swallow.

Teeth cleaning has to involve ripping of bits of meat, connective tissue etc and using ALL the teeth, not just those gluten and glycerine laden dental chews that only the molars chew. A dog doesnt use its canines or incisors to chew kibble either so how do they get clean?The smallest dog I have on a raw diet is a pug who had a dental.

No more dry food it's rubbish, she even gets nice big bits of bone to molest lol no smell and her teeth are staying clean

, nekhbet.

Snowy would probably you if you get him a BIG bone ..like a turkey neck or a BIG chicken neck .... that's a couple of meals right there- meals he has to work at getting..not like slurping up rice & mince :) It will keep him happy for an hour or so chewing , and as nekhbet says .. that long period of SIDEWAYS chewing as they get meat off bone, is what cleans teeth..not a 'chomp, chomp"-swallow

Edited October 26, 2012 by persephone

[Steve]

raw chicken minced frames is best but if its a worry about replacing calcium you can add crushed egg shell - Ill dig out the ratios of shell to meat later today. If its teeth then the antler is good.

[ChewieTAG]

raw chicken minced frames is best but if its a worry about replacing calcium you can add crushed egg shell - Ill dig out the ratios of shell to meat later today. If its teeth then the antler is good.

I saw some article about the egg shell, haven't try that. thanks for digging out the ratio.

I am expecting the antler to arrive next week, will give it a go and see how Snowy likes it. He is a swallower so am worry he will bite off a chunk of bones and swallow it whole without munching.

I think if the bones I get is too big, he won't be able to munch on his hind teeth

[JulesP]

kibble wont prevent tartar build up at all, I am yet to see a dog on even premium kibble with shiny white teeth.

Amber has :) I am quite surprised as I was worried about her teeth. She eat Hills L/D kibble. No bones as she can't have them, no greenies etc either for the same reason. Her teeth look better than Poppy's who does eat bones.

[persephone]

Amber has :) I am quite surprised as I was worried about her teeth. She eat Hills L/D kibble.

This is interesting , Jules ..perhaps, with her altered chemistry, she doesn't produce the same things in her saliva?

[JulesP]

Amber has :) I am quite surprised as I was worried about her teeth. She eat Hills L/D kibble.

This is interesting , Jules ..perhaps, with her altered chemistry, she doesn't produce the same things in her saliva?

Yeah I was quite concerned about how her teeth would go. The food is vegetarian so don't know if that makes a difference? The tinned Hills L/D takes a bit of chewing too, it is firmer than normal tinned dog food.

[persephone]

Hmmmm :)

[espinay2]

If you are worried about bones, as mentioned, feed bigger. They also need to be MEATY (which I think many forget) as it is the action of the teeth going through the meat and sinew etc which provides a lot of the abrasive cleaning action. Hard bones without meat will not clean more than the tips of the teeth, and if they are too hard can result in fractures. Large (as big as your dogs head) softer MEATY bones are your best bet for teeth cleaning. Also feed muscle meat it LARGE chunks.

[Maddy]

Even things like mince can be pretty good for cleaning teeth if it's frozen first. I usually stuff mince into chicken frames and freeze them but rolling the mince into a tight ball and then freezing it also works well. I've watched my own dogs eating frozen mince and they gnaw with their incisors but also get at it with their molars to try to get bits of meat off so it seems to do a very decent job. Our oldest dog is ten years old and although there is some damage from his diet before we got him, he still has all his teeth and the condition of them is quite good.

We also give them antlers and wallaby hides to chew on. The wallaby hides are gotten fresh, cut into pieces and then frozen for a week to kill anything on them. The fur is left on the hides and they're not processed in any way. We've had several dogs choke on rawhide so I don't feed that at all now, in any form.