RAW for beginners
So, since I've heard so many great things about RAW, I'm thinking of introducing it into Ryu's diet. So, I guess my main question is, what is the best (and easiest on the pup) way to start going RAW? And is 6 months too early to do the switch?
Comments
i would like some more information as well! although, if i mix raw, i think i will stick with wild fish.
I'm not sure I can add much to this since Megan is on top of it... but when we switched the Shibas to RAW we did it with no mixing. We just one day went from Kibble to RAW, they did fine. It was pretty amazing. I'm not suggesting you do it, I'm just pointing out that, while it may be hard for us to comprehend, eating RAW food is what the dogs are built to do and they will adapt to it very quickly.
We used to feed just strait meat with some raw veggies as snacks through the day. We would give Chicken "drumettes", Lamb, Duck, whole carcass Rabbits (minus head and fur), Bison, and Turkey legs. Our Shibas did amazing on that diet, they looked great, their teeth were always white and they just seems very healthy. The only issue we had was that Maui loved to eat RAW bone (only raw, never cooked!) and would eat more than he should and would therefore have very dry poops.
When we got Ahi we moved more towards the preprepared raw foods, then with Hilo it was time to find a good kibble... It's just to much $ to feed our pack RAW. Hilo alone would go through a pack of the NV frozen medallions in a day! He needs like 4lb of meat or something ridiculous like that.
Now we just mix it w/ their Kibble.
The only thing that sux about RAW is the mess, we had to put butcher paper down in our condo to let our pups eat on because they tended to get it everywhere.... and Rabbit is really sticky and kinda gross, Maui decided one day he wanted to eat his rabbit on the couch! GROSS!
oh yea, I forgot you have rabbits as pets... sorry if I offended you!
For the record, I like bunnies! It was rather hard for me to feed our pups rabbit at first, but I got over it.... Kinda like when I had trouble feeding my Zebra Moray Eel live craw-fish, I got over it.
I don't know if this is true, but on a raw list I was reading, I read that you shouldn't feed kibble and raw at the same time. Apparently, kibble stays in the digestive system longer than raw does on its own, so if you feed them together, the raw meat will end up being in the digestive system longer than it should. I've read that one reason dogs are more immune to bacteria in meat is that their digestive systems are short, therefore the meat isn't in them long enough for the bacteria to grow to harmful levels, so slowing down digestion can be dangerous. I don't know the source on this information, though, like I said, I heard it second hand from some folks on a raw list. I don't feed kibble and raw together, though, just to be safe. I feed kibble most days and raw once a week or more - it depends on what deals I find at the grocery store and so on.
Personally, I'm all about the raw meaty bones being added rather than the ground up barf-style raw because of its benefits to the teeth. I subscribe to the prey model raw myself, which is easier in some ways because it doesn't require feeding ground up food. I like to go to the grocery store and buy meaty bones that are less desireable for human consumption like necks, hocks, tails, and so on. That can't make up the entire diet, of course, but it's a good introduction because dogs generally like to chew on bones. At least, that's been my experience with my pups. Tojo's gotten raw his whole life but Rakka had never had raw before coming to live with us and I just started giving her raw meaty bones along with Tojo and she went nuts over them. Getting them used to organ meat was the only real challenge. Since I've been feeding primarily kibble lately, Rakka hasn't had much exposure, but when I bought that whole turkey to make Ridley's food, I did feed the organs to the dogs (I read to avoid giving too many organs to cats recovering from FLUTD). Tojo loved the organs, but Rakka kind of chewed on them a bit and then let Tojo take them. Of course, back when I first introduced Tojo to a bowl full of buffalo offal, he was pretty skeptical, too, but eventually, he dug right in. He also used to like snacking on whole trout. I would just get some trout that weighed about as much as he needed for a full meal and that would be his food for the day. I haven't tried it with Rakka, yet, though.
As for the mess... when I lived in an apartment, Tojo had to eat all his raw items on the balcony. Now-a-days, I try to feed them outside or in the kitchen where it's easy to clean up, but occassionally, they bring it onto the carpet, which is why I have disinfecting spray on hand. They always manage to clean up all the visible bits, but with a little kid around, I don't want bacteria all over the place. Once I build my kennel runs, though, I plan to always feed them their raw outside. It's too messy otherwise!
So essentially you can purchase grocery store human-grade raw and use that?
I
currently incorporate raw meaty beef shank bones twice a week, but our
female gets bone aggressive so with fosters, we usually cut out the
bones until its easier to manage everyone with a bone.
i had
considered a fish based raw, but my vet warned about farm raised and
fish from anywhere but the US. Honestly, its difficult getting fish for
myself thats only wild caught from the US, and expensive.
Is there any harm in mixing a fish based kibble with a different meat source RAW? This is all a bit confusing..
Heidi - I have read the comments about mixing kibble and raw and I have asked a few vets about it and they all say its BS and not an issue at all. Also, when I was reading those same comments, I remember reading that it was due to the grain in the kibble that caused it to digest slower (at least that is what the commenter said)... so my feeling is if you are feeding a grain-free food w/ raw than that argument doesnt apply.
Jen - Just get human grade meats from your grocery store or food market. That is where we got all ours.
Dave - We got the rabbit and duck from Harry's Farmers Market. Also the Kroger by the Northridge exit off 400 has some odd meats (turkey necks, liver, kidneys, etc.)
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I forgot another thing we gave our pups that they loved... we gave OxTail, the bone in OxTail is very soft and full of marrow.
We just did the math, and for us to feed all our dogs a RAW only diet we would need to feed 10lb of meat a day! If we went cheap and just did chicken (which is not recommended) it would cost us $600+ a month!!! that is w/o any "roughage" and supplements to add to the diet too!
That's why we no longer feed a RAW only diet anymore... we would love to tho.
http://www.rawlearning.com/
has some interesting FAQ's and info for my question about fish!!
WOW! Thanks guys! That was a wealth of information and is going to help a ton