We are now into week 3 of Daisy's raw food diet and so far, touch wood, she is doing well.
I had been interested in this diet for some time, once I had read up on how awful commercial pet food is and how totally clueless so many vets are about raw feeding.
However even though I knew in my head that I wanted to put Daisy on a raw diet it has taken me a really long time to get started as I still find feeding her raw pieces of chicken just doesn't sit very well with me or OH.
At the moment she is still mainly on chicken and we had a right old time trying to find somewhere that sold chicken breasts with the bone still in as most places only sell filleted chicken. Now we get her a huge piece from the local butcher and half of one of those lasts her for 2 days. She also has chicken thighs but I have to keep a close eye on her with those as the first one she ate she swallowed it whole.
This week I am going to try her on some lamb chops and I also bought a load of sprats from Tesco which I have put in the freezer as I don't think she is ready for them yet.
Daisy is going for her first booster at the vet this evening. I don't think I am going to be able to talk openly with the vet about her new diet as when I mentioned this diet to the receptionist she said Daisy will get ecoli and salmonella
I have printed off a raw food leaflet but not sure if it's worth giving that to the vet to read or not
Lyn
_______________________________________________ Gold/White Shih Tzu, Green Cheek Conure
Good for you. Certainly a natural way of eating for her. As regards e coli and salmonella. My dogs have ALWAYs eaten this way since I had my first dog, away from my parents, in 1970. None of them have ever had either of these. Plus the fact I have never had a fat dog and/or flatulence from any of them either, My vets know what I feed and I think they know more than to question it
I wouldn't bother telling the Vet about the diet change if they dont' agree with it! There are many suppliers of raw meat for dogs and cats and most deliver free. Landywoods is just one of them. Buying meat from a butcher/supermarket must cost you a fortune! If you are really interested in BARF diet, this site might be of use: http://www.barfworld.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Slave to 3 children, 1 Greyhound, 1 Cat, 4 rescued hens and a very patient hubby x R.I.P: Ellie, Phoebe, Tikka
Freshstart for hens collection point Aylesbury, Bucks
At the moment we are kind of half doing a BARF diet and half doing a prey model diet. The BARF diet I guess is very balanced as long as you think dogs should eat vegetables and right now I am not convinced that they do, but I don't think it matters health wise if they eat them or not as it's the processing of food that seems to be bad so I'm quite happy giving Daisy a few Natures Menu nuggets that have a good variety of nutrients in them for her morning meal and then giving her a raw meaty bone for her main meal in the evening. Right now I feed her outside as it seems easier as she likes to drag the meat around. It is nice to see that her poos are now much smaller and firmer and for a change they don't smell like they used to which is good.
I haven't sat and worked out how much it's costing but as Daisy is small she only needs around 1kg of food a week which isn't too much. OH was looking forward to having lamb chops for dinner though, don't think he realised I bought them for Daisy and not him
Lyn
_______________________________________________ Gold/White Shih Tzu, Green Cheek Conure
We looked into the BARF diet for Lexi as she was partially fed on this from being a small pup and the more we learnt the more we liked the idea. Unfortunately as you may well know Lexi was diagnosed with IBD and cannot now eat it as the poultry especially seem to be a problem although she absolutely loved it all, veg included.
We were persuaded to give veg because when you think of a wild animal the top one always goes for the stomach first and most wild animals eat greens, fruit and berries of some kind. So....we got the veg and pureed them to resemble the contents of the stomach which would be partly digested. They can get an awful lot of protein from the veg too, even celery which has one of the lowest amounts in it.
If you want some kibble without gluten or cereal you can get it from Millies Wolf Heart who are based up north, we are using it for Lexi, although she is not too keen eating any kibble after the BARF diet.
The time to tell your vet what you are feeding her will be when he/she says that she is looking very well/good. LOL
I don't have any problems giving Daisy fruit and vegetables but some people do recommend not giving any at all but I accept the fact that in the wild they will probably eat meat and fruit and vegetables so I do give Daisy bits of our own fruit like bananas and pineapple as she particularly likes them. She also has vegetables in her Natures Menu nuggets but I know her main diet should consist of meaty raw bones and that is what I am trying to aim for.
We went to the vet last night for Daisy's booster and I took along a whole load of printed off stuff about vaccinations and raw feeding. Bit of a waste of time. The vet doesn't agree with titre testing as he says it only gives a "snap shot" for that day and wouldn't really tell if a dog still has immunity to something. He also said the tests are more expensive than the vaccination, but that wasn't why I was asking about them.
He did say how nice and white Daisy's teeth are, guess he didn't notice the two that have plaque on them at the back, then asked what we are feeding her. Now if he hadn't asked I wouldn't have said anything but I also didn't want to lie, so I was open about what she is eating and oh do I wish I had kept my mouth shut as I got another very long lecture about it being bad and was also told dogs fed raw live a shorter life than processed fed dogs. He claims to have done a lot of research into it and that is the opinion he has after doing that research. I should have asked him what he did actually read as I was getting more and more annoyed listening to him
Lyn
_______________________________________________ Gold/White Shih Tzu, Green Cheek Conure
Perhaps he would like to speak to me about their length of time they live. Having lost a 16 year old and a 17 year old in the past 3 years. All of my dogs have lived their life span, apart from two who died under anaesthetic and one from bloat. Not bad out of 14 dogs that I have lost. They do get brainwashed I am afraid. I can imagine my parents being told they need to feed ANY of the animals on commercial food.
wendy wrote:Perhaps he would like to speak to me about their length of time they live. Having lost a 16 year old and a 17 year old in the past 3 years. All of my dogs have lived their life span, apart from two who died under anaesthetic and one from bloat. Not bad out of 14 dogs that I have lost. They do get brainwashed I am afraid. I can imagine my parents being told they need to feed ANY of the animals on commercial food.
Wendy you are an inspiration to those of us who want to raw feed as I had no idea you had been raw feeding for so many years, nor did I realise how long your dogs had lived and I know how big dogs tend to not live as long as small dogs. Having recently lost Mishka we are obviously wanting the best for Daisy as although Mishka lived to a good age I wouldn't say her quality of life was always good as she had so many problems with her teeth, her tummy, her ears, the list goes on. Sadly with hindsight I can see how all of those problems were probably linked to the Hills Science she was eating.
Do you feed your dogs just raw meaty bones or do they have veggies too? I'm still a bit confused as to whether Daisy needs them too. She has lost a bit of weight it seems. Not a great deal but at one time she was 5.8Kg and she is now 5.4Kg and although not underweight I don't want her to lose any more
Lyn
_______________________________________________ Gold/White Shih Tzu, Green Cheek Conure
The only bones I give them are in the raw chicken. I get mine from Anglian Meat Products. They do get veggies, as a mixer sometimes and also they have Raw Green tripe usually once a day. They contain all the vitamins etc. from the veggies/grass the animals eat. I get the tripe from another wholesaler, in Essex.
For someone who is supposedly a 'professional' with the interest of the animals being the most important thing, I think your vet is verging on dangerous with the ill informed information he is giving you, or he is selling the kibble food and making a nice profit from it.
If it were me I would be voting with my feet, sorry, but cannot stand a self opinionated person like that who 'thinks' they know best, but really knows nowt!! Rant now over....
About two years ago, we thought our old dog, Sasha, was at the end of her life and I put her completely on a raw diet where before she was 65% raw. The transformation is amazing and her energy is a good level for a 15 yr old. Our vet was really impressed and went onto the BARF website. She said they barely cover raw diets in training because the rubbish food producers sponsor so much that manufactured diets are really pushed at them.
Sara
"Harm no living thing"
Brilliant hubbie, 2 great teenagers, Sasha the elderly dog and Fin, the evil but loveable cat! 3 chickens; Dottie, Gaia, and Buttercup Night night Rhoda xx
We buy blocks of raw from p@h because its measured and sometimes the free flow version. Costs about £10 a week to feed a 40kg Dobe. We mix it with veg to bulk it up a bit and add 1 codliver oil capsule to each meal. Nico also has an apple and a carrot each day.He does sometimes have chicken as a change but not too much beef as it makes him pop. Lol Smaller poos, fresh breath and a shiney coat. Lorna )
I`m not a teacher for nothing, you know!! If I was clever, I`d be dangerous.
