Raw Pet Food

[RobynR]

My husband and I are looking into raw pet food diets for our cat and dog.

Our cat is overweight, we are currently feeding her Wellness, and although she likes it, she is not doing as well on it, as we had hoped. The vet is continually pushing their 'prescription' food and looking at the ingredient list makes me shudder. Not to mention, the cat has not really loved anything they've sent home with her.

Our dog is a Mini Schnauzer who is about a year and a half old. She is eating Now! and is doing fine on it but we are looking at more natural feeding options. We currently supplement her diet with raw marrow bones and fresh fruit and veggies.

I suggested to the vet we were researching raw diets and they freaked, telling me it is an awful idea and could make our pets very sick. I'm sure it could, but from the looks of it, if done properly has actually been very successful for many people.

Diana, I know from a previous thread, you are feeding a raw diet to your dogs; can you please suggest a couple of links to sites that have facts about it? Also, can you tell me the specifics of your dog's diets? How long have you had them on it?

Does anyone on here feed their cats a raw diet? This has been much harder to find info on than dogs and info or links would be appreciated.

Many Thanks, Robyn

[Leah]

Myka also feeds her dog raw food as well.

[365seasons]

I'm not sure about cats, but we feed our boxer a raw diet, and I will never again feed a pet anything else in my life. It has done nothing but good things for our dog. Feeding raw worked better than any supplement or vitamin after he got surgery on a torn ACL.

Hopefully you can find some information for cats. Best of luck.

[Aquattro]

Raw is the only way to go, IMO. A bit more work, but well worth it. I think the only difference between dogs and cats, is cats need 100% protein. Dogs can have added veggies( I don't add any, but that's an argument for elsewhere)
You have options of buying prepackaged products, from minced "stuff" to butcher blocks of meat, or ust feeding meat with bones. There are a lot of great sites on feeding raw.
Here's a good one to start with

http://www.rawlearning.com/

[RobynR]

Thanks for the link Brad! I will check it out tonight.

Another question; for those of you that do feed raw, what do your vets say about it?

Mine seriously thought I was crazy when I mentioned we were considering it. They were very strongly against it.

[Aquattro]

Some vets are supportive, some not so much. It depends on their background and what they've been taught in canine nutrition class. One vet told me it was, bad, the next told me to cook the meat (really bad advice with bones in tact) and the last vet I talked to only had concerns about a clean cooking environment for raw feeders that might have kids and such. Many go on about puncture injuries, which are certainly possible, but none could actually claim to ever having seen one personally.
One of the sites details a lot about disspelling myths of raw feeding, and why vets, many whom have only had a few hours total education on canine nutrition, have the opinions they do.
Most people I associate with in my dog friend circle feed raw, and have been for years. These dogs are all in great shape, can chase sheep all damn day and still have energy to play some fetch after dinner. There are lots of benefits, some risks, to you and/or your dog, and doing lots of research will let you make a choice that is right for your animals.

Oh, found the myths link, give that one a read

http://www.rawfed.com/myths/

[brickwood]

Check this link out. This lady knows her stuff.

www.chowfornow.ca

[mws]

Hi! I feed both to my dogs, because of the cost of raw alone. Raw in a late afternoon and kibble(grain free) before bad time. Never mix two together.
You can find some links on my website.I been on this schedule for 5 years and my dogs don't have year infections anymore.(used to be chronic)
There eyes don't tear, coats are great and so on.

Old school vet freaking out - nothing new there.You probably will have to find a holistic vet, other wise everything happens to your dog or cat will be blamed on raw.
Dogs and cats diet is very much the same, just don't stick with same type of meat all the time. Many people forget it's a lot of different proteins out there, other then beef and chicken. Don't stress your self out for the raw not being a complete diet, as long as you have a variety over a week period, you are fine.

Good luck,
Natalia Koutsil
Larkspur Standard Poodles
www.larkspurpoodles.com

[Diana]

Hiya. Yes I do feed raw to my dogs (3 miniature pinschers). One gets only raw 100% because she has allergies. The other two will get at least one meal of raw a day and occasionally one meal of an extremely high quality kibble (EVO). We do this mainly for convenience and cost. Our cat also gets some raw and some EVO cat kibbles.

I personally do not prefer feeding kibbles but my fiance still has some troubles defrosting raw food daily (sigh).

As far as what raw foods we feed, it varies. We used to feed chicken but I've kind of leaned away from that because I just don't like feeding it. We rotate between unique and different protein sources. Buffalo, lamb, and venison. We don't usually do beef because of allergies. Mostly we purchase Nature's Variety for convenience. They have good percentages of meat, bone, offal, and veggies.

http://www.naturesvariety.com/rawDOG

Sometimes we will buy different brands of meats just for variety. They have been on raw for about a year and a half now.

Yeah and you can expect vets to have different reactions. Most of them get their nutritional training from pet food companies. The holistic vet I go to reccommends raw however wants to ensure the animals are getting proper amino acids, etc. We also got a little omega-boost additive that is probably mostly fish oil.


Cheers!
-Diana

[Ryan]

You know I tried the raw diet when I 1st got my shorthair and can honestly say I didnt say any difference between it and a high quality kibble other than the kibble is 99% easier to feed. I raised him on Acana (its made right here in AB) and recently switched him to Eukanuba after some flatulance issues with him. Now both him and my setter are on Euk and are doing awesome.

This dog took Best Of Breed 4 times in his short show carrier, beating the #4 GSP in canada multiple times as a 9-14 month old puppy. He also earned a Field Dog title and I am 1 pass away from an obedience title. Needless to say I am pretty happy with the results I seen from a good kibble.

I have now started supplementing kibble though with yogurt, or grease especially during the fall when he is hunting hard and is always getting bathed. Keeps his coat nice, shiny and his skin moist so there is no dandruf.