Pet foods!

[Whatigot]

my pointer LIVES for chicken.
He lOVES raw, bone in chicken and has never had a problem stremming from it.
I usually give hin necks and backs, sometimes thighs for a treat.

[leezard]

My animals all seem to require different things and, as such, get different diets. Feeding time in this house is fun.

One cat has a problem with bladder crystals, so is fed 1/5 can Hill's c/d in the morning and 1/4 cup of dry in the evening.

The other cat gets the same. She hasn't had any issues, but it's good maintenance and her coat is shiny. Doesn't hurt.

The mini American Eskimo we have has teeth problems -- she has an underbite, and she's cursed with the horrible "small dog" dirty teeth, so has been put on hill's t/d prescription diet (yes. It's an expensive food bill we carry). She also gets a teaspoon of canned go! every night as an extra. The go! is better food than I myself eat on a day to day basis!

We also have an 80 lb boxer/rotti who very full of energy -- we considered the raw diet, but it doesn't fit into our lifestyle very well, with the thawing, etc. And camping would also make this difficult. She is also allergic to corn and corn products, so dealing with her runny stools is definitely not an option. We opted to put her on Orijen -- it's the closest I've ever seen kibble come to the raw diet. She seems to absolutely love it, and fills up pretty good. Not completely, but I'm of the opinion that she will never feel completely satisfied! She also gets a portion of the canned go! at night.

All four of them get pieces of chicken/beef/bison/moose whenever I cook dinner.

I work at a vet clinic, and they actually recommend Purina's vet diet for most maintenance diets. There ARE corn by products in the food, but they apparently have specific proteins that are necessary for clean eyes, coat, etc. I've done a few in-services, but I'll admit that not a lot of the information stayed -- this happens when I get interrupted by customers and phone calls! The stuff is guaranteed, though -- if a dog doesn't like it, or the owners don't like the smell, or an animal is allergic to it -- Purina offers a 100% money back guarantee. This in itself speaks volumes -- I don't know of any other pet food company that will back this kind of guarantee up without a fight.

[Whatigot]

Pedigree is the company who bought nutro who then poisoned a lot of animals.
No trust in that company, money back or not.
http://www.squidoo.com/Nutro-Dog-Food


edited.
pedigree, NOT purina.

[leezard]

purina is the company who bought nutro who then poisoned a lot of animals.
No trust in that company, money back or not.

I wasn't aware of that.

Looks like I have some more reading to do. I'm glad my critters aren't on it, if that's the case!!

[heyfredyourhat]

http://www.mountaindogfood.com


If you are concerned with the raw diet and the freezing and thawing and mess, its really not too bad once you get a "system".

When we were feeding chicken legs (drumsticks) we would just buy a large pack (liek 20ish) put in fridge and feed one leg each every meal. 2 meals per day.

The premade raw comes in different package sizes so its pretty easy then. The stuff we have is in 5lb block maybe?....We take it out of the freezer and thaw it in the sink for a few hours then it goes into a large ziplock bag and into fridge. then we scoop out there meals. The only hassle is the ziplock bag gets dirty from scooping! and then you need to wash your hands.

It is a bunch more work than just throwing a big bowl of kibble on the floor and lettin em go at it. But our dogs are worth all of the extra effort!

[Rbacchiega]

Okay, so Oscar apparently has been being fed crap for food. I've been following this thread and am considering switching over to a raw diet. I figure now would be a good as time as any to get the boys eating properly.

So what are the steps? How do I find BARF/raw food recipies? Has anyone noticed any negative effects of switching over from kibble to raw?

[leezard]

If you are concerned with the raw diet and the freezing and thawing and mess, its really not too bad once you get a "system".

That system fails miserably when you don't know when you'll be home after work. I'm all about systems..... I'm also apparently all about them not working properly. Heh.

[Myka]

www.dogfoodanalysis.com

For those of you feeding kibble, here is a great website that breaks down the ingredients for you so you can understand them, points out strengths and weaknesses of food, and rates the food. You may be surprised just how crappy your dog food may be!

[heyfredyourhat]

Originally Posted by leezard

That system fails miserably when you don't know when you'll be home after work. I'm all about systems..... I'm also apparently all about them not working properly. Heh.

I guess its nice to know when you will be home. But you dont need to thaw it if you dont want, just chuck it in the fridge and scoop out the slop when ever you can.




If you are just switching over you need to be ready for some bad gas and some gross piles! And be careful of large bone, the dog may not be interested at first either, so ramp it up each day.

There are really no special recipes. If you know any hunters or butchers that can supply you with scraps that is a very cost effective way. Like i said we used to just go to the grocery store and buy chicken legs, thighs, duck, turkey necks, beef liver, raw eggs, carrots, rice....Pretty much what was cheap or on sale or marked down.

[Diana]

I have to chime in again, and mention to everyone how easy feeding raw has been for me. There are a few different types of raw I give to my dogs:

1) Nature's Variety pre-made frozen medallions. Has veggies, raw meat, bone and offal all mixed into pre-shaped round medallions. This makes it unbelievably easy to feed. I keep the bag frozen in the freezer, and take maybe 6-8 medallions out at a time (I have 3 dogs), and put them in a ziploc tupperware designated for raw meat, and put them in the fridge to defrost. I will defrost them in the evening so they are ready the next day, and I do about 2 days worth at a time. The bag costs about $15 and has 48 pieces, so it lasts me all month combined with the other foods I feed below. I probebly spend about $40-50 a month on dog food. You can get larger sizes for bigger dogs, I am unsure of the cost.
Here's a picture:


And a link to thier site:
http://www.naturesvariety.com/

2)I will buy "bulk" meats ground with bone and offal packaged into small airtight packages, keep them in the freezer, and defrost one at a time (again, 1 package will last me a couple days). I keep the defrosted meat in another ziplock tupperware. I can pretty much get any meat I feel like .

3)I buy regular ground beef or bison from the grocery store and make this recipe called "Satin Balls" which helps my skinny dog beef up a little. I just omit the grain from the recipe. http://www.njboxers.com/satin-balls-recipe.htm.

4)Once a week I "fast" them to help them digest any bone pieces in thier gut. For this day they get semi-cooked eggs, with shell, and some veggies pulped. I also give them some Salmon oil to help with thier coats and I will try the alfalfa powder as well.

I make sure I wash my hands, cutlery, and counter tops after feeding the dogs, and the containers I keep the meat in go through the dishwater frequently. But honestly, if you cook with raw meat then you already know how to keep your kitchen clean, and there is nothing else to worry about.

This site has been helpful, but there are lots of websites out there on BARF diet. http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm

HTH
-Diana