Raw Pet Food

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

I don't do raw as it just won't work for us.
Steve

You want me to talk to her??

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

You want me to talk to her??

haha. like when has you talking to her ever worked LOL

chicken back would be more expensive than the orijen kibble for me.. not by much.. unless I want to order 100lbs and then take some out to thaw every night.

what do you do for veggies? every raw diet I have read has veggies also.

Steve

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

I have been thinking of switching my 7 month old to raw because he has some allergies and my vet just keeps pushing Medi-cal. Forget it...its way over priced and I have heard its not great food. Of course he is pushing it though, he sells it!

We have a raw foods wholesaler who lives in my building and will sell to me at cost, so no real reason not to try it other than the defrosting. How long does this take and how is it done?

What about for cats? One of my cats seems to have some allergies as well but once again the vets only answer is to feed him medi-cal.

Thanks!

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by GreenSpottedPuffer

I have been thinking of switching my 7 month old to raw because he has some allergies and my vet just keeps pushing Medi-cal. Forget it...its way over priced and I have heard its not great food. Of course he is pushing it though, he sells it!

Thanks!

hehe, ya not great is an understatment. it is one of the worst foods out there from the ratings page. wanna have some fun.. tell that to your vet and watch him try explain his way out of it.

Steve

[MitchM]

I don't think that vets should be selling food products in their practices. It gives a tacit endorsement, and I think it's a conflict of interest.
For me anyways, it takes away some of their credibility for feeding advice.
We feed our dog the prepared "dinner" raw diets, which comes mixed with vegetables, bone, muscle, and organ meat. Every now and then we will put some extra raw pumpkin for extra fibre.

Mitch

[Ryan]

Medi-Cal is one of the worst foods out there.

Acana has a whole line of kibble geared for dogs with allergies. I really like to show people the Salmon and Sweet Potatoe when I hear they have a dog allergic to other foods.

[Diana]

The best thing to do is just read the ingredients list. If it has any grain, rice, potato, or other carbo filler then it is no good for dogs/cats. I always laugh at pet food commercials when they say "contains natural whole grains" and a pretty picture of wheat floats across the screen and make it seem like its such a good thing. Someone is doing a great marketing job when they can make you believe its good for your pets to eat!

But that is true of fast food commercials too...

-Diana

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

hehe, ya not great is an understatment. it is one of the worst foods out there from the ratings page. wanna have some fun.. tell that to your vet and watch him try explain his way out of it.

Steve

I'd love to but after the last visit, I am never going back. It has become very apparent that his solution to everything is either Medi-Cal or the pheromones he sells to calm cats/dogs down for around $100 each. My problem is not whether these products are useful or not but that he doesn't really do much thinking about the problem, just reverts back to food every time. Or when my cat had a blood shoot eye, he blamed the stress of a new dog and wanted me to buy these pheromones for $100...turned out the cat had some hair in his eye and once I removed it, his eye cleared up

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

what do you do for veggies? every raw diet I have read has veggies also.

Steve

I don't feed anything but meat. Every (prepared) diet i read about mentions using veggies (presumeably as filler), however dogs don't produce enough enzyme (amalayse, I believe) to digest it. And anytime the dogs take it upon themselves to munch on some grass, it comes out the same way it went in.
The whole "wolves eat stomach contents" argument does not adequately prove anything, as many reasearchers have witnessed that the contents are shaken away and discarded, and any that is consumed is simply secondary to eating the stomach itself. Also, the volume of said contents is insignificant at best.
I feed a big variety of meat (chicken, beef, deer, fish) with organ meats and an occasional egg.
No veggies at all.
Lots of people on both sides of this fence, but dogs, as demonstrated by their dental structure, are carnivores.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

I don't feed anything but meat. Every (prepared) diet i read about mentions using veggies (presumeably as filler), however dogs don't produce enough enzyme (amalayse, I believe) to digest it. And anytime the dogs take it upon themselves to munch on some grass, it comes out the same way it went in.
The whole "wolves eat stomach contents" argument does not adequately prove anything, as many reasearchers have witnessed that the contents are shaken away and discarded, and any that is consumed is simply secondary to eating the stomach itself. Also, the volume of said contents is insignificant at best.
I feed a big variety of meat (chicken, beef, deer, fish) with organ meats and an occasional egg.
No veggies at all.
Lots of people on both sides of this fence, but dogs, as demonstrated by their dental structure, are carnivores.

ahh but the link you sent me to read about this stuff mentioned grasses, fruit and veggies as an important part of there diet, just not in large amounts. I know both my monsters eat grass like there is no tomorrow and if there are any fruits on the ground from the trees they are gone.

Steve