Raw Pet Food

[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.

[Aquattro]

Raw (as in prey model) has a few benefits that I like. Crunching through bones is great for the teeth, no plaque build up. The inut ratio is way higher (this is the ratio of food going in the sharp end vs: the food coming out the wagging end). Cleanup is a breeze, and if you forget, it just dries up and goes away.
Overall, coat and skin are in better shape, no doggy smell especially on one of my girls, and overall increased vigor.
Cost of Orijen kibble, even with a discount, is roughly $150/month. Raw costs me about $80/mo, so a huge benefit there. I do get a huge discount on chicken backs though, so not sure how price measures up for the average consumer.
Overall though, if one has the time for it, I think it's a great diet, and better than kibble can ever be. Kibble isn't bad, it just isn't as good, IMO

[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