I think I like this raw diet thing!

[Mattemma]

I gave my dogs some raw chicken.First without bones.Also split some cornish hens in half and gave them each one.The mini pin inhales the meat.My older lab mix eats slower. I have to guard his food from the minpin. Only had issue with diarrhea after giving them ground turkey from Aldi's(the frozen tubes for $1.49).Was pretty nervous after giving the bones,but no issue so far.Old dog is still itchy,but it is to soon to tell if the kibble was the issue.

 

[kari_dawn]

let us know how it goes! It took several weeks for me to see any change in Bacardi....I have noticed that he sheds a LOT less now. Before, if he was in my lap and I just petted him a little, my black pants would have a healthy coat of white hairs on them...now, maybe three little white hairs. Its really cool. I don't feel like Im sleeping with chewbaca when he sleeps in my bed...now he's actually allowed to sleep in my bed ^.^

...I have heard that ground poultry generally gets ground with the skin on. It is very fatty, and from what I have read, can be hard for them to digest which can cause upset tummy and diarrhea...

 

[StarLover21]

We used to have our dog and rabbit on a raw diet, too! I wish we could go back to it sometime.

 

[halo]

I have shelties and I feed them raw often. I believe the problem with compaction would come with way too much bone. It is only supposed to be 10% of their diet. I often go to the local grocery and get things like stew meat when it goes on sale. I also end up with a lot of excess roosters, and I put them in the freezer very young, and give my babies a half a rooster now and again. When I do, I also add some raw meat so the meat/bone ratio is better. With little guys like are pictured here, you could get some good quality ground beef, or stew meat, and it wouldnt cost you much at all. I get beef ribs for mine to chew on; they can't chew thru the ribs, but they work on getting all the meat off and enjoy them. I give them one or two a week.

You could possibly get some very young roosters for your chis. The bones would be very soft, and they might learn to chew them up. Check their teeth, too; they might need a good cleaning, or maybe they have some bad teeth.

Any raw that you can give them is better than none.

 

[redhen]

We used to have our dog and rabbit on a raw diet, too! I wish we could go back to it sometime.

You fed your rabbit meat?

 

[Scovy Momma]

mattemma,that's great! Mine little ones like the game hens when I can get them on sale & the bigger ones love to have fryer chickens the same way,split in half. It does take a few weeks to get into their system & start to help with the itchies, that's about how long it took for me to notice Lando stop scratching & his fur start to acctually grow in for the first time in his life! Fish oil helps with scratchy poochies,too. Or just an acctual fish. They take to it well.
The turkey does mess with my basset's tummy a little so I add more beef or chicken to her meals & the others love the turkey instead. She is a sensitive one with most foods,that's why the raw works so well for her, although she is a priss & still has to have any liver still crunchy frozen or I get the "It's yuuuucky" eyes from her

Chicken skin is supposed to be great for them because it's supposed to have a healthy fat in it that helps the skin & coat. Chewy & Lando tend to have cleaner teeth when they gets to gnaw on skin & cartlage. Maybe it's like floss

They just got some ox tails I found on sale last night & man,am I just the hero to them. OOH! I knew I was going to tell you something else & I know it sounds wierd but if you can find chicken feet at the market,they just love chicken's claws as snacks to chew on. That might help Bacardi get used to chewing on bones,kari_dawn.

 

[kari_dawn]

I didn't think about that! I get most of my meat at an asian market (my mom is Taiwanese, so we source out all the asian markets in the area) because it is WAY cheaper than "American" stores, and there is a ton of selection. Not just the occasional tripe, hearts, livers like you find in "normal" stores...they do carry chicken feet...and pig anus (no idea WHAT you would do with that?!), kidneys, beef and pig hearts, spleen, and all kinds of other organs. I stocked up on a bunch of organ meat the last time I went...by stocked up I mean I bought a packadge of kidneys, hearts, and spleens...those should last Cardi a while...

When I finally start running low again, I will look into getting him some chicken feet....maybe he won't give me the "but mom, it's slimy" "I don't wanna get it on my feet!" face if it isn't chicken muscle meat...

 

[Scovy Momma]

I totally understand,Mexican here & Mexican markets tend to have a lot of that same stuff when it comes to meats. The feet might get him used to that cartlage-y crunch like you said without the sliminess. Before I got the 2 bigger dogs I used to "stock up" with just a couple of packages like that,but now stocking up tends to make my outside freezer look like it belongs to one of those zombie-apocalypse end-of-the-world type people.

 

[Scovy Momma]

Just stocked up on a sale on SaveMart chicken. They had 10lb bags for $5. got 15 bags of that,30lbs of tripe that was on sale $8 for a 10lb box & assorted liver,chicken feet,beef hearts & kidneys that only ran about $20 for everything. Then a buddy slaughtered one of his steer & for $30 of beer I got a lot of the left overs on that so it all equals happy,fat puppies!


How's Bacardi doing,kari_dawn?

 

[kari_dawn]

he's doing awesome. he had a siezure the other day though. first one since raw diet