Raw Diet (Dogs & Cats)

[pixie74943]

Has anyone fed their Dogs/Cats on a raw Diet??

I've found the Prey-Model , and the BARF diet (nice name isnt it)

Prey Diet being meat only, BARF involving raw meat and veg.

Anyone tried it, did It work? One thing I'm curious about is the mess..

 

[Livinzoo]

I feed both cats and dogs raw. Messy foods are fed outside to the dogs, those would be whole carcasses with feathers or fur. Leg quarters aren't too messy and are fed inside. If your worried about it I have heard of people laying down a "table cloth" for their dogs and training them to eat on that.

 

[abluechipstock]

i don't feed a complete raw diet but i feed holistic and supplement them with raw chicken livers, hearts and gizzards, raw beef bones and hamburger, also raw eggs, i don't give raw pork even though some do, i think variety is the spice of life, they also get yogurt, cottage cheese, mackerel, veggies and fruit, my dogs' coats shine

 

[halo]

Ive been feeding mine raw for about 6 months. My older guy is doing so much better on it. I decided to start because his teeth were awful and I was afraid to take him to the vet for teeth cleaning....anethstesia, and all that....started him with chicken wings, worked him up to chicken quarters, and his teeth are sparkly clean now. So I have them all on raw...mostly chicken quarters, chicken breasts, stew meat when its on sale, chicken liver ocassionally, sardines, and of course scrambled eggs. They look awesome. The older guy shed out nearly his entire coat....maybe purging from his old dog food, I dont know, but his coat came in more beautiful than it has been in years. And ENERGY?? oh my, all of them run around in the evening like maniacs. I laugh at them until I choke, talk about stress relief!

Theres a terrific Yahoo group devoted to raw feeding. I belong to it; I only lurk on there, but there is great advice on there on how to get started, and how to continue.

 

[jafo]

Quote:
Really? Our 11 yr old Husky Akita needs to have a cyst / swollen gland removed from her eyelid. They also said she needed her teeth cleaned. ( $250.00 ) I told my wife that's what bones are for. I'd like to feed her raw, and I tried one feeding. Plugged her up for a while. Musta been because it was beef. Chicken is a lot easier on thier system, and she loves it. I'll hafta figger the costs. Interesting.

 

[Redyre Rotties]

I have been a raw feeder for over 16 years. The condition of my dogs speaks for itself.

As far as mess, yes, it's a mess. Each night I prepare the dog bowls in my sink. When I am finished I put any left overs away. I have a dishpan that I use to contain any leaks or spills, and a separate refrigerator for all the dog's meat.

I keep a bleach/Dawn/water mix that I make up myself handy. This is about 4 tablespoons of bleach, a good squirt of Dawn, and enough water to fill up a 32 oz sprayer bottle. I rinse the sink with hot water, and then spray both of them down with the bleach cleaner. I then let this stand while I go pick up the dog bowls for washing.

When I return with the empty bowls, I spray them with the bleach mix, clean them well with warm soapy water, and then I scrub the sinks with a soapy brush. Rinse with hot water.

I use the same sink for all other kitchen prep, so I follow these steps to ensure there is no cross contamination. I am particularly careful with any cloths, sponges, brushes, etc that might have come into contact with the raw meat. These go into the wash or through the dishwasher.

It takes me about 15 minutes or so to feed 4 dogs and clean up.

 

[halo]

Quote:
Really? Our 11 yr old Husky Akita needs to have a cyst / swollen gland removed from her eyelid. They also said she needed her teeth cleaned. ( $250.00 ) I told my wife that's what bones are for. I'd like to feed her raw, and I tried one feeding. Plugged her up for a while. Musta been because it was beef. Chicken is a lot easier on thier system, and she loves it. I'll hafta figger the costs. Interesting.

I get meat when it goes on sale from my local grocery...stew meat for .99 cents a pound, turkey necks at .49 a pound, chicken quarters sometimes at .39! A pint of chicken livers is 1.99...dont feed much of that, its rich, but they do need a little bit of that. Whole chickens are .49 cents a pound. I believe they say you should feed approx 2% of their weight, so my 25 pound shelties get approx 1/2 pound a day; somedays more, some days less. So it really isnt expensive, especially for how good it is for them. If you're really interested, join the Yahoo group and read the archives; very interesting reading, very helpful people.

 

[Tala]

mess??? what mess???
The other day I dropped an egg in the kitchen while Dusti was in the yard. I just opened the back door and called. Instant clean-up!

Dusti has been prey-model raw her whole life, with the occasional treat and table scrap of course! She's not messy at all, and licks the floor or bowl clean after she eats.

She eats a lot of chicken because it's cheap, and pork because it has more fat (she gets dry skin easily). Beef rib bones are at the upper limit of her ability to consume them, sometimes she leaves pieces that are too hard. We stick to stew meat and hamburger for red meat. She detests beef liver, but I made her eat it about once a week to balance her diet. Then our WalMart started carrying beef kidney - she loves it! Organs are no longer a struggle, although I still make her eat liver once in a while coz it's so healthy! We can also get a package of chicken gizzards, hearts and liver for like $1.50 she likes those too. I think a good variety is key. The only things I supplement are probiotics and omega 3 oils because she has a tendncy towards dryish skin and absolutely will NOT eat raw fish. She likes canned tuna and cooked fish, but she prefers to take a raw fish outside to roll in

The real secret is to watch your dog, that's all. Getting a little thin? Feed more. Straining to poop or getting stopped up? You're feeding too many bones. Runny butt?? You're feeding too many organ meats, OR possibly not enough bones.

Dusti believes that all food comes from the refrigerator. She has NO idea that the same chickens in the yard are made of the same meat that comes from the fridge. She even got the whole head, feet, and some feathers from the last mean rooster -- she still doesn't equate live chickens with food.

Dusti is 2.5 years old and nobody in the house has ever gotten sick from being around her eating raw meat. It doesn't worry me in the least!
Just wash your hands and cutting board as you would for human food, and Dusti cleans up her mess. If you have children on the floor you might want to feed in the crate to contain any germs, but that's probably all you'd have to worry about.

 

[chinbunny]

I feed mine mine part of a raw rabbit carcass once a week. Got too many to eat,and some aren't human edible (way too small, or were on meds at one time). I feed her the small ones whole. The larger ones I cut up and refreeze the rest of them.

 

[lorieMN]

feeding raw is very easy once you get used to it..not BARF,that is to confusing and time consuming for me..I feed around 2% of their adult ideal body weight per day,,80% meat,10% bone 10% organs,,,and not even every day,just even it out over time...it shouldnt cost any more then premium foods..actually less in the long run as they use most of the food instead of processing it out the other end in your yard.