Raw diet for dogs?

[Garlydog]

Quote:
Harsh opinions sometimes help people to see the truth. I love dogs and want the best for all of them. If my opinion offends you somehow, I apologize, but please keep an open mind.

Did you consider that you might not be seeing the dramatic difference that most full converts describe in their dogs because you are doing a half/half diet?

Under which scenario do you think you would be healthier?

1. Eating a whole steak
2. Eating half a steak and a bowl of sawdust.

Now officially getting of of my soapbox.

 

[Redyre Rotties]

IMO these days there ARE some good kibble foods out there. There are now grain free options, and preservation has come a long way since the 80s and Ethoxyquin.

However, I can state my own personal experience.

About a year ago, we ran into some serious financial hardship for about 3 months. I was forced to feed my dogs inexpensive grocery store kibble. I was horrified, but when the chips are down, sometimes you have to make choices. My choices were to either place my dogs, or feed an inexpensive cheap kibble for a few months. I chose the kibble. They ate kibble for 5 weeks, and I supplemented with raw whenever I could during this time.

My dogs paid for this for MONTHS. Dirty teeth. Itchy goopy dirty ears. Dull coats. Itchy skin. The coats and skin fixed up very quickly after I was able to go back to raw feeding. The ears and the teeth took the longest to resolve. It was at least 2 months of regular cleaning of ears before they were better. Teeth took over 6 months to return to their nice bright color and get rid of the tartar that built up during this short time of being off raw foods.....

 

[Garlydog]

To be fair, there may be decent kibble on the market today. I switched to raw feeding many years ago and never looked back.

I do know that Honest Kitchen works well for raw feeders who travel. It is much easier to deal with than raw meat while traveling.

 

[redhen]

Where do ya'll get your meat from? The meat places around me dont sell scraps. (I just called them ) Grr! I guess just go to the store and buy it?

And maybe start to raise quail again..

Another question: Do they need a varied meat diet? Like quail one day, pork for a few days, then beef? Also, whats a good vitamin to give them? Sorry for all the questions..

 

[redhen]

Quote:
And can someone answer these questions, please?

 

[Redyre Rotties]

redhen, I SWEAR by Nature's Farmacy for supplements. I use several products from them:

Ultimate vitamin supplement
PhytoFlex CCM+ Bone and Joint support
Digestive Enhancer
KA Calcium, to balance any meat fed without bone or eggs without shells

Yes, variety is important. The wider the variety the better just like in your diet.

For me, IMO a carefully handled raw diet will help a dog with immune system compromises.

Learn more at http://www.rawlearning.com

 

[Stina]

I personally don't believe grains are beneficial to any dog at any stage of life...but that is just my opinion.

Did you consider that you might not be seeing the dramatic difference that most full converts describe in their dogs because you are doing a half/half diet?

If you read my whole post you would see that I was NOT doing a half/half diet until recently... My dog has been on all raw for at least 6 months months and there was no noticeable difference in his coat, condition, or behavior.

If my opinion offends you somehow, I apologize, but please keep an open mind.

I DO keep an open mind...that is why I believe your comment is harsh...where is your open mind? Not all kibbles are created equal.

I hardly see how a high quality, grain free kibble can be compared to a bowl of sawdust. Now Ol' Roy or Beneful or something I could see making that comparison....but the grain free kibbles on the market are FAR above and beyond in quality and there is really no comparison between them. Have you looked into the newer, grain free kibbles on the market?...looked at ingredient lists and nutrtional information? Every food?...if not, how can you say all kibble is poison?

There are now grain free options, and preservation has come a long way since the 80s and Ethoxyquin.

Some foods still use ethoxyquin!! Some also use ingredients preserved with ethoxyquin, which isn't noted on the bags....You have to look for a statment on the bag or from the company that says that they use ingredients only from ethoxyquin free sources...or you don't know what you're getting.​

 

[dixygirl]

Humans and animals alike with compromised immune systems can become VERY ILL by eating raw meat. The bacteria and parasites in uncooked meat can in fact claim the life of sick animals and humans. So do this at your own risk and with full knowledge that it can be quite dangerous. Many humans are hospitalized each year with food born illness from under cooked meat. Botulism, e coli, salmonella in raw meat can all be very harmful and even fatal if not treated in a timely fashion. Even otherwise healthy humans die of these food born illnesses from under cooked meat every year.

Most dogs can generally handle the heavy bacteria load. As I stated before, dogs even do quite well eating excrement. Humans should not. I, however would not want to put my animals on something that I would not do. The other side of this is that humans can grow to deal with heavy bacteria loads too. In India, people bathe in and drink the same filthy, diseased water that they deficate in and bury their dead in. They are quite fine because their bodies have developed a resistance to this filth over centuries. Nevertheless, they are much healthier if given the opportunity to lead a cleaner and healthier lifestyle.

 

[redhen]

Its scary to see how bad some dry foods really are for them. And i know thats why my male Saint is having problems with is ears and skin. Of course hes the one that wouldnt touch the raw chicken giblets the other day..

 

[redhen]

Quote:
My female had Lymes a couple of years ago. Even though she got the vaccine! (but thats another rant..) I wonder if she can have raw?