Raw Pet Food

[mws]

Hi! I feed both to my dogs, because of the cost of raw alone. Raw in a late afternoon and kibble(grain free) before bad time. Never mix two together.
You can find some links on my website.I been on this schedule for 5 years and my dogs don't have year infections anymore.(used to be chronic)
There eyes don't tear, coats are great and so on.

Old school vet freaking out - nothing new there.You probably will have to find a holistic vet, other wise everything happens to your dog or cat will be blamed on raw.
Dogs and cats diet is very much the same, just don't stick with same type of meat all the time. Many people forget it's a lot of different proteins out there, other then beef and chicken. Don't stress your self out for the raw not being a complete diet, as long as you have a variety over a week period, you are fine.

Good luck,
Natalia Koutsil
Larkspur Standard Poodles
www.larkspurpoodles.com

[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

[Nanoized]

I considered the BARF diet, but with young kids around and potential health risks and questionable benefits I decided to buy a quality commercial dog food.

http://www.workingdogs.com/vcbarf.htm

[Myka]

Seeing as we are all self-assumed "professionals" on the subject this thread will go around in circles unless by some coincidence a canine nutritionist pops by.

Steve, you can find a tonne of information if you Google "fruit on empty stomach". Of course you will find all sorts of varying information on the internet (like any other topic these days). I see I did say fruits and veggies...it's just fruits. I didn't mean to put veggies there. My thoughts are not with the forums these days...

For the record, when I fed raw I used a "Prey Model + brown rice" diet, not BARF (Bones And Raw Food- raw food being small amount of fruits and veggies, but still no grains or carbs). Some people will also do BARF + brown rice, or just Prey Model. I found my dog needed some carbs to burn off (I chose cooked brown rice) or she would become too lean on the raw diet (read: very skinny).

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Myka

Seeing as we are all self-assumed "professionals" on the subject this thread will go around in circles unless by some coincidence a canine nutritionist pops by.

I'm looking for an online course, hopefully I can be a "pro" real soon

Hopefully the theme of my comments comes through, in that feeding raw is a personal choice, AFTER one has done lots of research and comes to their own conclusions. And since thoughts and opinions vary widely, one needs to accept that what they might believe today is certainly up for review tomorrow.
Everyone should do what they feel is best for their dog, and if their is any doubt, keep researching to fine tune your choice.

The differing opinions in this thread are great, it gives anyone interested lots of sides to look at.