Cheap meat for fresh fed dog owners

DogsFirst

I've noticed that Tesco have recently put a large freezer in most of their stores right as you walk in where they have their half priced meat. Is this new? I saw large whole chickens half price- €2 per kg!!

If this is a new thing this is an excellent source for meat ingredients for the dogs dinner. You could essentially be feeding your average dog (18kg) fresh chicken for €1 euro a day, or the same as a cheaper bag of dry priced €30, for 15kg of meat flavoured crackers!!!


Other ideas for cheap ingredients:

Fish Factories: Buy in bulk (10kg of frozen mackerel for half nothing)

Butcher Factory Outlets: Buy your rashers and sausages from them and they'll keep off cuts, let you know when food is approaching "sell by", bones etc


Anyone got any more?!

TooManyDogs

I'll have to keep an eye in my tesco. They do pork liver for €3 a kg which is the cheapest I've seen liver

Dublin meat company do chicken legs at €2 a kg

Being veggie is a major disadvantage for me, hard to have a good relationship with the local butcher. A friend of mine always gets something thrown in for the dog when she's buying her meat

westies4ever

my dogs are small so its not terribly expensive for me - i buy chicken drumsticks/thighs/legs/wings from lidl - around €2.60 a kg - 3 packs a week enough to feed my two.

planetX

TooManyDogs wrote: »

I'll have to keep an eye in my tesco. They do pork liver for €3 a kg which is the cheapest I've seen liver

Dublin meat company do chicken legs at €2 a kg

Being veggie is a major disadvantage for me, hard to have a good relationship with the local butcher. A friend of mine always gets something thrown in for the dog when she's buying her meat

same here, being veggie I always have a look of disgust on my face when I venture in to a butchers. I also don't have a clue what to ask for, or how to cook stuff. I bought chicken livers for my cats and after I'd cooked them they wouldn't even taste:(

Actually if someone here could tell me how you cook chicken thighs it would be great - I boiled them and ended up with the most unbelievable smell, and mess of fat - ruined the saucepan. Do you take off the skin first?

DogsFirst

Funny stuff! If you're cooking for dogs you could save yourself a lot of time just giving them raw, far better, lots of lovely chicken bones (never cooked). Raw chicken skin is where it's at nutritionally for carnivores. Easy. There has never been one instance of a human contracting a disease from a fresh fed dog (when there has for dry fed dogs) so you're safe enough there.

If you have to cook then use the oven instead of boiling. 20mins per lb of meat is a good average for human consumption but the parasites are nothing to do the dog.

Also re cats, really picky eaters as you know but just because they wouldn't eat it says nothing of their "choice" of food. It's all about experience with cats and dogs. You can rear dogs on plant protein and they won't eat any meat. You can rear 'em on meat and they won't touch plant. But variety (by mother through amniotic fluid then milk) then fed to pups / kittens in first 2 months of life develops their food selection, these animals will eat a variety. In fact you can even make rat kittens select a certain nipple coated in say lemon juice by exposing the mother to a strong lemon smell while pregnant! Interesting stuff. It's all to prevent pups from eating the wrong stuff when they're older.

Start your cat on liver by cooking the liver in a little oil, maybe throw in a little garlic and salt, and for the first few days you just add a drop or two of the oil on their crackers. Then you mush up one bit of meat and mix it in with the food, then a tiny bit more. Slowly slowly catchy monkey. Spend two weeks doing changeover. Or start on tuna in brine and just use the brine. Aim to be on raw by three weeks. This gives their systems time adjust and reduces the likliehood of the animal barfing and people jumping to the conclusion that the animal 'doesn't like meat".

Vince32

I'm no expert, but I am studying for the day I make the switch to cooked / raw for my girl.

This is one of the first instructional videos I watched, there are dozens more have a browse when you have some free time. The wierd thing is, he feeds his dogs what I have for dinner 3 times a week lol

http://youtu.be/QZcJE7RJ_jY

DogsFirst

I turned it off as soon as I heard his annoying voice saying his annoying domain name!!! Sure it's good though!

Vince32

well... lol yeah haha

it's just a video on cooking for a dog, I never said it was pleasant :P, I think someone on these boards was about 1/2 way through making a video for us, about the whole process last month, but it's hard to know if they got around to finishing it.

I do remember him saying about the ratio, chicken (giblets out), veggies, stewed, so you end up with 70% meat, 20% veggies, and 10% bone, and then just divide up the "result" into meal sized portions, in plastic containers, and when cooled, just freeze them.

Feed one to the dog, take the next one out of the freezer. Spend 1 day, or one weekend making enough for a week or a month.

DogsFirst

Vince32 wrote: »

well... lol yeah haha

it's just a video on cooking for a dog, I never said it was pleasant :P, I think someone on these boards was about 1/2 way through making a video for us, about the whole process last month, but it's hard to know if they got around to finishing it.

I do remember him saying about the ratio, chicken (giblets out), veggies, stewed, so you end up with 70% meat, 20% veggies, and 10% bone, and then just divide up the "result" into meal sized portions, in plastic containers, and when cooled, just freeze them.

Feed one to the dog, take the next one out of the freezer. Spend 1 day, or one weekend making enough for a week or a month.

That mighta been me!! I've actually made a few videos around the subject, just finishing them now but not videos of me doing stuff. Not a great fan of cameras despite exceedingly pleasant on the eye (ahem). I promise I will do it within 30 days. Will let you know when they're ready.

But I didn't say anything about cooking the meat and bone. Really important that one. Never ever feed cooked bones. It dissolves the soft collagen out leaving hard brittle bone. And cooking destroys the enzymes, pre and probiotics in meat, makes it less digestible and reduces the biological value in general. I think the guy in the video was cooking his. I'd cook the veg to destroy the fibre, like for humans, which lets us get at the good stuff. I can make enough for the month in 40 mins now, has taken half a year to get it that tight though!! Mutt meat making machine.

Vince32

Well it will be good to have a guide from an experienced dog owner, rather than some jerk promoting his site.. lol

Looking forward to seeing it m8, as I'm sure other posters are.
Thanks

chris139ryan

havent noticed the big freezer in tesco but will keep an eye out next time im there, sounds great though

DBB

Here's where I throw an ethical spanner in the works.... Sorry!
I feed my dogs fresh, and I'm a meat eater, but one who is only happy to eat meat from animals who have lived a reasonably good life. I struggle... Really struggle, with eating cheap chicken because I know those hens lived a miserable life. So I just don't/can't eat it.
However, buying this meat for my dogs is obviously much cheaper, but... I still have the same ethical struggle, as I'm still supporting a method of food production that I am repulsed by.
So, short of spending big money on free range chicken, my dogs are limited to beef, lamb and fish. And some very occasional pheasant or duck which has been shot for our plate.

TooManyDogs

DBB wrote: »

Here's where I throw an ethical spanner in the works.... Sorry!
I feed my dogs fresh, and I'm a meat eater, but one who is only happy to eat meat from animals who have lived a reasonably good life. I struggle... Really struggle, with eating cheap chicken because I know those hens lived a miserable life. So I just don't/can't eat it.
However, buying this meat for my dogs is obviously much cheaper, but... I still have the same ethical struggle, as I'm still supporting a method of food production that I am repulsed by.
So, short of spending big money on free range chicken, my dogs are limited to beef, lamb and fish. And some very occasional pheasant or duck which has been shot for our plate.

Half of the diet I feed mine is bones and I get them from the butcher's who would throw them out as waste so I figure I'm not adding to factory farming demand, rather doing a bit of recycling, similar with the fish heads I get from the fishmongers. I guess "cheap ethical" meat is always going to be an oximoran, I feed the best I can afford and console myself with knowing the chances of any of the meat in commercial dog food isn't likely to be sourced ethically anyway so by recycling waste, using my own homegrown veg and free range eggs I'm doing the best my small budget can afford

mickmcl09

Just out of interest. Those of you that are feeding raw to dogs, what percentage of their total diet makes up meat? Do you feed completely raw for say 3 days and dry food/other food for the other 4 OR do you feed raw for 1 or 2 feeds per day and an alternative for the 2nd/3rd meal?
I've introduced some raw to my fellas diet gradually over the last while and I'm just wondering how far I go with a raw diet as he loves it.

DBB

mickmcl09 wrote: »

Just out of interest. Those of you that are feeding raw to dogs, what percentage of their total diet makes up meat? Do you feed completely raw for say 3 days and dry food/other food for the other 4 OR do you feed raw for 1 or 2 feeds per day and an alternative for the 2nd/3rd meal?
I've introduced some raw to my fellas diet gradually over the last while and I'm just wondering how far I go with a raw diet as he loves it.

Fresh food 100% of the time here, no dry food at all. I feed 70%ish meat (bones making up a lil bit of this), 20% mixed veg, 10% spuds.
They're fed 3 times per day, to a bit over 3-4% body weight.

TooManyDogs

mickmcl09 wrote: »

Just out of interest. Those of you that are feeding raw to dogs, what percentage of their total diet makes up meat? Do you feed completely raw for say 3 days and dry food/other food for the other 4 OR do you feed raw for 1 or 2 feeds per day and an alternative for the 2nd/3rd meal?
I've introduced some raw to my fellas diet gradually over the last while and I'm just wondering how far I go with a raw diet as he loves it.

Only raw here, I feed 50% meaty bones (have got decent meat left on them), 15% offal, 15% veggies and 20% meat, mine get between 2 and 5% of their body weight depending on the dog. The 2 JRTs get 5% and I've a fat ass lab x who gets 1.75% or similar.

Sigma Force

Those cheap chickens are generally battery farmed so if people can afford to it's best to by free range.

Dunnes generally sell free range chicken drumsticks and wings for cheap enough. Also check Tescos around 5-6pm in the evenings when they are putting stuff that's sell by date is the next day (sometimes it's that day but sometimes it's within 2 days) they sell meat for sometimes half price.

Sometimes I get free offal from the butchers, liver and esp. kidney (stinks if you cook it) generally need to be used on day of purchase and they usually have plenty. Thinks like ears and feet could be a cheaper option too, although more fatty than more expensive cuts probably better than supermarket dog foods.

The Sweeper

DogsFirst wrote: »

Start your cat on liver by cooking the liver in a little oil, maybe throw in a little garlic and salt, and for the first few days you just add a drop or two of the oil on their crackers.

No garlic near cats thanks.

Raw garlic has been shown to be toxic to cats. Raw garlic, onions and chives are proven to destroy red blood cells in cats and if added to food over a prolonged period can cause haemolytic anaemia. Best just never to give them a taste for it at all.

Less is more if you want to feed cats raw - so muck around with it less and get more results.

Start your cat on liver by getting a very fresh piece of lamb's liver, cutting a fine, long sliver off it and putting it down on a clean dish and offering it to your cat.

Don't cook meat you offer to your cat - cooking destroys taurine, a vital amino acid that cats need to live. Taurine is present in muscle meat - e.g. cheap stewing steak, or hearts.

DogsFirst

The Sweeper wrote: »

DogsFirst wrote: »

Start your cat on liver by cooking the liver in a little oil, maybe throw in a little garlic and salt, and for the first few days you just add a drop or two of the oil on their crackers.

No garlic near cats thanks.

Raw garlic has been shown to be toxic to cats. Raw garlic, onions and chives are proven to destroy red blood cells in cats and if added to food over a prolonged period can cause haemolytic anaemia. Best just never to give them a taste for it at all.

Less is more if you want to feed cats raw - so muck around with it less and get more results.

Start your cat on liver by getting a very fresh piece of lamb's liver, cutting a fine, long sliver off it and putting it down on a clean dish and offering it to your cat.

Don't cook meat you offer to your cat - cooking destroys taurine, a vital amino acid that cats need to live. Taurine is present in muscle meat - e.g. cheap stewing steak, or hearts.

It's only large quantities of raw garlic that'll do that yeah?!. The active ingredient is present in tiny quantities in garlic, small amounts are great for the blood, immune system and for parasite control in dogs and cats. Have refs if you need 'em

The Sweeper

Aye, and I have references that show that garlic has flimsy evidence to support it as a parasitic control agent so I'd refute the idea that it's "great" for the blood.

Cats' livers are not good at eliminating toxins - not a good a a dog's liver and nowhere near as good as a humans. Cats have limited taste buds and are strongly scent-driven and can become 'obsessed' with a few foods, so I just wouldn't give them garlic at all in the first place. There's no need for it - overwhelmingly they prefer their foods raw. In controlled studies when cats were offered a variety of foods they tended to gravitate towards what they actually needed to survive at a really micro level - they would smell their foods and gravitate to what had the amino acids they needed and so on. When free fed they consumed parts of each offered food to a point that balanced their requirements for protein, fat, amino acids, calcium etc.

Additionally there is limited scientific evidence that garlic is an effective parasitic control agent. Manufacturers of Vets All Natural, a product designed to be mixed with raw meat and fed to animals to balance out their diet (for those worried about feeding raw and achieving the right balance) - invested in scientific research for their product and recommend garlic in concentrations for cats of less than a quarter of one percent of the volume of their food, which is a truly miniscule amount that I think most home-remedy makers wouldn't be able to replicate at home and would subsequently end up overdosing their pet.

Try this brief of a report by the National Research Councl of the National Academies in Washington on supplementing of lutein, evening primrose and garlic in cats, dogs and horses:

http://dels.nas.edu/resources/static-assets/materials-based-on-reports/reports-in-brief/satety_of_dietary_supplements_final.pdf

(Note that the committee could not establish a PSI (presumed safe intake) for garlic in cats.)

There are a number of university studies that demonstrate that there is little scientific evidence to support the claim that garlic is effective in flea and tick prevention. So really, garlic, the chance of overdose is high, the negative effects are subtle and catastrophic, the scientific evidence of effectiveness is limited and needs further study, and I just don't see why you'd give it to your pets.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11108195 <-- why you don't give garlic to dogs (controlled study)

DogsFirst

Hey great refs, thanks for them, will digest and be back. I wouldn't cook any meat for cats or dogs at all, it was just a simple way of getting cats on to new foods, using the oil. Will dig out the refs for garlic and blood and immune function. Wasn't too hung up on the parasite side of things myself but natural vets certainly are. Your refs put it in question though, good work!

scudzilla

I always check the section in Tesco where they sell meat off approaching it's sell by date.

This morning i picked up a pack of Sirloin Steak (Down from 9.80 to 2Euro) & 2 packets of organic minced beef (down from 4.95 to 1 euro)

Earlier this week i picked up 2 packets of Finest Pork Sausages, 10 Sausies in each pack, down from 5.50 i think to 1 Euro.

With the steak i'll just cook it a little, add some past and rice and a bit of grave and that'll do her for 2 nights

DogsFirst

The Sweeper wrote: »

Aye, and I have references that show that garlic has flimsy evidence to support it as a parasitic control agent so I'd refute the idea that it's "great" for the blood.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11108195 <-- why you don't give garlic to dogs (controlled study)

This study is more an investigation of overdose and bears almost zero relevance to good nutritional health. These researchers fed four dogs 5g/kg of raw garlic a day for seven days!!! That is a standard lab eating 150g (or far more than a yoplait yoghurt in weight) of raw garlic a day. This is quite a jaunt from one clove of garlic in feed of meat now and again. For a dog to develop Heinz-body anemia, he would have to eat over 0.5% of his body weight in onions to even begin the danger process (so say one whole onion) and since red blood cells are constantly regenerated from the bone marrow, a dog would likely need to ingest much more every day to do harm. And that's onions. Garlic contains far far less Allicin so you're talking a lot more garlic. So a cat would have to eat many cloves a day, which is definitely not a good idea alright.

To avoid taking the thread off course I've pm'd you 35 studies that to date linking garlics benefits to hypotension (relaxing blood vessels), antioxidant activity and ability to reduce cardiovascular diseases (hence "good blood") as well as it's antimicrobial activity, anticancer activity, improving immune functions and anti-diabetic activity. All peer reviewed scientific studies, most of which investigate moderate doses and, most importantly, over time. Having worked with both sides I'm converted anyway, natural docs (human or vet) are rarely wrong on things they're been prescribing for millenia.

The key is dose, little bit, now and again, major advantage, likes lots of stuff. Maybe there's stuff on cats I'm missing, if you have any info would be obliged.

DogsFirst

scudzilla wrote: »

pack of Sirloin Steak (Down from 9.80 to 2Euro)

Bloody hell! That was some find! Lidl also do reduced priced meat the day before it's due to go off (found in their meat section and not the little section they lay aside for going off dairy etc, I sound like such a cheap skate!). But they only go down to 30% off, which isn't great compared to the some of the prices in Tesco. Going to ask my butcher will he keep going off meat, doubt it.

Irishchick

Just to say that I wouldn't give the pork sausages to your dog. Sausages tend to be highly processed so Id give them a miss.

Also you need to be careful that you are giving the dog a balanced diet. Once or twice a week include a can of sardines in unsalted water. This will give the dog/cat its EFA and DHA. Some people give cod liver oil but the levels of DHA in packaged fish oils isnt high enough.

DogsFirst

Irishchick wrote: »

Just to say that I wouldn't give the pork sausages to your dog. Sausages tend to be highly processed so Id give them a miss.

Also you need to be careful that you are giving the dog a balanced diet. Once or twice a week include a can of sardines in unsalted water. This will give the dog/cat its EFA and DHA. Some people give cod liver oil but the levels of DHA in packaged fish oils isnt high enough.

Thumbs up +1million. Worse still, dry food employs veg oils (which are cooked by the extrusion process) which, asides being denatured (and say 6mths old by the time you get it, then the bag is left sitting open for a month, and fats hate oxygen), are too high in omega 6 for carnivores, throwing the whole omega 3:6 ratio thing out. Natural oily fish (mackerel, sardines, herring), absolutely cant beat it for perfect protein and fats.

dahat

Heart meat is classed as a muscle meat rather than organ meat for RAW fed dogs.
Lamb hearts and Beef hearts can be bought bought pretty cheap and a fantastic addition to any RAW diet.Just recently i have sourced a supply for Pork hearts though only now and again the lazy bugger comes with them for me!

DogsFirst

Don't forget to freeze those pork hearts to -16 for more than 3 days. This destroys pork parasites. While dogs are great at all other raw meats todays pork industry has some things in it that will lay your dog out (these particular worms eggs are resilient to ph1 in the dogs stomach, remarkable really) as they're relatively new. Because of this step I tend to avoid the hassle and go for other hearts, but these are pricier.

TooManyDogs

dahat wrote: »

Lamb hearts and Beef hearts can be bought bought pretty cheap and a fantastic addition to any RAW diet.

I'm struggling to find hearts cheap I have to say, they're working out about €5/kg which is more expensive than alot of other meats

What price do you get them at per kg?

dahat

Currently pay 50 cents per heart,10 hearts for 5.50 but another shop in town has them at 1 euro per heart!:eek:

Beef hearts are 4.00 per heart,Pork ones work out at 20 euro for a large bag of them,never actually counted them but alot of them there plus a brain or 3 too!

DogsFirst

Irish beef and lamb prices are through the roof altogether and now we're exporting all the organs too. Drives the prices sky high. Chicken is half the price and with the skin and bone included, far better nutritionally. More bang for your buck

dahat

DogsFirst wrote: »

Irish beef and lamb prices are through the roof altogether and now we're exporting all the organs too. Drives the prices sky high. Chicken is half the price and with the skin and bone included, far better nutritionally. More bang for your buck

Yes indeed but feeding chicken all the time is not good either.
I have small JRT type dogs and they are cheap to feed really,legs and thighs of the chicken are all good value.I buy the hearts to give variety and any cheap offer i can afford.

DogsFirst

Totally agreed, nothing "all the time". Variety is vital to a balanced diet. Thats where dry food falls down. Trying to pack everything on to a cracker, fails for many reasons. NASA still can't get it right I always say (read a great article on the chief NASA nutritionist saying they haven't been able to formulate a complete diet for a number of reasons, like ingredients bouncing off each other, not that the astronauts would be too happy with crackers every day, but apparently your dog should be).

As a substantial part though, whole oily fish and chicken, cheapest and best. Beef doesn't have as good oils or vitamin content but has other stuff in abundance making it a great addition.

TooManyDogs

dahat wrote: »

Currently pay 50 cents per heart,10 hearts for 5.50 but another shop in town has them at 1 euro per heart!:eek:

Beef hearts are 4.00 per heart,Pork ones work out at 20 euro for a large bag of them,never actually counted them but alot of them there plus a brain or 3 too!

Bloody hell, 50c per heart is fantastic! Where do you get that?

The Sweeper

DogsFirst wrote: »

To avoid taking the thread off course I've pm'd you 35 studies that to date linking garlics benefits to hypotension (relaxing blood vessels), antioxidant activity and ability to reduce cardiovascular diseases (hence "good blood") as well as it's antimicrobial activity, anticancer activity, improving immune functions and anti-diabetic activity. All peer reviewed scientific studies, most of which investigate moderate doses and, most importantly, over time. Having worked with both sides I'm converted anyway, natural docs (human or vet) are rarely wrong on things they're been prescribing for millenia.

Didn't get a PM from you. Can you send it again?

Vince32

I'm thinking about what you said about the cheap meats (almost out of date) in supermarkets, and I'm wondering if I can mix some raw minced beef with the dry food?

If so, in what proportions? She gets 3x70g meals of the dry food.
So would I just use 20g beef + 50g dry?

EDIT: It doesn't have to be beef, chicken, lamb, fish is fine too right?

She just turned 19 weeks

DogsFirst

The Sweeper wrote: »

DogsFirst wrote: »

Didn't get a PM from you. Can you send it again?

Thought I sent it twice actually, no prob will send tmrw morn when I'm at the laptop, sorry 'bout that

DogsFirst

Vince32 wrote: »

I'm thinking about what you said about the cheap meats (almost out of date) in supermarkets, and I'm wondering if I can mix some raw minced beef with the dry food?

If so, in what proportions? She gets 3x70g meals of the dry food.
So would I just use 20g beef + 50g dry?

EDIT: It doesn't have to be beef, chicken, lamb, fish is fine too right?

She just turned 19 weeks

Young developing pups particularly need fresh meat, good protein and vits to form those joints and systems so get it in there. No fear. Forget the old "scraps" will kill him. Too much fat might but ordinary meat, fish and chicken etc. You can't overdose on protein, its not stored by the body. Hence athletes, body builders and dieters focus on protein instead of fat building carbs (americans....and us!).

In answer, fresh food is full of water so whatever you cut in the dry food double it in meat. take out 50g, put in 100g. Your dog is going to love it. Don't forget raw meaty bones. For young carnivores easy rule of thumb is muscle builds muscle, cartilidge builds cartlidge, bone builds bone.

dahat

TooManyDogs wrote: »

Bloody hell, 50c per heart is fantastic! Where do you get that?

Off the Local butcher and he is pretty pricey with his general meat!!
Bought 15 euro worth Thursday gone..not every week he has them,depends on when they slaughter lambs
I do get chicken necks off him for free when i want them but only now and again i get them tbh.

dahat

Vince32 wrote: »

I'm thinking about what you said about the cheap meats (almost out of date) in supermarkets, and I'm wondering if I can mix some raw minced beef with the dry food?

If so, in what proportions? She gets 3x70g meals of the dry food.
So would I just use 20g beef + 50g dry?

EDIT: It doesn't have to be beef, chicken, lamb, fish is fine too right?

She just turned 19 weeks

Do not mix both foods in the same meal,bacteria problems from what i know.
It is ok to feed a 50/50 diet just have the dry and raw food fed on different days.

dahat

Anyone with small to medium sized dogs get down to Lidl this week.
http://www.lidl.ie/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_ri_ie/hs.xsl/4182_17104.htm

TooManyDogs

Had a bargin in tescos myself last night, prime beef mince 1.45 from 4.99, but best of all pork liver 79c per pack down to 8c !!!! Happy days, straight into my freezer!

puddles22

got my 5 mth old husky back from the kennels today after been away for a week, she was so skiny and so lethargic , oh i was so mad, so i have to get her fattened up some , anyhow tried this recipe what do people think, 3 chicken breast. 6 smoked mackerel for thier high oil content, 1lb beef mince , mixed all these in the food processor, then four cups of rice and a bag of frozen vegtables boiled. mixed the lot together, now she wolfed it down and reckon i have enuff for next three days before i have time to make a month supply ,do people think this is a sensible diet for her to be on,

Irishchick

puddles22 wrote: »

got my 5 mth old husky back from the kennels today after been away for a week, she was so skiny and so lethargic , oh i was so mad, so i have to get her fattened up some , anyhow tried this recipe what do people think, 3 chicken breast. 6 smoked mackerel for thier high oil content, 1lb beef mince , mixed all these in the food processor, then four cups of rice and a bag of frozen vegtables boiled. mixed the lot together, now she wolfed it down and reckon i have enuff for next three days before i have time to make a month supply ,do people think this is a sensible diet for her to be on,

Not sure about the rice but the rest is all good. Make sure to add raw bone to the diet as well and vary the meat ie chicken one week beef the next rabbit next etc.

Edit: What was she being fed in the kennel??

puddles22

[QUOTE=

Edit: What was she being fed in the kennel??[/QUOTE]

they said kibble plus some wet food, but i dont know how many times a day they were feeding her, poor wee thing is just not herself at the moment grrrrrr

wobbles

If your tesco has a deli counter, head in about an hour before closing, they might have cooked chicken left over for half nothing. Grand to eat yourself, or give to the dog or for a bonding moment, share

dahat

Cappaquinn Chickens in Waterford sell a 5kg box of "pet food" for 60c a kilo.
I have gotten this a good few times,it is just meat that hit the floor or is damaged by the process it goes through...
A quality product for any RAW feeder..

DogsFirst

dahat wrote: »

Do not mix both foods in the same meal,bacteria problems from what i know.
It is ok to feed a 50/50 diet just have the dry and raw food fed on different days.

Not aware of any issues there myself. Not sure why adding fresh meat to dry would cause that, maybe I'm missing something.

Bacteria shouldn't make a healthy dog sick, they're designed to eat rotten corpses as scavenging carnivores (hence your dog can dig up old bones covered in septacemia and still be wagging his tail two hours later). Salmonellosis is so rare in dogs, and is a symptom of a sick, immunologically defunct animal, and is practically unheard of in raw fed dogs (with normal / healthy digestive systems). Some people say "this gave my dog this..." but it says nothing of the product and everything about the health of the animal at the time. With lysozymes abounding in their saliva and a pH1, healthy dogs are practically immune to "normal" moderate food contamination like Salmonella, Campo, Septacemia.

See previous board post for thoughts on mixing dry and fresh and possible barfing scenarios!

dahat

DogsFirst wrote: »

Not aware of any issues there myself. Not sure why adding fresh meat to dry would cause that, maybe I'm missing something.

Bacteria shouldn't make a healthy dog sick, they're designed to eat rotten corpses as scavenging carnivores (hence your dog can dig up old bones covered in septacemia and still be wagging his tail two hours later). Salmonellosis is so rare in dogs, and is a symptom of a sick, immunologically defunct animal, and is practically unheard of in raw fed dogs (with normal / healthy digestive systems). Some people say "this gave my dog this..." but it says nothing of the product and everything about the health of the animal at the time. With lysozymes abounding in their saliva and a pH1, healthy dogs are practically immune to "normal" moderate food contamination like Salmonella, Campo, Septacemia.

See previous board post for thoughts on mixing dry and fresh and possible barfing scenarios!

Just something i read in my time through google,your knowledge seems greater than mine so cant argue facts but personally i do not like to mix dry food and raw meat,different digestion rates maybe,not entirely sure though!

TooManyDogs

I think it's just one of those 'do-it-by-the-book' rules, so that if on the off chance a dog has something underlying that the raw food bacteria can't make it worse. Or should I say be blamed for causing it in the first place by whatever vet treats it!! It wouldn't bother me to feed raw and dry in the same meal when I've seen the gopping things my lot have eaten during their walks :eek:

I guess if people are being put under pressure by their vet or whoever about raw feeding being a bad idea then they might get comfort by being extra careful and not taking any chances no matter how small they might be.

DogsFirst

dahat wrote: »

Just something i read in my time through google,your knowledge seems greater than mine so cant argue facts but personally i do not like to mix dry food and raw meat,different digestion rates maybe,not entirely sure though!

Yeah I don't think anyone's entirely sure really, its a really fudged up issue, people are running around with their hair on fire. Re diff digestion times you might be right, nobody really knows the answer to that one but we eat awfully mixed up meals and different digestion times doesn't come into it. But I suppose our food spend longer in the stomach before passing to the intestines, giving everything a chance.......that said the dogs acidic system would process and digest meat and cooked gack like dry food very very quickly, can't see much resistance there. Raw plant fibre holds up very well in the dogs system though (that's why you should cook the veg a bit). Reckon if the meat is raw and plant is cooked then it won't matter what form it's in going in, it all ends up the same in the end!!!!