Changed to Raw :-)

tk123

Went into Tescos on the way home to see if they had any of the tasty pancakes they had last year but there was none! Got 5 herrings for €3.65 though lol!

DogsFirst

Lovely bit of herring. There's whole mackerel in Lidl. Big lads, whole, smoked, around €2.50 if stuck. In plastic wrapper and all, handy for freezer. Do they have a reduced section in Lidl? Have never seen one...

borderlinemeath

DogsFirst wrote: »

Lovely bit of herring. There's whole mackerel in Lidl. Big lads, whole, smoked, around €2.50 if stuck. In plastic wrapper and all, handy for freezer. Do they have a reduced section in Lidl? Have never seen one...

I remember reading somewhere that their short dated stuff is reduced first thing in the morning - rather than the evening like tesco/dunnes. I'm never in a supermarket that early so I've never checked to see if it's the case. I'm usually the person running into Aldi with 10 minutes to closing:o

bluecherry74

Don't know about Lidl, but I've gotten half price chicken legs in Aldi a few times on Friday evenings. :-) I buy 'em all whenever I see them.

tk123

SIGH!! My friend forked out €100 for the dogs ear infection again - won't be told it's time to try a different food!

borderlinemeath

tk123 wrote: »

SIGH!! My friend forked out €100 for the dogs ear infection again - won't be told it's time to try a different food!

My friends setter suffered from ongoing ear infections until they changed to raw. Not a bother on him now, no irritated paws anymore either. They had tried everything from Burns to Barking Heads but until they went natural he was plagued with infections.

My two aren't on it long enough to gauge but Coco only ever had one ear infection all her life and Benson only when he was just rescued on deaths door. (god love him he had everything ).

They're in their element at the minute, bone time! And a nice sunny day to enjoy them too.

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Whispered

We're down to raw feeding only 75 - 80% of the time. The rest of the time is brown rice mixed with either tinned fish or occasionally tinned dog food. Loads of cooked veggies though and all of our dinner scraps (we don't eat a lot of processed foods so I'm happy enough to give them our scraps).

I think this is hitting a happy medium for all of us. They are getting a more varied diet, fresher food and most of the time healthier food. We're happy that they are getting a better diet than dry food but we're not worrying too much about them getting fresh raw meat every single day.

DogsFirst

tk123 wrote: »

SIGH!! My friend forked out €100 for the dogs ear infection again - won't be told it's time to try a different food!

Steroids to the rescue! Poor dog, it's so hard to watch.

tk123

"If it was an allergy it would be both ears" .. :rolleyes:

DogsFirst

It MUST be something else so, best not even try it!!!

"Maybe we're using the wrong dry food.......I believe I have a bag of kibble here especially designed for mild infections of the left ear of setters....no wait, what ear is it again?? The right ear??!! Damn this is for left ears......."

juniord

is the food the same price if its left or right ear

bluecherry74

One of my Setters had ear problems too until I switched to raw. Had to get drops from the vet several times and his ears needed cleaning regularly as they were constantly filled with waxy goo. Since I switched he hasn't had a single problem. I really hope your friend comes around tk, she doesn't know what she's missing!

nala2012

What do people feed the dogs when they go away? Its fine when i leave nala with someone she's still raw fed but i'm planning on bringing her with us this summer and trying to figure out what to feed her?!

toadfly

I dunno Nala I guess it depends where you are staying. If we end up getting a self catering cottage I will still be able to feed her raw.

Hooked

Made up my second batch of raw yesterday... Mince, chicken stripped from the bone, mackerel, sardines, eggs, salmon oil, carrots, broccoli and green beans. And the bones fed as treats every other day.

Dad dropped in a dozen meaty brisket bones last week, and my brother... Who is in the kitchen in a local hotel brought home a load of salmon off cuts from yesterday's meals.

My freezer is packed to the rafters... And I must say... The difference in Hugo after 2 weeks is very noticeable!

We still feed kibble in the morning meal and raw in the afternoon. He's not had any trouble with both.

Anyone have any thoughts on feeding kibble and raw (not in the same meal). Should we make the full switch over?

Have a 15kg bag of royal canin still to get through...

toadfly

If he is doing well on both I wouldnt waste the dry food. Unless you want to donate it to a rescue and fully change but otherwise I wouldn't bother.

fifib

last time we were away with dog we brought a few tins of sardines and tuna with us and some of her dried food. was ok for just a weekend away. I'm sure the cleaner in the hotel thought we were very strange when she was cleaning out the bin full of empty tuna tins!! i was washing them out in my shower gel so they wouldnt stink!:D

bluecherry74

I took the dogs to Kerry last year - we rented a cottage and I made sure in advance that it had a freezer. I just packed a cool box with a week's supply of food, already frozen. Plan B if there was no freezer was to bring a couple of days worth of meat, store in in the fridge and buy more every couple of days.

If that's not an option you could use a good quality canned food. I know several people here swear by Nature Diet, although I've never tried it myself. You might want to try it out in advance of the holiday to be sure it agrees with your dog.

@Hooked - Sounds like Hugo is getting a lovely varied diet. I bet he's in heaven. No harm in finishing off the dry food if it's already open.

Hooked

bluecherry74 wrote: »

I took the dogs to Kerry last year - we rented a cottage and I made sure in advance that it had a freezer. I just packed a cool box with a week's supply of food, already frozen. Plan B if there was no freezer was to bring a couple of days worth of meat, store in in the fridge and buy more every couple of days.

If that's not an option you could use a good quality canned food. I know several people here swear by Nature Diet, although I've never tried it myself. You might want to try it out in advance of the holiday to be sure it agrees with your dog.

@Hooked - Sounds like Hugo is getting a lovely varied diet. I bet he's in heaven. No harm in finishing off the dry food if it's already open.

He's really thriving on it! Speaking of Kerry, we're off to Castlegregory next month for our third trip. Must get my hands on a cool box (as above) and make sure to prep enough grub.

@TillyGirl - Thanks! I think I'll just keep going with both as he's not shown any ill effects during his, ahem, toilet breaks.

bluecherry74

Hooked wrote: »

He's really thriving on it! Speaking of Kerry, we're off to Castlegregory next month for our third trip. Must get my hands on a cool box (as above) and make sure to prep enough grub.

If you freeze everything a few days in advance (to make sure its deep frozen) and fill in any gaps in the cool box with frozen water bottles, everything will stay frozen for at least half a day, if not more. That's in a hard plastic cool box - the soft sided bags will only last a couple of hours. Enjoy the holiday

bluecherry74

I just ordered 40kg of raw food from Dogs First and now I'm panicking slightly about how I'm going to fit it in my freezer!!! :eek: It'll be worth it though, its 40 days worth of meat and fish for about 2/3rd what I'm paying in Aldi, the butcher etc.

tk123

what did you get? Chubs or meat/fish? I got 10kg of backs on fri and that'll last us a month

bluecherry74

I got 20kg of scored salmon and 20kg of backs. I usually order the chubs from Pet Bliss, but DF has just started doing a Cork delivery.

How big does the bag of backs look?

tk123

WOW - you must have loads of freezer space? I only have a small undercounter freezer and the backs filled it. I think I may have put a small bag of them in the house freezer too lol!

EDIT - here's a pic of the backs after I divided them all up

bluecherry74

Thanks for that. I should be ok; I can divide up the backs into small portions and squeeze them in here and there. Plus 4/5 days worth can go in the bottom of the fridge - it's an old fridge and for some reason the bottom drawer (aka the "dog drawer") freezes things slightly!

Cocolola

Hey guys.

So I've been reading over this thread for a while and I think I'm nearly ready to switch my fella over. I'm a bit worried about freezer space more than anything as we only have 3 small drawers :pac:

Anyway I went into a butchers for the first time this evening to try some beef for dinner and asked for a few chicken wings as I think I read they're the best to start out with? He refused to give them to me, insisted that dogs choke on them. I said raw is supposed to be fine, with supervision, but it was a no-go. Instead he chucked in a thick, sawn beef bone with a slight covering of meat and fat on it.

Would it be ok to let him have a gnaw of it later or would beef be a bit much for him?

Thanks. Also if anyone uses a butcher in Galway for RAW, lemme know!

toadfly

Chicken wings are fine! I use a butchers in Loughrea and get chicken legs for €2/kg. They are €3/kg in Lidl/Aldi.

Cocolola

Thanks Tilly, that's good to know!

tk123

I've switched to duck backs and the poos have never been better lol! :P

borderlinemeath

tk123 wrote: »

I've switched to duck backs and the poos have never been better lol! :P

Coco didn't do well with the duck, she got sick a few hours after she ate it:(, it must have been a bit too greasy or heavy for her. It definitely wasn't a bug, she was right as rain and ate some salmon instead! I might try and take a bit more fat off and try again tomorrow.

However, Benson the garbage disposal had no problems at all! So it'll not go to waste!