Changed to Raw :-)

teacherspet · 31-12-2012 10:33pm

Just a quick question. Should the veggies be raw, slightly cooked or cooked ?

DBB · 31-12-2012 10:39pm

teacherspet wrote: »

Just a quick question. Should the veggies be raw, slightly cooked or cooked ?

Either raw and pureed, or well cooked, I think the latter is preferable! Seems to suit digestion better for most dogs.

DogsFirst · 05-01-2013 12:04pm

Hey Lemlin, I still can't get my girl to eat hunks of raw venison or chicken breasts, must be the texture. She was dry fed for the first few years and so it can be a rocky road converting them thereafter. Like above says, grind and hide etc and don't give them the option! Or you can simply pick up some natural multivitamins (better still "antioxidants" which are high in the trace elements too) and put a quarter of a tablet or whatever (dose by body weight) every other day. Then you wouldn't need to worry re the veg at all. They're not absolutely necessary, just adds a bit of variety.

Dogs can't breakdown plant fibre at all so the veg walls need to be broken down, either cook or use from frozen (par-cooked already) and puree / mash up. I just let the bag of green bean/ pea /carrot mix defrost and crush between my fists. Goes through just fine. Some breeds are better digesters though!

Chicken is the absolute business when it comes to dog feeding. Everything else pales in comparison. Lots of chicken, bit of fish (reccomend the oily types like tins of sardine in brine or tomato, salmon, heads best from frozen and free from shops!) and the odd bit of organ minced up when you can get it (kidney, heart, liver) will do just fine.

Beef mince is great but in small amounts, like lamb mince, due to very high fat content. It's not necessary at all. Don't worry re tripe. It's good too but pound for pound it can't hold a candle to chicken on the bone.

fatmammycat · 06-01-2013 11:02am

I weighed the pup yesterday- out of curiosity more than anything else. Bearing in mind he's been on raw since he was 4 months old and he's a week shy of 10 months now, and he came in at a remarkable 34.10 kilos.
He hasn't a lick of fat on him anywhere, ribs covered but not padded- you can in fact see the outline of the last two ribs, even with the heavy winter coat on. Best thing I ever did was take him off dry food and feed raw, I would heartily suggest to anyone thinking about switching over to go for it.

borderlinemeath · 06-01-2013 11:55am

We're changing now in the next few weeks. Just a small matter of a purchase of a chest freezer and we're away! As it is my regular freezer is packed to capacity with tesco/dunnes clearance counter meat and fish and the remains of a crate of bones my butcher gave me.

But I still reckon I only have about 2 weeks supply so want to get the chest freezer and get stocked up.

tk123 · 06-01-2013 2:00pm

borderlinemeath wrote: »

We're changing now in the next few weeks. Just a small matter of a purchase of a chest freezer and we're away! As it is my regular freezer is packed to capacity with tesco/dunnes clearance counter meat and fish and the remains of a crate of bones my butcher gave me. But I still reckon I only have about 2 weeks supply so want to get the chest freezer and get stocked up.

;'( we have no space for a chest freezer atm - we'll have to get a new kitchen to accommodate one lol!

borderlinemeath · 06-01-2013 4:05pm

tk123 wrote: »

;'( we have no space for a chest freezer atm - we'll have to get a new kitchen to accommodate one lol!

We're lucky, we have the room outside in the outhouse/utility shed/swallows nest in the summer house! There's enough room for a large one but I reckon a medium sized one will be plenty big.

DogsFirst · 06-01-2013 9:33pm

fatmammycat wrote: »

I weighed the pup yesterday- out of curiosity more than anything else. Bearing in mind he's been on raw since he was 4 months old and he's a week shy of 10 months now, and he came in at a remarkable 34.10 kilos.
He hasn't a lick of fat on him anywhere, ribs covered but not padded- you can in fact see the outline of the last two ribs, even with the heavy winter coat on. Best thing I ever did was take him off dry food and feed raw, I would heartily suggest to anyone thinking about switching over to go for it.

Incredible isn't it?!! Put up a picture!

This should be the number one reason for dog enthusiasts to change to a high meat diet. Think body builders. Protein builds muscle. Carbs don't. Raw meat fed dogs haven't a pick of fat on them.

Have an excellent example here of a Great Dane where the best dry foods weren't "putting the weight on". She was also on the standard mix of steroids and antibiotics for all her ailments. 36kg of rag and bone. Elbow crusts. Weeping eyes. Waxy ears. Sores on paws. Bad poos. Shocking coat. The lot.

We've pictures of 0, 2, 4, 6, 12 and 16wks on raw. 40kg of lean muscle mass later this 6 year old looks like a 2 year old.

kylith · 07-01-2013 10:43am

A mix up at the buchers has left me with two beef kidneys that won't be eaten in my house. Any raw feeders around D8 are welcome to them.

DogsFirst · 07-01-2013 12:25pm

Can you post them to me?!

tk123 · 07-01-2013 12:26pm

kylith wrote: »

A mix up at the buchers has left me with two beef kidneys that won't be eaten in my house. Any raw feeders around D8 are welcome to them.

Sure cook them up for yourself!

Have to dig out my before pics - Bailey has really filled out both in muscle tone with the hydro sessions and his coat. I see him soaked to the skin every week and there's no fat on him - just lean muscle! I've honestly not recognised him from a distance a couple of times because he looks so different and healthy...either that or my LASIK is starting to fail after a few years!!

kylith · 07-01-2013 2:43pm

tk123 wrote: »

Sure cook them up for yourself!

I'm a big fan of offal, which is why I asked for a pair of lambs kidneys from the butcher, it was only when I got home that I realised he'd given me beef ones by mistake, and I'd never eat a whole one myself. My dad was practically dribbling when I was telling him, but he lives too far away for me to bring them to him. OH won't touch offal at all and I'm not geared up for feeding the dogs raw, though they'd love it I'm sure. It'd probably take a week to get through one of the kidneys anyway.

kylith · 07-01-2013 2:44pm

DogsFirst wrote: »

Can you post them to me?!

I'd say my post office, and yours, would be delighted with defrosting meat dripping all over the letters, otherwise I absolutely would.

Whispered · 07-01-2013 3:03pm

kylith wrote: »

I'm not geared up for feeding the dogs raw,

chop it up and stick it into the oven with some brown rice and a bit of water, bake until cooked, portion and freeze. Your dogs will love you for it!

How big is a cows kidney?

kylith · 07-01-2013 3:12pm

About the size of a bunch of grapes. It rather looks like a bunch of grapes too.

DogsFirst · 07-01-2013 6:52pm

Doesn't taste like grapes though, don't make that mistake. It tastes like batteries I hate it! Don't care if it's good for you. It processes wee, that's enough for me.

FoxyVixen · 07-01-2013 7:40pm

DogsFirst wrote: »

It processes wee, that's enough for me.

LMFAO, I have never heard of it described quite like that before outside of biology class

If only I had that statement in my ammunition as a child to get out of eating lambs liver

tk123 · 07-01-2013 8:39pm

FoxyVixen wrote: »

If only I had that statement in my ammunition as a child to get out of eating lambs liver

Anytime I get liver 'for the dog' half of it ends up on the pan for us lol! :P

DBB · 08-01-2013 12:09am

DogsFirst wrote: »

It tastes like batteries I hate it! Don't care if it's good for you.

But.... how do you know what batteries taste like?

:o:eek:

Whispered · 10-01-2013 8:42pm

Lunch (and the only meal of the day today)

toadfly · 10-01-2013 9:04pm

How are the boys getting on Whispered?

Whispered · 10-01-2013 9:20pm

They're good thanks. We're feeding raw probably 70% of the time. Both boys are very lean, but they always have been, their weight has stayed pretty much as it was.

They love their food, although it's funny, see those bowls of chicken and veg. Well the veg is always eaten first. Phoe isn't liking it as much as Harley for some reason, he eats, but he sometimes looks a bit worried

He will not eat liver at all. Loves mince though.

His breath is so much better now, and at the 20% of time we feed cooked food you can smell the difference immediately.

I posted a pic in the picture thread, where you can see Harleys teeth and they're lovely

How is Lexi doing?

SillyMangoX · 10-01-2013 9:26pm

Whispered wrote: »

Lunch (and the only meal of the day today)

Is it weird I think that looks very appealing?! :P

toadfly · 10-01-2013 9:38pm

She's doing fantastically

Whispered · 10-01-2013 9:41pm

SillyMangoX wrote: »

Is it weird I think that looks very appealing?! :P

Yes.

That's great Tillygirl.

tk123 · 11-01-2013 3:05pm

Bailey's breakfast this morning! The salmon was in the reduced section in Tesco - 80-90c a steak

Whispered · 11-01-2013 4:22pm

tk123 wrote: »

Bailey's breakfast this morning! The salmon was in the reduced section in Tesco - 80-90c a steak

I'm so jealous of how organised you are

I usually cook the veg just before serving because I'm so disorganised.

Also, how do you keep getting those offers. I can never find any in tesco. My best is a whole chicken for €3.

tk123 · 11-01-2013 6:09pm

Whispered wrote: »

I'm so jealous of how organised you are I usually cook the veg just before serving because I'm so disorganised.

Also, how do you keep getting those offers. I can never find any in tesco. My best is a whole chicken for €3.

My mum gives him his dinner during the week so it's just easier to have it made up like that. The green is sprouts lol!! The day I was doing up that batch they were on offer in Aldi!

. There's usually fish in the reduced section or our Tesco during the week!

borderlinemeath · 11-01-2013 8:46pm

tk123 wrote: »

My mum gives him his dinner during the week so it's just easier to have it made up like that. The green is sprouts lol!! The day I was doing up that batch they were on offer in Aldi! . There's usually fish in the reduced section or our Tesco during the week!

I've been scouring the reduced sections in my tesco and dunnes. I find Dunnes better for getting meat reductions, the tesco ones tend to get snapped up. Although I have found that Monday at around 5/6pm there's usually a load of fish reductions in tesco. I have been stocking the regular freezer in anticipation of the changover!

tk123 · 11-01-2013 9:05pm

borderlinemeath wrote: »

I've been scouring the reduced sections in my tesco and dunnes. I find Dunnes better for getting meat reductions, the tesco ones tend to get snapped up. Although I have found that Monday at around 5/6pm there's usually a load of fish reductions in tesco. I have been stocking the regular freezer in anticipation of the changover!

Oh I wonder if ours is the same!! I'll be passing this Tesco everyday now on the way home from my new job so I'll drop in on Monday and see what they have!

Changed to Raw :-)

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