Transitioning the dog to raw!

[Shmoopie]

So I finally bought some raw dog food (from a raw dog food company I would never recommend, by the way. They're scammers. I gotta find a new one), and he didn't like it. He's extreeeeemely picky. He ate the first bowl of it, but it took him a long time to eat it, and he will not eat it (at least on its own) since then. So I decided to at least get him off the regular dog food as a start. Since the day before yesterday, he's eating (cooked) ground turkey with brown rice (made with olive oil instead of butter), olive oil poured on top, and then I make the raw dog food I bought and put it on top of the turkey/rice mixture. He still tries to sneak around the raw stuff, but because I spread it like a butter over the top of all the good stuff, he winds up eating most of it. It's a start anyway lol.

Next round of ground turkey I buy, I'll give it to him raw. The stuff I already had was frozen from like...last year lol, and I'm not going to eat it, so I figured I'd cook it for him. I hope he'll like it raw.

The rice will eventually go. I just want to get him off the packaged dog food first. I've done a lot of reading lately that says that dogs' allergies are caused by an allergy to grains or glutens (in ALL store bought dog foods). I know that brown rice, quinoa, and millet are acceptable for humans in the instance of a gluten intolerance, so I'm wondering/hoping the same is true for dogs. He could stand to gain a few pounds and I'm sure the rice would help. He's not been itchy today so I'm gonna guess that something good is happening.

Can anyone who has raw pets tell me how they manage to afford all the meat?? There's a turkey place where I live who sells everything turkey. It's a restaurant/deli and the ground turkey you can buy there is almost four bucks a pound! :eek: :eek:
He'll go through a pound in no time, so that's pretty darn expensive for me. The health food store is no better. Would I get a better deal if I got in touch with a meat distributor? I have a cousin way up north who raises cows and...yeah. I guess I could call her. I don't know :confused:

Anyway, I'm excited! And talking a lot...lol
Any advice on the meat and how to get it cheaper would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[karenbeel]

Hi Shmoopie, Funny you should post about this I have just started feeding my little Yorkie raw meat instead of the bagged food. I also feel that feeding my dog this way is as natural as us eating raw foods. Anyway I am a little worried about the amount of meat an how much it will cost me but at least I only have a 9lb dog so it's not quite as bad as having to feed a big dog. I hope to hear from others who feed their dogs raw. Thanks for starting this thread Shmoopie. Take care
Blessings
Karen

[luckitri]

There are some old threads on here about this but I always have difficult time finding them. There is even a raw pet video link on one of them! I learned about feeding the animals raw from this site. My old boy has received much benefit from it. I just go to the managers reduction section of meat in a local supermarket chain. (Only the 1 store of this chain has this section.) I stock up there on the discounted meat and take it straight home to the freezer. I still leave dry food out for them if they want it. They do eat less and receive much health benefit. My old boy is losing his fat, gaining energy and alertness. His teeth stopped falling out. His vision is coming back. I'm convinced!

This is a tough sell because most of us were raised that we should never allow our dogs to get a taste for raw meat because their bloodthirstiness would make them a threat to us. My dogs are older and they know who is boss and we get along really well so I have had no problems. I just know that when I try to tell others of the benefit they just gloss over in the eyes. Just today I stepped into the supermarket to get my supply of meat and a much older than me woman started talking to me about all the meat I was getting from that section. I told her it was for my dogs. She thought that I meant that I would give the bones to the dogs. I said no the meat is for the dogs. I told her about the benefit but she was just as resistant as I initially was.

P.S. My female dog will not eat chicken of any shape or kind. We just adopted a mature male cat. He also will not eat the chicken. He wants the beef that the dogs get.

[moonstone523]

My dog has been on a meat and rice diet since the first bite of food into her mouth.

She won't touch dog food with a ten foot pole.

However, she doesn't like raw food and I consider the way she eats healthy for an animal. I do not feel it is necessary to make my dog raw. IMHO.

[salsababy]

I am hoping this falls along with the thread and if not I am sorry and just ignore post!~ :o

Cats seem to me, to be a huge lover of fish. My cats are not too thrilled with canned tuna cat food. Yet they loved human canned tuna! I was always told they would get sick with "human food". But then again, cat food is so expensive and I have no clue how to prononuce what is in bagged and canned animal food.

For those of you who give your animals pure food, did they get sick when introducing? My cats are getting sick with their bagged food and I am not sure how they would handle tuna.

[JGex]

Cats and tuna:

http://www.lenhumanesoc.org/Tips/ASPCA-Tuna.htm


"An occasional tuna treat for your cat is generally harmless," says Bough. "However, if a large part of the cat's diet consists of tuna--or if the cat is fed tuna exclusively--some problems are likely to arise."

Tuna does not contain significant amounts of vitamin E, for example, so too much of the fish can lead to vitamin E deficiency, resulting in yellow fat disease, or steatitis. Symptoms include loss of appetite, fever and hypersensitivity to touch, due to inflammation and necrosis of fat under the skin. Felines who are fed too much tuna can develop other nutrient deficiencies, too, because most de-boned fish are lacking in calcium, sodium, iron, copper and several other vitamins.

Mercury, frequently present in tuna, also presents a potential danger. "At low levels, this may not be a concern," explains Bough, "but if tuna is fed nearly exclusively, it could pose significant problems."

The bottom line? "I recommend premium commercial food for domestic cats," Bough says. "These foods are formulated to meet all of a cat's dietary needs. Then you can feed an occasional tuna treat for your pet's enjoyment. And remember," she adds, "no more than five to ten percent of a cat's diet should ever be table food."

Of course, I'm sure there there are reasons not to use pre-made commercial food either.... ;)

[JGex]

Any advice on the meat and how to get it cheaper would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!


Sometimes you can get scraps, sweet meats or bones free from a small abattoir or deer cooler... they have to pay to have stuff hauled off.

[JGex]

I can't get this stuff locally, and I don't know the cost, but apparently some of the retailers will ship.....

http://www.bravorawdiet.com

[JGex]

And another: http://www.halshan.com/products.html

Actually, the prices don't look to bad.....

[JGex]

Directions on how to make your own: http://www.goodpet.com/library/recipes.html

Hmm.... I should try this with my little ones. I bet this guy would love it:

http://www.drowningcreek.com/images/personal/pelon.jpg

[pdx kris]

My dog doesn't like eating raw meat, but he will eat cooked meat, rice, and veggies. His diet is about half cooked chicken and lamb with rice or pumpkin and half very high-quality dog food (usually Solid Gold brand, but sometimes Natural Balance brand.)

As far as money, it's amazing how much LESS a dog will eat when he is eating whole foods. A pound of chicken is 3 or 4 meals (when mixed with rice and his dog food) for my dog, who weighs about 45 pounds.

[girlsmiley]

Hmm.... I should try this with my little ones. I bet this guy would love it:

What a cutie!!!

[eatyourbroccoli]

My dog doesn't like eating raw meat, but he will eat cooked meat, rice, and veggies. His diet is about half cooked chicken and lamb with rice or pumpkin and half very high-quality dog food (usually Solid Gold brand, but sometimes Natural Balance brand.)

As far as money, it's amazing how much LESS a dog will eat when he is eating whole foods. A pound of chicken is 3 or 4 meals (when mixed with rice and his dog food) for my dog, who weighs about 45 pounds.my pups are similar. we tried them on raw, but despite switching types of raw meat a few times their tummies couldnt handle it and theyd throw up about once a day each. we think it may have been bc they were both vaccinated (one we found, the other was a rescue dog from Katrina and the humane society vaccinated her) now we do mostly cooked chicken and brown rice. they love it

[mongomango]

Dogs are just as addicted to cooked foods (dog food) as people. It will usually take a bit of time for them to adjust, but adjust they will. Here is where I have gotten raw pet food. The meat is all from grass fed animals and it's very nutritious. A 10 lb dog will eat about 1/3 of a pound a day, it's about 3% of the dogs weight. You can buy larger quantities to keep in the freezer, but shipping is an added expense. You'll need to figure out your dog's weight, and how much he'll eat on a weekly basis... A 30 lb dog would need 7 lbs of food a week. A very active 30 lb dog would need a bit more. This meat is typically much better than what you'd get in a supermarket as it is free range grass fed animals from small farms. Even whole foods "organic" meat is not superior as it has been mass produced for supermarket size distribution.

I hope it is ok to put this link as it's nothing to do with people food..if not please remove it and accept my apologies.

http://slankersgrassfedmeats.com/id77.htm

[luckitri]

My dogs adapted no problem. Instantly.

[codajess]

I have 3 rawfed cats, and a rawfed dog. My cats have been raw fed for 6 months now. One of them wouldn't touch "real" raw until just recently. So he had the separate country Pet prepared frozen raw. Out of convenience for my parents (with whom my dog lives) I buy country pet frozen raw dog food.

Since I feel it's hypocritical to be anti supporting factory-farms for myself, but buying factory farmed animals for my pets; I buy my cats' meat from local humanely-handled, pasture raised animal farms.

The prepared dog food my dog gets is $2.50/day. One roll is good for 2 days, and is $4.99. I buy chickens in bulk from a local farm (as I said) and the last time I bought in bulk was 5 months ago, I spent a little under $200 and they're finishing up the last bit now. So i'd say about $40 a month for decently raised animal meat. However, I was feeding 1 of my 3 cats the Country Pet stuff until just a week or so ago. So, however you wanna figure that out. Whatever. I also bought a meat grinder at $100+ & a separate freezer chest for a little over $200 for their bulk meat. Those are one-time things, but they factor into the cost of my raw feeding. I don't keep their meat in my freezer, except for whatever i'm thawing to feed them. The meat grinder helps me with the bigger bones that they can't/won't chew through yet.

[daisyduke]

First of all, your dogs are so lucky that you care enough to try this for them! I transitioned my dogs to raw about 6 months ago. I am so glad I did! Everything has improved - their teeth, their energy, their anxiety, everything!

In order to get them to start eating raw food, I fasted them for a day or two. I kept trying to get them to eat it, but they refused. Then when they were hungry enough, they ate it and haven't stopped since! They love it so much more. They won't even touch their kibble food anymore! So, maybe try fasting you dog until he/she eats it... just make sure they still have plenty of water!

My dogs did chew the bones at first and throw them up a bit. This is perfectly normal. They just eat what they threw up again. This rarely happens anymore.

Feeding this way is expensive, but it is saving me a ton of money in vet bills! Getting their teeth cleaned was going to cost at least $500 each...and it would have had to been done every year or so. Plus I love having happy, healthy dogs...they're worth it to me!

If you have any specific questions, please feel free to ask! I'll do my best to help!

Love, Tammy

[carolg]

My dog has been raw about 7 years. One year, before adopting her, she was all about dry food, and came from the pound. After one month of transitioning she has been forever raw meat. She is not a chicken legs/wings fan, but loves ground chicken and wild game. She hates veggies, hates fruits and used to give her barley powders mixed in her meat. I have to get her back to eating some fresh veggies again. She is super healthy and very active. Her main job around our house is her game of hunting for rabbits which are always here.

She gets lots of exercise, sleeps great and super happy. She is calm and just a great behaved dog. I never cooked for her and won't start that now. I don't feed her sweets either. Her teeth so far look great. It's mine that is the constant problem. I have been on egroups for feeding dogs BARF or raw diet too. Cats have a place too, but I'm not cat person. I don't have dog vaccinated and found no reason for another visit. It's been close to 7 years now but went in for one bite she got on her nose that was not healing by my ways but homeopathic did work. Google shirleys wellness cafe.
carolg

[luckitri]

I had 2 pieces with bones that looked so good that I was going to cook it for my SAD men but gave it to the dogs. My boy turned up his nose! I cannot believe it. My girl has been going at it for 45 minutes now. Even our adopted cat liked his piece! This is why I still keep some standard dry food around for them. My old boy loves tomatoes and other fruits and veggies but lately neither of them go for those like they used to. . . . so I have more compost material.

[Raw Bunny]

I just made the first raw meal for my pets. Ground Buffalo with spinach, celery, ginger, sunflower seeds and ground flax. I need to get some eggs to add too.

The dog loved it and the cat has yet to discover it in her bowl.

The great thing with the veggies is that I used a lot of the stuff I sould normally put in the compost pile like the stems/ends of the spinach and the celery in the center that is more yellow than green.

[domestic goddess]

I use Bravo with my dog (shephard/greyhound cross) and she transitioned fine in about a week. I was feeding her a very high quality dry food before and now give her the Bravo in the morning and a raw 'dry' food (whose name escapes me atm) in the afternoon. She is doing wonderfully on it and although I know I could prepare her food, I have 3 kids and enough on my plate that I really don't have time to be doing that. For *me* the Bravo is a good alternative to doing it all mysef.

[raw4liz]

be careful with the ground meat (& other meats) you buy in the stores. they can be "enhanced" w/ chemicals and salts & are no good for your pets. especially the ground meats like turkey & chicken...they are usually always enhanced...if it says natural flavorings or solution on it...don't get it. ;)

try going to yahoo & looking at the groups they have there. there are tons of rawfood co-ops for pet owners. generally you need to buy things in bulk to save money. i have a seperate freezer just for my dogs/cat food.

you can usually keep the costs down even w/ shopping at the supermarket. try going later in the afternoon when they start marking down the meats that are on the last day of sale & stock up! :) shop the sales & stock up when you can & you can generally keep most costs under 1.50/lb. & for an average sized dog, that should run you no more then 30-40/month. the health benefits alone are worth the extra money! :)

[KellyL]

We feed our dogs raw chicken in the morning and Orijen brand kibble in the evening. Orijen has no grain and is baked at very low temps. The dogs love it. I have a Bernese Mountain Dog (130 lb) and a Sheltie. I wish I could afford to feed them an all raw meat diet but I would have to quit eating. If we run out of food one day and can't get to the pet food store (they close at 5), I will make some brown rice and mix it with a couple eggs and some frozen broccoli or green beans. Dogs have a hard time breaking down the cellulose in plants, so it can be beneficial to either use frozen veggies or finely chop them in the food processor (or both).