How do you go Raw?

[Snowshoe]

I have read several things about going raw. At first, I thought it was just a fad and dogs have survived on kibble for many, many years but now I am thinking raw may be the way to go. I do have a lot of questions first:

1. My understanding is that you want to wait until the dog is an adult before you switch from kibble. Is that correct? People do feed puppies raw.

2. How much does it cost on average per month to feed raw? I spent $92 on my first month's order but found it lasted me more than a month. That was only the meat part, the vegetables and fruits I buy at the grocery store cost me far more. It's going to vary by what's available to you.

3. I found a co-op not far from me so I would probably shop there and they have a suggested weekly feeding schedule to help with the switch. Does this look good? Raw Menu Wks 1-8

4. I read that you should feed the dog 2-3% of their desired adult weight in raw food, so that would be around 2 lbs of food a day separated into 2 meals, does that sound correct? I find 2% of ideal weight is good for us but dogs will differ. I feed two meals a day.

5. Also, I thought you weren't supposed to give your dog chicken bones as they can splinter and choke the dog. Is that no longer a rule? Raw bones are ok. It's good to make sure pup chews them up which I did by holding on with a cotton garden glove at first. I actually gave bones long before we went raw, gave as a treat. Some folks are sill against large animal weight bearing bones in case of tooth fracture.

6. How much food do you need to purchase to last a month? For example, this place I am looking at has Whole Chicken Leg Quarters in a 40 lb frozen case, that should last about a month, right? I feed a variety of meats, chicken, pork, beef and fish, mostly salmon. And different cuts, so to speak. As per Oban's Nutriscan test he should not eat turkey, of all things. 40 lbs. of chicken then would last me several months.

Any advice would be appreciated.

We've only been full raw for two and a half months. I always considered it, was impressed by claims of friends whose dogs I knew. But kibble was easier and I did not have a sick dog like my friends did, so did not expect a startling improvement like they had.

Then Oban got sick. I don't believe it was his food, I think it was the combination of meds he was on that prompted IBD. But there is no way to know for sure and the new Holistic Vet who saved his life likes raw so raw it is. Our transition to raw was very, very easy. Oban's recovery diet was cooked minced turkey and cooked sweet potato. After about two months and some nice, and desperately needed, weight gain I simply stopped cooking the turkey every second day. Then raw turkey every day and after a while began introducing a new food every second day. I was checking poop with a stick to make sure every bit of new food was being digested and there were no problems at all; even more reason for me to think the dog I believed had a cast iron stomach really did, where food was concerned.

My Vet loaned me her two Dr. Billinghurst books, Give Your Dog a Bone and another one, forget it's title. They are both old books and I will try to find the Lew Olsen book. I feed BARF by the way and I'm extremely pleased with the result. Oban's outer guard hairs all fell out while he was recovering and I don't know if that's due to going raw as some dogs do lose coat or a coincidence or part of his IBD. But his coat is back and I really and truly think it never looked better. Also, one of the meds I blame for his IBD was his allergy one and he was off it all summer and was not itchy. However his sore elbow is still sore.

I do notice on the raw forum that people do not distinguish very well what they mean when they say they feed raw. Some feed already prepared raw patties that have veggies and supplements mixed in. Some feed prey model. I feed BARF which includes veg and fruit and I do not use any pre mixed blends, except for one that has different meats only in it. You will have to decide how you want to do it. I even bought a high end blender, a Blendtec, so I could smoosh up the vegetables I feed. My Vet prefers a juicer.

I should add that our Vet also practices Chinese medicine and Oban is now on three different herb preparations so I can't attribute his good health now to solely the raw diet.

I want to look something up for you but it's Oban's suppertime and he and the cats need fed so I will post again later.

[voodoo]

I am thinking of giving chili 1 raw meal a day and 1 kibble meal a day. is this smart to do? doing more research...I dont want to jump in doing all raw.

[Snowshoe]

Sample Menu - Totally Raw Natural Dog FoodTotally Raw Natural Dog Food

Found it. I used the sample monthly whole food plan from the site above. I had to vary it a bit to accommodate what I could buy at the supplier near me but I composed my monthly menu, ran it by my Vet and we were off. I cut all the meaty portions down since I was adding veg and fruit. You will see they also have a puppy menu that seems to offer a little more variety than the link you found. Which would be best I have no idea. As I said we did our introduction quite slowly and I didn't start this menu till November but Oban was sick in July. We had from mid August, Sept and October to slowly try new things. I imagine with a dog that was healthy to start with you might not have to go so slowly.

Does your Vet support you going raw? Is your Vet knowledgeable about a raw diet? That would be such a big help

[doubledip1]

I just started Luna on raw. It has been 3 full days and she has loved it. It actually started because we are moving next week and I am trying to clean out the freezer, so Luna's been getting tons of meat. She has been doing so well and loving it. The stores near me have had 99c chicken quarters and thighs and 1.19 boneless breasts this week so I just bought a bunch of family packs and her next 3 weeks are all ready to go.

[Labradorks]

I am thinking of giving chili 1 raw meal a day and 1 kibble meal a day. is this smart to do? doing more research...I dont want to jump in doing all raw.

What's the difference between going all in or 50/50?

[Snowshoe]

What's the difference between going all in or 50/50?

I can't answer for Voodoo but I know several people who feed kibble in the morning so they themselves can get going out of the house to work more quickly and easily in the morning.

[beth101509]

Sample Menu - Totally Raw Natural Dog FoodTotally Raw Natural Dog Food

Found it. I used the sample monthly whole food plan from the site above. I had to vary it a bit to accommodate what I could buy at the supplier near me but I composed my monthly menu, ran it by my Vet and we were off. I cut all the meaty portions down since I was adding veg and fruit. You will see they also have a puppy menu that seems to offer a little more variety than the link you found. Which would be best I have no idea. As I said we did our introduction quite slowly and I didn't start this menu till November but Oban was sick in July. We had from mid August, Sept and October to slowly try new things. I imagine with a dog that was healthy to start with you might not have to go so slowly.

Does your Vet support you going raw? Is your Vet knowledgeable about a raw diet? That would be such a big help

Thank you for the menu. I was looking at the Prey Raw Food method. I guess the only difference between the 2 is the Prey doesn't add veggies/fruits, right?

I do not know if my Vet supports it or not. I haven't contacted them yet. I would guess no since she wants me to neuter at 6 months to avoid aggressive tendencies. I will be switching Vets anyway because they charge more for the same vaccinations as everyone else and really push shots that don't need to be done.

[charliebbarkin]

Beth, I am crazy busy at the moment but I need to send you a pm. I just wanted to pop in and encourage you to call Carol at the co op and talk to her. Trust me.

[voodoo]

my thought process initially is making sure all the nutritional elements are met. so if i fed 1.5cups of kibble for 1 meal and 1 pound of raw for 2nd meal it would meet daily requirements? still doing research, but I am worried if i fed all raw I might miss/overfeed something like calcium/bone or too much protein, not enough fat etc....

[charliebbarkin]

Voodoo, without a mentor I would just feed prepackaged raw or stick with kibble. And I would definitely not feed kibble and raw every day.