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  1. #1
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    Does this sound like a complete meal?

    my friend is fostering a newfoundlander female, pure bred, 6yra old. said to be pretty overweight but we dont have an actual weight yet.

    this is what she is told the dog eats. it doesnt seem like enouh but i donn't know:

    Food : She is on Raw Mackerel Fish now – she gets 2 fish a day – 1 at 7:30 and 1 at 5:00pm – the weight of each fish is anywhere from 400-600grams – I try and keep hers at the 400gram.

    thats it. cucucmber and 1 teaspoon of peanut butter. there are other meats she has eaten (pork, rabbit, turkwy) but the above is what she (the foster) is being told to feed. said to be ONLY mackarel no other fish is appropriate.

    thoughts?

  2. #2
    Senior Dog shellbell's Avatar
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    That is not complete and balanced. I am curious as to what the stool looks like on that, I consider fish to be boneless as the bones are so fine. If you are feeding raw, you need to be doing the 80% meat/10% bone/10% organ to be balanced. Cucumber and PB is not doing anything nutritionally. The organs are so important, that is where the vitamins come from. And yes a fish is technically whole prey, but not for raw feeding purposes, can't rely on them to be your only source of organ and bone. I feed by oz and not grams, so am not sure what the grams breaks out to, but I don't think mackerel fish are that big so it seems like not enough food volume wise either.

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  4. #3
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    that was my concern. upon review that is a lot of fish so lots of food going in but the plan seems to be for the foster to feed ONLY fish for a bit of time to not "change things" but my concern is feeding ONLY mackerel (even if it's the full fish) you will be missing things….

    400g is like 14 ounces so seems like tons of volume.

  5. #4
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    no clue why ONLY mackerel. It says "Mackerel Fish is the only fish that is a good fish for these dogs to eat. Please don’t get creative and feed them salmon or anything else. You have to look at a lot of things when feeding raw especially fish."

    There is more to what the dog eats in general (
    Pork (all parts), Lamb, Rabbit (All parts), Fish (All Parts) , Tripe, organs.) but it sounds like the rescue (or maybe owner who is surrendering as well) want it kept simple and feed only the mackerel for a bit. And cut out the pb as she is quite overweight. But as you mention - sounds like there is an issue with balance if they do that (and not clear the owner actually would feed ONLY mackerel for weeks and weeks)

  6. #5
    Senior Dog shellbell's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tanya View Post
    that was my concern. upon review that is a lot of fish so lots of food going in but the plan seems to be for the foster to feed ONLY fish for a bit of time to not "change things" but my concern is feeding ONLY mackerel (even if it's the full fish) you will be missing things….

    400g is like 14 ounces so seems like tons of volume.
    Okay yeah I have no sense of grams 14 oz per meal is actually a lot, mine get 8-10oz per meal but they only weigh about 50lbs each. If the foster is not experienced in raw feeding, it might be best to feed kibble.

  7. #6
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    Is there some health concern? Is this a recovery diet? Or just meant to be a temporary weight loss diet? Oban's cooked diet when he's been sick has been very limited for weeks at a time but never with the intention he would be fed the same way for life. But he was getting TCM too. I wonder why any oily fish wouldn't do? Is there a good Newfie breeder nearby that would be willing to consult?

    That's not necessarily a lot of food, it might be a lot of fish. It's 2 pounds a day, plus or minus. How much should the dog weigh?

  8. #7
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    The weight is not a lot of food for a medium sized or larger dog. The cucumber and peanut butter is not really doing anything. Feeding fish twice a day for a short period of time probably is not a concern, especially if it's a very short term thing. Remember, balance over time. However, who is managing this and are there any guidelines for return to a normal diet. Also I wonder whether the dog is satisfied and its activity levels and overall general health (skin, coat, allergies etc).

    If its only over a few days to week or so then not a problem but after that time I would be concerned.
    Trudy 6/16/11
    Gracie 6 years DSH cat
    Lily Lou rescue foster 2/10/14

  9. #8
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    thanks guys!

    no the diet isn't about weight management, the plan is to "increase exercise" to lose the weight

    we don't have a weight on her but as a newf (purebred) they are around the lines of 100-120. Having said that, my friend who is more familiar wtih the breed (thsu her fostering!) said newfs generally eat less than you would expect for their size (closer to a large breed dog VS a 100+ pound dog).

    The rescue says fish for a few weeks to a month is fine and there is enough bone and organ and newfs are good wtih this diet.. But, they said they don't expect her to be in foster care too too logn so that the fish thing is good for now (I guess if she is in rescue more than a month they can re-evalute). My friend is just a foster and she is a bit confused by the fish only bit but it's not her call.

    The dog is an owner surrender and the owner is going to dnate some food. I guess once that food it out the rescue will have to decide if they transition to kibble at that point. I am curious to see how much fish this is, my friend didn't have a freezer so will leave some at my house

  10. #9
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    We have two Newfoundlands; one male and one female. I follow a Newf forum similar to this one and there is a very reputable Newf Breeder also from CA - who has researched species appropriate natural diets for Newfs. Fresh or fresh frozen whole mackerel is one of the recommended foods for them. Fed whole with skin, head, tail etc is a rounded meal. The bones, organs and flesh all in one. 400 grams is about what we feed my male who is very active and not full grown. We feed the female a little less at each meal. 600 grams seems a little bit high for a 6 year but that may be why she is overweight. We can't get whole mackerel in the Pacific Northwest but we do get yummy fresh frozen sardines and we feed those to our Newfs and Lab about two meals a week.

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  12. #10
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    Just so happens I opened a bag of mackerel this week.

    My fattie would get two fish per meal (he is on weight management right now).

    The youngin' would get up to four fish per meal, or a couple fish plus something else (ground tripe, a raw egg, etc.). Weight management here, too.

    Both dogs are 95 lbs., give or take.

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