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Originally Posted by kionini  I've been toying with the raw diet for months now. First, Nicky didn't like it (I would give them 'a taste' from the meat I was cooking--raw) Nini did like it. Then Nicky got Pancrititis and I decided to wait until he was better. He's better now and I'm back into looking and researching.
A couple of weeks ago I gave them a piece of chicken bone (raw) and Nicky got a bit constipated---I freaked. I tried it again with just a piece of raw chicken, nothing happened, but I'm scared. Has any of your babies had any negative reaction the first times you fed raw?
Maybe I was jumping the gun and shouldn't have given them the chicken bone? I was afraid of the pre-made thinking that I may miss a vitamin or something if I didn't feed straight raw.
My other problem is convincing hb, he's sold on what the vet tells him  So, I've decided to start slowly with pre-made behind hb's back. I just gotta figure out how to do it  |
Apparently too much bone can cause constipation and too much meat can cause diarrhea. I had an issue because I "jumped the gun" too, but in the opposite direction that you did lol. I gave them all raw venison with no bone and Alice and my Akita had wicked diarrhea. Totally my fault, Alice wouldn't eat any of her Orijen kibble (now I realize she was just sick of getting it for every single meal
), so out of despiration and an 'idea' i gave the raw meat. Should have researched first or went with pre-made.
You'll have to watch with the pancreatitis too, can't give too much fat. I've read alot of pancreatitis success stories on the NV web site though
I've researed both (prey-model and pre-made) extensively in the past few days and I think we're mainly going the pre-made route, especially after my 'mistake'. If you're going to do it prey model, you have to get the meat/bone ratio right and also give some organs (like liver) sometimes. After I researched and learned my mistake, I bought a whole chicken (it has to be under 100mg. sodium) and cut it all up into portions - let me tell ya, that was TOO much work for me and not to mention, umm gross lol. Some people have no problem at all doing it that way and maybe if I only had large dogs and could just give them big pieces, it wouldn't be as much work. Soooo, I've decided to go mainly the pre-maid route and just give them raw meaty bones outside once a week for dental health.
I also researched the different pre-maid companies and I've decided to go with Narure's Variety - they do something called HPP, which kills any bad bacteria but leaves a majority of the good ones (one of the main reasons raw is so good for pets). The pre-made is also "complete and balanced" - well, I know the NV is and it's AFCO approved, so you know for sure you're not missing anything. I've been rotating the raw with the NV Instinct (grain-free)kibble and cans to keep the cost down, but they're all still getting raw at least 1 meal per day. This isn't the cheapest way to go, but it's definatly the easiest and cleanest and I don't have to worry about messing up. I've been feeding them all this way for a week and everyone's happily eating (including Alice, even when i give the kibble since it's not every meal
) and no problems at all.
Prey model is wonderfull if you can handle it and are dedicated, but you have to reaserch first and get the ratios right. I learned a TON researching (and with some awesome help from Wyle's Mom
), so if you have any questions, let me know