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Originally Posted by AlicetheYorkie  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 |
Thank you !
I think I will go the pre-made route too. I've seen videos of someone I befriended on FB to learn about raw feeding and I couldn't even watch most of the videos.
What I saw her baby and her other friend's babies eat, scared me lol. What if my babies start looking at my neighbors rabbit in a weird way
But seriously, I couldn't feed my little ones that way, not only disgusting in a sad way, but broke my heart (baby pigs, baby deer, rabbit, etc). I couldn't cut any of those up, I think I'd faint...
When I gave my little ones the chicken bone, and then the piece of chicken, they didn't want to eat their kibble at all. I think they were holding out for more of what I had given them before
How do you manage to give raw for breakfast and kibble (sometimes) with can for dinner?
I think once my little ones go raw, they'll never go back to kibble (???) But, then again, if they don't want to see kibble ever again, I'll cross that bridge when I get there, right?
I just talk to someone about NV and he said he'll help me out with choosing the flavors, etc when I see him on Saturday (they know me--panicky, freakout-easy furbutt parent)