Raw Diet - Info Needed

[abbie's mom]

Originally Posted by kalina82

the neck is pretty big. Its cut into two pieces but still. I know she's not going to eat it all so do i put it back in the fridge when she's done or can i refreeze it? And with the liver, i'm suppose to give her a tiny tiny piece right because it can cause cannon butt? the gizzard shouldn't cause that problem tho. lol and you'd think I'D know heart was a muscle hahah

thanks ada

Yes, you can refreeze the neck.

Well, how "tiny tiny" are ya thinking? The tip of your finger, tiny? You can give her two or three of her bite sizes, until you find out how much is fitting for her. Yes, too much = cannon butt. So, poop watch! Now, with gizzarrd, if Abigail eats too much, it upsets her tummy and she throws it back up.

How was everyone's Thanksgiving? The neighbor put my cooking to shame!

[lara2913]

Yep same here, I usually give them 2 or 3 bits a week. Don't want any cannon butt

Turkey necks are a major favourite here, each whole one makes 3-4 yorkie sized meals, depending on how big they are.

[kalina82]

Originally Posted by lara2913

Yep same here, I usually give them 2 or 3 bits a week. Don't want any cannon butt

Turkey necks are a major favourite here, each whole one makes 3-4 yorkie sized meals, depending on how big they are.

so you refreeze the necks after they are done with them or since you have a few dogs do you just put them back in the fridge?

[kalina82]

Originally Posted by abbie's mom

Yes, you can refreeze the neck.

Well, how "tiny tiny" are ya thinking? The tip of your finger, tiny? You can give her two or three of her bite sizes, until you find out how much is fitting for her. Yes, too much = cannon butt. So, poop watch! Now, with gizzarrd, if Abigail eats too much, it upsets her tummy and she throws it back up.

How was everyone's Thanksgiving? The neighbor put my cooking to shame!

I was told on the "other" forum to only give a very small piece of liver to start with, like tip of the finger size because it can cause major diarrhea, but if you guys say its ok i'll give her two bite sized pieces, then refreeze it. i should probably defrost all the 'parts' on saturday and cut them up into pieces then take out when i want them

[abbie's mom]

Originally Posted by kalina82

I was told on the "other" forum to only give a very small piece of liver to start with, like tip of the finger size because it can cause major diarrhea, but if you guys say its ok i'll give her two bite sized pieces, then refreeze it.

Whoooaaa....no pressure! LOL Those guys'n'gals are pretty savvy about their feeding, so I'd probably go with the more experience. Guess it depends on who gave that advice. One of the veterans - or a newbie? Ultimately, your the mom - your call . Abigail can have three or four bites with no ill effects. But, I also feed something else along with it, like an RMB, or chickie feets. And, she's 7lbs.

i should probably defrost all the 'parts' on saturday and cut them up into pieces then take out when i want them

Sounds like a plan .

[lara2913]

Originally Posted by kalina82

so you refreeze the necks after they are done with them or since you have a few dogs do you just put them back in the fridge?

If there is any left I just put it back in the fridge and reserve it the next day

[dabrat76]

Hi, I've been reading this thread with great interest and I think I'm going to start today. For now, just to start "small" I was thinking of picking up some chicken wings and bone in breasts. The grocery store I'm going to usually has some pretty cheap and already frozen. If they have some cheap pork chops with bone, or any liver/kidneys of other than beef, should I pick those up too? I have a 7 month old 9.5 pounder.

[lara2913]

Originally Posted by dabrat76

Hi, I've been reading this thread with great interest and I think I'm going to start today. For now, just to start "small" I was thinking of picking up some chicken wings and bone in breasts. The grocery store I'm going to usually has some pretty cheap and already frozen. If they have some cheap pork chops with bone, or any liver/kidneys of other than beef, should I pick those up too? I have a 7 month old 9.5 pounder.

Yes chicken is very good to start with, I wouldn't feed pork to him this soon, it can be a bit much for them at first. Liver and kidney are good but as they are organ meat make sure to feed them in very small amounts at first, and only 1-2 times weekly. Congratulations and feel free to ask us lots of questions

[dabrat76]

Ok, you asked for it!

With the chicken wings/bone-in breast, how much should I give? From what I've read based on his weight he should get 3-3.5 oz per day. Other than the training treats I've giving him (home less than a week and he pretty much knows sit and lie down!) he seems to be a pretty picky eater. He has the kibble his breeder sent in a bowl and barely touches it unless I hand feed him a piece or 2 at a time. So once a day feeding (with training treats mixed in - if those are ok to mix with raw?) should be ok with him. Should I weigh and portion out the 3 oz or just leave a few wings on the floor (supervised, of course!) and let him decide?

For the organ meat, I'll be surprised if I can find anything other than beef organs for today (chain supermarket) but if I can, can you tell me in what order I should get them? Like lamb is best, then pork, then beef, etc? I will be calling butchers in the area this week, but I expect much of the same reaction others have gotten (like they just grew a second head) especially when I have to try and translate what I'm looking for into French... lol

Oh, one last set of questions for now - I noticed people saying pig's feet are good. Pig knuckles are VERY popular human food here in Quebec (not with me) and should be fairly easy to find, especially around the holiday season. Once I get him settled in with chicken, are pig knuckles the same as pig feet? Should he get one foot per meal? Do they have the glucosamine benefits like chicken's feet?

Thank you!

Tara

[lara2913]

Originally Posted by dabrat76

With the chicken wings/bone-in breast, how much should I give? From what I've read based on his weight he should get 3-3.5 oz per day.

Well, honestly, I don't really think about weighing, I feed to condition. One wing or breast with ribs would probably be 1 of 2 daily meals for him, or a couple of table spoons of boneless meat or 2-3 of his bitesized peices of organ meat. Some raw egg is often appreciated, I mix it with meat. Also if you want you can give live/natural/plain yogurt, a couple of spoonfuls, mine adore it.

Originally Posted by dabrat76

Other than the training treats I've giving him (home less than a week and he pretty much knows sit and lie down!) he seems to be a pretty picky eater. He has the kibble his breeder sent in a bowl and barely touches it unless I hand feed him a piece or 2 at a time. So once a day feeding (with training treats mixed in - if those are ok to mix with raw?) should be ok with him. Should I weigh and portion out the 3 oz or just leave a few wings on the floor (supervised, of course!) and let him decide?

Treats wise, go easy on any treats with grains in. There are quite a few grain free treats you can give, such as dried or freeze dried meats. I would advise feeding him twice daily.

Originally Posted by dabrat76

For the organ meat, I'll be surprised if I can find anything other than beef organs for today (chain supermarket) but if I can, can you tell me in what order I should get them? Like lamb is best, then pork, then beef, etc? I will be calling butchers in the area this week, but I expect much of the same reaction others have gotten (like they just grew a second head) especially when I have to try and translate what I'm looking for into French... lol ?

Beef organ meat is fine, you only feed a small amount 1-2 times weekly anyway. I feed beef, lamb and chicken or organ meats, all depends on what I can source.

Originally Posted by dabrat76

Oh, one last set of questions for now - I noticed people saying pig's feet are good. Pig knuckles are VERY popular human food here in Quebec (not with me) and should be fairly easy to find, especially around the holiday season. Once I get him settled in with chicken, are pig knuckles the same as pig feet? Should he get one foot per meal? Do they have the glucosamine benefits like chicken's feet?

I'm not completly sure (perhaps ada will be?) but i'm thinking that pigs knuckles will be too dense for him to eat unfortunatly.

Originally Posted by dabrat76

Thank you!

Tara

Your welcome

[dabrat76]

Ok, here are some more questions... lol

1. For the raw egg and yogurt, are they every day/every meal additions?
2. For liver treats, I found a couple of recipes where I would cook them for a long time on low temp in the oven. I realize this isn't raw, but would that be considered dried, and therefore ok?
3. If I find a whole chicken on sale, is there any part I can't give him once cut up a bit? I'm not a big chicken eater and when I said frozen wings, I meant more like what you get in a pub style restaurant. Hubby corrected me and explained those are smaller pieces of a whole wing. I doubt I can easily get whole wings so I think a whole chicken would be better. And I just saw I can get 2/$9, woo hoo!
4. For fish, is there any kind that isn't good? We can often get cheap frozen shrimp here, cooked or not, same with scallops. Should I stay away from crustaceans completely? If I can give shrimp, do I need to take the skin off?

Ok, I think that's it for now

[lara2913]

Originally Posted by dabrat76

Ok, here are some more questions... lol

1. For the raw egg and yogurt, are they every day/every meal additions?

Doesen't really matter, neither are really nessasary. I generally give egg once a week and live yogurt whenever, lately they have been getting a spoonful every night before bed, but just because my local store has it on offer at the moment and they love it soooo much.

Originally Posted by dabrat76

2. For liver treats, I found a couple of recipes where I would cook them for a long time on low temp in the oven. I realize this isn't raw, but would that be considered dried, and therefore ok?

Yes that would be perfect.

Originally Posted by dabrat76

3. If I find a whole chicken on sale, is there any part I can't give him once cut up a bit? I'm not a big chicken eater and when I said frozen wings, I meant more like what you get in a pub style restaurant. Hubby corrected me and explained those are smaller pieces of a whole wing. I doubt I can easily get whole wings so I think a whole chicken would be better. And I just saw I can get 2/$9, woo hoo!

Whole chickens are fantastic, you can just chop it up into manageable bits for him and freeze them. You can give everything.

Originally Posted by dabrat76

4. For fish, is there any kind that isn't good? We can often get cheap frozen shrimp here, cooked or not, same with scallops. Should I stay away from crustaceans completely? If I can give shrimp, do I need to take the skin off?

I think small amounts of raw shrimp would be fine, be aware though that some dogs cannot handle raw fish and vomit it. If he does this then in future you can give canned oily fish instead, such as sardines, pilchards, mackerel etc. Its obviously not as good as raw fish, but if your dog cannot have raw fish or you cannot get it, its better than no fish at all.

[abbie's mom]

Originally Posted by kalina82

she'll get a neck probably on saturday. i'm unsure about the organs tho

So, Kellie...how did Morgan do with this, on Saturday?

[kalina82]

Originally Posted by abbie's mom

So, Kellie...how did Morgan do with this, on Saturday?

well i gave her everything yesterday and she wanted no part of it. she did eat a few pieces of gizzard but didn't want the heart or the liver. so i picked everything up and that was that for food for the day.

Today i get it back to her and again she wanted no part of it, but did eat the piece of heart that she didn't want yesterday. So i took the neck and smashed it with a mallet and then took a butchers knife and whacked it a few times. i gave the mess back to her and she started to eat it better.

she's such a pain in the butt. she likes her pre-made stuff better

[dabrat76]

Originally Posted by lara2913

I think small amounts of raw shrimp would be fine, be aware though that some dogs cannot handle raw fish and vomit it. If he does this then in future you can give canned oily fish instead, such as sardines, pilchards, mackerel etc. Its obviously not as good as raw fish, but if your dog cannot have raw fish or you cannot get it, its better than no fish at all.

Good to know. I didn't pick any up (thought we'd start with chicken, got 4!!) but saw some frozen whole salmon and fresh trout REALLY cheap so once we're settled we'll try those. I also picked up a lot of liver (for treats since we're in full on training right now) and a few kidneys, all pork I believe. The recipes for liver treats call for sprinkling garlic on the liver. As long as it's light sprinkling, do you think that would be ok?