The Benefits Of A Prey Model Diet

[PrincessDiana]

Originally Posted by ShylahTaffy

how do i figure out the ratio...80% meat, 10%bone? do the parts come in that ratio; for example if i feed a chicken leg or a beef rib...does it work itself out to fit the requirements? if not, can someone give me an example so that i am not driving myself crazy trying to work out ratio every meal with the meat and bone? it may sound like im going a bit overboard with it but i just want to make sure Saphira gets what she needs because she is still a baby and i want to make sure she develops properly...if she were an adult i don't think i would be as anal. lol. that face is hilarious!

If you cut up a cornish hen and fed that to her over a week's time or whatever then yes, that would be balanced. However, most pieces of raw meaty bones are not. We balance over a week. It would be way too hard to balance everyday, particularly for such a tiny dog! For instance, I give a bone meal probably 2-3 times a week and then give boneless the rest of the time. There is a great raw feeding spreadsheet in this thread that can help you http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...-learning.html OR you can just figure it out yourself. Convert her lbs into oz and then I would give 3-4% of that daily. Don't forget the organ!

Let me know if you have any other questions.

[ShylahTaffy]

Phew ! I went to the very beginning of this thread and read it all the way through...all 27 pages! I loved it though, so much info and different experiences. I wish I would have discoved this site a couple of years ago, it may have been able to save my little Brooklyne's life. I'm glad that I have found it and I have the resources now for Saphira.

[UESyorkie]

I know, strange isn't it? Well, we started out this past weekend and my little guy chomped down the bit of liver and the meaty ox tail the first night, so I thought all was well. But the second night he was hesitant to go at another piece of the ox tail, until the following day. The third night, he ate a piece of liver, which is the last "raw" piece of meat he's had since. I tried meaty lamb soup bones, even cutting off pieces of the meat for just a boneless meal, but my Chewy simply avoids his bowl when it's filled with raw meat, even after kicking it (empty) around for a bit, signalling he's hungry.

So since then I've had to blanch the meat, i.e. drop it in boiling water for a minute or so, in order for him to eat it. Even then he'll only eat it if I hand-feed it to him and if he's literally starving! Chewy is far from a picky eater; he was a pound or so overweight, but I'm certain he's lost some weight this week because of his lack of appetite for the raw meat (he's fine for veggies, fruit, yogurt, and cooked anything). However, I'm afraid that he's too well aware of what "cooked" meat tastes like since he gets table treats at his grandparents' house (where he stayed for three months recently when I was out of the country) and when he's overnighted at a yorkie friend's house, he and his friend get cooked pieces of chicken every night. I'm sure he'd be happy just going back to his Iams dry food, which is amazing to me, but I guess after three years he's gotten used to it.

Does anyone have any advice as to how I can entice my little guy to eat raw meat with gusto? I don't want to keep blanching the meat as this defeats the purpose of the raw prey diet, no?

Thanks in advance!

[tjdmom]

Originally Posted by UESyorkie

I know, strange isn't it? Well, we started out this past weekend and my little guy chomped down the bit of liver and the meaty ox tail the first night, so I thought all was well. But the second night he was hesitant to go at another piece of the ox tail, until the following day. The third night, he ate a piece of liver, which is the last "raw" piece of meat he's had since. I tried meaty lamb soup bones, even cutting off pieces of the meat for just a boneless meal, but my Chewy simply avoids his bowl when it's filled with raw meat, even after kicking it (empty) around for a bit, signalling he's hungry.

So since then I've had to blanch the meat, i.e. drop it in boiling water for a minute or so, in order for him to eat it. Even then he'll only eat it if I hand-feed it to him and if he's literally starving! Chewy is far from a picky eater; he was a pound or so overweight, but I'm certain he's lost some weight this week because of his lack of appetite for the raw meat (he's fine for veggies, fruit, yogurt, and cooked anything). However, I'm afraid that he's too well aware of what "cooked" meat tastes like since he gets table treats at his grandparents' house (where he stayed for three months recently when I was out of the country) and when he's overnighted at a yorkie friend's house, he and his friend get cooked pieces of chicken every night. I'm sure he'd be happy just going back to his Iams dry food, which is amazing to me, but I guess after three years he's gotten used to it.

Does anyone have any advice as to how I can entice my little guy to eat raw meat with gusto? I don't want to keep blanching the meat as this defeats the purpose of the raw prey diet, no?

Thanks in advance!

Well the best way for me to get mine eating is to bring another yorkie into the room! Maybe you should get another? But aside from that, you could try a few different things. Sometimes it's the texture and mine really like it when the meat is a little bit frozen. I frequently serve chicken this way. I just take it out of the freezer and when it's not frozen solid, more like a popsicle, I sometimes feed it and they really seem to like the change. I have a problem getting any of mine to eat liver. They love liver just not the raw. They will eat it either frozen or cooked. So sometimes I cut up the liver into little treat size pieces and freeze and other times I cook it in water. Then for a switch when I feed them I heat up just the liver and liver water and pour a little of that over the top of their raw food - they love that. If he really does not like the texture right now and none of those suggestions work, I would just sear the meat in a pan so that it is cooked just on the outside but so the inside is still raw. Good luck!

[Jemma]

Question.
Jemma has been on raw diet for quite awhile now. But I'm still not sure if I have the ratio right. Her coat seems a little dull to me.
This is what I feed Jemma over a week. Please tell me if I'm missing something.
I buy turkey and chicken mostly and a lttle beef. For some reason beef doesn't agree with her much (VERY lose stool) and hearts also give her very loose stools and stinky.
She is not crazy about pork at all. I cut up all the meat together and then mix all the pieces together. I then bag small portions in freezer bags and freeze them. So she gets a combination of different meats at one feeding. A couple of times a week she'll get green beans. She doesn't like raw carrots but will eat them out of a can, stubborn. She also gets sweet potato. Once every 2 weeks she gets a raw egg. 2-3 times a week a raw chicken bone. She eats the whole darn thing, lol.
Lie I said, hearts, liver, they just don't seem to agree with her digestive system. What can I give her in place of it as I know it's a important part of the meal? Tripe made her throw up, what a mess. So not all raw food agrees with every dog.
Thanks for any input!!!

[CJxDanielle]

I love this post! We are thinking of switching Cody to a raw diet possibly in the near future, but we aren't sure how to go about it. I heard just fast the dog for a day and then start feeding raw, but not sure.

Also, with RAW does the dog have any risk from bacteria?

And lastly where do you go to pick up your meats? A holistic pet store down the road from us has a frozen RAW, but I've heard you can go to your local grocery or butcher.

[tjdmom]

Originally Posted by Jemma

Question.
Jemma has been on raw diet for quite awhile now. But I'm still not sure if I have the ratio right. Her coat seems a little dull to me.
This is what I feed Jemma over a week. Please tell me if I'm missing something.
I buy turkey and chicken mostly and a lttle beef. For some reason beef doesn't agree with her much (VERY lose stool) and hearts also give her very loose stools and stinky.
She is not crazy about pork at all. I cut up all the meat together and then mix all the pieces together. I then bag small portions in freezer bags and freeze them. So she gets a combination of different meats at one feeding. A couple of times a week she'll get green beans. She doesn't like raw carrots but will eat them out of a can, stubborn. She also gets sweet potato. Once every 2 weeks she gets a raw egg. 2-3 times a week a raw chicken bone. She eats the whole darn thing, lol.
Lie I said, hearts, liver, they just don't seem to agree with her digestive system. What can I give her in place of it as I know it's a important part of the meal? Tripe made her throw up, what a mess. So not all raw food agrees with every dog.
Thanks for any input!!!

I would ditch the green beans and the carrots. I would add a capsule of fish oil a day. I just squeeze it over my dogs food at the morning feeding. My advice would to just go ahead and feed a whole chicken breast, leg, whatever. Yes, liver if given in excess will cause loose stools. I would start with just one or two thumbnail size pieces added to her meal. Remember liver should only be about 5% of her meal. As for beef heart, yes I have found it to be a bit rich as well so I never feed too much of it and when I do, I always feed it with bone. I would say that since you think the coat is dry, make sure you don't remove the chicken skin or at least not all of it. Hopefully between that and the fish oil you will see a difference.
Good luck!

[tjdmom]

Originally Posted by CJxDanielle

I love this post! We are thinking of switching Cody to a raw diet possibly in the near future, but we aren't sure how to go about it. I heard just fast the dog for a day and then start feeding raw, but not sure.

Also, with RAW does the dog have any risk from bacteria?

And lastly where do you go to pick up your meats? A holistic pet store down the road from us has a frozen RAW, but I've heard you can go to your local grocery or butcher.

Yes, I buy my dogs meat from the same store I buy my own. I try to spend .99 a pound or less on their food. They eat a lot of chicken but then so do we! When starting out, I would start with a bone in chicken breast, remove most of the fat for now as too much fat in the beginning can cause a loose stools. In a week or two you shouldn't have to worry about removing the skin. I would just feed that for a couple weeks and then gradually add more things to the diet. Be careful not to over do liver and organ meat.
Here is one of my favorite links that talks about all the myths you are likely to hear.
THE MANY MYTHS ABOUT RAW FEEDING

And here is a rawfeeding site i belong to that is very helpful as well:
RawChat : Raw Chat

Good luck!

[Jemma]

Thank you so much for the sound advice. But she LOVES raw green beans

[ShylahTaffy]

I looked in to starting Saphira on a raw diet a few months ago but because of her size I put the idea on the back burner. Because I have a hard time getting her to eat her kibble consistantly I have given up on it and I am back to looking about the raw food. I am committed to starting the raw food but I am still wondering what I should feed her because she is so small. Saphira is 2.5lbs so I am wondering if anyone else has a dog this size on a raw meat and bone diet?

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by ShylahTaffy

I looked in to starting Saphira on a raw diet a few months ago but because of her size I put the idea on the back burner. Because I have a hard time getting her to eat her kibble consistantly I have given up on it and I am back to looking about the raw food. I am committed to starting the raw food but I am still wondering what I should feed her because she is so small. Saphira is 2.5lbs so I am wondering if anyone else has a dog this size on a raw meat and bone diet?

Some people put their puppies on a Prey Model diet, once they are weaned. I'm not saying it's the right thing to do, but I'm just saying some people start puppies on raw very young and they do well.

So, I assume you're talking Prey Model vs. pre-made since you posted in this thread, right ? You could try a chicken drumstick. Btw, the member who started this thread had about a 2 lb. yorkie, and she ate Prey Model.

My Marcel is 3 lbs. and Pfeiffer is 2.15 (she juuuust won't cross over into the 3 territory yet ) and they both eat pre-made raw.

[ShylahTaffy]

I started Saphira on a prey model diet about 4 days ago and she loves it! She scarfs down the meat, skin and organs with no problem, eating a little more than a drumstick worth of meat. The only problem that I am having is that she will not have anything to do with the bones. I know that it is very important for her to get her calcium, especially because she is still a puppy but at this point she isn't getting any. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to get her the required amount of calcium
Also, Saphira has not had a hair cut and so her beard is quite long. By the time she is done eating her face is a meaty mess ! What do you use to clean their faces that doesn't dry out the hair and kills the bacteria from the meat
Any suggestions are appreciated! Thanks in advance!

[Poochieheaven]

Originally Posted by ShylahTaffy

I started Saphira on a prey model diet about 4 days ago and she loves it! She scarfs down the meat, skin and organs with no problem, eating a little more than a drumstick worth of meat. The only problem that I am having is that she will not have anything to do with the bones. I know that it is very important for her to get her calcium, especially because she is still a puppy but at this point she isn't getting any. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to get her the required amount of calcium
Also, Saphira has not had a hair cut and so her beard is quite long. By the time she is done eating her face is a meaty mess ! What do you use to clean their faces that doesn't dry out the hair and kills the bacteria from the meat
Any suggestions are appreciated! Thanks in advance!

I can't help with the bones-- but if you can't find an answer here, try the yahoo raw feeding group.

[ShylahTaffy]

I will check there too. Thanks.

[gzarr]

When I started Isla on raw over a year ago she wouldn't eat the bones either at first. I had to smash the drumstick bone up a bit with a hammer so she could smell the marrow. Just enough so it would break open and she could see that it was indeed food. Now all I do is throw the piece at her and she goes to town!

I just started my cat on raw and had to do the same thing. He surprised me (since he's 13) and actually ate the smaller bones and marrow if I smashed them up. Since your pup is young still, she should figure it out soon that it's good eats!