Opinions on feeding a Raw diet?????

[Teegy]

Originally Posted by mimimomo

When I was feeding premade raw, we didn't have issues w/their mouth getting wet or dirty from the raw food @ all. If anything, they get messier stinkier mouth from eating moistened kibble & canned food.

I can agree with you, I don't get a mess and if they see something on each others faces they lick it off

[Teegy]

Originally Posted by silverjoy

I have only ever feed PMR.I have two very healthy babies... Never had an issue. As far as stinky faces....I hand feed to avoid that!

My breeder does that too

[Teegy]

Originally Posted by hollie91999

I have read that it is best to wait until he is a year old to start Raw, what do you guys think????

Not at all, as soon as they are weaned off mum you can start. I would get the experience of someone who's a raw breeder like my food supplier Lori. Who's also available 24/7 to her customers for more than just feeding information

[Teegy]

Originally Posted by hollie91999

Thank you everyone, I think I will start out with the freeze dried raw and then advance from there. I know he will love raw because I gave him some pieces of raw beef the other day and he pretty much inhaled it. So far no diarrhea with any of the foods that I have tried him on, so that is a good thing.

Just make sure you get a little bone in there it also helps firm up the stool. Stay away from beef bones and weight bearing bones, extremely experienced raw feeders strongly advise this. Lamb and pork bones and beef cartillage much softer.

[Teegy]

Originally Posted by gracielove

I actually found YT while desperately searching for something to feed my anorexic puppy. She refused all kibble no matter what I did to it.

I cooked for her at first, then switched to raw freeze dried Stella & Chewy's. Although Gracie loved the freeze dried it was kind of expensive to feed her that all the time so I switched to the frozen. She loves that, too.

There are so many options and opinions about feeding pets these days that it can get confusing. I truly feel that the more natural a food is the more nutritious it is and more easily digested. That is if it hasn't been genetically changed like so many of our foods are these days.

Dog's bodies are designed to digest raw foods unlike humans. You do need to handle raw foods properly. Washing hands and prep areas and disinfecting. We have never had a problem.

that's four paws up from Teegy and Tufty

[Teegy]

Originally Posted by Teresiana

I honestly think there's something wrong with Primal's feeding guide. I know that mine would starve on the recommended 2 nuggets per day. I've heard that a lot of people feed more than the suggested amount on the bag/online.

your dog should be eating 2-3% of their adult body weight, pups between 6 and 10%

[Teegy]

Originally Posted by Cherie6446

Well, after 3 1/2 yrs on raw Zoey had her second attack of pancreatitis yesterday. Now she will be on Royal Canin low fat for the rest of her life. She seems to love it as she is a good eater. Guess the fat and protein was just too high for her. My Maltese has no problem with thr raw.

So sorry to hear that, the poor muffin.

There is a natural supplement called curcugen (turmeric based) that I gave Teegy, it helped his pancreas heal after his two bouts also a digestive enzyme helped to break down the food in order to give the pancreas a rest.

They told me it could be genetic or could have been something he's eating that caused it, but no definite answer which is frustrating.

[gracielove]

Gracie refused to eat kibble from day one. I cooked for her for a few months and then got her on Stella & Chewy's freeze dried raw. She ate like a ravenous wolf when she got it! We switched her from the freeze dried version to the frozen after a while because it was a little less expensive to feed.

I do feed her a couple of homemade raw meals a week. I found that she can only tolerate a small amount of organ meat mixed in the regular lean cuts of meat I buy for her. She has never had an issue with pancreatitis. The meats she gets are always lean and the S&C brand is one of the best.

Since pancreatitis is usually caused by too much fat in the diet a dog prone to that problem should be on only very lean meats. While larger dogs may need more fat in the diet these little ones need very little fat from meat.

Some people who feed their dogs the BARF diet give their dogs chicken parts with bone in them and they swear by it. I have not gotten to the point where I can deal with that. Gracie us usually in a full length coat and I don't want to deal with her getting messed up at meal time.