Raw Diet & Teeth
 

I'm new to posting on this forum but I've been reading for a few months now. My yorkie, "Maggie" is 5 months old now. My question is......I feed her Natures Variety Raw Diet. She get 4-5 medallions a day. I'm wondering about her teeth. I do not believe she has lost any baby teeth yet. If she is on the soft food, what will help her work on losing those sharp tiny teeth? I tried bully sticks but she doesn't seem to like those. Any other ideas? And by the way your forums here are very helpful. Thank You.
Jean

If you're feeding raw - I would think you'd be okay giving raw meaty bones, like other raw feeders. They are supposed to be great for their teeth! Have you tried that yet? :D

Yep definatly feed some raw meaty bones, they are fantastic for getting those baby teeth out and keeping adults teeth pearly white. Some examples of good ones that I give to my yorkies are chicken wings, drumsticks and necks, lamb chops, turkeys necks (cut into yorkie sized chunks) and you can get whole breast of lamb which is the breast meat attached to the ribs, you can cut it into pieces of 1-2 ribs covered in the meat.

Remember to freeze them for a couple of days first though, then defrost and feed :D

Ooooooh, something new - why do you freeze first? I didn't know that! :D

Its because when feeding raw meat there is a very small risk of neosporum caninum. However if you freeze the meat for 48 hours or more then the bacteria that causes it dies off completly :)

Ah! Love your posts! I always learn things. :thumbup:

Thank you for the advice. I did buy a ham bone and cut it into 3. I gave her one. She didn't seem to take to it very much but it was soon after she was fed so maybe I should try again. They are so messy (greasy). I'll try tonight after I get home. I've always heard no chicken bones for dogs. That's not true? Thanks again!!

All cooked bones are dangerous as they become frail during the cooking process which can lead to splintering.

Raw bones are fine, they are soft, pliable and perfectly safe. The dog simply crunches them up and swallows them.

Make sure they are meaty, all the ones I recommended are. Beef bones and the leg bones of large animals are recreactional and should not be consumed (although ok to just be chewed).

Never buy bones from pet shops, they are all cooked and incredibly dangerous, they should not be allowed to sell them.

The ham bone I bought was from a pet store but it's raw. In fact it was frozen in the same freezer with the Raw Diet food. I will remember about not cooking the chicken bones. Very informative. Thanks.

I have given my girls raw beef bones before. Some were not so crazy about them at first. I have a really hard time getting myself to give them chicken bones and the others you mentioned. I don't know why.:confused: I think I need some reassurance here. :D So, when you give a chicken wing or leg, do you leave all the meat on the bone? Do you buy the regular chicken in the meat department?

I think maybe I am scared to death that even a raw bone, if it's a little one, could get stuck in their digestive system somewhere. That never happens with raw bones?????

As I mentioned beef bones are recreational, most dogs are not too thrilled about them, I know mine aren't.

I think alot of people get stressed about chicken bones because people always talk about them being dangerous and getting stuck, failing to mention that its only cooked bones that do that.

When you feed a raw consumable bone (like the ones a mentioned) dogs will crunch them up and swallow them with the meat very easily. There is a risk with everything however IMO the risk of raw bones getting stuck or causing problems is way smaller than the risk of kibble doing that. I am in touch with people who have been feeding raw for over 20 years, including a couple of rescues who have fed it to hundreds if not thousands of dogs and have never had a problem with a single dog. However I do know of two dogs that died choking on kibble.

After all RMB's are the most natural food a dog can possibly eat. Dog's have been domesticated for 12,000 years and dog food was invented 70 years ago! What do you think we fed our dogs before that? Raw food and table scraps, evidence and studies suggest they were alot healthier back then too.

Mine weren't thrilled with the raw chicken wings. I give them Merrick Pixie sticks which they seem to like better than the bully sticks I have had Peanut for 1 week already and he has lost 3 baby teeth by chewing them. Oh btw depending on the weight and activity of the dog is how many medallions your suppose to feed....I was over feeding my two. http://www.naturesvariety.com/ifc.la...86FCTnOt2B9D8D

Hi....question....when you give them a pixie stick (the only thing I have that I can identify with) do they eat or chew up the whole thing in one day or is it something that they go back to a few times?

Thanks in advance:confused:

Tina

It depends on the size of your dogs, like you said. Puppies of course need more while they're growing so fast.

My older two were eating 1-1/2 medallions for their evening meal. One of them is 5.6. lbs and the other is close to 9 lbs. Now that I have more dogs I buy the patties - it's cheaper in the long run, just not quite as convenient. :rolleyes: I'm still working on getting the exact amount down for everyone with the breaking the patties into the separate portions.


It's SO hard for me to NOT over feed. I have to keep reminding myself of their size and that they don't need a lot of food.:D

I personally don't believe in giving raw chicken or the bones. First they can get salmonella poisoning, second they can get a peice of bone lodged in the throat, stomach or intestine. http://www.secondchanceranch.org/tra...eat/index.html

For those of you who are not going to give that up, at least dip the raw chicken into boiling water for about 30 seconds to kill bacteria.

Welcome to the YT! Meka's lower K9's fell out a few weeks ago. She eats mostly hard food and a mix sometimes... However, I think that they're teetch will come out regardless of what she eats... You'll definately find your answers on here - everyone is so helpful and again welcome!

Raw Food ?!? Just An Opinion
 

Does anyone watch Wife Swap... Last night there was a family,that is on an all raw food diet :eek: Though their argument was that its much healthier and doesnt contain all the additives/chemicals etc... that can be found in cooked foods. Now, this family didnt even wash their hands or their chicken prior to eating it (at least I didnt see em)... soooo - my husband and I began to talk... And who says that raw food is unhealthy? I mean, this whole family claims that they never get sick and they are much healthier because of raw food! They even saw a doctor that told them its not recommended, but there are in fact, no studies/facts that says eating raw meat/food is dangerous. I guess my point is that if a whole family can eat raw food and they are fine - maybe it aint all that bad?!? Maybe we as society - again are forcing opinions on one another with no facts behind it ?!? Just something to think about ????? :aimeeyork

Yes I saw it and nope I won't be trying it anytime soon. I won't eat sushi let alone something that can give me salmonella, E Coli & Trichinellosis!

One last about 3-4 days they chew on it do other things and go back to it. My Bull Terrier will devour a bull stick in 2 hours.:eek:

freezing kills the bacteria.

those of us that feed raw are not going to 'give it up'. we researched our way of feeding, the same way you researched your way of feeding. please do not knock it.

anything can get lodged in the throat, stomach or intestine. toys, kibble, homecooked food, and anything else that ends up in your dogs mouth. I've actually never seen a dog come into the hospital because a raw bone was lodged somewhere. I've seen everything else (and i mean everything :rolleyes:) but that.

Thanks Magsy17

GiGi as small as she is, 6.4lbs, will devour anything. She can eat at least 5x's her weight....not that I would let her. But i also hate to deprive her of things she loves.....which is anything she can eat:lol tears . But at least now I know when to have her stop if she doesn't on her own.

Thank you......very helpful;)

Tina

One of my friends dog died of salmonella poisioning. Did any of you talk to your Vets. about feeding raw poultry?

yes. i am a vet tech and currently work in a hospital with 7 day time vets (two of whom i work with closely) and at least 7 emergency vets. I've discussed feeding raw with some of them and they see nothing wrong with it.

Wow. What good info. I did not know this and would be nervous to give Zoe chicken bones but raw would be fine huh? Now, I don't feed her a raw diet but would it be good for her to give her say a raw chicken leg on the bone as a treat or does it take awhile for her system to be able to tolerate it? I heard it is much better for their teeth as well to eat raw just not sure I can do it? And what else do you feed to supplement besides meat? And how come you don't have to worry about salmonella? Just curious... :confused:

I have to agree with Yorkiedaze...something about "raw" just doesn't sit right with me. I know years ago that all animals ate their food raw but, that was years ago..I'm sure all you raw feeders have done your research. I have a friend that also feeds raw. I, myself just don't feel good about it. I would worry about bacteria in the meat...especially uncooked and as for the raw bones....I just couldn't do it...All the power to those of you who have decided to feed raw.....

I am not an expert, but two different vets I have been to, not only were very against raw diets, but also against home feeding. One of the vets even said not to ever feed them raw bones. I was giving my dog raw beef bones for the last few weeks and one of them got really sick. Of course, we dont know for sure but the vet thinks it was the raw beef bone. I know those of you that feed raw have done alot of research and are doing what you feel is best for your babies, but I too cant ever imagine doing it. It sure does not seem to be an acceptable thing around here and makes me wonder how many vets actually approve of it. Does anyone have any idea? It does make sense that this is the natural diet of a canine, on one hand, on the other hand, maybe their digestive systems have evolved in the last 100 years too like ours have. I only know what is right for me but think it is an interesting trend.
Laura

And heres the rebuttal to that ridiculous website, http://rawfed.com/myths/

If you don't want to feed raw then don't feed it but theres no point going round telling other people stupid horror stories to put them off.

If you do want to feed her a raw meaty bone then make sure you don't feed any kibble within 5 hours after it so you don't overload her digestive system.

I feed a very varied raw diet with lots of different raw meaty bones, muscle meat, organ meat, raw eggs, live yogurt and a small amount of pureed fruit and veg.

Unlike home cooking there is little need to supplement with a raw diet because they actually get everything they need from it. The only supplements I use are salmon oil and vitamin e.

I don't worry about salmonella because a healthy dog has the stomach acids to combat it if it is there in the first place.

Dogs have completely different enzymes in their stomachs which allow then to thrive on bacteria that would be harmful to us.

Meat was never supposed to be cooked, the only reason we have to cook it for us is because as we are evolved from chimps (who are vegetarian) we are not even supposed to eat meat so we cannot handle it in its raw form. Dogs are evolved from wolves, they can handle it.

As for vets, you just have to find a good one. My vet actually admitted to me that anyone who has done more than 2 hours of research into their dogs diet knows more than her and most other vets. They simply promote what they are paid to. There is a fantastic holistic vet in the UK called Nick Thompson, he is a huge promoter of the raw diet.


People who criticize raw are usually just too scared to try it, thats fine but they shouldn't go around making out that others should not feed it.

Due to allergies if it wasn't for raw my Indy would be a complete mess, dry flakey skin, bad coat, weeping eyes. I tried everything, all the best dog foods and even home cooked, it did not help her. Within 2 weeks of raw you woulden't of ever known she had health problems. She looks fantastic now, all of my dogs and other raw feeders dogs do.

Raw saved my little girl and all of my dogs are absolutly thriving on it, they've never looked and acted better.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thum bup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:: thumbup:

Whether vets "approve" of it is really neither here nor there, in most cases, since the majority of vets know very, very little about nutrition. And don't even get me started on the word "acceptable'!!! ;) Last time I checked, the world wasn't still flat, was it? :D

HERE'S THE THING: a dog's health due to nutrition can be screwed up by feeding KIBBLE, HOME COOKING, OR RAW. If you don't educate yourself about kibble, your dog's health will pay; if you don't educate yourself about homecooking or raw, your dog's health will pay.

There are methods of feeding extremely healthful diets using raw, homecooked, or kibble - and I sure wish people would refrain from BASHING the raw feeders, assuming that they are less in-the-know than others. I just hate seeing that here. If anything, raw feeders have probably spent more time researching their feeding method than anyone, simply due to the nature of the diet and bc of the whole "world-is-flat" mentality they face.

And for those vets who grumble and bash even "homecooking" - boy would I be suspicious of them - bc kibble is "real, home-cooked" food that is processed to death, riddled w/ additives, made in questionable factories, and was invented to save money, it was NOT invented for nutrition reasons.

Just want to say: I loves me the raw feeders, the homecookers and the kibble feeders!:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: