Victoria on Raw Diets?

[Mattie]

RAW is for experts who do know what they are doing. RAW is also very expensive unless you are a hunter.

It doesn't have to be expensive, I know many people who don't have a lot of money and feed their dogs raw, they also done their research before feeding their dogs this way so they could feed a healthy diet.

Many feed home cooked food, I did when one of my little girls now at the Bridge developed renal failure, I was able to adjust her food as she deteriated and she kept eating until the last few days.

But today in our age look around. Look in books or over the net, how many breeds are having a health problem? Ask the vet, which breed is cancer free or HD free. free of heart mumors? I have met 2 dogs different breeds with cancer. 1 was a little mix breed and 12 years old. She had cancer. The other was a ST. Bernhard. 1 year old and already skin cancer. A Boxer had bone cancer. I think the breed Molosser tent to more Cancer then other breeds.
Our lab has an allergy issue. So he is on benedryl. Our BC has an allergy too but since I changed her diet she is doing much better. Our BC is 7 and our lab is 1.

Cancer can be heriditory but it can also be food related, look at how much cancer that is diet related with us, quite a lot of it is.

I have a dog that has so many food allergies I had problems finding food he could eat, he is even alergic to raw meat. I had to learn about what is good food and what is bad. I have found with commercial food the longer the list of ingredients is the poorer the food, most are either cereal or additives. As long as he doesn't eat what he is allergic to he doesn't have seizures and is now 12.5 years old.

Always look at the list of ingredients especiall the first couple, cheap dog food is mainly cereal and dogs are not designed to eat so much. Dogs do eat a little, my uncle had a Collie that wouldn't eat food given to her, she would find her own. She would go off at the same time every day and catch a rabbit. At other times she would go into the orchard and get fruit, into the veg patch and get veg, she even would go where all the grain was and eat some but very little. When we collected the eggs she would come with us and get any that were broken or cracked.

Always research how you want to feed your dog, there is a lot of information on the internet and some very good books, the more knowlege you have the better the choice you will make for your dog.

[mikki]

Hang on,

You are giving your dog raw pork? Raw pork is not healthy.
I don't trust raw chicken from stores at all. I have no idea where they come from.
never give chicken bones out. Also some dogs tend to swallow huge pieces of bones.

Cancer: We have cancer cells in us. Also is that some farmers are feeding their animals which causes to get cancer faster. Just because the companies are adding stuff in it which is harmful for the animals. And then selling this stuff for cheap.

Rasing an animal like the farmers do cost money. Lots of money.

Rabbits are the best meat. Better then chicken,cows and pork. But raising rabbits cost a lot of money as well.

If I would give my dogs raw meat, I would start raising my meat. Reason number one. I do know what I feed them.

[Bro. Dave, OBB]

Yes, I feed raw pork, mostly in the form of neck bones or if the price is right on ribs. As for pork not being healthy, well that is ancient history. Well, ancient may be an exaggeration. But the fears surrounding pork have not been true for a long time. The principle culprit, Trichonosis, is associated with feeding pigs garbage. Today's pig farms use controlled feeding that is devoid of raw garbage. Pork is healthy meat.

Now, on the subject of bones. The problem with bones, especially chicken bones, is people who would feed their dogs COOKED bones. When bones are cooked they undergo certain changes which make them nearly indigestible. It also makes them tend to splinter. However, raw bones, and this includes chicken bones, are digestible. Feed one dog cooked bones and another dog raw bones. Then inspect their fecal matter. What you will clearly see in the feces of the dog that ate the cooked bone is pieces of bone, some possibly with sharp edges remaining. Now the feces of the dog that ate the raw bones looks normal, pieces of bone are rarely present although the droppings may exhibit a light color and pieces of bone are almost never seen.

I understand your comments on raising your own meat, but disagree with the premise that you seem to be making that commercial meats are unsuitable for dogs. I for one eat commercial meats and feel that it is also good for my dogs.

If you wish to feed otherwise, then do so. I have no problems with that. My only reason for this post is to offset some very old myths and misunderstandings that surround the raw feeding models.

For my part, feeding a balanced raw diet requires a certain desire and dedication towards my dogs meals. But it is something I willingly, if not gladly, do. Heck, if I can do it for myself. the least I can do is the same for my dog. It's surprising just how often we eat the same things, only I like my peas and carrots cooked, but my meat rare.

Another benefit to the raw diet as I follow it is that my dogs dropping are about 1/4 the volume of a kibble fed dog. It is also not nearly as foul smelling. It also degrades much faster.

Peace.

[Nettle]

Good points from Bro. Dave.

Also re the source of the chicken - it's worth remembering that the meat in commercial pet foods is from the chaepest sources unless specifically labelled free range/organic. And even then, I don't know how little needs to be in there for the label to be given. It might only be a small amount, and the rest factory farmed, GI, whatever.


I wish you could see my puppies crunching up their raw chicken wings and breast of lamb They were weaned straight onto raw meat and raw bones and vegetables, and are seven weeks old today.

[mikki]

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/in ... 834AAYYDd5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork

http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=1090432

I give you some websites to read. I personal would never give out Pork meat raw. But thats just me.

I don't mind of people feed their dogs raw or table scraps. Dogs have survived and they still will.

[Mattie]

Those links are all about human consumption of pork and not dogs, dogs have a different digestive system than we do. Don't know if this is true or not, hopefully someone will know but I have heard that dogs don't get salmonella because their intestines are a lot shorter than a humans, this could be the same with other things if it is true.

[ckranz]

There was a study done recently...I cannot find the link, but it was put out at my local humane society concerning salmonella and raw fed dogs. The comments were not about the dogs suffering from salmonella, but about the human exposure to salmonella through licking, cleaning up fecal matter adn such.

Kids and the elderly were the most susceptible.

[ckranz]

As far as the comments about raw pork. In developed countries (US, UK and most of europe) raw pork should be ok as pointed out that pigs are not fed raw garbage.

There is also that people are tending to freeze meats for longer periods of time. This does mean buting in bulk and stocking up. At it safest prok should be kept frozen for about 60 days to eliminate the possibility of trich completely.

Note however that feading fresh pork witout freezing that there have only been 12 cases in the US average in the past several years.

I would also only feed meats rated for human consumption to avoid getting diease laden stock whether it be chicken beef or pork or any specialty meats. With rabbit I would watch for Tularemia, especially in the US.

Today's Kibble has come very far (for some companies) into providing a well balanced tasty meal for dogs. Likewise, with proper management, preparation, and time, raw diets can be both affordable, very healthy and very doable.

A raw diet does not consist of just feeding pork necks, chicken backs, or leg quarters. I requires providing organs as well like liver, heart and lung tissues. Green tripe is especially valuable in a raw diet.

The biggest problem I see are people are either completely on one side or the other:

There are no good kibbles and raw is the only way to go...or raw is bad as you will perferorate your dogs intestinal track with bones and he'll catch a variety of food born illnesses.

In the past year there was only 1 commercial raw diet (Bravo) pulled for salmonella, while there were 15 dry and canned foods pulled for salmonella. (Mars pet food being the largest) It affect most of the Walmart and Sam's Club recalls.