Raw Food Diet

Discussion dedicated to promoting the well-being of your dog through diet, exercise and general health tips.

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Shalista
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Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2015 10:04 pm

Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by Shalista »

In my quest to find a good gnaw for bax i found this Red barn smoked knuckle bone It's smoked but i figured it was so big bax wouldn't really be able to splinter it even though it's smoked? thoughts? (Size comparison, it's about as big as his head)
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
Fundog
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by Fundog »

I don't recommend them. Whatever it is they baste them in tends to make dogs sick. And it can break his teeth, even if the bone itself doesn't splinter.
If an opportunity comes to you in life, say yes first, even if you don't know how to do it.
Shalista
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by Shalista »

Odd question about feces..... Bax has been having these weird white, crumbly, poops lately. Sometimes they are followed (occasionally within the same walk) by very runny poops. I'm thinking too much bone? He gets one chicken thigh bone every other night and chicken thigh meat every morning and every other night.
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
JudyN
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by JudyN »

Yes, white crumbly poos generally mean too much bone. Can you estimate what percentage the bone makes up in his diet? I've found online that chcken thighs are 21% bone which should help.

Jasper manages to do a crumbly (not white) poo in the morning and rather soft by the end of the day. I've never managed to get consistently firm 'kickable' poos.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Shalista
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by Shalista »

Yeah i was going off of that bone percentage which was why i was only feeding it to him 1 out of 2 meals a day and every other day... so 1/4 of his meals has bone? I'm not sure how to do even less bone then that unless i figured out how to cut the bone?

I didn't notice excessive straining over it so I'm not exactly concerned, just trying to get proportions right...
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
JudyN
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by JudyN »

If only one in four meals has bone, then that would make his overall percentage 21/4 = approximately 5%. Which is low, but then he's not having any offal at the moment. Are his poos all white & crumbly, or do they vary according to what he's eaten?
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
delladooo
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by delladooo »

Laufey doesn't have consistent poos either, although MiMi's are much better (don't ask me how as she will only eat the bits she fancies that day!). Do his crumbly poops correspond to his bone meals? I know Laufey doesn't do as well having more bone less often so generally he will have a wing segment most days (slightly less bone than ideal) and then other days have a thigh / chicken carcass portion / duck wing / neck etc. instead which seems to work better for him

We have to chop things for MiMi as she can't seem to chew and just won't attempt it so we do chop bone too. We use kitchen scissors designed for the task, ours aren't proper poultry shears but they've done okay :)
Shalista
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by Shalista »

It's only 1 in four 4 but that meal is almost entirely bone. It has some chicken scraps still wrapped around it but it's mostly thighbone. I don't think our kitchen shears are heavy duty enough to cut through thigh bone =(

I'll have to pay more careful attention to when he has them in relation to what he eats, I don't think he's had bone in awhile though O.o
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
Erica
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by Erica »

I'm not good at keeping track, so what I do is buy 80% meat, 10% bone, 5% liver and 5% organ, then prep the meals all at once. Some end up with no bone, some have a lot, but Delta's not too sensitive. I used to balance meals more, it wasn't too hard, but either way I know I end up balanced over time. Day-to-day doesn't matter so much as like, fortnight-to-fortnight balance. So as long as he doesn't get distressed by having more bone one day and none the next or such, it shouldn't be an issue for his health. The *easiest* way to know you're getting good balance is to find a good pre-made balanced grind, and I usually keep a couple pounds in the freezer as backup. Raw Feeding Miami is my preferred outlet.

A hammer probably will help with getting the bone broken up. I need to get one to start breaking up the sheep skull in the fridge...Delta doesn't know how to start on it.
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
Shalista
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by Shalista »

Yeah i figured day to day wasn't as big of a deal which was why i was only giving it every other day.

ooo i hadn't thought of a hammer! that WOULD do nicely
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
Fundog
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by Fundog »

Erica, when I was self-butchering goats and sheep to feed my doggies raw, I used a hand held meat/bone saw (it looks just like the kind you might cut a tree down with, only with a special blade that you can even remove from the frame later for cleaning). It worked well for the skulls too. It is hard work, will take several minutes of hard, fast, sawing, and you might be a bit sore afterward. :lol:
If an opportunity comes to you in life, say yes first, even if you don't know how to do it.
Erica
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by Erica »

I'll probably look for one of them then xD A hammer seemed like it might be ineffective. I think I know the stores to look for a bone saw at, at least.
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
Fundog
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by Fundog »

I got ours at the local feed store, for under $20. :)
If an opportunity comes to you in life, say yes first, even if you don't know how to do it.
Shalista
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Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2015 10:04 pm

Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by Shalista »

Another unexpected benefit to switching bax to raw. He no longer guzzles water and then vomits. He's definitely drinking much less water over all and in smaller quantities. I used to have to babysit him when he drank and interrupt him halfway through, give him lots of pets and then let him go back to drinking or he'd vomit it all up again. Hasn't done that since the switch =)
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
Shalista
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Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2015 10:04 pm

Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by Shalista »

Bax has been raw for some time. He's been only eating chicken. I stopped feeding him liver because his poos were super runny but he started eating grass and i added it back in. He's been getting liver for four days now. He's still eating grass.

He used to eat grass before i switched him to raw. he'd go days where he wouldn't want to potty because he'd be so busy eating grass. When i told my vet that i had switched him to raw they weren't concerned but said that if he started eating grass or twigs or rocks that he was probably vitamin deficient and i would need to start feeding bax vitamins. Is he wrong? Should i be buying bax a supplement?

Is this normal? does this mean I should be adding pork now? His poos haven't really evened out and i didn't want to switch to a new protein until he was consistently getting normal poos.
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
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