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Post by amyjo on Jan 31, 2004 11:10:05 GMT -5
Here is another question about feeding raw. .49 per pound seems REALLY cheap to me. Obviously the human grade quality of the food is an improvement over most kibbles (if not all) but do you worry about antibiotics, hormones and pathogens introduced in processing? Or is it just so much better than the kibble that it is just a non -issue?
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Post by amyjo on Jan 31, 2004 11:12:25 GMT -5
Oh here is another question.... do dogs get trichenosis (not sure of spelling) the parasite you can get from under cooked pork?
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Post by sibemom on Jan 31, 2004 11:13:08 GMT -5
Blade gets marrow bones and knuckle bones (raw) but that is just of recreational chewing. He knaws the meat off and then licks out the marrow and then never touches it again. I use to buy these cooked smoked bones but he got sick on them. You will find that if it is not a completly edable bone they will lose interest once the good stuff is gone. ;D
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Post by sibemom on Jan 31, 2004 11:22:25 GMT -5
I have never heard of a dog getting trichinosis from pork. A canines system has natural protection from most bacteria that would make us sick. I am not saying that they could never get something from raw food but the chances are so slim. As far as the hormones etc.. in human grade foods. The same things are in kibble but worse due to the fact that they use sick and downed animals for their protien source. Unless you have a way of only buying organic meats you wont get away from that but it's still better than kibble. I dont use alot of red meats except the raw bones and beef liver and he will only eat that if I puree it up with his veggies. Picky pup ;D
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Post by sibemom on Jan 31, 2004 11:31:49 GMT -5
One thing I should have mentioned also is that when meats are frozen alot of the parisites are killed off. I dont feed Blade anything that has not been frozen. This still does not take care of some bacteria like e-colie or salmonella but as I said dogs have a great resistance to these where we humans don't ;D.
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Post by amyjo on Jan 31, 2004 11:43:36 GMT -5
Yeah - I sort of put alot of my fears about that stuff to rest by trying them out on raw beef bones instead of cooked and not having the world end I was still just wondering about the trichinosis and I am still terrified to give my dogs a chicken bone... I know, I know the raw ones don't splinter. I just can't do it...yet.
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Post by sibemom on Jan 31, 2004 11:49:12 GMT -5
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Post by Willow on Jan 31, 2004 18:50:21 GMT -5
Amyjo, Sibemom is correct. Don't worry about tricinosis or feeding raw bones of any kind. Remember, we humans are the ones that *forced* our dogs to eat cooked food and if they have their choice, they will eat the raw, because that's how they are made. You should have seen my older dog the first time I gave him a chicken thigh. He couldn't believe it and was soooo happy!!!
Remember too, that commercial pet foods have so much garbage in them and they have been linked to tumors in our pets too. Not to mention the teeth issue! Kibble and canned foods (cat or dog) give them periodontal disease at very young ages. Cats and dogs need the bones and raw meat to clean their teeth. Raw chicken meat really gives them that pepsodent smile!! ;D Something in the raw chicken cleans all the bacteria out of their mouths. Then the DO issue...(doggie odor) is almost non-existant when you feed raw. My dogs used to STINK, but now they have a pleasant *woodsy* smell to them, and they do not have cedar shavings in their beds!
How could something *bad* have so many good effects on your pet?
I don't feed too many *recreational* bones anymore. I just buy the beef neck bones with a lot of meat on them, because they chew on the bones after the meat is off, for *recreation*. ;D
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Post by amyjo on Jan 31, 2004 19:59:39 GMT -5
Okay here is another question for you BARFers....if the dog is getting raw meat etc for meals what on earth do you use for a treat?... My dogs are already spitting biscuits out on the floor because I used cut up hot dogs for training and now they don't consider plain ole dog biscuits to be "treats" anymore.
This is not a deal breaker for me - just a curiosity....
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Post by Aussienot on Jan 31, 2004 20:30:14 GMT -5
I use Cheese cubes when I'm mouth rewarding (I drop the treats from my mouth because it makes the dog focus on your face) since I'm a vegetarian and it's one of the few sturdy foods we have in common. Mozzarella works the best as it doesn't get mushy.
The dogs also dig liver bits- dried in the oven or boiled and air dried, which I use a lot for agility and when I'm hand rewarding. It's kind of a pain to make, so I make a lot a freeze it in small batches.
And I also buy good quality treats from the store - hey, I'm not superwoman.
Regarding the bones, every week I get 4 large marrow bones - half of a cow leg bone. Finn gets one most days when I chuck him out before I go to work, and Sailor goes out at nights and buries them. They are very heavy and it's good exercise for him to drag them around. It also takes a long time to get all the meat off and the marrow out, so often I have 4 or 6 lying around in various stages of destruction.
Anyway, normally I pick them up when I'm cleaning up the yard, but once I didn't get a chance. The guy that mows my lawn commented, "It looks like a dinosaur died out there".
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Post by Brooke on Jan 31, 2004 21:27:08 GMT -5
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Post by amyjo on Feb 2, 2004 16:31:09 GMT -5
Okay you guys... I am just back from Aldi - thanks for the tip by the way Loey. I bought a ton of stuff - chicken quarters, ground turkey, chicken wings and even a few bone in pork chops.
I can't believe! the prices there.....I think I am actually going to do this. My husband is dead set against it - but you guys are really making alot of sense to me.
Besides the fact that I just figured out I am spending $1.23 per pound for kibble (including the fosters and smith delivery charge) and I can feed my dogs REAL MEAT for less.
What is the best way to transition from Kibble to raw? I have been feeding raw beef bones since last summer.
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Post by amyjo on Feb 2, 2004 16:34:29 GMT -5
Okay you guys... I am just back from Aldi - thanks for the tip by the way Loey. I bought a ton of stuff - chicken quarters, ground turkey, chicken wings and even a few bone in pork chops.
I can't believe! the prices there.....I think I am actually going to do this. My husband is dead set against it - but you guys are really making alot of sense to me.
Besides the fact that I just figured out I am spending $1.23 per pound for kibble (including the fosters and smith delivery charge) and I can feed my dogs REAL MEAT for less.
What is the best way to transition from Kibble to raw? I have been feeding raw beef bones since last summer.
I know I will have to kind of play with the amounts of food and figure out how much they need - But if anybody can tell me weights/activity levels of thier pooch and how much they feed - I would appreciate it - it would just give me a rough estimate.
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Post by sibemom on Feb 2, 2004 17:13:35 GMT -5
Well what I have learned is to just do it. You only want to introduce one protein source for awhile and then add in a few more. I started Blade on the chicken leg quarters they are well balanced in meat and bone. Then I added the ground turkey, after about a week I added some canned salmon twice a week veggie mush like Loey is talking about and the rest is history. Watch and see how your dog does with digesting it. I was lucky I had no problems what so ever. He now gets organ meats chicken livers, hearts etc.. and beef liver twice a week. The ratio I have him on is 2% of his body weight. There is no exact science to this you just observe and watch so they dont get to thin or to fat. Remember to add the raw egg with the shell to your veggie mush. Loey's menu is a good place to start. Good luck.
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Post by amyjo on Feb 2, 2004 17:43:00 GMT -5
Oops! I just saw the 2% starting point in Loey's post - Sorry.
Did you feed the kibble as well as the chicken quarters or did you just feed the the whole 2% as chicken quarters?
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