Raw feeding tips for a noob

[alohadaisy]

Hi there!

I'm a new bulldog parent. We rescued a neglected EB last week. She's underweight, she currently weighs 28 lbs. I think she'll probably look right at 35 lbs? She seems to be pretty sensitive to foods. I'd like to try out home-made raw feeding as that will be the most economical for our area. But I have some questions for our particular case.

We had started out feeding her our other dog's Purina kibble for 3 days before I found out from the vet that the skin problems she arrived with were likely an allergic reaction and I need to get better food.

Saturday morning she had her last meal of kibble. About 3 hours later she received some roasted turkey breast as a treat. About 1 hour after that she started itching uncontrollably and making herself bleed. I started her on raw chicken on Saturday night.

After talking to the folks on the general nutrition forum about allergic reactions they suggested I should skip chicken as many EB's are sensitive to it. Last night I got a pork shoulder. She had pork, peas and carrots with a tbs of plain yogurt last night (and a benedryl). Then I read that some can even be allergic to peas and carrots so I'm going to limit the food variables here so I can find what she can and cannot have, starting with the meat. This morning she had pork and an egg and a benedryl. She's stopped itching so much but this morning after breakfast her eyes must have been itchy because she was scratching up her face and rubbing it on the carpet.

So that's the current situation.

Bones - I'd like to feed her bones but I am concerned about her jaw. The vet said her underbite is pretty severe. I gave her a chicken thigh bone as part of her chicken dinner and she crunched it up but choked it up once before eating it. She was coughing a lot for 30 minutes afterwards. I am now concerned her jaw will prevent her from eating bones safely. What do you think? Should I get bonemeal to add to it?

Offal - are allergies confined to muscle meat? I am going to look for a source for offal but if I am avoiding chicken should I also avoid chicken offal?

Weight Gain - will she gain weight on this? I'd like to help her gain mass to get to a healthy weight. I am giving here 8-9 oz. of meat per meal, 2x per day.

Thanks!

 

[aprilemari]

If you are feeding raw meat, bones, and organs (I feed raw commercially available patties that have appropriate ratios of these) then you do not need any fruits, veggies, or grains. We give Lola fruits and veggies as treats though.

YOu should feed her 2-3 % of the body weight that she should be as an adult dog each day.

The ratio of meat to bone to organs is 80/10/10 5% of the organ should be liver (half of 10%=5%)

I will tag some other raw feeding members, as I can't give you an experieced answer on the bones and offal. Thank you for rescuing a bully!!

you can also try beef, its availability makes it a good choice. And dogs should be on more red meat than poultry for sure.

 

[RiiSi]

In my opinion you should start her on elimination diet and don't mind what other bullies are allergic to. Elimination diet means that first you eliminate everything else, but one protein from her diet and then start eliminating possible allergens one by one. No treats, no nothing, but one protein source. It can be pork. Feed that for as long there is no symptoms and then add another source of protein. Only then you will find out what she really is allergic to. If you give her more than one new thing at the time you don't know what caused the reaction. If you're hesitant about the bones try to get it ground, but inexperienced eaters often regurgitate their bone meals, but a severe underbite can make eating a bit more difficult. In the end you will do fine if you end up with three different meats and some organs. Organs come last in the elimination diet.

 

[alohadaisy]

Thanks RiiSi.

After 3 meals of chicken and non-stop scratching till she bled I figured chicken was not for her. Her chicken meals did have veggies too so I may try it one more time since she never got any chicken completely alone.

I tried pork shoulder next, 2 meals and more hard itching after each, this time focused to her face/eyes. I gave her benedryl and that calmed her scratching after an hour. Later that day I gave her a piece of raw pork which immediately started her violently scratching her face and rubbing it on the carpet. I took that as she is not tolerating pork.

Last night she received hamburger (alone) and that did not trigger any scratching fits. More this morning for breakfast and she's looking good. I'll keep feeding hamburger alone for a few more meals to make sure she's all good then try adding an egg.

Thanks!

 

[alohadaisy]

I think I want to try bones again. This far I know she's ok with beef so I want to get her meaty beef bones. I understand the bone should not be the big weight bearing bones. But what kind of beef bone would be appropriate for a dog new to eating bones? I found a local Butcher but I don't know what to ask for. Thanks!

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[Kansascitymama]

Im going to PM u some info that greatly helped me.

 

[alohadaisy]

Thank you! My butcher contact didn't really pan out - they only had pig bones to offer (but no good for me because she seems to react to pork). I ended up with bonemeal for now because her poop got too soft without.

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[agentbunny]

Lola's dermatologist told me anything with feathers is a no no with bulldogs (other than duck). I had to feed a novel protein (rabbit) for 8 weeks to figure out her allergies were not food related. If you want to feed raw, try beef, lamb, duck, or rabbit. Natures Instinct has frozen patties that are nutritionally complete. Lola is 8 months old and weighs about 37 lbs. and also has terrible allergies. She eats 2 half pound patties a day topped with non fat greek yoghurt. It keeps her at a perfect weight.
If you have a Petfood Express nearby, you can get the 4th bag free when you buy 3 bags. (1 bag contains 12 patties will last your dog 6 days).
Does your dog lick or chew her paws? That is a common sign with food allergies. Flea allergies usually show up with skin problems at the rear of the dogs body, and the environmental allergies show up on the sides, stomach, and armpits.