HOW do you transition

[TandVsMom]

oh good im glad to see this thread. i replied to the other one but i see im late. lol i feed sarah freeze dried raw so wont be much help to you but sarah does very well on beef. good luck and hope things continue to get better for you.

I had looked at freeze dried, but I couldn't decide. I am sure that eventually, when I am more comfortable with feeding raw, I won't want to buy NVI anymore, but right now I can find it readily and have been able to dig up coupons so I've got a good enough amount to get us both used to raw. What brand of freeze dried do you recommend? That is the kind you mix with ground beef, right?

 

[cowsmom]

[MENTION=5244]TandVsMom[/MENTION] i feed sarah vital essentials. they have freeze dried and real raw. they have several different forms of it to such as sprinkles, nibblets, and 2 sizes of patties. the real raw of is cheaper but i just cant go that route yet so freeze dried it is. no you dont mix it with anything its stand alone food. also i wanted to note that nvi uses rabbit from china and i believe their canned food is done in china which is why i never used it. just fyi.

 

[izstigspunks]

We did things a little different here and introduced a new protein every three days. Only did it this way because my main contact and experienced raw feeder said that after 10 years or so, she's never had a dog that reacted badly to the fast switches. She fosters and have owned many pooches. Although she did say that it may be different for senior dogs, they're stomachs are more sensitive. Punkin was 4.5 yo when he started and he did fine with the 3 day switches.

As for the beef bones, yes, I'd be careful with that like Lauren mentioned. Heck, I'm so scared of them that I've never fed the boys any. Same with pork bones, it depends which part of course. Just remember never to give weight bearing bones, unless for rec purposes. And watch them when you do give them one.

And ditto about raw vs processed chicken. You can always try and give them some quarters and see what happens. Although chicken allergies do exist, it's rare in the raw form.

I'd aim for 2% of adult body weight for now. So for my guys it's around a pound. It's better to feed them a smaller amount in the beginning to avoid runny poops. Eventually you can add a little bit more if you find they're losing weight.

Also, like Lauren said, you can always prepare a ziplock full of meat that your mom can give and leave it in the fridge. For breakfast I give the boys something boneless, like green tripe, beef or pork heart, tongue etc. These are simple to give and create very little mess. your mom sounds wonderful btw, good for her for loving her fur-grandkids so much.

 

[roanne9145]

Wow love reading all this...maybe just maybe I can make it this time!

 

[GatorRay]

I wouldn't feed pork neck bones but ribs are ok. Just be sure that anything with bone is in big pieces that they actually have to chew on and can't swallow whole. I leave two of the ribs together and go that route. Most of the time they chew it down small and then I remove it. I am a bit of a ninny when it comes to choking hazards lol. Most don't have issues with chicken when it is RAW. My Gator did and got hot spots but it is rare and still the best place to start IMO. Good luck and just have fun with it! Your pup will!