Raw food !!!

[anatess]

Okay, Bullie's one bump of a rash has now become a chinful. And she's scratching her armpit... I'm almost certain it is seasonal allergy as my son is starting his sniffles now too.

But, I'm still trying to see if going raw will work for us. I talked to my friend who is the dog-whisperer. She feeds raw to her pack of 4 dobermans, 1 boxer, and 1 pitbull. She gets her meat from this place called restaurant depot but you need a business license to get meat there. I looked at co-ops but the closest one is in Orlando.

I'm wondering if there's enough interest on EBN to form a co-op that can deliver to NE Florida?

In any case, I'm still trying to work out some logistics such as:
1.) What does everybody do about going on vacation? My brother usually takes care of my dogs when we can't take them with us but I seriously doubt he'll go for feeding my dogs raw. And I don't think the kennel has a fridge.
2.) If Bullie goes raw, Gizmo will have to go raw as well... I'm not sure how to deal with all of Gizmo's long white hair with chomping on raw meat. He's such a prissy eater as it is - he eats off my hand because he doesn't like his face touching kibble. You should see him drink - he manages to drink an entire bowl of water without getting his hair nor his nose wet...

 

[anatess]

By the way, I did some quick math that might be interesting:

Bullie is a 60 lb bulldog who is currently on Blue Wilderness. She eats 2.5-3 cups a day.
I buy BW in 11lb bags for $28. 3 cups of BW is 13 ounces or 0.8 lbs. So, $28 lasts 14 days or $2.14 a day.

If Bullie goes raw, he will be eating 1.5lbs of food a day. Sandersons Whole Chicken is currently on the weekly circular for $1.19/lb. Feeding 1.5 lbs of that = $1.78 a day.

So... doing the math... $2.14 of kibble is definitely more money than $1.78 of raw.

Cool, huh?

 

[GatorRay]

By the way, I did some quick math that might be interesting:

Bullie is a 60 lb bulldog who is currently on Blue Wilderness. She eats 2.5-3 cups a day.
I buy BW in 11lb bags for $28. 3 cups of BW is 13 ounces or 0.8 lbs. So, $28 lasts 14 days or $2.14 a day.

If Bullie goes raw, he will be eating 1.5lbs of food a day. Sandersons Whole Chicken is currently on the weekly circular for $1.19/lb. Feeding 1.5 lbs of that = $1.78 a day.

So... doing the math... $2.14 of kibble is definitely more money than $1.78 of raw.

Cool, huh?

Yeah, I love that part! But it will get a tad more expensive when you start adding things into the equation (red meat, organs, etc). I think there IS a FL co-op...let me see if I can find that info or at least point you in the right direction. Can your friend pick your food up for you when she gets hers?

As far as feeding Gizmo...I seriously doubt he will care a whit about being messy. Plus, with him you will be feeding small enough pieces that there really shouldn't be much of a mess. You might have to wipe his face after he eats though but I do that with mine anyway.

I will pm you

 

[zeusmommy]

Zeus had a chicken thigh today. I heard the crunching of the bone, but he hardly ate any of the meat. Should I save it for tomorrow or throw it in the trash?

Also, I bought some fresh pig ears, some oxtail (but its sliced in smaller pieces), beef leg....do you feed these as a meal or as something to chew on?

Got 2 cornish hens for 6.99....is it ok for a 3 and a half month old to start working on one?

 

[izstigspunks]

@zeusmommy -

You can save the leftover chicken tomorrow. It's odd that he didn't finish. Did you feed him kibble earlier in the day?

Most likely zeus won't be able to chew through the pig ears and will just use it as a chew toy. Oxtail is ok, however, there's not much meat on them. It's best to aim for meaty bones. The more bone, the more firm his stools are going to be, which can also lead to constipation if given too much.

Cornish hens are great. But remember to feed only 2%-3% of his adult weight daily. After a few days of runny poops in the beginning, I learned that Stig did best eating only 2% which is only 1 lb of meat and bone daily. Whenever I gave him more, his poop would start to get runny again. If you feed the daily limit one day, don't give him kibble as that'll be too much food as well (meaning runny poops!).

With Stig, I realized that he needed denser bones to be added to his cornish hen meals. I'm guessing the cornish bones are too soft. You may want to add the oxtail you bought to the meal to firm up his stool.

I'm very concerned about the beef leg. It's a weight bearing bone meaning that they are too hard to digest so it'll sit in their stomachs for a very long time, which is dangerous. Or did you mean meat isolated from the thigh portion? If it's meat, then it's ok. But if it's bone, please do not give it to Zeus.

 

[GatorRay]

View attachment 11039View attachment 11040


Zeus had a chicken thigh today. I heard the crunching of the bone, but he hardly ate any of the meat. Should I save it for tomorrow or throw it in the trash?

Also, I bought some fresh pig ears, some oxtail (but its sliced in smaller pieces), beef leg....do you feed these as a meal or as something to chew on?

Got 2 cornish hens for 6.99....is it ok for a 3 and a half month old to start working on one?

I agree with [MENTION=1209]savemejeebus[/MENTION] about the beef bone. I would let him work the meat off of it and then take the bone away. Cornish game hens are great! They should work well for him. I wouldn't worry about him not eating the meat of the thigh. You might also consider that the skin of chicken can be hard for EB's due to their underbite and you might have to remove it and give the skin later (yes, he needs the skin!). If you give him anything that large (which is actually a good thing) you can let him eat as much of it as you think he needs and then remove it and offer it again at the next meal. I am concerned about the oxtail. Is it cut into medallions? If so, they might be ok for a 3 month old but they are small and could be choking hazzards.

I think you are doing GREAT!!!! Keep up the good work!

 

[zeusmommy]

Its beef feet, didnt know it makes a difference :-( I just looked at it. The bone is not that huge, but its still weight bearing one. The oxtail is cut into 3-4 fingers thick medalions and it DOES concern me...maybe I will just make a soup out of it...lol

I'll cut off the skin, didnt know its a problem because of their jaws :-( Should I cut it in smaller pieces and just put it in his bowl?

With the previous raw fed dog, I was giving him the ready packages - the Instinct ones and we used to have ones prepared at a local farm. But that got expensive really fast. This is the first time that I actually give a whole piece without everything being ground up.

 

[GatorRay]

Some don't have issues with the skin on chicken but mine do and I had a choking incident where they can't tear it so they tried to swallow it whole, still attached to the chicken. That didn't go over very well. lol. I just pull it back so that it is hanging on by a little piece and they manage to get it off with no problems. Skin can be removed from chicken very easily with just your hands. I will pull it off and just give it to them without even cutting sometimes.

The thing with the beef bones is that they are pretty hard, even the feet. Someone told me they were teeth breakers and I poo poo'd it until Gypsy DID break a tooth. Good thing it was a baby tooth!

My hubby came home with pork neck once cut just like oxtail. I looked at it and considered it for a minute and then just threw it in the freezer to use for soup. lol

Sounds to me like you are doing great! It is a lot easier than it seems and the more simple you keep it, the better. Keep up the good work!

 

[zeusmommy]

He was shaking the skin off of the meat...lol..it was funny to watch. I will stay clear from those bones....I might make a soup for him - leaving the meat and disposing of the bone. I think I am going to have to start like a journal of his meals :-)

 

[GatorRay]

He was shaking the skin off of the meat...lol..it was funny to watch. I will stay clear from those bones....I might make a soup for him - leaving the meat and disposing of the bone. I think I am going to have to start like a journal of his meals :-)

I started a journal too. It is a blog here. If you go to the top of the page and hit blogs, you will see it.

 

[zeusmommy]

I started a journal too. It is a blog here. If you go to the top of the page and hit blogs, you will see it.

I read it all!!


P.S. I cant seem to find how to make my own blog :-( Maybe I can open a thread with his progress

 

[anatess]

I found a source of cheap meat. 50 cents a pound for chicken! I'm going raw! But I'm finishing off their current bag of kibbles first.

 

[GatorRay]

I read it all!!


P.S. I cant seem to find how to make my own blog :-( Maybe I can open a thread with his progress

I think you may have to have a certain amount of posts before you can start a blog. Not sure what it is though. I would love to follow his progress! A thread would be cool.

 

[GatorRay]

I found a source of cheap meat. 50 cents a pound for chicken! I'm going raw! But I'm finishing off their current bag of kibbles first.

Congratulations! I am sure you will be pleased with the results. If you hit any bumps in the road, just post. There are several here that are more knowledgeable than I am and I am sure they can help you out too. [MENTION=1209]savemejeebus[/MENTION] and [MENTION=2242]karenben[/MENTION] are two that I like to turn to as they are sooooo helpful!

 

[GatorRay]

View attachment 11039View attachment 11040


Zeus had a chicken thigh today. I heard the crunching of the bone, but he hardly ate any of the meat. Should I save it for tomorrow or throw it in the trash?

Also, I bought some fresh pig ears, some oxtail (but its sliced in smaller pieces), beef leg....do you feed these as a meal or as something to chew on?

Got 2 cornish hens for 6.99....is it ok for a 3 and a half month old to start working on one?

I have to say I LOVE these pictures of Zeus...he looks like he is really into what he is doing. lol