Raw Pet Food

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Raw Pet Food

A forum for raw-feeding families to chat, discuss, and learn!


    New to forum and to Raw, questions on balance

    smaughunter@yahoo.com
    smaughunter@yahoo.com


    Posts : 2
    Join date : 2012-04-21
    Age : 36
    Location : New Mexico

    New to forum and to Raw, questions on balance Empty New to forum and to Raw, questions on balance

    Post  smaughunter@yahoo.com Sat Apr 21, 2012 7:51 pm

    Hello! I am excited to join this forum and the ranks of raw feeders! I am a part time server and full time college student and my furkid is a 6 year old female basenji, named Kiora. I also share a home with my sister and her furkid, an 8 year old male Dobe/Pitt mix. I am also fostering a dog who is a young mixed breed, I believe she may be a "Labradoodle" or some such poodle mix. I have a pretty full house going on right now!!!

    Here is my basenji, Kiora:
    New to forum and to Raw, questions on balance DogWalk039

    For a long time I considered myself to be an informed feeder. When I first got my late furkid, Ananda, I was just a teenager and I fed her lousy grocery brand kibble for the first 4 years of her life. After learning more about dog food I switched her first to "holistic" kibble, inclusive of grain, and then to grain free kibble.When I got Kiora that is what she ate too. I thought my dogs were doing great: their stool was firm, their coats soft, and they always had lots of energy. On March of this year, a little more than a month ago I had to euthanize my baby, Ananda, due to the effects of late stage bone marrow cancer. She was 10.

    While I can't know if a diet of kibble caused Ananda's cancer I also don't know that it didn't. It was and is devastating. Ananda was a medium sized dog and a mixed breed, she did not have joint problems or act old. I thought we would be together for much longer.

    So I am getting Kiora onto a predominately raw, homemade, diet. She is already eating it and has not had any issues in the transition. Her coat was already soft and odorless so I haven't noticed any change there, but I have been really impressed with her raw stools and how her plaque has magically disappeared. I am concerned with ensuring that her diet is complete and balanced.

    I do have some limitations.
    1) I do not have unlimited financial resources. I am willing to spend what I have to get Kiora the best that I can but I cannot afford things like having green tripe shipped to me all the time or buying purely organic meats etc...
    2) I do not have an a ton of storage space and buying a freezer is not feasible for me. My mom does have a freezer and is willing to let me store some things at her house but I could only use a small portion of the freezer.


    I have read Dr. Becker's Real Food for Healthy Dogs & Cats by Beth Taylor and Karen Shaw Becker, DVM and also Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats by Kymythy Schultze. Both of these books have provided some valued insight but I feel that I cannot follow either plan precisely. Dr. Becker's I certainly can't follow as it requires a heavy duty grinder and a large freezer and I cannot buy or store either of those things. Also both of these books require very heavy supplementation. I don't mind doing a few supplements but more than 2 or 3 is really more than I can keep track of.

    This is the feeding plan I have come up with:

    Day 1: Raw Meaty Chicken Bones (Necks and Wings) Approximate percentage 70% Bone 30% meat (that's just a basic estimate on my part so if someone the actual percentage please let me know)
    Day 2: Red Meat Mix (Something I am formulating. Approximately 60% lean red muscle meat: Beef, pork, or mutton if it is cheap.30% organ 15% liver, 10% kidney, 5 percent pancreas. I am looking into getting spleen. 10% Honest Kitchen Preference).
    Day 3: Raw Chicken Meat (3 weeks a month. One week a month Beef heart instead)
    Day 4: Red Meat Mix
    Day 5: Canned Sardine and Fresh local egg (Not sure if I can get raw sardine, but I'll look into it. I tried raw smelt. She hates it. I would also like to hear thoughts on raw egg vs lightly cooked egg).
    Day 6: Honest Kitchen "Embark" (I would like to eventually replace this with something fresh but I am concerned about her not getting all the nutrients she needs and I figured this way she would get some vitamin supplementation)
    Day 7: Fast

    I am not sure of the percentages of meat to veggie are in the "Embark" food but based on my approximations of the Muscle Meat to Bone to Organ to veggie ratio of the other 5 days I am Putting the percentage at about:

    Muscle meat 68%
    Bone 16%
    Organ 12%
    Veggie:4%

    The only supplement I have right now is one for enzymes & probiotics. I know I can't get green tripe locally and I cannot afford to have it shipped to me regularly. Especially since I have limited storage space.

    Anyways I apologize for the length of my post and I would really welcome some advise on my proposed meal plan and ensuring that Kiora gets a complete and balanced diet.
    smaughunter@yahoo.com
    smaughunter@yahoo.com


    Posts : 2
    Join date : 2012-04-21
    Age : 36
    Location : New Mexico

    New to forum and to Raw, questions on balance Empty Re: New to forum and to Raw, questions on balance

    Post  smaughunter@yahoo.com Fri Apr 27, 2012 11:01 am

    Any thoughts? I know that THK isn't ideal but I am concerned that she will be missing nutrients. If I could feed her whole prey animals I wouldn't worry about that but unfortunately that is not an option for me right now. I could substitute THK for one meal of pre-packaged raw instead. My local holistic pet food store has Instinct raw foods available.

    Have any of you been feeding Raw long term? 5 years or more? How do you ensure the diet balances out over time to eliminate the risk of deficiencies?

      Current date/time is Thu Mar 28, 2024 11:49 am