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Raw Pet Food

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


    Feeding Raw to a Papillon?

    Scrat
    Scrat


    Posts : 2
    Join date : 2014-02-05

    Feeding Raw to a Papillon? Empty Feeding Raw to a Papillon?

    Post  Scrat Wed Feb 05, 2014 4:13 pm

    Hello!! Oh dear. So after accidentally posting this in the CAT section, I am now in the right place! I'm new to this forum and am thinking about a raw diet for my Papillon, Scrat, so I've got a list of questions! Just to give some background, though, I am a college student and will be moving into an apartment within the next few months so that's when I will begin raw *if I am able to afford it*. I am definitely prepared to set aside a budget, but if it's going to be $100 a month, I hate to say that I probably can't do it. Scrat is going to be 5 years old in March, is almost 12 inches at the shoulder, and weighs around 11 lbs (he's a rescue so breed standard wise, he's definitely oversize). He's pretty neurotic and wiggles around everywhere, is tireless on walks, loves to curl up on the couch with me whenever he can, and spends his day chewing on raw knuckle bones or rawhide in his crate when I'm gone. I noticed how much he LOVES the raw bones, so I became interested in a purely raw diet for him. On the other hand, I'm not entirely sure that I could do it properly or that it would even benefit him...Here are a list of my questions that I'd like to know the answers to before I start him on raw!

    What would the general cost of raw per month be for a dog his size? (He currently eats 1/2 cup kibble per day.)

    How much would I need to feed him every day?

    Should I feed him once or twice a day?

    How can I make sure that I am varying his diet enough?

    Are vegetables necessary? (I feel like I will have a difficult time getting him to eat those.)

    Should I supplement the diet with a multivitamin?

    What can I feed in place of raw if we are camping or traveling?

    Are there some tried and true recipes that I can stick to and rotate to make sure he is getting everything he needs?

    What are the consequences of him having a diet that is not varied enough?

    Will he be able to eat all the little bones in the meat or will I have to take them out so he won't choke?

    Does the meat need to be ground for him to eat it?

    Hmmm...trying to think of more...I suppose they'll come up later! Anyways, I've just been really curious because I've found a lot of information about large dogs eating raw, so I wondered if anyone has had raw experiences with small dogs specifically (especially Papillons in particular!). I am especially interested in some sort of system to know that I am feeding the right variety of meats. I want to make sure he's eating what's best for him! I would feel AWFUL if I didn't balance the raw diet well enough and it made him sick or even killed him, so I'm very wary of starting this diet...At least I know commercial foods won't kill him because I mixed the food wrong, which is part of the reason why I've never looked into raw before.  Shocked But I'm now wanting to give it a try, I think it would be fun and I know Scrat would enjoy it!

    Thank you!

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