My Olivia is on JWB kibble. I've tried the lamb, fish and duck, and she seems to enjoy the duck the most. But she loves fresh food even more (I'm sure all dogs do) and I'm concerned about her health a bit. She's recently had some skin issues and I want her to be as healthy as possible. Is raw feeding the way to go?

I've given her a chicken bone before and she loved it. But not again since the vet told me she can contract salmonella as easily as I could with raw chicken.

I gave her some raw beef today and after sniffing it for a bit she ate it all really quickly.

So, I'm considering starting her on fresh, raw food. Her bag of kibble is nearly done so it's either that or buy a new one, but I'd rather try her on raw food for a bit as the idea of her eating fresh meats and veg sounds a lot better than the brown kibble she's having, even though I know its nutritious. And on that note, how on earth do you get your dog to each veg?! She'll happily nab some fresh meat out of my hand but I've tried a few vegetables and she's not interested.

Any one fancy helping me on where to start? What shall I buy first, where shall I go? How much of each thing should she get? She's a 7 month old Shar Pei weighing about 15-16kg, if I remember what the vet told me a couple of weeks ago correctly.

Thanks a lot.

ps. Pork repulses me and I can't even touch it, so that's out of the question!

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Feeding raw is fab and fairly easy!

I get my pet mince made up by my butcher. Its got a fair bit of organ meat in mine, so if that doesnt suit yours - just add more muscle meat (mine gets fed to the cats too and the high organ meat content is essential for cats).

6-10lbs steak/lamb mince, chicken/lambs liver, ox heart, lung, kidney, chicken wings, turkey necks and occasionally (if the butcher has any) he will add things like prepared tripe, game fowl carcases, tongue, oxtail etc. Its all minced in their industrial mincer. I then bag it into meatball portion sizes and freeze.

You can buy raw food from petshops in the freezer cabinates.

For the raw bones things like: Chicken wings, turkey necks, lamb ribs, meaty marrowbones (shin etc), oxtail.

Some barf people dont think veg is necessary, and with the cats i dont feed it. BUT you can poor pureed leftover veg into the mince mix before your freeze if they wont eat it raw. Try her on a whole cleaned raw carrot as a teether - she might like it!

Other things - raw, scrambled or boiled eggs

tinned tuna, pilchards and sardines

boiled wholegrain rice if you think they need a filler (its certainly not essential - but some people use it!).

I swapped billy from a raw diet (with burns bix), for a couple of reasons. The first was because he detests dry biccys (nothing to do with the raw lol), but the main reason was because we go visiting alot, and its easier to take a tub of naturediet along with me! Naturediet is fantastic food, and imho the next best thing to raw. It will also make holidays easier and easier for the person feeding him. He still finishes anything the cats leave, and he gets the raw bones a few times a week. Another good alternative to raw food is forthglade, I give the cats this too now, as again for the holiday forthglade will be ideal!

have a google for raw feeding and BARF websites, they will give you some meal plans.

Unfortunately, very occasionally, some dogs do contract salmonella, and it can be fatal. You've just got to use your common sense, I wouldn't feed mine meat that smelt bad, particularly from a supermarket type source, where you've got exactly the type of situation that could lead to build up of salmonella or similar.

Always ensure beef mince has been frozen before feeding, the majority of food mine get is frozen in any case, but with beef mince it can carry a fatal bacteria - I'm rubbish at remembering the exact names.

I've had two old rescues convert across to BARF, they were incredibly fussy about every other food, but love raw. The only thing I find is they don't tolerate raw offal as well as a younger dog that's used to the diet, so that has to be cooked.

For veg, try mixing in something tasty, it does actually carry a lot of useful vitamins and minerals - the idea of BARF, unlike a complete diet, is that the nutrition is derived from the food over several days rather than in one sitting. So the more variety of sources of nutrients, the better, try not to rely on too much root veg which they do find appetising, but mix in pulses and leafy veg. Again, the old rescue girls haven't found veg as appetising as the younger dogs that have been on it all their lives, but will eat it, particularly when mixed with something like a bit of raw egg, or a bit of boiled rice. Indie and Tau eat any raw veg you give them, in fact the little rotters nick anything I grow in the garden if they can!!!

Tinned fish is good for omega 3's, although make sure you don't buy it in brine, tomato sauce is fine, although if you're feeding to an oldie you need to avoid too much acidic food, so sunflower oil or spring water would be better.

You can pretty much buy BARF food ready to go now, as Billysboymamma said, just google and you'll find some good sites.

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Great posts on info i am thinking of swapping my lot over to raw feeding, we have just recently started giving bones from the butchers, and they love it, you have given me a lot of food for thought.

THanks

Your dog is as likely to contract salmonella from dry dog food as it is from raw (not many vets will tell you this). Whilst salmonella is evident in chicken over the past 10 years the levels have been reduced to ensure that there is no major outbreak in humans.

Dogs are surprisingly well-equipped to deal with bacteria. Their saliva has antibacterial properties; it contains lysozyme, an enzyme that lyses and destroys harmful bacteria. Their short digestive tract is designed to push through food and bacteria quickly without giving bacteria time to colonize. The extremely acidic environment in the gut is also a good bacteria colonization deterrent. People often point to the fact that dogs shed salmonella in their feces (even kibble-fed dogs do this) without showing any ill effects as proof that the dog is infected with salmonella. In reality, all this proves is that the dog has effectively passed the salmonella through its system with no problems.

Also if you purchase from a raw pet food supplier uner EU regulations they have to send regular samples for testing the salmonella levels.

Some people feed veg some don't if you do feed it then it is easier for some dogs if it is liquidised first.

The basic rule of raw for dogs is 80% meat, 10% Bone and 10% Offal (+veg if desired). Feeding between 2% and 3% of the adults projected bodyweight. If you need more information join the BritBarf Yahoo Group.

Actually too high organ meat is bad for dogs and cats as it can flood their bodies with too much of the toxins that livers and kidneys are meant to remove.

Ox tails and weight bearing bones can break teeth and should only be fed as recreational bones (chew and throw away)

Normal food hygine is essential when using any type of raw meat, wether this is for humans or animals.

If you are feeding grass fed meats then they have as high an Omega 3 level as fish.

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Karen

www.kiskasiberians.co.uk - The home of Hypoallergenic Siberian Cats


www.rawfed.com - Information on Raw Feeding

Without getting into an argument a cats diet for raw food should contain around 20% organ meat, this is higher than is necessary for dogs which is why i post my warning! Cats need the organ meat as it contains higher amounts of taurine essential in a cats diet compared to the relatively low tauring levels in muscle meat. If you read my ingrediants you will see that I mention a lambs liver a kidney not multiples, as i have taken the toxicity into account. Its also why I use lung and heart aswell as other organs.


As per your comment about the weightbearing bones, I agree they are chews- the ribs, necks, drumsticks and wings are meal replacements. Ive not yet met a 4lb terrier capable of chewing his way through a cows leg. We will have to agree to disagree on the oxtail as he manages those quite easily! .

Taurine is in high concentration in all muscle meats especially in Heart but in lower concentrations in offal.

Taurine Content of Selected Foods (mg/kg, wet weight)
taken from Nutrient Requirements of Cats, Revised Edition, 1986 which in turn
has adapted from Roe and Weston, 1965, Potential significance of free taurine in the diet, Nature, 205:287.

Item Uncooked Mean Range
Clams 2400 1450-3700
Oysters 698 390-1238
Pork muscle 496 394-690
Lamb muscle 473 446-510
Beef muscle 362 150-472
Chicken muscle 337 300-380
Cod Fish 314 233-396
Lamb kidney 239 128-440
Beef kidney 225 180-247
Beef liver 192 144-270
Pork liver 169 110-228

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Karen

www.kiskasiberians.co.uk - The home of Hypoallergenic Siberian Cats


www.rawfed.com - Information on Raw Feeding