Raw Dog Food: Dietary Concerns, Benefits and Risks - Page 7

Well this was kind of my point that you should not blame the dog and it's digestive system for developing issues while on Comercial food. As this is not what nature intented on them. can they do good? yeah are there dogs that do better on kibbles than Raw? heck yes I own one, are there dogs that do better on raw and not so well on kibbles? Heck yes I own one of these dogs as well. Is there anything wrong with these dogs digestive systems? nope, just like many other species, there are variation, it dose not mean there is a fault. Bottom line is comercial food is not what nature intend for these dogs, because if it would, they should be able to make kibbles on their own, without human interaction. Nature designed dogs to hunt kill and provide fresh source of food, it arm them with pretty powerful digestive system in my opinion that will allow them to deal with many complex foods, from comercial foods, too bad old meats. If you would tell me that the dog has alergies from eading meat than heck yeah that dog has messed up digestive system, but developing issues from comercial foods well their digestive system wasn't really designed by nature to handle them. One of my dogs is on kibbles and other one is on RAW. Since the one on kibbles is doing great on it I see no reason for her being switched to Raw actually she dose not do as well on RAW as she dose on kibbles, can she handle both? heck yes that dog is a tank. My other female was no big issues with kibbles as well the only problem I had when the company was playing with ingridiants than it casued swings in the dog and that dog being more sensitive to changes I just didn't want to deal with it for her and my sake. Bottom line feed whatever you want, but understand that kibbles are not perfect, just like RAW is not perfect but at least RAW is what the dogs were designed to eat while kibbles is what we designed with hope to replace the RAW. Both product should never be compaired as they are not equals in my eyes. Unless you know of a dry kibbles that was designed by nature or dogs for dogs lol. ;) we people just hope that kibbles is what dogs real need, but at the same time is still overcooked and in my opinion pretty poore choice of food. How come we people don't eat dry processed food? Heck that bag would last for heck longer than that chicken in your freezer ;) 

The thing is, dogs are not at this time affected by salmonilla and certain other contaminants. But if we breed selectively for dogs who can eat kibble and do great, we might be accidentally breeding out future dogs who can eat raw and tablescraps and do fine...Just like keeping kids squeaky-clean leaves their immune system undeveloped. 

I mix royal canine gsd / pinnacle chicken kibble with majestic raw from afs.  Supplement with missing link - got this idea from canine extreme out of miami.  I got the royal canine and raw idea from kraftwerk.  my dog is doing awesome on this diet.  she's big strong and very athletic.

"The thing is, dogs are not at this time affected by salmonilla and certain other contaminants. But if we breed selectively for dogs who can eat kibble and do great, we might be accidentally breeding out future dogs who can eat raw and tablescraps and do fine...Just like keeping kids squeaky-clean leaves their immune system undeveloped."

Good point.

Will only add that you must then include with that group all these people on here already breeding for dogs that can't survive unless they are on a very special raw diet - they can't survive on anything else so they're a huge part of the breeding problem, too.

Will only add that you must then include with that group all these people on here already breeding for dogs that can't survive unless they are on a very special raw diet - they can't survive on anything else so they're a huge part of the breeding problem, too.



lol never heard of any one that is breeding for that. But than maybe I didn't see enough lol. What I don't like is people trying to fix nature. raw is natural part of dogs diet, any way you want too look at it.

Pharaoh eats all kinds of stuff.  I take him everywhere and he gets cookies and treats all the time.  I don't worry about it.  He has a cast iron stomach and he started out as a baby with Giardia.

He isn't  "ON"  his feed and constantly in danger of bouts of diarhhea or IBS if there is any change unless it's really,. really gradual.  So he never goes "OFF" his feed.

He can eat kibble, no problem.  He doesn't particularly like it unless it is in some other dogs bowl!  Then he LOVES it.

Michele

WHAT very special raw diet, Tess? 

Special diet?

I just feed my dog and it's not a religion.  He eats lots of different things.  Something different almost every day.

Dogs are not subject to salmonella and other ugggies because they eat raw food and bone which brings up the strength of their stomach acid to full strength.  This is not genetic, it is environmental.

I am not a purist so I use Showstopper (1 scoop per day), 2 500mg capsules of ester C, and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar.  I keep cans of Safeway dog food and sometimes that is in the mix.  He gets Excalibur from GreenTripe.com maybe three times a week.  He gets a raw egg yolk daily.  I also give him a teaspoon of Diatomacios Earth-human grade.  I don't spend time fixing his food.  As I said before, it is not a religion.

I used to give him one cup of kibble everyday.  I top dressed it with ground food.  I stopped because he started picking out the kibbles and leaving them in the bowl.  It didn't matter what kibble.  I donated the kibble and dropped that experiment.

I don't tell other people what to feed their dogs.  Lots of people I know feed different kibbles and their dogs look great.  If you observe your dog and give it what it needs, that's a success.  There are different ways to get to the same place.

Michele

I finally took the plunge into feeding raw after discussing it on here. I did a lot of research (still am!) and so far Zoe has gained a few pounds, she's less hyper, her coat has never looked healthier, her breath and body odor are virtually non-existant. She'd been on Natural Balance's Venison & Sweet Potato, and while it stopped her ear infections, skin irritation and coat loss, she would never put on any weight with it. Otherwise she was healthy, but too skinny for my taste.

After using www.nutritiondata.com/ to see what EXACTLY is in each kind of raw food I give her, I can then provide a balanced diet, free of preservatives, which her system is better able to digest and process the nutrients, instead of sitting in her gut for 12 hours. Plus, she's EXCITED about her food. She also has a lesser chance of ever getting bloat, due to not having the swelling of kibble in her gut mixed in with the water she'd drink. Something else that I think is important, is that she actually has to EAT her food, not inhale it. Gastric juices are stimulated from having to take the time to eat meat with small bones carefully. Someone mentioned in an earlier post that they only use human-grade meats, and I do the same. Real butchers don't seem to exist down here in Florida, and luckily I'm able to obtain everything from the local grocery store for dirt cheap. A 4 pack of chicken backs costs between $1.50-1.75. I love Publix! So I end up spending less per month than I would by buying a 30 lb bag of Natural Balance for $50.

For instance, just look at the nutrients in 4 oz. of raw beef heart, www.nutritiondata.com/facts/beef-products/3464/2 . Granted, the cholesterol's a little high, but that's why you only offer this in small portions. Organ meats should never make up more than 20% of the meal, as they're high in essential vitamins, but can be high in cholesterol and overdoing the vitamins can be just as detrimental as UNDERdoing it! Or how about the nutritional value of 1 oz of mustard greens? EXCELLENT source of Vitamin K, as well as natural Vitamin C (not some nasty supplement), dietary fiber for a good poop, spinach is just as good. www.nutritiondata.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2489/2 Dogs just don't need a lot of it.

I feed her turkey necks, chicken backs and necks, one chicken liver with a meal a few times a week, and whatever else I feel like adding to her meal. Tonight she had a half can of navy beans, tomorrow she might have some cooked carrots to go with her protein. I've also noticed that she's less thirsty than she was on kibble, since her raw diet hasn't had all of the juices baked out of it (along with other essential vitamins that are added later).

I also will occasionally add yogurt to aid in digestion, but she doesn't particularly care for it unless I mix it in with something tasty, like heart, lol. The raw meat also provides her with a natural source of taurine (needed for removing fats from the liver and is necessary for normal skeletal functioning--a deficiency of which can be detrimental in feeding dogs COOKED diets, which reduces or removes taurine from the meat).

This was her Thanksgiving meal: 2 turkey necks, yogurt, cooked green beans, a blob of sweet potato, some leftover stuffing, and some beef heart. She couldn't quite finish the last neck! lol


I definitely don't feed her this much every day! She usually gets about 2/3 of this for dinner.

Om nom noms!