Fish-free food? - Page 2

Mine had constant ear infections and raw spots from scratching.
I use canned salmon a lot but he could not have any, besides just changing brands of dog food, I had to watch him when we went to the river not to allow him to pick up any kind of remains of fish.
It was frustrating at times.
Mine like most veggies and some fruits, I get meat scraps when I can and use leftovers (meat) when I have them.
Also cheese if not in the food, as treats and training rewards.

Taste of the Wild.....the 14th ingredient is ocean fish meal..........so it's way down there.   This food is incredible........I'd like my kennel to endorse it!   I like em' all  
(with a little cream and sugar at the beginning or end of any day)  :)

www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/


Trish

www.hasshaus.com

Your Dogs are allergic to Fish One of Mine is allergic to all meats six of one half a dozen of the Other,
 Over here to feed a Dog Raw would cost several times my grocery bill, all Chicken, Beef Offal has to be sealed Packed and is expensive, Plus the Supermarket says its not viable Chicken Quarters are for humans and you pay full Price,
 To get to a Slaughterhouse i have to travel 450 kms then i do not have the space to keep it frozen, In the USA things may be different but not here
Steve

Yeah there aren't many butchers around my area either.  There are a few horse farms, but my county is a peninsula on the W. Coast of Florida, and it's all developed.  No farm land except for the very northern part of the area.  I went to what I thought was a butcher's once, asking for turkey necks, they said they get their meats already cut, and didn't send the bits and pieces with the birds.  Arrgh!

My best option is to go to the Asian markets, like Hans mentioned. Their prices are much cheaper than the grocer's, and they tend to carry the "weirder" meats and organs. It just smells sooooo nasty in those stores.  I know Zoe REALLY liked the beef heart I bought for her once, cut it up and gave her small portions at a time, but it was frozen and took too long to thaw, the last third of it went bad before I could give it to her.

I used to cook my cats' food, out of dirt cheap ingredients from a discount grocer. Bought a pound of chicken gizzards and hearts, 4 cans of tuna, rice, boiled eggs, and crushed taurine tablets, and made the most disgusting concoction I've ever seen or smelled. They loved it though, and ended up eating less than the kibble because their bodies derived more nutrition from it. The tuna was 10/$1, too bad I can't give it to my girl, but the organs were dirt cheap. I guess I'll have to get creative

Well, I've finally opted to feed raw.

Tonight's dinner was comprised of 10 oz of tripe, 10oz of chicken hearts, 1 boiled sweet potato (mashed), 2 large carrots, chopped and boiled along with the potato, a handful of chopped baby spinach, and about 4 oz. of full-fat cottage cheese, and a cup of her NB kibble.  She scarfed it down, just like I knew she would!  I'd found a BARF site that had a weight/food calculator, and with her weight at a breezy 55lbs (I know!!!), she requires approx. 1.65lbs per day.  She'd left a couple of bites in her bowl, so I know she must've been full.

I also bought 3lbs of beef kidney, a 4pc pack of chicken backs, and I've been giving her a chicken neck or two to munch on when she chills on her bed in the living room.  I've also given her cooked yellow squash, along with the gizzards and hearts.  After giving her a cooked/raw dinner for over a week so far, I've noticed no ill effects. 

After looking at the nutrional facts for both the raw and cooked foods I'm preparing for her, I think she's getting a well-balanced diet.  The only thing that sucks, is that the nutritional guide is for people, so I can't rely on percentages, but have to go by gram/miligram.  For instance, I knew spinach had a lot of healthy vitamins in it, but no idea of HOW much good stuff!  Not to mention how high in cholesterol that beef kidneys are!  For a 4oz portion, raw, is 464mg!   Needless to say, that will be offered sparingly!

I'm very careful how I handle my foods, I always wash my hands in between touching meats, and wipe down the countertop and knife when I'm done with each (gotta love those Clorox wipes!).

So now my question is...how can I put some weight on her?  She runs a high metabolism, so I know she needs more protein than most dogs, as well as fat...any suggestions?

You could try the Blue Buffalo Chicken & brown rice formula.  It has no fish in it.

I'm trying to move away from kibble altogether, Jransom.

My dogs have had such a bad experience eating anything except grain free kibble.......but, here lately I've been giving a tablespoon of live culture sour cream with every meal. The result is that their stools are consistantly firm and they are tolerating semi cooked snacks.........We're builing up to Hans' recipie.....

This is a huge step in the right direction for us. In the past, just one chicken back and I'd have to get the mop and bucket out........

Yikes Sitasmom!  I've been really surprised to note that Zoe has never vomited up anything I've fed her, and she's had quite a variety of foods to sample since she was a pup!  Yogurt, peanut butter, raw meats/organs, veggies (cooked & raw), egg (cooked & raw), fruit, garden gloves, pinecones, tennis balls, you name it! 

I guess animals can be similar to people, in that some their stomachs can handle different kinds of foods than others.  Zoe's got a cast-iron stomach, lol.

That seems like a seriously weird raw diet, full of boiled veggies. WHY? There's no reason to make it harder for yourself. And there's no reason to feed 10 oz of this and 10 oz of that...just feed the dog one thing. The dog's liver is completely capable of combining food enzymes from one meat one day with those of another meat another day, just as a human's is. You don't need a balanced diet every day, just every week!  And all you accomplish with all that vegetable matter is big poops. I think some people think if their German shepherd is pooping poodle-poos all of a sudden, something is wrong, it needs to be big and slimy and stinky. Sheesh. Just hand the dog a slab of meat, and then give it something bony tomorrow, and the day after that give it some organs. It's easy!

I got hooked up with an Asian market...the meat department guy (as opposed to 'butcher') doesn't want to throw out the stuff that didn't get sold that day (which would NOT be an environmentally sane practice anyhow), so he saves it for me in cases in the walk-in freezer. OK. It's not organic grass-fed meat, and it is in irritating yellow styrofoam trays, but hey, it comes pre-measured and has lots of variety. I get meats, the meat dude gets a few bucks, win-win situation. Hope the freaking FDA doesn't find out. You CAN develop relationships with meat departments if you work at it.

And at risk of really pissing people off, there is horsemeat to be had now that there is no safe place to dispose of injured animals in California. Find a (real) cowboy somewhere; he'll get you more meat than you know what to do with. My ex used to get animals at the livestock auctions for like 9 cents a pound. Of course, he had to haul it, kill it, and parcel it out to the dogs, but at least it didn't just get rendered out with dead sick dogs and end up sprayed on kibble.

The meat I get from the guy comes to about 40 cents a pound, on average. Way cheaper than "high quality" k****e.