Generalized Raw Questions
 

Hello,

Our 8 month old lab/ Great Pyrenees cross puppy has been on raw for about 5 months now. He is gaining weight and muscle well, growing well, eyes and teeth and ears all look really good, vet comments on how healthy he seems (doesn't know we're doing raw, though). I just have a few questions!

We're trying to do a good mixture of different kinds of meat, but he eats mostly chicken and pork, some beef or lamb as a treat when we can get it cheap, and that's about it. Is this a problem?

We can't get him to eat organ meat from the store, at all. Frozen, blended with wet cat food, etc- he won't eat it. We found some dried beef and lamb lung from petsmart, and the ingredients just list "dehyrdated beef (or lamb) lung" and he LOVES those, so we've been using them as treats. Should I keep trying to integrate other organ meat? I don't know what else to try, he won't even go near a dish no matter how well I try to "hide" the organ meat.

We just moved to a new house and he had some weird digestive issues for a bit, so we put him on kibble. We had him on Wellness and his gas and digestive problems were insane. He was on it for probably about 3 weeks with no improvement. Also, his ears almost instantly got really gunky and I'd have to clean them every few days, and his eyes started getting runny crusty stuff. We put him back on raw, and within days both had cleared up. Is that normal? If we need to or decide to put him back on kibble at some point, should we just expect that? Or should we shop around and try different kibbles?

I know this is a lot of questions at once, sorry if it's overwhelming! Overall I'm thrilled with how healthy and energetic he is on raw, I just don't want to be accidentally wrecking his health, you know?

Thanks so much!

I can't help you with your post but all good questions. I was wondering what Raw is.. and how is it better than dog food.:shrug:

I am a big advocate of raw. We started with kibble with our boy too. We were at the vet every 2 -3 months with him. Then we made the switch. We haven't looked back since. That was 5 years ago! Why are you considering switching back to kibble?

Variety really is the key to the raw diet. Some dogs like certain thigns and others don't. With our boy he is allergic to poultry. But we feed him other things such as lamb, pork, beef, sardines, mackarel, salmon, rabbit, green tripe. He also gets things such as liver, heart and kidney. How much of the offal are you giving at one time? I dont' give alot of liver because some dogs can't handle it. Also Luke doesn't like the smell so I just give him small slivers mixed in with his other food. I don't think there is anything wrong with the variety you are feeding him. I usually feed whatever is on sale too. My other 2 get chicken, turkey and occassionaly duck.

Why are you feeding him cat food?

I'm not really considering kibble at all- he was on that because once we moved he couldn't seem to handle the raw (just stress related stomach problems, I'm sure) and he did so poorly on it that now I'm thinking he can never go on kibble again. I like the idea of having a back up in case something with raw goes weird.

He was being given cat food as an attempt to get him to eat offal. He will NOT touch it, even if I mix it with cat food (which he loves).

He also doesn't like fish, and won't touch it. Weirdo.

the only offal he's getting is a chunk of dried beef or lamb lung - usually about the size of the palm of my hand, and about as thick as my hand, twice a day. Any more and he gets the runs.

Raw is just exactly what it is. Raw meat and bones.

I find its alot better because I can control what my babies are eating. With commercial dog food there is sometimes so much filler and chemicals that go into the food. Esp. with the pet food scare I feel much safer feeding raw to my gang :thumbs up

do a search on the forum for raw there is alot of info

Yep exactly. If I feed too much offal they get the runs too. We only feed it minimal.

If your baby has upset tummy troubles try adding 1 tablespoon pure 100% canned pumpkin. This is fiber and helps.

Also we add plain yogurt. Its a probiotic and helps in digestion.

I would not recommend feeding cat food. I hear that its not very good to feed it to dogs something about the protein levels? :shrug:

I've tried him on yogurt and it normally helps his stomach problems. I forgot about the pumpkin, but I've heard good stuff about it.

He's not getting cat food now, it was just an attempt to get him to eat offal.

Should I be feeding him more variety of offal though, or is dried lung enough???

I think it should be fine. It does sound like you have a fussy eater too! Luke is the same way. Sometimes he just loves certain foods and other times not! DH says he has never met a dog that wouldn't eat everything under the sun! Our other 2 are that way :D What we do to entice Luke to eat is put green tripe on everything. I guess similiar to what you did with the cat food.

I would try to experiment with other foods with him though too. I'm always on the look out for sales on stuff.

He sounds like he is thriving on the raw diet you have him on :thumbs up

Awesome, thanks. I kept thinking- if we are screwing this up, he should look unhealthy. But he looks really good!

I do try him on new stuff all the time, when I can get it cheap enough. A lot of it isn't stuff I'd eat (I'm picky too, lol) so if he doesn't eat it it goes in the garbage!

Thanks for your help and input, I appreciate it!

I don't think your meat variety is a problem if you're feeding all the different parts of the animal (of course I'm coming from the perspective of having a dog who can tolerate chicken, duck and turkey and that's it :laughing:) but personally, I would be concerned about the lack of organ variety.

All the various inside bits offer different nutrients, so getting the widest variety possible is important. Have you tried pureeing with something like cottage cheese, muscle meat or fish (if that's something he likes?)? Alternatively, could you cut "pockets" into the meat he does like and fill them with small pieces of organ? I know a couple of people who's dogs refuse to eat organs unless they're frozen, I guess it's the texture that bothers them more than anything.

I've tried cutting it into tiny pieces and mixing it with food he really likes, and he won't go near it. He can smell the organ bits mixed in and he won't touch it. I've tried larger pieces of frozen organ meat, and he won't touch it- but I haven't tried frozen in tiny pieces mixed with stuff he loves... Maybe I'll try that next. It's getting to be such a hassle, but considering how much healthier he is with even a sorta crappy (ie, no variety of organ meat) raw diet makes me very unwilling to switch him off of it.

I can keep trialing him on different organ meat.
I was kind of hoping i'd get the go-ahead to stick with only the dried lung so I can stop trying, haha. Oh well, back to the drawing board!

Well, not ideal by any means, but [URL="http://www.bennybullys.com/index.php"]Benny Bully's[/URL] does make a variety of freeze dried organ treats. Maybe he'd tolerate that?

Another suggestion, have you ever tried feeding green tripe? It smells really, really strongly, so it may cover up the organ smell better and I've yet to hear of a dog who didn't act like it was doggie crack.

[QUOTE=totallyhip;688094]IWhat we do to entice Luke to eat is put green tripe on everything. I guess similiar to what you did with the cat food.
[/QUOTE]


Yep thats what we use! :thumbs up

[QUOTE=pitgrrl;689777]Well, not ideal by any means, but [URL="http://www.bennybullys.com/index.php"]Benny Bully's[/URL] does make a variety of freeze dried organ treats. Maybe he'd tolerate that?

Another suggestion, have you ever tried feeding green tripe? It smells really, really strongly, so it may cover up the organ smell better and I've yet to hear of a dog who didn't act like it was doggie crack.[/QUOTE]


Oh boy. Now I'm really looking forward to tripe... haha. Okay, I'll try that first (freezing and then cut into small pieces and mixing with catfood didn't do it- but the cat liked it! Odd for him, picky creature.)

I'll try the bennybully stuff as a last resort, hopefully the tripe does the trick!