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Old August 5th, 2010, 03:46 PM
FlamesGirl FlamesGirl is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Calgary
Posts: 62
Feeding raw...am I doing it right?

Hello all,

I've been flipping my dog's food around way too much in the last few months. He was on EVO and did phenomenal on it but then I injured myself (long term too) and he was starting to get fat on the Evo. When I cut back his kibble to 1.5 cups a day, he turned into a drama queen and started drooling and begging when anyone was eating which isn't his normal behaviour. I switched him to Acana Light and Fit and turns out he doesn't do well on grains. By then, I'd had enough and I've compromised by doing a half kibble, half raw diet and when I move in September, I'll be able to do a full raw diet since I'll have adequate freezer space at my new place.

In the meantime, he's getting 1/2 - 3/4 cup of Evo red meat (which is between 264 - 395 cals) in the morning around 9am and then his raw meal around 7-8 at night. He's doing really well on the raw - no diarrhea, no vomiting (except once earlier this week with a sharp bone) and his teeth look amazing. Being the paranoid person I am, despite reading a million threads on here and other websites and reading books, I would still like to know if I'm doing this right or not. If there's anything I should add, take out, be careful of, please let me know! All opinions and advice are more than welcome!

A typical supper for him consists of either a a) 6 - 8 oz chicken leg with back attached, b) a 5 oz chicken thigh supplemented with 2 - 3 oz of beef liver, c)two 5 oz beef or turkey necks. I'm thinking this might be too much bone but his poops are small and golf ball sized and he's not straining at all. They're a normal brown colour and he's only pooping once a day now.

I usually feed him the liver meals about 2-3 times a week, not every day. I also have chicken gizzards residing in my freezer but have no idea when to feed those (or even what the heck they are)! If that is too much, I have some frozen, slightly freezer burned flank steak. Is it best to do a meal with no bones one day, then bones the next, or is it okay to combine them?

He also gets about 2-3 raw eggs a week and a raw marrow bone to chew on about every second day. Does this seem okay?

Thanks!

ETA: Ranger is a flat coat retriever X, about 70 lbs which is an ideal weight for him. Since making the switch, he's stayed around this weight so I'm pretty sure he's getting fed enough. His mooching/begging drama queen act has stopped.
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