Advice on Feeding Fish for the first time

[barkley21]

Okay...so we've been VERY successful with feeding our puppy raw for the last 1.5 months, and we're gradually introducing new foods into his diet and we want to start incorporating fish. My question is, do you feed them the fish complete with the head and fins or are you supposed to cut them off first? I assume the bones are okay although they seem sharp compared to the chicken/beef bones? Also, what kind of fish should we feed? Any particular ones to avoid? I heard something about a certain type of salmon to avoid.
Any help is appreciated.

[technodoll]

viola, we discussed fish on this thread, just scroll down past the bone photos http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread....highlight=fish

talks about what kind of fish to feed, how, fish to avoid, bones, etc....

[barkley21]

Thanks Technodoll...I'll give it a good read.

[barkley21]

Technodoll....I previously made a post asking about feeding raw fish for the first time, and you referred me to a previous thread on the topic, which was great, thanks again
But, I have one question that wasn't addressed there and that is: how much fish constitutes one meal Barkley is still a puppy...6.5 months old, so is one fish enough for a meal or should I give him more? I know some of it depends on the size of the fish, but let's say it's something like the size of a mackarel or a trout?

[Prin]

Advice on Feeding Fish for the first time:
First you unscrew the lid to the wormy things or fishy food chips and then you sprinkle a bit into the aquarium.... Oh... Oh wait.. Sorry.

[technodoll]

ignore prin tonight, she's in a silly mood

feed fish as you would any meat: by weight. by 6.5 months of age, daily feedings should be 2-3% of anticipated adult weight. so if your boy is estimated to be 100 lbs as an adult, he should have access to 2 to 3 lbs of raw food per day (let him eat as much of that as he wants). if he's starting to look plump, reduce the portions, and if he's thin you can up the quantities. hmm does this help at all? LOL

[barkley21]

Barkley is approximately 37 pounds right now at 6.5 months old and he is estimated to be 60-65 pounds full grown. We're actually trying to 'plump' him up right now because he's a little too skinny-minny. Our vet wants to see him again in two weeks because last time we were there, he weighed Barkley and he hadn't gained a single pound in 3 weeks...and he's a growing puppy The vet said that that is not uncommon when dog's get switched to raw because raw isn't a very high calorie diet, so he recommended we increase his feedings and to come back in three weeks time to see how he is. We know he has already gained at least 2 pounds which is a good thing and must mean we're doing okay. Luckily, Barkley is not picky at all and :love: his raw food, so we've been giving him extra food to bulk him up like green lamb tripe (almost everyday) in addition to his meat and raw bones as well as whole organic eggs, chicken necks, and as treats we give him all natural bison jerky and dried chicken hearts. We want to start feeding him fish as well. Based on your guidelines, I guess one medium sized fish should be enough for a meal.
I don't know why, but I feel weird about giving him a whole fish. I'm not squeamish about meat at all, but for some reason the thought of him tearing a fish open and then eating the head, eyeballs, teeth and all, really grosses me out! Maybe it's because the fish has a face as opposed to a hunk of chicken carcass

[technodoll]

barkley... just don't watch i know i never could if your puppy needs to plump up a bit, i suggest letting him eat as much as he wants for a week or so, and if his stools are still good, then he just needs more food for a while (some eat up to 5% or more of their body weight during the growth spurts). you can feed high-caloric meats such as regular ground beef or pork, add some olive oil to his meals, add full-fat cottage cheese or yogurt, i like to give them treats such as peanut-butter or cream cheese on whole wheat bread, or choose denser meats such as lamb, goat, beef and pork... canned fish also works very well!

good luck and you should see some weight gain soon, if you let your boy eat as much as he wants

[barkley21]

Thanks TD. We'll give it a try. I'm going to go out and buy some fish today and give it to him with his dinner. Yesterday I gave him a can of sardines packed in water along with his rmb at dinner and he seemed to love it, although the sardine breath kisses afterwards left much to be desired

[technodoll]

so how did the fish dinner go?... what kind of fish did you find, and how was it? LOL !

[barkley21]

Ooops....I forgot to reply to your post TD
The fish dinner went really well. When I went to the supermarket to buy the fish, they didn't have any fish that were "intact" or whole, except for packages of herring but I stayed away because they were covered in kosher salt. All of the other fish at the counter were fillets that were deboned, cleaned, etc. so I figured fish fillets were still better than no fish at all, so I bought a sole fillet. Although the fish didn't have bones, skin, head, fins, etc. do you think I did the right thing by feeding it to him? Barkley loved it and ate it up with his usual gusto
Come to think of it, I haven't given him anything on this raw diet that he didn't love. Last night I gave him chicken drumsticks for the first time and he plowed through them like nobody's business!
Now I feel guilty about still feeding our cat kibble :sad: She's a pretty picky eater so we haven't tried to switch her and she is healthy with a nice shiny coat, so we haven't felt a need to do it like we did with Barkley because of all his problems related to kibble. Still, knowing what I know now about kibble, I feel horrible feeding it to her. Do you think we should attempt a switch or leave well enough alone?

[Scott_B]

Glad to hear it went well! I guess I should consider myself lucky in regardes to fish. The mackerel I feed is net caught so no worries in hooks. As well, its cheap. Its the cheapest food I can get. .35-.40 per lb. But working at a fish plant has its benifits

Ask at the merket where you bought the fish if they can bring you in a few whole fish? Sometimes they fillet the fish themselves, so asking for a few whole shouldnt be a problem.

[technodoll]

happy to hear the fish thing went well! you could try to find whole frozen small fish in any ethnic supermarkets you have around...

Now I feel guilty about still feeding our cat kibble Do you think we should attempt a switch or leave well enough alone?

interestingly, raw diets are even better suited for cats than for dogs, since they are obligate carnivores BUT alot of cats are fussy and not easy to switch over, but some do very well and looove the raw diet. if you want info, let me know!