Prey food diet??

What is it?
Why different from Barf?
Where you get supplies from?
How is it cost wise?

Thanks

Prey diet is similar to Barf i.e bones, meat, offal. However, on a prey mo0del diet you are aiming to feed more in proportion to what a whole animal comprises of this is 80% meat, 10% bone, 10% offal on the bone or in large chunks. A prey diet doesn't normall include veg or fruit.

Supplies come from butchers, supermarkets, farmers markets and specialist raw food suppliers.

Can be quite cheap depending on your sources.

Andrew

I'm sorry. I typed up a long winded reply to your questions earlier today, but clearly something has happened and it hasn't appeared here?!

For now, here's a few links that you may find useful;
http://www.rawfeddogs.net/FAQlist
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/
http://www.rawmeatybones.com/
Look for the "rawfeeding" yahoo group; it's a wealth of info and lots of people on there been feeding prey model raw for decades. Tom Lonsdale has two books out which are very useful also.

Time permitting I'll type up a better response for you tomorrow.

I have not heard of the prey food diet before. How does this compare to BARF and what are the main differences?

The BARF diet was introduced by Ian Billingshurst and is a kind of old fashoined way to feed raw with things like pureed veg, powdered bone and lots of vitamin supplements (which you have to buy so he made quite a bit of money from it).

I think it was Tom Lonsdale who leant more towrads the prey model diet: feed 2-3% of your dogs overall body weight made up of 80% muscle meat, 10% organ and 10% bone. These figures are based on the average proportions of prey animals but can be tweaked to suit the individual dog.

With the prey model there is no veg, no supplements (although I do give leftovers to my dog these are in addition to his food).

I get all my dogs food from either the supermarket or the butcher and go for things which cost £3 a kilo or less (this makes it the same price as feeding Arden Grange). I always look in the reduced section every time I go shopping. My dog has his own drawer in the freezer.

What I feed:
Muscle meat: chicken, pork shoulder, pork chops, pork heart, lamb chops, lamb heart, beef heart, brisket, whole mackerel, whole herring.

Organ meat: pork/ox liver, pork/ox kidney, internal organs from the whole fish.

Meaty bones: ox tail, chicken quarters, lamb ribs, pork ribs, lamb shoulder (when it's on offer).

Didn't you ask about this a few months ago KcJack? Or maybe it was someone else?

HTH

Have asked about Barf but not prey food only heard of it yesterday lol

What is it?
It's one of a few ways to feed raw. Based on what dogs would eat if they were living in a natural state. "Whole prey" is the ideal, but the majority of people feeding this way make up the approx percentages over the week/weeks in terms of edible bone (10%), organs (10%), meat and other (80%). (Other being skin, feathers, fur etc if some food is unskinned etc.) These percentages aren't hard fast rules, just starting points which can be adjusted for individuals.

Why different from BARF?
BARF is a term coined by Billinghurst. He was originally of the same school of thought as Tom Lonsdale with regard to raw feeding. Then he decided to set up a business selling "prepared" raw foods and various supplements to go along with it.... round the same time as he started making money from the sale of these he changed his mind on what the raw diet should consitute, breaking away to form the BARF diet. Having looked into what both diets are made up of, personally I prefare the prey model way. But each to their own.

Where do you get your supplies from?
Here in Northern Ireland the likes of Landywoods etc don't deliver. Most of my stuff is got from the butcher and supermarket. I buy frozen chunks of green tripe from the pet shops that have a frozen section. Some people go to abbitors to get supplies for cheaper. I have to say that even doing it the way i do, I've found it the same price, if not cheaper to feed my dogs this way as opposed to a decent quality kibble. Plus they have much less "fillers" coming out the back end.

How is it cost wise?
As I said above, I find it the same, or slightly cheaper than feeding Burns; which I did over two years ago. (Prices have changed since I guess!) If you have access to a large freezer and are prepared to shop around and buy in bulk it can work out even cheaper.

I hope this helps answer some of your questions.

Just wanted to add;
I feel it's important for anyone considering feeding raw full time to do as much research as possible into the different ways of feeding it and why it is being fed. This is the only way to really make an informed decision about what to feed your dog.

Ah I see! Thanks for that

I work on the Prey Model with my 2, but I do use pureed veg as my thinking is that they would get partially digested veg matter when they are eating the kill. I think the majority of people who raw feed tend to start of with Billinghurst and then as they do more research and join more raw feeding forums they adjust their thinking and feeding regime.