Going back to raw feeding, little reminder needed

Well as some of you know Baku was on Hills and it wasn't doing him any good, three weeks ago I introduced proplan to no avail, he has had runny tummy ever since I gave him his first chicken wing the other day and his poo after that was normal and so have decided to go back to raw feeding. Zuki was on it when we got her and the vet said to take her off it, we now know its because some vets just dont agree with it.

I know all the meats and bones and veg, but what am I supposed to do with the veg?

I plan to grate and then blend any hard veg like carrots and I plan to just blend soft veg like marrow then mix it with the meat and bones. Is this right? I think I remember it being two parts veg/fruit to one part meat & bones is that also right? Are there anythings that i need to cook first?

Thanks in advance,
Donna xx

Oh and any vits/supplements I may need to add?

Well Baku had his first Raw meal last night and his poop this morning was solid, so success, still if any of you have any advice please share.

Glad Baku is doing so well.

Lots of people do it lots of different ways. Some do feed veg, some don't.

I do feed it but not to an exact science. I tend to give around two handfuls of cooked, mixed veg and a slab of cooked spinach, but I also feed raw veg for treats - eg large pieces of carrot for him to chew on, pieces of pepper, a slice of tomato, etc. Some cook and pulp the veg as it is seen as a better way to get anything out of it. I also give the water that the veg was cooked in, either with his dinner or I freeze it to make tasty ice-cubes.

To get the goodness out of the veg they either have to be cooked or mashed into a pulp. Cooked is fine but less nutrients of course, but it is alot faster and they still get goodness from them this way and you can give them the water left over to drink also which will contain goodness. Pulped is more time consuming but good. I would use a juicer to get veg pulp and then add a little of the juice back so the pulp isn't so dry.

Either way dogs do not need a great deal of veg. Lots of studies have been done to show that in actual fact wolves do take out the stomach of their large prey and either shake out the contents before eating or totally leave it all. I mentioned on another thread that I saw a program on African Wild Dogs also where they bought down an Impala and all that was left was the large bones, skull, leg bones and vertebrae and the stomach left untouched. Yes wild dogs / wolves would eat the stomach of much smaller prey like rabbits if that's what they caught but the contents would be tiny in comparison to the meat they eat.

I have seen it suggested two parts veg one part meat myself someplace but would never feed that amount of veg myself. If I felt I really needed to add veg I would add no more than 10% into the diet. I really feel that so much veg has been advocated in the past perhaps because of the amount of bone that some say is needed and something is needed to stop the dog becoming constipated / impacted so people add more veg to combat those chalky white poops which denote to much bone when infact what is needed is more meat and less bone. Adding more veg does remove the visual aspect of too much bone but doesn't take away the fact that there is too much bone in the diet if the dog is pooping out chalk.

As you can tell I have never regularly give my dogs veg as part of their raw diet, they get it now and again if there are any scraps left over or we have done some juicing I save some pulp and juice and give them a little now and again. I give them snippets of my own fruit and they graze black berries when they are out for a walk if they see us picking them

Meat, bones and offal are what is most important and in that order...By all means add veg they will not do any harm after all but I would not forsake the above in their place.

Yes - Loki's poos do contain a lot of undigested, raw veggies

Oh yeah Mys - Loki scrumps apples and is often seen trying to drag down branches of blackberries.

I feed breast of lamb, ox tail, whole chicken (you don't have to feed the whole thing at once but even chopped up and fed in different meals you are still feeding the whole chicken...I prefer this to just sticking to wings or backs etc), tripe, sardines (or other fish, mackerel, herring...) Tried rabbit but they didn't like it at all, beef + pork mince (would prefer to give slabs of meat only but the mince is cheaper), heart (ox, pig or lamb...Ox is the cheapest), liver, kidney, eggs...etc...A few bits and pieces from the supermarket but most all of it from a butchers wholesaler and all sold for human consumption.

They are doing great on it all.

At this point in time I also do not add any vitamins or supplements.

I know fish body oil and Vitamin E are well recommended though.

Thank you, last night they didn't get any veg because I wasn't sure how to go about it, I think I will just give them veg as snacks cause I hated cleaning my juicer so I gave it away I may add veg in when we have veg mix it with their mince or what not. Thanks again I cant believe how much cheaper it is, I just went to my butcher and got two weeks worth of meat for two dogs for less than a fiver, that includes breast of lamb, whole chickens and tripe, etc. Bargain

I use the mush from the juicer to give Odi veggies - depends on what is discounted at Morrisons as to what he's given - this week it's marrow and carrots But, having said that if I mix the mush in with his meat, he leaves the whole lot, if I just put it alongside the meat, he eats all the meat and some veggies!

He eats grass in the garden and loves dried fruit, so I reckon he's getting bits and pieces in there, but he's not overly fussed for veg (just like my kids!!!!)

I occasionally put some Spirulina in with his meat (full of anti-oxidants) and he has Vit E & Fish Body Oil daily.

HTH
Vicky

Now that is a good bargin can't say that I manage it that cheap!