Wow mom, RAW!!

[Calimom]

Well, I finally took the plunge and started feeding Cali RAW this morning. She thinks it is the best birthday present ever even if she wasn't too sure at first. She persevered and decided it was great. I had tried the salmon and sweet potato after the long vegetarian food trial her vet put her on. She started itching almost immediately. That's when I decided, that's it, enough with the kibble. The funny part is that the humans in our family are shifting toward vegan and Cali is going from a veggie diet to RAW!

[blueteal]

Good for you Cali, glad you like it
My Mom tried to give me raw but I don't like none of it



Woof woof


Denver

[gene]

Nom, nom, nom.....Cali! Ain't raw great??

RAW? What's that? We want some. Mom never feeds us anything good!!!
Woof
Maya and Sadie

[MaxandMe]

NOW if you have Sushi on the menu, both my teenage boys will be over tonight

Okay i am watching you , gene and others for results of feeding raw
as i am going to talk to my vet about it as my 2 doodles are on homemade for at least 2 more weeks. AND i need alternative plan on foods.

Please keep us posted on how it goes w/RAW as i would like to see people posting to this as time goes on. I am very curious ....THANKS!!!

[annieG]

I am very interested in this also. Please let us know what you are feeding and how it goes.

[mtd885]

Originally Posted by MaxandMe

NOW if you have Sushi on the menu, both my teenage boys will be over tonight

Okay i am watching you , gene and others for results of feeding raw
as i am going to talk to my vet about it as my 2 doodles are on homemade for at least 2 more weeks. AND i need alternative plan on foods.

Please keep us posted on how it goes w/RAW as i would like to see people posting to this as time goes on. I am very curious ....THANKS!!!

[Calimom]

After listening to Kim Bloomer speak about feeding RAW on the Dogcast Radio podcast, I was sold. http://www.dogcastradio.com/episode/...l_dog_food.htm

So this morning Cali had an egg, chicken neck and wings to add up to 1% of her body weight. It is suggested you feed between 2-3% of body weight RAW, depending on activity level, warm vs. cold weather. Then I went to the grocery store and bought turkey necks, cornish hens, and meaty bones for lamb stew to have on hand for the next few days. I also plan to add yogurt here and there. Variety over time is the key. I still have questions, but felt like I had enough information to get started. Like Gene, I'm going to try to find a butcher to get more variety for less than the grocery store charges.

Now to go fix the family dinner. Lucky Cali, her other 1% of RAW is all ready to eat in the fridge! Stay tuned.

[annieG]

Please keep us updated on how she tolerates this. Was this her first raw meal and how did she take to it?

[gene]

for breakfast we had a leg, yogurt, fish oil.....tonight was big meaty bones. Miko and Rumor are still chewing/gnawing at 2 1/2 hours......Jonah finished his about 15 minutes ago and is pacing making plans on a bone capture......

Tomorrow is wings for breakfast.....tripe for dinner. I did find my meat grinder, but I'm still afraid to open the package with the beef heart.......

I'm going to go to the butcher tomorrow and see if they can grind some bones into some ground beef for those early morning work days for speed of service....in the doods eyes.

[sarahann]

We are going raw once we are finished with the last bag of kibble... its too expensive to throw away and these guys are dong okay on it. I tried to go raw before but I was doing kibble in the am and raw in the pm and these guys had gas. I have 5 days worth of green tripe in the freezer ready to go! I gave them lamb shanks as a treat yesterday and boy were they happy! I still find it shocking to see them down the bones I suppose I'll get used to it!

I will give you an update when we go 100% raw!

[blueteal]

I gave buffalo bones to both Denver and Ryder
Ryder loves it and Denver was so so but when Ryder tried to steal it Denver thought he would try it
again and discovered that he does like it. I have tried every kind of raw bones for Denver before and he
would not touch it but now with another dog in the house he is thinking twice about it, so that is where it stands
in my house...Some raw feeding , canned food and smaller amounts of kibble. Lots of carrots, green beans,
sweet potato, cooked chicken and hamburger , rice pumpkin and yogurt..........I plan on eliminating kibble all together
down the road but slowly.......................

[annieG]

I have started giving Tanner Nature's Variety raw medallions.....introducing them very slowly. My goal is to feed raw in the AM and kibble in the evening. When we are moved and get a freezer, I may take it even further depending on how Tanner does. So far the only difference is firmer poop from eliminating the 1/4 of canned that he was eating each day.

The reason behind my trying the raw is that Tanner has never been an enthusiastic eater and would not eat before going to daycare. He would then throw up bile and would end up eating all 3 cups kibble in the evening. I tried canned which he ate at first but never eagerly. With the raw he is waiting in the kitchen for me when I get up in the morning.

Maybe if we get a second dog, he will be more interested in eating.

[Lucee&Rusty]

What I like about raw is they get lots of variety. Last nights meal was a chicken drumstick, some cottage cheese
diced liver, crushed mixed vegies. Tonight it will be lean ground beef, baby carrots, yoghurt, diced liver and a sprinkle of tuna.
No upset tummies from the variety and small poops when they do a poop. Great when your doodles usually poop mainly on their twice daily walks.

The other meal in the day is a bone meal which also varies from beef marrow and brisket, lamb (which is really cheap here), chicken carcass, pork soup bones, rib bones etc.

[Calimom]

Cali has been on the RAW diet for a little over two weeks now and is doing really well on it. She's had various parts of chicken, including hearts and gizzards, cornish hens, turkey necks, thighs, wings, lamb chops that were on clearance, ox tails, pork stew meat, stew beef, beef liver, eggs, Kefir (probiotic milk) and canned salmon. I give her fish oil capsules from time to time. I haven't been able to find a source of green tripe yet. Her teeth are almost all clear of tartar now. She's had no diarrhea and the small poops are easy to clean up. Itching is greatly reduced and her coat is improving. And, I found a butcher who was agreeable to grinding up turkey necks so I could make patties for when she goes to the kennel. Not ideal, but okay for the short term. So, so far I'm pleased. I took her to the vet to weigh her and she's maintaining her weight, so all is well so far.