BARF(ish) Question

[CarolineL]

I know that BARF gets brought up all the time however I just have a couple of questions that Im hoping some of you BARFers can help me with the following.

Hurley's had the odd upset tummy since we've had him as a pup and we have fed him on Hills and currently on Arden Grange, he eats his food because he's hungry but he appears to be very indifferent to it particularly if it doesnt have tuna or sardines mixed in with it. So yesterday I went into my local P@H and just thought s*d it and bought a few packs of natures menu (frozen blocks) to give him. Defrosted one last night and gave half to him for his breakfast this morning - he appeared to absolutely love it - although slightly confused at first!!!

Ideally I would like to keep him on part dried food and part BARF because he spends the odd weekend at my mums and in the short tertm it will just be easier to give her the dry food. I know that these have to be fed separately because they are digested at different rates so will stick with kibble for supper and barf for breakfast. For the time being I can only get the frozen blocks as we only have the shelf at the top of our fridge as a freezer and so until we get a proper freezer I'd rather just buy Natures Menu blocks every couple of days from P@H. In the meantime I would like to know if the Natures Menu (or even Prize Choice) packs are enough, or should I be supplementing Hurley's diet with vegetables and the odd bone such as chicken wing/thigh. Do I need to cook the veg before I give them to him or should they be whizzed up raw?

I am a total novice regarding this so any advice would be great.

Thanks

Cx

[Cob-Web]

There are different frozen packs of raw food avaiable - some which are just minced meat/offel and others which are complete meals and contain ground bone and veggies as well 

I buy the prize choice minced meat packs and then add a bit of raw, food processed veggies (I process them in bulk and freeze into ice cube trays, so each batch contains a different combination of veggies). For bones, I either follow up Molo's mince meal with off-cuts from the butcher (lamb ribs, shoulder etc) and I also alternate his mince meals with meals that contain bone; chicken wings, rabbit portions or whole fish.

Because Molo is also fed some Burns meals, I don't worry quite as much about whether I have got the balance of nutrients "just right" as I would if he was only on BARF - as the Burns is *complete* and so contains everything he needs 

[CarolineL]

fab - thanks for your help Rachel. I've found that using the frozen packs its made the switch to BARF a bit easier. Give it time and I'll go the whole hog Im sure and buy the meat not so ready made....

Cx

[Penel]

I think the frozen Natures Menu packs you are talking about are a "complete" meal - they include maize, and veg - as well as tripe and chicken -  I think...
In which case you don't need to add anything to them.  I used to feed those, and the bags of frozen Natures Menu too, cos it's a really easy way of doing it.  Expensive though if you have more than a couple of dogs !

[Miss Poohs]

Well I'm treading a toe in the BARF direction too.

I bought a bag of the Natures Menu minced lamb.

Since Wednesday dinner time, I've been feeding Vahri and Ruffy the raw mince with a kinda carrot, brocolli, cauliflower soup (raw ofcourse) for dinner with kibble for brekkie.

I just wanted to introduce it gradually - bearing in mind Ruffy's dodgy digestive system.

I can say this - so far - it's gone down a storm, the dinner bowls are licked from one end of the house to the other, and with the risk of too much detail - Ruffy's poohs are the firmest they have ever been.

Think we will be going the whole hog very shortly.

[Penel]

Think we will be going the whole hog very shortly.

steady on Janice - they don't need a whole hog 

[Miss Poohs]

 

They're a hungry pair