Author Topic: Why am I worried (BARF type worry)  (Read 4560 times)

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Offline Miss Poohs

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Why am I worried (BARF type worry)
« on: July 24, 2006, 09:19:26 AM »
I've been saying for ages I'm going to switch to BARF and I still haven't - why because I'm scared!!!

I'm scared they will have raging sickness and diawotsit, because I'll poison them.

I'm also scared they will choke on any bones.

My main concern is for Ruffy with his dodgy gut, and allergies.

Alot of the BARF diet relies on feeding chicken and I can't give him that.

He can have turkey, rabbit, lamb, and non white fish, they both love sardines.

I'm not sure about offal, and tripe - what about tripe? Is that beef? :huh:

Sorry I know I'm twittering, but I'd really like to try them on it, I'm just very unsure.

I've come across this book http://www.crosskeysbooks.com/product_info.php?products_id=378, has anyone any idea if it's any good?

Offline Claire

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Re: Why am I worried (BARF type worry)
« Reply #1 on: July 24, 2006, 10:57:01 AM »
A lot of the issues are covered in the BARF sort of again thread (I've listed some books on there that I found useful) and from page 2 of Too Thin thread which covers the tripe question:
http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=19650.15

Along with turkey, rabbit, lamb and non-white fish, would his allergies permit beef (Ruby loves oxtail) and raw egg (incl the shells)?  Also there's liver/kidney which you can feed once a week.

Re. the non-white fish, I wouldn't recommend feeding salmon as there's a disease that salmon can have (sorry, can't remember the name or details), just remember reading that it's not recommended.

If your dog is able to eat turkey, you could base the diet around that rather than chicken I would have thought.

In next month's Dogs Today magazine there's the second part of their raw feeding feature and I think they're going to look in to menus and things like that.


Penel

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Re: Why am I worried (BARF type worry)
« Reply #2 on: July 27, 2006, 06:51:55 PM »

I've been saying for ages I'm going to switch to BARF and I still haven't - why because I'm scared!!!

I think most people are before they make the switch, I know I was.

I'm scared they will have raging sickness and diawotsit, because I'll poison them.

Yeah that's why it took me ages to change from homecooked to raw.

I'm also scared they will choke on any bones.

I had the phone in my hand first time Saf and Tilly ate chicken wings so I could phone the vets when they choked.

My main concern is for Ruffy with his dodgy gut, and allergies.

Saffy had SLE as you know, and she did very well on raw, Lola has probs similar to Ruffy doesn't she - and as long as we stick to the foods she can tolerate she is fine.

Alot of the BARF diet relies on feeding chicken and I can't give him that.

Nope Lola can't have chicken, turkey, lamb, beef, white fish.

He can have turkey, rabbit, lamb, and non white fish, they both love sardines.

what's your problem then ?!  ;) :lol:  Lola has pilchards about twice a week...

I'm not sure about offal, and tripe - what about tripe? Is that beef? :huh:

you can feed lambs liver once a week - and tripe - well although Lols is allergic to beef and lamb, she can tolerate tripe - it is very low-allergy for some reason I don't remember or understand !

Sorry I know I'm twittering, but I'd really like to try them on it, I'm just very unsure.

twitter away  :lol:

I've come across this book http://www.crosskeysbooks.com/product_info.php?products_id=378, has anyone any idea if it's any good?

yes I think that's a great book - best one for "beginners" imo....

 ;) has that helped ?

Offline Miss Poohs

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Re: Why am I worried (BARF type worry)
« Reply #3 on: July 28, 2006, 08:35:42 AM »
I'm going to order it then - I need to feel more confident before I make the leap.

Doesn't tripe look horrific though - like a boiled string vest  ph34r

Offline clairep4

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Re: Why am I worried (BARF type worry)
« Reply #4 on: July 28, 2006, 09:52:49 AM »
I think everyone who has switched to a raw diet went through the same kinds of fears - I know I did. I was absolutely terrified about bones, about splinters, about them impacting in her gut, about them cutting her to ribbons inside, you name it. I searched and searched for bones that seemed to be soft enough for her, read lots and lots on the subject, joined the Britbarf email group and tried out lots of different things.

Sometimes there is a bit of an adjustment period for the dog - I did the quick switch with Bella, one day she was on kibble, the next she was on raw. She was quite sick for the first couple of days after eating chicken wings and I almost gave up there and then. But I decided to try her on something else instead (can't even remember what) and that seemed better for her. Their stomachs, if they've been on kibble, don't have to do much work to digest it (dogs have incredibly muscular stomachs). With Bella it took a few weeks for her to start being able to properly digest bone, so initially in her stools you would see little pieces of it, but gradually those pieces began to get smaller and smaller until you just got paler stools with tiny granules of bone rather than whole pieces.

I think the best thing I learned was to use the size of their head as a rule of thumb for any bone given to them - Bella used to swallow chicken wings almost whole, even if I bashed them up, and they always made her sick. Anything that was small enough to swallow whole, she'd go for that option. So I had to give her larger pieces, she gets breast of lamb pieces which are larger than my hand, she gets chunks of chicken on the bone but cut so that she couldn't swallow it without having to at least break it up a little bit.

It can be so baffling and scary at the start but you're really not alone - any of us on here will be happy to give you support/advice and the Yahoo Britbarf email list is really good as well.

On the tripe issue, I get round the grimness of that by buying frozen nature's menu packs from Pets at Home. Bella also doesn't really like kidney or liver (she gets it once a week) so I have to add veg and cottage cheese and a bit of mince to it to disguise it for her.

It sounds like you've got a good number of foods that Ruffy CAN eat - Bella's diet only has chicken, beef, lamb, a bit of tripe/liver/kidney, eggs and tinned sardines or tuna so I'm sure if you gave Ruffy turkey, rabbit, lamb, tripe, eggs and sardines etc that would be absolutely fine.

Read as much as you can before you start so that you know feel a bit happier about what they need - be aware there are alot of varying opinions out there about whether they need fruit, veg, grains etc etc. Personally I give Bella veg and fruit but not grains but that's just based on my own opinion after doing alot of reading.

Good luck, and do come and ask on here about anything you're worried about, I know when I made the switch I got some really good support from COL!  ;) :D
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Offline redmal

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Re: Why am I worried (BARF type worry)
« Reply #5 on: July 28, 2006, 11:51:14 AM »
I think BARF is mainly based on chicken because its easily available & cheap in the UK. In other countries (I think) they use whatever is cheap & available, like KANGAROO!!!. :o Or fish waste in fishing ports, badly mangled pheasants on shooting lodges, etc. I once heard of someone who fed her dogs on roadkill - whatever was mown down outside her house that day!! :o (Idont know if its true but I seem to remember that she sometimes used to feed the family on this too, if money was short!!! ph34r)

I use petmince from AMP and any veg around ,cooked or raw. I sometimes use frozen veg, thawed. They also get leftovers from our meals, but with 5 of them & 2 cats, theres rarely enough for more than a taste each!! :D They get bones too, whenever I can get them, & pigs ears. They had trotters the other day, & loved them. Sounds much more boring than roadkill :rofl1: :wasntme:

Offline Cob-Web

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Re: Why am I worried (BARF type worry)
« Reply #6 on: July 28, 2006, 01:29:45 PM »
I think BARF is mainly based on chicken because its easily available & cheap in the UK. In other countries (I think) they use whatever is cheap & available, like KANGAROO!!!. :o Or fish waste in fishing ports, badly mangled pheasants on shooting lodges, etc. I once heard of someone who fed her dogs on roadkill - whatever was mown down outside her house that day!! :o (Idont know if its true but I seem to remember that she sometimes used to feed the family on this too, if money was short!!! ph34r)

I don't feed roadkill  ph34r, but Molo's BARF is based on rabbit because they are so plentiful and cheap (free sometimes) here  :D
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