A BARF Diary.

[Tommo]

A big thanks to everyone and woofs from Baggins and Phobe. The amp rabbit mix didnt touch the sides and the half a corrot for pudding was chewed up slowly. This pre prep food must smell great as I have never seen a reaction like it for their dinner. Both were quivering and making little whinning noises.

[Claire]

Both were quivering and making little whinning noises.

  Aahhhhhhh the joys of BARF.

[Cob-Web]

I just wanted to point out to the less adventurous amongst us, that raw feeding does not have to be gruesome, and not to let that aspect put you off if you're considering it.  You can just buy meat for the dog when you're doing your normal food shopping/supermarket run for the you and the rest of the family.

Very true - this is how my OH would prefer to raw-feed Molo  It can work out quite expensive this way, and might be more economical to consider buying the pre-packed AMP/Prize Choice products if you don't have a good butcher nearby 

I think that I have got it about right with portion control. Half a block each twice a day.

Are they the 400g blocks? I tend to feed Molo half that amount (half a block a day split over 2 meals), with added veggies.....but all dogs are different so you might find yourself having to play with the quantities for a few weeks if they gain/lose weight 

[happydog]

I think that I have got it about right with portion control. Half a block each twice a day.

Are they the 400g blocks? I tend to feed Molo half that amount (half a block a day split over 2 meals), with added veggies.....but all dogs are different so you might find yourself having to play with the quantities for a few weeks if they gain/lose weight 

I am finding how much it varies myself. Fern quite happily ate a 400g AMP block of tripe with veggies and a chicken wing yesterday at one sitting. Tonight she had 400g lamb mince veggies and a chicken wing. She is a little scrap of a cocker at 11.15Kg and a little more weight wouldn't go amiss. I shall nip her down to the vet and weigh her in a couple of weeks, just to check that the weight is going on and not coming off  .

Oh -and Claire,  it takes just under 4 minutes for a  chicken wing to be demolished now. She is definately getting more confident with the crunching .

[Tommo]

Yes they are the 400g blocks. I weighed them Baggins is 13kg and phoebe is 10kg. Used the 3% of body weight rule and rounded up a bit. Phoebe could do with fattening up a bit anyway. They are only 7 months old so not at their full body weight yet. I am going to try and stick to the half carrot, peice of brocolli half an apple etc as opposed to mushing it all up and adding it to their food. They just love to crunch fruit and veg.
When I got the amp blocks today the girl in the shop asked if I was adding mixer, doesn't this defeat the point? Other than that the shop had a very possitive response and said how many people were converts and that they had nothing but good reports.

[happydog]

When I got the amp blocks today the girl in the shop asked if I was adding mixer, doesn't this defeat the point?

Yes I think it does. Carbohydrates play no part in a dogs nutrient requirements. It is only used as a filler. Some people do like to mix it up a bit though and can't quite make the break from meat and mixer  . I was one of those, but then decided that there was no point in doing BARF at all unless I did it properly. (Once the Bonios are used up I won't be replacing them honestly    )

[Cob-Web]

I am going to try and stick to the half carrot, peice of brocolli half an apple etc as opposed to mushing it all up and adding it to their food. They just love to crunch fruit and veg.

One of the reasons for blending/processing the vegetables is because it makes them more digestable - in the wild, the small amount of vegetable matter in a dogs diet would be obtained from the stomach contents of herbivores they eat; so leaving the veggies whole may lead to less absorption of the nutrients 

I give Molo both - he gets whole veggies to crunch on between meals, but I puree and freze veg to include with his mince  It certainly makes a difference - my last lot of pureed veg included red cabbage - it may have gone in purple, but all the goodness was absorbed before it came out again  Whole carrots tend to come out more or less how they went in 

[Tommo]

Learning all the time, ok I'll do both

[happydog]

I am going to try and stick to the half carrot, peice of brocolli half an apple etc as opposed to mushing it all up and adding it to their food. They just love to crunch fruit and veg.

One of the reasons for blending/processing the vegetables is because it makes them more digestable - in the wild, the small amount of vegetable matter in a dogs diet would be obtained from the stomach contents of herbivores they eat; so leaving the veggies whole may lead to less absorption of the nutrients 

I give Molo both - he gets whole veggies to crunch on between meals, but I puree and freze veg to include with his mince 

I do this too Rachel.

red cabbage - it may have gone in purple, but all the goodness was absorbed before it came out again 

The presence or absence of a vegetable colour in faeces isn't a terribly reliable indicator of nutrient absorbtion 

[Cob-Web]

red cabbage - it may have gone in purple, but all the goodness was absorbed before it came out again 

The presence or absence of a vegetable colour in faeces isn't a terribly reliable indicator of nutrient absorbtion 

I was taught that it was? The colour of the veg is the result of the presence of chemicals including vitamins - in the case of red cabbage, vitamin A - so where does it go??

[Penel]

The frozen blocks of Natures Menu do have maize in them.
The other AMP blocks don't.
The "Rabbit dinner" is actually mostly chicken, with about 4% of rabbit added, similar to the "Lamb dinner" which is mainly chicken, with some lamb added.

When mine are eating their breakfast (out of bowls) they all have an area where they eat, and they are NOT permitted to move  around - I am "dinner lady" prowling around and I would tell them off if they tried to mug each other !  same goes for dinner time, when they eat their raw meaty bones - except this time, they have more space between them, as the bones are higher value - and I keep a much closer eye on them as Tilly has been known to mug the others....

[Rhona W]

The frozen blocks of Natures Menu do have maize in them.
The other AMP blocks don't.

Sorry. My mistake there then. Got my brands mixed up. 

[Claire]

I just wanted to point out to the less adventurous amongst us, that raw feeding does not have to be gruesome, and not to let that aspect put you off if you're considering it.  You can just buy meat for the dog when you're doing your normal food shopping/supermarket run for the you and the rest of the family.

Very true - this is how my OH would prefer to raw-feed Molo  It can work out quite expensive this way, and might be more economical to consider buying the pre-packed AMP/Prize Choice products if you don't have a good butcher nearby 

It's not too bad actually, although when I started BARF I thought it would be more expensive than a good quality commercial food...it isn't.  Our nearby supermarkets are Asda, Tescos and Somerfield and the prices for fresh meat are about the same.  For under 90p you can buy a tray of chicken wings - that's 8-10 wings.  A bag of frozen chicken thighs (about 6) is around £2, a pack of pig's kidneys or 2 lamb's hearts or a turkey drumstick (3-4 meals once OH cleavers it) are £1.10ish.  Asda value sardines in tomato sauce are 18p a tin, turkey mince (and let's not forget eggs) are not a lot either.  Beef (oxtail) and lamb with bone in I tend to buy from the butchers - £5 for a carrier bag of each.  I buy stewing beef or lamb or even braising steak when it is reduced in the supermarket as they often are.  Offal is also regularly reduced in the supermarket.

Living in London means that we don't have a great local butcher nearby; we have two mediocre ones, but raw feeding is certainly cheaper than I thought it would be.  As the food that best suited Ruby before I found BARF was Nature's Menu frozen blocks at 75p each...raw certainly works out cheaper than that, even bought wholly from a supermarket.

Oh -and Claire,  it takes just under 4 minutes for a  chicken wing to be demolished now. She is definately getting more confident with the crunching .

They get the hang pretty quickly, don't they?

bones are higher value - and I keep a much closer eye on them as Tilly has been known to mug the others....

Might have known it would be the cocker...

[Tommo]

I'm feeding the amp blocks at the mo. Ones without maize. Chicken wings and lamb ribs etc start on Friday. There is going to be some competition over the pilchards though............ I like them too!

[Penel]

bones are higher value - and I keep a much closer eye on them as Tilly has been known to mug the others....

Might have known it would be the cocker...

tisn't cos she is a cocker, tis cos she is the oldest and they are all scared of her