New to raw feeding

[Pam501]

Hi there

I've just read a few of your interesting posts on raw feeding.

I've only just started feeding Toby on the raw diet.  He's had a lot of gut problems in the past and my son suggested giving this a try.  I found a brilliant supplier called Nutriment who deliver free.  The food comes in 500g tubs and is complete so I don't have to worry about the correct combination of meat and offal etc.  There has been write ups in the Mail and Telegraph about them and their website is very informative.

The only thing that's worrying me is that I didn't realise you should stick to one type of meat to begin with.  I started Toby on the turkey but have defrosted the beef one now so have to use it.  Hopefully this  isn't going to cause problems.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share this with you.  I'll just have to wait and see how it goes.

Pam

[its.sme]

As with many things there are so many different ways to do things, some raw feeders start on one type of meat then once the stomach has got used to dealing with that, they move on to another.

Some dogs can find certain meats do not agree with them, just as commercial food can.

As the raw food is completely different to Kibble or wet food there systems need to get used to it, just as a puppy who is being weened has to get used to eating food instead of just milk.

Good luck I'm sure all will be fine.

[chrisp]

Nutriment is excellent and so easy to use.  I was told to feed just the chicken one when I first changed Mollie but I only had a couple of chicken packs so she too was given a variety straight away - no problems at all.

[MaggieR]

Some dogs are more tolerant than others so see how he goes.  One thing to just bear in mind with the "complete" meals is to just check the offal content of the food.  Some are called complete but contain no offal so you need to add you own in - depending on the model you're following offal should be approx 10% of the diet with 5% of that being liver. 
Good luck and hope the change suits him

[Joules]

Coco has been raw fed since she was about 6 months old - she is nearly 10 now.  Back then, there were no ready made raw foods and I just changed her over in one go.  I never limited her to one meat to start or anything like that - just started with the mixed raw diet that she has carried on with.

Now, raw feeding is so much easier with ready prepared raw foods like Nutriment, Natural Instinct, Natures Menu and various others, and there is much more information and advice available too.

I am sure Toby will be fine on the beef - starting with raw is trial and error anyway until you know what suits your dog best. 

Coco can't tolerate lamb as it gives her the squits, some dogs can't eat other types of meat, so you will learn as you go along.   

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

When I switched Charlie I also just just switched completely, and mixed the meats. You'll soon figure out if something doesn't agree

[Gertie]

Just fyi, you can re freeze raw food for dogs once and it is still fine for the dog to consume when it is defrosted again. Not for humans though! Dogs stomachs can cope with this. So I tend to buy chubs of nutriment or the larger tubs of natural instinct then weigh out my dogs meals into batches, re freeze and then it's ready to serve without them having a large 1.5kg chub over a week. My dog only has 150g per meal so the larger chubs would take her some time to get through and that way she gets variety and it's more cost effective than the smaller tubs. Hope that makes sense, it's all very easy and if I say it myself my dog looks amazing on raw. She won 2 classes today at our local dog show 😄

[Pam501]

Aww thanks so much for your posts.  I didn't realise you could refreeze the food and congratulations Gertie on your dog winning two classes.  I take Toby to agility on a Saturday but today he spent most of his time trying to eat the bunny poo  .  He can do really well but the bunny poo seemed to take over today. LOL.

Going back to the raw food, Toby has suffered really badly this last year with a bad stomach and has been on antibiotics most of the time.  He's had poo tests and blood tests but all are inconclusive.  He got me up at 1:30 this morning but hasn't had a poo since so fingers crossed, this diet is going to work.  I've tried everything else.  Thanks again for all your help.

c

[Scott_Manley]

Hi
Alfie (9weeks) has Natures Freeflow Chicken mince (pets@home frozen) for his 3 meals a day and thats what his breeder gave him, I add veg with it and he loves that but I want to offer him something else or is it to early? Could I give him a raw chicken thigh as a treat? Or maybe some beef on the bone, I guess something with bigger bones so they don't get stuck in the system?

[Fluff]

I think a thigh would be much too big for a nine-week-old puppy - I don't even give them to Daisy, at two, because they have made her sick in the past. Daisy's first boney meal was a chicken wing. If he's prone to gobbling without chewing, then try holding it for him while he eats it at first to stop him wolfing down large chunks of bone.

[Scott_Manley]

Hi Thanks for the reply.
I've had a chat with my wife and shes not keen so its going to be a long process but I think its the way forward. He's been having, broccoli, carrots, green beans, and a new favorite of both of ours swede..MMMmm  this is over a couple of days so I can see what works and doesnt with his tummy.
Any veg he shouldnt have, hes also had new potatoes but only 1 with each meat as Im not 100% sure they are ok? 

[its.sme]

Going Raw can be a little scary, we used Natural instinct which is complete, just defrost weigh and feed, it's a lot less messy that way.

Onions, green tomatoes and raw potatoes are a no no.

This link is to the dogs trust, it's an extensive list that includes other poisons.

https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/help-advice/factsheets-downloads/factsheetpoisonoussubstances09.pdf

Good luck.