Nature's Variety Raw?

 A lot of the premades are NOT balanced, so be warned. I found that out after my dog's condition went to crap on one. Do your research, just as you would with making your own diet.

 

As far as bacteria goes? I never really worried about it, honestly. Their poop is way less gross than wild animals' poop, and they eat grosser things than the premade raw, to begin with. I do occasionally get a bag of NV when I get a freebie coupon from a rep. They like it, and it's easy. IDK if it's balanced or not, because I can't use it for Em and wouldn't consider it as a complete diet for the others, due to cost.

My crew gets raw typically 4 nights a week and none of us has become ill from their slobering on us.  Raw poop is generally quite small, VERY firm and if it doesn't come out white, it turns that way very shortly.  I'm guessing since it's hard and dry rather than dark and moist there is less chance of bacteria surviving?

jennie_c_d

 A lot of the premades are NOT balanced, so be warned. I found that out after my dog's condition went to crap on one. Do your research, just as you would with making your own diet.

 

Well that is a bummer.  Whole idea behind going with a premade would be so you wouldn't have to spend a bunch of time trying to balance everything out and such.  I'll have to look at everything super carefully.  Other thing that has thrown me off is it seems their raw formula is the exact same for both cats and dogs.  I'm no genus but that seems off to me. <__<

 

 

 @ Glenmar- I would imagine the licking after eating raw can't be any worse than when he cleans our cat's butt and immediatly wants to come over and give kisses.  I'm still not sure if I should be sickened by Kirby's overwhelming desire to lick my cats tush anytime he saunters by, or be thankful that Kirby is on butt duty since my old man cat's ailing health has made it harder for him to clean his own rear...

I dont' get overly fussy with raw.  Pretty typically chicken necks and some organ meat.  Organ should average 5% per day.  HEART is considered muscle meat and not organ meat, but it's great since it's really high in taurine.

To my understanding cats need much more taurine than do dogs, so I have to wonder how the food can be the same for both species.......

I've no doubt someone here can give you a really good idea of the best meats for calcium/phosperos ratio.

 Cats have to have so much taurine, and dogs can have that much, too, and do just fine. They make it to cat levels, supposedly. Of course, grinding the meat and exposing it to air reduces the taurine levels.

When Pirate could have raw, he did GREAT with NV as 1/3 of his food. I did 1/3 raw, 1/3 canned, and 1/3 homecooked. I wish he could have it now, but I'm not really comfortable with it after he was sick and now with the old lady here.

I have a really good coupon that NV emailed me - if you want it I'll forward it to you but it's in regular email so make sure you contact me that way :)

I don't do premade raw as a diet, but I do occasionally get the premade patties to add in addition to their diet. For me it's mostly because I can get things like Elk and Bison, and I can't get those meats/bones around here. The kind I used was Urban Carnivore.

 But generally I do something like the following:

- Chicken or turkey: three times per week
- Beef or pork: twice a week
- Tripe and egg: one day a week
- Kibble on one day of the week (some will think that is silly, and I don't do it every week, but if for some reason I have to stop raw someday and put my dogs on kibble, I want their systems to remain used to the ingredients and not treat them as foreign things and cause problems)

When I have Elk or Bison, or rabbit or something, I put them in instead of beef or pork for variety.

I feed organs on chicken day, so three times a week, and I feed pureed veggies twice a week. I don't get fish very often, so I do give fish oil each day with their meal (unless it's whole bone/meat pieces, as it's not really condusive to oil on it).

I know you are not looking to switch to homemade raw at this point, and I won't try to convince you, but just wanted to let you know that for me it was easiest to devise a semi-menu...nothing strict, but a guideline to keep you on track if you are one of those folks who by Friday will forget what you fed on Sunday/Monday. If I go off the plan, no big deal, but this way it works out over the long-run. I have come to realize through feeding them that it's more an art than a science....and it's all about variety over time.

I'll also be honest when I say, since starting raw, I have only cleaned the yard twice all summer. The poops literally disintegrate in two days - there is no "waste". I've been feeding raw since April, and I have dogs with beards...and I've never worried about bacteria or the sort. I don't go crazy with disinfectant or whatever either if they get it on the floor or their beds. I wipe up the counter with vinegar and water and call it done. And I've always been healthy through and through!!

 Thank you everyone for all the info, certainly helps in my decision making.  Have to say nutrition is one of my least favorite topics when it comes to dog ownership.  Somehow it always feels like my brain is going to explode and stresses me out when doing research on it since so many sources seem more than ready to tell me how I am slowly killing my dog by feeding this when I should be feeding that.  I still remember when I was initially started to do research into foods prior to getting Kirby, and I seriously considered at one point calling his his breeder up and letting her know I changed my mind about getting a dog because clearly I was too dumb to even know how to feed one properly...

I started feeding Natures Variety about 6 months ago. I use to feed Eagle Pack. The store didn't have the Eagle Pack variety that I wanted and had Natures Variety Prairie on sale. I really like the kibble. My girls seem to digest it more thoroughly - no bad breath from Trudy and less poop, and it disintegrates. I started reading about Natures Variety's rotating philosophy and tried the grain-free food (Instinct) and some of the raw. The grain-free was way too much protein. They were gaining weight way too fast so I started using the raw and the Prairie. The Natures Variety's raw is expensive, so I looked for other prepared raw foods that were more reasonable. I found that Oma's Pride had a distributor relatively close by and she was a great source of information about feeding raw food. Oma's Pride Chicken, Turkey or Beef frozen food mix averages about $2.20 a lb if you buy it in batches of 5 or 10 lbs. The distributor told me not to feed kibble (with grain) together with raw because it stays in the gut too long and can cause indigestion. She also recommended putting some pumpkin with the raw for some fiber. I've been feeding them raw in the am and Prairie in the evening. She also told me that as I get more confident in feeding raw, I will be able to substitute the prepared raw with chicken wings, blanched veggies and other raw meats for several meals during the week. So far so good.

 Jack was on NV raw for a while.  My biggest issue with it was that I had to feed him WAY more than the company recommended ton keep any kind of weught on him, and that's saying something since I keep him lean.  It was getting too pricy so we went back to kibble...

Krissim Klaw

  Somehow it always feels like my brain is going to explode and stresses me out when doing research on it since so many sources seem more than ready to tell me how I am slowly killing my dog by feeding this when I should be feeding that. 

 I felt the exact same way when I started feeding raw. I was reading soo much online, some said they need veggies, some said they shouldnt have veggies, what meats & bones were OK and which wernt, premade raw or home made, to supplement or not to supplement, it was so confusing. He was on Purina dog food at the time (the only dog food my dad would buy him, because someone told him it was good so he believed there was no reason to buy any of those expencive brands) In my area I can get meats pretty cheap and they always have bulk sales, so thats what got me to try it. But after a while of being on raw I can say I will never feed kibble again. The change in Bailey was amazing. It helped his alergies and itchy skin and just in general was much healthier.
I used a GENERAL feeding schedule. It wasnt exact, I just used it to make sure he got 3 different meats each week, and at least 1 organ each week, and got enough bone. I never followed those exact percents of how much meat:bone ratio, I just kind of guessed. If his poops were really chalky id give him a little less, if they were loose id give him more. Eventually I figured out just how much he needed.  I dont use a feeding schedule anymore, I know what hes eaten and what he needs to have each week by memory. If I mess up a little, its no big deal, an extra day of chicken or missing organ one week isnt going to kill him. I just make sure I give him whatever I missed the next week.
Ive never used a pre made raw so I cant help you there, I just wanted to say that I know how you feel because I was in the same position at one time.