Switching to Raw

    • Gold Top Dog

    Switching to Raw

    I've decided to switch to an all-raw diet after this bag of Innova Puppy is gone, which is probably about another month away.   I've done a lot of reading online and may end up doing pre-made raw from Healthy Paws rather than preparing it myself at least for a while (I can barely make oatmeal for myself - food is not one of my talents), but I was wondering if you guys had some recommendations for good books to read about raw feeding.   Any website suggestions would be appreciated as well  - I'm sure there are many I still haven't seen.   And if anyone has any opinions about Healthy Paws, that would be great.   My other choice for pre-made would be Paws-itively Raw, which I would have to supplement myself.

    Edit:   I'm planning on switching my cat as well, although he is finnicky and it may not work out.   If anyone has any advice about raw feeding for cats, I would love to hear that too.
    • Gold Top Dog
    When I raw fed my cats, I used a premix that I added fresh muscle and organ meat to.  Cats have a much, much greater need for daily balance in their diets, since they are obligate, not opportunistic, carnivores.  They are adapted to eat all or most of an entire small prey, at every meal, in other words.  I used InstinctsTC - I loved the results but had to quit because I have a cat that is allergic to chicken and the Instincts had egg in it.

    I love the premade for my little dog.  I do worry about ensuring her nutrition in a more precise way since she's kind of a human engineered freak (she's a Chinese crested - the naked dogs with the punk rock hairdo).  I've rotated through all the NV "flavors" and I'm looking around for another brand to rotate to.  She also gets a raw meaty bone every other day or so, or every day if I've got lots of small bones available.  I'm on a crestie board and there's a lot of discussion about skin and teeth problems and we never have any issues along those lines.  Premade is very pricey, though - it simply doesn't compare to the cost of just doing it yourself, so at some point I suspect you'll wonder about the cost of your own time, versus investing in the commercial premade.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Our own Lauric has a great web site for raw feeders.  I think its rawdogranch.com
     
    • Silver
    You can also check out Dr Billinghurst site if you google his name it will come up it has some great info too, it is the BARF diet though. He has written several books also. This is where I got a lot of info, but I make my own meals up with fresh meat and vegies.
    • Gold Top Dog
    I don't have any books to recommend, but I wanted to let you know that the Nature's Variety frozen raw medallions are a complete raw food - and it's made for both cats and dogs.  The same food can be fed to both.  Just an FYI if you are looking to switch both pets.
    • Gold Top Dog
    http://www.rawdogranch.com

    Raw food made easy-Carina Macdonald

    The barf diet-Ian Billinghurst

    Work wonders-Tom Lonsdale
    • Gold Top Dog
    Just scroll down on this link to the questions.  You can read through them all if you keep scrolling or click on them individually...
     
    [linkhttp://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm]http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm[/link]
     
     
     
    • Gold Top Dog
    Thanks!

    One of the shops near me finally got Nature's Variety medallions, so I bought a bag today and gave Louise a few as a snack.   They were gone in 5 seconds.   I've never seen her eat anything like that and she's very into food.

    Becca - you are so right about the cost.   Eventually I would like to get to the point where I can make it myself.