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Does this seem okay?

Posted : 6/15/2006 9:19:12 AM

Hey all

Maddi had her first "all raw" dinner last night. I wanted to ask if this seemed "okay" as a once a week thing, with the rest of the time her getting kibble.

First, she's lost some weight since the beginning of spring to put her back into my "too skinny for my taste" category. So, I went on to RDR and got a figure for what percent of her weight I should use. I chose to use the higher end, at 4% since she need to gain weight anyway, which put her at about 3.01 lb of raw meat / other things a day. So, I figured 1.5lb for a meal. One lb was meat (93% lean hamburger and a chicken wing) the rest was raw baby spinach, baby carrots, and yogurt (with the vegies puried).

I do plan on using more meat percentage, but she has a little bit of difficult time with raw red meat (which she's having runny stools this morning, but not anything horrible) but no problems on raw chicken. I do also eventually plan on using some organ meats (are chicken gizzards okay?). But, for now, does this seem like an okay once a week thing, even if it's not a completely balanced meal?

shamrockmommy

Posted : 6/15/2006 10:02:56 AM

Sure, sounds ok to me (but I'm not a big raw expert).

I do chicken wings (raw) couple times a week. Sometimes toss in steamed veggies or whatever else we're eating. the majority of the time they eat their PetGuard kibble and they've been doing just fine that way.

If you're really truly concerned, you can always do bloodwork, which is helpful.

loveukaykay

Posted : 6/15/2006 10:07:36 AM

How much does she weigh? 3lbs sounds like a TON of meat, but I really dont have a clue. I have only used the premade frozen stuff and the serving sizes are pretty small.

If she has a hard time with it and it gives her runny poop why give it to her? Runny poop can also mean your overfeeding... but I dont know if you are.

pumaward

Posted : 6/15/2006 12:26:51 PM

She weighs around 75lb, but should be around 80lb.

She has a hard time adjusting to red meat; I don't really know why.

I used to give her lamb shanks for RMB and teeth cleaning and adjusted kibble feeding accordingly, and she'd still get it pretty bad (actually diarrhea [sp?]0. For now, I really think that the runny stool is do to her never having that much raw meat at one sitting because it was just this morning.

mudpuppy

Posted : 6/15/2006 12:56:32 PM

chicken gizzards don't really count as organ meat, they are basically just big hunks of muscle. Organ meat usually means liver and heart.

glenmar

Posted : 6/15/2006 12:58:33 PM

Actually, despite its inclusion as an ORGAN on the organ donor list, heart is a muscle and considered to be muscle meat.

pumaward

Posted : 6/15/2006 1:09:36 PM

Okay, thanks [

], so other than that, what do you guys think. I just don't want to cause problems, which I don't think I will since she completely skips meals quite often.

Manuela Schaumüller

Posted : 6/15/2006 1:13:36 PM

when I get it right (sry, my mothertounge ist German), you want to give your dog just one raw meal per week?

Then I would say it doesn't matter, what and how much you feed. Its not important that the meal is completely balanced.

I feed my dog raw since last spring and also in this case not every meal has everything dogy needs [

]
A dog won't get a absence of anything when he gets some "unbalanced" meal.

And a hot tip is rumen - the stomach of a cow - dogs love it [

]

loveukaykay

Posted : 6/15/2006 3:39:08 PM

According to NV feeding guidelines for that size dog it says 2.5 patties per day and I weighed them and 2.5 patties is 1.5 pounds meat. Thats per day. But, I never think it looks like enough when I give it to Bailey so I dunno. You may be a little high on the amount... You maybe can try cutting back to 2lbs per day and see if the diarrhea gets any better. If its not the amount but the meat itself, I would say either stop giving it to her totally or very slowly introduce it with just a little a day, like you would a new food and work up to that amount so you dont upset her tummy.

Pam

Posted : 6/15/2006 4:31:28 PM

Oh no, you can not just give raw meat. You will have diarrehea for sure (I know). You have to add some bone / calcium (I added ground up egg shells about 1 tablespoon to a 1/2 pound of meat.

The chicken wing is balanced with bone that is why her stools were normal.

I've heard others talk about bonemeal or calcium citrate supplement.

I give the premade patties with ground up bone (Nature Variety, Bravo or Steves)

glenmar

Posted : 6/15/2006 4:54:04 PM

Holy sh*t!! The reason for egg shell POWDER is to keep the calcium/phosperous ratio balanced. The correct amount is 1/2 TSP per POUND of boneless meat.

It is absolutely CRUCIAL to your dogs skeletal health that you keep this ratio balanced. Don't take my word for it. Email Monica Segal.

loveukaykay

Posted : 6/15/2006 5:00:01 PM

I was thinking plain raw meat didnt sound like too good of an idea... just didnt know enough to back it up...

Edie

Posted : 6/15/2006 8:20:26 PM

If you want to put weight on her,replace half of the huge amount of meat you're giving her with raw green tripe,it is very nutritious and is excellent for getting body on dogs.

Hollysmom i definately agree with Glenda,She is 100% correct! 1tbs per 1/2lb of meat is way excessive,you could be doing untold damage to your dogs bone structure[&o]

pumaward

Posted : 6/16/2006 7:02:59 AM

I just wanted to add that her stools were fine the rest of the day.... well they are all grass 'cause she scarfs up grass clippings like they're candy! But, it was only the morning she had loose stools (not really diarrehea... she got that when give lamb shanks).

Okay, so next time, I should cut back on the burger and give more chicken wing? I'll try cutting back the amount too. I'll see if the pet store I go to carries green tripe as well.

Thanks

agilebcs

Posted : 6/16/2006 7:09:55 AM

If you are going to do raw just once a week I'd stick to protien sources that will be easier for her system - usually chicken or turkey to start with. To get the real benefits of raw you should feed raw meaty bones - take a whole chicken and cut it in half, big turkey drumsticks, etc. Your dog is big and she should have something to eat that takes awhile to ingest. Actually, if you're only doing once a week I would just stick with chicken mostly because once a week is not frequent enough for her system to deal with other protiens effectively. Beef or lamb especially is tough for them to digest.

What benefits are you looking for from feeding 1 raw meal a week?