Dog owners: do any of you feed raw?

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Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl

Isn't salmonella a fairly regular problem in raw chicken? (or am I just thinking of raw eggs?). If so, doesn't it affect dogs and cats if they ingest stuff with salmonella? Humans usually cook chicken before eating it, and that destroys the salmonella, right?
I'm just curious.

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They evolved eating raw meat (and entrails!) Cats and dogs have a shorter, and I believe more acidic, digestive system than humans and they rarely have any effects at all from salmonella or ecoli, unless they are immuno-compromised. If you feed raw you have to be careful managing their waste as it is possible that it might be contaminated with those bugs, (like you would want to not be careful about handling poo.....) but many people feed raw and you don't hear about them being sick all of the time.

If it really worries you, you can put a whole chicken in boiling water for a short dip to kill the pathogens on the outside, but leave it for the most part raw - as far as I know that's where things like salmonella and ecoli live. That's why eating a rare steak is just fine, but hamburger is a bad idea- with the hamburg you've taken the outside and ground it all up putting it inside...

Now parasites are a different matter - cats and dogs can get stuff like giardia and it will affect them. I would guess that raw pork (because of trichinosis) probably should not be on the menu for either of them.

I don't do a full raw diet with Chloe; she showed no interest in many of the foods offered to her. Because she is intolerant of grains, she's fed a grain free kibble (and was fussy about the different ones tried.) Her scratching was eliminated when grain based food was removed. She does get some raw meals and bones (she loves chicken and turkey necks.) I also do some home-cooked meals for her as well.

Hunter (the cat) showed w a y too much interest in her raw food (seriously I never even considered raw for him. Don't know why.) So now I make sure I have enough for him to share in as well. He especially likes beef and makes a little chirping noise as he eats. :) He also drinks a lot. He especially likes splashing water from Chloe's bowl.

For now I feed dry food to my dog, with a raw beef bone every few days, but I mix the dry food with 1/2 cup of warm water. He seems to like it, and I know he's getting water that way. I also put a bit of flax seed oil in his food. His coat was pretty frazzled when I got him. It's getting really glossy.

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Originally Posted by tulip

I also put a bit of flax seed oil in his food. His coat was pretty frazzled when I got him. It's getting really glossy.

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In the winter both of my dogs tend to get dry skin. I give them salmon oil, about 1/2-1tsp in their food.

Pam - you can buy the meat already ground with the bones in. My vet sells it in either patties or a 2 pound log. Your choice of beef, chicken or lamb (smells the worst!). They also sell a bag of rice with a packet of nutrients that aren't in the ground meat and instructions on how to cook it and store it.

Lisa - dogs don't get salmonella like we do but you do need to wash their bowls after feeding them raw food so bacteria doesn't grow.

I fed both dogs raw food but obviously didn't grind it myself. I barely had the time to cook it and freeze it since I'd make a big batch for both dogs and it only has a few days shelf life in the fridge. I did it for about a year and saw great improvements in my dogs by I feel the damage had already been done with commercial food. I stopped doing it after I lost one of my dogs and during the year I did, I supplimented with an all natural dry food. These days I use the all natural dry food with some people food - brown rice, veggies, fruits, and cottage cheese on occasion.

If you want the brand of the ground meat I'd be happy to make a call for you.

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Originally Posted by mtbdarby

If you want the brand of the ground meat I'd be happy to make a call for you.

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Yes! I would appreciate that. One of the friends I mentioned in my post is planning a 13th birthday celebration for her bulldog. That's really old for a bulldog, and very inspiring to me. I might make the switch soon.

Now I have to fret about taking my dog food business away from the small, independent retailer who treats every customer like royalty (and delivers my food within 30 minutes, regardless of weather). She sells some frozen raw food, but it's pricey. Hope I can buy at least something from her.

Pam

So after being inspired by this thread and a LOT of research, I fed my dogs their first raw meal this morning...

http://blog.brickhouseracing.com/wp-...3/dsc_8075.jpg

Turbo, polishing off a chicken wing :D

This thread is fascinating. I'd never even heard of feeding raw before, as a concept. Will have to look into it once we decide on who is the one to come home and be our new kitty :)

Hey, Turbo looks like he approves of this change. Lloyd's had a couple of raw meals and seems to agree.

I haven't yet summoned the nerve to feed a whole chicken wing; I've been cutting them up with poultry shears.

Does anybody feed fish? I can get lovely fresh fish trimmings for $2 a pound.

Pam

Even my smaller dog can chomp right through a whole chicken thigh or wing in just a few minutes! It's funny, because it used to take Turbo about 20 seconds to inhale her kibble, but now she's forced to slow down & gnaw instead.

From what I've read you can feed them just about anything!

Pam - sorry it took so long to respond. I haven't been good at checking in.

Anyway, the raw food I've used is called Natures Variety. Check www.naturesvariety.com

Hope that helps.

I just wanted to say that this thread has convinced me to go raw. I've been hovering on the edge for a while - fed a home cooked diet to my Eskie who had cushings and diabetes because the canned the vet recommended had no food in it, only isolates and other chemicals! She lived a lot longer than my vet thought she would. Jimmy benefited from that too but when Kimo died, I stopped and he started getting fat on the commercial food - even the high quality stuff.

So far he LOVES it. I started simple with chicken parts, and veggies mixed with egg and shell, but I'm slowly adding more things. This morning he had sardines with his veggies and lapped those up like it was nothing. So far his digestive track is happy. I had to laugh last night though because I was going out and wanted to get his food ready so that I could leave. I took the veggie mix and put it in his bowl, then got the chicken out and he started dancing around. I have never seen him so excited to eat in my life. Now, this is a dog who adores food, so that's saying a lot. I need to cut back on the amount - he's not finishing everything. So, I'll play around with that until I get it right. But I have to admit that it takes a lot less time and effort than I thought (much less than the home cooked), and it's a ton cheaper than buying the commercial done raw.

Christine, how did you determine how much to feed? (I haven't gone on line to do all the research I need to yet, but it's on my list!)

I was basing what I feed Jimmy on several different articles based on 55 pound dogs (he's 60, so I figured it'd be similar). But as each dog is different, it's really a matter of experiment. Jimmy was starting to look a little slimmer (he's probably about 5 pounds overweight, but as Aussies tend to gain weight easily, I want to keep that under control), but after the past two days, he's been bulking up again. I cut about 1/4 cup of what I feed him to see if that does anything. If not, then I'll cut a little more. But I don't want to starve the poor guy either, so I'll do it slowly.

I've temporarily suspended my raw feeding experiment. I did try the Nature's Variety and it seemed excellent (though pricey). I've learned that I have to do lots more research to find affordable meat sources that will work for me (Manhattan apartment, no freezer, no car). There is a Yahoo group on NYC raw feeding that will probably be useful.

Another discouraging point: Lloyd was thrilled when I brought home kibble. It wasn't even dinnertime, and he's not the most food-motivated dog. I did a whole clicker session with kibble and he worked his little heart out for that stuff. I resisted calling him an ingrate, realizing he doesn't know how far I have traveled and how much I have spent. Sigh.

Pam