Kirsti wrote:
If I should start, I have a five year old german wirehaired poiner who always has had a bit dry fur and feet 8under the feet, don't know the english name..).
I would like to feed her raw, or at least partly raw - but she really don't eat if I give her a peace of meat of a fish...
Small pieces or meat made for dinner she eats though...
But I don't know what she would need if I should feed her only raw....
Any suggestions?
Hi Kirsti,
What kind of meat-products have you already tried? Some dogs (but cats are most of the time even worse) are addicted to the (chemical) additives in kibble.
These animals have to get used to the new texture, and flavour of the raw food.
In that case you have to change the diet just a little bit slowly. Just provide your dog small pieces of raw food. Don't tease your animals by giving them too large pieces of meat or bones.
In my humble opinion: begin with muscle meat (red meat) or green tripe.
Have you ever tried to feed green tripe? Most of the dogs just love it!!
If your dog will eat it, you can give him larger pieces. After a few weeks most of the dogs are just eating very large bones etc.
This article contains some basic information for dogs:
Quote:
The new tendency in dogland: Rather fresh than something else!
A lot more people realise that their dog doesn’t need to eat the same food every day. Like their bosses they are crazy about some variaton and difference in their food. With the right nutritif products this variation is not a problem at all. Let’s take a look into the world of Natural Raw Food!
Yes, they really exists: dogowners who prepare every day in their kitchen a meal for their dog. ( cat or ferret ). These meals exist out of raw meaty bones, red meat ( muscle meat ) and organes well or not complemented with eggs, vegetables, milk- and sereal products. Also the raw feeding happening is in fact the rediscovery of old values. In the early days everybody fed this way with satisfaction. It is through the apearance of the two Austalian vets Dr. Tom Lonsdale and Dr. Ian Billinghurst that it came in ‘the picture’ again. Slowly the amount of people in the dogworld increases enormously that composes ( partly ) themselves or gives raw food. Partly this is started because we have been thinking more and more about our own feedingpaterns and we like to examine gladly the diet of our dog at the same time. Fresh food is healty, we all have this meaning!
To compose the food yourself can certainly be healthy, but there are things you have to be cautious about. First of all: take care to give the food raw. Cooked or heated bones change of structure and start to splinter. Don’t be afraid for the splintering of raw bones: dogspecies in the wild eat their prey also raw. You can give the muscle meat and organs also raw because heating the meat destroys the bacteria and enzymes that are so important for a carnivore. The most reliable percentages for a dog are: 60-70% muscle meat, 15% organs and 15% raw bones. These percentages match the best for animals of prey, also eaten in the wild.
Examples for suitable beginner bones are: chickennecks, chickenwings and bones of a lamb. You may give all the bones of poeltry and rabits, these bones are soft and easy to digest. Never give bones without meat: they digest badly and give to hard faeces. Never give little bones because they can be swollowed on the whole.
Examples of organs are liver, hart and kidneys. You can also give lungs but this has not much nutritif value and a lot of dogs refuste to eat it because of the structure. Tripe is also an organ but because of the many benefits you can give it up to three times a week.
Muscle meat is very important for a dog. The best way to understand it is that everything that isn’t organ, is muscle meat for example: headmeat, cuttings etc. A dog doesn’t need to eat “complete†every day: you just have to take care that your dog get everything what he needs in a period of three weeks. You can also be warned for “all meat syndromeâ€. This isn’t a scientific term and no ‘natural raw feeder’ will only feed raw (organ)meat.
As we all know fish is very healthy for people. This is also the case for dogs. Fish is an important source of omega fatty acids. These omega acids contribute to the condition of skin/coat, lubrification of the joints and they are good for heart and bloodvesels. Therefore you could give your dog fish once a week. The good ao called
‘fat fishes’ are for example: salmon, tune, macrel, sardines. But give this fish raw: heating the fish causes britle and splintering fishbones.
You can make the meal of your dog more attractive by adding soms eggs to the menu ( give only raw whole eggs ) or a bit yoghurt. Vegetables are not necessary for dogs because dogs can make vitamine C by themselves. You can also give some nuts en pits to your dog as so called fiber. In the wild wolves will eat the nails and hairs of their preys which have benefits for a good digestion. You can add two spoons every meal.
Maybe you get dizzy from all this information and maybe you think it’s nothing for you. Fortunatley there is a solution for this: in most supermarkets and in almost every petshop there are ready, raw complete meals for sale. Although this is grinded and not far as good as big pieces of meat who avoid paradontal diseases, it can be a second choice for people that can’t compose themselves, but want to offer some variety for their pet.
If you compose yourself it’s not only healty but also the perfect way to give some more attention to your dog. Let’s say it in short: it brings some action in everydays live, for dog and dog-owner!
Ester Overman
Quote:
Feeding raw to cats:
People often think that some cats are just fastidious when it comes to food. This in fact is not true. Many people are convinced about the fact that their cat only like to eat expensive brands and anything cheaper is not good enough.
Meanwhile the same cats are feeding on the cheap catfood from the neighbours. They just try to feed on what tastes best. Can we blame them?
When wild cats eat, they rip their prey or carrion to pieces, so they can swallow it bit by bit. The stomach contains gastic acids wich make digestion possible. The fluid from the food for the main part is being absorbed in the large intestine. This fluids are essential; A cat that doesn't obtain enough fluids, either threw drinking or feeding, can develop sever kidneyproblems and problems with there urine blatter. Many cats develope this problems when the feed on kibble. Cats normally don't drink a lot because their body is used to the fact that food will provide enough fluids. When you feed a cat dry kibbles a cat needs to drink a lot more water then he normally should.Raw meat and bones provides their body with enough fluids. This way the healthproblems wich are described here can be prevented. The intestens of a cat are barely 2 meters long wich is normal for a carnivorous animal of this size. Therefore food without vegetable fibres are better for the digestion. Katten hebben geen behoefte aan granen wanneer je besluit zelf samen te gaan stellen, de koolhydraten die een kat nodig heeft worden al uit het vlees opgenomen. When you decide to put together a diet for your cat you need to realise that grains are not one of thier needs. Al the carbohydrates a cta need are in the meat he is used to feed on.
When you decide to start to feeding natural food, try to feed as much meat, bones and organs as possible. Offcourse it's best to use natural prey. Mainly; Birds, Rabbit, hare, and small rodents are good food for a cat. An average adult cat feeds on 100-200 grams of a diet wich are put together with this prey items. The most natural percentages 3-5% liver, 10% heart, 10-15% bones and 70-77% muscular meat. Muscular meat is all meat wich are not organs.This percentages should beprovided every day. In contrast to dogs, cats eat complete preyitems on a daily basis. Therefore this percentages are good for daily use. After al in nature they feed on this percentages every day.
When you use this percentages, you no longer need to be afraid that your cat will suffer a lack of taurine because the percentages are balanced very well with the use of natural prey. Taurine especillialy is present in the heart so when you feed like 10% heart, your cat will receve enough taurine. Don't feed any green tripe to you cate. In Nature they are not used to eat it.
Not all cats seem to act really gratefull when you offer them natural food for the first time. They often have to get used to the different texture, smell and taste. In commercial Catfood extra smell and taste is added to the food to make it extra tasty for your pet. Try not to give in to soon when a cat doesn't eat a lot of it right a way. Mixing raw meat with canned catfood can help concincing a cat to eat his meal the first times. Try to vary as many types of meat as possible and different ways of offering it. Grinding the meat into smaller pieces for example can help a lot when your cat refuses to eat it. One warning: Cat's shouldn't skip to many meals like dogs can. Cats, especially to fat cats, can suffer steatosis hepatis (fattly liver) because of that.
Kittens eat the same as adult cats, but in smaller quantities. It's important to use your feeling when you decide how much you feed your cat.
This is a menu for a cat weighing 4 kilograms.
In between you can occasionally feed one day old chicks.
Mo: Heart 40 gramms, kidney 20 grams, hare muscular meat 75 grams
Tu: Chickennecks 60 grams, heart, 15 grams, hare muscular meat 60 grams.
We: Chickennecks 40 grams, Rabbitliver 15 grams, Turkey muscular meat 80 grams.
Th: Chicken carcass 60 grams, Rabitkidney 25 grams, chicken filet 70 grams.
Fr: Chicken 120 grams, duckheart 20 grams
Sa: Hare muscular meat 110 grams, liver 25 grams
Su: Chicken carcass 40 grams, heart 20 grams, chicken filet 75 grams
Cheers,
Ester