Pre-Packaged Raw Diet??

[Linds]

Thanks again everyone for answering my repetitive and redundant questions!

So my mom went out and picked up three nice size chickens (we had coupons ) yesterday night. A half of one is just about the weight of how much I was going to feed her in a day. So would a half of chicken (basically down the middle so she get some of everything) be a good meal in your guys opinion? Maybe with an egg thrown in there? I won't feed the organs right away, give her some time to adjust. But she has been eating chicken wings (chewing very nicely) and eating NV raw chicken for a little less than a week and adjusted very well.

Thanks again everyone! You guys are so much more help than the other dog forum I asked on, basically all I got from them was a leave us alone and stop asking so many questions.

 

[Gempress]

That sounds great. And you can certainly give an egg if you want to. I agree, don't rush the organs. Organ meat, especially liver, tends to be very rich, and it doesn't sit well with some dogs without a gradual introduction. It took Zeus a long time before he was able to eat organ meat without having diarrhea. Just give your pup an ounce or two at a time until he gets used to it, rather than giving a lot at once.

One more thing: Don't get discouraged if your dog doesn't like something. I was all gung-ho about feeding my boys raw eggs with the shell. And guess what? They hated the shell. But that's ok, they still get plenty of calcium with bones.

Your dog will eventually come around and try most new things. But if there's something he just doesn't like, you may have to work around it or get creative . For example, Zeus HATES organ meat--even though most dogs love it. So I just started chopping it up and mixing it with ground meat or fish.

And please, keep up the questions. We don't mind at all.

 

[Melissa_W]

Sounds awesome! Let us know how things go!

 

[Linds]

Well I got all two of the chickens split down the middle and everything separated. My mom decided it was good life experience for me, I've never cut up a chicken before

She got a leg quarter for breakfast, a wing and neck for lunch and got the umm the rest (does it have a name?) for dinner. The organs and one neck all went to my ferrets who were thrilled with that.

Kaylee absolutely loved the chicken. I held it for her while she ate it to make sure she chewed and to see how it all went (she was very good about not biting my fingers at all). She chewed everything very well (fun crunching noises), she even chewed the chicken neck a lot for it's tiny size.

So I have enough chicken for about four days including today and I'm going to go talk to my butcher Tuesday and get some stuff.

So all in all it's going well and I've calmed down from before

I have a vet appointment Tuesday for her and my other dog for a check up and shots. It's a new vet so I hope he's supportive of the raw.

But thanks again everyone for all your support and help, I'm sure I'm going to have plenty more questions!

 

[Melissa_W]

Sounds like a great start!

P.S. Don't be surprised if your vet is not very supportive. Raw supportive vets are out there, but they are not the norm. I went through three vets before finding one.

 

[ihartgonzo]

Are you considering only the weight of the bone itself in that ratio, or are you doing 2.5 boneless meat and 1 RMB which includes the meat weight?

No, I don't base it on the weight of the bone. I am way too lazy to figure out bone weight! D: The 2.5 is muscle meat and the 1 is RMBs. I feed really boney RMBs on some muscle meat days.

I do my best to balance it so that bones are around 15%, meat is 75%, and organs are 5-10%. I'm sure it isn't PERFECT... but I can eyeball it really easily at this point.