topic Re: Raw food in Community Chat

Raw food

pommom — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 13:53:27 GMT

Yesterday I stopped by Unleashed for non-grain treats for my dog. While there the sa handed me a small bag from the freezer (for free) of raw chicken mixed with veggies/grain-free. They were promoting the line and had larger bags for sale in the refrigerated area.

I thawed the chicken in the small bag to give to my dog for dinner yesterday. She turned her nose up at it and walked away. I then gave her the regular food and threw away the frozen stuff.

This morning I mixed the refrigerated food with her kibble and she really liked it.

Is raw better than kibble? She's been on Victor All Life Stages grain-free for years. The raw is much more expensive and I'm not thoroughly convinced raw is the way to go.

I did wash her bowl in soapy hot water after she finished eating plus the measuring cup I used to prevent salmonella.

Any experiences with raw you'd like to share?

Re: Raw food

Citrine1 — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 14:16:12 GMT

I know it is popular with some, but I would never give my dogs raw meat. The idea is sickening to me.

Re: Raw food

gardenman — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 14:42:06 GMT

My youngest cat (Callie) loves raw meat. She won't eat canned food but any raw meat you're dealing with is delicious to her. You've really got to watch her around it. Set a raw pork chop/chicken breast/hamburger patty down and turn your back and when you turn back around she's likely to be up there chomping away at it. Raw flounder is her absolute favorite food in the whole world. I prepped some this morning for frying for lunch and she wouldn't leave me alone for a second while I was prepping it. (I cut off the thin little pieces at the very end since they curl up while frying and she gets those as a treat.) The only real issue with raw food is contamination. Any bacteria that's on the food won't be killed by cooking, so you really want to be sure it's been handled in a pristine fashion. You can get away with poor food handling practices in the early stages on food you cook, but if you're eating food raw, you have to be perfect all of the time.

Re: Raw food

NickNack — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 14:43:19 GMT

I've never done it, and my Vet says it's dangerous. I go to a very progressive Vet clinic that is up on all of the latest things. They perform surgeries in the same way as the Vet School. I trust her judgment implicitly. I've never been tempted to feed raw though.

Re: Raw food

pommom — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 14:43:27 GMT

Citrine - the food is not like the raw chicken we buy at the butcher's or grocery store. It is not slimy, but rather looks like kibble - only softer. I totally understand how you feel, though.

Re: Raw food

pommom — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 14:49:05 GMT

I'll have to monitor this closely. So far it hasn't affected her indigestive system which is a miracle. Her tummy is sooooo sensitive which finally led me to Victor's ALS.

Yes, this appears to be a high maintenance ritual: washing hands before and after handling the raw kibble and a clean food bowl at every meal. I feed her 1/2 c for breakfast, 1/4 cups for lunch and dinner. She's a senior and gains weight easily. The vet told me to cut back on her meals.

Thanks for your replies.

Re: Raw food

Citrine1 — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 16:36:32 GMT

Hi Pommom! Thank you for enlightening me about the raw food; I was more or less envisioning tossing a whole chicken at a dog (similar to the way they feed animals at the zoo). Your explanation makes a lot more sense!

Re: Raw food

jaxs mom — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 18:27:56 GMT

I've been feeding prey model raw for almost 10 years. Kibble is not a natural diet for dogs and I can't think of one on the market I'd feed.

Re: Raw food

CrazyDaisy — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 19:36:49 GMT

Love feeding raw. Much easier to control my dogs weight. Do not have that ""I am hungry"" look all the time and they seem much healthier. Highly recommend.

Re: Raw food

Bird mama — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 21:14:43 GMT

Many years ago, with my first dog, we went through an episode (for the life of me I can't remember what it was) where the vet recommended that for a couple of days, Spottie needed to eat some raw hamburger. I rarely eat meat myself and when I bought some ground round for him and put some on his plate, he looked at me as if I was insane. In order to get Spottie to eat it, I had to take a small section of it and eat it in front of him - you know, like, yummie, this is so good.

My mother said she knew I loved that dog more than myself when she saw me do it. I managed to plaster a smile on my face and avoid throwing up and we made it through the couple of days of doing it.

Personally, I'm not crazy about raw food unless there's a medical reason for it.

Re: Raw food

denisemb — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 22:51:08 GMT

I can only speak for cats, but feeding raw to my early generation bengal cat saved his life. He had distressing digestive issues with all the commercial foods (including what the vet sold) and within one day of feeding raw chicken he was cured. (A big plus was virtually odorless litterboxes).

It's not as easy as throwing some raw meat at your pet, LOL, although you should have seen him attack a chicken neck once! We followed the catnutrition.org "recipe" which included eggs, various vitamins and minerals and bone meal as our two didn't like the ground raw bone. Even the vet couldn't believe how healthy they were.

At least with cats, they have a faster digestive system, hence they are not affected by the raw meat as are humans. We used to knock out about 6 lbs. at a time and freeze it in individual packages. I've fed raw to 3 bengal cats and they all loved it.

Re: Raw food

jaxs mom — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 23:58:51 GMT

You can't just feed raw ground meat ( although a couple meals of it won't hurt them), both cats and dogs need raw bones in their diet along with the meat. We feed bone in meat pieces to ours along with organs. My cats refuse to eat ground raw, they want to chew the meat pieces.

Re: Raw food

mousiegirl — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 00:26:29 GMT

I feed my pups Primal raw, lamb is supposedly best, but I also alternate with the duck and beef.

ETA: It comes in patties, or chunks, and looks just like ground beef, but it has all the nutrition a dog needs, you may want to research it.

Re: Raw food

pommom — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 03:56:17 GMT

Update: my fur baby loves it! I've also noticed that her bowel movements are smaller which means her body is absorbing more nutrients. The brand is Vital and this particular formula has chicken, beef, salmon, egg, cranberries and spinach. I believe it comes in a lamb formula.

mousiegal: I saw the Primal raw lamb formula. May look into it in a few months.

Thanks for all your comments.

Re: Raw food

CrazyDaisy — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 10:44:56 GMT

Both brands are complete nutrition. When you find one you like go to manufactures web site and sign up for coupons.

Re: Raw food

RainyDayGal — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 19:51:34 GMT

I don't care how many pet stores recommend it, I won't feed it to my dogs. None of my vets recommend it (regular, oncologist, internist, derm, opthamologist). You never know about the bacteria in them, and I am not willing to risk it. Too many things to worry about with raw.

Re: Raw food

CrazyDaisy — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 20:11:40 GMT

On 4/10/2015 RedConvertibleGirl said:
I don't care how many pet stores recommend it, I won't feed it to my dogs. None of my vets recommend it (regular, oncologist, internist, derm, opthamologist). You never know about the bacteria in them, and I am not willing to risk it. Too many things to worry about with raw.

More bacteria has been found in commercial dry products than in raw products. You are always hearing of dog food recalls in regards to dry and sometimes can products. As far as I can recall there has only been one recall of a raw diet product.

Re: Raw food

jaxs mom — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 21:58:50 GMT

On 4/10/2015 RedConvertibleGirl said:
I don't care how many pet stores recommend it, I won't feed it to my dogs. None of my vets recommend it (regular, oncologist, internist, derm, opthamologist). You never know about the bacteria in them, and I am not willing to risk it. Too many things to worry about with raw.

Are you kidding? How many dogs in the last few years died from eating tainted kibble? How many kibble companies have had recalls? Commercial pet food is a heck of alot more risky for dogs than human grade raw meat.

Re: Raw food

RainyDayGal — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 22:31:22 GMT

On 4/10/2015 jaxs mom said:
On 4/10/2015 RedConvertibleGirl said:
I don't care how many pet stores recommend it, I won't feed it to my dogs. None of my vets recommend it (regular, oncologist, internist, derm, opthamologist). You never know about the bacteria in them, and I am not willing to risk it. Too many things to worry about with raw.

Are you kidding? How many dogs in the last few years died from eating tainted kibble? How many kibble companies have had recalls? Commercial pet food is a heck of alot more risky for dogs than human grade raw meat.

No, I'm not kidding! I won't feed it to my dogs. Good for you if you do and you're happy with it. I feed my dogs expensive high qualify food, none of the stuff found at grocery stores. But I won't be feeding them raw.

Re: Raw food

Tinkrbl44 — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 00:06:42 GMT

On 4/9/2015 gardenman said:
My youngest cat (Callie) loves raw meat. She won't eat canned food but any raw meat you're dealing with is delicious to her. You've really got to watch her around it. Set a raw pork chop/chicken breast/hamburger patty down and turn your back and when you turn back around she's likely to be up there chomping away at it. Raw flounder is her absolute favorite food in the whole world. I prepped some this morning for frying for lunch and she wouldn't leave me alone for a second while I was prepping it. (I cut off the thin little pieces at the very end since they curl up while frying and she gets those as a treat.) The only real issue with raw food is contamination. Any bacteria that's on the food won't be killed by cooking, so you really want to be sure it's been handled in a pristine fashion. You can get away with poor food handling practices in the early stages on food you cook, but if you're eating food raw, you have to be perfect all of the time.

Cats are, by nature, carnivores ..... just had to share this photo!