I'm gonna cry...

[Scylla]

In Chrissie's temporary absence - poor Kezie's had a terrible bout of cat flu - despite being fully vaccinated (apparently cat flu viruses are just as "mutating" as human ones). But she's coming thru it

scylla

[Chrissie]

Thanks Scylla & thanks Lynda

[Lilac]

Lynda, are you still doing the raw diet? how is Mungo doing on it now?

How did you start him off as i've read you shouldn't mix raw and kibble?

do you add veg, fruit, any supplements...

I've been reading from that link, have to admit the idea of feeding chicken carcasses is scary...re bones, but it's the cooked bones that splinter, apparently...

[Scylla]

I've read quite a bit about raw food being so much better for our pets (cats 'n dogs at least). And apparently if you freeze meat first, any parasites are killed.

The enzymes in raw meat are supposed to help keep their teeth cleaner, for one thing! And having seen the plaque that my vet popped of Sushi's teeth when I didn't suspect it, I'd seriously think about starting a new kitten on raw.

scylla

[Lilac]

Hi Scyll most meat i have is chucked in the freezer anyway, as that gives me more choice of when to use it...i just defrost it in the microwave when needed...

I'm really struggling with Tyson at the moment, the steroid tabs only really control the scabs if i give him 1 a day, and if i do that, after 2 or 3 days the side effects show themselves in him having to pee much more and unless there's someone at home with him, it just doesn't work...
If i'm working a long day, i'd normally pop home at lunchtime to let the dogs out to relieve themselves, but he really needs let out at least once an hour, so that just doesn't work ???

I gave him 500g of raw mince last night for his dinner and he had 300g of raw lamb for his brekkie just now...he absolutely LOVES it, he cleared his bowl in a minute, then licked it for another 5, lol, but i don't think it was enough for him, i really need to find a site which goes into more detail, ie, how much, whether to add veg, etc, i've ordered him a bag of very expensive food which has no grains in it at all, as it was a 5star top food on that dog analysis site Lynda linked to...

the food i was giving him at the mo was 1 star and got a very bad review, as did several foods i've given him, including Iams & Burns, but they're all fairly expensive foods, and supposed to be the best for dogs, but all contain a lot of either wheat, corn or other grain...

[lynwlt]

Lilac,

Mungo is still on his raw diet but I am ashamed to admit that I still haven't got round to properly investigating what I should be giving him!!

I didn't wean him off his kibble, just dived straight in with meat. I feed 2% of his ideal weight, which for Mungo is about 440g per day.
I vary the meats as much as possible, add an egg a couple of days a week,occasionally a dollop of cottage cheese or yoghurt. He also has garlic capsules daily and Omega3/6 oils. 10% offal too.

I throw in the occasional raw carrot, lump of swede or whatever is handy. I'm not sure they do anything nutritionally but he likes them and they are free calories for him.

I really struggle with bones! I live in fear of him choking or having an impaction because he is such a gulper.
Some of the suppliers of raw meat do products that contain ground bone in the right proportion and I keep meaning to organise my freezer so that I can order from them.

In the meantime, he has supervised access to marrow bone knuckles and I'll feed him a chicken wing, gripped tightly in a pair of pliers!
He is thriving on this..

[e-mail] and Britbarf are groups worth joining. The latter has a list of suppliers too.

Are you feeding both dogs raw now?

Lynda

[lynwlt]

groups.yahoo.com/group/BritBarf/

[lynwlt]

pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/K9Nutrition/

[Lilac]

Hi Lynda, thanks for those links i will buy a book or 2 but needed something i can read now....

No, it's just Tyson at the moment, but if it's do-able, i'll prob put Murphy on it as well...

From the notes i've made so far from the links you gave me previously, i see they should get 3% of their optimum weight, of meat & bones...only problem is, i'm not sure what he weighs, he was on the weigh mat at the vets a few weeks ago, but i forget wot it was...

Im not sure i could lift him, to stand on the scales with him...but merely picturing me trying makes me giggle!!!

The reason they say you should never feed raw with kibble is on account of the digestion times, raw meat takes 4 - 5 hrs, but the kibble takes around double that time, both together means the raw is held up by the kibble, which can allow bacteria to 'bloom' whatever that means, and cause upset tums for the dogs, but if Mungo is okay on what you've been giving him, then it can't be too bad?
I just feel Ty has been through enough stress lately, with the steroids, etc, and has had loads of diarrhoea, so wanted to do it right...he's been great so far, after 2 raw meat meals, he scoffs it so fast
I've been thinking i could probably process the likes of chicken bones in my food processer, so im going out soon to get some chicken wings and stuff, for his dinner tonight, so i'll let you know if it works, or mangles the blades

Edit cos i misunderstood wot you said, i thought you meant you were giving Mungo meat & kibble, but you meant you just switched straight over, didn't you? thats what i did yesterday too..

[jambutty]

Would appreciate any thoughts, please.
A while back my older dog (not sure of age but over 10) had a dreadful session one day, vomiting blood, She'd had a bone so I thought it might be that, next day she seemed ok but then a couple of days later did it again and also was passing blood.
Off we went to the vet, -can't find anything wrong, we'll prescribe some tins of bland lamb and rice food- seemed to improve so I started cooking rice for her and using either cooked white fish or Butchers tripe mix and gradually adding a bit of Burns High Oat mix.
All went well, then it happened again so I started giving her some rice and yoghurt for breakfast with the previous mix at teatime, but a bit less and we seem to be ok, although occasionally there are blood traces.
Naturally I suspect that there may be something much more serious behind all this; I've been very interested in the comments about a raw food diet - if i was to try this I'd be interested to know what people think about the introduction, gradual or go-for-it.
Apart from these occasional happenings she seems quite well and as active as I would expect; the only treats she gets are the dried tripe things, just a small piece.

[lynwlt]

Lilac,
I don't feed kibble at all now...

Jamb, you'd get good advice from either of the groups that I posted links to. What tests did your vet carry out? It certainly sounds as if something aggravated her digestive tract.
If you look in the files on K9 nutrition link, there is a huge quantity of information about digestion problems and you may well get some clues from them.
I dived right in with the change of diet, sounds as if Lilac did the same thing, but Mungo didn't have any underlying conditions.
Good luck with her.

Lynda

[hissie]

Big Hugs to Lilac & Tyson

Snuggles for Kezie

[Lilac]

Oh gosh Lynda, there's soooo much to read...

I managed to grind the chicken drumsticks, btw, the metal spinning blade thing wouldn't do it, they just got stuck, but i put the rough grating disc on and managed it with that....made an unholy mess of all the bits tho, i'll have to find a better way, cos i reckon chicken or turkey would be best as the main meat source, mainly as it's cheaper...

He weighs 39kg, so needs about 1.2kg food a day...eeek!!

[Lilac]

Jamb, did your dog get an xray? that certainly sounds like she damaged some part of her stomach or intestines, but i guess if the vet wasn't that worried, and she's okay now...

Thanks, Hissie, that was lovely of you

[Scylla]

I do feel for you girls struggling with poorly doggies, you must be frantic.

It's horrible not being able to help

scylla