[John P]

Hello all,

I recently switched my 2yo to a higher quality kibble, and she refuses to eat it. I’ve been looking into raw for about a year or so, and I’m finally making the decision to switch to an RMB diet based on all of the good things I’ve read. I’m an over analytical person, so I’m just making sure I’m on the right track.

From what I’ve read, a good raw diet should be:

80% Meat
10% Bone
10% Organ

My dog is just under 40lb, so at 2.5% of her bodyweight per day, she should be getting 16oz (or 1LB) every day.

Chicken leg quarters seem to be popular, and are widely available, so I did the math based on drumsticks having 70% meat (30% bone) and thighs having 85% meat (15% bone). If I alternate days (leg, thigh, leg, thigh, etc.) for 7 days, it puts me at 76% meat and 24% bone, which seems high on the bone content. If I added one day per week of something boneless (breast, thigh, etc.) I think it would bring it down to a pretty close ratio.. do you guys agree?

Organs would maybe be once a week.

Now here are my biggest concerns. The most common complaints (at least online) of an RMB diet is that it’s expensive and inconvenient. I understand it’s not as easy as scooping kibble from a cup to a bowl… but it’s really not that hard unless maybe you’re mixing vegetables and stuff.

But, the biggest reason I think I’m doing something wrong… the cost. 10LB bags of chicken quarters are $5 at my local grocery store, so about 3 bags (30LB) should be what my pup consumes monthly. Thats $15. About 1/3 of what I’m paying for kibble right now.

Granted, I still have to buy organ meat, maybe some boneless stuff.. but the RMB seems to be cheaper.

Am I doing something wrong here? Any suggestions on improving the balance of the meal? I understand there are probably better diets out there, but I travel a lot for work, and I want it to be super easy for my wife to feed the dog while I’m gone.

Thanks for reading this long winded post.

[theBCnut]

Legs are smaller than thighs, so your bone content may be a little lower than you think. Organs can be rich and feeding a meal of just organs can cause diarrhea. It’s better to give a small amount of organs every day. It should be 5% liver and 5% other organs. Hearts and gizzards don’t count as organs, they are actually muscle meat. Finally, feeding just chicken isn’t a good idea. The types of fats in chicken are different than the fats in red meats and dogs need both.

[John P]

Thanks for the reply.

I don’t plan on doing just chicken forever.. But I’ve read that when you first switch to raw, it’s a good idea to stick with one type of meat for the first couple of months. Eventually, I’ll incorporate other meats into the diet as well.

As for the organ meat, I didn’t plan on feeding all of it on one day. I plan on incorporating it into her meals maybe every other day.

Do you think (at least until I incorporate other meats into the diet) that the meat to bone ratio is ok for this meal plan?

Thanks

[theBCnut]

I’ve only ever hear to stick to just chicken for a couple weeks until you know they have transitioned well to raw. My dogs have chicken allergies, so we started with low fat beef instead.

Too much bone leads to constipation and very hard stools, so while I think the over all amount of bone will be fine to start, I wouldn’t feed just a leg the first day. I would trim a little meat off the thigh and give the thigh, then the next meal give the extra meat with the leg. Also throw out the skin the first couple days, then slowly leave more and more of the skin. It’s the fattiest part and gives some dogs trouble at first.

[sam o]

I am looking to switch to raw and reading a lot on these forums where to start but I cannot find some answers to my question like when I first switch him do I just put him on chicken meat for the first 3 weeks or can he have the bone as well , it’s all quite a lot to take in so I want to make sure I do it right X can you help answer seen as you’ve at some point done the swap ??

[Nora L]

I have a booklet that explains raw feeding in detail, the practical application as well as the reasons behind it. I’d be happy to send it to either or both of you, free of charge. (Visitors to my site pay $10 for it but I don’t want to be accused of being here just to sell stuff.:)) You can have a look at my other content as well if you’d like: http://www.NoMoreVetBills.com.

[anonymously]

If you must go homemade at least get a diet approved by a veterinarian. I paid for this diet a while back but I am willing to share. There are some good tips in “General Guidelines”.
It didn’t work for my dogs, they do better with a quality kibble as a base.
I am not sure if this link will work: http://www.homeovet.net/dynamic/php/downloads/dog-c8470f2c75dbe4b683205c3919ee2310/dog_diet_complete.pdf

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