[John P]

Hey all,

After a ton of research, I switched to raw a week ago today. I decided to stick with one protein, and have been feeding exclusively chicken leg quarters. She is 40# so she gets 2lbs of food every day (one quarter in the morning, one at night).

Today I was watching her outside and it looked like she was struggling to poo. She finally did, and it was just a small light brown nugget that was very firm and almost “chalky” when I poked at it with a stick.

I think she’s getting a little too much bone. She seems fine, and doesn’t seem to be bothered or in any pain, so I don’t think there is any cause for concern. I’m going to keep an eye on her for the next day/two and see if her stool gets better.

So, I planned on Introducing Turkey this week… should I wait now? Would you guys suggest throwing in a couple meals with no bones to balance out the RMBs?

Thanks!

[InkedMarie]

I just saw your post on another dog forum! Someone else answered; too much bone….try a boneless piece for one meal.

[pugmomsandy]

I believe preymodelraw dot com and dogsnaturallymagazine dot com have a list of meats with bone contents listed. The addition of some muscle meat and some organs will bring down the bone content. Bone content should be around 10%.

[theBCnut]

Definitely feed a meal with no bone, and start adding boneless meat to those leg quarters.

[Susan]

Hi, here’s the raw maintenance diet Patches Naturopath put Patch on, I had to pick 1-2 proteins, I picked chicken breast & kangaroo mince, 2-4 veggies, I picked broccoli, celery, zucchini & 1-2 fruits, I picked a red apple, you peel & cut up the fruit & veggies & put thru a blender & blend & stop just before the veggie/fruit mix becomes a pulp or you can make into a pulp if you like it watery, to 1 cup protein you add 1-2 spoons of the blended veggie/fruit mix, per meal, for a 18kg-40lb dog twice a day, I then froze the veggie/fruit mix in 2 spoon sections, you can freeze in an ice cube trays, make sure you cover with plastic wrap, that’s about 1 spoon in each ice cube….. I had to add the omega 3,6 & 9 oil & I had to add 1/2 teaspoon DigestaVite Plus to 1 daily meal, I was feeding Chicken breast cut up + 2 spoon veggie/fruit mix + 1 squirt omega oil for breakfast & the Kangaroo mince + veggie/fruit mix + omega 3,6 & 9 oil & DigestaVite Plus for dinner….. I never gave any bone cause Patch has IBD….I added egg shell instead for calcium…1 egg shell is 1 teaspoon..
http://www.naturalanimalsolutions.com.au/natural-diet.html
This Maintenance Diet will give you a ruff idea, I had to rotate different lean meats & make sure diet was balanced by the end of the week, or some people balance every single meal…. also on Face Book there are some “Raw Feeding groups” that show what their dogs are eating, egg + shell, chicken feet, tongue, coconut oil, tin sardines, & bone meat is given twice a week only, you can also use “Balance It” to Balance the meal…
https://secure.balanceit.com/
Make friends with “Rodney Habib” on face book page, he is excellent to follow….he spends 75min every morning making his dogs fresh, raw breakfast, lucky dogs…

[Bobby dog]

Hi Susan:
You suggested to the OP to look into Balance IT. I use one of their products regularly for home cooked meals. My dog loves the few recipes I have concocted and has done well on Carnivore Blend. However, this company does not produce any product to balance a raw diet, or more importantly the company does not recommend feeding raw at all. Here are their reasons and the importance of using any of their products as directed from their FAQ page under the subtitle “HOMEMADE PET FOOD RECIPE PREPARATION”:

“Do I really need to cook the ingredients in my recipe? – I hear raw food is good for pets.

We NEVER recommend feeding raw meat as it can result in serious life-threatening infections for both pets and people (see review article at http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/full/10.2460/javma.243.11.1549). Always use safe handling procedures when cooking with raw meats by washing hands, preventing cross-contamination, cooking food thoroughly, and storing food properly.

The guidance from the AVMA at https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/FAQs/Pages/Raw-Pet-Foods-and-the-AVMA-Policy-FAQ.aspx may also be of interest.

It is also important to cook each ingredient as directed in the cooking instructions for the recipe, as the cooking method can significantly change the level of nutrients in the cooked food. For example, boiling a food results in some loss of nutrients into the surrounding water; therefore, if the recipe instructs you to bake the ingredient and you choose to boil it, the total level of nutrient in the diet may be significantly decreased.”

https://secure.balanceit.com/info/helpfaq.php

[Susan]

Hi Bobby Dog, on one of the raw feeding groups a few people are using the “Balance It” to balance their dogs raw diets….I’ll have to tell them you can’t add the Balance it to raw foods, its just for cooked meals….
I can’t get “Balance It” in Australia, I’ve read good things about “Balance It” I use DigestaVite Plus an Australian product & its for raw & cooked foods, it doesn’t matter… that’s when vets start seeing health problems & start not recommending raw or cooked diets cause people are not balancing their dogs diet properly….. The worse diet for a dog is an unbalanced cooked or raw diet, then kibble…

[Bobby dog]

Hi Susan:
Glad you read my post and hopefully you can help others that are using it in their raw diets.

Too bad you can’t get Balance IT in Australia Bobby has done really well on it. I like it because I have access to so many recipes which are easily prepared. I also find it very economical depending on which ingredients I choose.

There are vitamin packs in the U.S. available for raw feeders, however I am not familiar with any because Bobby only likes commercial raw not prey model.

I absolutely agree feeding an unbalanced diet (unless for medical reasons) is the worst you can do for your pets. However, at this time I feel the best diet is individual to the dog whatever form that might be as long as it is balanced.

I am very lucky since I have sorted out Bobby’s health issues I can feed anything and everything; I know some pet parents aren’t so lucky. I feel it’s best not to rule out any form of food. You never know what will be best at any given time.

[Pitlove]

Very well put Bobby Dog!

[Bobby dog]

😉

[Author]

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