pets and raw food

johndela1 · Post by **johndela1** » Sat 27 May 2006 00:37

I've been reading about raw pet diets. Anyone here have dogs that you make food for? I'm looking into the Pitcairn and BARF diets.

Cairidh · Post by **Cairidh** » Sat 27 May 2006 02:24

I used to give my dogs raw meat and meaty bones then one day one dog choked quite badly, and wouldnt eat for a few days after because he was so scared, so we stopped with that altogether.
It made them a bit savage I think. I know the websites say it doesn't bring out their "killer instincts" and thats a myth, but with my dogs, it did.

Cairidh · Post by **Cairidh** » Sat 27 May 2006 02:26

I saw on a documentary a lady in America preparing food for her dog, she made it look very easy. She didn't give bones at all. She put raw red meat and raw liver in a bowl and added loads of other things - seaweed, yeast, flax seed, stuff like that, there were countless things so I can't remember them

Chin-Chin · Post by **Chin-Chin** » Sat 27 May 2006 02:34

I'd do really thorough research before proceeding.

I've seen websites warning the danger of this, mainly because the meat that you feed your pets can possibly contain deadly parasites.

I understand that you want to do the best for your dog, but dogs are carnivores, so you have to make sure that the source of the meat is totally safe, which is not always the case...

avo · Post by **avo** » Sat 27 May 2006 04:06

Fresh caught game or fish would be best. Otherwise, some high-quality raw meat (preferably organs) purchased at a store, along with eggs and a small variety of fruit/veg, would be nearly optimal.

huntress · Post by **huntress** » Sat 27 May 2006 04:09

I've seen websites warning the danger of this, mainly because the meat that you feed your pets can possibly contain deadly parasites.

And humans don't?

Cairidh · Post by **Cairidh** » Sat 27 May 2006 04:41

Yep humans contain parasites too, that's why you should never feed your pets humans.

johndela1 · Post by **johndela1** » Sat 27 May 2006 07:01

haha

anyways... I don't think dogs have issues with things like we do. I give my dogs raw chicken (whole pieces) and they never have got sick. The raw bones seem not to break the same as cooked bones.

I don't think dogs are affected by e coli and the like. I've seen my dog hide meat then I find her chewing on a rotting piece after digging it up... It is gross, but has never made her sick. I've read that they have high enough acid levels in their stomach to kill things that would make us sick. Makes me think that if we are carnivours (like many people say) then we should be this way, too... maybe not.

Post by **Oscar** » Sat 27 May 2006 11:46

Cairidh wrote:Yep humans contain parasites too, that's why you should never feed your pets humans.

LOL!

I'm wondering about the whole parasite issue. In the wild, so to speak, we must've had the same parasites in our food, no? So wouldn't a healthy body be capable of dealing with them?

I'm not sure if dogs need to eat anything else, so raw meat, fish, and possibly eggs would do, I suppose.

avalon · Post by **avalon** » Sat 27 May 2006 15:48

Chin-Chin:

I understand that you want to do the best for your dog, but dogs are carnivores, so you have to make sure that the source of the meat is totally safe, which is not always the case...

That's it, I''m moving my cat to France!!!

avalon · Post by **avalon** » Sat 27 May 2006 16:01

Oscar:

I'm wondering about the whole parsite issue. In the wild, so to speak, we must've had the same parasites in our food, no? So wouldn't a healthy body be capable of dealing with them?

We'll see

as I continue to eat raw fish and beef

.

Who can one believe? The Raw Animal Fooders? The warnings against eating raw fish? Or Eggs raw? Anyone who eats raw fish or beef or egg yolks are explorers in some fashion. We ARE pushing the Human Fuel boundries as is known by a large part of the world.

It can be a little frightening and yet exhilarating. The twinge of adrenaline when I made my first Steak Tartar! Or when I tried sushi for the very first time. Or my first YOLK! Taboo!

We could be burned at the steak! Oh no! Cooking

again.

Post by **Oscar** » Sat 27 May 2006 16:17

avalon wrote:We could be burned at the steak! Oh no! Cooking again.

LOL nice one!

avalon · Post by **avalon** » Sat 27 May 2006 16:58

I think I stole that from somewhere on the forum...

Maybe I stole it from myself

YouTube · Post by **RRM** » Sat 27 May 2006 19:56

Cairidh wrote:I used to give my dogs raw meat and meaty bones then one day one dog choked quite badly, and wouldnt eat for a few days after because he was so scared, so we stopped with that altogether.

Wouldnt it be more appropriate to stop giving the dogs bones that they can choke on, instead of stop giving them raw meat???

It made them a bit savage I think.

You really believe this?
Or did you witness that they really liked the raw meat?

I know the websites say it doesn't bring out their "killer instincts" and thats a myth, but with my dogs, it did.

What did they do, attack you?

Oscar wrote:I'm not sure if dogs need to eat anything else, so raw meat, fish, and possibly eggs would do, I suppose.

Yes. Wai's dog (who was born on 9-11) does perfectly well on a diet of raw beef (about 1 kg / day), raw ox heart and occasionally big bones, raw chicken and egg yolks.
He's very healthy, muscular, strong and agile, listens extremely well and is very sweet for cats (he thinks his mother is a small black cat; they wash eachother daily), very tolerant regarding children and aggressive small dogs, and is also very protective.
In my eyes he's 'the perfect dog'.

My parents also gave our dogs raw meat and egg yolks (they were healthy), and said that this used to be normal.

Bambi726 · Post by **Bambi726** » Sat 27 May 2006 23:14

I just got two female kittens 2½ weeks ago, and am feeding them a raw chicken diet along with raw goat's milk, as they were way too young (they were about 4½ weeks when we got them) to stop nursing - the lady we got them from said the mother stopped nursing them.

My local pet food store sells an organic, free-range chicken raw frozen cat and dog food sold in 3-lb bags, which makes it very easy to feed raw. They come in little medallions. It's Nature's Variety. I would like to eventually make my own, though, as is detailed at this really great site: www.catnutrition.org. I put a little bit of salmon oil on top of their food every once in a while, too, to add a little more fatty acids. If you feed only raw fish to cats, they can develop thiamine deficiency, as many fish contain thiaminase which blocks thiamine absorption in cats.

From what I've read, it is very important for cats and dogs that they be fed bone as well as meat because the ratio of calcium:phosphorus needs to be balanced, and the bone provides calcium, and the meat phosphorus.
For cats, who are obligate carnivores, taurine is an essential amino acid, so if you don't supplement with taurine, feed quite a bit of the heart organ, as it is rich in taurine.

Dogs can do well with some veggies/fruits/grains in their diets, though I wouldn't feed them very much. I think it is figured that they would get some of those plant foods from the digestive tracts of the herbavores that they consume, as well as maybe find some while scavenging - our dogs ate apples in our orchard all the time when I was growing up. Cats don't need the fruits/veggies, and especially grains, if you don't want to give any. All of that information is just from different things that I've read online - obviously you can/should do your own research, too.

When we first got our kittens, they both had diarrhea and cried when they went to the bathroom.

Now they have very healthy bowel movements, less of them, and they don't smell nearly as much. The sweeties are growing up happy and strong and have a lot of energy (sometimes unfortunate at three in the morning...

) Aww, they're really cute! I definately recommend going raw for your pets.

~Amber