MY VET IS STRONGLY OPPOSED TO RAW FEEDING, WHAT DO I DO?
Unfortunately majority of vets will not recommend you feed your animals their natural raw diet. Vets learn very little about dog and cat nutrition at university and most of their training comes from presentations from commercial pet food company representatives. Your vet receives a healthy incentive from commercial pet food companies to promote and sell their product.
It is helpful if you can find a local vet who is willing to discuss feeding options with you but if you can't, don't panic. I don't know about you but I don't hang on every word and pop every pill my local General Practitioner discusses. I always use it as a guide and do what my instinct tells me to do. As the pack leader your pets rely on you to do the research and offer the very best nutrition to them. After all if you feed an all natural raw food diet you will have healthy pets requiring very little veterinary intervention anyway.
I HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH TO FEED MY PETS.
Think about how active your dog is and what their metabolic rate is like. Just like people some dogs eat a lot and remain slim while others gain weight on very little food. My 20kg English Staffordshire Bull Terrier will have a chicken frame OR 3 - 4 chicken necks OR 2 - 3 chicken wings OR a lamb neck OR 1 turkey neck etc for breakfast and one portion BARF serve (170gm) for dinner. I constantly monitor him as I do not want him too heavy. If I can run my fingers along his sides and feel his ribs and he has a waist I am happy. I find that his dietary requirements change with the seasons and in winter he needs more food to burn just to keep warm.
I feed my cat a chicken neck OR wing OR quail for breakfast and one portion BARF serve (170gm) for dinner. Again I juggle the quantity depending on her condition.
A pregnant bitch or puppy will require a lot more food than an old adult dog. If your pet is losing condition, feed it more, if it is putting on weight feed it less. It really is common sense, very easy and not half as daunting as it may first appear.
I HAVE HEARD BACTERIA IN RAW FOOD, PARTICULARLY CHICKEN IS HARMFUL.
Bacteria is everywhere and if you use common sense when handling raw meat you should not have a problem. I keep my pets raw food, preparation utensils, bowls etc separate from my own, wash my hands thoroughly and clean up with a water and white vinegar solution.
Dogs and cats actually require bacteria to maintain a healthy immune system. In all the years I have fed raw food to my animals I have never had an issue with bacterial related infections.
AREN'T BONES DANGEROUS, ESPECIALLY CHICKEN BONES?
Yes, COOKED bones are very dangerous. NEVER feed your animals COOKED bones. Cooking changes the whole composition of the bone and makes it very splintery. I have heard of a dog haemorrhaging to death as cooked chicken bones ruptured its intestinal wall.
On the other hand RAW chicken bones are brilliant for your dogs and cats. RAW chicken bones are soft and easily digested. A chicken wing holds the perfect meat to bone ratio. I feed a great deal of chicken frames, necks and wings. I personally do not feed the large hard dinosaur bones very often as they are hard and can cause tooth wear and breakage.
The only RAW bone I have ever had a problem with was a small piece of ox tail that my dog swallowed whole and naturally regurgitated it back up.
NEVER feed COOKED bones of ANY kind to your pets.
WHAT ABOUT SUPPLEMENTS?
In my opinion if you feed a good variety of raw meaty bones and a BARF portion or roll, adding more supplements will be a waste of time and money.
Dogs particularly love ripe raw fruit and the micronutrients and anti-oxidants in fruit will definitely do your pets no harm. Vegetables are a great source of fibre, enzymes and necessary vitamins such as the B group vitamins, vitamin C, A, E and K. I do not believe dogs or cats require copious amounts of fruits and vegetables but a small amount added to the diet, as in the BARF portions or roll, is most beneficial to the health of your pets.
MY DOG IS VERY GREEDY AND EATS VERY FAST, WILL HE CHOKE?
Animals that have been fed on commercial food will not be familiar with chewing their food and this is something that they will naturally learn. I would encourage you to be careful and if you have a greedy dog make sure you feed large bones that cannot be consumed without chewing. Chewing has many health benefits and is very important for a dog.
Monitor the greedy dog and offer large portions of bones so the animal is forced to chew its food.
CAN I FEED MY PREGNANT BITCH ON RAW FOOD?
When looking to purchase my Staffordshire Bull Terrier I made sure the breeder fed raw natural food as I had educated myself on the massive health benefits of a raw natural diet to the mother and growing puppies.
A pregnant bitch will consume a huge amount of food as she has little ones inside her to grow but an all raw natural diet is by far the very best way to feed a pregnant dog or cat.
WHAT ABOUT MY PUPPY, SHOULD I FEED HIM RAW FOOD?
Definitely! Commercial pet food companies have tried to make feeding your pets complicated and given people the misconceived idea that dogs and cats should be fed differently according to a certain age or stage of life. Dogs and cats actually can be fed the same throughout their whole life, the quantities will differ according to the different stages but that is all. I would never feed calcium supplements to my puppy as they are unnecessary and can actually be the cause of bone problems later on. Chicken wings are a wonderful source of calcium and your puppy will grow brilliantly if you offer bones as the bulk (60% - 80%) of his diet.
Grow your puppy slowly, do not allow your puppy to be overweight and allow his exercise to be play. Long, boring, tedious walks are not good for a puppy's growing bone frame. However, when left to play your puppy is the best judge of when he needs to rest and sleep - when he becomes exhausted.
One last thing. I am not a big fan of cow's milk and if you absolutely have to feed milk of any kind I would offer goat's milk. Many dogs and cats cannot cope with the lactose in cow's milk and you may find it will go straight through them.
WHY DO PEOPLE FEED THEIR PETS COMMERCIAL FOOD?
Unfortunately, nowadays that is the way it is. When you think of dog food the first thing that pops into your mind is PAL or Chum, and what about cat food, Whiskas, Snappy Tom or Kitty Kat. Commercial pet food companies have monopolized the market and use advertising campaigns that sponsor dog shows and are promoted by veterinarians.Commercial pet food companies have made feeding our pets appear so difficult that a scientific degree is required to do it properly and people are really worried they will get it all wrong.
They have especially scientifically formulated COMPLETELY BALANCED food for growing puppies, active pets, old pets, thin pets, overweight pets, arthritic pets, pets with skin disorders, indoor cats and cats with fur balls, special food specific to Greyhounds, German Shepherds, Great Danes and the list goes on. So not only do we not have to worry about our pets getting a so called 'balanced diet' it is all so very conveniently packaged to last forever at the back of the cupboard with a recommended feeding guide on the back!
