Raw Food? Are you serious? By Maryellen Errigo

Posted by: Dave@HDDCo  |  02-16-10  |  There are (1) Comments

For those of you that don’t want to feed a commercial kibble/canned to your dogs/cats, there is always raw food.  Some folks think, “Oh gross, raw food!  Won’t my dog get salmonella poisoning?  How can this be good for them?”  Since dogs/cats have been eating commercial kibble/canned for generations now, feeding a healthy raw diet sounds a little weird.

There are numerous raw/whole prey groups on http://www.yahoo.com, just type in “raw” or “barf” and your area and it will bring up a list of groups that feed a raw diet.  Some groups still feed vegetables in raw, some don’t.  You have to find the group that works for you.  Everyone has their own opinion on raw diets, so see what works for your pet and go from there. 

Normally on a raw diet you don’t have to supplement.  Some folks do; it’s all up to your personal preference. Some good supplements are salmon oil, manuka honey, raw honey from farmers, virgin coconut oil, and vitamins.

Normally dogs are fed anywhere from 1-2% of their body weight when you start out.  Puppies need more since they are growing, and must get the proper calcium/phosphorus ratio to help growing joints.  Most people start out with either chicken or turkey, and feed that for a few weeks then start adding different meats in.  Some options include beef, bison, venison, pork, emu, ostrich, rabbit, etc.  Organs are VERY important, as they contain numerous vitamins the dogs/cats will need.  If you don’t like handling hearts (which is a muscle meat) or liver or kidneys you can always buy ground up organs from pre-made raw distributors (list is below).  Tripe is an essential part of the raw diet—- green tripe, not the white bleached tripe you get at the supermarket.  Green Tripe can be found at http://www.greentripe.com.

Bones are very important as well, as they provide the calcium needed.  If you don’t want to feed bones you can feed raw eggs with the shells, or go out and buy bone meal powder and add that to the food.

Can dogs/cats get salmonella?  Possibly.  Most animals’ stomachs are tougher than humans’, and their digestive tract handles bacteria differently then ours.  Proper handling of raw food for humans is a must.  Wipe down areas with distilled white vinegar and always wash dog/cat bowls after every meal. 

Dogs/cats on a proper raw diet retain more of the nutrients then on kibble/canned, so your pet’s output (poops) will be considerably less than when on kibble.

Too much bone = hard white poops.  Too little bone = loose poops.  Just the right amount of bone = good solid small firm poops.

Most dogs can handle raw fine and don’t have any issues, but there are some dogs that can’t (my Ruby can’t handle raw.  Her kidney functions go thru the roof).  Make sure you do blood work before you start raw and then again while on it to monitor the organ functions to make sure your pet can handle a raw diet.  It’s not the end of the world if your pet can’t handle a raw diet, as you can either home cook for them or find a good quality kibble that agrees with them.

If you do decide to go raw, try to find a Co-op in your area to buy meats from as that will save you a ton of money.  Get a stand alone freezer, or a chest freezer.  When you buy from a Co-Op you buy in bulk to get the cheapest deals, so you will need a space to store a hundred pounds of meat or more.  Contact hunters too, and see if during hunting season you can score some venison or other game meats.

Here is a compiled list of books, websites, etc. for those wanting to go to BARF diets with their dogs. Since the melamine scare in dry dog food last year some folks have switched to a natural raw diet.  My crew has been eating raw for over 4 years now, and their health is proof it does work:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/illonahaus/sets/872344/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rottnbully/sets/72057594091327450/show/

Websites:
http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm
http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html
http://www.sundaysaver.com/

Books:
The BARF Diet by Ian Billinghurst, DVM
Home-Prepared Dog & Cat Diets: the Healthful Alternative
by Donald R. Strombeck
Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats by Kymythy Schultze
Work Wonders by Tom Lonsdale, DVM
The Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog by Wendy Volhard
Switching To Raw by Susan K. Johnson
The New Natural Cat by Anitra Frazier
Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats by Richard Pitcairn, DVM and Susan Hubble Pitcarin
The Complete Herbal Handbook for the Dog and Cat by Juliette de Bairacli Levy
Raw Dog Food by Carina Beth McDonald

Articles:
What’s Best, Cooked or Raw?
Do Dogs and Cats Need Grains?
The Importance of Feeding a Natural Diet
Natural Diet for Dogs and Cats by Jeff Levy DVM
Why Raw?
Is A Raw Diet Dangerous? by Dr. Wysong
Why Cats Shouldn’t Eat Dry Food

Raw Diet Lists:
The RawFeeding List (The biggest raw diet list - Start here if new to raw)
The RawDiet List
The RawPaws List
The RawChat List
The BARFWorld List (Hosted by veterinarian, Dr. Ian Billinghurst)
The advBARF List (For advanced discussions - no beginners, please)
The Basic Raw List (The Lonsdale/whole carcass approach)
The BARFLite List (for those who feed cooked meat or kibble in addition to raw)

General Health Lists:
WellPet (The original pet health list)
The NaturalPet List
The HolisticPet List
The Pets4Homeopathy List

Canine Lists:
The K9NutritionStudyGroup List
The RawPup List (Great for learning to feed puppies raw)
The RawBreeder List
The NaturalRawDog List
The SeniorRawFeeding List

BARF websites & books:
http://www.barfworld.com/
http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm
http://www.barfers.com/
http://www.rawdogranch.com/
http://www.angelfire.com/biz/fro…awFed.html
http://www.b-naturals.com/default.php
http://www.ipindex.com/
http://www.caberfeidh.com/index.htm
http://www.bowchow.com/
http://www.forums.doghobbyist.com/fo…p?catid=29
http://www.rawfeddogs.net/
http://rawfed.com/
http://www.rawlearning.com/

Premade raw:
http://www.omaspride.com
http://www.bravodiet.com
http://www.naturesvariety.com
http://www.primalpetfoods.com
http://www.barfproducts.com
http://www.amorepetfoods.com
http://pepperdogz.com
http://www.thehonestkitchen.com

What’s in your dog food? By Maryellen Errigo

Posted by: Dave@HDDCo  |  02-11-10  |  There are (1) Comments

This is a common question most people do not even think about asking.  Most folks will buy their dog food at the grocery store, since its convenient and cheap.  What they don’t realize is that just because the food is cheap doesn’t mean it’s good for their dog and they don’t realize they go through more dog food from the grocery store then buying a better quality dog food at a pet store. Better quality dog foods equal less intake and the dog’s body absorbs more of the nutrients so the output is less as well.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com is a great place to start to understand what is in dog food, and to read the labels on the bags they get at the grocery store. Corn, wheat, rice, beet pulp,  and other grains do nothing but fill up the dog as they are fillers. Beet pulp makes the stool firm when the dog poops.. 

Here is one grocery store dog food’s ingredients:

corn, soybean meal, beef and bone meal, ground wheat flour, animal fat (bha used as preservative), corn syrup, wheat middlings, water sufficient for processing, animal digest (source of chicken flavor), propylene glycol, salt, hydrochloric acid, potassium chloride, caramel color, sorbic acid (used as a preservative), sodium carbonate, minerals (ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, manganous oxide, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite), choline chloride, vitamins (vitamin E supplement, vitamin A supplement, niacin supplement, D-calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement), calcium sulfate, titanium dioxide, yellow 5, yellow 6, red 40, BHA (used as a preservative), dl methionine

Prices at grocery stores for this type of dog food is around $15 for a bag, but you go thru more bags in a month then you will with a higher quality dog food.

Now here is a dog food sold at Tractor Supply:

Bison, venison, lamb meal, chicken meal, egg product, sweet potatoes, peas, potatoes, canola oil, roasted bison, roasted venison, natural flavor, tomato pomace, ocean fish meal, salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, dried fermentation products of Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus plantarum, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

Notice the difference in ingredients, in the grocery dog food bag the first two ingredients are corn and soybean meal.  Where as the dog food at Tractor Supply has bison and venison as their first two ingredients. The price of the TOTW dog food at Tractor Supply is around a dollar a pound but you feed less as it’s a higher quality food. A 30 lb bag runs around $30 and lasts a lot longer as you are feeding less as it’s a higher quality food.

For those that want the best for their dog, research is the best key.  At http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com they rate every dog food out there, and show the ingredients.. 

To make the transition from one kibble to another the best way to do it is to slowly add the new food to the old food over a course of 2 weeks to a month , so that by the time the dog is on the new food his stomach has had time to digest the higher quality food.

Now some dogs do not do well on higher quality dog food, so you have to shop around for the right food..  By reading the ingredients and taking your time you should be able to find the right food for your dog.

Some better quality dog foods are:

Taste of the Wild
Canidae
Merrick
California Natural
Innova
EVO
Wellness
4HealthyPet
Solid Gold
Chicken Soup for the Dog lovers Soul