Home Made Food V Raw Food The Difference??

[Nikknoo]

Hi,

so I'm having on going problems with Ghost she has zrd & dermatitis mites (that was inherited from her mother) she's a rescue dog and she came with all manner of problems- my vet has now taken a biopsy to determine if she has an underlying immune system problem.

So she started losing weight with a recent infection on her paws but since the antibiotics her appetite has really come back. She still won't touch kibble thou, so this past week we have been feeding her a cooked meat (beef or maybe a sausage) with potatoes , peas and spinach, which she loves, it's a bit time consuming but cheaper then kibble, I worry that she's not getting enough vitamins from this thou. I alternate the meat type depending on what's on offer and thought about trying her with some lamb liver over the weekend for a change.

I read the raw food post and it seems really confusing, time consuming and I was horrified to see that it includes bones!!! Ghost can't eat chicken as it gives her the runs & so I feel we're a bit limited there. I am always concerned about giving her raw meat from the super market as I worry about the bacteria of uncooked meat. Am I being really naive!!

In my local pet store they do frozen container of raw meat mix - if I got that would I need to include all the other extras of offal & bones or is it all included?

I really don't mind cooking her a batch of potatoes and veg everyday to add to some meat but do you think that this diet is sufficient?

At last weigh she was 14.9kg and she's just turned 1 year, she is petite all over thou and in proportion!

Thanks in advance xx

Sorry meant to add - she has rawhide treat everyday too

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

raw meat including bones is fine (the bones are soft so dont break like cooked ones) the acid in the dogs stomach kills off any bacteria so wont make them ill like it would with us 

 

however if u dont mind cooking for her and it helps i don't see the problem , Blaze wont eat any meat unless its cooked , has been that way for years and he is absolutely fine with it , you also dont have to include bones if  you dont want to , blaze wont eat them either lol 

 

i do get the frozen meat from the pet shop and give skyla and bings that (blaze wont eat it lol) they have it straight from the freezer with nothing else and they love it  

[NOBELHOWLUC49]

Ghost is a lovely little girl.   Glad to hear she is a bit better.  Hope the results come back negative or would this be a good result so you can treat it????? . She is lucky to have been given a home by you. 

[Jase]

Frozen raw BARF meals will have the crushed bones necessary. Looking at the previous meal examples you prepared I would be concerned about missing some nutrients especially calcium. You can make up your own raw food meals and just use soft bones like neck and ribs in a blender to make them easy to digest. There are some good supplements like Missing Link among others that will help in ensuring that nothing is missing from the diet. There is an excellent supplement call Augustine Approved SuperBoost - it is Australian but they do free worldwide shipping for bulk orders and I imagine some charge to sent the smaller jars. http://www.augustineapproved.com.au

 

also have a look at this supplement that comes highly recommended

 

http://www.greenpet.com.au/products/GREENPET-VITAGEST-SUPPLEMENT-250g.html

 

There are many good cooked recipes available online so do a bit of a google to find one that is going to suit Ghosts conditions. Sometimes cooked meals are necessary for certain conditions. 

 

Adding probiotics to meals will be excellent in boosting immunity - just note that mixing in a warm meal will kill the "good bacteria"

[Maz51]

Just read this thread..

How is Ghost now?

In the several hundred rescued dogs, cats, in Far East, which my mum had, (we also had orang utans - 48 over 8 years) and many other species to the menagerie, many dogs showed upset digestion when they arrived and skin conditions, usually always due to malnutrition. We had 5000 laying hens.

No fresh milk.

So, plenty of white meat and eggs - ie raw protein. Lactogen milk in powdered form - mix to formula for infants then adjust to older toddlers/children.

Mum would start on a very basic diet..cooked chicken, veg and rice in small quantities.

Of course we didn't know then cats and dogs don't have an enzyme to break down lactose but, they got this two/three times a day with broken raw egg mixed in either the milk or food in SMALL portions - & plenty of water - in smaller portions when on three meals a day - puppies were on four to five meals getting a small mug full max.

They were all wormed over during first three weeks; stools checked to see that tapeworm and others were being passed and faecal matter was put into a large purpose built deep hole and covered with a layer of lime or something (kept flies off from laying eggs -> maggots -> flies within three days in tropical humidity!

They would be muzzled and thoroughly washed all over in a flea/mite/tick treatment and any ticks removed and rinsed off; ears treated with something if necessary for up to ten days, everyday.

Any sores had to be powder treated (I think antibiotic dusting) also to keep flies off from laying eggs!

Mum felt that 7-10 days on plain diet would settle a fickle stomach and in 99.9% of cases this did.

We didn't have the multiple choices of dog food - canned stuff yes - some, but dogs in the wild will hunt and catch small mice, rats, cats even, and will dig for root vegetables.

They also got scraps left over from our food table.

Eventually they would sample raw chicken carcases - never cooked ones.

Keeping it very simple, nutritious with protein always seemed to work. Never had any fat dogs.

They were good guard dogs and worked well together, and lived outside using the verandah upstairs when it rained or sleeping inside open sided covered garages/stores but separately to the dozen+ geese we also had who were also damn good alarm/guard dogs and kept snakes away too.

Good luck...hope you sort Ghost out...one try at a time. ☺

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[Clare70]

Hi.  Just a thought but giving her a rawhide treat everyday maybe filling her up and making her less likely to want to eat kibble.  I personally would only give one a week, see if it makes a difference.