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Raw Feeding Basics


Guest greyhound9797

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Guest Swifthounds

Does anyone know how to correlate the weight of freeze dried liver to raw liver? In other words, if the goal is 6 oz of raw liver, how much freeze dried would that be (given that freeze dried seems to be essentially weightless :lol )

 

Beef liver is about 70% water, so freeze dried would weigh around 3/10 of the same amount raw.

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How many treats does he get per day?

 

Was Diesel too thin at 77 pounds and that's why you're feeding 2.5% of 80 pounds as an ideal weight? As with anything, if you give too much then scale back. Nothing about the raw diet is set in stone, it's ALL flexible based on your dogs needs.

 

You're feeding way, and I mean WAY, too much bone. 2 lbs = 32 ounces. If he is to get 10% edible bone then he should only be getting 3.2 ounces of bone per day and you're feeding 4 times that! I'm surprised that he's gained weight with that much bone and such little meat and that his stools are fine. I would increase the meat and decrease the bone gradually, say over 4-5 days or so.

 

Sandra

 

Diesel gets the majority of his treats on Monday - I take him to Agility training, 2 ounces of home cooked liver treats (I weighed them before last training session). I used to use the dehydrated store bought one's, but they were so dry he'd end up choking on them. The rest of the week we probably only go through 1/4 to 1/2 oz daily - we do 2 to 3 short (10 minute) training sessions.

 

Diesel is underweight - he's had a hard time this past year, last September he had Haemorrhagic Gastroenteritis, in the span of 3 days he lost 7 lb. He was stabilized by my veterinarians, but they were unable to determine why he kept losing weight and why he suddenly developed an arrhythmia (180 beats per minute, only 90 pulses). We were sent to the Veterinary College to see Dr. Cote (heart specialist) approximately 1 week later (Dr. Cote was away the week Diesel became ill). Diesel's arrhythmia had cleared by the time we got to see Dr. Cote, but he had now lost 15 lb. He was so thin that you could easily count every rib, and his shoulder and hip bones were sticking out. We followed Dr. Cote's recommendation to treat Diesel with an anti-parasitic medication to see if that stopped the weight loss (blood work showed low albumin and globulin (proteins) which indicated possible parasitic infection) Multiple fecal samples had shown no evidence of parasites. Thankfully the weight loss stabilized and he started to gain some back. He became sick again with HGE in March. He didn't lose as much weight this time, I requested that we follow Dr. Cote's recommendation to treat with Panacur that day, so only 4 lb. lost. I now de-worm monthly to kill the mystery parasite that keeps making him so sick.

 

Thanks for clearing up my confusion over bone - I was originally following a meal plan that involved 2 "bone" meals per week, and the rest meat meals. I found Diesel's stool much too hard after "bone days" they were very dry, brittle and yellow. So I tried mixing the meals together, but it looks like I went a little to heavy on bone.

 

Thanks for your help!

Tina & Diesel

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Guest Swifthounds

thanks! that's a lot of freeze dried liver, but it's about the only way Fletcher will eat it :rolleyes:

 

It won't be if you're occasionally substituting dried liver for fresh raw. Liver should be not more than 3-7% (average of 5%) of the dog's diet. With the water removed, if the amount of raw liver would be 1 pound, the amount of dried liver would be just over 4 ounces. Sure, if you're buying dried liver that's more expensive, but it's not a lot of liver.

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Guest greyhound9797

Thanks for your help!

Tina & Diesel

Wow, Tina, poor Diesel! It sounds like he's been through a lot but you've found something that works for him. Best wishes to him on staying healthy and to both of you on feeding raw. I bet he loves you even more for it :colgate

 

Sandra

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  • 2 months later...
Guest greysmitten

Wow. What a wealth of information. I'll have to take a lot of time to work through it all. In the meantime, would someone be so kind as to answer a few pointed questions for me? Here's a little blurb about my girl:

 

I've had my Grey since April of this year. We've tried a couple of commercial dry foods since then.

 

My girl's digestive system has always been very sensitive - any stray from her kibble (including one simple dry "healthy" treat) will inevitably cause gas and often diarrhea. It's quite dramatic. I gave her a chicken neck/back a while ago and she had horrible diarrhea for a whole day and night.

 

She has been through a course of anti-parasitic medication recently with no effect on her bowels. She will be seeing the vet this coming week and will be having a fecal test done.

 

My questions for you are:

1) Can a raw food diet totally backfire - especially at first - with my girl's system? Should I expect diarrhea galore?

2) Once I rule out any type of worm or other digestive condition, would considering the BARF diet or home cooking be a good next step?

 

I would so appreciate your insight on this ... feeling a little frustrated for my Grey as I hate to see her suffer through these bouts every now and then.

 

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,

mikey

 

Edit: Thought I'd mention .. Azi is otherwise very healthy - energy level is good, coat is shiny, skin is normal.

Edited by greysmitten
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Guest greyhound9797

I've had my Grey since April of this year. We've tried a couple of commercial dry foods since then.

 

My girl's digestive system has always been very sensitive - any stray from her kibble (including one simple dry "healthy" treat) will inevitably cause gas and often diarrhea. It's quite dramatic. I gave her a chicken neck/back a while ago and she had horrible diarrhea for a whole day and night.

I'm sorry that your grey is so sensitive. I've been lucky in that I switched both of my dogs cold turkey with no problems except for a little vomiting of bile and bits of bone.

 

 

My questions for you are:

1) Can a raw food diet totally backfire - especially at first - with my girl's system? Should I expect diarrhea galore?

It's not that it would backfire per say; like Weight Watchers or the Atkins Diet, the raw diet is a lifestyle change that provides long term health benefits. Is it possible that your pup will have diarrhea for 2 days? Yes, but even dogs who don't have "sensitive stomachs" can have diarrhea or vomiting when changing their diet.

 

I still think it's a good idea to give it a try but would do so during a time period that you'll be home so if she needs to go outside you'll be there for her. If she has stomach upset it doesn't mean that she won't take to her new food, it's simply just an adjustment period, just like giving a treat that doesn't agree with her. Hopefully there are other sensitive stomach parents out there who have switched and can share their experience.

 

 

2) Once I rule out any type of worm or other digestive condition, would considering the BARF diet or home cooking be a good next step?

Well, this thread is about the raw diet, not barf or home cooking, but I believe anything is better than commercial food. The BARF diet typically incorporates fruits, veggies, maybe some dairy and home cooking is just that...buying meats, veggies, etc and cooking it. Even if there IS a worm or digestive condition causing the problem I would still switch.

 

Mikey, let us know how things go with your girl.

 

Sandra in FL

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  • 11 months later...
Guest newgreymama

Going to resurrect this thread to ask a couple of questions.

 

Our new addition Boaz (used to be Toby, we changed it) has seizures and may have hypothyroidism--would a raw diet change in any way bcs of these conditions (i.e. would we need to add any supplements to his meals?)

 

I read the entire thread, it really does seem quite easy to switch, was wondering though, once you start a new protein, like organ, one post suggested giving just a small amount to be sure it wasn't too rich and was well tolerated by your dog. I assume this is to be fed with another protein that day, bcs surely my 92 lb dog would not be full with just a tablespoon of organ meat and come looking for the rest of his meal. lol

 

Glad to see I don't have to supplement the diet. We have avoided BARF bcs every article I read about it seems to insinuate that feeding only meat isn't enough nutrition wise, and therefore if you don't add a multitude of supplements, something catastrophic will happen to your dog. I was always afraid to try it because I don't have a lot of time to precisely measure each meal, kwim?

 

thanks for all the info, it has been very valuable!

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