LoveMyGrey Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 I am thinking of switching my 4 year old girl to raw or dehydrated food. There seem to be a lot of options now so I'm curious what you feed your pup and, if raw, how much do you feed a day? Having never fed raw and with no directions I want to make sure I feed the proper amount. I see The Honest Kitchen makes a dehydrated meal base that you just add protein, has anyone tried this? It seems like a good option to make sure she gets all the vitamins and minerals she needs. Is there any protein I should not feed? I'm guessing beef would probably be the cheapest one but I am open to options! Thanks for your advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mofish Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Hello! We fed our boy Sojos (dehydrated) for a few weeks and he did well on it, but it always seemed soupy, and we didnt always have the time to let it sit and rehydrate. We dont feed him beef as he (and others) seem to have a hard time on beef formulas. We feed him Fresh Pet now, and have been since May, and he does marvelously on it. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racindog Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 (edited) I have fed raw for years because from the first time I tried it I observed significantly better overall health in my dogs. If you are in the delivery area for https://www.mypetcarnivore.com/ I would suggest just using them. They are good people; high quality; genuinely care about the food they are providing; and the cheapest and the easiest to obtain. The meals come already properly balanced (bone, muscle, organ etc) in tubs and it is very easy to just thaw and scoop it out and then feed. In general a dog should eat about 2 1/2% of his body weight give or take so that is a good starting point to find out what works for your dog. You want to vary the protein source- do NOT feed the same meat e.g. beef all the time or you can create problems. On the other hand do not feed ALL the different protein sources either-save one or two out just in case you may need it later. They have many different kinds of meat available so that shouldn't be a problem. I would start with beef or turkey and then go from there with regards to what your dog likes. My greyhound Octane has always eaten anything and everything I give him except for rabbit! That is the only thing in the whole world he won't eat hehe. If you call MPC I am sure they would be happy to suggest a beginning menu for you that would be balanced and work well. And yes I have fed The Honest Kitchen meals before. The dogs like it and it is high quality but IMO it still is not as good as raw for them AND I have concern about how eating that gruel/mush that it makes after adding the water would affect their teeth particularly over time so I only have used it for an occasional quick easy meal for travel or something. The raw clearly helps keep their teeth cleaner than other rations IMO. And honestly for me Honest Kitchen is more expensive I believe than the raw. Edited January 23, 2019 by racindog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormnw Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Hi there - I feed the Honest Kitchen base mix to my 2 1/2 year old 74 lb grey. Switched him from the kibble the adoption group was feeding about 4 months ago and he's done pretty well on it. Flatulence is gone completely, and his coat is in great shape and he is always, always eager for food time and eats all of it. I rotate proteins (turkey, chicken, beef) and bulk prepare 10-14 days at a time and freeze/thaw as needed. Our house is pretty busy some days so that makes sure we've got food ready to go for him regardless if work or other needs come up unexpectedly. One thing I've read to watch out for is fat content in meat -- try to stay above 90% if you can. I've found chicken to be the least-expensive (I buy meat in bulk at Costco). Ratio I've landed on is 1 1/2 cups of the dry mix per day, prepared mostly per the directions. I tend to use a little less water and will err on the side of a little more meat. Cost-wise I've found it to be cheaper than delivery/prepared raw, but more expensive than DIY raw. I may at some point break down and buy a meat grinder and start making his food from scratch, but just haven't found the time/cost needed for that make sense yet. I also echo the teeth concerns raised by racindog -- to mitigate that I give him dental chews every day, bully sticks a couple times a week, and brush his teeth every day. Seems to be doing the trick. We also live in an apartment, so it's not super practical for us to give raw meaty bones without it making a mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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