Re: [pyrnet] Raw Food

["Tracy" <espinay@bigpond.com>]

 << Do you feed only raw or do you also feed kibble?>>

All raw.  I used to feed a combination of raw and kibble way back when but
haven't done so for years.  I remember when I finally got rid of it.  The
first few weeks it was a real feeling of insecurity "oh my god I have no DOG
FOOD!" (didn't phase the dogs at all of course) <vbg>.  Didnt take long to
retrain myself though and since then I have never given it a second thought.

<<My biggest concern, if you can call it that, is that since I don't eat
meat  myself, I don't even want to deal with it.>>

There are quite a lot of vegetarians who feed raw.  As they are interested
in a healthy whole foods diet for themselves they want the same for their
dogs.  They also recognise that owning carnivores as pets obliges a person
to feed them as such - to follow what nature intended for them as the
healthiest diet.  I have seen folks deal with this in many ways.  One is to
give thanks to the animals providing the food (and fulfilling that 'circle
of life'), others feed  parts 'ready to go' at first so they don't have to
do much preparing - with large dogs this is easy as you want to feed large
pieces anyway. And if you dont like handling things like liver, use chicken
livers and similar which are small and dont require chopping up), wearing
disposable gloves or using tongs when handling meat is another tip for the
vegetarian squeamish.  Get yourself a separate cutting board and a good set
of kitchen shears.  The right tools make things easier.  It is interesting
though that many vegetarians who never thought they could do it find
themselves doing more and more and becoming les and less squeamish with
time.

<<I've found some websites that sell pre-made raw diets in the form of
frozen patties or even freeze dried meals.>>

Definitely more expensive and for a big dog not really economical except for
short term.  Ground up foods also don't provide any chewing action and wont
keep the teeth and gums healthy in the same way whole pieces will.

<<Do you do all the grinding and mixing?  Or do you just feed whole parts>>

Mostly whole parts.  Feeding whole parts is easier - less preparation on
your part!  Usually I can find the following - some as occasional and some
more often:  Chicken frames, thich pieces or quarters or whole chickens if
on special (usually cut in half for a meal if they are big), turkey necks,
turkey frames, lamb necks or ribs/flaps, pork necks, hocks or feet, whole
rabbit, oxtails, beef brisket bones and ribs, duck frames or whole ducks cut
in half or quartered, kangaroo tails.  Then there is kidney, liver and heart
from an assortment of animals, beef and lamb toung, and beef and kangaroo
meat chunks. They also get eggs, canned or raw fish, and leftover healthy
table scraps of things like veggies.

<< Do you give supplements or vitamins?  >>

The only thing I supplement with in any regularity is fish oil capsules.
Any other supplements I provide are to address specific issues (eg
glucosamine for arthritis etc)

<<Any links or book reccommendations would also be appreciated.>>

We would love to see you on our rawpyrs list where we can discuss things in
more detail : www.yahoogroups.com/groups/rawpyrs

A good starter book is Sue's primer 'Switching to Raw"
www.switchingtoraw.com

www.rawmeatybones.com has good info.  Tom's book is for the more
scientifically minded though and addresses more of the why than the how.

HTH

Tracy Bassett
Murrumbateman, Australia
espinay@bigpond.com