Transitioning to Raw

[Guest WoobiesMom]

My march toward raw feeding is going well. Woobie's allergies seem to be easing off, although he has one ear he's still messing with. I've cleaned it w/the tea tree oil ear wash and will keep an eye on it. He's starting to have more energy every day and his stools are looking small, dark and firm rather than the large, light tan, mooshy mess they used to be.

 

This week I fed Woobie boiled chicken burger with smashed up cooked potatoes and a gravy concoction of veggie broth, peas and low-sodium V-8 juice. He had about 3 meals of NB potato and duck when I ran out or things weren't thawed out yet. I bought a large bag of frozen chicken thighs for cheap cheap at Wally World tonight and slow cooked them in the oven, then stripped off all the meat and skin. I know they have broth and stuff added, but I don't care, it's better than the grains and chemicals in the commercial foods, plus I'm trying to keep this less expensive. I'm mixing that with the NB meat roll (turkey) and going to start feeding him about 24 oz. a day, 12 oz. in the morning and 12 oz. at night. (He's feeling and looking a little thin this week, I'll play it by eye) I also gave him a beef rib tonight (also pretty cheap at WW) for a chewing treat to clean his teeth and to see if he'd eat raw meat. He loved it. I probably should have waited to introduce a new protein source, but he looked so cute staring at me in the kitchen while the yummy smell of oven roasted chicken filled the air.

 

I plan on feeding the cooked chicken mixed w/NB meat roll for this week and see how he tolerates it. I've got an order in to Hare-today.com for ground chicken, turkey and their cat food creation thingie. I decided to transfer the cats over as well. Although I tossed the fatty cat a strip of cooked chicken and locked him in the bathroom to have it undisturbed and 15 min. later, it was still there. It'll probably take a bit of adding small chunks of cooked meat to their new NB canned food and then slowly cooking it less and less to get them used to it. At least that's how it was recommended on the cat raw feeding website I'm using for my guide.

 

I'm going to stick to feeding ground meat from Hare Today when I do get over to fully raw feeding. At this point, I just don't feel right feeding whole pieces, but want the benefits that the ground bone will add. I found a good cat food recipe online for all the supplements, etc. that the cats need and the supplement thing from Hare Today sounded like it had the right mixture of things for them. Besides fish body oil, which I'll be adding to Woobie's meals in a week or two when I move over to the Hare Today meat, what do you guys supplement with? He doesn't have joint issues (only 1 yr old) at this point, allergies seem to be his biggest challenge. I've decided to stay away from dairy at this point since I read that's a common allergy in dogs. Do I need to add anything else? I know they don't "need" veggies and if he will eat the mixture w/o the gravy slur (which he's started doing) I'll probably cut that out just to save some prep time.

 

Thanks to everyone for all their encouragement and info!

[Guest TheRuffMuttGang]

Why are you going to cooked meat before you go to raw? I don't understand that concept.

 

Also, ground meat is MUCH more prone to harboring bacteria (due to the sheer amount of surface area) than whole cuts of meat. You will also lose the benefit of clean teeth that you get with whole bones. That, IMO, is one of the biggest benefits of raw so I don't really understand the concept of ground everything unless, for some reason, that is just what your dog handles best. But at this point, you wouldn't really know that or not.

 

And as for the cats, just be careful. Cats, unlike dogs, HAVE to eat everyday or they can suffer a possibly life-threatening illness called Hepatic Lipidosis. My cats took to raw meat like it's what they'd been asking me to feed them for years. MANY cats are not easy to switch to raw. Cats get so addicted to the carbs in dry cat food that getting them to eat raw meat can be a challenge for some cats. If you fed good, canned food (as I did, since cats need 50% protein which most dry foods do not have) prior to your switch to raw, it'll probably be easier. My cats could gobble down an entire chicken leg in one sitting.

[kelpiegirl]

One little point on the cats- they can go without a day without food- it is prolonged periods that will cause the HL. Also, check on the teeth for kitties (and dogs) for real bones, etc. My kitty couldn't eat raw, unless ground, now that 6 teeth have been removed

Julie

 

Why are you going to cooked meat before you go to raw? I don't understand that concept.

 

Also, ground meat is MUCH more prone to harboring bacteria (due to the sheer amount of surface area) than whole cuts of meat. You will also lose the benefit of clean teeth that you get with whole bones. That, IMO, is one of the biggest benefits of raw so I don't really understand the concept of ground everything unless, for some reason, that is just what your dog handles best. But at this point, you wouldn't really know that or not.

 

And as for the cats, just be careful. Cats, unlike dogs, HAVE to eat everyday or they can suffer a possibly life-threatening illness called Hepatic Lipidosis. My cats took to raw meat like it's what they'd been asking me to feed them for years. MANY cats are not easy to switch to raw. Cats get so addicted to the carbs in dry cat food that getting them to eat raw meat can be a challenge for some cats. If you fed good, canned food (as I did, since cats need 50% protein which most dry foods do not have) prior to your switch to raw, it'll probably be easier. My cats could gobble down an entire chicken leg in one sitting.

[Guest WoobiesMom]

I'm cooking because I did try throwing Woobie a raw chicken leg and he looked at it like I was insane. So I'm going slow. I also cooked the first week because of the bacteria that I was worried about in store bought ground chicken. I'm way too worried about whole bones at this point to be comfy giving him whole slabs of meat with bones in them, so I'm going for a comfortable middle ground with grinds from hare-today.com. He did get a rib with a bunch of meat on it and liked it but that bone is one he's not going to be swallowing.

 

As far as the cats go, I'm not starving them to make them transition. I'm mixing very small bits of cooked chicken thigh with the higher quality canned food I'm moving them to. My plan is to slowly increase the amount of meat while decreasing the canned and then slowly decrease the amount of cooking involved. I also have an elderly cat (11 yrs.) who has all her teeth (at last check) but was appearing to have a little difficulty with the dry kibble lately.

[OurBoys]

He did get a rib with a bunch of meat on it and liked it but that bone is one he's not going to be swallowing.

 

Was that a beef bone or a pork bone? The reason I ask is because one time we gave JJ a pork bone and the poor boy had diarhea for 24 hours. But then again, it could just be his system. He can handle beef with no problem.

[Guest WoobiesMom]

It was beef. I'm not ready to try pork yet, I've read that about diarrhea elsewhere too. Maybe some dogs are just sensitive, or possibly a bad bit of pork?

[OurBoys]

I think it's sensitivity. The same thing happened to my mom's chihuahua one time too.

[Guest TheRuffMuttGang]

One little point on the cats- they can go without a day without food- it is prolonged periods that will cause the HL. Also, check on the teeth for kitties (and dogs) for real bones, etc. My kitty couldn't eat raw, unless ground, now that 6 teeth have been removed

Julie

 

It depends on the cat, really. A fit, lean cat can go a day or so without food. A cat that's 10lbs overweight can suffer from HL in less than 24 hrs. Both of my kitties were fit and lean and I fed them once per day and they did perfectly fine like that. If my cats had been overweight, I would have fed them twice per day until they were at healthy weights.

[dinah_kay]

My march toward raw feeding is going well. Woobie's allergies seem to be easing off, although he has one ear he's still messing with. I've cleaned it w/the tea tree oil ear wash and will keep an eye on it. He's starting to have more energy every day and his stools are looking small, dark and firm rather than the large, light tan, mooshy mess they used to be.

 

This week I fed Woobie boiled chicken burger with smashed up cooked potatoes and a gravy concoction of veggie broth, peas and low-sodium V-8 juice.

 

 

Congrats on switching to raw. We have been feeding it to our three for a year now. Dave used to have horrible ear infections, and he has not had any since he has been switched to a raw diet. In fact he had a bad ear infection, which is what caused me to switch and without any meds the diet changed cleared up his ear infection within a few days. I say this because I have heard a lot about potatoes causing a lot of allergies now. I agree with Debbie that I wouldn't feed a ground diet all of the time since you are missing out on the great benefits of raw - teeth cleaning, jaw workout, ect. I understand being nervous about bones. The only bones I feed my guys are chicken and rabbit since they are soft bones. Rib bones make me nervous since my guys tend to gulp. I every once in a while give them a meal with a rec type bone, but I keep a close eye on them. Honestly, you might try giving Woobie an raw chicken leg quarter again and see how he does. Give him a bit to eat it since he will probably be shocked that he is getting it, but I get he will do just fine.

 

I personally don't like to add a bunch of stuff to my guys meals. I do give them a multi-vitamin supplement from Solid Gold and salmon oil, and occasionally a homemade frozen yogurt with some pureed fruit as a treat. I give the multi-vitamin to cover my basis incase their raw diet is missing anything. I promise that in the end it is better to feed a simple meal than to add in a ton of stuff. Let the raw diet do the work for you!

 

Good luck!!