Dental health

[rushdoggie]

, or a set of kitchen shears, just doesn't cut it, no pun intended), freeze them, and feed a half a turkey neck, frozen, raw, to each dog once a week.

Theres a trick...I cut all the way around with my good kitchen shears then find a vertebrae joint and pop the tendon with the tip o fthe scissors. Then I can use my hands to fold the neck over and the bones will separate and then whatever is left can be cut with the scissors or a knife. I have it down to a science now.

 

I have 2 small dogs and the Border Collie, and I have to cut off the skinny end of the turkey neck for the Littles.

 

I wish I could find bulk chicken necks for them, but I can only get turkey.

 

FWIW, my local Safeway will special order and sell me frozen necks at 89 cents a pound, and they will cut the big box of frozen necks with their saw and repackage them in smaller 5 chunks. I still end up having to thaw the chunk out and repackage them (usually) but 5 lbs is easier to manage and thaws in a few hours vs the 40 lb block that takes days.

[GentleLake]

I guess we have just been commercialized to believe dog food is the way to go for best nutrition

 

Yep. That's exactly what it is. Dog food manufacturers have a vested interest in perpetuating that myth. They even sponsor nutrition classes for vet students. Talk about conflict of interest!

[Gideon's girl]

Turkey necks are also pretty small for the average sized border collie. I feed larger pieces so my dog has to lay down to chew as opposed to just standing there chomping a neck a few times and down it goes.

 

 

I'm always surprised when I hear this, but I've heard it often. Our turkey necks are 1 1/2 lbs each and they take a good bit of chewing.

 

I finally asked a friend who lives up north about their turkey necks. She's the one that comments on size most often. Her turkey necks are 1/2-1 lb each. She didn't even believe me when I told her about the size of ours, I had to send pictures.

[GentleLake]

Like I said, hen necks are much smaller.

 

I suspect that many of the tom necks that I get are from birds that are grown out for turkey burger rather than for roasters. Birds intended for burger don't have to be young and tender the way roasters do, so I'm guessing they grow them out so there's a higher meat to bone ratio.

 

But it's all conjecture on my part.

[Gideon's girl]

 

 

Now I'm wanting to buy another box of chicken backs but until the work in the house is completed, I have no place to put the box for thawing (it takes a couple of days to get a whole box thawed and bagged) and cleaning (I remove the excess cavity fat). One of these days, this will all be done and the dogs will be able to enjoy those treats again!

My 30 lb box of turkey necks just fit in my cooler, so I defrosted there.

 

BTW, ethnic groceries are great places to find all the pieces parts that you can't find in normal groceries.

[D'Elle]

Dental chews and brushing are a waste of time and money.

 

I'm with those who rely on bones to do the job.

 

Occasionally I will get the scraper out and remove any tartar the bones have missed.

 

I am afraid I must respectfully disagree with you on this......at least the brushing part. (I agree about the "dental" chews)

Brushing a dog's teeth, if done regularly and properly, works just fine to keep them clean and plaque-free.

I can't feed any raw bones because my #1 male dog can't eat them.....and I can't give them to the others and not to him. so I brush everyone's teeth and it does a fine job. You just have to be diligent about it, and use a good cleaner, not just that chicken-flavored crap they sell in pet stores.

[simba]

I have some mint-flavoured crap I got in a pet store. Is that okay? I was just thinking that it shouldn't have flouride in it, it never even occurred to me that they might have varying standards. I figured one cleaning paste was like another.

[sandysfarm]

 

 

Yep. When they're fed raw, they're digestible. When they're cooked, the heat changes the molecular structure and the splinter, and the digestive acids can't break them down and blunt them like they down when the bones are raw. This is the reason that no bones of any type should be fed cooked.

 

Yep, plain raw meat and bones.

 

A raw diet isn't rocket science, but there are some things you should know before jumping into it or you can cause some serious nutritional deficiencies. Fortunately, there are lots of on line resources.

 

There are different approaches to feeding raw. I feed prey model, where essentially you're trying to recreate as much as possible what a dog would eat in the wild. It's roughly 75-80% meat, 10-15% bone, 5% liver and 5% other organs. It's important to vary protein sources as much as possible, and not to rely just on chicken. Red meat is more species appropriate than poultry. In many areas it's not as hard as it may sound to do this economically. I feed a lot of beef from culled dairy cows. I have to drive close to an hour to get it, but it's only $.65/lb. and we co-op to share gas costs. I get duck necks & hearts (wings and backs are also available) for $.50/lb. Again, a bit of a drive, but co-oping helps a lot with that. I get other things from a local meat wholesaler.

 

You can start puppies on a raw diet at the time they're weaning. You can switch a dog over at any time in it's life.

 

There's more info in the archives if you search "raw". If you're interested in more info after that, just ask.

 

 

 

 

I'm dying at your prices!! Up here my cut off price is $1.75/lb and sometimes, kicking and screaming, I have to go more than that for frozen lung and tripe mix...

[sandysfarm]

 

Yep. That's exactly what it is. Dog food manufacturers have a vested interest in perpetuating that myth. They even sponsor nutrition classes for vet students. Talk about conflict of interest!

 

Not to mention that vets have been taught that your dog becomes a walking hive of salmonella germs when you feed raw, that his "bacteria load" is huge and will pass to you, and six or seven other reasons for feeding TD and IB at huge prices.

[D'Elle]

I have some mint-flavoured crap I got in a pet store. Is that okay? I was just thinking that it shouldn't have flouride in it, it never even occurred to me that they might have varying standards. I figured one cleaning paste was like another.

 

Not. The problem is that most of those pastes have sugar in them and other ingredients you don't want. I got a tube of stuff from my vet that really works. $15 for the tube, which seems like a lot unless you compare it to dental cleanings at $300 each for 4 dogs.

[alligande]

D'elle what is the toothpaste called, just curious

[Patches03]

I am going to call the locker tomorrow. I will ask about chicken backs and pork butts or necks.

Thanks everyone!

[GentleLake]

I'm dying at your prices!! Up here my cut off price is $1.75/lb and sometimes, kicking and screaming, I have to go more than that for frozen lung and tripe mix...

 

Those are the only things I can get that cheaply. And, yes, I know how lucky we are to be getting them at those prices, even though it may involve 2 or 4 total hours of driving.

 

It makes it possible to pay more for other things, and that's a blessing, for sure.

 

ETA: I should say those are the only things other than chicken backs I can get at prices like that. But, imo, chicken backs are too much bone, so I don't even bother with them.

[sandysfarm]

I do feed chicken backs alongside muscle meat, largely because of their price. there's an organic farm-gate guy close to me but he doesn't want to sell "dog food", which frustrates the bejeezuz out of me

[GentleLake]

I do think chicken backs can have a place in a well rounded raw diet, especially when, as you say, you add an appropriate amount of muscle meat along with it.

 

I've just seen way too many people relying on chicken backs or frames as the primary component in their dogs' diets. And they really only need about 10, maybe 15% of edible bone in their diets. Feeding a lot of frames is going to push the bone content way above that, which means they get too much calcium and lack other nutrients found in the meat itself.

[D'Elle]

The gel is called ORATENE Maintenance Oral Gel. Available only through veterinarians. Some of the plaque on one of my dog's teeth was too hard for me to get it off with a dental tool. After putting the gel on for three days it flaked right off in big chunks. (Please note that this was on Digger...a dog who came to me with the build up of plaque and several other health issues. I don't want anyone to think I neglected a dog's teeth for years!)

[GentleLake]

Available only through veterinarians.

 

Keep in mind that many things supposedly only available through veterinarians are pretty easy to obtain through other sources. You might try doing an internet search and find you can get it other places.

 

Just a thought . . .