Raw Meat Diet for Dogs
Like 3 Dislike 0 Published on 26 Nov 2009
My dog Zodiac on a raw food diet. He is eating some of his raw turkey. I do not usually feed so much meat, but its Thanksgiving, and he wanted something too :)
For anyone interested in this diet: This is the generally the best your pet can get, natural, healthy, flavorful and very good for pets with dental problems. Ever since Zodi was started on the diet, he has been free of many health problems (fleas, hotspots, worms, infections etc). If you worry about parasites/bacteria, dogs and cats can handle these (even newly weaned puppies and kittens, all my feral kittens have been raised on this diet) they have been fine for thousands of years on this diet. Commercial (canned/dry kibbles) pet food has only been around for 60 years, and how did the dogs and cats survive before these? Raw meat and scraps. It generally takes many, many thousands of years for an organism to change it's diet so drastically (from meat, bone and organ to 80% grain. Commercial pet food generally contains about this much grain).
Commercial pet food can cause bad reactions in pets because many brands contain preservatives that have been banned in "people food" because they caused tumors, birth defects, allergies, liver/heart failures and other bad things (e.g Ethoxyquin, Butylated Hydroxytoluene, Butylated Hydroxyanisole, Propylene Glycol)..
According to the book "Food Pets Die For" (Ann Martin), tons of animal byproducts taken from the carcasses of euthanized pets are sold to rendering plants to be made in to pet food. Trace amounts of Sodium Pentobarbitol, a chemical used to euthanize animals, has been found on some brands of pet food.
If any of these are found in your pet food, chances are your pet is eating its own kind: "meat by-products", "meat and bone meal", "meat meal" "meat trimmings"; pet food companies can simply label animal flesh as "meat" and still add it to their food. Corn, which is a main ingredient in most pet foods, is an allergy trigger in many cats and dogs and is not needed, and has been linked with seizures (especially in sight hounds). It is used as a cheap filler.
Many vets are inexperienced with animal nutrition, and will recommend the wrong food because of lack of knowledge. Others recommend commercial pet food because they gain money (Veterinarians can sell food at their office. When selling Science Diet, veterinarians can make up to 40% revenue). On with feeding raw.
This diet is about 90% meat and bones and the rest is organs and plant matter. For cats the diet is 90% meat and small bones (some of the time cats need to be trained to eat bone, start off with small chewable bones, or the cartilaginous ends on bones) and 10% organs. Do not bother adding grain or dairy, for carnivores do not need these and cannot "use" them.
For energy dogs and cats use fats from animals, not carbohydrates; so no need for supplementary grain. If you worry about exact nutrition, please don't, when you make dinner for you or your family you don't say "I need Xcups salad, Xcups beef, Xcups beans and three multi-vitamin supplements." so why stress about your pet? As said earlier, before commercial pet food, no one fed a strict diet, and there pets were much healthier than most today! (according to "Cat Fancy" magazine, the oldest cat they heard of was (believed to be) 29, and lived off of birds and mice. The oldest dog ever recorded was "Bluey" a blue heeler cross who lived in Australia before pet food was invented and ate raw kangaroo meat, bones and organs). Don't worry. I listed some recipes below.
For dogs, I loosely follow the "2-3% rule". That is, feed 2-3% of your dog's IDEAL body weight daily.
To find the percentage, take your dogs ideal (that is, if your dog is over or underweight, do not use that weight; use what weight your dog is when healthy) body weight, and multiply it by .02 or .03.
40 x .02= .8 Or 40 x .03= 1.2
So a 40 pound dog would eat around .8 or 1.2 pounds of raw food daily.
I say loosely because (as pictured in the video), every once in awhile I let my dog feast and fast.
Chicken Dinner (for a 30-40 lb dog)
1 pound chicken (with bone)
1 egg
A sprinkling of herbs
Beef and Sardine
1/2 pound beef (with bone)
4 fresh wild sardines
A few crushed berries
Lamb Breakfast
Lamb necks
1 egg
Whole Rabbit
whole rabbit (with or without fur)
with organs intact
Whole chicken
small or large chicken w/ included organs
1 tsp fresh berries or herbs
CATS:
1-2 chicken wings
a slice of liver, kidney,
OR
Chicken Frying parts with bone
heart
Here are the best websites i have come across:
www.rawlearning.com
rawfed.com (probably the best)
www.rawfeddogs.com
www.rawfedcats.com
Here is also a list of the "worst" pet food brands:
Purina, Iams, Eukanuba, Nutro max, Goodlife recipe, Science Diet, Prescription Diet, Gravy train, alpo, amore, Pedigree, Natures Recipe, Bil jac, royal canin, ect
Hope Every one has a happy Thanksgiving!