Raw Diet for Dogs

Feral_Moon

To be honest, I'd have to question the quality of these minces that people are paying less than £1 a kilo for. What on earth goes into them? As I've said on previous occasions, there are good and bad raw diets just as there are good and bad commercial diets.

Raw food producers are now jumping on the bad wagon to supply raw meat as cheaply as possible, just as commercial producers did when dry food became the new fashion. And we've all seen how much crap goes into some of those foods!

With the advent of these packs of minced raw meat becoming increasingly popular with people who like the idea of feeding raw food but can't actually bring themselves to touch it nor work out the ratios and formulas of making it from scratch. Producers are throwing any old rubbish into the mincing machines. Once minced you don't have a clue what's in it.

I've seen some dreadful examples of what is purporting to be raw food. Some of which is nothing more than a mushy pulp of unidentifiable ingredients. It's no wonder my boy turns his nose up at it. The only raw mince he has ever willingly accepted was the coarsely minced meat and tripe produced by Sharon Daly at Paleo Ridge when he was a young adolescent dog. At least you can identify exactly what goes into her minced food.

Anyway, each to their own but I felt I had to speak out as I felt extremely annoyed at being called ridiculous because i spend considerably more on feeding my dog a good quality diet. As a result he is in extremely good condition, perfect weight for his size, soft, glossy coat, clear eyes, ears and teeth, and is in extremely good health. The only time he has seen the vet was to remove a grass seed from his ear. Everybody who meets him remarks on how fantastic he looks and asks how I keep his teeth so pearly white. Well, I don't. It's purely down to his diet.

petsforall

After a year of researching the pet industry and based on the data I could find I do think raw is an excellent diet for most cats and dogs. However, there is a caveat which makes the source of the raw food more important.

sheramber

As a result he is in extremely good condition, perfect weight for his size, soft, glossy coat, clear eyes, ears and teeth, and is in extremely good health. The only time he has seen the vet was to remove a grass seed from his ear. Everybody who meets him remarks on how fantastic he looks and asks how I keep his teeth so pearly white. Well, I don't. It's purely down to his diet.


I have used minced meats as the main diet for my dogs for twenty years and can claim all of the above for my dogs.

On two occasion two different vets commented on my dog's good condition and asked what I fed him.

The answer of ' a raw diet' was followed by silence on both occasions.
My latest dog was rescue who who had manky teeth and breath which soon cleared on a raw diet.

I have never had a dog have a dental clean by a vet.

You will find as many recommended raw diets as there are raw feeders. As you say each to their own.

What one pays to feed a dog is a personal choice just as what someone spends on processed food or what someone pays for their own food or their car.

beautiful_ravens

I get mainly Bulmers minces, they are a reputable supplier and there are DEFRA regulations.
My collie needs 400g raw a day to stay the same weight.
Bags of mince are 454g and contain bone. I buy about 20 a month, it costs me about £20 a month including the delivery.
I also give chicken wings, liver and other meat or fish items at times through the month, so its not mince every single day. The odd tin of sardines or a mixed fish supper goes down well and she also gets quite a few raw eggs.

She does not have nasty plaquey teeth and at 10 she is very shiny and healthy looking.

Feral_Moon

beautiful_ravens wrote: »

I get mainly Bulmers minces, they are a reputable supplier and there are DEFRA regulations.
My collie needs 400g raw a day to stay the same weight.
Bags of mince are 454g and contain bone. I buy about 20 a month, it costs me about £20 a month including the delivery.
I also give chicken wings, liver and other meat or fish items at times through the month, so its not mince every single day. The odd tin of sardines or a mixed fish supper goes down well and she also gets quite a few raw eggs.

She does not have nasty plaquey teeth and at 10 she is very shiny and healthy looking.

if I had a smaller dog then maybe I'd get away with only spending £20 a month but my dog eats four times the amount yours does so that puts me at £80 a month straight away, only he would eat raw minces!

beautiful_ravens

Feral_Moon wrote: »

if I had a smaller dog then maybe I'd get away with only spending £20 a month but my dog eats four times the amount yours does so that puts me at £80 a month straight away, only he would eat raw minces!

Ok but I dont buy the large chunks, whole chicken carcasses or half pigs head that suit larger breeds.

What breed is your dog?

Feral_Moon

beautiful_ravens wrote: »

Ok but I dont buy the large chunks, whole chicken carcasses or half pigs head that suit larger breeds.

What breed is your dog?

He's a German Shepherd weighing 45kg and eats around 1.5kg per day, although some of that will be bone and offal but I don't measure it every day, just average it out over the week. It's like us, we don't eat precisely our nutritional needs every day.

I keep an eye on his poos and if they're a bit on the hard side I'll cut out bone for a few days or if they're soft and dark then I'll hold off giving him spleen or liver. He'll have a couple of entire rabbits per week when I can get hold of them and I do look for reduced price meat in the supermarkets.

beautiful_ravens

I do agree with you to a point about not knowing whats in the minces. I like them because of the convenient weight. Bulmers are quite well known.

A shop just opened up in a nearby town, selling raw minces, but they had no supplier info on them, only the shops name and the flavour, and no ground bone in them, and they did not look or smell as 'good' as the Bulmers minces. All the different varieties were a shade of grey that was not quite right.

bugslet

Rev wrote: »

I found MVM to be better quality than DAF.

I Clearday raw. They're a small company who covet the north west. He delivers every two weeks.


I feed the raw treat range. Complete minces and since switching I've noticed a gigantic difference in my dogs.

Thanks for that, just looked them up and they're about a mile away and open on a Saturday morning:)