An Intro To Raw Feeding

[whitedaisy]

It really depends.... It can be more then kibble, the same, or even less!! If you hunt (or know hunters) you can feed it for next to nothing. If you are frugal and watch for meat sales or outdates you can do well. It really helps to have an extra freezer so you can stock up on cheaper bulk items or good deals. Recently I bought 50 lbs of hamburger because it was a great deal. I often buy 40 lb of chicken backs and necks cheap. I had my son fishing for me this summer....reminds me, I'm getting low on fish!
Other places are distributuion centers, butchers, craigslist
I know someone who feeds 3 dogs with no extra freezer.... not sure how she affords it!!! She can't stock up on deals at all.
The other thing to keep in mind is that most dogs are healthier and have less problems (less trips to the Vet) on raw and you'll save money that way.

[AussieGirl]

Tanny Good for you, white daisy is on the mark; start off with one source of protien. I feed small things like chicken necks, mince meals, offal in her bowl but larger things that she needs to work at and hold down with her paw outside, alot do it inside on a special mat or old newspaper but my 4 yr old skin kid would be dragging meat through the house lol. You can keep up with one meal kibble if it would make you feel better - until you feel confident you are getting the ratios right, but you don't HAVE to. A few weeks off balance while you are transitioning her isn't going to harm her .
Cost I can't give you figures that would refect what you would be up for different places - different prices, but I can give tips on reducing costs; buy meat that is about to go out of date, put an add on craigs list for freezer burnt meat, ask friends and family for their freezer burnt meat, go direct to a slaughter house if you have one near, ethnic butchers are like a raw feeders wonderland, watch out for specials and buy up big, become friendy with your local butcher and he may give you cheap stuff they don't use, ask for the butchers saw dust heaps of raw feeders feed this just make sure no big sharp bits of bone acidentally get in with it, join the yahoo raw feeders site I believe you can get info on suppliers on there, suck up to anyone you know goes hunting. I am sure there are more I will add them as I think of them. Alot of the stuff you buy is stuff people don't want anyway so it's pretty cheap ie chicken frames, necks all kinds, liver, kidney, heart.
Ron hard to say when living in different country how the cost would compare for you. But for me a 30lb/13.6kg bag of Innova costs $122 (on special) with raw I spend $60 - $70 on meat each month but in reality that amount is enough for a month and a half to two months. Also remember Raw fed dogs generaly have less vet visits - the only one we've had so far (other than shots) was for a poisonous spider bite, don't have to pay to get their teeth descaled or purchase toothbrushes/paste. You may have to go around and check out prices of meats you could feed him and work it out that way, or do an experiment of feeding him one raw meal a day for a month and compare the kibble used and cost to the meat cost . Trust me Tie would love you EVEN more (if that's poss) for it, watching them get excited over their raw meal is such a laugh and they do react differently lol.

[Ruby Red]

Good decision. Ok, we feed ours indoors on a plastic sheet that you can buy from hardware stores – they are like dust sheets but industrial strength. When they’ve finished, we spray the mat with anti-bac and wash over with hot soapy water – we only use this when it’s really raining hard – otherwise any boned meat and raw fish gets eaten outside, on the ground, as it is, dirt and all! IMO it just adds to the flavour and there is some argument that it makes them more resilient to bugs/germs and things – who knows? What I do know is that my 2 are a lot healthier than some of the dogs I walk and board and are fed cheap kibble and tinned stuff day in and day out – these poor things are constantly run-down and have regular bouts of diarrhoea, sickness, conjunctivitis, etc, etc.

It’s really up to you how you start doing this – some do switch over straight away and never go back to kibble. Others start mixing small portions of raw fresh meat in with the original foods. I took the slow approach because I didn’t want to have them to suffer any tummy upsets from changing their diets quickly [they were both on cheap tinned stuff when we got them from the rescue home]. We use a good quality kibble a few times a week as well [we travel around so much bird watching, family visits, etc., times like this when its just convenient really].

There are quite a few books on raw feeding – the best one I found was “Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats” The Ultimate Diet, by Kymythy R.Schultze. She is an American nutrionist and the book is really simple to read and understand.

Don’t ask me about the expense of it - far more than kibble that’s for sure.....no hunters around here to ask and the blessed squirrels always outsmart her!!!


Just a word of warning, if you have 2 dogs plus, you may find it necessary to feed them apart. If I put both mine outside together, Ruby tends to worry BIG time about what Jakey has got and rush her meal so she can go bother him for what’s left of his!!!...not one of her better ideas - swallowing down improperly chewed bits of raw bone!

[whitedaisy]

My favorite raw books are:

Work Wonders by Tom Londsdale
Raw Dog Food by Carina Beth MacDonald

[Ron]

This thread is a great start for those looking for info on a RAW diet. Please post all new questions in their own threads.

thanks

Ron