Putting your pets on raw foods for a longer life...

Yeah, no cooked bones here, he's eating the raw ones!

Same. Raw only.

SaraJane, a girl at work said her dog eats raw ones too. She said they're fine. I guess they know what they're doing, right?

lol, yeah, he must think it's a good idea! It's not like I'm starving him and he has to eat the bones to get full, lol, so he must just like it!

I can understand your concern about Ocean bringing up food, especially when you can see bones.

It can be fairly common for pets to do this when changing to a natural diet.

Changing to bigger portions of raw meaty bones can help IE give a whole chicken frame/carcase instead of just a chicken neck or chop - this goes for cats too. This slows down eating, gets saliva going that aids in digestion and gives the pets neck and jaw muscles a good work out.

There are a number of reasons that pets throw up, firstly, the digestion of a commercially fed pets is usually weak and out of balance and it can take a little while for their tummies to come back to full health, so occassional throwing up can happen.

The most common reasons though is eating way too fast, the food hits the tummy and comes back up or they get excited, run about and up it comes.

Now for the extra yuk part, it is completely normal for a pet to then, lets say, recycle that food and eat it again.

When a pets throws up be calm, no response is best and walk away, wait for the pet to become distracted, moves inside or to another room etc before 'cleaning up' if required. Pets get distressed when owners show reaction, lead with the behaviour you want your pet to mirror.

In saying all this, if your pet throws up more then once, is acting in an unusual way and looks unwell then a trip to the vet is best. A note on vets, find a vet now, before you need one that supports natural diets, as a guide, vets that practice natural therapies usually support natural feeding.

Oh and NO COOKED BONES.

Hope this helps.

Deborah

Deborah, thank you very much.

Debbie, how is Chelsea?

Kelly, thanks for asking..
Chelsea is doing well. It has been nearly 6weeks i guess since her original diagonsis (sp??) and she is still going strong. She is not slowing down at all, people ask how she is going, and i proudly say "there is nothing wrong with her", or "she is doing well for a dead dog". On the 31st Oct, she was given a maxium life expetancy of 2weeks. The lumps have hardened and contracted, which apparently means that they have stopped growing or something.

Deborah - your little bit on the dogs 'recycling' their food was reassuring. I am sure last week i noticed a poop on the lawn, and the next day it was gone...... must be why my Abbey isnt looseing weight .....eeeeeeeww!

Hi Debbie,

I am so glad to hear your Chelsea is doing so well. I have been thinking about both of you and hoping all is going well. Keep up the good work!

Regarding the recycling issue that Abbey is getting up to, it is a sign of mineral deficiency if animals eat their own droppings. This issue gets treated as a behaviour problem by some but I can assure you it has nothing to do with being bad or learning the habit from someone else, but everything to do with an imbalanced digestive system.

I realize you have started a natural diet for your dogs but in special cases extra nutrients are needed. I would suggest items such as seaweed, cider, cod liver oil, brewers yeast etc be added to their diet for a period of about 12 weeks, just to give them a boost. Then you might continue adding 'the extras' once a week, depending on your situation.

Usually standard deficiencies and imbalances right themselves over a 12 week time frame by providing what nature intended your pets to eat but when you are dealing with special problems extra help is needed.

I have been able to help a range of animals with this problem, from pet ****atoos, right through to horses, dogs, sheep and poultry.

If you would like a custom made diet please contact me directly and I will write one up for you. norquesta@yahoo.com (Kelly from BellyBelly said this is OK).

Best Wishes
Deborah

Deborah, thanks for that. I have been keeping a closer eye on her to see if that is what she is actually doing. I thought she was doing it cause she was a scab and would eat anything!
Apart from her raw meat, veges, fish and eggs (oh, and milk now, cause Chelsea has to have milk), she does have wheat germ, fish oil & kelp. I am meant to get some cod liver oil as well, but, keep forgetting. I have been told that liver is ok to give instead of cod liver oil.
If i catch her actually eating it, i will certainly contact you and get some advise,
Thanks again for your help and advise thru out this thread

Debbie

Better late than never

I finally have time to start this and have run out of canned food

I am going to try this and hopefully form some good eating habits for my cats.

Can you tell me if the pets mince from the butcher is ok (not the pre packed stuff with mostly roo meat)?

Thanx
Tanya

Tanya - that pet mince is fine. Some people prefer not to use it, as it can contain alot of scraps, inc fat. I use minced chicken bones from lennards for the dogs breakfast. I figure that it contains no added stuff, and they are still getting the calcium from the bones. For dinner, they get lamb off cuts, which includes bones.

I have offered my cats a chicken wings and they WILL NOT touch them I have followed the tips and they just turn their noses up at it!

What do I do.... it's been days since they have eaten.

Hey I meant to jump on the bandwagon but got a late start, I have been feeding Cherry Pie chicken necks and wings for the last 2 weeks but I am not sure how much I should be giving her. The article says 2-3% of the body weight and Cherry is 6kg so does that mean 120gms? My maths are shocking... I have been giving her 2 wings or 4 necks a day.

Hi all - hoping your furbabies are doing well.
All is not so good here on the cancer front with Chelsea. Took her back to her natropath vet yesterday for her check up. Chelsea's breathing is getting worse, sorta like she is having difficulties. The vet believes that the cancer has spread to her lungs. Chelsea is not eating properly, and is very timid. We feel she has connected food to tablets, and that Cheslea has had enough, and has possibly given up the fight. I have some tablets to give her to put more oxygen into her blood, to see if that helps her breathing, which, in turn, may help her feel better, and want to keep going. I would say she has about 25% of her spirit left. And the heat is certainly not helping. If the tablets havent made a improvement by Saturday, then, we have to make "the decision". If they have worked, and she is alot better, then we can keep going with the natural treatmeant, but, perhaps even with that, we are still only looking at 2 to 3weeks left.
So, my instructions are to feed her whatever she wants, as long as she eats. Not to much pasta/carbs, as it will send her liver into shock. But, just food. And, if she she starts eating better, then, she will start taking her normal tablets again. But basically now, we are giving her tablets to make her days comfortable, where as last month, we where looking at tablets to keep the cancer at bay i guess.
So, today i think is 3months since we had the confirmation of her diagoniss. We where given a 2 week life expetancy if we choose not to go down the chemo path, and with the change in her diet, and the natropathic treatment, we have been able to extend her life, and she has not suffered at all yet.
Fingers crossed we see some improvement.

Hi,

I like the sound of the Raw Food Diet, however I am worried about giving my (2) dogs bones, even raw ones as I have heard from a number of people, including vets, now say that dogs shouldn't have them as they can crack their teeth. My mum's dog is a small mini foxie x jack rus and she has done considerable damage to her back teeth that are now infected and will need to be removed.. supposedly from cracking them on a bone.

What's your thoughts?

Kessiebear - partly correct i guess, as alot of people feed their dogs marrow bones from cows. You should feed you dog bones from animals that would be their natural prey in the wild. Eg, your mums dogs should be eating chicken wings and necks etc. Even fish is ok.
All dogs, regardless of being on a natural food diet or not, should have hard stuff to chew on. Natures toothbrush.

Ahhh.. right.. that makes sense..

Well I shall have a deeper look into the raw meat then..

What are your thoughts also on 70 - 80% meats and some high quality dry.

I also have seen an animal nutritionist on Oprah who had his dog food pyramid and he said a small amount of grains are good too..

Thanks for the advice

Sarah

Debbie - how's Chelsea going hon? I often think of you... *hugs*