Is It Better To Feed My Puppy Raw Meat And Bones Or Dry Puppy Kibble?
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Jan 16th, 2010 |
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I have a 9 week old Labrador Retriever. I have just come back from the vets for her first visit.
He said I should feed her raw meat and bones and not puppy food. He said to go to a butchers and to ask for any scraps and feed her that.
I just wanted to know if anyone feeds their puppy this rather than the dry dog food and your opinions on whether it is the best thing for her.
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Puppies and dogs need more than meat scraps. Muscle meat alone lacks some nutrients that a dog needs to be healthy. They are omnivoires and need other foods too. Even true carnivores eat organs and other tissue, not just muscle meat. Wolves eat grasses and berries regularly too. Also feeding your dog bones can be dangerous too. Bones can break teeth and choke your dog if you are not careful. Raw meat comes with the risk of parasites and possible contamination. Many people argue that wild dogs eat it so it is best for your house dog. What they aren’t considering is that wild populations suffer from a high mortality rate which includes death from food borne illness and parasites from their diet. I am not advocating to not feed raw meat, but personally I don’t risk it with my pets. I do feed it regularly to wild animals in my care, but they are also given dewormer monthly and on several occasions an animal has suffered from a intestinal issue from bacteria in the raw food. Your Vet sounds like a hack to me. A puppy, with a young immune system is more vulnerable to disease and parasites. I think it is bad advice and would not follow it myself.
I think that raw natural diets are preferable to the rubbish that we buy in sacks. Unfortunately my present dog prefers rubbish.
I hope that you go with the vets advise and try a raw diet. You will need to investigate “raw diets” because the balance must be right and all dogs need the correct amount of vitamins and minerals in their diets.I commend your vet for suggesting a raw diet.
To ensure that you get a good supply of cheap raw meat and bones you should have extra freezer space and a food processor to prepare the food. I am ashamed that I could not get my dog onto this excellent way of feeding. I even bought her a separate freezer and had arranged contacts with butchers who could help.
your vet is right. but you can’t JUST feed raw meat and bones, there has to be MUCH more than that to a raw diet (a balance of veggies and fruits as well as meat and bones)
however, i’m glad to see a vet recommending a raw diet!! it’s much better for your dog!
do some research on how to feed a balanced Raw diet, and see if it’s right for you. if you feel that it’s too much, or you’re not sure you can give your dog the proper nutrition, you can always supplement your puppy’s food with BARF. (if you do that, make one meal kibble, and the other meal Raw)
it’s not just raw meat and bones that the dog will enjoy, tendons, hearts, and other things are quite good for the dog. (dogs love chicken feet!!!) some things can be fed in whole prey form. make friends with the local butcher, and any friends that you have that hunt.
Raw (or cooked) meat is good for dogs. Whoever said to only feed dry food doesn’t have a clue, and has never raised a dog before.
I usually give my two perma-puppies a mix of dry food with raw (or scraps), and they are very healthy energetic dogs.
Things to consider.
* wild dogs that are in packs ONLY have raw food that they find and kill on their own.
* good brands of dog food will list meat as one of the first ingredients
* if you are going to feed your dog meat, make sure you are using natural steroid free meat.
——
Food born illnesses can occur just as easily in processed or dry dog food as they can in cold raw meats. In fact when the lower quality dry dog foods are considered, people need to be concerned about bad protein sources and other contaminants in the food too.
What your vet is suggesting is actually called the Prey Model Diet. I would suggest you google this and do some research and come up with your own decision based on facts.
Here are some sites to get you startedhttp://rawfed.com/myths/feedraw.htmlhttp://www.tendlife.com/cats/and-dogs-44…
I think you should listen to the vet but there again my step son has a labrador and when he gives meat or bones to eat he is sick, he feeds him on dry dog pet food to eat,so i suggest you try him out to see how he reacts.
raw hands down if you can do it!
here is a great web site for more help on raw! http://www.bigdogsporch.com/forumdisplay…
I don’t know about the raw meat but I know most puppy kibble has poison in it EVEN IF IT SAYS IT DOESN’T and lot’s of times the meat they use is euthanized cats and dogs :’(
raw meat and bones im no expert but what happens is they are stronger healthier and have a brighter coat
To the first person who answered your question, he has no idea what he’s talking about. Yes dogs are domesticated, but if you do research, their anatomy and physiology are still very similar to the Wolf. And besides, the KIBBLE wasn’t even invented until the 1930’s in response to the Great Depression to give people a cheaper way to feed their dogs. Before the Great Depression, dogs ate raw meat or table scraps. So the theory that dogs have evolved/been domesticated to only be able to live or thrive on kibble, is not a valid one.
Besides being species appropriate, a raw diet is healthiest because it is the least processed. Food like kibble that go through processing and processing lose their nutritional values, plus all the preservation needed for kibble, don’t always hold out.
However, kibble comes fortified with all the vitamins and minerals your dog needs each day. A raw food diet needs to be constantly calculated, balanced in nutrients, and weighed by you, OR it is NOT healthier than kibble. so it’s a bit more than just going to the butchers and getting scraps.
Most of all the minerals your dog needs come from meat and bone. Most of all the vitamins come from organs (secreting and nonsecreting) A dog who was just given raw meaty bones from the butcher would be severely deficient. In turn, a dog given too much organ like liver would develop problems from being overdosed with certain vitamins.
Every month I get a big meat order (cheaper if i get meat in bulk) every month, I calculate the nutrients in the meat/organs, cut it up/weigh based on my dogs requirements, wrap it up, label it, and store it in the freezer. Every month I re-evaluate my dogs needs. How much calcium does my 70lb dog need? How much vitamin A does my 25 lb dog need? I do not feed a balanced diet every day, just like people do not eat all their required servings of veggies every day. But the balance is done over a week or 2.
Absolutely YES! A proper raw diet is the best thing you can do for your dog. Congrats on finding one of the few vets who doesn’t blindly recommend Science Death or other kibbles, too. As for how to feed, you should be aiming for 80% meat, 10% bone and 10% organ (with half of that being liver). For puppies you start feeding 2-3% of their estimated ideal ADULT body weight and go from there. Usually people start with chicken since it’s usually cheap, widely available, and has easily crunched and digested bones. After the dog is stable on chicken they work on introducing new meats. Usually you have to go pretty slow when adding new meats, but young puppies tend to adjust quickly to new proteins, so take advantage of his youth! Some websites for further reading:http://www.rawfed.com/mythshttp://www.rawlearning.comhttp://www.rawfeddogs.net
And two groups that are fantastic sources of info and help:http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfe…http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/RawCh…
Good luck with your new puppy!
ADD: salmonella is present in kibble as well as raw meat and trichonosis is a non-issue if the pork was bought from a grocery store and/or previously frozen. Dogs have not been domesticated long enough to see significant changes in their internal structure or digestion. They are still carnivores with the digestive tracts and instincts of one and are considered the same species as wolves.
ADD 2: Most injuries from splintering bones are a result of operator error; either the dog was fed inappropriate bones (such as weight baring bones from cows) or cooked bones. As for dogs getting sick, I’m on a list with 10,000+ members raw feeding their dogs (many of them multiple dog owners) and not ONE has ever had a dog contract a food borne illness.
ADD 3: Rayven, I do feed my dog raw, thank you very much. She is doing much better on it than she was even on “high quality kibble”, which is one reason why I recommend it so strongly.
Even though he went about it in a slightly wrong way the fact a vet said the “R” word is a step in the right direction.
Yes you so need to do more research BEFORE making the switch if you chose to. Do not let the people on here, none of whom have any experience with raw feeding their dogs scare you.
Trichinosis – you only have to worry about this IF you are feeding wild game from an area know to have outbreaks. The FDA disallowed the use of garbage to feed pigs MANY years ago.
Salmonella – Your dog is more likely to catch it from kibble and get sick and/or die. Why? because kibble takes longer to digest. The longer something off sits in anyone stomach to more likely you are to get sick from it. Raw is digested many times faster than kibble.
E.coli – Only have to worry about this if you are feeding ground meats. Think of all the recalls they have alwlays been for GROUND meat.
Bones – 99% of bone issue are because the dog was given an inappropriate bone , cooked, too small/easily swallowed, weigh bearing bones like those Rec bones found at the store. Raw bones don’t splinter, cooked ones do.
Here are some helpful links. If you stick with kibble I highly recommend finding a good meat based kibble with no fillers, no mystery meats and no junkhttp://www.dogster.com/forums/Raw_Food_D…http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/RawCh…http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/RawPu…http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Rawfe…http://www.mypetcarnivore.com/rawfeeding…http://rawdiettruth.blogspot.com/
Only feed her on puppy food that is an all-inclusive feed. Try Eucanuba (or it sounds like that)
A little raw meat is OK, but give her the hide bones to chew as her teeth are still soft and hard bones can damage them.
Look on the internet for a labrador breeder and call them to ask their advice. They are the best, as a vet deals with all creatures and cannot generalise.
Please do not give your puppy any bones, rawhides or raw meat. Stick to a good name brand puppy food. Dry is best…it is good for their teeth. do not give out table scraps either. Believe me, I work at a veterinarians and you wouldn’t believe how ill some dogs get from eating pork products, bones that splinter in their intestines and chocolate…there are many food items that are not good for dogs that people can eat. Just stick with a good dog food or puppy food….they will be healthier for it. Good luck with your puppy.
OMG!!! I cant beleive a vet would tell you that. Do not give your dog raw meat or bones. Do not give them chocolate either. Bones could splinter inside them and get stuck and raw meats is a no no definitely. If you want to give your dog meat, give them cooked chicken breast boiled or baked. You can mix it in the dog food too. But stay away from the bones.
Originally dogs lived off raw meat…….but they are now domesticated! I don’t see any real reason to feed them raw meat ecspecially with all that is in meat now dyas………But that is up to you…I belive puppy food will be great…otherwise no one would feed their dogs puppy food!……I give my dogs raw meat if i have some scraps from trimming a steak or something…but its just a treat not a all the time thing.
the best on the market to date for the money is Natural Choice as it has NO Chemicals Fillers or By-Products in it & has EVERY thing a puppy or dogs needs in it I would use large breed puppy for one year then go to large breed adult
Dogs when undomesticated and years ago, lived in packs, hunted, killed and ate their prey. There are still packs of wild dogs today, doing much the same thing. Humans also eat raw beef. That’s what they call beef tartar in high class restaurants.
Is it OK for Fido to eat raw beef? It probably wouldn’t kill him, but domesticated dogs have gotten used to dry dog food or canned dog food, which is usually cooked. Most likely, it would make ol’ Fido, “sicker than a dog”. He wouldn’t have the digestive system tuned in to raw meat and you’d probably get it back a few minutes later, if you catch my drift.
Unless I lived on a cattle farm where he might get an occasional piece of raw beef every few days as a regular part of his diet, I’d stay away from giving him any. Then again, there’s always the question of other items in the beef, or living in the beef which could be harmful to the animal. (Especially raw pork. Trichinosis, for example.)
Technically, yes, if accustomed to it, dogs eat and have eaten raw meats for eons. And if he occasionally snags a bit o’ raw hamburger from the cookout when you’re not looking, it may or may not make him sick. Depends on the dog, his size and normal diet. That’s why when you change the brand or style of dog food, say canned from dry, etc., it’s always best to wean them over by mixing in a little of the new with the old and increasing the ratio until they’re completely changed over to the new.
If i were you i would feed the puppy on super premium dog food. It is a complete diet so you dont need to worry about proportioning things. As you are not a nutritionalist it would be hard for you to put together the correct percentages of all the required dietry needs. Dogs need protein, carbs, fats etc in their diet. The advantages of feeing your dog on a premium food such as hills, james welbeloved, eukanubra, royal canin etc, is that they have much higher quality ingredients than things like pedigree, bakers etc.
The meat percentage is much higher which is essentail, and is fresh meat (not powdered or meat derivatives). They also contain essential oils omega 3 nd 6 that you may not get if you compile your own food. Premium foods, also mean that you need to feed the dogs less, as it is more nutrisious..not lots of cereal. Its easier to digest which also means smaller, firmer, less smelly stools. Premium foods are complied by nutritionists too. Whilst it is possible to make your own foods i really think that its best to stick to what is known to be beneficial and has full nutritional value for your dog.
Remember, whenever you change your dogs diet, to do it over 5-10 days to avoid an upset tummy!
If you want to give extra meat, you can do so, but make sure you introduce it slowly, and i would reccomend that it doesnt make up more than 10% of the extra diet on top of complete dried food.
Hope this helps. I work in a pet store and have been given training on dog nutrition. We also recently changed to complete premium food for my dog and have noticed benefits!!