Thinking about raw. Some say it's a no no.

[Sevaede]

Since joining PT, I have been looking into raw. I have joined a raw forum, frequent the messages on here, look at web sites, etc.

I am just not sure how I would go about feeding it to a 1.7 lb Chi. I need to calculate it.

My mother has been telling me that I shouldn't be looking into it because it can cause pancreatitis, etc.

I would love to feed it to Spanky as I fear that the bag of food she has will rot before she has time to eat it all.

I wonder how much of an effect it will have on her.

[ashleycat]

I'm still researching too. Tho my dog is 37 lbs.

Right now she has

hip dysplasia
skin problems
stinky breath
stinky skin
not very active
dirty teeth

I'm hoping once I get guts to go full into raw, she will get better. I did one day of raw with what I already had in freezer and she loved beef, but not chicken. dont worry guys... she didnt get kibble that day. I'm looking for good priced beef in my area. I'll have to drive half an hour by the looks of it. But it's worth it for my doggies sake.

[CathyBogart]

Here's a Raw food "calculator" to help you get the amounts right...

http://raw4dogs.com/calculate.htm


When I decided to go raw, I researched like crazy. I think my favorite source of information was "Raw Meaty Bones Promote Health" by Tom Lonsdale. It sounds like you're doing everything right by doing your research and asking around before jumping into it.

If you have a livejournal I HIGHLY recommend the LJ group Rawdogs.

[Kfamr]

It's awfully weird that someone would say raw causes pancreatitis. Generally pancreatitis is caused by high fatty meals, such as human foods, or some medications.

[.sarah]

If you want to hear from owners with dogs your size, join rawfeeding and rawdogs. Both have members with small dogs and I'm sure if you post a question of how they feed, they can help you.

[Danegirl2208]

heres another group you may find helpful..for chis fed raw and chi owners looking to switch:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfedchihuahuas/

[ashleycat]

I have a favorites folder listed at RAW lol

[binka_nugget]

It really does vary from dog to dog but it seems like most raw feeders start at 2.5-3% of the dog's weight. I started at 2% for Kai and Kae because I feel Kae needs to stay at a lower weight for his troubled joints, and because I want Kai slightly thinner than "ideal" to make agility easier on his body. I adjusted it based on how the dogs looked after a while. Kai's getting only 1.6%-2% of his weight daily, and Kaedyn's getting about 2%. Both are slowly losing weight but still happy, healthy dogs, so we're sticking at that amount for the time being.

Dog owners should always be aware of pancreatitis. It can happen with dogs being fed kibble, homecooked diets or raw. I'm very careful about keeping my dogs away from fatty foods.. whether a part of their raw meal, or not.

Check out this site: http://www.rawmeatybones.com/ It's Tom Lonsdale's site. He has two PDF versions of his books on there.

[Sevaede]

Heh, thank you everyone! I appreciate the input!

Ashleycat, pretty soon those things will be better!

Cathy, joined the group and favourited the site! I found them both to be awesome! The calculator told me to feed Spanky .68 oz to her!

See, Kfmar, that's what I was thinking. I haven't heard of any cases of pancreatitis since reading up, either.

.sarah, heh, I joined the second one just now (I can't remember when I joined rawfeeding, although it hasn't been a long time)! Thank you much!

Danegirl, thanks for the link to that group!

Ashley, that is fantastic how well Kai and Kaedyn are doing! See, I didn't think that pancreatitis was caused any more by raw than it would be by kibble. I will definitely read about it, though, as my dog health book doesn't cover it. Thank you for the site!