A Few Questions on Feeding Raw.

[Roxyluvsme13]

Yes! Visa LOVES her cottage cheese and yogurt. All dogs are able to adjust their bodies to cope with lactose over time (as dog milk contains lactose sulfate, and so dogs are born with the ability to digest lactose -- only about half of dogs lose it, but can gain it back with time). Uncreamed or dry cottage cheese is best to start out with. It's low lactose and high in beneficial bacteria that promote digestion and healthy intestines. Yogurt is good bacteria-wise too, and can help put on weight (depending on what kind you buy). I buy the Balkan style, 6% fat yogurt for keeping weight on Visa. Both cottage cheese and yogurt help if the dog is gassy.

Ah, okay. I don't think either of them are Lactose Intolerant, since they've done fine eating yogurt before. Could I add some Cottage Cheese or Yogurt in with the meat somedays instead of Veggies?

[wolfsoul]

Yep, if you decide not to feed veggies everyday but have a substitute other than meat or organs, cottage cheese or yogurt is fine.

[Roxyluvsme13]

Now all I've left to do is wait on Erica's book, read it, and convince my mom Raw is better for the dogs, and get a blender.

[Roxyluvsme13]

Okay! Thank you so much again for the help everyone! If you have anything extra I should know, Please post!

[lv4dogs]

i put the egg, shell & all in the blender.
Once a week or so I will only give them the egg, yolk & white, with no shell, usually because I am lazy & don't want to get the blender out. lol

[Roxyluvsme13]

We got a carton of 18 eggs today, and I plan to sneak one to the dogs. I also looked at the meat prices and discussed feeding Raw more with my mom.

A whole chicken was $2.37.
Beef ranged from $5 +
Turkey I didn't see much of, so I didn't look at the price.
Chicken leg quarters, (I guess a 10 pack) $7.80
So...my mom said that was too expensive. I told her butchers were cheaper.
On the way home..
Me: If you feed Raw it's much healthier.
Mom: I don't get how it's much healthier, why's it better?
Me: Kibble has all sorts of crap in it, and feeding Raw is what dogs were raised from.
Mom: What about Salmonella, E-Coli?
Me: There's been more cases of that in kibble..
Mom: *surprised look*
Haha, I think I'm convincing her! I'm going to ask if I can give the dogs a raw egg each and see if they like it.
Are the prices for the meat high? I thought they were.

[.sarah]

LOL! About the price, tell her that if you spend more on the diet, you'll be saving more in vet bills from diseases that could be onset by poor diet That's what I tell people when they say it's too expensive, then they're pretty much speechless. Or they bring up "but it takes too much time" and I say, "but you're spending more time preparing meals instead of at the vet because your dog is sick". And really, once you get in the swing of things and create a routine, it doesn't take up that much time.

By the way, the chicken prices sound good, especially for the quarters. It was probably a 10lb bag, in which case it was $.78/lb, very cheap! (Actually sometimes chicken quarters can be as cheap as $.29/lb!!) Beef is generally expensive, so I feed mostly beef heart (usually $.70/lb here) and beef brisket ($.93/lb). All other beef cuts have been way too expensive.

[cali]

also if you tell butchers what you are getting it for I found many that supply bones for raw feeders for dicounted prices, as the stuff you often want is considered "scraps" that most people dont eat anyway. also check out butchers that hunters go too, we have a butcher just outsiude of town, the hunters bring there kill there for cutting and many times the hunter does not want the bone and this butcher will give the bones and scraps to raw feeders for free. also when you guys buy chicken and turckey for your owner dinner you can by a whole one instead of already cut peices, then you can debone the bird yourself, feed the dogs the bones and no more cokkied ckicken and turkey bones all over the place, you get the breast the the dogs get several meals(1 turkey feeds my 5 dogs for 3 days and 3 people for 2 days) and you get boneless meat and less mess, and no extra cost.

[Roxyluvsme13]

Ahh, ok so the chicken was well priced. Lily LOVED the egg. She didn't like the shell though, but I can expect that since it wasn't ground up or anything. She gobbled it up though, and my mom kept saying I don't think this is a good idea, the shell will cause her an obstruction, blah, blah.. . I'm going to sneak Roxy an egg with her kibble tonight. At least it's a start.

[lv4dogs]

LOL! About the price, tell her that if you spend more on the diet, you'll be saving more in vet bills from diseases that could be onset by poor diet That's what I tell people when they say it's too expensive, then they're pretty much speechless. Or they bring up "but it takes too much time" and I say, "but you're spending more time preparing meals instead of at the vet because your dog is sick". And really, once you get in the swing of things and create a routine, it doesn't take up that much time.

Exactly! It cuts down on vet bills, skin problems which in turn might mean less bathing & the like, no more brushing teeth, less yard pick up, the lsit can go on & on & on & on.
Besides it's not really THAT much more expensive, it's even cheaper if you have small dogs &/or freezer space to accomidate bulk purchases.

Once you get into the swing of things I think it's actually less time consuming.