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How Do You Deal With Raw Pets?

ras-saadonras-saadon Raw Newbie

I was wondering for all those who feed their pets raw as well how do you deal with it as vegans, I've been feeding my two dogs for about 2 weeks now and every time when I arrange their meals I feel totally drained, mentally tired and disgusted, if its lots of organs I sometimes even get nausea, anyone got any tips? this is working so good for my dogs and took away completely one of my dogs digestive issues which he has been suffering pretty much since he was born almost 2.5years ago, but I would really like to make it work a bit more for me as well..

Comments

  • TomsMomTomsMom Raw Newbie

    I know it's upsetting when you are new to feeding your pet raw. I still feel bad, and I've been doing this for a couple of years. However, it does get considerably better.

    It also helped me that I saved her life by changing her to an all-raw, carnivore's diet. I just decided I would not have her suffer anymore. She's my responsibility, and I won't abuse her.

    I know some vegans who freaked out so much they wore rubber gloves. Personally, I don't see how it made them feel better, but I thought I'd throw it out, there:-)

  • SuasoriaSuasoria Raw Newbie

    I totally understand! Our homeopathic vet strongly recommended we try to give our cat some raw meat. I felt totally weird even asking for some at Whole Foods...it was bizarre from beginning to end. Luckily the little princess didn't like it, and it was back to canned food.

    But I hear about vegans who think they're being ethical by feeding their carnivorous pets* a plant-based diet, even with various supplements, and I tend to think that they're better off not having pets if their values conflict so much with responsible pet care.

    * I've seen many dogs thrive on a vegetarian diet, but cats can't hack it.

  • My dog has been "living" and "loving it" on raw meat. I try to fill the freezerS up for a whole years work of game. She gets whatever I can buy her and is doing fabulous. She came here at year eating junk dry food died, switched in month to raw, and now 9 years later, she's still raw. She even has the birds hunting for food as it has been cold here eating teasing her, munching on the food they can grab and run off with. They must have told all their bird friends as we are not short of bird visitors. I've been for over 30 years, but feeding my dog raw meat, I don't love doing, but then my choice is a vegan diet for her and thinking that is not what I want her to be. So it's tough, but a choice I can live with. She's not really into fruits/veggies, but we do sometimes when we remember barley powder on her tuna.

    Glad we can read about pet health problems gone by changing the diet to a healthy ones. Vets don't always have the answers but the "drugs." I choose education to make choices that works best for the pet and our pocketbooks.

  • I've been feeding my two cats a 100% raw diet (100% carnivorous) for almost a year. I get such a kick out of how excited they get at feeding time! They really look like they are loving their meals, especially when they get to crunch through some raw, meaty chicken bones. So, as a "mother," I feel I am doing right by my "boys."

    As far as how I feel as a raw vegan foodist - I don't see the raw meat, bones, gizzards, etc. as anything other than the proper nourishment for another species. It's just what I do to be a good "parent." They are absolutely thriving on their raw food diet - just like I am on mine. My 13 year old cat has such a shiny, silky coat; my 2 year old cat has lost the large fat belly he had on "diet" Science Diet. They both run and play together and are loving life.

    On the other hand, I do take a lot of precaution when I am preparing the food, knowing full well that it is a dangerous substance. In other words, I thoroughly clean everything that has even remotely touches the raw meat and have a special cutting board just for the task of preparing their meals. I thoroughly clean the entire sink every day right after they have finished eating. It's a lot of extra expense and effort, but my boys are worth it, just like my husband and I are worth the extra time and expense it takes to eat healthy. Same reasoning - just different raw food!

    You can do anything in service of others.

    Good luck - your pets deserve their proper diet just like you do!!!

    Michele

  • randommararandommara Raw Newbie

    Hey can anyone give me suggestions for feeding a 4 lb chihuahua with rounded teeth and a underbite? I also have an 9 lb chi and a 8 lb pomeranian but they're aggressive and would hopefully take to a chewy diet.

  • ras-saadonras-saadon Raw Newbie

    Thanks all for the replies, really helped to settle my mind.

    Randommara, http://www.dogster.com/forums/Raw_Food_Diet - is a great forum about prey model raw feeding, that is 100% meat, really nice and helpful people there.

  • I'm sure there is lots of info on the web regarding feeding dogs on raw. There is also a group at www.giveittomeraw.com on raw pets. I have rats and they are real easy as they are omnivores. We feed them fresh fruit, leafy greens, smoothies, nut mylks, nuts/seeds etc and I sometimes make them up wheat breads with spirulina added.

    It really is worth taking the time to research how to feed your pet more healthily than the tinned stuff. I wrote an article about dog and cat food.

    I think it's at article base 'the truth about dog and cat food'. I'll try and find the link.

  • RawKidChefRawKidChef Raw Newbie

    I feed my cat a whole prey diet. She eats basically mice, chicks, and chicken wings/backs.

    www.rawfedcats.org

  • pixxpixx Raw Master

    I was with you, ras-saadon (ie:totally drained, mentally tired and disgusted). It is a difficult task! I am not vegan, as I do eat meat in social settings, but it was not on my shopping list, and I don't choose to prepare it at home. So, yeah, setting out to feed a cat a raw food diet was difficult. And shopping for it was weird!! I identify with Suasoria on that.

    As has been mentioned, it does get better. I had to continually tell myself in the beginning, 'this is not my food, I am not eating this. This is the best food for her to eat.' LOL! But it did work- now I can deal with it, most of the time, without giving it much more thought than if it were canned commercial cat food.

    Now that it's been a few months since your initial post, I am curious; how are things coming along?

  • ras-saadonras-saadon Raw Newbie

    When handling the nasty inner organ still find it a bit difficult, but gotten a lot better, it went from me being disgusted by what my family eats from them being disgusted from what I deal with hehe.

  • ddigiacomoddigiacomo Raw Newbie

    I tried feeding my dogs(yorkie and toy poodle) raw for about two weeks. They LOVED it but it was very messy. I read that I should give them the bones also. The problem with that is they would take the meaty bone and drag it all over the house. I would have to help them tear the meat from the bones. My yorkie also could not eat ground meat , it would make him vomit and he would not eat it after he regurgitated it. My poodle on the other hand would eat hers and his regurgitated. Any advice on what to feed them and how to go about it cleaner? They have prepared raw foods but they are VERY expensive.

  • My vet said salmonella can be a problem for dogs on a raw diet. I tend to agree, because dogs are not immune to this bacteria. I want to advise everyone to be careful or not give your dogs very hard bones. My sister gave our dog a hard raw bone and she completely cracked her molar in half straight down to the pulp, got an infection and swollen lymph node, was in awful pain. She had her surgery yesterday to extract it, but let me forwarn you, my other dog also broke off half her front canine on a hard bone. Be careful and aware of this risk, as it is all too common.

  • ras-saadonras-saadon Raw Newbie

    ddigiacomo, I suggest you get on http://www.dogster.com/, very nice forum on raw food for dogs with helpful people.

    lauraj, even in humans salmonella is pretty harmless, for healthy adults it is either dealt with by the body quietly or with a minor diarrhea or something of that kind, its only dangerous to children and old people, aside from that, dogs has a much much stronger&shorter digestion system then humans for that exact reason, to fight off bacteria, wild wolfs many times not only eat meat that has been in the sun for hours exposed to all bacteria&insects, but on many times they actually go for the sickest animals due the fact that they are easiest to catch and they don't get sick, and dogs as far as internal functions are concerned are nearly identical to wolfs, as to the hard bones it is something you need to watch out for, matching the bone to the dog, giving a beef bone to a small dog is very risky.

  • have_merseyhave_mersey Raw Newbie

    "They LOVED it but it was very messy. I read that I should give them the bones also. The problem with that is they would take the meaty bone and drag it all over the house."

    Same problem. My cats are learning to chew the meat off the bones still, and they drag them all over the carpet. It's disgusting, and he is having a hard time of it ( one is 14 years old), and has always eaten "pellets", and never bothered chewing half of those either. I am willing to help him, but this is a right pain in the arse. So anyone knowing any tips...please do tell.

  • ras-saadonras-saadon Raw Newbie

    I heard from many people that cats are much harder to feed raw then dogs, specially at such an age, as to the draggin problem, to be honest I have no idea as I have a large garden and thats where I feed them, I assume with some training though that you can teach them to eat in one place.

  • rawcanadianrawcanadian Raw Newbie

    Sometimes I put a raw egg in my dog's food and mix it in really good.

    He gobbles it up like crazy.

    Here is a link on the topic:

    http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080303120332AAiF8YT

    I'm not sure about giving the shells, they are hard and sharp and could jab into his gums, or throat, or digestive track.

    But then I read this:

    http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071129071846AAbe3Qh

    and it seems that they are ok , especially if ground up in a coffee grinder.

    However, I don't want egg shells mixed with my flax seed lol

  • ddigiacomoddigiacomo Raw Newbie

    I purchased the frozen raw patties. My Toy Poodle goes NUTS over them. She is normally such a picky eater but she adores them. My Yorkie wants nothing to do with them. They are super expensive though. Thankfully she is so small that she doesnt get much.

  • Annabelle77Annabelle77 Raw Newbie

    I agree that it is difficult. I switched my two cats to whole prey about 6 months ago and they are doing fantastic! My 9 year old looks like a kitten!

    It is difficult to see the cute baby mice and chicks with bits of shell stuck to them-- BUT there is SOOOO much more suffering in every can of much or bag of kibble. Cats are obligate carnivores and have to eat meat-- so, I think that feeding them animals that have NOT lived a life in horrible conditions and killed in a horrible way is the best I can do. I buy mice and chicks that are well fed and well cared for (really-- I have never seen any of them with any signs of struggle or trauma) and are euthanized with Co2 and frozen. (rodentpro.com)

  • have_merseyhave_mersey Raw Newbie

    "Our breeder animals are fed a scientifically designed and nutritionally complete diet resulting in a premium quality feeder animal. "

    I will bookmark this site and review it later. But for now...you do not happen to know what exactly they are fed do you? I had three rats as pets as a child, and they were badly bred, and sick. If I am sure of their diet and breeding, this sounds perfect.. I think alot of the kitty-problems we have are because they are not really meant to catch a bird their size. :P The bones are too big etc. so they are not eating proper portions of everything (and only the liver, neck and heart come with adult chickens) ..and I think this would solve alot of problems..

  • Annabelle77Annabelle77 Raw Newbie

    Hi Have_Mersey-- Im not sure if your question was for me? I get the youngest chicks-- they are just recently hatched, and so they don't have any food in their systems outside of the nutrition they got from the egg. The mice I get are also young (hoppers) and are still breast fed. As to what they are feeding the parents, I don't know-- other than that they are probably fed very well since the health of their feeder animals is their livlihood. But this is what I got off their website-- and I have had email correspondence with them before-- they are very nice and responsive...

    Q: What do you feed your mice, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs, chicks and quail?

    A: We feed a scientifically-formulated diet specifically designed to enhance the health and quality of all the animals in our colony. We absolutely do not feed dog food or any other product that contains red dye.

    Q: How do you euthanize your feeder animals?

    A: We use Carbon dioxide (CO2), as recommended by the American Veterinary Medical Association panel on euthanasia, as the agent to euthanize our feeder animals. CO2 not only ensures a humane, quick and painless death for the animals but also ensures that no harmful residual chemicals remain that may harm the animal ingesting the prey item.

  • have_merseyhave_mersey Raw Newbie

    Thank you again. Very helpful, Annabelle. :)

  • Annabelle77Annabelle77 Raw Newbie

    Oh, and I also wanted to say-- that YES, eating the proper species-specific diet will do wonders! Cats (as well as the rest of the Earthlings) have 3.5 billion years of evolution behind them-- most of which is diet-driven-- Their entire system is made to consume small birds and rodents-- gnawing the bones keeps their teeth white and jaws strong too!! (which can add up to years of longer healthy life)

    I'm totally preaching to the choir here!! (ha! forgive me)

    My younger cat, when fed the standard cat diet, produced crystals in his urine that blocked his urethra- which can cause death from sepsis in a matter of hours. He had to be put on a prescribed diet of canned food (which I HATED). Since switching to raw, whole prey, he hasnt had a single issue. My older cat's teeth are sooo clean-- both of them smell pleasing-- they are energetic to a fault, and vibrantly healthy. I love it!

    Now if only I could switch my dog-- how does one do whole prey with dogs? seems crazy to have quail and rabbits in my freezer! and soooo messy!!

  • emtpdmomemtpdmom Raw Newbie

    I have a very small dog, 6 pounds. Does anyone have experience with such a small dog on a raw diet?

  • Annabelle77Annabelle77 Raw Newbie

    Hi emtpdmom--

    I tried to switch my small dog to raw (he is about the size of a pug-- 1/2 chihuahua 1/2 rottweiler). We were giving him 1/2 of a turkey neck and beef knuckles. (which really grossed me out!). Although he loved to eat them-- and he seemed VERY content to be knawing on real food-- his GI system never got used to it. Additionally-- I was nergvous about the source of the meat (from grocery). His stool was runny and white-ish and smelled very odd.

    I would LOVE to try a whole prey diet with him-- but for his size that would mean buying young chickens, quail, and small rabbits-- and I just dont know how/if that would work! I suppose I could give it a try. It would also entail buying a stand-alone freezer.

    hmmm-- maybe that will be my summer project.

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