A diet question....

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atot

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We have changed Pheobe's (9yo westie) to mainly being meat/fish. She gets our scraps with it such as leftover veggies etc... We're buying her cheap cuts from the butcher.
She finds it more appetising, because her normal dog food she didn't particularly like.

I was just wondering if anyone knew if we should add any supplements or anything, into the food, that she might be missing out on from her complete dog food.

Thanks for any help!
 
What are you getting from the butcher? Are you feeding it raw? What fish are you feeding? Are you feeding any offal at all? The veggies are better fed raw too, carrot/swede/parsnip peelings and ends e.t.c
 
If you are feeding it raw: (Well done!)

Then you would need to add bone content as well like lamb bones and chicken wings, then a variety of different meat/fish, occasional offal and small amounts of raw or lightly steamed liquidised veg will provide everything a "complete" food does and more.

Table scraps are fine but should not form a large part of the diet. Cooked veg is ok but if overcooked you will destroy the nutrients so undercooked or raw is better, perhaps mix you table scraps with raw. It needs liquidising to break down the cellulose for the dog to be able to get at the nutrients. I add eggs to this and mine get eggies for breakfast sometimes as well.

You just need to ensure that over a week or two you feed a bit of all the above, you don't have to balance a dogs diet daily.

I feed Species Appropriate so unlike BARF I avoid dairy, rice cereal etc as a part of the diet. I tend to feed what I think they would eat in the wild, but I don't go as far as feeding Kangaroo!!!

Muscle meat will put on weight so you need to get your meat bone balance right for your dog , then they will be satisfied by their food and not gain weight.

If you are feeding cooked then I would think you would need to suppliment, but this is not may area, consult the internet for home cooked pet food and see what they say.
 
mince from the butcher. We're not feeding it raw, because we weren't sure which was better. can you recommend...raw/cooked? Fish is just our leftover fish, white...she's had a bit of skate, cod...
No, I don't know what offal is? Yeah we're doing raw veggies if she doesn't get our ones that we haven't eaten. thanks.
 
[ QUOTE ]
If you are feeding it raw: (Well done!)

Then you would need to add bone content as well like lamb bones and chicken wings, then a variety of different meat/fish, occasional offal and small amounts of raw or lightly steamed liquidised veg will provide everything a "complete" food does and more.

Table scraps are fine but should not form a large part of the diet. Cooked veg is ok but if overcooked you will destroy the nutrients so undercooked or raw is better, perhaps mix you table scraps with raw. It needs liquidising to break down the cellulose for the dog to be able to get at the nutrients. I add eggs to this and mine get eggies for breakfast sometimes as well.

You just need to ensure that over a week or two you feed a bit of all the above, you don't have to balance a dogs diet daily.

I feed Species Appropriate so unlike BARF I avoid dairy, rice cereal etc as a part of the diet. I tend to feed what I think they would eat in the wild, but I don't go as far as feeding Kangaroo!!!

Muscle meat will put on weight so you need to get your meat bone balance right for your dog , then they will be satisfied by their food and not gain weight.

If you are feeding cooked then I would think you would need to suppliment, but this is not may area, consult the internet for home cooked pet food and see what they say.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh I see, so we can feed it raw?? Should the bones be cooked...I can't remember whether its the raw/cooked bones that are brittle and can snap and splinter in the dogs mouth...
What's offal...
blush.gif
*tootles off to google*
okay, so we'll try and do it raw as often as poss. Yes sometimes I add an egg to moisten things a bit...she adores it.
Yes we've avoided dairy and carby stuff too.
Okay, thanks for your help...she's a little westie...do you think you'd be able to give us an idea of the ratio of meat/ved to bones? She's a bit tubby but has legs made out of steel - they are super muscly!!
We will deffo feed raw if it is better for her. I just wasn't sure whether her tum could cope straight off from dry food to raw, because was unsure whether acid would be able to neutralise it...??
Thanks for your help!
 
Personally I change my dogs straight onto raw when I get them (all are rescues) I don't bother messing about !

The thing you must not do is feed dry food in the same meal as raw as they travel through the gut at different speeds and can cause big problems.

All bones etc are fed raw as it's the cooking that makes them dangerous, it makes them very hard and with splintering this is not good!

Offal is liver, kidneys, heart and tripe, You can buy raw "green" (unwashed) frozen tripe at a pet store, I feed it part frozen as I can't stand the smell! Liver I have to sear the outside for mine as they don't really like it.

The bone to meat ratio should be 80%, and chicken wings are exactly that so they are excellent for those watching their weight. Bones from the butcher are great but beef are hard so lamb ribs would be great for yours, you can get bone packs from Morrisons for stock! They are raw and come in a packet with a bit of fat for about 90p.

Game birds and rabbit are also good if they are on offer and ox tail, basically use your imagination and keep an eye out for offers and reduced food!

I feed a lot of boned out chicken carcasses that I get from the butcher and lamb ribs, but mine are quite big so probably 1/2 a chicken carcass would be ok for yours. They are really good for diets as they are mostly bone.

I feed almost all human grade food and they do get cooked fish in tomato sauce, but I will add in whitebait if it's on offer and I do feed salmon heads now and again, but again you might have to blanch them.

A little freezer helps then you can buy reduced stuff in bulk.

I don't feed a lot of veg probably for yours a couple of tablespoon fulls over a meat meal once or twice a week. You can supplement with kelp tablets as well, if you put a handfull of pumpkins seeds in the blended now and again this helps dislodge any worms from the gut.

But apart from that just keep an eye on the dog and add muscle meat if they loose weight and up the bone content if they gain it.

There can be a detox period in which ill effects from prior diets come out, i.e. itching but after that you will see a big improvement in vitality, coat and skin condition, teeth condition and cleanliness etc.
 
Just browsed so a quickie as I'm off to do some jobs but NEVER feed any cooked bones. You can feed virtually anything raw though, including chicken wings/carcasses e.t.c Offal is basically liver/kidneys/hearts etc All of mine love liver (in fact when a pack of wolves make a kill the liver is the prize piece and eaten by the alpha-the pack leader, as it contains so many nutrients) and they go mad for raw hearts.

Pigs trotters/ears/heads e.t.c Lamb ribs...

Just a few ideas.
 
wow thank you for all that brilliant info - have taken it all down, and Pheobe is going to have a very nice supper tonight. Thanks for all your help - might do a before and after if there's a big enough change (she's a little tubby atm but we are working on it!
 
Thanks SM...will keep an eye out for offal then....and NO cooked bones, got it - thanks for your help.
smile.gif
 
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