BARF Feeding

[Blue-bear]

I have been reading up on barf feeding quite alot recently and would just like to know peoples personal experiences. I know this has been done a few times already on here but i guess i just need some reassurance!
I have a 8 month old labrador (Buddy) who like most labs will eat absolutly anything but my worry is my 6 month old collie (Meg), she has a developmental cavity on her nose and it has affected her teeth on one side so her 'big' teeth have not come through in the order they should and she will be missing a few too. As this diet relies on eating bones, i worry this will affect her although her teeth on the other side are fine.
I sort of tested it a bit and have given them the odd chicken wing to see if they can handle it and of course they loved it although Meg was alot slower.

To try and cut out all my waffle i would really like for someone to give me an example of what they would feed for a week........

And also if anyone has any experience of feeding this way with cats..... (i have 3!)

Thanks, any help will be much appreciated

 

[GinaGem]

We feed raw and are very pleased with it.

You can buy meat with crushed bone which may help your dog but obviously it would need something to chew to actually clean and floss her teeth. If she can chew with one side of her mouth she should be ok.

We typically feed:

3 mornings - fruit/veg/herb mix and meat and/or offal (no bone)
2 - mornings - meat (no bone)
2 mornings - pilchards in tomato sauce

evenings - meat with bone

For the fruit/veg/herb mix when we make it ourselves we get a few different things from the supermarket once a month. Blend it up with a bit of water. Freeze. Once frozen break up into small pieces. defrost a piece overnight to feed the following day for breakfast. We sometimes order food with veg already mixed in (from Landywoods).

The pilchards come from the supermarket again. We stock up once a month.

The meat and bones generally come from Landywoods again. they do all sorts of things but we mainly buy the meat mixes, offal mixes and then the meaty rib bones. Occasionally also marrow bones and next month we are going to try the turkey necks and chicken carcasses.

Everything from Landywoods gets taken out of the freezer the night before and is defrosted overnight. The packs are quite a handy size for our dogs as they get one each in the evening and a quarter each in the morning.

We also occasionally get bunny from the butcher but i cook this and remove the bones as they won't eat it raw. we also feed scraps from dinner - veg, fish and meat.

They also get the odd egg (with the shell), a bit of oil and a bit of natural yoghurt.

Only problem with Landywoods is you need a large freezer!!!

http://www.landywoods.co.uk/price_list.html

It took a bit of experimenting to get the amount of bone right for our dogs and also the actual amount to feed as they can quite easily put on weight!

 

[MarleyandDarcy]

I feed:
Twice a week veg mix
Once a week sardines
Once a week offal (liver and kidney)
Rest of the time they get lamb rib/breast or chicken wings/duck necks.
They get natural yoghurt or cottage cheese once a day too and any extra eggs we have (no more than once a week/fortnight)
Mine also do get some mixer biscuit with their veg and fish although most raw feeders say not to feed cereal/grains etc but mine like it so they get it!!


We feed 6 this way and its so much cheaper than complete food and used to have trouble getting the collies to eat it but they love their raw feed!

If you can find a good butcher then its cheaper than Landywoods/PC etc but then it depends on how many dogs you are feeding, I'd find the pack stuff a bit expensive for 6!

Good luck

 

[KarynK]

I Only feed mine a meal once a day, they may get treats in between but they have one main meal. Treats = Eggs occasional table scraps, beef jerky etc.

If you feed supermarket economy chicken wings they are usually from young birds and therefore the bones are quite soft, to help her you can use an axe to chop up the bone in the wing to help her along, this techniques can also be used for oldies, or smaller dogs.

I do not balance mine over a one week period it’s more like 2 and this is what one medium sized dog would get typically.

1 Chicken Carcass with some meat still on it
1 side of a Rack of lamb ribs
Can of pilchards or very lightly cooked fish
5-6 Chicken Wings
1 Chicken Carcass with some meat still on it
½ lb minced meat with liquidised veg (2tbl spoons) an egg and some chopped pumpkin seeds
1 side of a Rack of lamb ribs
1 Chicken Carcass with some meat still on it
Offal of some kind (Heart or tripe with a bit of liver mixed in)
5-6 Chicken Wings
1 Pigs Trotter
1 Chicken Carcass with some meat still on it or ½ a rabbit
½ lb minced meat with liquidised veg (2tbl spoons) an egg and some chopped pumpkin seeds
1 side of a Rack of lamb ribs

Occasionally I will swap meals and put in things on special offer like oxtail, pheasant or even venison in season. If a dog is loosing weight I will up Muscle meat content and if it’s putting it on more bone. If you feed lamb bones they can be quite hard but the bones on the ribs nearer the sternum are more cartilage than bone and ideal for those with teeth problems. Again you can help by taking an axe to them.

I personally have not fed a cat but a friend did, they can be fussy but once they get the taste for it you might have to fit a fridge lock. This cat happily ate chicken wings.