Button has gone raw - after 16 years!!

[deb_l222]

I've been struggling for a few weeks now with Button and food and this last couple of weeks has been a nightmare.

Long story short and after a trip to the vets, thinking it was maybe time for the big blue injection, we have decided she's probably just getting fussy and to feed her whatever she wants. Anyway, this morning she had some mince and wolfed it down but my question to the raw feeders is, is there any particular fat percentage of mince that's recommended for dogs? I'm thinking the higher the fat the better because she's so skinny but I don't want to upset her tummy.

I also found co-op terrine beef and vegetable dog food last night. Smelled that good, I could have eaten it myself!

Bless her, hopefully she will continue on for a while longer

 

[[139672]]

I feed my dog the Nature’s Menu ‘Freeflow’ mince, they do beef, chicken and lamb (possibly tripe as well but not sure - I don’t feed him tripe, I cannot cope with the smell). I buy it from Pets at Home but I’ve seen it for sale lots of other suppliers. I’ve never looked at fat content on the packaging.

 

[Equi]

RAW is a whole degree in itself. There are so many ingredients needed for a healthy dog. I would suggest looking at the premade raw type foods in the pet shops etc as they will have done all the hard work for you i suppose! My friend feeds a raw type thing (processed tho) and her dogs always look the picture of health. I knew a lady who did the proper RAW diet and it looked bloomin hard work

 

[Karran]

When desperately trying to put weight on my spaniel and switching to raw, I was suggested natural instinct duck as a very fatty food. I get the minces sometimes but I dont think they are the best quality and they are stopgaps until my normal delivery arrives.
I feed mine on cotswold raw/paleo ridge. I'm not sure how good Buttons teeth maybe at her age, so where as I find them chunky and solid for my two, she may do better on natural instinct which I find a bit mushier? (Especially the smelly chicken and salmon)

 

[[139672]]

My dog also has the nature’s menu meat, fruit and veg nuggets but they may work out quite expensive. I feed processed raw. There’s quite a good variety of processed available now.

 

[Roxylola]

Plenty of tripe, for an older dog you want less than 10% bone really. Fat content isn't hugely important although you don't want too high as you could end up with pancreatitis

 

[deb_l222]

Thank you for the suggestions, I will look at all of these.

At the moment I’ve just bought a couple of packs of supermarket mince to see if she would eat it and she’s wolfed it down. I have no intention of going fully ‘raw’ with her. I’ll just be happy if I can get her to enjoy food again so it’s likely to be a mixture of smelly tinned food, probably stuff like boiled ham (she’s had that this morning with mince) and some raw.

She can’t live forever, I know that but she was literally wasting away and that’s no way to die, bless her. I don’t expect her to put on masses of weight but a little bit would be nice.

 

[Christmascinnamoncookie]

Lamb mince has the highest fat content. My lot get supermarket bargains, but mostly bony stuff like chicken wings etc. The basic ratio for raw feeding is 80:10:10, meat, offal, bone. What else will she eat? Mine are very fond of chicken and tripe.