Raw feeders - has anyone given up and gone back to kibble?

[djlynwood]

Also my bank balance most certainly does not thank me, it costs me on average at least £45 per month more to feed raw than it would to feed Skinners Duck and Rice which I previously used

.

I feed two big German Shepherds and my monthly raw dog food order is never more than £60. Sometimes it is a lot less.

I used to feed Royal Cannin kibble which was £30 a sack 7 years ago (breeders rates) which just about lasted a month for one dog.

 

[Embo]

Sorry, not dogs, but I RAW feed my 2 cats. Sometimes when it's a hassle, I remember what the mess in the litter tray was like when they were on commercial food... it's an easy choice to keep on RAW lol.

I only keep a box of food pouches for if I forget to get something out of the freezer for them.

RAW is not for everyone, but I wouldn't feed anything else now. If it doesn't fit in with your routine anymore, OP, then maybe a change back is best. As long as your animals are happy and healthy, who is anyone to disagree with your choice.

 

[Nikki J]

Balls, my dog is nearly 7 and has been eating kibble his whole life. He has great teeth - to the extent that when he was sedated for a hip x-ray the vet asked if I wanted his teeth done when he was 'out'. When I got the bill I noticed there was no charge for his teeth, only to be told they were in excellent condition for his age and they didn't need doing. This is a well respected animal hospital.

I never said ALL kibble-fed dogs would have brown plaque-y teeth!! I too know dogs who have been kibble-fed, and have lovely white teeth.

It is just my own personal experience with my rescue dog Tai - who was fed on kibble for the first 5 or 6 years of his life - and all the dogs I have ever owned in over 40 years that were fed of wet tinned food and biscuits - all had horrible brown stained teeth by the time they were 5.

 

[Nikki J]

Sorry to pick out just two aspects of your post NikkiJ as you have posted some good advice (which I actually already follow) but one of my dogs had teeth which were scaled under anaesthetic (with 14 extractions) before he came to me, he has been on raw all of that time, and he still had a large number of teeth out a couple of months ago so he only has 7 teeth remaining. That is what I meant about not helping with teeth, not trying to redress damage which had already been done by feeding kibble - some greyhounds just have rubbish teeth

Also my bank balance most certainly does not thank me, it costs me on average at least £45 per month more to feed raw than it would to feed Skinners Duck and Rice which I previously used

More generally, I choose not to feed frozen meat/bones to my dogs personally, I fully understand that others make the choice to do that & that it presents them/their dogs with no problems, it is just something I dont want to do.

Gosh - I've never heard of that before - are you sure he was always raw fed and only raw fed? No kibble?

I am amazed also what you say about the higher costs. I have no knowledge of Skinners, but assuming it is not a very cheap kibble, all I can advise is that you change suppliers? Landywoods are very cheap, DAF, Berriewoods and Albion. I have 2 monsters - weighing in each at 45 kilos - and it costs us £2 per day to feed the 2 dogs - £1 each - and this includes bones, the odd chicken wing, raw carrots, offal etc. To feed them both on a good quality kibble - say Arden Grange or Milburns (both I know are very expensive, but even so, even feeding an average priced kibble we have worked out it would cost far more than £2 per day).

Not included in the £1 each per day costs are electricity to run their small chest freezer, so you could probably add a bit on for that.

But a big big big saving is in vets' fees - bar accidents, Tai has never been to the vet in the 6 years we have owned him. Ben had sarcoptic mange which he caught from my daughter's cat which involved a vet visit, but apart from that and as I say one or two accidents neither dog ever go anywhere near a vet, saving us a small fortune. We have even cancelled their insurance because it just did not make economic sense to have it.

 

[Nikki J]

I feed two big German Shepherds and my monthly raw dog food order is never more than £60. Sometimes it is a lot less.

I used to feed Royal Cannin kibble which was £30 a sack 7 years ago (breeders rates) which just about lasted a month for one dog.

Roughly the same as us then. That Royal Canin at £30 a sack 7 years ago, would now cost more like £50 or £60 I would think, so it is roughly half price feeding raw, which is what we find.

 

[{97702}]

Gosh - I've never heard of that before - are you sure he was always raw fed and only raw fed? No kibble?

I am amazed also what you say about the higher costs. I have no knowledge of Skinners, but assuming it is not a very cheap kibble, all I can advise is that you change suppliers? Landywoods are very cheap, DAF, Berriewoods and Albion. I have 2 monsters - weighing in each at 45 kilos - and it costs us £2 per day to feed the 2 dogs - £1 each - and this includes bones, the odd chicken wing, raw carrots, offal etc. To feed them both on a good quality kibble - say Arden Grange or Milburns (both I know are very expensive, but even so, even feeding an average priced kibble we have worked out it would cost far more than £2 per day).

Not included in the £1 each per day costs are electricity to run their small chest freezer, so you could probably add a bit on for that.

But a big big big saving is in vets' fees - bar accidents, Tai has never been to the vet in the 6 years we have owned him. Ben had sarcoptic mange which he caught from my daughter's cat which involved a vet visit, but apart from that and as I say one or two accidents neither dog ever go anywhere near a vet, saving us a small fortune. We have even cancelled their insurance because it just did not make economic sense to have it.

Yes I am quite sure he was only fed raw, I owned him and he was in my house and under my care for the full time between me adopting him and him needing all those teeth out a couple of months ago!

Unfortunately I wont go with the cheap raw producers as I dont think their products are good enough quality, I have had some VERY poor feedback about DAF, Landywoods and Berriewoods hence sticking with MVM. I have 4 greyhounds weighing 35kgs, 26kgs, 24kgs and 20kgs respectively, hence a large food bill each month

As far as vets bills go, mine never went (or currently go) to the vets anyway except for accidents/injuries - touch wood of course

 

[djlynwood]

Unfortunately I wont go with the cheap raw producers as I dont think their products are good enough quality, I have had some VERY poor feedback about DAF, Landywoods and Berriewoods hence sticking with MVM. I have 4 greyhounds weighing 35kgs, 26kgs, 24kgs and 20kgs respectively, hence a large food bill each month

Ive only used DAF since I started raw. I have ordered every month for the last 7 years and can say that I have never had a problem with their service or their prodcuts.

 

[Nikki J]

Yes I am quite sure he was only fed raw, I owned him and he was in my house and under my care for the full time between me adopting him and him needing all those teeth out a couple of months ago!

Unfortunately I wont go with the cheap raw producers as I dont think their products are good enough quality, I have had some VERY poor feedback about DAF, Landywoods and Berriewoods hence sticking with MVM. I have 4 greyhounds weighing 35kgs, 26kgs, 24kgs and 20kgs respectively, hence a large food bill each month

As far as vets bills go, mine never went (or currently go) to the vets anyway except for accidents/injuries - touch wood of course

I meant before you had him

I am surprised by what you say about DAF and Berriewoods in particular - I would agree to a certain point about Landywoods - not because their food itself was rubbish, but their service was, they were very unreliable! However, DAF are extremely good and Berriewoods were exceptionally good in both terms of delivery and service and their food. We are with Albion, and them I would give 10 out of 10 in terms of both quality, service and delivery. Have you actually tried any other suppliers apart from MVM? I can highly recommend Albion in particular, closely followed by DAF - the only downside of DAF is that they don't deliver everywhere, which can be a real pain.

Good news too about the vets - they are SO expensive, best to keep away from them wherever possible!

 

[Toast]

Not a fan of DAF. Service was ok but products were completely minging and my dogs wouldn't touch it.. much prefer MVM. Worth the extra few pence.

 

[{97702}]

I meant before you had him

LMAO I'm sorry NikkiJ, I had read that as meaning after I had him Yes he was a greyhound in training for 5 1/2 years before I had him, god knows what he was fed during that time, but what I was trying to say is that his teeth were fully cleaned and sorted when I adopted him, he has been fed raw ever since, yet still they went wrong

I have only sourced raw from butchers and abattoirs before using MVM, but have heard a lot of people say the same as Toast about DAF

 

[Nikki J]

LMAO I'm sorry NikkiJ, I had read that as meaning after I had him Yes he was a greyhound in training for 5 1/2 years before I had him, god knows what he was fed during that time, but what I was trying to say is that his teeth were fully cleaned and sorted when I adopted him, he has been fed raw ever since, yet still they went wrong

I have only sourced raw from butchers and abattoirs before using MVM, but have heard a lot of people say the same as Toast about DAF

Ah I see. Well there you go, I would never have thought that a raw diet could have stained a dog's teeth but you live and learn something every day with dogs and horses!