Raw food and camping...

vallin

vallin

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We're heading to Rhosilli camping this weekend and I've suddenly realised we won't have a freezer for the dogs food...She is fed raw (750g natural instinct plus lamb shanks and veg per day) and looks really good on it so am reluctant to swap anything but equally am I risking it a bit leaving it in a cool box from Friday through till Monday?

Should probably have thought about this sooner but am still not used to having her around and wasn't really expecting her to still be here!

Thanks
V
 
You can get electric or battery powered cool boxes. I don't think it'll do her any harm but it will probably pong.

If you don't mind switching her you can get some good quality wet trays from the supermarket which is easier to keep, I use Naturo when travelling.
 
I feed raw but if travelling I use Forthglade grain free which is 90% meat, easy to store and handle while away, Naturo is good too and the PAH Fishmongers range. Have a lovely time!!
 
its costing you a fortune because she's on lamb shanks and NI lol!

I feed mine a box of RAW and Eden but there's also Millies Wolfheart. There are lots of decent grain free trays as well as the decent tinned food available now.
 
i switched to millies wolf heart- my GSD was very sensitive to grains and additives and we did manage raw for a while, as he did well on it, but similarly to you- going away was a pain. So I decided to give it a go, and noticed no real difference in how his skin was or digestion. we only have a small kitchen and to be honest i was just nicer to not have defrosting meet taking up space!
 
you could try a battery powered cool box if you want. I went camping with a normal cool box and ice blocks and it was pretty rubbish within 24 hours (although this was in august)
 
vallin said:
Do you use Orijen normally? I'd like to switch her off raw as it's costing us a fortune but equally would prefer to keep her grain free.
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I have used Orijen and while I was very happy with the quality of the food, my dogs couldn't tolerate such high protein. They are now on Simpsons Premium 60/40 (Simpsons also do an 80/20) for their evening meal and raw for breakfast, and do extremely well on it.

https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/dog-food-reviews/0744/simpsons-premium-8020
 
MotherOfChickens said:
its costing you a fortune because she's on lamb shanks and NI lol!

I feed mine a box of RAW and Eden but there's also Millies Wolfheart. There are lots of decent grain free trays as well as the decent tinned food available now.
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Just looked at Orijen and that works out the same price as the NI and the lamb. MW seems to have a lot of potatoe in it?
 
vallin said:
Just looked at Orijen and that works out the same price as the NI and the lamb. MW seems to have a lot of potatoe in it?
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I've not fed Orijen, seems blinking expensive to me. MWH I didn't entirely get on with but many do, it doesn't all have potato in it does it? I really like the Eden semi moist which works out slightly cheaper than either.
But if you want to feed RAW, there must be cheaper ways of doing it-I buy in bulk from DAF for example-lots of mince packs and other stuff. I think I will always feed some good quality kibble precisely for the issue you are facing though.
 
I buy my raw from Bulmers, works out @ 65p per lb when you buy box of 30 packs I like it as it is a nice coarse mince with a good percentage of bone in the chicken based ones too, I also feed the ancient terrier on Eden semi moist and the Cocker tolerates this well too. I find neither of mine will eat the Natures menu nuggets though...

Albion frozen food is pretty good value too if you buy the 40lb kennel packs, raw has gotten more expensive as it's gotten popular, especially the brands that come with pretty packaging!!
 
rara007 said:
Well it is below freezing most nights....

Not worth the risk with the raw! Maybe use it to spring board changing diet :)
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I'm working on the OH ;) he's a bit resistant though as it's his mothers dog not ours (despite us currently paying for it...) and she does look good on it. Bloody thing cost more than the horse - £100pm food v £40, £250pm day care v £150 livery...something doesn't seem quite right ;)
 
rara007 said:
Well it is below freezing most nights....

Not worth the risk with the raw! Maybe use it to spring board changing diet :)
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Raw is the ultimate diet for a dog - they look fantastic, there is less waste, it is brilliant. The last thing you should be doing is looking to change her diet :)

If you take the product away frozen with you it will be absolutely fine for the weekend, it won't be warm at all this time of year (why on earth are you camping in February???!!! :) ) and will take at least 24 hours to defrost, it will last in a cool box easily

ETA - there is no way I would feed NI, it is far too expensive - try Manifold Valley Meats, excellent quality but also some very affordable options (even when you are feeding 4 greyhounds!)
 
Lévrier;13481648 said:
Raw is the ultimate diet for a dog - they look fantastic, there is less waste, it is brilliant. The last thing you should be doing is looking to change her diet :)

If you take the product away frozen with you it will be absolutely fine for the weekend, it won't be warm at all this time of year (why on earth are you camping in February???!!! :) ) and will take at least 24 hours to defrost, it will last in a cool box easily

ETA - there is no way I would feed NI, it is far too expensive - try Manifold Valley Meats, excellent quality but also some very affordable options (even when you are feeding 4 greyhounds!)
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Thanks for the heads up, some of it is certainly a lot cheaper - do you add anything to the bone minces? (i.e. veg/egg etc)
 
Lévrier;13481648 said:
Raw is the ultimate diet for a dog - they look fantastic, there is less waste, it is brilliant. The last thing you should be doing is looking to change her diet :)

If you take the product away frozen with you it will be absolutely fine for the weekend, it won't be warm at all this time of year (why on earth are you camping in February???!!! :) ) and will take at least 24 hours to defrost, it will last in a cool box easily

ETA - there is no way I would feed NI, it is far too expensive - try Manifold Valley Meats, excellent quality but also some very affordable options (even when you are feeding 4 greyhounds!)
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I think rara just had to PTS one as a result of its raw diet. I think having to do that with any frequency probably makes you think it isn't the 'ultimate diet' or quite as brilliant as others do.

It does seem that those that spend a lot of time in vets practices in what ever capacity are less keen, even those who previously were.

Yes I really dont think we have addressed the main issue here which is clearly err camping in February?!??
 
vallin said:
Thanks for the heads up, some of it is certainly a lot cheaper - do you add anything to the bone minces? (i.e. veg/egg etc)
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No I don't add anything - I try to ensure the correct ratio of 80% meat, 10% bone and 10% offal, but I do this over the course of a few days rather than applying the rule daily
 
ester said:
I think rara just had to PTS one as a result of its raw diet. I think having to do that with any frequency probably makes you think it isn't the 'ultimate diet' or quite as brilliant as others do.

It does seem that those that spend a lot of time in vets practices in what ever capacity are less keen, even those who previously were.

Yes I really dont think we have addressed the main issue here which is clearly err camping in February?!??
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Luckily - touch wood frantically - I don't spend a lot of time in vets practices because my dogs are on a healthy diet :) It would be interesting to compare stats (if any were available) of how many dogs are PTS because they are fed non-raw diets....

As for vets not being keen on raw feeding, I think the fact that a large number of veterinary practices have Hills for sale in their reception areas says it all :D
 
Lévrier;13481991 said:
As for vets not being keen on raw feeding, I think the fact that a large number of veterinary practices have Hills for sale in their reception areas says it all :D
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I spend eight hours a day in a veterinary practice staring at a Hills stand... whilst wearing my Natures Menu raw feeding advisor badge. :p
 
Lévrier;13481991 said:
Luckily - touch wood frantically - I don't spend a lot of time in vets practices because my dogs are on a healthy diet :) It would be interesting to compare stats (if any were available) of how many dogs are PTS because they are fed non-raw diets....

As for vets not being keen on raw feeding, I think the fact that a large number of veterinary practices have Hills for sale in their reception areas says it all :D
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It would be, though I guess it would be hard to include all non raw foods under one umbrella to do any sort of comparison given the wildly varying different qualities of the foods available. But I do imagine if you are PTSing dogs with acute problems that you can see were completely avoidable and completely attributable to a certain practice you are going to question it/think there are better alternatives even if based purely on your experiences. I think it is very unfair to suggest because the practice partners might decide to have Hills in reception that is the reasoning vets are against raw as opposed to what they see come in the door, most are fairly intelligent analytical people none of whom enjoy deading anything.
 
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