ecrozier
Well-Known Member
After our Rott was diagnosed with cancer at the end of last year, and given a guarded prognosis (post amputation osteosarcoma), we went about looking for a pup - he arrives next Wednesday. We werent at all sure we would still have the old boy by now but we certainly do, he's on amazing form and absolutely fine on three legs, I keep meaning to get a video of him haring around the fields.
Anyway, decision was made to feed new pup raw in the hope that we can help give him as long and healthy a life as possible.
So being a 'barf newbie' I took the easy route and placed an order with Natural Instinct, got a bit carried away and couldn't actually fit it all into the freezers when it arrived! So we have started slightly earlier than planned with Kaiber, I had originally thought I wouldn't change him over given the fact they can take a few weeks to adjust but he's doing so well that we thought we would give it a try! So far so good - he loved his chicken carcass piece, and has also had 250g of beef tripe this morning (OH didn't get the info about starting with just chicken!). He will have carcass for tea again tonight and I am defrosting several slabs of NI chicken mix so will keep him on that for now - as a 40kg Rott based on 2.5% body weight I am aiming for about 1kg of food a day, is that about right? So was thinking half a pack of NI in the morning and chicken carcass at night to start with? Puppy will do a few days on his existing puppy food when he arrives just to get his first jab over and done with, then will swap to the NI puppy food and I've got some wing tips for him to practice on.
Couple of questions though - how much ti feed - pup should mature to 25kg, I've seen figures of 10% adult weight and 2.5-3% adult weight?! Which is correct as that's a huge difference!
Also, know I need to start introducing offal etc, so am I safe to buy just some kidney and maybe liver and plop one in with their NI gradually? Or can I rely on NI for the time being to provide enough offal disguised in their minces? Ultimately I would probably plan to swap to one of the more cost effective suppliers but initially the ease and convenience of the NI is a huge bonus as with an elderly dog with issues and a growing pup I really don't want to mess their diet up!!
Any help/advice appreciated!
Anyway, decision was made to feed new pup raw in the hope that we can help give him as long and healthy a life as possible.
So being a 'barf newbie' I took the easy route and placed an order with Natural Instinct, got a bit carried away and couldn't actually fit it all into the freezers when it arrived! So we have started slightly earlier than planned with Kaiber, I had originally thought I wouldn't change him over given the fact they can take a few weeks to adjust but he's doing so well that we thought we would give it a try! So far so good - he loved his chicken carcass piece, and has also had 250g of beef tripe this morning (OH didn't get the info about starting with just chicken!). He will have carcass for tea again tonight and I am defrosting several slabs of NI chicken mix so will keep him on that for now - as a 40kg Rott based on 2.5% body weight I am aiming for about 1kg of food a day, is that about right? So was thinking half a pack of NI in the morning and chicken carcass at night to start with? Puppy will do a few days on his existing puppy food when he arrives just to get his first jab over and done with, then will swap to the NI puppy food and I've got some wing tips for him to practice on.
Couple of questions though - how much ti feed - pup should mature to 25kg, I've seen figures of 10% adult weight and 2.5-3% adult weight?! Which is correct as that's a huge difference!
Also, know I need to start introducing offal etc, so am I safe to buy just some kidney and maybe liver and plop one in with their NI gradually? Or can I rely on NI for the time being to provide enough offal disguised in their minces? Ultimately I would probably plan to swap to one of the more cost effective suppliers but initially the ease and convenience of the NI is a huge bonus as with an elderly dog with issues and a growing pup I really don't want to mess their diet up!!
Any help/advice appreciated!
right up until 24 months and later...but nowadays you see eight month olds looking like pony-sized adult dogs. Nowadays dogs from puppy class are taking CCs and Best of Breeds because they look 'more mature' and 'better quality' than dogs much older, which used to be unheard of. Only stores up problems for later IMO!
