# Questions For Those Feeding Primal Raw Diet



## MaryH (Mar 7, 2006)

I am going to switch a few of my dogs to the Primal Raw diet and have some questions for those who *are currently feeding* Primal to their dog(s). What Primal product(s) are you feeding? What type ... nuggets, patties or tubes? Do you portion it out in its frozen state (as in a pattie) or do you thaw, refrigerate and portion out in its thawed state? Have you found the Primal food calculator to be accurate as to portion size and, if not, what were the adjustments that you made? What, if anything, are you adding? What was your transition timeframe? What do you do when traveling? Anything else I need to know? Thanks for any information you are willing to share!


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## educ8m (May 19, 2010)

Mary, I of course have only been feeding Primal for two months, but am happy to share what I have been doing. I have only tried the nuggets, but have been told by the store owner that the patties are just as easy to use. It's just a personal preference. I have tried the chicken, beef, lamb, and rabbit and Gracie likes them all, however lately she has just started turning up her nose at the rabbit. That's OK though because it costs almost twice as much as some of the others, so I don't plan to buy it again. I did end up taking the chicken back right after I got it because her tear staining got worse each day when fed that. She also chewed her feet a little. I don't see any issues with the other proteins so I rotate between two of them randomly. Sometimes I feed the same thing for three or four days in a row and other times I alternate every other day. I would love to try the turkey and sardines, but the store here doesn't carry that one. 

I thaw enough for anywhere between two and not more than four days of meals. I just put some in a baggie and put it in the refrigerator. At meal time I take out her serving and zap it for 8-10 seconds in the microwave. That is not recommended, but it is just enough to make it room temperature and the vet didn't want it fed to her cold while she is a puppy. I think I will try soaking the serving in a baggie in warm water. When I first started her on it, I was told to just barely cook it on the stove and then gradually cook it less and less until it was not cooked at all. 

I do not go by what the calculator recommends. It just wasn't enough. She only weighs 3.4 pounds, so according to their calculations I should feed about 2.1 nuggets a day. I'm feeding her double that--two in the morning and two at night and I'm still concerned that she hasn't gained more weight. She has only gained 0.6 pounds since bring her home. Do you think that is unusual? I think I may get a consult with the vet to see if she thinks I need to add more supplements. Like I said in the other thread, I only add salmon oil. At least I should never have to worry about overfeeding her. She actually quits eating when she's full--even if more food is in the bowl!

Good luck with your new feeding adventures!


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## Johita (Jul 10, 2009)

I don't feed Aolani this food but am always up to finding out what others think. I've heard it's a pretty good food too.


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## MaryH (Mar 7, 2006)

Well, I guess I won't be buying any steaks for myself in the near future!! I stopped tonight and bought a bag of Primal Rabbit Nuggets and a bag of Lamb Nuggets. Yikes, I hope these guys like it. The store where I bought the food suggested adding Prozyme which I already have and salmon oil. I didn't get the salmon oil yet because I thought it best to start slowly transitioning and don't want to overload on fats. Plus, I'm wondering if I'd be buying a better quality of salmon oil from Whole Foods rather than from a pet supply store. Any thoughts?


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## mcaldw01 (Jan 12, 2011)

I don't do the Primal brand - but I do feed the Natual Variety Instinct brand....one raw medallion mixed with kibble in the morning (along with a little bit of yogurt and a little bit of dried buttermilk to help with tear staining)...Hemi's tear stains are almost completely gone....Harley...my little yorkie used to weigh in a scrawny 4.5 lbs...now is is a little over 5lbs and just very sleek and tone - the healthiest he has looked since we had him. We are also slowly starting our new puppy, Dooley, on this...he came to us at about 1.8 lbs..he's already put on a few more oz's and just looks great. 

What I want to make sure I'm doing ...is not over feeding a particular brand or ingredient .....i get concerned only because i'm worried i may not be "rotating" the diet correctly. I'm still reading and learning. There's a great thread posted by others on SM that I've learned a lot about the raw diet ..

Good luck to you and please post how it is going.


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## puppy lover (Dec 25, 2007)

MaryH said:


> Well, I guess I won't be buying any steaks for myself in the near future!! I stopped tonight and bought a bag of Primal Rabbit Nuggets and a bag of Lamb Nuggets. Yikes, I hope these guys like it. The store where I bought the food suggested adding Prozyme which I already have and salmon oil. I didn't get the salmon oil yet because I thought it best to start slowly transitioning and don't want to overload on fats. Plus, I'm wondering if I'd be buying a better quality of salmon oil from Whole Foods rather than from a pet supply store. Any thoughts?


Yes, I would also think WF would have better quality oils. But I'm now afraid to use any fish oil supplements after learning that they go rancid quickly. Apparently the only oil that is safe to use is Krill
Krill Oil - Ultimate Source of Omega-3

I also like the idea of the Missing Link omega supplement because it's not in oil form. 

Good luck with Primal. I'm going to try it at some point as well


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## educ8m (May 19, 2010)

MaryH said:


> Well, I guess I won't be buying any steaks for myself in the near future!! I stopped tonight and bought a bag of Primal Rabbit Nuggets and a bag of Lamb Nuggets. Yikes, I hope these guys like it. The store where I bought the food suggested adding Prozyme which I already have and salmon oil. I didn't get the salmon oil yet because I thought it best to start slowly transitioning and don't want to overload on fats. Plus, I'm wondering if I'd be buying a better quality of salmon oil from Whole Foods rather than from a pet supply store. Any thoughts?


Well you started with the MOST expensive protein, rabbit. When I bought the rabbit I never checked the price because I assumed they all cost the same. WRONG. When I was told the total I about fell over. When I questioned it, I found out the rabbit was something like $46 for a bag while the beef is around $24 or $26--I can't remember exactly how much. 

I have been using unscented pharmaceutical grade salmon oil by Iceland Pure because it is 100% salmon oil. No preservatives or anything else. However when I took Cisco to his chiropractic appointment the other day, that doctor said I should not be buying that large of a bottle (8.75 oz) for such small dogs because it would go bad before it was finished. She recommends Nordic Naturals Omega-3 Pet. It is wild anchovy and sardine oil and comes in a 2 oz bottle instead of an 8.75 oz bottle. It does contain a preservative though. This doctor though is ULTRA knowledgable about diet, etc. and what we put into our dogs. She grills everyone who brings their dogs to her about what we are feeding, what vaccines we are giving our dogs, etc. I just need to do more research.


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## MaryH (Mar 7, 2006)

educ8m said:


> Well you started with the MOST expensive protein, rabbit. When I bought the rabbit I never checked the price because I assumed they all cost the same. WRONG. When I was told the total I about fell over. When I questioned it, I found out the rabbit was something like $46 for a bag while the beef is around $24 or $26--I can't remember exactly how much.
> 
> I have been using unscented pharmaceutical grade salmon oil by Iceland Pure because it is 100% salmon oil. No preservatives or anything else. However when I took Cisco to his chiropractic appointment the other day, that doctor said I should not be buying that large of a bottle (8.75 oz) for such small dogs because it would go bad before it was finished. She recommends Nordic Naturals Omega-3 Pet. It is wild anchovy and sardine oil and comes in a 2 oz bottle instead of an 8.75 oz bottle. It does contain a preservative though. This doctor though is ULTRA knowledgable about diet, etc. and what we put into our dogs. She grills everyone who brings their dogs to her about what we are feeding, what vaccines we are giving our dogs, etc. I just need to do more research.


Laughing my head off ... kinda! The 4lb. bag of lamb was $23.99 and I *stupidly* assumed the rabbit was the same price. WRONG!! The rabbit was $35 and change, for a total, including tax, of $65 plus. I can assure you that rabbit will be a treat, not a staple!


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## lovesophie (Jan 28, 2008)

I'm not feeding Sophie Primal raw at the moment, but it was her primary food some time ago, so I'll do my best in answering your questions.

Sophie has tried all of them except the beef, chicken, and the turkey/fish one. The ones I mainly rotated were venison, lamb, duck, and quail. 

I always bought the nuggets that came in a 4 lbs bag. 

I would thaw two days worth of food at a time, which equaled 6 nuggets, in an airtight stainless steel container. I'd thaw via refrigeration. I never microwaved or heated the nuggets; I think that sort of defeats the purpose of feeding raw in the first place.

I have to agree that the calculator is way off. When I first started, I'd feed her according to the guidelines on the bag, but this just didn't seem like enough, so I gave her more than what was recommended. When she was 5 lbs, I think it said to give her less than 2 nuggets per day, but I'd give her 3 nuggets per day. Even though I was supplementing with scrambled eggs, treats, veggies, and fruits during the day, and even though Sophie led a sedentary lifestyle (I think she's just about the laziest fluff in the world), she didn't gain much weight.

I never added anything to her Primal, except kelp to help with pigment. In retrospect, I probably would have added sardine oil or salmon oil.

As for transitioning, it wasn't gradual at all. It was actually rather abrupt. I just stopped feeding her kibble and started feeding her raw. Probably not the best idea for fluffs with sensitive tummies, but Sophie has a cast iron stomach and foods just don't faze her. 

For traveling, we used Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried lamb steaks. Actually, S&C was the reason why I stopped feeding Sophie the Primal. That and home-cooking.

Just an FYI, if I didn't rotate the proteins, Sophie would get bored. I'd usually buy 4 proteins at a time, and feed one protein for breakfast and one protein for dinner on one day, and the other two proteins for breakfast and dinner on the second day. I'd alternate that way, and this seemed to keep her interested in her food 90% of the time. If I tried feeding her a bag of a single protein at a time, she'd definitely lose interest about half way through the bag. She, too, turned her nose at the rabbit! I'm wondering if rabbit is the least appetizing protein? 

Also, Primal offers some great treats. Sophie loves, loves, LOVES their buffalo liver, lamb liver, and venison liver treats. 

Not sure if you're at all concerned with keeping your fluffs' faces clean when eating, but fork-feeding the Primal raw worked well for us in keeping Sophie's face clean.

One of the many awesome things about feeding raw is the teeny tiny, firmer poops. :thumbsup: I believe the smaller poop size means they're absorbing nutrients better. Virtually scentless, too!

Good luck!


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## MaryH (Mar 7, 2006)

Thanks, Sarah, for your great input. Did Sophie have any intestinal upset when fed S&C? Usually the only travel I do with the dogs would be to dog shows ... but that's when I really don't want to deal with intestinal upset. I think once I have them fully transitioned to Primal then I will do a "pretend" show weekend, feed S&C and see how they do.


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## MaryH (Mar 7, 2006)

educ8m said:


> I have been using unscented pharmaceutical grade salmon oil by Iceland Pure because it is 100% salmon oil. No preservatives or anything else. However when I took Cisco to his chiropractic appointment the other day, that doctor said I should not be buying that large of a bottle (8.75 oz) for such small dogs because it would go bad before it was finished. She recommends Nordic Naturals Omega-3 Pet. It is wild anchovy and sardine oil and comes in a 2 oz bottle instead of an 8.75 oz bottle. It does contain a preservative though. This doctor though is ULTRA knowledgable about diet, etc. and what we put into our dogs. She grills everyone who brings their dogs to her about what we are feeding, what vaccines we are giving our dogs, etc. I just need to do more research.


My local Whole Foods carries Nordic Naturals oils, but not the 2 oz. Omega-3 Pet oil. They will, however, special order it and call me when it comes in (10-14 days). :aktion033:


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## educ8m (May 19, 2010)

MaryH said:


> My local Whole Foods carries Nordic Naturals oils, but not the 2 oz. Omega-3 Pet oil. They will, however, special order it and call me when it comes in (10-14 days). :aktion033:


Great! :thumbsup: If Whole Foods carries that brand it must be really good quality. I did buy a bottle from the doctor and have started using it.


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