# Raw Food?



## laceyluv (Oct 23, 2007)

Hey everyone,
I'm new to this whole Raw food thing. I went on Nature's Variety to read up on it. It seem really good for our babies. 
I'm currently feeding Lacey, Wellness-Duck Formula. They said this would help with her allergy problem (gotten a little better)..but she still chews her paws like crazy. 

Do you rotate the food between the raw, canned and kibble like suggested on the website? Or should I try out one(if so which one) to start and see how she reacts?

Is it expensive compared to other types of food?

Any help would be great!! TIA!


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## Bonnie's Mommie (Mar 2, 2006)

There have been posts about this in the past, Anne Marie. I would do a search of the archives. There are about as many opinions as there are products. For me, I wouldn't switch foods around too much - their tummies can be sensitive. (I feed Bonnie Stella and Chewy's freeze dried raw, with a little Solid Gold kibble.)


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## Joey's Mom2 (Aug 24, 2004)

I rotate Natures Variety Raw medallions and canned food and NOT dry food only because I notice that Fendi has a tendency to eat her poop when she eats kibble (she's so nasty  ). But I rotate as much as possible because I read that limiting your dog to the same food over and over again makes them susceptible to allergies. Variety is the key. 

And as for whether or not it's expensive or not, it's about $12 for a 3-lb bag of raw medallions, and canned food is about $1.29 (approximately, each establishment has different prices, I noticed) for a 12 oz. can and about $.99 for a 5.5 oz can. If you feed the raw medallions everyday, then the bag would be used up about every three weeks per 7-pound dog. But since I rotate with canned food, one bag lasts about two months. Yeah, it is slightly more expensive than kibble. But think of this way, they're our kids. I personally could never justify saving a few bucks for Fendi's health. Money comes and money goes, but Fendi is my child and my best friend. I want what's best for her. 

Changes that I have seen: beautiful shiny coat, teeth that hardly needs brushing (although I still brush her teeth anyway), healthy pink gums, no gunk coming from her eyes anymore, zero tear stains, and NO allergies even though we're totally in the middle of allergy season.


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## HEINI (Feb 4, 2007)

*after heini hat a lot of itchy spots and a red belly + red fur on the legs because of itching I changed his food completely and cook for him now. I cannot give him raw meat, it's just too...*iieehhhhkkkks*  
but I squash raw vegetables or fruit into his food.

chicken, beef, especially liver he loves. mixed up with spinach or cottage cheese, oats ...all sorts of things.

his allergy and the itchy spots after now 4 months are ALL GONE!! he loves his food.

I can only recommend cooking for your little one, at least you excactely now what the ingredients are.

his menue e.g.
pasta, chicken and spinach









potato, egg, minze, pasta cottage cheese









liver with peas, carrots, rice and some cottage cheese









often I mix in some of the baby-glass vegetables. thats yummy too!










mhhh yummy!












*


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## Joey's Mom2 (Aug 24, 2004)

Thanks Heini! I've always wanted to cook for her, but I never knew WHAT to cook.... That looks so awesome, it makes ME hungry!


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## laceyluv (Oct 23, 2007)

Thanks for all the info!

I have considered cooking for her too, her allergies have gotten so bad. Her paws are so red :mellow: and she scratches her ears alot. 

My mom used to cook for her dogs (wheaten terrier, and springer spaniel) they did really well on that. 

I don't really mind the price of the food, just curious as to what prices they go for. Some places around here are a little rip off!

haha I spend more on Lacey's Haircut then mine!


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## HEINI (Feb 4, 2007)

*well really it is not that much work and spending money. I cook everyday anyway, and before adding spices to the meal, I take some of the food aside for heini.
I buy food fresh every day, sothat I always choose that, which is the best deal that day. different supermarkets have quite good prices for fresh meat, fish and vegetables.

the most important thing is, to prepare the food without salt or other spices for the dog.

heini had the same problems with his paws as you mention too, they were red and he kept licking them as if they were itchy all the time. 
all of that is gone. I can only find positive aspects about cooking for heini.

my friend ville, has two maltese. and she even gives the two raw meat. they love it and both are in the best condition!*


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## villemo (Aug 21, 2006)

> my fried ville, has two maltese. and she even gives the two raw meat. they love it and both are in the best condition![/B][/B]



that´s right, because that´s what the vet told us today  

i buy frostet meat and add veggies (fresh or baby-glass) yoghurt rice etc.
they love their food


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## Bubbaviny (Sep 20, 2007)

> *after heini hat a lot of itchy spots and a red belly + red fur on the legs because of itching I changed his food completely and cook for him now. I cannot give him raw meat, it's just too...*iieehhhhkkkks*
> but I squash raw vegetables or fruit into his food.
> 
> chicken, beef, especially liver he loves. mixed up with spinach or cottage cheese, oats ...all sorts of things.
> ...


It really looks fantastic and simple. Do you add any butter or oil with pasta/chic/spinach?


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## HEINI (Feb 4, 2007)

> It really looks fantastic and simple. Do you add any butter or oil with pasta/chic/spinach?[/B]



*yes I add different sots of oil, different dais. sometimes salmonoil (taken from the little capsules for human beeings) or olivoil. jus a little drop, mixed up with the food. 

I also have a mixture of oil especcially for animals, I drop a couple of drops in the food sometimes. 


heini also likes fish, when I give him fish I really make sure I puree it very good, sothat there is no bone in it.

regards
schnuppe*


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## Lacie's Mom (Oct 11, 2006)

I am also new to the raw food thing. You can see my post with the same questions about 2 posts down from yours. 

Lacie has always been a picky eater and has a lot of allergy problems. I was feeding her Natures Balance Duck and Potato which she didn't really care for and it didn't seem to clear up her allergies. Then I was home cooking for her and for Tilly for about 5-6 months.

I switched to Nature's Variety raw about 6 weeks ago. Lacie loves it. I do not switch her off of the raw at all. I've used both the Organic Chicken and the Venison medallions. She gets 3 medallions per day and she gets 1/2 a boiled egg in the mornings.

It does seem to be helping her allergies. It costs me $13.00 or a bag that contains about 4 weeks worth of food, so it's not expensive.

Read my post below yours and see what a couple of others have also said.

Lynn

P.S. BTW, Tilly (who normally eats any and everything) won't touch the raw. She just refuses to eat it. So she's still on the Duck and Potato kibble and canned. But she's never had allergies so that's OK.


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## Baxterzmom (Nov 18, 2005)

I have been cooking for Maltese since 1985 and my first maltese ChiChi even though she had a purmur and congestive heart failure only went to the vets once a year for shots she was on medication of course. She loved pasta, cabbage rolls, stuffed green peppers and if I made that I would give her some she was picky only pasta with meat sauce no white sauce - I cooked large roast on Sundays and she ate that during the week alternating with the pasta cabbage rolls and stuffed peppers her meat was mainly roast beef, steak or roast lamb and Chicken/Turkey. She loved bacon but once she had the heart problem no more bacon. For treats she had roasted then sliced and dehydrated pork liver it looked like potato chips thin - she loved those. - I dehydrated the liver in the garage - really gross smell.

Now with my current dogs they eat 1/4 cup dry dog food for their teeth and either roast beef/steak/roast pork/roast leg lamb/chicken/turkey/vealroast duck rarely but I do buy Brome Lake Duck liver and cook that for them and sometimes beef liver but not too often because it constipates Bella and Pistol. So far thank God they top only go to the vets for shots. They get some pasta/rice and vegetables like baby carrots, green peppers, brocolli, cauliflower. asperagus and cooked green beans.

ChiChi loved cherries and grapes - semi frozen. A can of Iams Lamb & Rice is $1.,49 plus tax and Bella wont eat it and the boys think that they are being punished - 2 chicken legs on sale cost less than $1 no tax


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## SpringHasSprung (May 4, 2007)

What a GREAT thread this is! The menus for homecooking look positively wonderful.

I typically mix some kibble with about 1/3 of a small can of wet and then mix in maybe some cottage cheese or yogurt or bits of cooked chicken. I also mix raw in with the kibbles frequently. Spring likes them all.

You all have made me enthusiastic to add in more fresh veggies and other things too.

I also wanted to mention that it is my understanding that grapes/raisins are poisonous to dogs. In fact, I know of someone who's dog got into a box of raisins and died from eating them. I'd be VERY careful about giving your dog any grapes.


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## tamizami (May 1, 2007)

Onions are very bad, too. Garlic is in the same family as onions, but you can give a little to your dog as seasoning in your dishes. If anyone is interested in a great cookbook for dogs, I highly recommend The Whole Pet Diet by Andi Brown. Great, easy recipes and great info on the supplements to add. Mine have never been so healthy and happy about food. Here is a copy of the main recipe online (but you need to add supplements like EFAs, Vitamins A, B (all), C, D & E and Calcium is also very important.

http://www.halopets.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.recipes

Happy cooking & feeding!


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