Raw food - prey model diet & barf

[Mokele Mbeme]

I try to follow a prey model diet (what the dog would eat if it were hunting for itself) - roughly 50% muscle type meat, 20% bone, 20% offal (mainly liver). Mostly chickens, lamb and beef. The final 10% I vary - including vegetables, about 2 eggs a week, the odd tin of sardines.

Although I try to follow prey model, it's not always practical, I do use kibble for treats because I'm not especially keen on walking around with a pocket full of raw meat. I also tend to give her left overs from our meals (when they're healthy meals), so she will get the odd bit of rice or pasta here & there too.

My dog seems to be thriving on it, she's healthy, glossy and full of energy. It's also far cheaper than commercial foods and doesn't have any artificial additives or any fillers. Worms aren't a worry because I treat her regularly, and the meat is fresh so she's never had any tummy upsets.

I'm interested in your thoughts on this diet.

[Tonka03]

sounds good to me. i like the idea of the prey food myself. keep it up!!

tony

[Pitless2208]

Raw diets are great...sounds like you are doing a good job ;)

[cali88]

sounds good how did u get started?

[Mokele Mbeme]

Here’s some web links, the ratios they recommend do vary, keep them as a guideline but your individual dog’s needs will vary according to his own metabolism, age and the exercise you give him.

http://rawfed.com/myths/switch.html

http://rawfed.com/myths/preymodel.html


http://www.justamere.com/newsletter/rawfeeding.asp


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2007/02/07/petscol.DTL


http://www.caberfeidh.com/Truth.htm

The first link says throw away your kibble, but don’t – it makes good training treats.

[Mokele Mbeme]

Different sources say different ratios of muscle: bone: offal - you’ll need to find what works for your dog best. You don’t need to get every single component into every meal, just so long as the ratios end up about right over the course of a week or ten days. Eg one day you feed heart, the next day liver, the next day mackeral the next day chicken wings and an egg etc.

I vary my dogs diet according to what her poo looks like – if it’s too pale in colour then I am feeding to much bone, if it’s runny or the flatulence is out of control there is too much offal. In both these cases I will give more muscle meat. If the poo is black there is too much muscle meat so I will feed more bone and organs.

I vary the amount according to ribs and waist, I want to feel ribs but not see them, (she is only a pup, so not conditioned) I want to see a clearly defined waist.
Eg A very rough guide of what I may feed over a week or so (approx 60% muscle, 20% bone, 20% offal, 10% other works best for us, but different dogs will have different needs):

Bones:
raw chicken wings (these count as bone), When I bed her down for the night I always give her meaty bone to chew (lately lamb rib cages) sometimes one bone may last a few days

Offal:
Beef Kidney and Liver, lambs fry.

Muscle meat:
Beef Heart, Cheapest human grade mince

Other
Tinned Sardines or tinned mackeral (one meal a week), one or 2 eggs a week, vegetable scraps. The odd bit of rice or pasta from our table scraps too (I don't think grains do any good but they don't do any harm either).

What you’ll feed will vary depending on prices and availability in your area. You might find rabbit is cheaper than beef in your area. I usually buy about a fortnights worth and freeze it into daily portions. Often on warm days I’ll feed her semi frozen meals, it keeps her chewing for longer that way.

There are fantastic web resources around, just google “prey model diet” or “barf diet” (Barf is an acronym for Bones and Raw Food, barf advocates veg and grain which I don’t really think dogs need - they are carnivores). Prey model I think is superior to Barf for my needs, but your mileage will vary - different dogs have different requirements.

All meats are fed raw, cooked bones are dangerous - they can splinter inside a dog, but raw bones are quite soft & flexible and don't splinter. If you are changing to rey model from kibble you need to make sure your dog knows how to chew, some dogs fed on kibble all their lives tend to gulp food, these dogs will have to be taught how to chew or they may choke on bones - giving them big blocks of frozen meat will help teach them to chew.