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Raw Food or BARF diet for dogs?
Hi all,
I’m looking for healthier alternatives than kibble for my 2 dogs.
I have recently started to substitute their kibble with more real food such as the occasional cooked meats or fish with vegetables and some fruit such as blueberries. I’m thinking about trying the raw food or BARF diet, but I’m hesitating as I’m worried about food born illnesses that can come from raw meat. Has anyone had experience with feeding raw and what do you think about it? Thanks.
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3 Replies
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I’ve fed raw on and off over the years, @Tess . Because I had two choking incidents (one w a Ridgeback and one with a Papillon), I’ll now only feed raw when the bone is already ground up. I’m lucky because there’s a company that sells organic raw food in my area and their formula is 80% meat, 10% bone, and 10% organ meat. I am careful about cleaning surfaces and washing my hands so I’m not vulnerable to associated germs, but I think most healthy dogs handle these germs without issues. Having said that, however, it’s a very personal choice whether to go this route. (Lots of vets are concerned about this.)
More affordable and safer: my main, go-to food for my dogs is dehydrated food like Honest Kitchen.
I also regularly supplement their meals with my food, like cooked veggies, fruit, cheese, kefir, cottage cheese, etc. If I wasn’t a vegetarian, I’d certainly offer them bits of meat and fish too. I like the idea of them getting a wide variety of foods over time.
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Thanks for the input, Virginia. I tried dehydrated food already, but both of my pups didn’t seem too fussed about it, although I tried different brands and flavors and even broth instead of water with it. They can be super picky at times. They like the air dried stuff from Ziwi, but I feel it’s like jerky and possibly too much sodium. I really want to try and make a healthier choice for them as my “Golden Girl” Luna was recently struck down with liver issues and we weren’t sure if she’s pulling through. She is still struggling, but her liver enzymes are slowly improving and the vet is certain she will recover. The vet prescribed a liver diet from Hills or Royal Canin, however, Luna nor Tux did even look at it and I didn’t like the ingredients in there. I tried fresh beef strips, turkey and chicken from a local butcher when Luna wasn’t eating anything at all due to her liver issues and to my big surprise, this was the only thing she ate at the time when her liver was super bad. She took little bits of ground beef, but only raw. Luna’s liver issues were a real eye opener for me that I need to make a change to a healthier diet for my dogs.
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I hope you’ll find the perfect foods for them!
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