RAW feeders! I wanna know...

Are they getting any veggies, calcium, minerals, etc??

If you are feeding a raw diet it needs to be balanced. Mine are on Stella & Chewy's raw and that is a complete balanced prepared diet. It includes meat, bone, organs, veggies, minerals, etc... I would think if you are going to create a raw meal that you should find a nutritionist vet (or whatever they are called) and have them help you set up a meal plan.

The amount goes by the weight of the dog, energy level, age and you adjust to what works for your dog (whatever it takes to maintain a healthy/ideal weight). Jax is about 8 pounds and gets approximately 3 ounces of food a day. Kenzie is about 6 pounds and gets about 2.5 ounces a day.

I personally wouldn't feed pork or pork bones to my dogs.. Pork has the lowest PH of any of the meats and can lower the body into such an acid state that it actually sets one up for cancer.....

Jayne said:

I personally wouldn't feed pork or pork bones to my dogs.. Pork has the lowest PH of any of the meats and can lower the body into such an acid state that it actually sets one up for cancer.....

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Doesn't it depend on the way the pigs are raised though, and what they are fed? I've heard that pastured pigs who are encouraged to forage don't have the same PH as pigs who are confined, and fed soy and corn, similar to how 100% grass fed cows meat has omega 3 fatty acids, while grain-fed cows meat does not.

Nikki's Mom said:

Doesn't it depend on the way the pigs are raised though, and what they are fed? I've heard that pastured pigs who are encouraged to forage don't have the same PH as pigs who are confined, and fed soy and corn, similar to how 100% grass fed cows meat has omega 3 fatty acids, while grain-fed cows meat does not.

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I believe pork meat is naturally higher in salt than poultry or beef so if you do feed this to your dog on a regular basis you might want to ensure that (1) they have a lot of access to water and (2) check their blood work to ensure that they are processing the salt properly.

I have heard that animals on a raw diet do not require veggies but there are many that believe they do. Therefore, I really encourage people to do their own research and decide with their vet what is best for their dog

The raw food you are presently feeding may be lacking in many nutrients. Pork meat? I agree with one of the other comments that it is not a good choice.

They live on Okinawa. It is much different there. The pork is completely different than in the US.

Suzan - that is a great point! I sometimes forget that meats are different in other parts of the world

Yes, we all forget that animals are raised differently outside the U.S. and we can't judge it by American standards.

We all just want the best for our furbabies diets.

Thank girls! Yes, meat and accually everything...fish, eggs, veggies are WAY diffrent then in America! I am very comfortable feeding any of this raw meat to my pups! IDK how hard it will get when we get back into the US, but it's something im looking into now! We move back to the states in 6 months!!!
After reading for weeks and weeks now, I do think im giving to much pork. BUT then again, I just started, and we got a really good deal on a bunch of low fat % pork! I will be adding in more beef and making the pork last a bit longer! =) I will add, last night, my husband and I noticed our lab (who is a HUGE terrible shedder) is not loosing hair anymore! This is a FIRST! She sheds so much, I have to vaccume twice a day! (well im also a cleaning freak..lol) but both of the dogs coats are beautiful, their breath smells great, and just the fact alone, that Cali is not shedding from the raw food diet, is GREAT to us! =)

poochieheaven said:

I will also have to disagree with the other poster and say that veggies are not needed and while I don't fell comfortable enough yet, if you get "good" are raw feeding there is no need to supplement, at this point I am adding some supplements until I feel more comfortable.

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Each dog is different. My dogs need the veggies. I have fed raw that didn't have much, if any, veggies and it did not go over well. It really is the amount of fiber in the diet that is the concern, and veggies is a healthy/easy way to add more fiber. So it works great for my dogs.

What works for one dog doesn't work for every dog. I don't know how to make my own balanced, raw diet so I feed a premade raw (Stella & Chewy's) that works for us.

MandyMc65 said:

Each dog is different. My dogs need the veggies. I have fed raw that didn't have much, if any, veggies and it did not go over well. It really is the amount of fiber in the diet that is the concern, and veggies is a healthy/easy way to add more fiber. So it works great for my dogs.

What works for one dog doesn't work for every dog. I don't know how to make my own balanced, raw diet so I feed a premade raw (Stella & Chewy's) that works for us.

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That is very true, every dog is different.

What I meant to say is that veggies are not needed if you don't want to feed them- they are not required in a raw diet.

MandyMc65- If you are interested in feeding a prey model raw, check out the yahoo groups I am learning lots there!

I always wonder why the english-speaking raw feeders never talk about pseudorabies and recomend to feed pork...

Pseudorabies - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pseudorabies is a viral disease in swine that is endemic in most parts of the world... Other domestic and wild mammals, such a cattle, sheep, dogs, raccoons are also susceptible. The disease is usually fatal in these hosts.

... In dogs, symptoms include intense itching, jaw and pharyngeal paralysis, howling, and death. In cats, the disease is so rapidly fatal that there are usually no symptoms.[1] Any infected secondary host generally only lives two to three days.[6]

villemo said:

I always wonder why the english-speaking raw feeders never talk about pseudorabies and recomend to feed pork...

Pseudorabies - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pseudorabies is a viral disease in swine that is endemic in most parts of the world... Other domestic and wild mammals, such a cattle, sheep, dogs, raccoons are also susceptible. The disease is usually fatal in these hosts.

... In dogs, symptoms include intense itching, jaw and pharyngeal paralysis, howling, and death. In cats, the disease is so rapidly fatal that there are usually no symptoms.[1] Any infected secondary host generally only lives two to three days.[6]

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I don't think anyone is recommending the feeding of raw pork here in the US. The OP is in Okinawa, Japan. In any case, pigs and other US domestic animals raised for food are vaccinated against pseudorabies.

the recomendation is what I read on almost every raw feeding group, like yahoo and others - and yes they are from the US, that´s what i see all the time.
when you ask about raw feeding here in germany you always get the warning about pseudorabies + raw pork...

villemo said:

the recomendation is what I read on almost every raw feeding group, like yahoo and others - and yes they are from the US, that´s what i see all the time.
when you ask about raw feeding here in germany you always get the warning about pseudorabies + raw pork...

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Really? I didn't know that. I'm not a member there. I thought you were speaking about this thread.

I think that the vaccination of the herds in the US is probably why they recommend it, but I really don't know. I don't feed raw at this point, and don't know much about it. (I think if I fed raw, I'd stick to grass-fed beef and bison from a source I could trust.)

Nikki's Mom said:

I don't think anyone is recommending the feeding of raw pork here in the US. The OP is in Okinawa, Japan. In any case, pigs and other US domestic animals raised for food are vaccinated against pseudorabies.

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We live on a farm and vaccinate our large animals, but to my knowlege, there is NO requirement that beef cattle must be vaccinated. Since we don't have pigs, I'm not sure of their requirements.

I'm sure there's lots of animals which go to the stockyards/market without any vaccinations at all.