Homemade Raw

[Napathedoodle]

Hi Everyone!

 

I saw that many of you do make your own homemade raw, and was wondering if you could share what you buy?  I was making my own raw, but this summer I had a scary experience with Napa that ended us at the Emergency Vet- long and short of it is that I think a small piece of bone he threw up scratched his esophagus coming up and ended up causing him to have a "gulping" stage which has eventually gone away.  I think he's fine now, but I'm still nervous about taking him off commercial Nature's Valley to my own raw again.  And, of course, the ER Vet made me concerned about the type of meat I was buying.  So, what kind of meat do you buy?  Do you make sure it's organic?  What kind of bones do you buy?

 

Thanks!

Kristen and Napa 

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Kristen I don't have any answers but am glad that you asked this question. I am concerned about the bone issue as well and have had a couple of scary moments with Tara eating bone. No emergency visits TG!!  But even when I was feeding her Stella and Chewy's premade frozen raw she would through up bone shards the next morning and one day she threw up pools of blood with it. (Could have been an emergency but my regular vet got her right in).That was the end of that.

 

The other day I tried giving her raw ox-tails. Smashed flat.  She ate them right down and then threw up bone again the next day!!!!! OMD!!  I thought dogs were supposed to be able to digest bones but it is NOT happening here!!

[Napathedoodle]

I'm glad I'm not the only one with this "issue".  Normally it doesn't concern me.  I usually see it as better out than in!  lol.  But, this time he did throw up a bunch of blood after the bone issue.  Acted COMPLETELY normally within an hour.  I was trying to push to finish my thesis to graduate, so when he acted fine I bland diet-ed it for about 3 days.  Fed him commercial raw Nature's Variety.  Threw up breakfast and started this "gulping" thing.  Of course this is a Saturday after my Vet closed...  off to the ER we went, he stopped doing it non-stop as he was at home, and didn't do it in front of the Vet until we were being discharged.  Vet's response- no joke: "Oh...  that's what I was afraid he was doing.  I don't know what causes it, or what stops it.  The only thing I've ever done to 'fix' it is to sedate the dog and wake them back up."  The ER Vet was very nice...  but it wasn't a helpful diagnosis!  He stopped doing it on his own...  But, being a VERY smart DOODLE, when I came back from a 3 week vacation, he decided to start doing it again to "get my attention" since I had  been so concerned about him the first time!  I love that he's so smart...  but it's times like this that make me laugh and shake my head at the same time! :-D

 

p.s. it was a chicken wing I had given him that started this all.  They weren't my favorite piece, but I had been having problems finding bones.  So I "winged-it"....  pun intended :-)

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Don't you just love it when vets give you an answer like that!! OMD!!!  That gulping thing is weird. I wouldn't like that AT ALL!!

Tara acted completely normal right after she threw up the blood too. But I haven't been the same SINCE!!

Are you certain the he was faking the gulps when you came home from vacation? Maybe the excitement started them up again? I hope he was just faking-they are awfully smart these doodles!  Tara does a choking, gagging thing if she over exerts. Her vet said it is from an esophageal spasm of some sort. Something I am not SUPPOSED to worry about of course! It seems to have gotten better now that she is older but when she was a pup she did it all the time.

 

Hopefully someone can give us some ideas about how to manage the bone issue better...:)

 

I would have thought the wing would have been okay too.

[Napathedoodle]

Yes...  it was faking....  it was usually when he thought I was leaving again and it was just one or two....  It was funny but not so funny!  The best way I can describe it is the spit up face you make when something kinda starts to come back up...  not a pleasant thought!  But, I wouldn't describe it as gulping...  but that's what the Vet called it!  But, it was kind of like he had a sore throat and was trying to swallow (like we would).  It was a very fun thing to have happen a day before my deadline for my thesis!  :-)  But it's very much like him to "break" before a major event!

 

Napa's kinda inbetween bone sizes...  He's really "too big" for the small necks and wings, but the bigger bones are harder to find in stores!  So, I'd love to see what other people do!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Oh, poor guy! It is funny the habits they pick up!

 

Tara is a mini (20 pounds). It I give her any large bones or even a chicken leg for that matter she just looks at them like I have handed her a pile of you-know-what!  I finally ended up home cooking for her but would like to get her back to raw. I just keep getting hung up on the bone issue. I wonder if some dog's digestive systems are unable to digest them?

[Cheryl & Matey & Checkers]

Hi Kristen, we live in CT and feed our dogs a raw diet as well. They eat Bravo chicken blend or turkey blend and occasionally the lamb and beef blends. We buy the 5lb logs frozen and let them thaw a little bit and then cut them into half pound patties. The blend includes some veggies but you can also buy the logs 2lb-10lb in meat only. They also have organic and more of the exotic meats for dogs. I am not sure where you are in RI but I buy their food at Bogner's in Vernon CT. They offer a 10% discount for a case (30lbs) - I think that I pay about $62 for a case of chicken blend. They often have a variety of good freeze dried treats and bullies.

 

I remember when you first got Napa (we both frequented another doodle site), I had just gotten Matey - hard to believe that they are 4 years old now.

[Napathedoodle]

Hi Cheryl!

 

I can get Bravo here too.  Thanks for the suggestion!  

 

I remember you, too!  Hope all is going well!  When I moved from CA to RI (and back home) for grad school, my life went into hyper drive and I couldn't post anymore!

[Napathedoodle]

Thanks!

 

I fed Napa chicken quarters, too.  But, his ideal weight is around 40 lbs, so the chicken quarter had enough "weight" on it to be his entire day's worth of food, give or take a few ounces...  What size is Mr. Jake?  And how do you figure out how much to give them?  I use the 2%-3% of their weight should be fed rule.  But, with a leg quarter, it's a lot of bone (and meat), so how do you decide what's what?  I also feed twice a day.  He does better with that because he gets hungry stomach.  

 

Thanks for all of your input!  I've been feeding raw for 3 years, and I'm still learning!

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

I move at the end of the month and Im planning on making my raw as i cant seem to find a decent priced, bulk raw supplier. I currently buy bulk ground raw, but Cooper is quite happy munching on a bone or turkey neck. What percentage bone/organs/meat do people give?

 

My main concern is the cats - they will eat bone, but only small / coarsely ground chicken bones - im concerned I wont find a butcher who will grind it for me, and I cant afford to buy a bone grinder

 

I read on a forum somewhere (not DK so im not sure how true it is) that 1 large eggshell = 1 tsp = 2000mg calcium = enough for 2lbs raw meat (which is 900g - perfect for 1 day for Cooper and my 3 cats). Does anyone know anything about this?