When The Raw Diet Goes Bad

 

I wanted to take a moment to discuss something that is a pet peeve of mine. That is people that feed raw incorrectly and not in a balanced way that results in their dogs becoming ill and then blaming it on raw feeding. They say "Feeding raw is Bad" or "Raw food makes dogs Sick". I have read comments and stories from and about people that feed raw inappropriately in so many different ways. I will address some of the worst.

1. Feeding only one type meat.

I have heard about farmers that feed their dogs only chicken carcass scraps or beef scraps, or hunters that feed only deer meat. Also pet owners that feed a commercially bought product in only one "flavor" such as chicken. 

An example from a friend of mine: "I just currently had a friend that feeding raw long before me so we never really talked much about what she was feeding... a good friend but don't chat often, and she calls me one day, her dog is brutally sick. First thing I ask what exactly is she eating.. "mainly chicken backs".. !?what?? I asked if she was feeding organs.. "not really".. !!what?!! I know that this poor dogs body finally was so malnourished, nutritionally deficient that this was her entire problem! She was having multiple organ failure and even ended up having a stroke !! She's still here but barely.. I was so mad that I never discussed food with her and just assumed she knew what she was doing!!"- Kim 

When feeding a raw diet, you need to provide as much variety as possible. Feeding only one meat can lead to nutritional deficiencies in specific vitamins or minerals. One meat may be plentiful in certain nutrients and low in others. Here is a link to the different nutrients levels in different meats-  Nutrients in Meats . My following suggestions are not scientific, because there is no way to know for sure exactly what the level of nutrition a specific food is providing without doing analysis on it. Due to local differences in nutrition and different farming practices, and different levels of nutrition available in different meats. I recommend trying to feed at least 2-4 different meats per month and at minimum 5+ different meats per year. The more variety the better.  

2. Feeding only boneless meat. I have heard of those pet owners that also only feed boneless meat, this may be because they are afraid to feed bones. They do not do enough research, and do not understand that the phosphorus in raw meat must be balanced with the proper amount of Calcium. 

10 % of a raw fed dog's diet should be edible bone. Here is an article about balancing the calcium/phosphorus ratio. Bones help your pet clean their teeth as well as providing roughage & firmness that helps clean gunk from the intestines and express anal glands. However some dogs cannot eat bone or you may have a lot of boneless meat and not enough bone on hand to go with it. So here is another about substituting ground eggshells for bone How to make Ground EggShell Supplement.

3. Neglecting to feed organ meat. I think many people leave organs out of their dog's diet because they think the organs are not truly needed. This is not true. I think the other reason is that people cannot easily find a variety of organs locally so they do not pursue finding them elsewhere. Organ meat should be 10% of the dog's total diet. Half of that, 5%, should be liver (any meat source) and the other half, 5%, should be other organs like kidney, brain, or pancreas. If you can not readily find organs at your usual places, then try an ethnic market or a farmer's market. Another source would be ordering them online. I have several different reputable companies listed on my links page under FOOD. Organs are very important to your dog's health. Here is an article about Why Organ Meat Is Important For a Raw Fed Dog

4. Feeding Kibble and Raw together. I hear so many people saying they do this. Then I also hear of people saying "I tried to feed my dog raw and he kept getting sick" or "he kept having diarrhea" or "he got salmonella poisoning". Upon digging a little deeper I find that the pet owner was feeding raw along with a couple of cups of kibble, just in case.Or the owner was feeding half kibble and half raw or kibble with a little portion of raw. Whatever the proportion I believe this can cause BIG problems! It is a fact that kibble digests at about half the rate that raw food does in a dog's digestive system. One of the reasons that fully-raw fed dogs do not get bacteria infections is the raw is digested rather rapidly and it does not sit in the gut fermenting and being broken down, it is broken down by the strong acids and powerful enzymes specially made to break down raw meat and bone. If that slow moving kibble-goo (you have all seen how that stuff comes out...) gets in front of the raw food that needs to move on through quickly, then the meat will sit there behind the kibble and any bacteria that are present will have time to grow and multiply. This could become a big problem, more "bad" bacteria growing in the gut, as well as slower digestion, and eventually you are going to have a bacteria overgrowth that will result in a very sick pooch. There are a myriad of other problems that feeding kibble and raw together that I am not covering here, as this should be enough to explain why doing this in NOT a good idea for your pet.

These pitfalls are easily avoided and the raw diet can be safely fed to your pet dogs and cats. By feeding only a raw diet in a wide variety of meats and following the basic proportions of 80/10/10,  80% muscle meat, 10 % edible bone, and 10% organ meat - (5% liver and 5% other secreting organs)your dog can thrive and be healthy and happy too!  

Easy Directions to Make your Own Ground Eggshell Powder

Ground Egg Shells — How To Make Your Own Ground Egg Shell Supplement and How Much To Give

A lack of calcium, or the inability to properly assimilate calcium has been known to cause dental facial problems as an example. Reports, photographs and x-rays made during Dr. Pottenger's 10 year cat study clearly illustrates this fact.
Many of the cats eating a deficient diet as deemed by Dr. Pottenger had dental facial problems such as an underbite, cramping of the teeth, and in general, under-developed faces.
Although, these problems are irreversible once they have occurred, with puppies and kittens it is important to try and prevent these problems with good wholesome foods and a quality calcium supplement. With mature dogs and cats, good food and a good quality calcium supplement simply help to provide the calcium needed for living.
There are many other functions and benefits beyond the obvious of minerals like calcium. Calcium not only is important for strong bones, but it also is said to help with blood clotting, activating enzyme action, and helps normalize the contraction and relaxation of the heart muscles.
Don't underestimate minerals. They are the spark plugs of life.
As mentioned earlier, calcium is the single most important supplement
you can provide your pets with. An excellent source of calcium for your pets is finely ground egg shells.
The goal that we want to achieve when providing a calcium supplement is to help provide our pets with twice as much calcium as phosphorus. Our pets require a 2:1 ratio between calcium and phosphorus. This is the ratio I personally follow but others suggest lower ratios, anywhere from 1:1 and everything in between up to 2:1. One reason why I provide or follow the 2:1 ratio is because ultimately it is better to have more calcium than less calcium. If you follow the 1:1 ratio, then your room for error is non-existent. At the same time, the nutritional content of foods naturally fluctuates. So sometimes the food we feed will be naturally lower in calcium and on other days, higher. I also follow the 2:1 ratio as this is what veterinarians such as Dr. Pitcairn and others have suggested.
While it's impossible to purrrfectly obtain this ratio (or any ratio) we can, at the very least, get close to creating this ideal ratio for our pets by using finely ground egg shells as a calcium supplement.
When the body is getting the proper ratio of calcium to phosphorus, then this will help prevent a calcium deficiency, will further help prevent calcium related health problems and will also help prevent problems that are indirectly caused by an imbalance in the calcium to phosphorus ratio.

Suggested Doses of Ground Egg Shells

Ground egg shells are extremely high in calcium and contain virtually no phosphorus.
1 teaspoon of ground egg shells contains approximately 1900 mg of calcium. This is a whopping amount of calcium!
Different meats contain different amounts of calcium and phosphorus. Therefore, ideally I would like to provide a specific amount of calcium based on the meat being fed to help create the 2:1 ratio. However, since ground egg shells are so concentrated and the difference in the amount of phosphorus in meats is relatively speaking minute, it would be difficult to successfully make serving amounts for ground egg shells that could easily be given for each meat. So for simplicity's sake, I have created 1 chart for all meats.
Based on my evaluation of the nutritional analysis of various meats, the amount suggested is quite close to creating the ideal 2:1 ratio.
Now wait, I know what some of you are thinking! You are thinking... how do I know how much meat I am going to be feeding anyway?
Well, not to worry — Part 3 of my book explains how to make and feed. You can also read the page earlier about feeding.
So add the following amount of ground egg shells using the table below:

Weight of Meat 	                Ground Egg Shells



100 grams                       1/4 tsp
200 grams                       1/2 tsp
300 grams                       2/3 tsp
400 grams                       3/4 tsp




1/4 pound                       1/4 tsp
1/2 pound                       1/2 tsp
3/4 pound                       3/4 tsp
1 pound                         1 tsp



1 Jumbo Egg or 1 Large Egg      1/8 tsp
2 Jumbo Eggs or 2 Large Eggs    1/4 tsp
4 Jumbo Eggs of 4 Large Eggs    1/2 tsp
6 Jumbo Eggs of 6 Large Eggs    3/4 tsp
8 Jumbo Eggs of 8 Large Eggs    1 tsp

How To Make Ground Egg Shell Powder

If you have access to enough egg shells and if you have the inclination, you can make your own finely ground egg shell powder.
Remember, even if you don't have enough egg shells, you can always ask friends, neighbors, relatives and others to save their egg shells for you.
Choose the direction based on the type of eggs you are using...
Free Range Eggs:

1. Simply collect egg shells.
2. Wash egg shells (optional). If you do wash the egg shells, it's easier to wash the egg shells before you crack them than after.
3. Let the egg shells dry on the stove top, in a gas oven (the pilot light will dry the egg shells) or in the sun.
4. Once the egg shells are dry, bake them at 300° F. This helps to make the egg shells even more dry and brittle for easier grinding.
5. Add egg shells to a blender, grinder, etc and grind. Keep grinding until there are no sharp pieces. The egg shells should become a powder although most likely it will not be a fine powder. Use a sifter or strainer to remove large and sharp pieces of egg shells.

Non Free Range Eggs:

1. Simply collect egg shells.
2. Wash the egg shells. It's easier to wash the egg shells before you crack them than after.
3. Let the egg shells dry on the stove top, in a gas oven (the pilot light will dry the egg shells) or in the sun.
4. Once the egg shells are dry, bake them at 300° F. This helps to make the egg shells even more dry and brittle for easier grinding. In addition, this helps to get rid of the mineral oils that have been applied to the egg shells to keep them from drying out in the store.
5. Add egg shells to a blender, grinder, etc and grind. Keep grinding until there are no sharp pieces. The egg shells should become a powder although most it likely will not be a fine powder. Use a sifter or strainer to remove large and sharp pieces of egg shells.

Editor's Paw Note

If you are unable or don't have the time to make your own ground egg shell supplement, then you can order a ground egg shell supplement which is found in my online store.

Well, That Was Eggshellent Information

I know that was eggshellent information but there is more to come. Keep reading:

• Why Feed Natural Homemade Pet Food?
• Let's Take A Closer Look A Natural Homemade Pet Food
• An Early Conclusion About Natural Homemade Pet Food
• Feeding — How Much To Feed Dogs and Cats
• Water — Pets Drink Water While Eating
• The Importance of Calcium
• How To Make Your Own Calcium Supplement
• Pet Supplements — A Quick Introduction
• The Benefits of Enzymes
• Nutritive Herbs

Source: Pets Need Wholesome Food Also @ pet-grub.com
Copyright 2012 by pet-grub.com. Used with permission.