[Dailydrool] When feeding Raw or Enhancing Kibble (long)

[Marilyn Bickell]

A few things to remember when feeding your dogs a raw diet or enhancing
kibble with raw or cooked:

1. When you enhance kibble with raw, you don't need to supplement the diet
with extra vitamins/minerals.
2. When enhancing kibble it needs to be enhanced by only 30% extras or the
"balance" will be knocked out of whack. Enhancing more or less short term is
fine, but not long term. Short term would be 8 - 10 weeks. Long term would
be ... well, long term.
3. Enhancing should never be done wily-nily.

Regarding bacteria when feeding an all raw diet: a dog's digestive system is
very short and acidic, so raw foods are digested quickly and pass through in
roughly 5 hours, so bacteria doesn't have time to sit and grow. OTOH! A dog
with a compromised immune system should not be fed a raw diet because of the
bacteria. 
If you're concerned about feeding whole raw meaty bones, what you can do is
either grind them or use a cleaver to break them up.
It's ok to feed grains! Many members in B.A.R.F. lists say not to feed them,
ever, because dogs don't "need" grains. The fact is, some dogs do need
grains. Most dogs with gastrointestinal problems do better with a
well-cooked grain in their diet, so incorporating fiber can be beneficial to
them.

It's also ok to feed veggies and fruits (shock) ;o). When feeding a diet
that's heavy in RMBs it needs fiber in it, or the dog's poop will become too
hard and difficult to eliminate. I usually feed dark greens, orange, and
yellow with a mixture of berries. Although, over the years I've become
pretty darn lazy about grinding pounds of vegetables, so I started ordering
the mix already ground.

8 1/2 years ago, when I started feeding a raw diet, one of the hardest
things for me was finding a suitable recreational bone. I don't like any of
the soup/marrow bones; they're too hard/brittle, and the marrow puts too
much fat into the diet. For recreational purposes I like neck bones, long
rib bones (not short ribs), and shanks. Even though recreational bones are
*large,* I never leave any of the dogs unattended when I give those, and I
never leave the bones outside for them to chew on for days. The dogs get 30
minutes of chewing time, then I collect the bones and toss them. If there's
still meat on them, which is rarely the case, I put them in the fridge and
offer the next day.

Many people believe there are health guarantees to feeding a raw diet.
Feeding a raw diet does not guarantee clean teeth and ears, no fleas, no
anal gland problems, shiny coat, no vet visits, and/or increased energy
levels. One of my original reasons for starting a raw diet was because I was
*guaranteed* that all the above things would be a certain. All my dogs, at
one time or the other over the years have had fleas, dirty teeth and ears,
anal gland problems, and I can't even count all the times we've been to the
vet for one issue or the other. Granted, the dogs do have really nice coats
and have never had ear infections, but that's it. And I don't credit a raw
diet to any of that.

Finally, I would never consider feeding a growing puppy a raw diet unless I
was absolutely sure of how to do it! Proper skeletal growth should be slow,
and can be seriously messed up if the puppy is fed incorrectly. Raw foods
can be incorporated into a puppy's diet, but they shouldn't be the main
source until the puppy has reached his maximum growth. 

Marilyn, Miko (Chasing lizards in Heaven), Bess, RoseyMae, and (FC) Beaver
Cleavear, Fort Bragg, CA