Lacemoat

I never realised until I owned a dog and researched abit more into the Diet aspect of things how much of an important decision it is making sure they get the right food for a healthy active and prolonged life.

Its has always amased me how very different in their eating habbits my dogs are - but then I guess as Humans we all have our different tastes aswell so why should animals be any different.

Luna simply thrives for feeding time! As a puppy she was simply ravenus when it came to food - I would have to feed them both in their crates with the doors shut just so she didnt steal all of Apollo's food! She has slowed down abit now at nearly 12months old - but not that much!

Apollo as a puppy wolfed down every meal without a quibble....great I thought, no picky eating just as I hoped, however after a while this changed! He started to become alot more picky to the point where I was throwing away more then he actually ate. I always made sure that he stuck to the correct diet...by this I mean a diet ment for a dog not a human. Maybe I am too strict I dont know, but my theory is every dog owner does whats right for them & their dogs. Niether of my dogs have ever been allowed to eat from our plates or been given tit bits at the end (of course if there is some tasty left over meat I would never deny them that!)

I hoped in feeding my dogs this way that they wouldnt become picky eaters...as Im sure given the option we would prefer a nice big sausage sandwich any day to a bit of salad (I know I would!) however this didnt seem to be the case. Both of my Dogs were feed a well known hypo-allergenic quality kibble along with 1lb of raw meat a day....it soon became apparent that the raw meat was going down alot more readily then the kibble.

I have always fed my dogs as standard twice a day - Breakfast & Dinner with the same amount of food for each meal. I noticed that it was mainly the breakfast that was getting left, so decided that they possibly didnt need as much so I removed the kibble element and just fed the raw meat - this went down well, and there was certainly less food being wasted!

So recently I have decided to go raw - it feels quite a daunting step to take as I am learning still what suits my dogs but I will be keeping a record of how they are getting on and also reporting my findings as to how this is working out for them & us! I have been lucky to be pointed in the right direction of a quality butcher who specialise in Animal Feed and are so much more reasonable price wise as apposed to high street pet shop prices.

Well.....we got our first order yesterday (thanks Jen!!) .....They got their first meal of Lamb & Green tripe for dinner last night - 1lb each....wow it hardly touched the sides! Im quite glad as the smell is rather pungent! They also had a couple of chicken Necks each - I had to watch my fingers!! so those are a popular choice I think!

5th June 2009

This morning wasnt so great...they both got a chicken Carcass and some chicken wings...Luna has been fine, but Apollo vomitted his back up not long after eating. I dont see this as a set back...just that I will tweak what I give him for breakfast - I think there was too much for him in the way of bones, so I will just cut back slightly. I am also going to introduce raw egg, live yorgurt and olive oil in small quantities as time goes on...and am also still going to include a quantity of Kibble daily as I dont want to give them a complete shock to the system in the first instance...

I am looking forward to how this new exciting diet will show benefits for my dogs...

22nd June - update

Still in the early stages of raw feeding but starting to understand it abit more now.The Kibble has been removed and I have incorporated a few more things into the diet such as Offal, Fish and Vegatables. Offal is being fed twice a week at the moment - this is a mixture of Lambs Heart and Pigs Liver - I dont want to overdo it to start as I have heard too much liver can upset their stomachs. They are also having Vegatables twice a week - this is made up of Broccolli, Cauliflower and Carrot pulped and one teaspoon per dog mixed in with their mince meat. A raw egg and its shell will be fed twice a week, fish once a week & daily oil intake. I am also adding the water from boiling the Veg into their water bowl - as alot of Nutrients are lost from boiling so Im making sure they are getting these also. As standard they are being feed daily mince meat - 1lb per dog - Whole tripe, minced chicken & minced Lamb. Bones are in the form of Chicken Carcasses, necks & wings. The Fish I am feeding at the moment is Tuna, however I will get them used to a variation.

20th July

Things are going great guns with the new diet - they LOVE it. Luna has had a few problems with the bones, she tends to eat them too fast and vomits them back up so I have reduced her amount to one type per meal ie one neck or Wing. She also wont entertain minced tripe - so has a mix of lamb and chicken. I have now introduced Mackrel Filliets and those are very popular like the tuna, tonight however they had half a tin of baked beans mixed in with their meat - which they both Loved. Apollo now doesnt leave a spot of food in his bowl and Im so pleased he is looking fantastic on it. I decided originally to stick to a divised menu but its much more fun doing what you fancy and when - I make sure all of the elements I intended to be fed are in their weekly diet, but in no particular order, this works well for us. I also still only feed once a day - but without a fast day. Although yesterday morning they did get a breakfast of fish...Its great not being too regimented!

Happily munching in the Garden

1st September

Ive had quite alot of interest and comments regarding my feeding routine - so thought it about time I updated how we are getting on. Im pleased to say Luna is now LOVING! her tripe. She has slimed out quite abit of late due to her growth, so we have up-ed her meat content to compensate. She now has....wait for it....1lb of Tripe & 1lb of Lamb & Tripe per day! What a good girl! We are still building up her bone content, and she is finding life easier with the necks and wings & we havent had any vomiting - yipee! The weight is slowly but surely going on her & she finishes EVERY meal with real enthusiasam. I have also changed the type of treats they get to a more natural diet also, which include Pigs ears, Puffed Jerky & also Fish treats from Fish4dogs.com. Our friends at Doggie Delights also supply us with an excellent range of tasty homebaked treats.

 30th September

Salmon oil - Wow its the way forward! I introduced it a few weeks ago and cannot believe the difference in the dogs coats - Especially Luna's. A friend of mine has even ordered it for her Dog after feeling Luna's fur - its like silk! We use Kronch from a seller on Ebay! As for the doubling up of meat; seems to be helping luna's weight - although she has only put on one kilo she is looking alot healther, Im really pleased. We have now also changed the offal content slightly of the meals, they are feed 500g (250g each) of Lambs Liver weekly. This will be increased once Im happy there are no adverse effects on their stomachs - but so far so good! I would like to introduce some more bone content into the diet, but just need to find somewhere that can supply at a reasonable price - Im hoping to find Lamb ribs...fingers crossed!!....

 9th November

 Not been a good week as Luna over the last few days has gone off her food, but then like human's we all have those days dont we! I managed to get hold of some marrow bones for free from a friend of mine, and those have gone down a treat, but still on the hunt for some lamb ribs. Have added more offal into the diet, aswell as Liver once a week they now get kidney once a week - however because Luna can be a tad fussy with the offal I have blended the Kidney with the veg mixture and added Garlic too as a natural flea treatment- plus it smells more appealling to them! Its going down great. Luna's weight has now gone up to 34kg which im so pleased about, I just hope that her lack of appetite doesnt take her back down again.

15th January 2010

The loss of appeitite that luna had has certainly disapeared! She is back to her normal self which is fantastic. The Salmon oil has eventually started to have an effect on apollo's massive coat! and wow what an effect he feels and looks fantastic! 

I am going to end my updates on this page for now as I feel after 7months of learning and implimenting different changes within the diet we now have a fantastic routine going - Ive never seen my dogs looking so healthy. Their coats and teeth are amazing...there is a real spring in their steps...we will never turn back to commercial feeding.

Our next venture is changing our bengal Joe over to raw feeding - cats diets are slightly different to dogs so this is another learning curve for us...but we are really looking forward to it.

Thank you for taking the time to read....

Claire x

New update

9th June 2010

It has now been just over one year since we started raw feeding, so I thought it would be rude not to give a little update to how we are all getting on.

Joe our bengal cat is still on his commercial kibble for the main part - unlike dogs cats can be quite difficult about their food so we are slowly incorporating raw into his diet. He has raw meat - mainly chicken a couple of days a week - although often unfortunately doesnt finish it. We have changed his commercial food slightly to include what we personally feel is a better quality kibble - so now he has a mixture of not only royal canin sensible 33 but also the fish4cats complete cat food.

The dogs feeding regime has been slightly changed, in that they are now given half a pound of meat at lunch time and a pound at dinner time aswell as their bones. We just feel as they are walked during the day its good for them to have a boost part way through after using lots of energy.

As for the whole not alot has changed - which is definately a good thing as it means our feeding is working. If anyone would like a copy of an example menu then please contact me and I will send you one, as I know myself how daunting it can be starting off on this path...

Clairelees@talk21.com