Raw Diet... but cooked? And other questions.

[ravensmommy]

I'm sure this is a silly question, but I can't find much in my online searches. Can you feed a raw style diet, except cooking the meat products? Like nutritionally would it be good?

The reason I ask is that I am not a huge fan of handling raw meat, and especially some of the nasty organ and bones stuff I see talked about on here really grosses me out. Also, I am into pressure canning, and think that it would be neat and very convenient if I could can up a bunch of meals for my dogs, but the canning process would cook the food.

I think my puppy (9 weeks) is too skinny. The vet said she is not too bad but could stand to gain a couple of pounds. He did fecal test and found nothing of concern. I've been feeding a low quality kibble: Purina One Large Breed Puppy. I sort of thought it would fatten her up a little faster. So, I was thinking about trying Blue Buffalo Wilderness (the one with the wolf on it) kibble, but I am thinking maybe RAW is the way to go.

Also, I have a 13 year old 20lb mix breed dog, how would a RAW diet be for him?

General thoughts on my situation?

[Jax08]

You can not cook bones. The become brittle once cooked and can tear up their insides.

I've been feeding RAW for several years now. We have a 13 yr old Boxer, who the vet attributes her old age to the change in diet 3 yrs ago. I have a 10 yr old 80# mix that we've had for a month that have switched to RAW and my 5 yr old GSD along with my cat.

You can do a premade RAW, but it's expensive. You can buy preground so it would come in a tube like hamburger.

You can do a cooked diet but will have to add calcium. I use egg shells.

personally, if I had a 9 week old puppy and didn't want to commit to RAW, I would just feed a good brand dog food.

[Sunflowers]

Michelle do you bake and blend the eggshells into powder?

[Jax08]

You have to bake the eggshells before grinding or they are to soft. I bought a small coffee grinder and it works great. Follow these instructions

https://www.facebook.com/notes/crf-d...94260780605680

[Galathiel]

If you cook the meat it will also lose its taurine and that will need to be supplemented as well. I would look into what all supplements (I'm certainly not an expert!) you would need for a cooked diet.

[ravensmommy]

Originally Posted by Jax08

You can not cook bones. The become brittle once cooked and can tear up their insides.

I've been feeding RAW for several years now. We have a 13 yr old Boxer, who the vet attributes her old age to the change in diet 3 yrs ago. I have a 10 yr old 80# mix that we've had for a month that have switched to RAW and my 5 yr old GSD along with my cat.

You can do a premade RAW, but it's expensive. You can buy preground so it would come in a tube like hamburger.

You can do a cooked diet but will have to add calcium. I use egg shells.

personally, if I had a 9 week old puppy and didn't want to commit to RAW, I would just feed a good brand dog food.

Thank you for the information. I am considering the making the commitment to a RAW diet, I'm just not super excited about it, but I guess that's what they make gloves for! Can you give them the bones frozen? Do they eat the bones right away or do they gnaw on them for a while? Wouldn't the egg shells be rough on them? What about calcium additives, I think I've seen that mentioned, is that okay?

Financially, I am thinking RAW would be around the same cost as high quality kibble, if not actually cheaper. Am I incorrect in that assumption?

[ravensmommy]

Originally Posted by Galathiel

If you cook the meat it will also lose its taurine and that will need to be supplemented as well. I would look into what all supplements (I'm certainly not an expert!) you would need for a cooked diet.

That's a great help, thank you! Sounds like RAW should actually truly be served RAW.

[Anubis_Star]

Raw diets, depending on your sources, are cheaper in my experience. However you must commit, or as someone else said you're better off just going with a higher quality kibble.

IMO, cooking changes the molecular structure of food and breaks down beneficial nutrients and digestion aids like enzymes. I also don't believe that a proper raw diet requires supplements.

Many butcher shops are willing to provide organ meat ground into ground meat, add some ground bone meal and you have a complete diet that you yourself need to do very little handling with. However at that point buying a prepackaged raw diet would be comparable in price.

[Jax08]

Originally Posted by ravensmommy

Thank you for the information. I am considering the making the commitment to a RAW diet, I'm just not super excited about it, but I guess that's what they make gloves for! Can you give them the bones frozen? Do they eat the bones right away or do they gnaw on them for a while? Wouldn't the egg shells be rough on them? What about calcium additives, I think I've seen that mentioned, is that okay?

Financially, I am thinking RAW would be around the same cost as high quality kibble, if not actually cheaper. Am I incorrect in that assumption?

I would not use calcium supplements. Those are made from rock and I read a study about it staying in the arteries and hardening them.

I've also read that bone dust/meal has a lot of bacteria in it.

In my personal opinion, by not feeding actual bone you are missing minerals and vitamins you would find in it. I use egg shells because I have a dog with CRF that can not have bone due to the phosphorus. Otherwise, I feed the bone in the form of poultry necks and backs

[doggiedad]

if you don't handling raw buy a box of those throw
away plastic gloves.